Chapter Nine - Together
"So Prongs," Sirius started in almost immediately at lunch the next day. "You sure got in late last night."
James gave him a withering look. "No, wait," Sirius continued, pulling a face and pretending to think. "You didn't come home at all. That's right!" He snapped his fingers, eyes wide. "You came back this morning."
"He looks a bit bleary-eyed, doesn't he?" asked Remus, studying him closely. "But at least he came back, because now he can tell us what could have possibly kept him out all night."
"Right--so how did it go with Lily?" Peter demanded, cutting to the point.
"Obviously fairly well," sniggered Sirius.
James sighed melodramatically. He had been expecting it. He knew his friends well enough to realize that they would badger him mercilessly until he told them how his dinner with Lily had gone, and truth be told, he did owe it to them. They had helped him through a lot, especially recently. He didn't really mind, because things had gone so well with Lily that he had no reason not to tell them; he was even in a good enough mood to joke around a bit with them.
"Did you miss me or something?" he tossed back. "I didn't think I needed to tuck you in every night, Padfoot."
Sirius snorted as he sipped at some mead. They were having a late lunch at the Leaky Cauldron before heading their separate ways: James to his father's house, Sirius to headquarters, Remus and Peter to new Order assignments. After taking a bite of his lunch, Sirius finally had a comeback.
"I have a feeling we won't be snuggling on the sofa anymore either," he said with a wink at the others. Remus smiled and Peter stifled a laugh. "I'm about to be pushed off, aren't I?"
"I pushed you off a long time ago," James laughed. "And yes, you may catch me and Lily on the sofa instead."
"Just warn me so I can be prepared," Sirius said. "And keep your clothes on. I saw enough in the dormitory over seven long years with you lot."
They all laughed out loud, until Remus finally brought it up again. "Obviously things went well with Lily if you never made it home and you're planning to take over the sofa with her."
James nodded, a stupid grin on his face that he couldn't hide. Peter set down his drink and gave him a pointed look. "Then are you back together or are you going to make us pull it out of you piece by painful piece?"
James gave him a surprised look. "Why so impatient, Pete? Can't I have some fun too?"
"No, you may not," Peter replied with as straight a face as he could manage with Sirius sniggering again beside him. "We've been agonizing over this almost as much as you have so we deserve to know, not be strung along."
Remus rolled his eyes as James laughed. "Sorry, then. I didn't realize my love life was the center of so much attention."
Now it was Sirius who gave him the withering look. "It has always been the center of attention, Prongs--especially when it comes to Evans. Now spill."
James told them about his night: from meeting at the Leaky Cauldron to their walk to the park to the long talk they had had there. He told them almost everything they had said--he didn't want to share too much, after all--and then he told them about the Patronuses, because that was obviously something they couldn't keep secret for long. Remus nodded knowingly.
"I thought that's what was going on," he said.
"Why didn't you say anything?" asked James, curious why Remus had been so silent over the past week about it. "You must have seen it that night, when she sent her message."
Remus shrugged in return. "I did, but it was none of my business, I guess."
"Did you talk to her about it?" James continued, not believing him for a second.
"Well, yes--of course." Remus was struggling to hide a grin. "She might have asked me to keep it to myself, though."
"And you did?" asked Peter.
"I told you lot!" Remus laughed. "Just not him."
"Thanks for that," James grumbled.
"First of all, it was much more fun to talk about it behind your back," Remus said, a rare sparkle to his eyes. "And second of all, wasn't it better to find out from her? To see it for yourself?"
James nodded reluctantly. Yes, he would never forget his shock when Lily had cast the doe at his father's house two night's ago, or the sight of both of their Patronus's nuzzling in the park the night before. And in the end, he was used to his friends talking about him behind his back: it was what they all did, after all.
"So what happened next?" asked Peter, obviously impatient to hear the rest of the story.
"We ended up getting take away and going back to her place. Her roommate was out of town, so we had the place to ourselves."
"How convenient," Sirius drawled, wiggling his eyebrows like a schoolboy.
"Yes, it was," James shot back. "We ate and we talked some more and--"
"And you didn't come home," Sirius finished. "Now why is that, I wonder?"
James grinned. "So I spent the night. You've stayed out loads of times. Now you know what an empty flat feels like."
"But what did you do all night?" Sirius pressed. "Talk some more?"
"Of course not." James waved his hand in the air dismissively, then took a long sip of his Steaming Stout. "But that's between us."
Sirius exchanged a look with Remus and Peter that James couldn't miss. He immediately knew what it was for.
