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"Remus! Come on, hurry up!"
Remus John Lupin shook his head exhaustedly, before stopping to take a deep breath. The man had his hand resting on the wall, while his eyes gazed up and down the stairs, trying to figure out his position.
He was about 10 steps to the top of the lighthouse, where the beacon was placed, but he was running out of breath already.
"It's really pretty out here!"
"Yes …. Coming …"
He signalled for his girlfriend to wait for him; as he slowly made his move to the top of the stairs, he could not stop wondering what gave Nymphadora Tonks the energy to do all of this. Perhaps it was the holiday spirit, even though they only have the weekend to do this trip. But most likely, it was in her nature to run around tirelessly like this.
Minutes later, Remus finally made it to the top, being welcomed by the girl's cheers. Once the man was done catching his breath, he checked out the beacon on his right side. It was bigger than it seemed from downstairs, and he guessed it was … alright. A huge lamp, indeed.
But then the man turned his attention outside --where his girlfriend was jumping up and down excitedly-- and was mind-blown by the view that he saw.
It was not a holiday season yet, so there were only two or three people (and a dog) on the beach below. The weather was fine but it was still too cold to swim or sunbathe, so the visitors were just walking around leisurely.
On the other side of the beach were rolling hills; its lush green colour contrasted nicely with the brown of the sands.
But on the other side, everything was of different shades of blue.
From the pale blue of the sky in spring, flecked with the whites of the clouds, to the greenish-blue shade of the sea. The water transformed from the chaotic light blue of the waves to the deep, dark blue of the ocean as it went on towards the horizon.
Walking out to the gallery, Remus thought it was like staring into a blue gemstone.
"See the colour! It's lovely!” Dora threw her arms wide. “They look like caramel pudding!"
The man chuckled. "Sweetheart, if your pudding has colours like this, I think you should be worried."
Dora slapped her boyfriend's shoulder. "No! I meant … they're like … they both have this gradation … "
The couple stood side-by-side on the gallery, laughing and pointing at different objects in the view.
One time Remus thought he saw an owl-shaped cloud up there, but then Dora mentioned that the owl has a long tail. So it had never been an owl --it had been a cat all along.
The couple also waved their hands when they saw a ship passing at a distance with child-like enthusiasm.
Just as his laughter died down, Remus felt slender hands circling his waist.
When he looked down, his gaze met two bright eyes staring at him with adoration.
Ah, those eyes. They have been the centre of his world --and the light of his days-- for more than one year.
She entered his life when his former band The Marauders were having a reunion show, and they had to find a drummer to fill in the position of his late friend James Potter. She offered herself up, and after months of late-night phone calls and flirtatious glances, they decided to be together.
They did it despite the fact that a school teacher did not seem to be entirely compatible with a punk; he should have left that lifestyle when the band broke up years ago.
There was also the fact that she was young enough to be his niece, that even his closest friends liked to tease him about it. Then to top it all off, there was the problem with the virus that had been running in his system in the past decades, eating away his immunity. Yet somehow they managed to make things work.
Together they had gone through heaven and hell, and there they were, standing on top of a lighthouse in Cornwall, enjoying the view during one spontaneous weekend getaway.
"Thank you for taking me here," she whispered. The woman closed her eyes, rubbing her cheek on his comfortable jumper playfully. "It's a nice change."
He chuckled, pulling her even closer to his hug. "London can be boring, eh?"
They let silence passed between them until Remus finally decided to let go.
"Anyway, Dora …"
"Hm?"
"Excuse me!"
Dora was so shocked that she actually slipped down the floor.
Catching her before she actually hit the floor, Remus lifted up his head to see the tour guide that they met earlier downstairs.
"Oops! I'm sorry! Did I surprise you?"
"Nope, I just love the floor so much," Dora said under her breath, hanging on her man's jacket for dear life.
Seemed like the tour guide did not hear that part.
"I just want to inform you that we will be closing in 15 minutes."
"Thank you! We're actually done here," Remus replied with a smile.
