remus lupin is finally at peace. (moonstricken) wrote in blurred_lines, @ 2008-10-09 22:00:00 |
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It was a little strange for Remus to think that they were here, trying to pretend that they weren't involved in a war, and that they were just two normal people out on a vacation. Back at home, people were preparing for a trap at the masquerade, training in duelling lessons and a select few of them who were mentally preparing themselves to act as fake hostages. But here they were, at a street market in Amsterdam, attempting to just enjoy the day together and try not to think about how they would have to throw themselves right back into a war when they returned home. However, Remus was doing his best not to dwell on those thoughts right now -- they'd just come to the Albert Cuyp Market after a nice visit to the Van Goeh museum in the morning, and were strolling down the crowded street to browse the stalls offering a variety of things, from pastries to clothing to tacky souvenirs to all kinds of flowers -- even pets, furniture, and haircuts were offered here. "Let me know if you see anywhere you'd like to stop, okay?" He didn't think they'd get around to seeing everything, but that was okay -- it was also getting close to lunch time and he was feeling a little hungry, and so he was keeping his eye out for a small place for them to stop and grab a quick bite to eat at. The fish was smelling particularly good, and the air was filled with scents; chocolates and cheeses, a variety of spices, meats, home-grown vegetables, sweets, fresh baked bread, fruit, berries, nuts -- it was no wonder he felt hungry. Remus was also glad to notice that everything seemed to be relatively cheaper here, which ought to make it easier on their pockets, especially considering their plans for later on in the day. There was something about getting away from the war, going on holiday even just on an overnight, that actually made Marlene want to fight more in the war back at home. It was nice to see that there were still places somewhere that hadn't been touched by it yet, when at home it sometimes felt like the war was all they had. And if it meant that they'd be able to keep it from spreading to other places, then in a rather sucky way, it was worth it. But for right now, Marlene was just happy to be out of England, not thinking about the Order or the Death Eaters or the war or anything that didn't have to do with her and Remus and the fact that they sold waffles on the street in Amsterdam. Everything was so pretty, and even with winter catching up to them, the streets were still filled with enough flowers to make Marlene's inner Herbologist very very happy that they'd decided to come to Holland. She was getting hungry too, and didn't want to leave until she'd tried everything that Amsterdam had to offer. She was about to suggest they check out one of the sausage carts when she stopped in her tracks, a vision of wonderment revealing itself betwixt the flurry of people. "Let's get one of those," Marlene replied excitedly, a wide grin spreading across her face as she saw a tiny red and white checkered cart, the sign reading 'Goudse Stroopwafels.' She couldn't read the language, but it looked close enough to "Good Waffles" for Marlene to want to try one. It seemed silly, as Marlene had waffles all the time back at home, but this was different. They were buying these ones from a cart. Remus looked over at the cart that had caught Marlene's attention, and although he couldn't read the sign either, it certainly smelled appetising. "Alright, let's do that," he agreed with a smile, taking Marlene's hand as they made their way through the crowed toward the red and white cart to stand in line. He could see the men inside the cart cooking the stroopwafels, and even though they were using waffle irons to make them, they weren't pouring a liquid into the irons. Remus watched as one of the men took a ball of dough and placed it in the centre of one of the waffle irons, closing it down to flatten the dough out while it cooked, and once that was done, he removed the flattened dough from the iron and sliced it in half. He spread in a mixture of syrup, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon on one half of the stroopwafel before placing the other half back on top again as if he were making a sandwich. When it was their turn to order, Remus approached the cart and asked for two, pulling out some muggle money from his pocket to count out, handing the paper money over to the man taking his order. After collecting his change, he put the coins and bills back into his pocket to accept the two stroopwafels, individually wrapped in red and white checkered paper for something to hold onto so they could eat. "Here you go," Remus handed her one of them, moving aside from the cart to allow the people behind them to place their orders next. "Do you want to sit down somewhere to eat, or just keep walking?" "Well let's think..." Marlene pondered, taking her stroopwafel from Remus, folding back the edge of the checkered paper so that she didn't bite into the paper on accident. "We might want to keep going if we want to make it to the Erotica Museum before it closes," Marlene suggested as lightly and