Lawfully Declared

Author's Note: Yep! Apparently May is the month of updates. I should make good use of it because I certainly won't have time this summer. Summer college classes and all that junk. So, yes, the Crisis of my Lawfully series has arrived. I wanted to drag this out for one more chapter, but was like "ugh! No! This is beginning to annoy me!" You know it's bad when the author starts to sympathize with the secondary characters and when that happened I figured that it was probably best I ended the suspense. Anyway, two more of this to go and I will actually be able to honestly mark this as complete. Yes, my first complete chapter anything that started from a short story. You have no idea how monumental this will be. Savor it!\

Also, does anyone want me to add this one from Sirius' POV? If so, let me know!

Brianna Davis, aka Aracasse ven Aldura, paced her room at Grimmauld Place nervously. She'd been high strung all night, her mind racing through several scenarios of what could go wrong this particularly special night. Tonight, there was going to be a ball, or what equated as a ball in elven standards. There would be feasting, dancing, and general merriment. Along with that the elven high class and high middle class would be assessing Sirius as her choice for husband. Her family absolutely adored Sirius. The White Council of the Eldar thought he was a treasure. The Council of Nobles, the Wizard Council, and the League of Seven Swords had absolutely no opinion on him.

There was the general opinion that she shouldn't marry a human among the Council of Nobles. Her uncle, Apollo, was her one ally on that front. His grooms and her bridesmaids were slated to be there, adding to Brianna's worry. Harry would be associated with her as a prince of the house of Aldura (Black, she figured the royal name would be known as after this) and the nobles of her race would be inspecting him as well. Sirius and Harry had a lot of pressure on their shoulders.

She sighed. They were all Gryffindors here. With courage and a little bit of the Gryffindor luck, they could get through this evening without too much of a hitch. Maybe.

With a deep intake of breath meant to calm her but only added to her tension, she walked over to her door and opened it. She stepped into the hallway right into Harry.

He blinked, "You look awesome mum!"

Brianna smiled at him. For weeks now, ever since Sirius finalized the adoption papers, Harry had taken to calling them "mum" and "dad". It floored her, the idea that Harry, someone who had been both a schoolmate and a friend, had absolutely no trouble with her being "mum". She figured that the age gap helped.

"Thank you Harry. You look sharp, yourself," she replied.

He chuckled, "Sirius'll love the look."

"Sirius loves feminine curves anyway," she quipped while glancing down at the dress.

Well, she amended, Sirius liked bodices on women and she'd had this dress in her closet since she turned fifty. Since she hadn't exactly grown since then she figured that she could wear it. It was blue. She liked blue. It also showed just enough cleavage to still leave quite a bit to the imagination without being overly raunchy.

Her ears picked up the thudding sound of heels descending the steps from the floor above hers. Harry and Brianna looked down the hall to where Sirius descended the stairs wearing red and gold wizard's robes. Her mouth went dry. The robes were well styled and well tailored to fit his frame. The over cloak curved down, over his hips, and lightly trailed the floor behind him. The cloak was gold. The robes were red and looked more like an extra long tunic tailored to his torso. Gold leggings peeked out from where the hem ended slightly passed the knees.

Sirius took some time on his hair, as well. It was tied back, out of his face and off his shoulders. He even trimmed down his scruff, making it look neater than he normally allowed.

She loved it.

"So, I was thinking that red boots would work better with this than the brown. That way I'll look more color coordinated," he commented and then looked up at them after fixing the sleeve of his cloak.

He gaped at her and Brianna suddenly felt awkward. The way his blue eyes moved, inspecting her with their wide pupils, was unsettling at best. Beside her, Harry crossed his arms and smirked.

"Bloody hell," Sirius muttered under his breath.

Brianna vaguely wondered whether or not he had meant for her to hear that. She guessed not, but due to the fact that her hearing was impeccable when in fully revealed elven form she couldn't really help it. A blush crept over her face.

She really wasn't sure what this reaction meant.

"I've had this in the back of my closet for some time and Ginny and Hermione thought tonight would be a good occasion to break it out of retirement," she said in an attempt to explain why she was wearing what she was wearing.

If only she wasn't so nervous. If only he wouldn't look at her like it was the first time he'd ever seen her look like an elf. If only he'd say something!

Harry cleared his throat, "I'm gonna go tell Uncle Lan that we're ready."

