Every Day
Valentine's Day had been way, way easier when they were in school. Then it was just a matter of going to Hogsmeade, buying some chocolates, spending some time together, and then going back to normal. It was simple. It wasn't that different from any other date.
But now he was twenty-six, and the girlfriend he'd had at sixteen was not going to be so easily impressed.
Of course he knew that Melanie was one of those "it's the thought that counts" people. She was fairly low-maintenance, as women went. She wasn't going to require fountains of roses and sparkling diamonds and all that sort of thing. She would expect some kind of acknowledgment of Valentine's Day, but she wouldn't need perfection. She loved him, and whatever he did she would tell him it was wonderful.
Sirius just wanted it to really be wonderful. He wanted to absolutely blow her mind with the complete brilliance of a visible and tangible demonstration of his love for her. He didn't want the same "Oh, that's so sweet!" that she would give her nieces for the cards they would send.
All right, so apparently his sick, sad addiction to drama, attention, and affection wasn't dead. And apparently it was attaching itself to Valentine's Day.
But healthy or not, it did lead to the flowers. And the fireworks. And the dramatic recitation of poetry in the middle of the DMLE offices. Which she loved, of course. She threw herself at him in a big hug, and she kissed him, and she had looked like she might just about cry. A total success. And yet, he didn't really feel the sense of victory he'd been expecting.
Not until later that night, when he was halfway to sleeping as Melanie came in from her late shift. Sirius woke up just a little when she slipped under the covers beside him, like he usually did. She curled up around him and rested her head on his shoulder, and through the half-sleeping fog he heard her murmur, "Happy Valentine's Day. Love you."
What he felt then was peace, and he realized that this was really what he had been looking for. Grand gestures were fun, but this was the real thing. The every day, that was what mattered.
"Love you," he whispered back, and drifted back to sleep with a smile.