casually as if she'd been talking about the weather, glancing up at Remus to catch his reaction. Unfortunately for Remus, he had just been taking a bite of his own when Marlene made the suggestion. His face turned red in a matter of seconds with a deep blush, almost choking on the food he'd just put into his mouth, swallowing so he wouldn't actually choke. He coughed a few times, fist in front of his mouth for politeness. "You -- you want to go where?" he asked, wondering if she was just teasing him or if she was actually serious. He didn't even know something like that existed. What in Merlin's name would they even put on display in there? "Oh nonono oh god don't choke, it was a joke!" Marlene panicked for a second as Remus coughed on his stoopwafel, only starting to giggle once she was sure he wasn't going to collapse and die in the middle of Amsterdam. "No, I was totally just joking. Although I do think we should take pictures outside of it, just to show people to make them think we went in..." She was pretty much positive that Sirius's eyeballs would fall out of his head if he thought that she'd convinced Remus to go inside an erotica museum. "Are you going to live?" she asked with a grin, finally taking a bite of her own food. "I'd be really... oh my god this is fantastic," she noted, the words coming out all muffled and chewy as she stared at the god-sent pastry. Well, that he could do, and Remus chuckled. "Okay, we can go there and take a photo... although, Sirius will probably ask if we brought him home a souvenir from there. We can just distract him with something shiny." He hadn't actually tasted the stroopwafel with his first bite, as he'd choked on it instead, so at Marlene's declaration of how good they were, Remus tried his again. She was right -- it was really good for a pastry. "It is really good... maybe we can get some to bring home before we leave the market, and drop them off back at the hotel before we go someplace else," he suggested, knowing how much Marlene loved waffles. He liked them too, of course, and these were even better, but Marlene has always been much more enthusiastic about them than he was. "Oh... and maybe Ted would like some. He's always offering to make waffles for everyone, it's only fair he get treated once in a while too." Honestly, Remus wished he had enough money to bring back treats for everyone, but as it were they needed to limit their spending. Ted has been a very good friend to both of them. "Oh we should," Marlene agreed, walking snuggled close to Remus and already almost half finished with her pastry. "That's a fantastic idea." Ted had always been Marlene's waffle buddy, and especially with everything he'd done for her in the last year, giving her a place to crash for almost a month after her flat was attacked and finding her Sammie, she definitely wanted to get him something to say thank you, even if it was something little. She pondered what sorts of souvenirs they should get everyone else -- although really, they were in Amsterdam. For most of them, especially Agnes, it was obvious. "Oh hey, another wooden shoe stand!" Marlene moved closer to the display of painted clogs, checking out the prices they had listed on them (not that she had much of an idea as to how that translated to muggle money, especially given the type of money they used in Holland compared to back in England. Excellent, these ones were cheaper, and after seeing a display back at the Bloemenmarkt that used the wooden shoes as flower pots for tulips, Marlene was anxious to take a pair back home with her to do the same. Remus put his free arm around her waist as they walked, tearing off more of the pastry with his teeth to eat. He followed her reluctantly to the wooden shoe stand that had caught her attention, eyeing the painted things and wondering if she wanted a pair to put up in their room. Well, he couldn't complain too much -- it would be better than what he had up in their room now... which was nothing. If Remus had it his way, he would just have bookcases all up against the empty wall spaces, so it was probably better if Marlene took over decorating if she wanted to. Remus suspected that would just mean a lot of plants, and he was okay with that. "Are you thinking of getting one of these?" he asked, remembering how she had noticed them earlier in the day too. "Yep!" Marlene nodded, scanning the display for a pair that she liked. "I need something fun to replant the passion flowers in now that I've moved them over to the flat, because I think we're going to need to use those bowls again someday for cooking food," she explained. "Especially since we'll need them if we ever want to have soup again." Okay, so yes, maybe using the pots she'd brought over from her parents' house as temporary flower pots hadn't exactly been the best idea, BUT the point was, it had always been just that: Temporary. Finding a green-painted pair that she liked, Marlene grabbed them from the shelf, sticking them under her arm to hold while she fished through her purse for her money, staring at it for a bit before looking up at Remus, a little embarrassed that once again the stupid muggle money was getting the best of her. "Help please?" "What would you do without me?" Remus teased as he took the