minnow // sirius black

forty-nine

49 ;

It would be an understatement to say that my vows were better than Sirius'.

The poor boy was too emotional from my long speech to really compose proper words, so he simply choked out a quick, "I love you. I vow to always love you, and I vow to make up for this total lack of preparation."

Which he did.

Apparently, the night before our wedding, Sirius spent three hours writting his vows. He gave me the parchment when we got home that night, both of us exhausted but still riding on a cloud. Lily and James had taken Esme to their house for the next few days to give us some semblance of a honeymoon.

I read the letter while Sirius cooked us a simple dinner, and by the time I was half through what were supposed to be his vows, I was a complete mess of tears and snot.

"Are you alright?"

"I am fine," I assured him as I continued to read, "However, I am really sorry you didn't get to read these at the wedding."

"Don't be, babe," Sirius smiled widely, "I'm kind of glad that only you get to see that deep part of my soul."

"You are absolutely ridiculous, Padfoot. These are beautiful, and thoughtful and-"

"A deep, deep, part of my soul that I am truly happy only you get to know."

"Don't be all sappy right now! I'm already crying!"

"You're beautiful."

"You're so mean!"

And so I cried for a good twenty minutes, entirely because I was overwhelmed by the absolute wholeness of himself that Sirius loved me with. His vows were deep, and while mine had been sweet and silly, his were absolutely heart wrenching - but in the most romantic way. They were truly a piece of his soul that I was glad only I would know. There was so much goodness in it, so much love.

His vows were much better than mine; but I had said mine at the wedding first.

"I'm so glad I went first," I grinned as I wrapped my arms around Sirius. I hadn't changed out of my dress, and Sirius still wore half of his tux - his vest and jacket discarded on the back of a kitchen chair. I felt one of his hands grip my left hand, "I wouldn't have been able to speak at all had you gone first."

"What, like I was unable to speak?"

"Exactly like that," I laughed quietly as he turned around. I kept my arms around him, smiling wider when he wrapped his arms around me. I looked up at him, completely smitten, "I love you."

"I love you."

He kissed me, gently, his arms tightening around my back.

I pulled away and rested my forehead against his.

Every emotion that I had felt that day was so worth it - the love and happiness made up for the fear and pain. The way that Kayla hugged me tightly, completely in tears, made up for the lack of my mother to hug me. Kayla had quickly become a motherly figure to me - and I was grateful that she was a part of our lives.

All of the hard things that led to this day was so worth it - because without any of it, I wouldn't have gotten to the point where I could marry Sirius.

The next few weeks went by in a sort of blur, and before I knew it, February was over, and March had begun.

The first two weeks were mostly just doctor's appointments, as I was having awful nausea and intense pelvic pain. According to Genevieve, my body had not properly recuperated from the trauma that occurred when Fleamont died. My cervix was continuously trying to dialate, even though I was barely twenty weeks.