Chapter 39: Surprise!
I decided to put the ring away for a while; no one knew I had it, not even James, Sirius and Peter, and I decided to keep it that way. I still felt I needed time before I proposed. It wasn't so much myself that I was concerned about. I didn't want Addi to agree to spend her life with someone she would regret later.
That was the thing with Addi, especially recently. She would appear perfectly happy to most everyone, but I could tell she was hurting. When the two of us were alone, she'd confide in me about whatever was bothering her at the time. It was always Sirius, her missing her father, or something about us. I always wondered, however, if she ever had any doubts in me; or rather, the werewolf.
Sometimes it would seem as though Addi's troubles were consuming her alive. I'd spent countless hours comforting her. I was there for her when she needed me. Not to provide for her, of take care of her material needs, as much as being her emotional support. And I realized; that's what she wanted. I really was the only one she had, other than Sirius. And she was all I had too, I reasoned. Then why didn't I propose yet? I asked myself. I couldn't come up with an answer.
Other things preoccupied our time for a while. Lily and James had set the date for their wedding; it would be late in August. Lily, Addi, and even Mari were ecstatic about planning. Everything from the color of James' tux (Lily wanted lavender) to the kind of wedding cake to serve at the reception was a hot debate. Addi took pleasure in telling me in great amounts of detail every plan they had made. One evening she came home to announce that she while shopping she had seen 'the most beautiful dress that would be perfect for a wedding', and begged of me to go back with her and look at it. Addi wasn't the only one dropping hints about getting engaged. Lily would over-exaggerate a dreamy expression while telling Addi loudly "Don't worry, I'm sure Remus will propose to you someday soon." And in response to this, when I said nothing, I would receive a sort of glare from Marianna, who seemed to think I was hurting her best friend.
One night, James and I were nearly certain we'd finally gotten Marianna out of the picture. Sirius came home annoyed and told us that she refused to go for a walk with him down to the river after they'd had dinner.
"I tried to persuade her to go, and she shouted at me and turned and ran," complained Sirius. "So I came home. I can't believe it. I don't understand what her problem is." James and I exchanged triumphant glances as Sirius stomped off to bed. We assumed that we'd finally done something to make her angry enough to leave. James figured that allowing her to overhear a conversation about Sirius' 'other girlfriends' probably did it.
Our victory began to seem less likely when I mentioned it to Addi, who told me that ever since Marianna had dated Steve she'd been very cautious around her dates and probably didn't want to be around Sirius alone.
The next Friday, Marianna arrived at our flat, confirming that Addi was right. So she and Sirius continued dating, and James worked harder than ever to try to scare her off.
We were insanely busy with attacks for the next few weeks. For about eight days, I think there was at least one attack a night. We worked on wearily, hardly seeing a wink of sleep. An attack by a Death Eater had put James in the infirmary unconscious, and Lily refused to leave his bedside, day or night, so Arthur and I had to work alone on planning strategies. Twice we made errors, but there were lives saved that week because of us.
Even when we were off duty, we'd find ourselves involved in attacks. Lily, James and I had gone shopping in Diagon Alley one afternoon when a group of Death Eaters attacked a small wizard boy who couldn't have been more than five years old. Three of them were using crucio on the poor child at once. His mother screamed and panicked, running up and down the street while his father tried desperately to curse the Death Eaters. Crowds of people swarmed into the safety of shops and houses, leaving the family nearly abandoned. Before Lily and I had even realized what was happening, James had his wand pulled on a Death Eater, ready to curse him. Lily and I quickly followed. Two of the Death Eaters quickly turned their attention to us, but the third continued to curse the child.
We didn't come out of that battle painlessly. But we did rescue the child, and Lily gave him back to his mother, who was still sobbing, and we saw them off to St. Mungo's to make sure the boy was alright, and ended up being treated ourselves, after the boy's mother insisted upon it. Luckily, though unconscious at the time, the doctors said the boy would pull through fine. Things didn't always work out so well.
I didn't know what to think of the world in those days. An innocent family couldn't even spend a day shopping in the city without being at risk of getting attacked. You never knew when you might be next. It was a constant haunting fear. If you dared go out alone, you were taking a great risk. And the worst of it was, the attacks appeared completely random. No one on our side had the slightest idea what might be causing Death Eaters to attack those who they did, or if it was just a sick game of attacking innocent victims for fun. Attacks were frequent, and death tolls high, and we saw all of it. It's hard not to feel guilty when someone gets killed, but we tried our hardest; sometimes things were just beyond our control. Those days were quite a painful experience to live through, and they claimed some of the best wizards and witches lives. But for those who survived, their lives will never be the same again.
In the midst of the large scale crisis taking shape under the power of Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters, we were dealing with conflicts of our own.