muggle money from her, checking the price tag on the wooden shoes she picked out so he could pay the appropriate amount. He made a mental note to himself to sit down with Marlene sometime and try to teach her how to count muggle money, when they weren't on vacation. Once the shoes were paid for, he gave the money along with her change back to return it to her purse. Well, at least she hadn't picked out a pink coloured one. "The passion flowers will look nice in those, I think. Unless James or Sirius get their hands on them first... they would likely think you're supposed to wear them," he grinned a little. It was nice, being out here with Marlene... but thinking back to their first date six months ago, it felt different, in both good and bad ways. It was good in that he felt happy and content; on that first date in the fair, Remus never could have guessed that their relationship would have grown into something like this. He couldn't even remember the last time he felt worried about staying with her because of his condition; she's already shown that she's strong enough to handle it to him. He's always been an awkward person, but he's become more comfortable around her than he feels even around the guys with most things. Things were good, he felt -- no, better than good. Still, thinking back, he'd noticed more about himself that has changed -- he was much calmer now, more jaded, although Remus was sure these things didn't have anything to do with Marlene, but the effect the war has had on him. He had been more likely to get in silly moods or play games, then. At least, from what he has noticed -- although he still saw differences -- Marlene didn't seem as effected as he had been. But this isn't something he wanted to bring up now, and not here. "Come on -- do you think we might be able to find something for Peter here? I've a feeling he'd prefer something else than what we'll be getting the others. I'm not sure what... I'm really no good with gifts. It takes me so long to think of anything." Remus took Marlene's hand and squeezed it affectionately, moving over to the next stand that seemed to focus on women's clothing. No, they certainly wouldn't find anything there for him. It was probably for the best that Marlene was unaware of Remus's inner monologue, because it was likely that she would have laughed at him -- or at least at the idea that she hadn't been jaded by the war as much as he had been. Maybe it was just because the way it had affected them differed quite a bit. She was so much more afraid of things now than she used to be, especially of losing people. Marlene was much less of an open book now, and was a hell of a lot more hesitant now when it came to what she shared with people, even with Remus (although that mostly came from a fear of worrying him) more so than just not wanting to talk to people about it. She didn't like being so secretive all the time, especially with people she'd cared about. But, well, they had enough to worry about these days. But that wasn't anything that she wanted to think about, or talk about, or anything of the sort while they were on holiday, and so Marlene wasn't going to. "I'd be completely lost. And a lot poorer, probably," Marlene replied honestly, closing her change up in her purse. She considered for a second how completely ridiculous James and Sirius would look tromping around wearing the wooden clogs, and decided that she wasn't going to say a word to them about her plans of using them as flowerpots until after they'd made arses of themselves. "Hmm. Peteypeteypetey, what would he like..." Marlene pondered, tapping her chin lightly with her waffle before chomping off another bite. She chewed, she thought, and finally she came to a conclusion. "Maybe they've got a booth with records somewhere. Pete's a big music guy, maybe we can find him something that's big locally here that he'd like," Marlene suggested, squeezing his hand back in return, sticking close to him. They could've stayed right there forever, and Marlene would've been happy. Things were absolutely perfect. "There must be one around here somewhere," Remus commented, still slowly working on finishing his own stroopwafel. They passed carts selling other pastries, followed by carts selling sausages and seafood, and Remus paused at a cart selling pets and pet supplies, considering getting something for Sammie too. However, he decided it might be best to get something at a different cart, after he attempted to pet one of the kittens that were on sale there, earning him a terrified feline swiping it's claws at his hand. It missed, but the cat was still clearly uneasy at Remus' presence. "Okay... shall we keep moving?" he asked, already moving away from the cart and over to the one beside it. He finished his pastry, throwing away the wrapper into a trash bin. The next cart held a variety of items, and Remus found a selection of albums in the back to flip through. "Maybe they'll have something here -- do you remember what bands he likes? I'm not so great with music... doesn't he like some orchestra band?" Remus asked, trying to remember what albums he's seen at Peter's place before. Hell, he couldn't even remember what bands Sirius liked, and he lived with him -- remembering what Peter liked was a little