Love is in the Day's Eye

QLFC Round 5 - The Mystery Boxes

TEAM BOX: Muggle

CHASER 3 PROMPT: You must choose to write either the scenario prompt, quote prompt or head!canon prompt. Choose carefully though, as your fellow chasers must write the other two. I chose to use the quote prompt: 'I love magic!'

A/N: The story name is a mix of phrases 'love is in the air' and 'beauty is in the of the beholder', and the word 'daisy'. Thanks to Jordi for proofreading, remaining mistakes are my own.

QLFC OPTIONAL PROMPTS:

1. (quote) 'Let's face it; this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing.' - Tony Stark, Iron Man

7. (image) daisy chain

15. (word count) 1,000 (without A/N and other info)

When Scorpius wakes up, something feels oddly out of place. No, it has nothing to do with him falling asleep in his father's study room after studying for his exams until wee hours, waking up with a crick in the neck because tables are not made for sleeping, and having a piece of paper stuck on his cheek. Had he forgotten something? No, that's out of the question.

Scorpius puts his study materials away, deciding to get a cup of tea and maybe a sandwich, too, and — after catching a quick whiff — some clean clothes before returning to his studies. Muggles make everything more complicated, Scorpius thinks. His parents had pulled many strings with Hogwarts and the Ministry to get him a proper school certificate, since outside of the magical world nobody really cares about O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s. The entrance exams for the university he wants to get into are only a week away, and Scorpius has been spending almost all his free time with books.

Scorpius's mother sits on the alcove, concentrating on embroidering a bonnet for Daphne's daughter, when Scorpius finds her. "Good morning, sweetheart," she says with a smile, and stands up to greet her son. Her smile wavers when she sees the tiredness on her son's face. "Oh, have you seen your eyes, sweetie? How long did you study last night? Did you get any sleep at all?"

"Morning, Mom," Scorpius yawns loudly. "I'm not sure. 'Till three?"

"You should sleep more," Astoria says, but Scorpius shrugs her off.

He takes a sip of tea he had retrieved a moment earlier. Plain Earl Grey, he duly notes. How unsurprising. He moves to sit with his mother for awhile before returning to his books, when a glimpse of red outside almost makes him choke on his tea. "Mom?" he splutters, still recovering from almost choking. "What is James's motorbike doing outside?"

"Oh, James has been here the whole morning," Astoria replies, eyes on the bonnet. "I think he must be in your room."

James's surprises are usually not a good thing. They, more often than not, involve some sort of experimental magic, and no matter how much Scorpius loves magic (and James) the surprises are known to take years off his lifespan. Even after dating the self-proclaimed 'Greatest prankster Hogwarts has seen since the nineties' for almost three and a half years, he has to mentally prepare himself for opening the door to his own room.

He opens the door, but nothing happens. He hasn't triggered a series of unfortunate events, there are no explosives from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes blowing up on his face, and no one is yelling "Effingo formaggio!" at him. He hates that particular spell. It made him smell like cheese for almost a week.

Instead, there are flowers. Hundreds and thousands of summer flowers opening and closing and twinkling, like little stars all over and around his room. Scorpius stares at the blaze of colours in awe. It's a wondrous sight. This, he thinks, is what magic is truly for. To create something beautiful.

In the middle of the room sits James, chanting charms and making new flowers appear. Multicoloured flowers grow from between the floorboards and window sills and closet doors. James stands up. There is a flower crown made of daisies in his red hair, and several flower bracelets dangle from his neck and both of his wrists.

James grins. "Let's face it: this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."

"No, it's definitely not," Scorpius squawks, unable to stop smiling. "But why on Earth is my room full of flowers?"

"Do you know how hard it is to charm roses?" James asks instead of answering Scorpius's question. He twirls his wand. "Because it's really, really hard. How well do you know the Norse gods, Scorp?" James's smile is as wide as ever. "Not well, I presume?"

"Have you been watching those awful superhero movies again, James?" Scorpius asks suspiciously. "Because if this is some elaborate plan to make me binge-watch all three Thor movies with you again-"

James barks a laugh. "As a matter of fact, I have been watching 'those awful superhero movies', as you so nicely put it," he chuckles, "but this has nothing to with my fascination for men in skin-tight clothing." James wiggles his eyebrows. Scorpius hums in amusement.

"Please, continue."

"I love you, Scorpius."

Scorpius's train of thought stops. "...what?"

"Daisy," James starts, removing one white flower from his hair, "is the sacred symbol of the Norse goddess Freya. She's the goddess of love. And I know this is probably way too soon and your dad still doesn't exactly like me..." James swishes his wand, transfiguring the daisy into a small ring. "But would you give me a proper chance?"

"Are you...?"

"Yeah, I am," James says softly, offering the ring. "I'm proposing to you, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. Will you marry me? Like, someday in the future? Or right now, if you'd prefer that."

Scorpius stares blankly at the daisy ring in James's hands before he, very bluntly, says the first thing that comes to his mind: "You're an idiot."

James nods very seriously. "I know. Quite charming, as well."

And there, surrounded by hundreds of flowers, Scorpius says out loud those magical little words. The words he never thought he would be able to say, because James Potter deserves so much more. The daisy ring shining on Scorpius's ring finger tells James's side of the story. A story of dozens and dozens of hours of trying to learn the spell to make a ring perfect enough for someone James finds more precious than anyone.

"Yeah, I'd love to marry you."

And the greatest magic is love. Though, spells to create rings can come quite handy, too.