A Marauder Proposal

Chapter 1: James- The Ring

Westwerk is responsible for this chapter. The Phantom will write the next. We do not own Harry Potter, obviously and unfortunately.

James was going to do it.

He was.

He just had to get up the nerve to. After all, he was already standing in front of one of the jewelry stores in Hogsmeade, ready to step inside.

Or maybe not ready since he felt like his limbs got too heavy to even move.

"Come on, Prongs," Sirius said, and then James was jolted forward and felt his best friend's hands clutched tightly on his shoulders. "Be a man! You've been talking about this for months now!"

"More like years," Remus said as he put a hand on Sirius's shoulder to stop him from pushing James, who was actually fighting quite hard not to give in to Sirius' pushing with his feet held stiffly in place against the dirt road. "Sirius, stop it."

James felt one last shove before Sirius gave up.

"You were fine before this," said Sirius, quite abruptly growing more earnest in James' ears.

"I know! I just- it's more real now!" James said with exasperation. "I'm standing here, about to go into this store and buy the one ring that will mark the rest of my life."

James caught sight of Sirius and Remus glancing at each other. He looked away, back up at the store's sign- Bartleby and Jennings.

"Are you… regretting this?"

James turned and looked back up at Remus, who was quite taller than him. For some reason, he felt overwhelmed from Sirius and Remus standing so close. He'd never been claustrophobic before, so he didn't understand why he felt like that now.

Slowly, he took in a deep breath.

Was he regretting this? No, he couldn't be. He loved Lily, and Lily loved him. He wanted to do this. Lily wanted to do this. It was time to make a move. Even though he knew they probably wouldn't get married for another year or so, he still felt like he had to propose at some point. Why not now when he was standing there, with the money to buy a nice ring for her and his undying love for her?

He looked back at Remus and Sirius and smiled.

He shook his head, took a deep breath, and put one foot forward. He could do this. He loved her. He could see her in his mind, with her beautiful auburn hair and smile- actually, he could all the moments in his mind that she ever smiled so fully. They were countless and the greatest thing he had ever seen.

He could even see himself getting down on one knee and seeing that wide smile again as he did.

But what if she didn't smile? What if her fiery temper flared up and she thought he was completely mad for proposing? What if she really didn't love him as much as he thought?

He brought his foot back.

"Oh, come on, James. Go!"

Sirius pushed him again, and the door jumped right in his face. How did that happen? He didn't really take that many steps forward, did he?

James saw Remus's scarred hand grab the flourished gold handle and Sirius pushed him in.

The store was too quiet. At least, James thought as he looked around at the display tables, there weren't any girls hanging around: ones that would tell Lily that they saw James in there looking at rings.

"May I help you?"

James jolted and backed into Remus, who grabbed his upper arms to steady him. James locked eyes with the wizard before him, who had just seemed to appear in the middle of the store. The man had long graying hair, wore a waistcoat and gray pants, and held his hands behind his back.

"Er, yeah," James said, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand. "I'm looking for a ring."

"And what kind of ring would that be?" the man said almost coyly, as if he already knew. James wondered if girls just didn't go into this shop because of this man. He seemed even stranger than Ollivander did.

"An engagement ring," James said.

Then, the man smiled kindly "Ah, there's a lucky girl!" he said, walking swiftly over to the display table with what seemed like a thousand rings glittering by themselves. There really was a big selection of them, rows and rows of them that James actually felt overwhelmed. "Have a look."

Sirius reached down to touch one, but immediately pulled his hand back as if he'd been shocked. He looked down at James like a wounded puppy. "Oy! What was that?"

"Sorry, boy, only the customer can touch," the man said, patting Sirius' shoulder. Sirius stepped away from the man and sent James a look that clearly said to James, Maybe not this store.

But, James was in here and if he left, he felt like he'd never get up the courage to come into a jewelry store again.

James shook his head. Sirius sighed, stuffing his hands in the pocket of his cloak, and leaned down to have a closer look at the rings with his black hair falling across his face.

James did the same, studying each of the rings.

Too many stones. Diamond too big. No way. Ugly color.

The three boys probably stood there for a very long time, staring at the hundreds of rings laying in their holsters.

"James," Remus said.

He looked toward the ring that Remus pointed at and immediately reached out to touch it.

The diamond with emeralds surrounding it seemed to sparkle even brighter than any of the other rings. It didn't sparkle, exactly- instead, it glowed. He didn't know how Remus spotted it out of the hundreds of other rings, but he knew it was perfect for Lily. The mix of stones felt special to him. He didn't know how, but he couldn't not look at it.

He touched it and somehow the ring actually felt warm. The one beside it he'd knocked as he reached for the one Remus pointed out was cold, but this one felt as if he'd touched his wand for the first time.

"This one," James said immediately.

He couldn't look away from it.

"Ah, nice choice," the man said. "Wonderful. Would you like me to wrap it up?"

James nodded without even realizing it.

Now he didn't understand why he'd been so nervous about it. This one seemed to be meant for him and Lily. He almost didn't want to give it up to the man, even if he'd just put it in the jewelry box and let James have it. He didn't want it to leave his sight until he gave it to Lily.