He hurried down the stairs. Brianna hadn't looked away from Sirius. She as too busy trying to gage his reaction and so far all he seemed to be able to do was gape at her with his mouth practically hanging open.

"Sirius, you look… brilliant," she complimented though she felt that the word she chose to describe him didn't quite measure up to how she really felt.

That seemed to snap him out of whatever daze he was in. Sirius blinked and smiled at her. It was his nervous smile and it dawned on Brianna that she had never actually seen it before. What was he nervous about? Well, it could be the dinner, but he'd seemed rather amused by the whole prospect earlier that day. Had the pressure finally caught up with him?

"Thank you," he replied and then added, "and, Bri, you look…"

"Awkward in this dress?" she offered with a soft smile on her face.

She felt awkward in the dress. Then again, dresses weren't exactly her favorite type of clothing.

He shook his head.

"No, Bri, you look beautiful," he amended.

Brianna took the moment after that declaration to blink rapidly. It wasn't like he'd never told her this before. When he escorted her to the Yule Ball (incognito because he was still a wanted man) Sirius had said the same thing. She was an elf. To most humans, elves were attractive in some form or another. This didn't mean anything, stunning him into silence didn't mean anything. This engagement party was simply for show. He didn't feel anything. They were just friends.

But, the way he was looking at her said something completely different.

She smiled, "Thank you, Sirius."

He seemed to come back to reality then and walked up to her, stopping at her side to stretch out his arm; offering it to her. Her smile widened as she took the offered arm and linked hers through it. With that done, Sirius escorted her down the stairs to where Lan, Allyson, and Harry waited for them in the car.

Brianna had been surprised at how smoothly the evening had gone. Dinner had been pleasant even if the elf lords were rather stiff toward Sirius. The ladies of the court fell in love with him the moment he opened his mouth and Brianna found herself having to constantly stay by his side. It was a possessive streak of hers, she knew this, but she figured that it was expected of her anyway.

The fact that Harry managed to please people made her smile. The boy could be charming in his innocent and naïve way that seemed to throw off most people. Well, it threw off several of the Academy students from the states at least.

When they got around to the dancing and entertainment, Sirius and Brianna were the first in the room, starting off the rest of the evening much like they had two years prior at Hogwarts. The first dance was fast paced, a country dance that Brianna enjoyed and made sure to teach Sirius and Harry. She had noticed Harry standing up with Aurealasse, Landion's little sister, with a lot less awkwardness that had existed at the Yule Ball.

Sirius remarked on that.

"I don't know what you did these past few summers, but it worked. Harry's not shy anymore."

Brianna looked up at him for a moment before lifting her dress and letting go of his hand to dance around him. He followed her, eyes alight with mischief. It made her smile. At least he was still good old Sirius.

"I made him go undercover for several missions. When things are at stake, it's amazing how quickly he gains confidence," she explained.

He caught her waist in one hand and her outstretched hand in his other. With momentum, he spun them both into the complicated footwork he'd caught on to so quickly earlier that week.

"Well, keep doing it," he said.

She laughed as the dance ended and started a more formal sort of round. Here her uncle intercepted her hand and cut in. Old and regal, Uncle Calader commanded respect, authority and no little amount of playfulness. Sirius and he had hit it off without so much as a glare the moment they met.

"Dance with Laurea, Sirius. She wants to speak with you," Uncle Cal suggested with a wink.

Sirius paled and glanced over at the tall blond elf-lady waiting about ten feet away from them. Unlike Uncle Cal, when Aunt Laurea wanted to talk, it most likely had something do with a serious matter. She wasn't much of a joker which made her marriage to Uncle Cal all the more confusing.

"Yes sir," he said anyway and strode off to where the tall woman waited for him.

Uncle Cal turned to look down at her as they fell into tempo with the other dancers.

"I'm sorry your marriage came about this way, Ara. I never wanted this for you," he said.

Brianna smiled at his use of the nickname which belonged to her birth name and shook her head. As much as the prospect of entering into a marriage where she loved someone who didn't love her terrified her she didn't regret the choice. If marrying Sirius would keep him out of Askaban, then she would marry him.

"Uncle, he needs me," she said.

He smiled, "I know, I know. But, can you really stand it? Loving someone without them loving you in return? You are going to be with him for as long as you live. That will hopefully be quite a long time."

Brianna sighed. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.

"Does he know?"

She knew what he was insinuating, but decided to be difficult anyway, "Know what?"