"Oh, you're wondering about this," he said, and he took the engagment ring out of his pocket and set it on the table. "Damn thing keeps reappearing in my pocket. Hot, too."
Peter looked away while Remus pretended to be engrossed in his lunch. Sirius shrugged unapologetically as he picked it up and turned it around; it almost immediately disappeared from his hands. "It should be somewhere else, I think."
"What, on Lily's hand?" James asked, his voice light. He pulled the ring from his pocket again and examined it. "It nearly burned a hole in my trousers, you know. That was some charm you set."
"Then stop talking about it and do something about it," said Sirius.
"Ah, so the spell won't break until I propose again?" asked James, and Sirius touched the side of his nose. Peter stifled his laughter and even Remus covered a smile. "That's just ruthless, Padfoot."
"I know," Sirius said, leaning back with a grin. "But I couldn't help myself. We all know it's coming and this time it's going to happen. I just figured sooner was better than later."
"It's not up to you, you know," James said, slipping the ring back into his pocket. "I already told you--"
"--you don't want to ask until you're sure you'll get a better answer." He leaned forward, very intense. "You spent the night with her. What do you think now?"
James stared at him, unable to answer. He finally shook his head, knowing all three of his friends were watching him, waiting for him to reply. "I think it's too soon. I don't want to mess up again."
Sirius snorted as he sat back, but Remus nodded in understanding. It was Peter, however, who spoke.
"I think it's pretty obvious she's ready now," he said quietly. "Aren't you?"
"Yes, but--"
"You didn't see how she watched you," Peter continued, and now Sirius and Remus were listening closely. "You didn't see how upset she was at St. Mungo's that night, when the Healers couldn't wake you. You didn't hear her talking to your dad, to Sirius, to you as you were sleeping. You didn't feel her holding your hand, lying next to you."
James stared at his friend. He had rarely heard Peter say so much in one go, and with so much feeling. And to his surprise, Peter continued.
"I think she's figured it out, this time, Prongs," he said. "You've known for over a year and nothing's changed your feelings, so I don't see why you're waiting. Don't let her go again--it could be too late."
"Bloody hell, Wormy," said Sirius into the sudden silence. "When did you become such an expert at romance and relationships?"
Peter looked slightly embarrassed as he sat back and looked down. Then he glanced up and grinned, and the odd moment was over. "I'm just sick of their waffling about, that's all."
Sirius clapped him on the shoulder with a barking laugh. "Aren't we all!" he exclaimed. "Wormy has spoken, Prongs. You need to ask her, and ask her quick."
James felt his heart race at the very thought. Were they right? Would she really say yes? She had said she wished she could change her answer back in June, when they had sat in a field by the lake, and he had taken out the ring only to have her gaze at him sadly and apologize for giving it back. If he were to ask again, would her answer be different this time?
He still wanted to marry her, that much was certain. He just wanted to be sure she was ready now--that they were ready. He would have married her right out of Hogwarts, but the months since had shown him how dangerous the world really was. Did he still want to get married during such times? When life was precious and even walking down the street was dangerous?
Yes, he did. And he would. Lily had said she wanted to be with him, fight by his side. And he wanted to be with her--always. No matter the risk, the danger, the heartbreak: he loved her and would ask again and again if he had to.
"So how should I go about it…the second time?" he asked casually. Sirius, Remus, and Peter glanced at one another and grinned.
James knew then he was either doomed or in good hands.
* * *
In the end, it turned out to be neither: he came up with most of it on his own.
Sirius had suggested he bring out the ring again in the middle of an Order meeting, or worse--in the middle of their next assignment together. Remus had suggested he wait until Orsino's was open again and take Lily there to propose. But James was not interested in making a spectacle of it in front of dozens of Order members, nor did he think the restaurant where several people had been killed was an appropriate place to begin his life together with Lily.
And then Peter suggested the park where he and Lily had walked. Something simple, something romantic. Yet also rather obvious. So James had taken it from there, and was reasonably confident he had come up with a good idea on his own for once.
It took him most of the week to set it up. It was an even bigger risk than the one he'd taken in June when he had first proposed. Then he had simply had a ring to carry around for months when she had turned him down; if she said no this time, he'd have a bit more to deal with than just a ring. Yet he was fairly confident that it would go differently. He kept reminding himself that she had come right out and said she wished she could change her answer, after all.
They saw each other every day, whether for lunch or for dinner or even coffee. James stopped by the hospital (really, he was supposed to have a follow-up exam anyway), and she came by the house to visit with him and his father, who spent the entire time giving James knowing looks. Lily had one brief assignment with the Order, but Dumbledore had given him the week off to recover completely, and James was glad to have it, knowing he would be back in the thick of it soon enough.
