Disclaimer: Hehe, I wish.Chapter Forty-Three: Of Better Times and Red Wine
"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all."
--Emily Dickinson, "Hope with Feathers."
"Anna?"
"Yes, Sirius?"
He shuffled hesitantly into the darkened room.
Anna looked up from her book, her brows knitted.
"Gee, what's got you all nervous?"
Sirius gave a resigned sigh. "There's no hiding anything from you, is there Anna?"
She chuckled. "Certainly not. Now, what's wrong?"
Sirius sighed again and sat beside Anna on the soft sofa. "Do you remember, it was about a week and a half ago, you were telling me about how we had no hope because no body in the world was good and pure enough?"
"Yes," she answered curiously as Sirius curled into the lounge beside her.
"Well, it set me to thinking that maybe you need a little something to hope for..."
Out of the pocket of his robes, Sirius pulled an ornate, antique ring. Its band was made of white gold and in its centre was a sparkling diamond, not to big, but certainly not too modest. Set around the shimmering jewel were small, dark red rubies that complimented the diamonds pallor. The ring was simple, yet exquisite in its beauty.
"Not today," Sirius began, gazing directly into Anna's eyes. "But someday. When I'm free. Would you marry me?"
Anna smiled, a bright, brilliant smile that made the ring look average in comparison. "Of course. I would love to marry you."
Sirius grinned and pulled a long, delicate chain from his robes, carefully slipping the ring onto it before fastening the chain around Anna's neck.
"I love you," he murmured, pressing a tender kiss to Anna's shoulder.
"I love you, too," she replied quietly. Anna happily surveyed the ring before gently tucking it under her top.
She glanced up at Sirius and intertwined her hand with his. "So what does this make us? Engaged?"
"Not really," Sirius answered. "I mean, we're not really going to plan a wedding or anything. So I guessed we're like... promised to each other." He grinned wolfishly. "Betrothed."
"Oh, how very Eighteenth Century of you, Sir Black."
"But of course, Lady Fair."
And with that, he gave her a sound, thorough kiss.
...&&&...
"OK, OK" Harry assured them from the glowing fire, "I'll... I'll try and say something to him... but it won't be – "
Harry, suddenly wide-eyed, paused in his speech.
"Is that Kreacher coming downstairs?" he asked urgently.
Sirius threw a quick glance over his shoulder. "No," he answered Harry, "must be someone on your end."
"I better go!" was Harry's hasty reply, before he pulled his head out of the flames, leaving Remus and Sirius staring at each other in equal amounts of bewilderment; when Remus had come scurrying upstairs to the attic where Sirius was busy searching for Kreacher, the last thing he had expected was Harry wanting to talk about his father.
"Well," Remus commented dryly, voicing Sirius's thoughts, "that was odd."
"Odd indeed." Sirius heaved a great sigh. "I wonder what Harry thinks about James now..."
"Probably not too much," Remus replied, conjuring a couple of Butterbeers as the pair sat down at the large kitchen table. "Probably not too much at all. I must say, you both were intolerable pricks. I don't blame Lily for being so horrible to the two of you."
Sirius shrugged. "As I said, I'm not proud of it, and I'm sure James wouldn't be either. But you can't judge someone by the way they acted when they were fifteen; it just doesn't work that way. Something that dear old Snape needs to understand," he added as an afterthought.
Remus frowned into his Butterbeer. "Well, that's a bit of a double standard on your part, Sirius. I mean, you say that 'you can't judge someone on the way they acted when they were fifteen' and say that Severus needs to learn that lesson, when you yourself treat him like he hasn't grown up, like he isn't a completely different man. I would've thought that after seeing him around Anna it would've sunk in, but apparently it hasn't."
Sirius narrowed his eyes at Remus. "Moony, do you insist on making me feel like I have the maturity and intelligence level of a schoolboy all the time?"
The weary werewolf gave a meek smile. "It's what I live for."
...&&&...
As Sirius was wandering though the empty halls of Grimmauld Place a few nights later he was startled to hear a slow, sultry sound coming from the drawing room. Furrowing his brow in confusion, he made his way into the room, his eyes rising in surprise at what he saw.
A large, old-fashioned, Muggle phonograph was resting on the desk, from which the smooth melodies of Billie Holiday were flowing.
It's that ole devil called love again
Gets behind me and keeps giving me that shock again
Puttin' rain in my eyes, tears in my dreams
And rocks in my heart
It's that sly ole son of a gun again
He keeps telling me that I'm the lucky one again
But I still have that rain, still have those tears
And those rocks in my heart
Sirius smirked as his eyes fell upon Anna, who was in the middle of the room with her back to the door, and was swaying gently to the music, glass of red wine in hand. She took a lazy sip as Sirius sauntered towards her, smirk still firmly in place. Anna stiffened slightly as she felt Sirius's hands on her back, then relaxed when she realised whom it was.
Keeping one hand resting on Anna's hip, he ran one down her arm. Coming to stop at her hand, Sirius gently pried the deep wine glass from her hand, taking a sip before setting it down on the table. Spinning Anna around, Sirius took her hand and pressed it to his lips.
"A dance, my lady?"
Her eyes sparkled as she sank into a slight curtsey. "Of course, good sir."
Grasping her hand in his, Sirius pulled Anna into the traditional dancing position and started to softly move with her to the sweet, velvety tones of the music resounding in the room.
Suppose I didn't stay -- ran away, wouldn't play.
The devil -- what a potion he would brew!
He'd follow me around, build me up, tear me down,
Till I'd be so bewildered, I wouldn't know what to do.
Might as well give up the fight again
I know darn well he'll convince me that he's right again
When he sings that sorry song, I just gotta tag a-long
With that ole devil called love.
Sirius bent Anna's back into a graceful arc at the ending notes of the song, and she smiled, sealing the dip with a soft kiss before untangling herself from Sirius's arms and wandering over to the table where her wine glass sat.
With a flick of her wand, Anna conjured another glass of wine, handing the rich, dark liquid to Sirius on her way to the couch. They sat on the couch together at either end, their legs bent in the middle, as the jazzy tunes from the phonograph flowed freely into the room.
"You're a good dancer," Anna mused over the wineglass.
Sirius grinned. "Of course I am. I was quite the ladies man, back at Hogwarts." He winked. "Resident heart throb."
"Why do I have no problems believing that?"
"Because it's completely and utterly true."
"But of course, in your old age, you've lost all your good looks, haven't you Sirius?" Anna snickered.
Sirius sighed. "You're never going to stop with the fact that I'm old, are you?"
She scrunched up her face and shook her head. "Never."
He laughed, a rich, deep laugh, only a shadow of the joyous man he used to be.
And they sat and talked well into the night; forgetting Voldemort and the foreboding threat that hung over the world; forgetting evil, and all matters of hope and death; forgetting everything but themselves, and speaking of memories and dreams, old and new, until their wine-coated throats were as dry as Autumn leaves on a cold Winters day.
They were blissfully unaware of the old werewolf who quietly closed the door, with a wry and wistful smile.
A/N: (Sigh with me, now) Aaaaahhhhhhh, fluff!! Sorry about that, guys, I was listening to Lady Sings the Blues and the idea just popped into my head. Had to write it down. Sorry if it's too sappy, I'm a hopeless romantic at heart, me.
Anyway, I seem to have a problem. For some reason, I'm not receiving any reviews or chapter update notices in my email account, even though there were reviews on and a few of the stories I read were updated. Does anyone have any idea why I'm not getting the emails? It's very distressing, what if my favourite story updates? I'd have no idea!! Help!!!
As always, review, review, I'll love you forever.