The look he gave her told her that he knew exactly what she was doing and wasn't going to stand for it. He and Brianna bowed as the music ended and a more lighthearted beat thrummed in with the jingle of joyfully playing violins.

"No, he doesn't," she said as they engaged in a hop-skip dance.

From the corner of her eyes, she watched as Sirius attempted to struggle through her aunt's fast pace while the elf-woman's lips moved in a tone that only the two of them could hear. Sirius nodded in all the right places if the satisfaction on her aunt's face was anything to go by.

"Aracasse ven Aldura it is not fair for either of you to enter into matrimony with this between you. Let him know where you stand. It will make things much easier," Uncle Cal insisted.

Brianna rolled her eyes at the use of her full birth name and replied, "I will not make him feel guilty uncle. He has enough of that anyway."

The song came to an end, it only lasted a few minutes, and Brianna stepped away from him. She inclined her head toward the refreshment table where the staff served drinks and snack food.

"I will sit this next dance out. Thank you for the advice, uncle," she gave him a hug and strode away.

When she reached the table, Brianna ordered some wine. She had a feeling that she would need it that night.

As the evening wore on, Brianna hadn't really seen much of Sirius. The man, when not dancing with many of her curious family members spoke with the council members of the respective representative groups. The wizards liked him, she wasn't surprised, it was a nice change for them to find someone from the British Isles sharing an ancient blood house who didn't hate the fact that wizards came from elves. Harry moved among the various heirs and merchant sons and daughters speaking animatedly about his schooling at Hogwarts. Needless to say that Brianna found herself clinging needlessly to her new "son" than to Sirius for about half of the night.

It was hard not to, with the conversation that she and her uncle had at the start of the dancing. Everyone had been on her case about her feelings for Sirius lately. Granted, Harry only mentioned it to her once and determinedly refrained from mentioning it again. She didn't blame him much for that. She wasn't a guy, so she doubted Harry felt particularly comfortable around her when discussing the lack of romance between herself and Sirius.

At around ten o'clock Brianna made her way out onto one of the secluded balconies of the summer palace. The leaves of the red oak tree that had been enchanted to grow around the royal house hid her from the public view. She took that time to settle her thoughts and regain a sort of composure before going back in. She needed to spend the rest of her night with Sirius. Hiding from him like this wasn't a good idea and would give the elven community the wrong impression.

She clenched her fists on the balcony rail. Uncle Cal had an annoying point. How in the name of the Triune was she going to do this for the rest of her life? There wasn't a way she could hide the fact that she was in love with him for too long. Eventually he would find out and it would make everything much harder in their marriage.

Brianna buried her face in her hands and let out a frustrated groan. She couldn't call off the engagement, but she couldn't find it in herself to tell him! Tears pricked her eyes. Sometimes she wished that she could just cut out all of her emotions and just live robotically for the rest of her life. It would be easier that way,

"I was wondering where you got off to."

She stiffened. It was him! How had he snuck up on her like that? Rapidly she blinked away the tears and prayed that he wouldn't notice she had been crying when she turned around to look at him.

He was smirking, something which fell the moment he saw her face.

Damn!

Sirius rushed over to her and cupped her shoulders in each hand, "Hey what's wrong? Did something happen?"

She shook her head and swallowed a sob. Did he have to show concern for her? Couldn't he be his normal oblivious self for at least one more moment?

"No, I'm… I'm sorry, I'm just frustrated with… with Voldemort and his stupid, stupid plans!" she breathed out trying to keep her voice as steady as possible and failing miserably at it.

He looked wretched and pulled his hands away, but didn't move to leave. His eyes glanced away at her down to the crystalline city below.

Brianna felt like an idiot. Here she was, this entire time, trying to not make him feel guilty about all of this when the more she bottled everything up the guiltier he probably already felt. They hadn't had this discussion, she realized, and she fervently wished they had before this night.

She turned back around and resumed her previous position; leaning against the stone table of the balcony's rail. Her head found its way back into her hands, fingers buried in the skin of her forehead.

"I'm sorry, Sirius. If I could fix this, if this hadn't… you shouldn't be forced to settle down with me of all people," she said lamely.

He was silent for a while, letting the warm summer night's breeze play with the unruly strands of their escaped hair. The wind blew her partially braided hair over her shoulder, exposing her neck to him. The silence dragged on and her dread depended.