The ring remained in his pocket, simply because Sirius had not seen fit to lift the charm. Every time James emptied his pockets, it came right back. Lily knew it was there, too, and sometimes he would catch her glancing at his trousers, or watching him closely when he put his hands in his pockets. He wondered if she was nervous or even irritated about it always being with him, or if she was waiting for him to take it out again because she wanted him to.
Each day (and night) he spent with her grew more and more comfortable, and he knew this time was it: she would say yes when the moment came. And so after the Order meeting on Sunday night, exactly a week since he had left St. Mungo's, he said goodbye to his friends and left hand-in-hand with Lily. He suggested they walk a bit before heading back to her flat. It was a clear night, not as cold as it had been, and most of the snow had melted. He grinned with anticipation as they walked down Charing Cross Road, much as they had the week before.
He steered her toward the small square where they had talked. He was fairly sure she knew where they were going and what was coming, but he hoped he could at least pull off one surprise. He'd worked hard to set it up.
As they entered the small park, now arm-in-arm, Lily rested her head on his shoulder. He could sense her smiling against him. "I feel like we were just here," she said.
"It's been almost a week," he replied. "But you said you liked this area."
"And I really do. It's a bit out of the way from my flat, though." She gave him a pointed look, which he waved off with a casual shrug.
"It's a good place to talk," James replied. He led her past the benches where they had last sat, though, and toward the center of the park, toward the small cottage. He noticed three Muggles standing over by the large statue of some former monarch; they appeared to be talking, but he couldn't hear a word. One of them was smoking. Narrowing his eyes, James decided they weren't Muggles at all: their heights perfectly matched those of the three best friends he had left behind at the meeting. James shook his head, but held back another grin, because they didn't know what he really had planned.
"I thought we talked last week," Lily said, drawing his attention back to her, and he could hear the anticipation in her voice. She must have suspected something, because he could feel her excitement.
"We did," he said, and it was all he could do to keep his voice level and calm, when inside he was shaking. He'd done this once already, why was he so nervous? Or was he merely excited as well?
"So what did you want to talk about?" she asked after a moment. He grinned again but took a deep breath before replying. He was determined to remain composed.
"It's been almost a month since you joined the Order," he said.
She squeezed his hand. "I'm glad I did. It brought us back together."
"Which was your plan all along, wasn't it?" he teased her, and she laughed, and he leaned down and kissed her, reveling in the easy perfection of being with her. He could imagine his friends sniggering near the statue behind them.
"Not exactly," she said. "It was just one of the reasons I joined, James."
"I know," he murmured. "I'm glad I was one of them, then. It terrifies me, knowing you're in such danger now. But I understand."
"I can take care of myself," she replied, just as she had several times already and had proven as well.
"How about we take care of each other?" he asked. "That's what partners do, and I think we do it well. I'm glad Dumbledore assigned us to work together."
"You weren't at first, though," she said. "Were you?"
"It was hard," he admitted. "But we figured it out." He thought about that first time he had seen her, at Headquarters, and then the next night, at dinner. It had been awkward, working with her after so long, when all he could think about was being with her, about a future with her.
"So was that what you wanted to talk about?" Lily asked. "Working for the Order?"
"Of course not," he said, rolling his eyes. "That was just the beginning."
"Do continue then," she said, affecting a proper tone of voice and hiding a small smile.
He narrowed his eyes at her. "You don't like to make things easy, do you?"
She brushed her lips against his. "Not this," she whispered, then stepped back. "So what did you really want to say?"
He halfway wanted to keep teasing her, but he was growing impatient and could almost feel his friends staring at him, silently urging him to get on with it. He gazed down into her eyes and took another deep breath. "You said last week that you wished you could change your answer. To the question I asked in June."
Her face lit up, not with wide-eyed surprise as it had then, but this time with genuine joy. It made it easier to reach into his pocket, that he could almost see the answer on her face. When he held out his hand with the ring clasped in shaking fingers, she smiled broadly, and he was fairly certain there were tears in her eyes.
His heart was racing; he had to time everything exactly right to pull it off. "So I'll ask again, if you're ready."
She nodded, still smiling through watery eyes, and he took her hand and placed the ring on her finger. And as he did, he felt the pull of the Portkey charm he'd set on the ring whisk them away. Lily gasped; he hoped he was doing the right thing.
