Love Can Be Found In the Darkest of Places (A Marauders FanFiction)

Chapter 25: Letting Go

            They searched every inch of the castle for him. With their efforts unfruitful, Dumbledore decided that it would be safest to have the students sleep in the Great Hall overnight while the professors took turns patrolling the halls. Remus and Rose walked side-by-side in a silence that made him uneasy. Sirius' betrayal hadn't been easy for anyone who knew him, but no one had been more affected by it than Rose. She clutched her phoenix-core wand tightly in hand, as her eyes darted left and right in determination. Twelve years ago they would have done anything for Sirius. And now they were hunting him.

"He had to have left," Remus said quietly, as their patrol finished and led them in front of the Great Hall doors. By this time, it was three in the morning. Rose opened the door a crack to peer in at the now sleeping students. She closed it and turned to her friend.

"They'll want to know how he got in," she said in a hushed tone. To this day, Remus and Rose had kept the fact that she, James, Peter, and Sirius were all unregistered animagi. Sirius being an animagus was a crucial piece of information, and likely how he was able to enter the castle in the first place. But something had kept them from telling anyone for all those years. They shared a look that said he knew what she was thinking.

"Go on," Remus said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You should go and get some rest. You look exhausted."

The students talked about Sirius Black for several days following his entry to the castle, and Rose was doing all she could to not be bitter about it. Hearing his name tossed around so frequently had not been good for her psyche. One evening, after a long day of teaching non-verbal spells to sixth years, she was happy to retire to her suite. In the months that she'd been at Hogwarts, she was able to make it a very comfortable space. There were three rooms – the living room was the first, which led into a kitchen, with a door leading to her bedroom in the far-right corner of the area. The floor was covered in rugs from her travels, and almost every available surface in the space had a scentless candle flickering on top of it, creating a dream-like light in the room. In the left-hand corner of the room there stood a large cedar bookcase, filled to capacity with books of all sizes that she often lost herself in in her spare time.

She was about to collapse onto her maroon-colored sofa and lose herself within a muggle classic, Jane Eyre, when a soft knock at the door interrupted her. She opened it to find Marcus staring back at her. "Surprise!" he said happily, pulling her into a warm embrace. She wrapped her arms around him in greeting, taking in the scent of mahogany and cider that was Marcus Ellery.

"Consider me surprised," she said with a smile, stepping aside to let him in and shut the door. "What brings you to Hogwarts?" He looked strangely nervous.

"I, uh... I wanted to surprise you," he said, tripping over his words. "I know you've been going through a lot here, and I wanted to spend some time with you." He was fiddling with something in his right pocket, and Rose was becoming uneasy. In the time that they had known each other, Marcus and proposed on two separate occasions. On both, she was not ready. She did love him, but her inability to let go of the past had always prevented her from saying yes. She could never love anyone the way she loved Sirius, and Marcus deserved better than that.

"Rose, I know all of this Black uproar has brought up a lot for you...but I think you know why I'm here." She sighed.

"Marcus, please..."

"No, I want you to hear me out this time," he said, quickly cutting her off and taking her hands gently in his. She looked into his kind, blue eyes and hated herself for what she had put him through. "He was the love of your life, I know this. I know that I can't be that for you. But it's been twelve years. Don't you think you deserve to be happy by now?"

"I think you deserve to be happy, Marcus. Truly happy. And I don't think I can ever do that for you."

"This isn't about me. Until you truly let go of him, I don't think you'll ever find happiness." His words stung, but they rang true. He gripped her hands tighter. "Try this with me. Marry me, let me try to make you happy." She knew he was right. She didn't know why she had held on to the memory of Sirius for so long, letting it destroy her happiness. She had to let go of the man she once knew and accept him as the man who betrayed her best friends.

Marcus reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, gray box. He opened it to reveal a diamond ring, beautiful and simplistic. "Rose Garland, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?"

Reminding herself to let go of the past and allow this man to give her what they both deserved, she replied: "yes."