Chapter 17

Christmas day came quickly and the Hopkins couldn't deny their excitement. It was wonderful for Adria to wake up at four to Jude who was carrying on her tradition of waking up the ones who got the presents, and when he pulled on her hand to get to the living room, seeing the amount of presents he had as well as everyone else, everyone was ecstatic for the day.

Sirius was going on and on about the night of Christmas, saying that part of Adria's present was a date just for the both of them, and to say she was excited was an understanding. She loves spending time with Sirius, he was her best friend as well as the boy she was in love with so having dates with him weren't only cute, but also incredibly fun and everyone was better than the last.

Adria and Sirius made pancakes the morning of Christmas, it was the one thing everyone could all agree on collectively without anyone fussing over not liking something or not being in the mood to eat it and even though, regardless of Adria's words, everyone was fussing over her, she actually was able to help Sirius who was making sure she kept out of any trouble.

The two had an eventful day, going to Alfie's to see Mila and drop of Jude so that he could get even more presents, and then going to James and Lily's to see everyone, which resulted in even more presents for them. Neither of them knew where they were going to put everything they had but Adria was excited for her night with Sirius because of the most beautiful dress that Lily had gotten her. It was red and flowy, down to her knees and perfect to wear under her winters coat that getting ready for her evening with Sirius was fun.

He wanted to do something fancy so that the both of them could forget about everything in their lives and pretend to live as though they were like one of those "muggle celebrities that the tv box is always yapping on about," Sirius said, earning a laugh from Adria who kissed him plenty of times to know that she was more than grateful.

She didn't need a fancy restaurant to have a good Christmas, in fact she didn't even need presents. She always wondered why her parents said they barely cared about presents at Christmas when it was one of her favourite things but she realised that the gifts she needed in life weren't materialistic objects that she could own, it was Sirius, and Jude and her friends and family, those where her gifts that she would cherish forever.

"You look gorgeous," Sirius whispered, seeing her jump down the last step and almost slipping on the heels she wore, allowing Sirius to catch her with a shake of his head as he stood in his suit that would put any muggle celebrity to shame in the eyes of Adria.

"So do you," she grinned widely, holding his head in her hands so that she could kiss him, "and I don't care if you look manly, or handsome or any other masculine way-"

"No, gorgeous works," Sirius smirked, slipping his arm around her waist, "it's not too cold, would you like to walk?"

"I think that would be lovely," she grinned, reaching for her coat on their small coat rack and quickly slipping it over her shoulders, "you know, Sirius, you could've gotten me fudge flies and I would've probably cried out of gratefulness, I love you and you don't need to get me a fancy dinner."

"I know, I know," he nodded, keeping her close as they walked down the driveway, "but I wanted to do something special, I wanted a night away from work and stress and everything that has gotten us down simply so we can enjoy our winter holiday."

"Well it's been wonderful so far with you," she leaned her head on his shoulder, "I just hope it's not all posh twats who think they're better than everyone because they drink wine and have money."

"Well they're not better than anyone, really." Sirius shrugged, "I think in fact, it's the opposite."

"Well if they're being judgmental because they think they're better, then I definitely think it's the opposite." Adria nodded.

It didn't take long for them to get into the city, and walking down the brightly lit streets in winter was like a scene from a movie that Adria wished to star in. It felt perfect, and the air wasn't too cold either which made the night so much lovelier. When they got to the restaurant, it was very clear that it was posh, and fancy and Adria swore she saw someone's eyes narrow at the sight of her.

She was sure her and Sirius was the youngest in the entire restaurant.

"It's nice, isn't it?" she smiled, the two were at a table close to the window and the view of the London streets was picture perfect. They had not long ordered and Sirius had to show his ID in order to get a drink whilst Adria merely opted for coca cola. Sirius was just thankful that Adria pestered him to get a library card, or something in order for him to have some sort of proof that he was of age.

"Yeah, it's great, I didn't think it would be so busy on Christmas though," Sirius spoke, shifting and fidgeting every so often that Adria finally placed her hand on his knee to calm him down.

"Bloody hell Sirius, you're going to tip the table," she laughed softly, "what is up with you?"

"It's a part of your Christmas present, Ads." his features softened at the look on her face, "I just want to make sure you have the time of your life."

