Chapter 18:
Sirius' sudden vehement refusal of willing bed partners and the fact that he even stopped the more or less innocent flirting had caused an outcry in the female population of Hogwarts.
Wild rumors about how he had been black mailed into one thing or another ran rampage in the Hogwarts halls. Some of their class mates had even the courage to ask the grey eyed Marauder directly about this sudden change of M.O, but no matter what they said he remained stubbornly silent.
Even the teachers had been concerned for a while about this strange behavior until they realized that it couldn't be so bad because the Marauders around Sirius wouldn't act so relaxed and dare they say content if there had been a true cause of concern.
A few days later the mystery that had been bugging their minds was solved when Professor Flitwick caught sight of the older Black kissing a giggling Marianne Abbotts hands in a secluded alcove of one of the courtyards.
Flitwick had only been able to catch a glimpse of this scene because he had forgotten one of his books in his classroom and had to turn around.
As reaction to this news some of the female teachers, especially Prof. Sprout and McGonagall, had been concerned about the younger girl. Their fears were thankfully soon alleviated when they took notice of similar scenes all over Hogwarts. Those were very well hidden from the Hogwarts students but if you knew what to look for you could witness the nearly sickenly sweet display of covert and subtle affections between Hogwarts playboy number one and the shy Hufflepuff girl.
The rest of the teachers fears were buried when they caught sight of Sirius Black's besotted face when he thought he believed himself unobserved.
Dumbledore couldn't help but chuckle while watching the most unlikely romance in Hogwarts happening and mumble over young love and how even the most stubborn seemed to succumb to its' power.
A month later Marianne found herself being approached by Sirius' younger brother, Regulus in the library.
It had been a Wednesday and she was knee deep in her course work, and frantically searching for a book in the Transfiguration section when suddenly the dark haired boy stood behind her and asked her in a polite and calm voice to follow him.
Although Marianne should have probably refused, her inherent curiosity got the better of her and she followed him to a hidden table in the shadows.
Regulus had to hold back a chuckle; she was just like a kitten. Big eyed, bushy tailed and unable to resist a well placed bait.
She was pretty, the vulnerable and sweet type.
Innerly he shook his head, he really hadn't expected such traits to catch his brother's attention, but oh well. Critically he appraised her while she sat down uninvited in front of him and asked what he wanted.
Huh, interesting, she seemed to have a blunt and courageous side on her, maybe she could be molded into a Lady Black, with the right instructions of course.
Reminding himself of his reasons for addressing the coeval girl Regulus started to tell her about how he had kept an eye on her since she started to hang out with his brother last year. And how he had come to the conclusion that she was the best way to convince his brother of something.
The younger Abbott sibling turned cautious at that. She knew that Regulus had later defected to the light side shortly before his death, but at the moment she couldn't be sure about his true intentions regarding his brother, although she suspected that Regulus did not mean any harm to Sirius.
What he told her next blew her out of the water.
Their father, Orion Black was terminally ill in St. Mungos and wasn't expected to survive the next month. He further told her that their mother, Walburga was of the opinion that Sirius didn't deserve to be informed or visit him one last time and that Orion was too proud to ask his son for a last visit.
Distraught and enraged Marianne's thoughts raced to find a way to make a last meeting happen when Regulus unexpectedly came to her rescue with the nonchalant statement about how Mrs. Black wouldn't be able to visit her husband the coming Saturday because she had been invited to tea at the Malfoys.
Regulus continued to stare at Marianne for another moment before he elegantly stood up and made his way out of the library, he had done everything in his power, now it was in her hands what would happen next. Privately he hoped she would be able to pull this off and succeed in her first challenge as the potential future Lady Black.
Regulus left Marianne in an inner tumult, she knew from the talks with Sirius that he and his father didn't see eye to eye but that their relationship was a good deal better than the one with his mother.
She was determined to give him the chance to see his father once more, even if only to say goodbye. Thankfully the coming weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend and it would be relatively easy two sneak away from the supervising teachers and apparate to London.
Nodding to herself Marianne made her way to the Gryffindor common room and convinced Sirius to cancel all his plans for the coming Saturday, to the question of why she just stated that it was important.
When the weekend finally arrived Marianne put on her best robe and nervously checked her hair one last time. Pulling together all her courage she met Sirius at the entrance of the castle and together they made their way down into the village.
Once there she dragged him into a small side street before making him apparate the two of them to London.
After a slightly charring trip Marianne finally explained to the more and more confused and slightly nervous Sirius, where they were going.
"We are going to St. Mungos."
"Wha-what? Why that? Marianne are you alright?" with that sentence he was suddenly in front of her and held her face in his hands. His eyes were wide while he seemed to search for any signs of her feeling unwell.
"Calm down, it's not me, Sirius your father is there,…" she sighed while she gently caressed his arms.
Sirius looked stunned before his face went cloudy and he said in a stubborn tone of voice, "And?"
Marianne just sighed and took his hand in hers before she continued, "Regulus informed me two days ago that it doesn't look good, he caught a rare kind of Dragon Pox and the healers don't expect him to survive the month,…"
Sirius came to an abrupt halt at that this news, his eyes were impossible wide "What? Why wasn't I informed sooner?"
"From what Regulus told me, your mother didn't think you had the right after running away. She is occupied today with the Malfoys,…"
"That old b-witch,…" Sirius closed his eyes while a pained expression flitted over his face; then took Marianne's into his before they entered the hospital.
