"You're.. um.. bet was way off," James screeched. "I am not royalty! I am not the son of Dumbledore, and that isn't why I have been missing classes and activities lately!"

"Then?" Sirius said impatiently.

"Well..." James came closer to Sirius. "You'll have to be patient,"


"Sirius!" A voice pulled him out of his dream (it was the third time that week he'd been daydreaming about the same conversation).

"Hmm.. Where are we?" He asked James.

"In," was the only reply he got. He bent down and struggled with the hilariously (Sirius thought back on it) tiny doll house doors' handle.

He heard an impatient deer and moved to let Prongs open the door, and it was only then he asked the obvious (though Prongs' face suggested otherwise) question: "How am I fitting through that?"

Sirius hoped a disgruntled Prongs would never push him through any door as James dropped by him. He never found out if he had been shrinking or the hall had been increasing. He knew that the Great Hall was nowhere near as large or as packed as what he saw in front of him. The Slytherin outdid himself.

Only a few people remained now, at 5 AM. Sirius still didn't recognise about half the people there. James had left it off at 'I invited them'.

"Once upon a time!" James' voice echoed into the silent hall. "You asked for reasons of my secrecy. And I told you patience was key,"

He chuckled when Sirius murmured. "Finally!"

"And, my darling, here's your answer. You are the most magnificent, beloved boy to me in the World. I could go on and on, but, frankly, we do not have an eternity to finish, for I wish to ask you tonight," Sirius wondered what he was on about (and why he was being so proper- the Slytherins', and family friends and family itself weren't that bad). He kneeled. "Marry me?"

"Yes! Yes, I'll marry you!" He said as James slid the ring on his finger.


"I still can't believe you made me wait two months, two whole months!" Sirius exclaimed.

"He's not here," Peter said. James went to the headmaster's office as soon as they entered the castle.

"This is brilliant, mate," Remus said, chewing his lips. "Just.. both of you are in school. And, what about that unavoidable engagement of James?"

"Dunno. Merlin, what if this gets called off?" Sirius said as the reality hit him. One didn't end their engagement in families like the Potters, Slytherin to the core and proud of James' family members were Blood supremacists.

"Sirius?" James questioned, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"James!" He crushed the boy in his arms. "I wanted to ask you something... Are you alright?"

"Umm... There was more to my disappearances than buying you the perfect ring. It looks beautiful on you, by the way," He said, looking at the gold ring on which 'S.O.B' was engraved in silver. A green basket with red prongs, in the middle of which was a giant, black diamond. The side stones were Diopside and Black pearls. Sirius realised that Topaz rested on the tips of the Prongs and gasped.

"Merlin, James! Topaz?"

"Attention to detail separates a good event from a distinguished event," he shrugged. "My Mum is an expert in making one feel worthless, and my Dad in reminding me of how 'Heir Potter has to be Perfect', and I wanted this Perfect,"

"I'd marry you with a paper ring, James. Why Topaz?"

"A family friend of mine knows Zodiacs. She mentioned Topaz being the Birth Stone for Scorpio, and you're a Scorpio, according to her,"

"Well, thank her, what's bothering you?"

"Naught. I did Opal but needed permission from this person, who I really couldn't tell,"

"What's bothering you, James?" Sirius asked once again.

"Um... well, let's say that I have been... erm... remember that betrothal I told you about?"