"You shouldn't be sorry," he finally managed, "I'm the reason Dumbledore came to you in the first place. Why I can't really say. He… knows that…" he pinched the bridge of his nose, "shit I don't know how to word this!"

Brianna's top teeth clamped down on her bottom lip. She could think of several ways to help him finish that sentence.

"He knows that you hate this sort of life?" she asked.

"What? No, Bri, I don't mind being part of royalty. It's better than being an auror and dealing with the beaurocracy, trust me," he said.

Brianna sighed. Now she remembered why she wanted to avoid this conversation. It was going to be painful, whatever he said. Mentally, she prepared herself for whatever was to come and steeled her resolve. It was time to face her figurative dragon.

"Dumbledore knows that spending a significantly lengthened existence with someone you don't love will be torture for you," she said with defeat evident in her voice.

She heard him draw in a sharp breath. Her eyes stung with tears again.

"Bri, I – I'm sorry, I – I didn't mean -," she cut him off.

"Sirius, it's okay. When I entered into this engagement I didn't expect you to love me anyway," she said.

"Wait, what?"

Brianna looked up to stare at him in astonishment. Did he really just ask that? Granted, he looked just as shocked as she did if not more.

"You aren't in love with me, therefore this engagement isn't fair to you," she said slowly.

He gaped at her for the second time that night. Then he did something that made her want to slap him. Sirius Black began to laugh.

This time she really did cry.

"What the hell is so funny about this conversation?" she snapped through a rough sob.

His laughter died into quiet chuckles as he reached forward and cupped her face with his hands.

"Hey, hey, don't do that. I'm not making fun of you, I promise! I'm laughing at myself," he said.

"Why?" she asked.

His thumbs caressed her wet cheeks before moving up to wipe away some of the tears slipping from her eyes. He was smiling.

"Because I'm an idiot and you're the most wonderful person I've ever known," he said.

Tears and frustration forgotten, all Brianna could find herself able to do was stare at him with her lips slightly parted. Whatever he was talking about wasn't making an ounce of sense to her.

He leaned forward and Brianna could only watch in numbed silence as he rested his forehead against hers. Brianna's breath caught in her throat. The soft caress of what she realized was forced calm breathing set her skin on fire.

"Why are you the idiot in all of this?" she asked, but the answer was finally beginning to dawn on her.

And because it had taken her so long to figure it out she was the one who felt like the moron. How could she have not noticed it? Looking back everything had been so evident starting at the Yule Ball, maybe even earlier. And Christmas of last year! His behavior towards her had been borderline desperate and she didn't even notice. She had been too busy focused on Harry and trying to ignore the fact that she was slowly falling in love with him, with Sirius, that she hadn't noticed when he had shown blatantly obvious signs of returning the favor.

"Because I am actually in love with you," he confessed.

With the long sigh that accompanied the end of that confession Brianna started to laugh and cry all at once. Even she had never realized that was possible until now.

"Okay, you either don't believe me, or think me being in love with you is hilarious," he said.

He looked confused, humored and slightly hurt. Actually, Brianna had a feeling that her reaction might have hurt him more than he was showing her. A sobbing laugh escaped her lips as she shook her head.

"No, Sirius," she took a breath, "I'm laughing because the only idiot here is me."

"No, Bri, don't say that. You're definitely not the idiot here," he insisted.

She reached up and cupped his face with her hands. The surprised look was the only answer she needed to let her know that he had been expecting this as much as she had.

"I love you," she whispered.

Sirius' face transformed. Brianna watched with a tearful smile on her face as the biggest, goofiest, grin spread across his face and marveled at the way his eyes stamped out all of the hurt and self-loathing. It was the same look he had when Harry had called him "dad" for the first time several months ago before Sirius even began the adoption process. He was happy, very happy, and she gave him that.

"Let's make a deal. How about we both just admit that there are two idiots on this balcony and go back to the party?" he asked jokingly.

Another string of laughter escaped her, "Sounds like a deal I can make. What's the catch?"

He still looked happy, but the mischievous glint appeared in his eyes again.

"I get to kiss you senseless," he said and Brianna's breath caught at how low his voice dropped.

She didn't get to answer when his lips descended on hers.

From behind the spindled braches that blocked most of the balcony from public view, Harry, Landion and Allyson collectively rolled their eyes.

"About damn time," Allyson said.

Landion, her husband, nodded, "I will hold this against her for as long as I live, bloody emotional moron."

"I second that one, Uncle Lan," Harry concurred.

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