more difficult, and he flipped through the albums on sale in the cart, hoping he'd recognise a name on one of the covers. Marlene finished nibbling away at the last of her food, leaning against Remus and watching as he flicked through the albums and waiting to see if something that looked familiar would pop out at her. "I know he likes ELO; he got me one of their albums for my birthday," she said, stuffing the last bit of stoopwafel in her mouth and crumpling up the wrapping paper once she'd finished, tossing the paper into the nearest bin. Once her hand was free, she joined Remus in the record-shuffling, not finding anything she recognised among the million upon billions of ABBA albums (as well as a few Beegees records, which Marlene quickly flipped past, pretending not to have seen them). "Pete's not really the disco pop type, is he?" Marlene deduced, continuing to look. "Maybe we can find him something with the cover in Dutch; that'd be pretty cool." Remus laughed a little at the thought of Peter liking disco music. "No, I don't think he likes disco -- but that's a good idea. Better than just getting him something we could buy anywhere." He continued to look through the albums, pausing when he found the Discovery album by ELO, recognising the cover. "Oh, here's something -- this is the one he gave you, isn't it? It looks familiar -- he probably already has it, then, do you think?" "It is!" Marlene nodded, excited that they'd found something that she KNEW that Pete would like... even if he probably did already have a copy of it. Which was problematic. "Well, let's see. Maybe we can look around and see if we can find anything else, and if we don't, we can come back and grab this. Even if he already has a copy of it, maybe this way he can leave one at James's place so that when he holds us all hostage in Godric's Hollow, Pete'll have music he likes to listen to there? And, Dutch, which is always cool," she suggested. Pete was hard to shop for. At least with Sirius and James (at least until he'd gotten married), one could just default to porn. "Good idea," Remus agreed, setting the album back in the box. He'd never been very good at picking out gifts for as long as he could remember, and if Remus had it his way, he'd just buy everyone books. Not everyone liked books, though, and Remus would much rather get a present for someone that they would enjoy, rather than rely on something he knew well. "Let's keep looking around, then. I'm sure we'll find something, there's a lot to see here. We should probably find something for Lily while we're here, too." Lily, at least, would be a little easier to find something for. He put his arm around her waist again, leaning down a little to kiss her cheek. After leaving the Albert Cuyp Market and dropping their purchases off back at the hotel, there were still two places they had yet to visit that Remus knew Marlene didn't want to miss out on -- they had decided to try out a coffee shop before going to dinner. It was clear to him immediately that it wasn't a coffee shop as soon as they got near, already smelling the pot smoke just outside of the shop. He was a little nervous about going inside, because these just weren't the kinds of people he was usually around. Agnes and the guys were different if only because he's known them all for a long time, and even then, Remus knew he wasn't considered cool. The place seemed warm and inviting, though, and he opened the door, holding it open for Marlene to head in first. A large grin spread over Marlene's face as soon as she and Remus stepped through the door of the "coffee shop," -- one that she was almost sure wasn't just the fault of any fast-working contact high. This was so awesome. Marlene couldn't believe that they were actually allowed to buy and smoke pot in here and that was just fine and dandy and commonplace. And while she was nowhere near the biggest pothead in the world -- really, she only smoked occasionally when compared to the fact she'd shared a bed with a girl who owned a bong -- the fact that this was really real was making Marlene giddy. "We are so not in England anymore," Marlene giggled, grabbing Remus's hand once he'd come inside too and pulling him up toward the counter so that they could order. So that they could order their marijuana from a coffee shop. Remus followed Marlene up to the counter, the giddiness she was feeling rubbing off on him to the point where it was impossible not to smile. "Definitely not," he agreed, although upon reaching the counter, was unsure how they were supposed to go about this. It wasn't as if he's ever bought marijuana before, let alone at a place they were allowed to. Spotting the confused couple, a small woman with short brown hair working behind the counter walked over to them with a bounce in her step and a bright smile on her face. "Hi there you two! Can I get ya something to drink? Orrrr maybe you'd like to see a menu?" When Remus replied, "yes, please," the woman -- Remus noted her nametag stated her name as 'Sunny' -- gave them both a wink, pulling out a menu from a shelf under the counter. Sunny opened it up and pushed it in front of Marlene and Remus for them to read. Of course, it wasn't a drink menu at all, and what was presented to them was a list of