Marianna stayed with Sirius, despite the fact, that with all the attacks, most of the times she came to visit him, he was either out on duty, or away at auror training. Addi frequently complained of having to make up lies of the whereabouts of her brother, and begged him to tell Marianna the truth about magic.
One evening, however, Sirius and Mari begged James, Lily, Addi and I to go out with them on a sort of triple date. We reluctantly agreed, in order to keep the girls happy, and went to a small pub for dinner. Dinner passed by smoothly enough, although we didn't speak to Mari unless she spoke first.
After dinner, we decided to go dancing; Lily's idea. James and I went, against our own will. Mari and Sirius spent the whole evening in each others' lap, doing anything but dancing.
"Sirius, why don't you stop and breathe for a few minutes?" James asked once.
"That's really ignorant," said Mari. "Why don't you leave us alone?"
"Fine then! I wasn't even trying to be rude to you that time!" Mari glared at him, and James glared back.
"Good thing we can't use magic around her. I'd have turned her into a toad by now," he hissed to me as we walked away.
"I don't think you've got to turn her into one," I replied. "The resemblence is there already." We burst into a fit of laughter, and recieved several suspicious glances from Addi and Lily. We avoided Sirius and Mari the rest of the evening, and they didn't seem to mind in the least. The only thing we did mention afterwards was that perhaps it was time to tell Mari about magic. At first, Sirius flat out refused, though as time passed, and Mari became more suspicious, he began to consider the idea.
The night of full moon, near the end of July, Sirius told us he was taking Marianna out on a date and was finally going to tell her everything. James, Peter, and I were heading up to the Shrieking Shack, where I still went to transform in those days. We were convinced that upon hearing about magic, Marianna would leave Sirius to never return. We had no idea how wrong we were.
The next day, I wandered into our flat absentmindedly, wand in hand, to find Sirius, Mari, and Addi sitting in the living room, sipping tea and talking.
"Hi Remus," Addi and Mari greeted me. Sirius bolted to the door, snatched my wand, and quickly threw it in the corner.
"What are you doing?" I demanded.
"Remus, Remus..." sighed Sirius. "How many times do I have to tell you to quit carrying that old stick around? Convinced it gives him good luck," he shrugged and told the others.
"What are you talking--?"
"So, Remus, glad to see you're back from Wales so soon. We were expecting..."
"I wasn't in Wa—"
"Of course you were! Visiting your mother, remember?" He insisted.
"But last night was full—" He glared at me.
"What?" I demanded. "It's not supposed to be a secret anymore."
"So, Mari. How's your family doing?" I overheard Addi begin speaking loudly.
"There was an attack last night. I haven't told her yet," he hissed angrily.
"Oh, how convenient," I commented, recalling that James had headed out first thing in the morning to register our fireplace in the Floo Powder network.
"What is it?" asked Sirius.
"Nothing," I replied quickly, as we joined Addi and Marianna.
"Everything okay?" asked Addi.
"Fine," I replied, glancing nervously at the fireplace across the room.
"So, how have things been going with you and Remus?" Mari asked. I thought briefly of answering by telling her it's none of her business, as she had done when I asked her about Sirius, but Addi beat me to responding.
"Good." She rested her head on my shoulder. "You and Sirius?" Mari opened her mouth to respond, but before she got a word out, I heard the familiar roaring sound of the fireplace. I saw Sirius' face fall as we all glanced in that direction. An instant later, James and Lily appeared, stepping out and brushing soot off their clothes.
"Hi mates," said James. The room went silent. Mari stared, her eyes wide.
"Aaaaaggggggggghhhhhhhh!" she shrieked. "No, that's impossible!" She scrambled from the door, still screaming. Addi followed.
"It's all right, Mari! Wait! You don't understand!" Worriedly, I glanced at Sirius. He glared at James furiously.
"Sorry?" James said.
"What the hell did you do that for?" he demanded.
"You said you were going to tell her last night!"
"Well, there was an attack last night, and since none of you were around, guess who had to go out!"
"We're sorry, Sirius," said Lily calmly. "I'm going to go help Addi talk to Mari. I'm sure she'll understand." She left before Sirius could respond. As for James and I, we decided it would be best to also leave and let Sirius have some time to himself to cool down. We headed to Hogsmeade, secretly certain of our victory of getting rid of Mari.
Three days later, the last thing we ever expected happened. Sirius had been grouchy ever since James and Lily had entered the flat by floo powder. Finally, late one evening we returned to find him not there. We thought little of this, assuming he'd needed some time to himself, and went to bed. The next morning, we awoke to find Sirius, already neatly dressed, cooking breakfast, (or trying), and whistling cheerfully.
"Sirius?" I questioned, glancing at the clock, which clearly said eight-thirty.
"Good morning, Moony!" he greeted me.
"What are you cooking?" I asked, noticing the smell of something burning.
"Eggs." He held out a frying pan, filled with charred, brownish-black remains of what I supposed had once been eggs.
