Philocalist (Sirius Black love story)

Chapter 83

October 30, 1981

The brisk autumn day was peaceful. Ever since the deaths of the previous month, some Order members went into hiding. It was clear they were being hunted down, so they stayed in their respective hiding places. A rotation was set up where one or two members would check on the others at the end of the day just to make sure they were still safe.

Evalyn and Sirius had stayed at home. He wanted to do something special for his wife, so he did his best to cook a nice dinner. He made a pasta, the only thing he remembered Effie attempting to teach him how to make. Soft music filled the room, the smell of garlic and herbs dancing around the kitchen. He lit some candles and plated the food before going to wake Evalyn from her nap.

Her eyes lit up when he led her to the table. "Sirius what is this?" Her husband pulled the chair out for her while placing a kiss on her cheek. Once she sat down, he took the place across from her.

"I wanted to give you a nice date, even though we can't go out and do something." Sirius eagerly gestured for her to try the food, hoping it turned out okay. Evalyn twirled some of the pasta on her fork and took a bite. The flavors made her close her eyes and she let out a groan of pleasure. A reaction like that made the man extremely smug. He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Darling I believe that's the first time I've gotten that reaction without it being sexual."

Evalyn giggled and blushed, "Merlin, this pasta comes close to those times."

He narrowed his eyes at her and grumbled, "I can pleasure you much more than food ever could." Evalyn snickered and continued eating her food.

The couple cleaned up and out of nowhere, Sirius ran out of the room. He returned a moment later with a big package. "Close your eyes for a minute Lynnie! I've got one more surprise!" She did as she was told, not hiding an excited smile on her face. The sound of rustling filled her ears as she assumed he turned the item around to face her. "Okay you can look now."

Before her was a painting. It was absolutely stunning. It had a sage green meadow filled with daisies. The sky was full of stormy grey clouds. Sat in the middle of the flowers was a dog facing towards the sky. Evalyn's eyes trailed to what the dog was looking at, and she found a small bird perched on a tree branch. Her eyes filled with tears as she took in all of the details. Sirius waited patiently, watching her with all the love in the world.

"This is —" the words fell, she was unable to form what she wanted to say. He leaned the painting against the wall and took her in his arms. Evalyn looked up at him, "You did this?"

A playful gasp escaped him, "Of course I did Lynnie! How could you assume I'm not talented like that?" She threw her head back and laughed, slapping his chest lightly. "I'm glad you love it." He cupped her jaw, pulling it to meet his gaze. Sirius' lips met hers in a passionate kiss. All of a sudden two arms gripped under her thighs and she was lifted up. Their kiss continued as he carried her into the bedroom for the night.

At Godric Hollow, Lily watched as James dressed Harry up in his deer onesie. These days, their house was filled with an anxious tension that was so thick it was almost suffocating. However, James Potter loved Halloween and he was determined to lighten the mood in the upcoming days. He carried Harry over to his wife and took her into his free arm. He swayed them back and forth as he sang a song horribly off key. The laughter that came from his family filled his heart with a much needed warmth. The trio had fallen asleep that night on the sofa, loads of muggle candy wrappers surrounding them and a movie that they had started continued to play in the background.

Remus had just come back home from checking on his list of people. He shrugged off his coat, slipped his shoes off by the door, and flicked his wand to start some tea. He ran a scarred hand down his tired face and waited for the water to boil. Once his tea was made, he made his way to his room. The werewolf grabbed a book from his night stand and settled into bed. The quiet finally brought a comfort to his tired soul. The chaos from the war had made the man exhausted. He was tired of fighting, tired of losing his friends, tired of people assuming that he was the monster that was selling the Order out. He was reading his book, but the words were not being processed as the thoughts clouded his mind. With a sigh, he slammed the book close and swapped it for something else. It was a muggle photo book that the other Marauders made him one year. A toothy smile finally found his face as he flipped through all of their memories together. Photos ranging from first year all the way up to the recent years were there. Once Evalyn and Lily joined the group, pictures including them made their way into the book. Remus finally dozed off with a content smile, and that night he dreamt about how great life would be after the war was over.

However, this night wasn't peaceful for everyone. Peter Pettigrew paced around his hiding location. He had received a not so pleasant owl a couple hours earlier. Voldemort was requesting his presence the next day. Typically, they would be notified through the mark, being summoned with a sharp pain to the forearm. His sleeves were rolled up, exposing the cursed image. His hair was disheveled from running his hands through it too many times. His eyes had a permanent dull and tired look to them, bags decorating the skin underneath them. An empty bottle of muggle alcohol was discarded next to a stack of memories. He also had taken time to look at their photos. He cursed to himself when he seen them, especially the ones of James and Evalyn. The admiration he had for the two individuals was enormous. They treated him with an immense amount of love and respect. In his efforts to find safety, he had risked the lives of two people who meant the world to him and he could only hope that they would be able to make it out of this war. However, it was too late to be focused on them. He realized the time was coming where he would be forced to choose between his life or theirs.