Ch. 53

21 January 1999

After that conversation, Sirius began giving considerable thought to his relationship with Jaime. On some level, Sirius knew that from the moment he met Jaime he was doomed to take the bloody plunge.

He had never really given much thought to the future. First, there was school. Then the war. Then Azkaban. Then the war. In that whole time, he'd seen others get married, like Prongs and Moony but he'd never really considered it for himself. He had always thought of himself as the ultimate bachelor.

Jaime had changed that. She made him see that he could be the settled Head of the Family and still keep his fun-loving, prankster attitude.

It seemed to him that the first few weeks of the term sort of flew by. With Wizengamot meetings, teaching, tutoring a few students and grading, it seemed as though he hadn't spent much time at all with his godson.

So after classes were out, instead of staying in his class to grade and plan, he went back to the playhouse. When he got there, Harry and Nev were at the dining table. The boys looked up and grinned at Sirius.

"Why'd the girls throw you out of the study?" he grinned.

"They're experimenting and need the space." Nev groaned.

"They were both in bad moods when they got back and we know better than to provoke the pregnant bear." Harry laughed with Nev and Sirius. "Why Pads?"

"Well, I was hoping to take you out to dinner, Harry." Sirius suggested.

"Sure." Harry grinned as he put down his computer. "Why?"

"Well, we haven't had any time alone since we got back from break. I thought we could catch up."

"Okay. I'll be done here in about an hour or two."

"Sure. We'll leave at six." He turned around and went into the game room to work.

"I wonder what's up with him?" Nev snorted.

"I don't know. You can never tell with him." Harry chuckled as he heard the study door slam. A moment later, Mione came stomping in, her hair frizzy and her eyes wild. Harry got up, knowing that completely frazzled look in her eyes. "What's wrong Mione?" he asked as he came up to her slowly

She looked up at him as though she just realised he was there. She threw her arms around him as she began to wail. "I am so stu-u-upid! I can't even figure out something so simple." She waved at the study. "If I can't do that, how am I going to handle NEWTs, pregnancy, being a mum and the bloody wedding." She kept crying as Harry held her and just kept muttering to her.

He knew from the few counseling sessions they'd had that she was just stressed and needed to vent. Actually, it had less to do with counseling as years of dealing with her. So, he began heading to their room for a little privacy. "It's okay, love. We'll get through this. Just like everything else." He pulled her chin up to look at him. "Look at it this way: there's no Voldemort we'll have to deal with this year. We're ahead already." he chuckled. "If we can manage a confrontation with Voldie every year for seven years, we can deal with NEWTs and kids, love."

He laid her down on their bed, then laid with her. "I just feel like everything's piling on me and I can't get out from under it." She sighed into him.

"I know, love. I'm not pregnant but I'm feeling the stress too. I can't imagine what you're going through."

"You really can't." She groaned as she wiped her face.

"Let's go through this logically and see what you have and can drop." he suggested as he kissed her softly.

"Decorating both nurseries, teaching, NEWT studying, wedding preparations, hormones which are coming and going like crazy, I can't fit into my clothes because I'm as big as a whale." she started ticking off.

"First off, Mione, you are beautiful pregnant. And you're not as big as a whale. Healer Axel says you're right on track. Let's move on. I know you want to decorate the nurseries. Can we put that off until after the house is finished?"

"I suppose."

"Teaching next. Is it time to go on maternity leave?"

"I don't think so but I think I'm going to have to quit soon."

"When's this teaching unit over?" he asked.

"When we go to the Tower."

"Then let's plan on leaving after that, yeah?"

She nodded into his chest as he kept running his hand along her back. "Okay." she mumbled. "And if I'm not teaching I can study around my hormones."

"Exactly." He could see her brain working on each issue as it came up. "The wedding I can hand off to Mum for the most part. Have her be point-person so I'm less stressed." She smiled at him, honestly for the first time in weeks. "I love you Harry."

He smiled at her "I love you too. Are you feeling better?"

She huffed. "Yes. Having an end date to teaching and handing off the wedding will make life much easier. I just wish these hormones would take a break."