A quick enquiry at the front desk told them where they could find Orion Black. The closer they came to his room, the more Marianne felt Sirius become agitated. To calm him down she planted a quick kiss on the underside of his chin before knocking on the door. A serve voice called them in.
The meeting with Sirius father went better than Marianne had expected. It had also been far more embarrassing for her than she could have imagined.
It began with a rocky start; both father and son greeted each other stiffly and then fell into a tense silence. To dissolve the tension Marianne started to chatter about non consequential stuff while still remaining as polite as she could.
This had provoked an unexpected reaction; instead of disapproving of her behavior Orion quirked a sardonic smile and seemed amused by her antics. He then unbalanced her completely with one well placed question about what she was to his son.
Marianne reacted with turning red and wide eyed and began to stutter while she searched for a satisfying answer. How do you introduce yourself as the secret girlfriend of the son of the terminate ill patient?
She was more or less saved by Sirius. Said Gryffindor had simply stepped up behind her, put his arms around her and then declared in front of his father that she was the woman that he would marry.
IN FRONT OF HIS FATHER! … and was that a roundabout marriage proposal?
Orion gaze had turned hard and appraising at that statement, before he started to drill Marianne about her family. The moment the questioning began Marianne felt Sirius tense behind her but a quick glance up and a squeeze of his arm had calmed him down again. This was probably the last time he saw his father, she wouldn't let him later regret destroying this chance because his temper ran amok with him.
She had answered the elder Black's questions as calmly and neutral as she could. During their conversation it must have dawned Orion that she was the owner of MagicSound and MagicWord, the new rising corporation that had already reached a high prestige value in spite of the fact the company was less than a year old.
After he stopped interrogating the young girl in front of him, Sirius father turned pensive while he watched Marianne and his son. Sirius had looked absolutely furious while he had pelted the blonde witch with questions but had kept his mouth shut after the reassuring gesture of the small Abbott.
Orion acknowledged the effect she had on his son and found it very interesting. He had never seen anybody able to calm Sirius down when he was this close to exploding, not even James Potter. Mulling over the information he had just received, Orion's gaze landed back at Marianne Abbott.
Sirius fiancée, because that was what she was even if Sirius hadn't officially asked for her hand yet. After all Sirius was a Black, even though he liked to deny this fact, and Blacks always got what they wanted, especially his bullheaded son.
Sighing inwardly Orion despaired; really his oldest son would have been the perfect heir for the title if there weren't those damnable faults that he didn't seem to be able to get rid of.
Sirius was charismatic, good looking, magically powerful and knew how to manipulate a crowd in his favor. His eldest son was a natural leader there was no denying it.
On the other side he was too outspoken, brash, impatient, had the attention span of a poodle and was stubborn. Dear Merlin was he stubborn! Although Orion had to admit that his negative qualities had started to recede in the last few years and he had felt cautiously optimistic that Sirius would turn around from his desire to leave their family. Now that he was honest with himself, Orion would have even tolerated his more muggleborn and light orientated decisions as long as he didn't shame the family and acted in their best interest.
Oh well this hope had been shot to hell when Walburga had in one of her triads about pureblood supremacy overdone it, which had consequently led to Sirius' break with the family. Looking back on his life Orion regretted to not have intervened more in the education of his sons and not curbed the fits of lunacy of his wife. Walburga had always only lashed out at her oldest son, who ironically enough had inherited his volatile temper from her.
The temperament of the Blacks had always been their biggest vice, Orion thought ruefully while his thoughts turned back to Sirius' girl.
Marianne Abbott seemed to be able to curb the infamous Black temper and keep Sirius from making hasty decisions. Maybe, just maybe Sirius could make a decent Lord Black with her help.
He hoped this for Regulus sake, his younger son had always struggled with the qualities that came so easily to Sirius, his younger son had always been more of an academic than leader.
Making a split decision he turned his attention back to the pair that was waiting for his verdict.
"For once it seems like you have chosen well Sirius, I approve of your choice." he said with an even voice while he watched his son.
It seemed that he had chosen his words wrong because in Sirius' eyes was an unholy gleam and he seemed to bristle, but before he could say anything and destroy their presumably last meeting Marianne turned around and grabbed his hands into his before beaming up at him.
The change was instantly and so abruptly that Orion thought Sirius had been hit with a curse. His features became soft and a small indulging smile grazed his oldest son's face, his shoulders relaxed and he pulled the younger girl even closer. Marianne than turned back to Orion and thanked him for his approval.
The aged man couldn't help but return that smile, relaxing back into his bed. Sirius would be fine as long as he had the little Abbott at his side, the Black scion thought. The way the two looked at each other had reminded him of his grandparents Sirius Black the second and Hesper Gamp. It may have been an arranged marriage but the two had loved each other so much that when his grandmother had died his grandfather had followed her only a week later after bringing the family affairs in order.
Secretly he was glad about this fact; he had only ever wanted what was best for his sons, even if he didn't show his affections openly.
Marianne and Sirius returned an hour before they had to be back at the castle in Hogsmeade. A quick stop at Honeydukes and Scrivenshafts supplied them with sweets, quills and parchment for the coming weeks, before they made their way up to the castle. On her way to dinner Marianne caught the gaze of Regulus and with a subtle nod and a quick smile she insinuated to him that the visit had gone fine.