"I am having the best time," she giggled. Her head lifted when the waiter was seen making it's way to their table. It was hard to read the small print of the writing but she managed to read enough to see the words Pizza and as her craving self she was very much in the mood for it.

Though when the waiter put down her plate in front of her, what was on it was very clearly not Pizza.

"Excuse me," she called, hoping she didn't sound rude, "I'm sorry to be a bother, but this isn't what I ordered."

"Oh, my goodness, Madam, I am so sorry," the waiter apologised, oblivious to a furious Sirius who was trying to keep his temper at bay and instead let Adria handle it.

She shook her head with the kindest smile she could muster, "no, no, it's alright, I completely understand it must get so busy and hectic!"

The waiter was rather relieved that she was so calm with the whole ordeal and promised to have the right meal out right away, not exactly used to customers being so kind, instead demanding the manager to give them their meals for free, even though most of them could easily buy out the restaurant if they wished to.

"Sirius you're going to turn as red as the Gryffindor common room," Adria giggled, "it was a silly mistake that is easily fixed and it hasn't ruined my mood on the night at all, I promise! Now please calm down!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he sighed.

"It's Christmas and busy and the waiters are doing their best," she leaned over to kiss his cheek, patting his shoulder, "just calm down, okay?"

"I'm calm," he smiled at her, though it wasn't reassuring, "but are you sure you're alright? are you cold? Are you too warm?!"

"Sirius, I'm fine," she giggled, squeezing his hand.

Their meal, whilst pricey was rather lovely when Adria finally got the correct food and neither of the two could deny that they wished they could afford the place every time they wanted to go out for dinner.

Though it seemed as though, whilst Adria only wished to spend the night with Sirius, the night wasn't on her side luck wise, as when she was getting up to move, the waiter was sitting down a tray with a half empty glass of red wine on it, and managed to spill it all over Adria's dress. She gasped when it happened, and whilst Sirius was ready to explode with anger, she instead played peace maker whilst the waiter apologised as much as he could.

"I'm - oh I'm so sorry," he looked completely helpless, rather terrified of what she would do but it had happened and she knew there was no point in dwelling in what she could stop, so she merely told the waiter that it was quite alright.

"Mistakes happen all the time," she laughed softly, patting his shoulder, "don't worry about it, please!"

The waiter apologised a few more times before rushing off whilst Adria buttoned up her winters coat to hide the stain, and although the dress was red, the large stain that patched her dress was very evident at the bump of her stomach. Sirius' face was getting hotter with anger by the second, knowing that Adria was completely unfazed he wanted her Christmas to be perfect.

The two left the restaurant soon after with a refund of their meal for the troubles they had gone through which Adria had a hard time accepting, knowing how expensive it was but the Waiter insisted that she take it, hoping that they would come back another time and Adria promised that they would whilst bidding the waiter - and the manager who came out to apologise - a goodbye.

"I can't believe you were so nice to them," Sirius grumbled angrily, slipping his arm around her waist and pulling her into him.

"Sirius, seriously?" she laughed, raising her eyebrow, "it was a spilled drink that I can get out with a flick of my wand, it's not a big deal, really! He didn't mean it, and come on did you see how busy it was in there? He was probably thankful that at least one customer wasn't shouting the head off of him!"

"I want this night to be perfect-"

She stopped in front of him, cutting him off with a kiss and soon whispering, "and it is."

She reached for his hand, intertwining their fingers together, and soon she asked, "is there anything else you have planned for this date, Mr Black?"

"Well I was thinking of some ice cream from your favourite place, and a walk in your favourite park would make up for that terrible-"

"Wonderful-"

"...Wonderful dinner," he grumbled, kissing her nose and pulling her along.

It seemed as though Adria's bad luck didn't stop there, in fact, Sirius wished that the tables would turn and he would be the one getting all the misfortunes. He was just about ready to snap when Adria's laugh filled the ice cream parlour and she talked about mistakes once more with the server who had tried to give her a tub of ice cream, though the flavour being strawberry - her enemy - instead of her favoured chocolate.

"Oh merlin, that ice cream is so good," Adria exclaimed as they entered the park.

"Addy why aren't you at all phased?!" asked Sirius, stopping in his tracks whilst Adria finally stopped in front of him, a smile on her lips and her ice cream away from her lips.