They reappeared inside a dark flat. It was a rough landing, but as soon as he steadied her, James cast a quick spell behind his back. The room suddenly glowed with the light of dozens of candles that he had meticulously placed around the large, empty room that afternoon. Lily's eyes went wide and her other hand flew to her mouth. Before she could say anything, he brought her close, her left hand still clasped in his, and asked the question that had been hanging between them all night, all week.
"Will you marry me?"
She nodded a silent yes, unable to speak; her free hand came up to caress his cheek instead. He leaned down to kiss her, but after a moment she laughed and threw her arms around his neck. "I thought you'd never ask," she whispered in his ear, and he pulled back in surprise.
"Really? Even after everything we've been through?" he said. She nodded. "You seemed nervous, almost scared off."
He kissed her once more, long and deep and with as much conviction and sincerity as he could to quell her doubts. "I'm not scared of being with you, Lily--no matter what the future brings. I want to be with you. I always have."
Her happy sigh against his neck was all the answer he needed. Too soon she stepped back and glanced around. "Where are we, exactly?" she asked. "It's not your place and it's obviously not mine…"
"No," he replied, and he led her to the window. "It's ours."
He pulled aside the curtains and together they gazed down into the small square where they had been standing moments before. He held back a laugh at the sight of his friends by the statue, obviously confused and looking for them. Lily gasped with delight, then glanced around the tiny flat before turning to the window and back again.
"Ours?" she asked. "Here? But James, it must be so much!"
He shook his head and smiled. "It's not a problem."
"But we can't afford this," she protested. "I hardly make anything as an intern, and you…well…" She trailed off. "I didn't think the Order paid us, does it?"
"Unfortunately, no," he laughed. "Really, it's not a problem."
She pulled a face. "Sirius isn't moving in to help pay for it, is he?"
"Of course not!" James burst out laughing at the very thought. "I've got money, Lily. From my family. If you want it, this place is ours."
Lily left his side and roamed around the flat, her face lit with wonder in the flickering light. It was empty but for the candles. "You did all this? For me?"
"You said you liked it here," he replied, hoping she liked it when she seemed so uncertain. "I know you were worried about living in a Muggle area, but it's close to Diagon Alley. We can set all sorts of protective charms, and I think we'll be fine. If you don't want it, though--"
She stopped him with a finger to his lips. "I love it," she said softly. "It's perfect. Thank you."
He pulled her closed and kissed her. "You're welcome. Now, am I to assume this means your answer is different this time?"
She sighed happily as she laid her head against his chest. "Yes." One simple word, and it meant the world to him. He closed his eyes, relief flooding over him, tempered with a bit of anxiety; more than anything, though, he felt a deep sense of contentment. This was right. This was how it was supposed to be. Finally.
"Brilliant," he said. "Want to get something to eat then? Bring it back here for the night?"
She glanced around the empty room. "There's no furniture," she pointed out, but there was a playful undertone to her voice, and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"We don't need furniture," he murmured in her ear, teasing it with his tongue as well. She shivered and giggled, and he stepped back with a wink.
"A few blankets should do it," she agreed, and he nodded appreciatively.
"And maybe some wine, too," he added. "To celebrate."
"Then let's go and pick some up things," she said. "Can we just Apparate?"
James cast a quick spell over the flat, knowing they would have to cast stronger ones later. But at least for that night it should muffle the sound of magic. He nodded and took her hand. "We can now. Your place first?"
"And then yours?"
"And then back to ours." It sounded unreal, to say it out loud. Their place. This was going to be their home together. He would be spending the rest of his life with her, and he already couldn't imagine it any other way. It was more than he could have hoped for, seven months ago when she had left him by the lake at Hogwarts. He had joined the Order straight away, trying to forget the heartbreak and simply fight for a better world where maybe, just maybe, they could be together in peace some day.
They were together now, though the fight continued. He hoped that they would both live to see the end of the war, so that they could start a family and enjoy the life they had already fought hard for, side-by-side. It wouldn't be easy, but as Sirius had once said, it never was for them.
They would figure it out, and they would survive.
Together.
***
Honestly by Gmariam
Chapter Endnotes: Thank you to Lea/Mugglegirlmarauder for looking this over! I appreciate your reassurances!
And now I can say without a doubt 'THE END.' I knew there was just a bit more, especially with the others badgering James about proposing again, I just wasn't sure how it would play out. They may still elope, but that would be a different story, I think.
I do hope you enjoyed this story and the ending. I know I write a lot for this category and couple, but I like writing them so much and try to make it slightly different each time (although you will see certain things run through all my J/L stories - characters and ideas and such). Thank you for reading this story, and I really appreciate all the reviews!
Until my next J/L plot bunny attacks... ;)