Lily was sitting on the couch in James' apartment, staring at the fire with his head in her lap. She was deep in thought, not thinking anything really but at the same time there was everything in her head. James was silent, but Lily doubted he was asleep. She was playing with his black hair and at times she felt him stroking her left hand.

It was a normal weekend, normal Saturday, and it was almost eleven pm. Christmas was close, it was December, but there was no rush in it. Just a while, time for them to live in a moment and just enjoy each other's company.

"Lily", James said then and grabbed her left hand turning to look at her. "Lily, let's get married."

Lily froze and looked deep into James' hazel eyes. It came right out of the blue, although they has been planning on spending the rest of their lives together. But marriage? Well, that was...

"Are you asking me to marry you, James?" she asked trying hard to keep the shock out of her voice.

It was hard to say in a room so dark, but it looked like James' face was getting red, even redder than Lily's hair. "Well", he said, then cleared his throat. "I don't know – I mean... yeah. Yeah, I guess I am." He smiled sheepishly, and then he saw her pale face. "But of course, if you don't want to... I mean it's just... I don't know, it just feels like – the right thing to do. Because I love you, and with the war going on and everything... I just want to be sure that you will be there to love me when I come back from a mission. And since every day can be our last, I want to live good the time we have. You know what I mean."

Lily continued playing with his hair and moved her gaze back to the fire. "Yeah", a small smile was barely visible on her lips. "Yeah, let's get married, James."

Their eyes met again, and there was a moment of silence before a huge grin took its place on his face. He sat up, not fully but just enough to grab her face and place his lips on hers. He kissed her softly, then with more passion, and all the time he smiled like a madman. Lily smiled too, and James heard her small laughter between their kisses.

"Lily Evans", he whispered against her lips and looked her right in the eye, "you have just made me the happiest man ever lived on this planet." He kissed her softly and than leaned back and placed his head in her lap again. "I'll buy you a ring", he continued and held her hand in his. "A ring so beautiful the stars get jealous. And I will slide it to your finger so that everyone will know that you are mine. And from that moment you will be mine, truly mine, forever and always."

She smiled and felt so happy she wanted to cry. "That sounds like a plan", she muttered. "A plan worth accomplishing. Forever and always."