"Er, no thanks," I said. Just then, James stumbled into the room, rubbing his eyes.
"Hey Remus, seen my glasses anywhere?" he blinked a few times. "Sirius? You're up already?" he asked incredulously.
"Yep. And I saw your glasses lying on the end table," was Sirius' reply.
"Ah, found them," said James, placing the glasses on his face. "What are you cooking?" he demanded.
"Eggs," Sirius replied, shrugging.
"Those are eggs?" questioned James doubtfully, prodding them with a fork. "You couldn't have tricked me into eating those even with my glasses off."
"Well good, because they're not for you," said Sirius.
"Then who are they for?" asked James.
"Mari."
"She's coming the whole way over here for breakfast?" I asked.
"Well, yeah. You know, it's not that far; just across the hall. Lily and Addi do it everyday."
"What?" demanded James and I in unison.
"Mari decided to move in with them; after we discussed magic," Sirius explained.
"So, she doesn't mind?" asked James.
"Well, apparently not, or she wouldn't have said yes."
"Yes to what?" I demanded. There was a pause.
"I asked Mari to marry me last night," admitted Sirius.
"You didn't," said James.
"I did." James and I exchanged glances.
"Well, that's fabulous news, Padfoot!" I exclaimed, faking excitement. "Congratulations!"
"Yeah," added James, slapping him on the shoulder. "Welcome to my world."
Our shock was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Come in," called Sirius. Mari walked in, beaming, and Sirius wore a broad grin at the sight of her. They greeted each other with a kiss.
"Congratulations, Mari. We heard the news," I said sincerely. James nodded.
"Thank you," she replied. My eyes fell to her hand, where a familiar gold ring, with a single diamond, had been placed on her ring finger.
"I think we should leave these two alone," said James through gritted teeth, grabbing the cuff of my shirt.
"Yeah, we'll see you later," I called. Sirius and Mari didn't respond. James dragged me into the hallway.
"Can you believe it!" he hissed. "It's crazy! He can't just propose to her like that!"
"Did you see the ring?" I asked.
"No, what about it?"
"It's the ring he was going to give Erin."
"You're sure?"
"Positive! But he can't do that! He—he just can't! That ring was for Erin, not her!" James nodded.
"I don't know what to do. I think we're too late to do anything."
"Could you two be any louder?" Lily stuck her head out of the girls' flat. "Get in here!" she motioned to us. James and I obeyed.
"Can you two believe what's going on?" James asked Lily and Addi, who was also in the room.
"Good morning to you too, sweetie," replied Lily sarcastically. "Personally, I don't understand why everyone is so angry. Sirius and Mari get along so well. They're our friends, and what they want should be what we want." James shook his head in disgust. Addi was sitting on the sofa, her eyes fixed on a spot on the ground. I could tell she was trying to remain calm. I sat down next to her, slipping my arm around her shoulders.
"Are you all right, Addi?" I asked.
"Never better," she replied bitterly, drawing in a few deep breaths. She flung my arm off of her shoulders, as she stood up and stomped off to her bedroom. I sighed. I should have known she wouldn't take the situation easily. And it wasn't entirely Sirius' thought. I had half an idea the fact that Addi's brother and best friend were getting married before she was wasn't exactly a pleasing thought either. Still, I knew of nothing I could do at the time. I took Lily's advice and let her alone, while the three of us remained in the girls' flat, eating a breakfast of cold cereal and hot tea. When Sirius and Mari decided to go for a late morning walk, James and I returned to our flat; Lily promised to try to talk to Addi.
Shortly after James and I returned, Peter made an appearance.
"Hey, Petey!" James greeted him. "Still living here?" It was his first time back in two weeks.
"Sure," replied Peter.
"So, where've you been?" I asked.
"Oh... around," replied Peter. I nodded.
"So, I guess you haven't heard the news?"
"What news?"
"Sirius is getting married. You remember Mari... I think you met her once or twice," I said.
"Oh, her," said Peter, a slight smile forming on his face. "Well, tell Padfoot congratulations, and let me know when the wedding is. I've got to be off again." He shook his head. "I've started my new job, and it's really demanding." He hurried out of the flat before we could even ask him where he was working.
"Do you notice anything different about him lately?" I asked James.
"Yeah, I think he feels unwanted," James responded suggestively. There was a moment of silence. "I'm going to head over to Diagon Alley to grab some lunch and a few supplies. Want to come?"
"No, that's all right," I replied. He soon left, leaving me alone in the flat.
In my bedroom, I pulled open the sock drawer of my bureau. I rummaged to the bottom of it, where I found a tiny black velvet box. I seated myself on the bed and snapped the box open. There was the shiny new diamond ring, sparkling at me like Addi's eyes. I sighed and snapped the box closed. I placed it back in the bottom of the drawer, being sure to stack plenty of socks on top of it.