Noyade | Rabastan Lestrange [2] ✔︎

60 | SCREW IT

The next day Phoenix woke up with her eyes swollen from crying herself to sleep. Thankfully Rabastan must have been so worn out that he didn't wake up when she climbed back into bed but only pulled her into his arms, calming her with his steady heartbeat. It was difficult to leave his embrace to go and check if there had been any answer from Dumbledore. She had owled him after Rabastan had fallen asleep the night before and explained the Death Eater's plan and how she wanted to disrupt it. With every word she had written she had felt more like a traitor but then she had remembered everything that was at stake and had forced her hand to keep moving.

They planned to lure the Aurors into one of the unused Tube stations in London by having several Death Eaters catch people's attention and seeming to flee to the selected station. They thought their ambush would have the advantage of surprise and the darkness in the underground, which would make it easier for Phoenix to conceal them with an illusion. What they didn't know was that Phoenix would conceal the members of the order rather than Death Eaters.

However, with no answer from Hogwarts' headmaster, Phoenix felt unsure whether her plan to capture the Death Eaters without a fight would work out.

She was pulled out of her worries as Rabastan wrapped his arms around her from behind, whispering in her ear, "Good morning, love."

It felt like the most normal thing when he laughed at her jumping with surprise and reached around her to grab the coffee from the kitchen counter. "Would you please stop scaring me?"

Hadn't there been the mission later that day looming over their heads, Phoenix might have smiled at him and shook her head like every other morning before Marlene McKinnon's death. Those little things had always succeeded to make her laugh and light up the darkness surrounding them. But that day, the darkness was simply too heavy. No matter how hard Phoenix tried to punch it back, it always returned, like fog in the morning after a night of rain.

"What will I get in return?" Rabastan asked cheekily.

Phoenix knew exactly what he was playing at. Recently Rabastan had been coming up with any kind of excuse to get a kiss from her but now she planned on getting her fun from it too. She grabbed the box with sugar in it from the counter and placed it on the table in front of him. "You'll get this because otherwise, you won't be able to drink your coffee."

For a long moment Rabastan just stared at her with a look that almost looked like awe, then he smiled at her. "Do you even know how beautiful you are?"

The complete change of subject took Phoenix aback, just like what he was saying. She knew that he had to be lying. While he looked kind of cute with his blonde hair ruffled from sleep and a steaming cup of coffee in his hand, she was far from a beauty in the morning – not that she was during any other part of the day - but Phoenix had seen herself in a mirror on occasion and while she naturally had dark circles under her eyes after waking up, they couldn't be much better after crying half the night. Still, she couldn't help the smile creeping onto her lips.

With a bang, Rabastan set the mug back down on the counter. "Screw it."

He grabbed Phoenix' hands in his warm ones, running his thumbs over her knuckles. His light blue eyes were fixed on hers and while she was unable to feel his feelings like she did with others, she could see how much he cared, gratitude and most of all love. She had never believed it when books had explained how the eyes of a person were the window to their soul, but now she knew how. It just made sense.

"Look, I know this is all wrong. It's cheesy and absolutely the wrong moment to do this but I need you to know and I can't wait to get your answer." Rabastan drew in a deep breath whereas Phoenix looked up at him with a confused look on her face. "You and I, we've known each other forever and since the beginning of our sixth year at Hogwarts, I've been cursing myself for not trying to get to know you better before. I've always hated the idea that humans had to look for their soulmate to be complete and to be able to live their lives. But when I got to know you the way I did, I realized finding your soulmate isn't making a whole out of pieces. Well, maybe you helped put me back together and you're still doing that, actually, but that's beside the point. It is about finding somebody who makes you a better person and is there for you when you need them, just like they can depend on you if you need them. You've been all of that for me and more. And yesterday I released something else."

Rabastan took a step away from her and reached to the back of his neck to unclasp the necklace with his family ring. When he then lowered himself onto one knee Phoenix' eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hands. Was he about to...

"I know we're still young, but for me, you're the one. I never want to spend another day of my life without you and that's why I'd like to ask you this. Phoenix Irma Black, will you marry me?"

Phoenix was shaking. She had expected anything but that. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Yes," she breathed, throwing her arms around his neck.

In that very moment, she didn't care about anything that was about to go down that afternoon. She was just a normal young girl, hugging and kissing the boy she loved. And right then she wanted nothing more than just to cast some spell to stop time and live in that moment forever.

Because amidst a terrible war, she was happy.