the different kinds of hash and grass they were selling, and Remus eyed the open menu, hoping Marlene might understand it better than he did. "Just call me back over when you two know what you want, yeah?" Sunny beamed at them, before hurrying over to help another customer that was trying to get her attention. Remus took a seat on one of the stools at the bar, leaning in close to Marlene so they could look at the menu together. "Do you have any idea what any of this means?" he asked, keeping his voice down. Marlene stared down at the menu confusedly, not from lack of knowledge as to what it meant but out of complete disbelief that she was actually seeing this. It was a menu of hash. Were they allowed to take these home with them? "I... think so...." Marlene giggled, twisting the ends of her hair between her fingers as she glanced between "Northern Light" and "Hawaiian Haze." "Oh my god there's something called Purple Powder. Oh, Purple POWER, thank Merlin I read that wrong. I thought it was like someone decided smoking floo powder would be a good idea." And with that thought, Marlene paused for a moment, wondering if smoking floo powder would be a good idea. "I can't pick. You pick. It's your turn to pick something," she changed the subject, shaking that possibly terrible thought out of her head. Remus laughed and pulled the menu over in front of him, taking his glasses out and sliding them on. "Alright, alright -- I'll pick." Of course, his eyes immediately noticed the pre-rolled joints, which would save him the embarrassment of trying to roll his own in public (and failing). He never realised that there were so many different kinds, and he wondered what the differences between them all were. "We could get some of that Purple Power to bring back," he suggested. "Or maybe the Thai. I don't know enough to guess if Agnes and the guys would like them. While we're staying in here, though, why don't we try the pre-rolled, um, White Widow?" He looked up from the menu to look for the woman who had been helping them, seeing her pouring a drink for someone, and Sunny caught Remus' eye and held up a finger to indicate she'd be over to help them in a minute. She wiped her hands off on her apron and came back over to the pair, hands on her hips. "You two picked something out?" she asked, her voice in a perpetual tone of cheeriness. "Yes, I think we'd like to get two of the pre-rolled White Widows?" Remus asked, hoping he sounded like he knew what he was talking about. "Sure thing sweetie, I'll be back in just a tic with those." And with that, Sunny disappeared into the back room, coming out a moment later with the joints. Remus was surprised at how easy it was to buy these -- she hadn't even asked for an ID to see how old they were. After paying for their purchases, Remus picked up a book of matches, tearing one out to light. "Want to try yours first?" he asked, offering one of the joints to Marlene. Marlene nodded, taking the offered joint from Remus, trying not to look too excited. Everyone else in the coffee shop seemed so much more chill, while Marlene was practically bouncing off the walls from nerves and excitement. This was a landmark occasion. They'd just legally purchased marijuana. Marlene let Remus light her joint for her, and waited for him to get his own ready before inhaling. "Whoa, shit! This is WAY stronger than the stuff Sirius had!" she exclaimed after her first puff on it, immediately going in for her second and third hit. Oh yes. This was going to be a fun night indeed. No worrying about the bullshit that had happened with the shebeast back at home, no fretting about Grady being a bigot, no worrying about starting work undercover on Monday at the Prophet or James and Lily's fight or anything back at home. It was just her, Remus, and some hash. And some hippies. Marlene was pretty sure she was in love with Amsterdam. Luckily for Remus, Marlene hadn't allowed him to read his journal before they left for the trip, and so he didn't know the incidents that had happened with Pryce and Bell that morning, which was for the best -- the words exchanged would have been stuck on Remus' mind for the whole trip had he seen them. At Marlene's exclamation, he tentatively took a small hit from his own blunt, and he covered his mouth to cough from the strength of it. She was right -- it was much stronger. It was also better, though, and once he felt he had recovered enough, he took a second hit. There was that nice feeling, right there. "It is very different. I'm surprised he's never had any of this before... or at least that he's shared with us," he commented, suddenly not feeling so nervous and out of place here anymore. "Definitely not floo powder," he said, laughing a little at the thought of it. That honestly wouldn't've been much of a surprise. Marlene was almost willing to bet money that Sirius had drugs hidden away in secret nooks of his room or hollowed out books that he didn't tell the rest of them about. And if he didn't, Agnes almost certainly did. She wondered if Agnes had every had any pot from overseas before, and while she'd already planned on getting her present from this store, Marlene wanted to be positive that she got the absolute strongest kind they had for her friend. Marlene wondered