He paid for it, not even caring how much it cost. Actually, he couldn't even remember how many galleons he'd given over to that man once he stepped out of the jewelry shop. He was just too awestruck that the ring was finally in his hand.

It was real. He was going to do it.

Sirius hugged him with one arm. "That man was right, Lily's a lucky girl!"

James smiled so widely that Sirius laughed and mocked it. "Let's go find Wormtail," he said. "Tell him the news! How much d'you want to bet he's buying his weight in candy?"

The three actually did find Peter in Honeydukes, and with protest from Peter who was in fact buying a large bag worth of candy, they dragged him out of it to tell him the news as they walked back up to the castle.

"And there was really creepy guy there!" Sirius said, smiling. "You would have wet your pants!"

"Padfoot, stop. You're just angry because that his magical security shocked you. Just show him the ring, James," Remus said.

James did while Sirius trying to wrestle Remus to the ground for saying such a thing. But James just ignored them as he held onto the box tightly, not allowing Peter's hand to come anywhere close to the box.

"She'll like that," Peter said, reaching his hand down into his bag. "How are you going to propose?"

"Oy! You never did tell us, Prongs," Sirius said, laughing as he let go of Remus finally and Remus pushed him back as he laughed as well. "How? Take her down for a nice picnic on the lake side?"

James shook his head. "I haven't decided yet. I was thinking maybe something Muggle- go to a cinema or a park in London."

"Muggle?" Peter said, scoffing as he pulled out a chocolate frog. "Not anything traditional?"

James sent Peter a slight glare, not understanding what was so wrong with something Muggle. "I want something special. Not something everyone else does, Wormtail."

Peter frowned. James just chose to ignore him.

"What do you think?" James asked Remus and Sirius.

"I'd say Muggle," Remus said. "Lily would like having a bit of her up bringing during something this important."

"Yeah, but make it magical as well," Sirius said. "A nice moonlit- not full moon, of course- stroll in a park with fairy lights that glow as you walk toward the pond. I personally enjoy running around in Hyde Park, so it would be, you know, beautiful with the lights."

"As a dog?" asked Peter.

"As a dog. There are lots of friendly, unleashed ones in there."

James smiled, remembering once how Sirius thought it was a good idea to go to London the summer before. James has pretended Padfoot was his dog and watched how he seemed to have the time of his life interacting with the other dogs around. James still wasn't sure if Sirius could understand the other dogs, but seeing Sirius run around so freely made James happy.

"I like that magic idea," James said. He'd honestly hadn't really given much thought into it. He just knew it would be something in London. "But if she ever learns that the fairy lights were your idea-"

"Girls like sparkles!" Sirius said earnestly. "She'll think it romantic without even thinking about who thought to do it. All on you, Prongs, like it wasn't Remus who also found that ring for her."

Remus looked sideways at Sirius, but seemed to just ignore him as he turned to James again. "Lily will know we helped you, so just do what you like or want."

"I still say go with traditional!" Peter said.

Sirius just hit him in the arm and then reached into his bag for a piece of candy, which Peter reluctantly allowed. "Let him do what he wants, Wormtail."

James just shook his head and opened the ring case again to study the small emeralds and the diamond- which was not too big, nor too small.

It was perfect.

When the four boys got up to their dormitory, James knew, even though he didn't want to, he had to put the ring somewhere safe. Who knew how fast he could loose it, like how he always managed to loose his potions book and find it in random places in the castle. He couldn't risk carrying it around, so he stooped in front of his trunk.

He could feel the stares of Sirius, Remus, and Peter as he took out everything he had from the trunk so he could hide it in the bottom corner.

"Prongs, mate-" Sirius said.

"I'm hiding the ring!"

"Oh, well, just keep making a mess of our dorm with the contents of your trunk. That's fine."

"I'll clean it up."

And he did, once he set it securely in place where he knew he'd be able to find it again. He magically folded all of his clothes and put all his books back in place before he closed the trunk and put the most complicated locking spell he knew on the trunk.

"It's going to be fine, James," Sirius said.

"I'm just making sure."

James sat down at the edge of his bed, and then with barely a second thought, laid down across it. He didn't know why he felt so tired so quickly. He just did.

And then he thought about it. He bought a ring for Lily. That ring would be on Lily's hand very soon. It would mean they would be getting married and be together for the rest of their lives, which he hoped would be a very long time. They would be committed completely to each other.

He smiled at that, and then thought about how nice it would to have a family with Lily. Have a couple children; work as an Auror maybe, or for Dumbledore like he wanted James to. Maybe the war would be over sooner than they thought and James and Lily could live happily in Godric's Hollow with sons and daughters. He couldn't wait.

"We should have gotten Firewhiskey," Sirius said as he made a piece of spare parchment float around the room with his wand. Currently it was hovering over James' head, inching its way closer to his face.

"A toast?" Remus asked.

"Of course! I mean, Lily and James are going to tie the knot. Why not?"

"Let's wait until after she says yes, Padfoot," James said.

"She'll say yes. She wants to be Mrs. Lily Potter."

James really hoped so.

TBC by Phantom, my twin, and then myself again. This story will be four chapters long. Thanks for reading! :D