Chapter Thirty-three;

Sirius awoke the next morning refreshed and the whole time getting ready grinning like an idiot. He was up fairly early for once and made his way to breakfast – which he would arrive just as it began, instead of when it was almost over like usually. He figured Severus would wear long sleeves to hide the bracelet, but Sirius – he was sporting a short sleeved black shirt, and black jeans, showing off his watch on one wrist, and his bonding bracelet on the other – the charmed snake slithering on the bracelet. When he walked into the Great Hall, he swaggered up to the table, everyone looking up and staring in shock at the bracelet – everyone knew what kind of bracelet it was, and they all were in a state of shock.

When Sirius took a seat next to Severus' empty seat, it was Minerva who spoke up. "Um. Sirius?"

"Yes, Minerva?"

"You… that bracelet – it can't be…"

"It is. Bonding bracelet. Looks nice, doesn't it?" Sirius asked, holding his hand up and showing it off.

Remus coughed on his pumpkin juice. "You mean… you proposed… and Severus said-"

"No. I didn't propose."

"Well… dear, why are you wearing that then?" Molly asked, her and her family still being at the castle for the reminder of hols with the rest of the Order.

"It's charmed to us – bloody salesmen did it…" Sirius said.

"Oh." Minerva said, sighing in relief.

"But I'm going to ask!" Sirius said, smiling.

"You are…?" Remus asked.

"Yep. Whenever he comes in for breakfast, actually." Sirius said nonchalantly, picking up his fork and eating.

Everyone went quiet once again; only Sirius was eating, ignoring the surprised looks he was receiving. "Sirius… I beg you not to do that…" Remus said.

"Why the hell not?"

"Because you'll embarrass him" Minerva said, sighing.

"Well! At least I'm giving him a choice. If he says no, we can easily find something to break the charm to remove the bracelets, and if he says yes… then we'll get married. I don't know. But I'm going too" Sirius explained.

"Sirius…" Remus began but was interrupted by Albus.

"I think it's a good thing." Albus said.

"Albus! You hon-" Minerva began but was interrupted by Albus holding his hand up to silence everyone.

"Now – Minerva, all of you, think about it. Severus has made choices which rendered him from saying yes or no to many situations in his life. This is a choice he has, a yes or no, he never had many of those as most of you know, and a lot of us haven't. This is something he can choose, and if he says yes – he won't be too mad or embarrassed of being asked in front of everyone… though if he says no…" Albus paused.

"He'll skin you alive and put you in a potion" Rolanda finished.

"… Precisely." Albus said.

Sirius sighed, shaking his head. "Hmmph."

It was that moment when Severus decided to walk into the Great Hall, and just as Sirius predicted, he had on a long-sleeved robe, the bracelet tucked in his sleeve. He took his seat and grabbed some food in silence, when he took his first bite; he finally noticed everyone was staring at him. He looked around the table and quirked his eyebrow. "What…?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Well…" Sirius began but then stopped when Severus turned to look at him and widened his eyes at the bracelet then shooting his gaze to his lap to hide behind his hair. "Ah… well…" Sirius paused, now debating in his head on whether this is the right decision or not. He was nudged in the side by Pomona; he glared at her then stood up. "Severus!"

Severus' left eye twitched in annoyance. "Mutt…" he growled, clenching his fist as he saw Sirius was standing up to be the center of attention. Sirius ignored him and instead got down on his knee; this caught Severus' attention and his head shot up wide-eyed staring down at Sirius. "What… are you… doing…?" he asked through his clenched jaw.

"Severus Tobias Snape…"

"Sirius..." Severus growled in a whisper.

"… I, Sirius Orion Black…"

Severus clenched his fists.

"Would like to ask if you would bond and marry me." Sirius finished, staring up at Severus, who had gone Weasley red.

Everyone stared, even the students, not from shock just waiting for the explosion – however it never came. Severus just sat there, unmoving – Sirius didn't even think he was breathing, probably willing away the embarrassment and wishing he was hidden away in his dungeons. "… Fine." Severus said loud enough for everyone to hear – then he stood up and walked out of the Great Hall.

Sirius quirked his eyebrow, turning to look over his shoulder at Albus. "Uh…"

"I believe you should start preparing a wedding now, Sirius." Albus said with a chuckle as he went back to his breakfast.