if this was it, because she was definitely already feeling it. Of course, she'd just proved barely a week earlier that she was a total lightweight when it came to marijuana. "We've gotta bring this kind back with us. This kind, and all the kinds, and the purple power powder. Do you think it would work if we used that as floo powder? How bloody brilliant would that be?" "I don't think we could afford to get every kind," Remus laughed, mostly because of the influence of the White Widow taking effect on him, which made things that weren't even funny suddenly worthy of laughter. "But I think we can bring back a few things that everyone can share. It would be nice to get a variety so we could all take turns trying the different kinds," he suggested. He wasn't quite as lightweight as Marlene was, so it took him a little longer to really feel it, so he had to smoke a little more to keep up with her. Everyone seemed so friendly in the shop, both employees and customers, and once it came time to make their final purchases to bring home with them, Sunny was more than happy to help them pick out some of the better choices. The night was late when they finally made it back to the hotel, and Remus was still a little tipsy, but he was far from tired -- instead, he was nervous and possibly a little nauseous, but he suspected that had a lot more to do with nerves than it did with the absinthe. It took him two tries to unlock the door to their room and, pushing the door open, he hesitated for a moment before crossing into the room. Remus wasn't ready to turn in for the night, not yet -- going to bed now would just mean tomorrow would come sooner, and they'll have to return to their lives back in London, fighting in a war and fighting for their lives. He was dreading it, almost. Even if he wished he could just stay out here and never go back, Remus knew he couldn't bring himself to do that. It was because of this that these moments in their lives that they were able to steal, to sneak away and pretend that they were just living normal lives were all the more memorable. Which is why, before they had left for their trip, Remus had made an important decision. He didn't want to return home without trying this here, so when they looked back, they would remember their trip to Amsterdam on their sixth anniversary, and not the middle of a war. "Do you get to do everything you wanted to?" he asked, looking at Marlene and smiling at her. Marlene was still a little bit on the tipsy side -- someone needed to make absinthe legal in England now -- but overall, she was mostly in a fantastic mood simply just from how fantastic the day had gone. Everything had worked out perfectly, they hadn't run into any unexpected disasters, there weren't any explosions or battles in the middle of the street while they were just trying to shop... Marlene definitely could've gotten used to this. Part of her didn't want to get used to it, though. It made being able to sneak away from everything with Remus more special. "I definitely did," Marlene grinned back, moving from his side to behind Remus, cuddling against his back while wrapping her arms around him and sticking her hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "Well, alllllmost everything," she added with a devillish giggle. Remus blushed a little when Marlene's hands made their way into his pockets, still smiling, until he remembered that he had been keeping her second gift in his pocket to surprise her with. "Wait," he laughed a little, gently grabbing her wrists and pulling her hands out from his pockets. He let go and then turned around to face her, hands going to her waist as he leaned in and kissed her lips. "Wait just a minute. I have another gift for you, first." God, Remus didn't think he'd ever felt this nervous before in his life. But he knew he was ready to ask this; there was no telling when the next time they could escape from the war would be. He was still scared; afraid that Marlene might leave him one day, or even worse, that he'd lose her to the war, but he was hanging up his life based on chances and possibilities. He knew he loved her, though, and Remus had finally stopped making excuses to himself. Now he just needed to work up the courage to say it. And maybe remember to breathe, too. "Do you -- do you remember a couple months ago, when you asked me if I thought we might ever get married?" Yes, breathing was a very good thing right now. "Uh huhhh," Marlene nodded with a smile, completely oblivious (or ignoring, one of the two) Remus's nerves, wrapping her arms around Remus's shoulders and popping up onto her toes to continue kissing him. Apparently their little stop in the absinthe bar had made Marlene a bit more openly frisky than she typically was, because at the moment she didn't give a rat's arse if someone was to come down the hall and yell at them to cut the P.D.A. and get a room. Besides. They had already gotten a room. They were in the room they'd gotten. It wouldn't be their fault if the hotel was full of peepers simply because both she and Remus had forgotten to close the door behind them. "But I understand if you don't want to, too," she continued, barely thinking about what she was saying to concentrate more on trying to be tall enough to kiss Remus