"So do I, love. I hate seeing you so upset." he kissed her as they just lay together, enjoying time alone. "By the way, if I'm gone when you wake up, love I'm going to dinner with Sirius tonight." he warned her as he felt her relax.

"Okay. Have fun." Soon she was breathing deeply and he was getting out of bed.

HP

A little before six, Harry , who had been feeding Teddy, went into the game room to drop Teddy with Dora. "He's been fed." He told her. "I'm assuming we will be back by 9 so I can put him down."

"You know Harry, I am his mum. I can do that myself." Dora grinned at his sheepish expression.

"Sorry. I'm just used to it."

"I know. And I'm just kidding with you." She smiled.

"You ready to go?" Sirius asked from the archway.

"Yeah." Harry got up, ruffling Teddy's hair as he did so. "So, where are we going?" He asked Sirius as they left.

"I thought the Three Broomsticks at first." Sirius said as they left their flat. "But I need to talk to you in private, so we'll go to the Hog's Head."

"What's wrong, Padfoot?" Harry asked as they left the grounds a few minutes later. They had not spoken since they left.

"Nothing." Sirius' hands went deeper in his jeans pocket as he squirmed a little.

Harry sighed as they reached Hogsmeade. "Pads? You never act like this-so bloody quiet. I know something's wrong. Can you just tell me so I can deal with it?" He grumbled.

"It's nothing bad Harry." Sirius smiled as he opened the door to the Hog's Head. They nodded to Aberforth and sat down at a table.

Harry smiled as he remembered the first meeting for the DA. It amazed him at how different his life was now.

"Okay. Here it goes." Sirius sighed. "I'd like your permission to ask Jaime to marry me."

Harry burst out laughing, and continued laughing until his stomach hurt. "Oh Merlin! That hurts!" He said in between laughs.

Sirius got a stern look on his face. "Is that a no, then?" he asked softly.

Harry's head shot up and he stopped laughing. "No Sirius. That's a: why ask me, laugh?"

"Because I don't want a wife to come between us. You're my godson. I've already done enough to screw up your life. I don't want to abandon you again or make you feel like you're losing me."

"Are you planning on moving away?" Harry asked.

"No. Our life is here now."

"Then I have no problem. Hell, even if you were going to move I wouldn't say no Padfoot."

He cocked his brow at Harry. "Why?"

"You deserve to be happy. Jaime makes you happy. Even if you move to California, there's always port-keys and floo travel. We'd see each other somehow."

"You're an amazing man." Sirius grinned at his boy. "Your dad would be so proud of how caring you are." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Are you back to being Padfoot, now?" Harry asked a few moments later.

"Was I that bad?" He looked concerned.

"Pads, you never go for 10 minutes without talking. You walked nearly all the way here, silently. I knew something was up."

"Well, I was a little worried about how you'd react." He laughed as they delved into their shepherd's pie.

" So, how are you going to ask her?" Harry enquired as they walked back to the castle.

"Well, I was thinking of going to where we had our first date." Harry noticed his prematurely aged Godfather looked at least 10 years younger as he talked about Jaime. Harry was happy to see his godfather so happy. As they walked home Harry smiled.

HP

When they got home, Harry went up to get Teddy ready for bed. After that, if anyone was looking for him, they'd find him in the study with three of the people he cared most about in the world.

"So, what did Pads want?" Hermione looked up as he bent to kiss her.

He sat down at his own desk and started his current grading. "He wanted to ask if I'd mind if he asked Jaime to marry him? As though I didn't see this coming." He chuckled as everyone joined in.

"It's not like he's been panting after her ever since they met." Nev smiled fondly.

"Or that anyone that sees them can tell they're completely suited for each other." Luna grinned.

"As though he'd need to ask. She's already a member of the family." Hermione just shook her head at his silliness.

"How are you feeling, love?" He asked Mione.

"Better. I'm over the morning sickness so I'm feeling much better."

"You're definitely eating better than I'm doing." Luna grimaced. "Seems as though, even with the potion, I'm sick all the time."

"Yeah. Now, I'm just feeling large."

"Well, you're carrying two babies in there." Harry reached over and put his hand on her belly. "I can't believe I'm younger than my parents when they got pregnant."