"Because I'm here with you, in my favourite park on my favourite day of the year and no wrong meals or spilled drinks or ice cream mistakes can stop it from being the best night ever because I don't need fancy restaurants, the gift I want is the boy in front of me and I've had you all to myself tonight and that is all I could possibly ask for!" she was smiling, no, she was grinning at him, her face was perfect and he found himself walking towards her in long strides until one hand held his ice cream and the other wrapped around her, allowing his lips to find hers in her favourite park.

"I love you so much, Sirius," she smiled, "and I've had the best time."

It was a happy sight to see Sirius finally smile for once during the full night, all the nerves he had for making it perfect washed away because he realised that no perfect would match the girl in front of him. He watched her walk ahead, her heels echoing off the ground until she reached the small bridge that she loved to look at the view over.

Sirius wasn't far behind her and as she ate her ice cream, and stood in a gorgeous dress, regardless of wine stains, she could positively say she was having the time of her life. The lights of the city reflected on the water and she knew she could stay there forever if she could, seeing the ripples of the water and the buzz of the city life.

"It's so beautiful, isn't it?" she whispered, a hum of happiness leaving her lips and soon did she turn to the side of her, slightly panicking when Sirius was nowhere to be found.

She turned around, her gasp filling the silent air around them, as though the world had stopped and it was only her and Sirius in the world, and she was standing at the bridge she loved and he was down on one knee in front of her with a box in his hand open to show a ring.

"It didn't take me long after meeting you to know that you where brilliant," Sirius laughed, "terrifying, obviously, but brilliant. And for some reason, you liked me back after so long of trying to repress feelings as a stupid idiotic fourteen-year-old who thought I was doing the better thing for trying to get away from what I felt when I should've been embracing it.

I can still remember our first kiss every day because every time I kiss you I still get the same feelings I did way back then. If this was a bad date then I want to spend my whole life going on bad dates with you, Addy, it would always be you."

She laughed softly, her tears getting the better of her as they streamed down her face and without thinking of any other words to say, she whispered, "merlin, Sirius."

His lips where twitching with every moment passing, the look in her eyes and the grin on her lips only inspired his own, and soon did he speak, "marry me, Ads, please?!"

She nods her head, slightly speechless before she was able to choke out, "yes, obviously, yes!"

The ring that slid onto her finger sparkled in the moonlight and the kiss they shared on the bridge in her favourite park, completely forgetting about her ice cream was one she would always remember.

The 25th of December 1978 was the day Adria Hopkins could truly say she felt genuine happiness without her parents in the world with her.

[A/N

THIS IS LONG BUT WORTH THE READ!!!!

hey guys this is just an author's note to tell you all about this really cool account i'm working on with my friends!

so just a few days ago my friends and i decided to use an old account we all had and turn it into something we could make help people with.

Because poems and all of my books has gotten a lot of recognition i wanted to do something that would give back to the love i have received for people who haven't had the luck of getting their books out there.

the account is called TheLupinLitter and it is basically for writers who are looking for help to get their books popular or maybe just to get a few more reads so people can appreciate their work more.

it targets authors in the harry potter fandom writing in the harry potter universe (regardless of era) and is for writers with books with 5000 reads or less.

but as much as it's mostly for those writers, we do have multiple books that we will be working on!!

our books are,

Meet the Requirements - this goes a little more on depth of who we are helping and basically why we are doing this so it's good to quickly read over.

The Lupin Litter - a book that tells you more about our admins!

Reviews - we will be reviewing books and putting our honest opinions of what we think of it and what could become of a new book or a book with little reads.

Simply Confidence - a book to motivate people and inspire them and give them the confidence they need to continue or to start writing books.

Tips and Tricks - a book that gives tips and tricks that myself and our other writers have thought helpful whilst writing, maybe real legitimate tips for helping or little odd things we found that would help us (the tips may not help everyone but it'll be worth a read in the future!)

Book Covers - we (mostly genny) will be creating book covers at request so if you want one, go and check out that book for requirements!

i hope you guys will check it out, maybe follow us too? in the future if we gain popularity we will hold a "the lupin litter awards" for books that deserve much more recognition and love💛

once again TheLupinLitter and the other admins are amazing and my best friends!! (the lupin litter™ is the name of our group chat and i love it so much)

]