on the face. "I just want to be with you and not ever leave, just like this." She was being distracting. It might have been a little annoying if it weren't Marlene, and if she weren't trying to kiss him right now. It was completely the opposite of annoying, which made it all the more difficult for Remus to make himself stop kissing her back. He hadn't even noticed their door was still open, thinking about too many things at once already. "Marlene... I want that too. I just want to be with you." In hindsight, a hotel room in Holland may not have been the most romantic place in the world for him to do this, but it had taken him the entire day to work up this courage already. He didn't want to change his mind now. "Er, what I mean is -- hold on," he pulled back from her a little so he could reach into his pocket, pulling out a gold ring with a single diamond, the ring that had once belonged to his mother, and his great grandmother before her. He couldn't afford to buy a new one, much as he would have liked to buy her the world, but this ring was sentimental enough to be priceless. Remus nearly dropped the ring, but he held on tight, hesitating and wondering if he should get down on one knee or not. That was the traditional way to do it, right? But imagining himself doing that made him feel like he'd look silly. "What I mean is, I do. Want to marry you." Oh, Merlin, and now he couldn't talk, everything he said sounded awkward, and he had imagined this going much smoother in his head. He should have talked to the guys or Mrs P about this first, but now he was here left to try and figure it out on his own. He took a deep breath and forced himself to get down on one knee in front of her, even if he felt embarrassed doing to, still holding on to one of her hands as he looked up at her. "Will you marry me?" he asked, voice completely betraying just how nervous he was feeling at that moment, and held up the ring for her to see. Marlene felt like she was going to pass out. She was going to faint right there on the floor in front of the boy who was down on one knee asking him to marry her. Given that in the last two minutes Marlene had completely forgotten how to breathe, it almost made sense. She watched the scene unfold in front of her as if she wasn't even a part of it, as she'd been completely convinced that this was never going to happen. And she'd resigned herself to that; as long as she and Remus were together, it didn't really matter if they were married, did it? And he hadn't wanted to, and Marlene had accepted that. Besides, it was still so soon in their relationship, it'd only been six months (barely three when she'd made the mistake of bringing it up before), and there was the war, and things were so dangerous... But he was asking. Remus was actually asking, and if his voice hadn't given away how absolutely terrified he was, his face had. And she was sure that the fact that she wasn't saying anything (and that she was probably going blue from asphyxiation) wasn't helping calm his nerves either. Finally she managed to exhale, at least, which paved the way for a nervous laugh as she nodded fervently, biting her lower lip, knowing that if she was going to be trapped in this annoyingly muted state she needed some way to indicate the thoughts of "YES OF COURSE YOU IDIOT" that were racing through her mind. She took the ring from him, her hand shaking -- 'oh god Marlene don't you dare drop it' she ordered herself -- and lowered herself down so that she was sitting on both knees. "Of course I will," Marlene whispered, the sound barely audible as she pulled her hand from Remus's, placing the (slightly too big) ring on it before nearly tackling him over to hug him. "Oh you had better not be doing this because you're drunk right now because I'd be so bloody upset if you changed your mind," Marlene laughed, then sniffed a little, realising she was starting to well up with annoying happy tears. "Oh hell, it's good crying, it's good crying I swear!" she explained, torn between laughing and shock and tears and a million other emotions all at once. This was really happening. Remus wanted to marry her. They were going to get married. She was going to be Mrs. Marlene Lupin and even if they were never able to have kids and even if the stupid war never ended they were still going to have each other and they were going to get married. And that was enough. And Marlene could not have been happier. When Marlene didn't answer for a few moments, Remus started to wonder if this had been a bad idea. This is why he hadn't told the guys what he was going to do before they left for Amsterdam -- he was afraid that she might say no, and he'd have to go back and tell them she rejected his proposal. Of course, once she nodded, he let out the breath he didn't realise he'd been holding, a wide grin on his face when she accepted the ring from him. His heart felt like it was beating quickly in his chest, and who knew you could get such a rush of adrenaline out of just asking someone to marry you? "I promise it's not the alcohol," Remus laughed with her, laying there on the floor after she had knocked them both over by tackling him. He wrapped his arms around Marlene to hold her in a tight hug. "I wouldn't have been carrying that ring