Undesirable #1

Known Order Location: 12 Grimmauld Place

12 Grimmauld Place, One Day Before Full Moon

"Wotcher, Remus - Oops, sorry - "
Tonks had hobbled into the kitchen with a stack of dirty plates and come up behind where Remus was sitting. He'd turned when she'd spoken, just as she'd tripped over the rug. The plates came crashing down as she stumbled into him, jogging his arm. Something fell from his hand into the midst of the shards.
"Sorry!" She knelt by the plates.
"No, let me - "
Tonks gasped. Her hair had gone bright pink for the first time in a month. She picked up what he'd dropped with shaking fingers.
It was small. And gold. And sparkly.
The diamond was tiny and the ring was a little scratched. It had probably been purchased second hand from a pawn shop somewhere.
It was quite possibly the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
She threw her arms around Remus. "Yes! Yes! Absolutely!" She clutched the ring as if it might disappear at any second.
Lupin had stumbled backward a bit, but he wrapped his arms around her cautiously. Finally!
Sirius clattered down the stairs looking grim. "Bad news - "
Tonks let Remus go. "Good news! I'm engaged!" She waved her ring in the air.
The grim look dropped from Sirius's face. "Seriously? Cheers, cuz!" He picked her up and whirled her around. Tonks laughed, hair growing pinker by the second.
"Harry'll want to know."
"I'll tell him! Maybe he can get a message through to Mum." Still beaming, Tonks hurried out.
Remus was still standing by the shattered plates with a slightly stunned look on his face.
Sirius glanced at the scene and laughed. "Real romantic, Moony."
Remus ran a hand through his hair. "I - well - "
"Allow me to guess." Sirius looked into the distance and adopted the misty tones he'd used to squeeze out a few extra points on his Divination O.W.L. "Some months ago, after much deliberation, you bought a ring. Further contemplation of said ring left you feeling that it, and by extension, you, were insufficient, both of you being rather old, poor, and beaten up - "
"Hey!"
" - so you held on to it, planning to, someday, with a great many apologies and backtrackings, to propose. After the accident a few weeks ago, you gave up on the idea and held onto it only so that you could look at it and think depressing thoughts. You were doing so moments ago when Tonks collided with you, both of you dropped what you were holding, she saw the ring - "
"Pretty much." He hadn't actually intended to propose after - after the accident. He'd assumed she wouldn't even want to talk to him, much less get married.
Sirius seemed to be reading his mind. The grin dropped. "You realize she knows all of that too, right?" he said more seriously.
Remus's head snapped up. "What?"
Sirius shrugged. "She wanted to get married. You wanted to get married. You were being stupid about it, so she took matters into her own hands. She's a Black. What did you expect?"
Remus was still staring at him.
Sirius grinned again. "Second Marauder to tie the knot! Who would have guessed? Congratulations, Moony. Now, why did I come down here in the first place . . . "
Before Lupin could smack him, an explosion sounded from somewhere near the front door.
"Oh, that's right. The Deatheaters are attacking."
"YOU FORGOT THAT THE DEATHEATERS - "
"I haven't had much sleep," Sirius said defensively. "And it's not every day your best friend and your cousin get engaged."
"I'm going to kill you," Remus growled.
Another explosion sounded.
"Do it later," Sirius suggested. They ran for the stairs.