Turning towards his girlfriend, he offered her his hand to hold as they descended down the stairs.
--
"... So Dad walked out to apologise to them. He even offered to pay for the goat or to be taken to the police station, if needed. But guess what? They refused it. They didn't want his money. They wanted the exact same goat to come back to life! The fuck? Who did they think Dad was, Jesus?"
Remus and Dora walked down a street downtown where the quaint little shops and restaurants were. The sun was already gone, and the couple was looking for a place to dine.
She was talking about that time her father accidentally killed a farmer's goat during a holiday.
"And then what happened?" asked Remus.
"And then we ran," Dora giggled. "I mean, we tried our best, but obviously it's not happening. So Dad picked the dead goat up, put it inside the hood. And we took off. Buried it somewhere down the road."
The couple stopped in front of an ATM in the street corner. Dora got her wallet out and took the queue line while Remus waited nearby.
Once she was done, she walked up to Remus, who was leaning on a wall.
“Anyway, back in the lighthouse ...” Dora said, putting her wallet back inside her purse. “You’re saying something?”
“Did I?” asked Remus, straightening himself up.
“Yes, before that fuckin’ tour guide killed me,” Dora answered, still struggling with her purse.
“Oh, that!” Remus chuckled. “Nothing. Just … wanted to ask if you will marry me.”
“Oh, okay.” Dora finally managed to shut her purse. “Alright, let’s find something to eat.”
The woman walked away from where her man stood, but two steps later, she stopped short in her track.
When she turned her head to face him, there was a growing fear in her eyes.
“What did you say?”
His smile grew even wider as he moved closer to her; he did look like he was holding back a burst of laughter. But when he spoke, his voice was calm --and serious. “I said, back then, in the lighthouse … I was going to ask you to marry me.”
Her lips began to tremble. “You’re kidding.”
Remus lifted up a finger, signalling for his girlfriend to wait. The man reached inside a hidden pocket in his jacket, where he took out a small jewellery box. He handed the box to Dora’s hand --which was trembling as hard as the rest of hers.
“Oh, God.”
“Exhibit A.”
The box felt soft and velvety in her hands. She opened it ever so carefully as if it was going to explode --her mind was a jumbled mess of hope and fear and anticipation.
It finally clicked open. Inside was a thin rose gold band with a pink diamond on top.
Pink . The colour of her hair when they first met.
She could not even recognise the sound that came out of her mouth.
“Well, now that the tour guide is gone, I can finally do it,” Remus muttered.
The heads of every single person who was queueing for the ATM turned towards his direction as he got into kneeling position --some of them even got their smartphones out already, ready to take pictures. There were excited whispers all around, but Remus reminded himself to shut the noise out and focus on the task.
He took her free hand.
“When I first saw you on that bus, I knew that you’re a special person. But I had no idea how special you’re going to be in my life,” Remus began. “Guess I should thank Ernie for allowing me to get on that bus.”
Dora choked; perhaps she meant to laugh, but her emotions were getting the better of her.
“You’ve brought me so much joy in the past one and a half year. You believe in me even when I couldn’t, and … your strength ... it makes me want to be stronger for you,” he continued.
“Oh, God.”
He took a long, deep breath. Certainly, he had been practising, but there was nothing like the D-day itself.
“My hope is that you’ll give me that chance to make you happy. Every day. For the rest of my life,” he said. “So, Nymphadora Tonks. Will you marry me?”
“Oh, you already made me happy!” her tears broke. “But yes, yes! I’ll marry you!”
As the applause roared around them, he got up to give her the warmest hug he could ever give. But she was faster. With her arms around his neck, she landed kisses on his cheek, muttering endless thank-yous into his ear.
“No, thank you ,” he replied before giving her the deepest, happiest kiss they ever shared.
Someone in the crowd shouted at him to put the ring on. He let go of the hug to take the ring out of its box and placed it where it belongs --on her finger.
Once he was done, Dora lifted up her hand to her face, turning it so he could see how the ring looked.
The woman grinned widely.
“Exhibit B,” she announced.