Disclaimer: Lily, James and Sirius are JK Rowling's.
Author's Note: I've been feeling like writing fluff lately, and this came out out of the blue :) Hope you like it, and please leave a review!
"But… it's not blue…"
James stood looking at the pretty little house in red bricks, surprised and sounding slightly disappointed. Lily snorted and glanced apologetically at the estate agent.
"Don't mind him," Lily said.
The short woman gave a little understanding smile that was a little too condescending to James's liking.
"Welcome to Blue Cottage," she said, opening the gate for them.
Lily looked around, beaming. There was a neat little hedge and she could imagine what the garden would look like when she'll have flowers planted. The house was rather small but very pretty and comfortable-looking; it was a traditional English cottage, in the middle of the wizard-friendly village of Godric's Hollow. Just what Lily wanted.
"It's perfect, don't you think so?" Lily whispered to James as they followed the estate agent inside the house.
"Still, I expected it to be blue," James grumbled. "Why call it Blue Cottage if it's not blue?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "To piss you off, probably."
James chuckled, his hazel eyes twinkling again. Lily smiled back; strangely enough, she already felt at home. Soon they had finished visiting the house, which comported three bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen that Lily had found perfect, and a cosy living-room.
"Do you think we really need three bedrooms, though?" Lily asked.
"We'll need to be able to host Remus, Sirius or Peter if they need to," James half-lied.
This was only one reason; the other was that James hoped that soon they would be occupied by their children. But it was a little too soon to talk about this: they weren't even eighteen and a half. They had just left Hogwarts, and the reason why they were moving together so soon is that Lily's parents had been killed one year previously and her sister Petunia didn't want to live with her, and that James's parents, who both fought hard against Voldemort, had suffered the same fate a few months ago, just a few weeks after Lily and James had begun dating. Lily and James, both orphans, had got closer and took comfort in each other.
"We're buying it," Lily said spontaneously.
She looked at James, who nodded and put his arm around her shoulder.
"Home sweet home," Lily whispered.
James smiled at her obvious happiness. They were going to be happy here.
"SIRIUS BLACK!"
James jumped at Lily's deafening roar. He was in their bedroom, trying to rehearse the four little words that he would be uttering, hopefully without stammering, to Lily later on. He had the ring, he had prepared a nice little dinner for the two of them, with candles, flowers and all; he was ready. Hell, he had even tried to comb his hair.
"Sirius Black, what did I tell you?"
Sighing, James quickly descended the stairs. Lily was nowhere to be seen, but he could still hear her shouts. He stepped outside and found Lily, looking furious, standing beside a sheepish-looking Sirius Black, who was sitting on his flying motorbike.
"I do not want this thing here!" Lily admonished him. "I've told you a thousand times."
"It's not a thing, Lily," Sirius protested.
Sirius's face lit up when he noticed James, and cast him a 'please save me' look.
"She did tell you not to bring it here," James said.
He really did not want Lily to be angry tonight. Sirius looked disappointed.
"Siding with her, are you?" Sirius growled.
James turned to Lily and couldn't help but smiled. He found her irresistible when she looked furious, standing there with her hands on her hips and her cheeks slightly flushed.
"You didn't need to scream so loud, though," James remarked. "I thought Sirius was strangling you or something. You know shouting is no use when Sirius is concerned."
"That's true," Sirius said.
"I wouldn't be proud of that, if I were you," Lily rolled her eyes, but she had calmed down.
Lily looked disdainfully at the flying motorbike on which Sirius was still sitting. They had been living in Blue Cottage for over a year, and James and Sirius had soon learnt that Lily was rather fussy about the house and the garden.
"Fine, fine, I'm leaving!" Sirius said, putting his hands in the air in surrender. "I'm going to see a true friend… goodbye."
Sighing dramatically, Sirius flew away, his head held high. James laughed and soon Lily was joining him.
"He's unbelievable," Lily shook her head.
"Unique, you mean," James corrected her.