around all day if it was. I really want to. I know we've not been dating for very long, but... I think we'll be okay." They <I>would</i>, wouldn't they? And this was a war -- every moment they had was precious time, now. When six months with someone felt as if they've always been in your life, were there any other signs? "I know that I love you, and that I want to stop trying to push you away." Remus kissed her, but out of the corner of his eye he finally noticed that the door was wide open. Luckily, no one seemed to have walked by (at least, that he knew of) to stare into their room. Closing the door would mean he'd have to get up, though, but right then, Remus didn't want to let go of Marlene. His fiance. His future wife. God, he could hardly believe that he was going to get married -- he never expected he'd find someone. Remus felt terrified and happy all at once. He pulled his wand out, waiting a moment to make sure no one walked by again to cast a silent spell to shut the door. It slammed closed a tad too hard, and Remus flinched once at the noise before discarding his wand to the floor. "Do you like the ring? I wasn't sure if it would fit," Remus said, tucking some of Marlene's hair back behind her ear. "It belonged to my mum. It's been passed down in my family for a while now." Marlene had completely forgotten that they'd both left the door to the hotel room open, and the thud that resounded about the room as the door slammed shut made Marlene jump slightly, rolling a little to the side off of Remus and onto the floor, but staying still in his arms. "Oooh, whoops, that door kind of stopped existing for a bit, didn't it?" she noted, smiling at him. She couldn't stop smiling, not that she wanted to. "I love it. I love you," Marlene replied, unable to look away from the ring on her finger. Oh god, she was engaged. She was engaged. In what world would any guy ever possibly be able to put up with Marlene long enough to marry her? "It's a little bit big, but there's time to fix that, for sure. It was your mum's?" Buggering hell, she was going to start happy crying again. Stupid emotions. When did she turn into such a girl? This was ridiculous. (Or possibly absinthe-influenced.) She'd never really had anything like that, anything that she'd gotten because it had passed down her family from generation to generation. Those things had all been intended to go to Sophie or Harlan, since they were the oldest girl and boy. Everything Marlene had gotten, she'd gotten by accident since the children who were supposed to weren't there to receive it. "That means a lot, Remus; it's beautiful. Thank you, love." "I'm glad you're happy. I love you, too." Remus leaned over to kiss her again, wishing they didn't have to go back home tomorrow, just wanting to run away with her right now and eloping to get married. He was sure if they tried to do that so soon, though, he might chicken out -- and he wanted the guys and Lily to be there, at the very least. They had time to plan these things still, and he wasn't in a rush right now. "We can get the ring re-sized once we're home," he murmured, shifting his body to be closer to her after she had rolled away when the door closed shut. He couldn't help but wonder that even though they were both certainly happy, if she was as scared as he was, too. It was a big step for both of them to be taking, and Marlene had always seemed more confident than he was. His elbow was starting to feel a little sore from leaning on the carpet on the floor, so he moved his weight to lean on his forearm instead. "Do you want to move to the bed? I think we might be a little more comfortable there than on the floor," he suggested, even blushing faintly, because that was as 'forward' as he usually managed to get. Marlene took the hint, even if Remus hadn't intended for it to be one. Besides, it was the one thing left in Amsterdam that she hadn't gotten to do yet, and it would have been such a shame if they'd gone home unfulfilled. "I think that's a fantastic idea," Marlene smirked, slinking out of Remus's arms and up to her feet, grabbing his hands to help pull him upwards so that they could get a bit more comfortable. "Sorry for pouncing you there; I got a tiny bit excited," she giggled, mussing up the sheets of the perfectly-made bed as she plopped down, kicking her shoes across the room. Keeping hold of Remus's hands, lacing her fingers into his, she pulled him closer to the bed so that he was standing in front of the spot on the mattress and circled her legs around his, crossing her ankles behind him so that he was "trapped". "Hehehhee, caught you. I changed my mind; I think you should stay riiight there." Remus smiled as she helped him stand up, following her to the bed as she guided him there. "You don't have to apologise," he said. "I never mind when you pounce on me." He had been about to join her on the bed, but she hadn't let go of his hands, instead pulling him closer so she could put her legs around him as he stood in front of the bed. He grinned and raised an eyebrow at her for her playfulness. "Oh, no," Remus replied in a tone of mock concern. "Whatever will I do now? I suppose I'll just have to try and get comfortable like this," he said, leaning down over her on the bed to kiss her. |