Prankster's Proposal:
The Christmas tree was lit, and shown brightly towards the street from where it sat in front of the windows of the cozy living room. Walking in the street, hand in hand, - or mitten in glove, as the case may be- were Lily Evans and James Potter. They were returning from Sirius and Remus' Christmas Eve party, and had decided to walk through the freshly fallen snow instead of apparating.
Coming into the house, James stomped and Lily removed her scarf, neither caring that snow was getting all over the hall.
"Present time!" she exclaimed throwing her coat over an armchair.
"It's only Christmas Eve," James replied, as he sat on the couch pulling his girlfriend down next to him in preparation of a long evening of snuggling. "What makes you think I'd let you open your presents early?"
"I don't want to open all of them early, just one… please?" she asked looking up at him with her big green presently pleading eyes.
"Just one?" he said slowly running a hand through his hair.
"Just one." She nodded.
"Okay, go ahead, but don't think you're getting two out of this, so choose wisely." Lily jumped off the couch in delight and went to the tree searching for the present she had seen James place earlier that day. It was a small box, about the size of a ring, Lily had thought to herself upon seeing it. Excitement was growing inside her as she thought what could be in the box. Grabbing the small green box, Lily went back to the couch and stood in front of James with her trophy of sorts.
"Proud of yourself, are you?" he asked with a grin.
"Of course," she replied, "Don't you want one?"
"No, I'm not five years old, I can wait till morning." The grin was still present on his face, but Lily could tell there was something on his mind. Nervous about getting down on one knee, she thought to herself. She grinned inwardly and continued their playful dialogue; not wanting to let on she knew the game was up.
"Oh, you're not five? That's why you, Remus, and Sirius were doing the bunny hop all evening in-between hexing mistletoe to follow poor Peter around?"
James started to laugh, and Lily could barely make out him saying, "What a classic!" and "Never gets old" between laughs.
When he had regained his composure James asked, "Well aren't you going to open it?"
Lily was standing in front of him, as she carefully untied the bow. Trying to ignore his eager eyes, she gently lifted the lid of the box wondering when he was going to start saying what she so desired to hear. Her heart was beating as she reached into the box, only to find it had been enchanted to look smaller than it was. She pulled out a pair of red leather gloves, nice red leather gloves, but red leather gloves nonetheless. Lily sank slowly onto the couch feeling close to tears, but she recovered clumsily, and exclaimed, "Gloves! Oh, they're… lovely… really lovely…"
She wanted to avoid James, but her eyes rose and were caught in his sad stare. "Do you like them?" he asked almost pathetically.
"Oh I love them, James. They're perfect, they match my scarf exactly, thank you."
"Are you sure? You seem disappointed…"
Lily sighed, willing herself to lie better to reassure him. She hated when he felt like she needed more than he could give her. "No, James, I really love them, honestly." She drew him in for a quick kiss.
"Well, how about you try them on, and I'll go get us something to drink, huh?" He seemed to buy it, as Lily could see no sign of a hurt puppy in his big brown eyes.
"Oh, that's a good idea" she managed, cursing herself mentally for getting her hopes up so high. She had no right to be disappointed in James. It wasn't his fault; he didn't know what she was expecting. She pulled on the first glove angrily. Oh yes he did, she thought angrily, who puts a ring sized box under the tree and fills it with gloves? A prankster, that's who, a stupid mean boy who just likes to have fun at other peoples' expenses. She pulled on the second glove and gasped. The cool sensation of a metal had surrounded the base of her second finger.
Looking up, her heart began to race again. James was standing in the doorway of the kitchen holding two glasses of champagne. He walked toward her and placed the glasses on a side table.
Bending down in front of her and the couch, James took Lily's gloved hand in his. Her other hand went to cover her mouth in shock and she sat and watched him begin his speech,
"Lily, don't be mad, I just wanted to make sure I surprised you…" He began taking the glove off her hand, slowly pulling a little at each one of her fingers. Continuing, he said, "Now I have a favor to ask you," he grinned charmingly as she felt tears fill her eyes, "And in return, I will dedicate my life to giving you anything your heart desires and more…" He paused, and then slid the glove all the way off her hand as he said, "Will you marry me?"
Tears streaming down her face Lily glanced down at the beautiful ring on her finger and then jumped into his arms. She kissed him and looked at the ring and then kissed him again. "Of course I will, you stupid prat!" She exclaimed clinging to his neck. Lily felt James arms tighten around her waist as she was lifted off the ground and spun in circles around the small living room. They were lucky not to knock anything over, not that either of them cared. As James put Lily back on the ground, she looked up at him and smiled, "I love you."
"And I love you," he replied touching her cheek. Then he reached around her to the champagne. "And now a toast."
Lily took her glass and held it towards his, "To happiness"
He smiled at her, melting what was left of her already melted heart, "And to engaged-ness!" he said clinking glasses with her and taking a sip.
She grinned, and after taking a sip of her own she said, "Because that's a word."
"It is now." He said seriously and soon the smooth feel of glass on her lips was replaced by the soft kiss of her new fiancé.
Yeah, I know, extreme amounts of fluff, but you were warned… happy winter holidays!