"Thank God he's unique!" Lily said earnestly. "How would I manage with two Sirius Black around?"
James chuckled and watched as Lily opened the kitchen door and looked around appreciatively.
"This looks great, James," Lily said, smiling.
She kissed him and sat down.
"Is this a special occasion?" Lily asked.
"You'll see," James said mysteriously.
Lily waited impatiently for James to tell her more, and, once they'd finished eating, she decided to ask herself.
"You're going to ask me to marry you, aren't you?"
James's plate, which he had been magically lifting towards the sink, fell on the floor and broke with a loud bang.
"Lily!" James protested, his face slightly red. "You're not supposed to ask!"
Lily rolled her eyes but smiled at James's cuteness.
"I wouldn't need to ask if you did," Lily said.
"I was getting there!"
James looked ashamed of himself and rather disappointed that she had spoiled the surprise.
"You've been acting weird for one week, and yesterday I heard you rehearsing in front of the mirror," Lily revealed.
James blushed even more. Lily smiled kindly and took his hand.
"It's alright, honey," Lily said.
"No, it's not," James grumbled. "I always mess up with this kind of things."
She squeezed his hand, still smiling gently, and they remained silent for a moment.
"Well?" Lily asked, feeling her impatience coming back. "Are you going to ask me?"
James looked like she had just shaken him out of his reverie.
"Sure, sure I will," James stammered.
He stood up and knelt in front of Lily. When he looked up at her he saw the happiness in her emerald eyes, but there was something else in her smile.
"You're enjoying it!" James exclaimed accusingly. "You're enjoying torturing me and making me ashamed!"
Lily burst out laughing. "Well you've got to admit that I don't get many occasions to do that. You're hardly ever ashamed of yourself."
James thought about if for a moment and nodded.
"Anyway…" Lily said pointedly.
"Ah, yes."
James took the ring out of his pocket and cleared his throat.
"Lily, will you-"
"Come outside, Prongs!" shouted a voice. "I've got something to show you!"
James sighed. Lily gritted her teeth, having recognized Sirius's voice.
"Now is not the time, Sirius!" Lily shouted. "Go away!"
But James shook his head, knowing it wouldn't be enough to make Sirius go away.
"I'm afraid he won't go until he's showed us whatever he wants to show," James said.
Lily stood up. "Let's get it over with then."
They quickly went outside to find Sirius smiling happily and mischievously at them. The sun had set almost an hour ago, but the night was clear and, when Sirius pointed at the house's façade, both Lily and James were perfectly able to see that it was now bright blue.
"You know how we've always thought it was weird that it was called Blue Cottage without being blue," Sirius told James, smiling widely. "We don't need to wonder anymore, isn't that great?"
James took one look at Lily and burst out laughing. She was standing still, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.
"I just painted it," Sirius said, obviously proud of himself. "Magically, of course. It took just a few seconds. Isn't it beautiful?"
"It is, Padfoot," James said earnestly.
"It looks like the sky on a beautiful day. What do you think about it, Lily?" Sirius asked.
Lily's expression was unreadable, now that she didn't look surprised anymore. Suddenly and unexpectedly, her face broke into a smile.
"Yes," Lily said, looking into James's eyes. "I want to marry you, James Potter."
James smiled happily and kissed her. When he pulled back, he saw that Lily had tears of joy in her eyes. He wouldn't be surprised if he did, too. He felt like Lily and he were the only persons in the world, until Sirius broke the magical moment by clearing his throat not so discreetly.
"I don't understand," Sirius shook his head, bewildered. "Why did you say you wanted to marry him like that, out of the blue?"
"Good choice of expression," Lily remarked, smiling, not too eager to enlighten Sirius.
James smiled at her, took her hand and led her into the house.
"Welcome to Blue Cottage, Mrs Potter," James said happily.
Lily kissed him and they laughed when they heard Sirius say from behind them:
"Well, now it is blue!"
¤ author's note ¤ Please review! Tell me what you like/don't like. Reviews are the only payment I receive and let me know you've passed this way. Thank you!