Disclaimer: If you recognise it, it ain't mine.
"Other men said they have seen angels; but I have seen thee, and thou art enough." - G. Moore
The usual effectiveness of the library's reliable, steady silence was rendered useless by the mere fact that James Potter was present and grinning manically at her from a nearby table.
When they had walked into the library, Lily told him gently but firmly there would be no sitting together because they wouldn't get anything done. "You're more distracting than ten Gryffindor common rooms put together, and don't look like that, it's not a compliment." Those were her exact words to him upon entry, and now he was flaring his nostrils in time with the occassional widening of his eyes. Matched with the psychotic grin, he looked like a traveling circus act. Lily sighed and tried to keep a cool composure. It would not be a good idea to start either yelling or laughing in Madam Pince's library.
Then James's face went back to normal, and he looked around like he was searching for something, or... counting the amount of people present. He turned back to her and seemed pleased enough with whatever he'd been doing. Lily internally shook her head at the complete randomness that was James, and began to re-read what little she had found on the illegal trade of Unicorn hair.
"Lily?" James ventured across the vacuum (three occupied desks) that seperated them. "Li-leee?" he whispered again. The students sitting at each desk growled their disapproval at being disturbed.
Lily checked the location of Pince and quickly looked back at James. "Yeah?" she mouthed.
James frowned and shook his head. "What?" he whispered, a little bit louder than before, then actually said at a volume Lily considered entirely too loud, "Pardon me, what was that, Lily?"
Lily knew this game all too well. "I'm sorry, have we met?" she said, rather obnoxiously, but smirking because she just knew Pince would pounce on her soon enough. Frankly, she didn't mind because this revising was getting her nowhere fast. The sunrays pouring through the open library window tempted her outside to the cool grass.
"My God, it's a bit loud in here, isn't it? I can hardly concentrate!" James observed, causing Remus, who had sat by him in complete silence until now, to snort unsubtley but return to reading.
Madam Pince rushed around the corner of the nearest bookshelf, just as Lily grinned and opened her mouth to say something back. She snapped her mouth shut and repressed a giggle as Pince swept around the desk to face her. "I heard the name Lily, and the voice that responded was far too loud for this library. Please keep your voice down, Miss Evans."
Lily mumbled her apologies, and James stood up from his desk and declared, "Listen, I'm terribly sorry, but I can't hear a word you're saying, Miss Evans. Must be the acoustics or some such." A few students gave up their shushing and giggled a bit.
James strolled over to Lily's desk and took a seat beside her, snuggling close and sliding an arm around her shoulders. All in front of Madam Pince, who looked as though someone had blasphemised the Lord of Books by deigning to speak in His temple. Lily looked sheepishly at Pince and then up at James. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Oh, that's miles better! I do apologise. I can hear you much better now," James said, and rested the side of his head against Lily's. "That's much better," he repeated, quieter, and with a reassuring smile to Madam Pince, who merely huffed and spun away with a gust of book-smell. The students lost interest and went back to work, as did Remus, with a roll of the eyes.
Lily relaxed and slumped against James. "Why do you do that? Did you want us to get thrown out?" she asked him, not angry, just exhausted.
"Actually, yes. I was quite disappointed at her meek reaction. I was expecting Levicorpus and a bruise on my arse in the morning." Lily made a shushing motion and made to check where Pince was. James sighed in exasperation, leaned into his girlfriend's neck and whispered into her ear. "Is this quiet enough for you, Miss Evans?"
Lily didn't bother hiding the shiver that zipped down her spine and made her shuffle closer to James. She grinned. "Yes, I'd say that's about right for the library."
"Good," he whispered in the same fashion as before, and with the arm resting on the back of her chair, began trailing his fingertips over her shoulderblade. "All I wanted to ask was whether you'd like to join me for dinner somewhere nice next week."
Lily frowned and chuckled. "Next week we won't be students here anymore." The though saddened and scared her - not having the safe, sturdy walls of Hogwarts to protect her everyday would take some getting used to. Thankfully, she now had James, but was finally realising all the time she'd wasted saying no, leave me alone was time she could have spent being the happiest she'd ever felt.
"No, I know, so... well, we can go anywhere we want. And we don't need a permission slip from our parents," James laughed and the strands of hair swirling around her ear tickled her jaw.
"Okay," she nodded, "that would be nice."
Dinner-somewhere-nicethe following week was the meal over which James proposed to Lily. It was in a restaurant where the people having dinner still believed magic only existed in fairytales and in films, a wholly muggle joint that Sirius would have hated simply because he couldn't Charm more alcohol into his drink without someone noticing. But Lily had always loved going there with her parents and sister for special birthday meals and for treats, mostly for the wonderful live music they always had. It was just relaxing, unobtrusive, smooth jazz and bluesy type stuff that Lily had loads of on vinyl discs she still needed to teach James to use. It was a large, high-ceilinged, converted loft with exposed brick walls and fairylights strung all over the roofbeams and sweeping bar front. They were shown to their table and James told her she should have whatever she wanted because it was likely she'd remember whatever it was for the rest of her life.
As soon as he said it, Lily knew why he had brought her here and what had been on his mind all week. Before they left that night, she would be engaged to James Potter, and it wouldn't matter that they were only seventeen because the sooner they got started on forever, the longer it would last.
Just after the waiter took their plates away and Lily's mind was on how on earth she'd be able to plan a wedding on such a tight budget, the band struck up the first chords of her favourite song and she looked at James with narrowed eyes. He hadn't moved from his seat, like she'd expected he'd do, he was just sitting still and watching her with sparkling eyes.
"James, did you--"
"Wait a minute Lily. Can I just--" he hesitated, pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, rested his elbows on the table and sighed in frustration. "--I, well, I can't really think of how else to say it, but I think you're the most beautiful creature I've ever seen, and when I think of what I'd do if I couldn't tell you that every day, I get scared."
Lily was stunned into silence. He'd never spoken to her like this before, and suddenly it felt like something was clogging her windpipe, restricting the air to her lungs and causing a kind of breathlessness that only seeemed to happen around James Potter. She listened intently, wanting to commit every word, every nuance in every word to memory so she could tell her daughter about it when she got engaged and James would squirm with embarrassment and Lily would tell him it was the greatest moment of her life, so he shouldn't be embarrassed. James continued.
"And sometimes I think about how pointless it'd all be, every morning I've woken up since I met you would be a complete waste because what's the use in getting out of bed when you aren't going to be there in the morning to say hi? It would be... I'd be-- I'm nothing without you Lily," he declared, and she looked at the tablecloth modestly. "It's true! It's completely true, everyone knows it. We were meant to be together, Lily, and I want it that way for the rest of my life. I hate this, talking to you like this, because I can't really--" he scratched the back of his neck so adolescently, it's naivety frightened her, "--find the right words." He laughed nervously, probably a sound he'd never heard himself emit before. "But that's the best I can do."
Lily simply smiled at him for a moment, wondering what on earth she'd done to deserve someone that loved her so wholly and unconditionally. "It's more than enough, James. And yes, I will marry you."
James choked, spluttered for a few seconds, heaved a breath and said, "What! Lily, I was supposed to ask you!"
As if the moment couldn't have suited them better, Lily actually rolled her eyes as James got down on one knee before her and the surrounding restaurant got quiet with anticipation. One person stilled their forkfull of spaghetti halfway to their mouth in order to watch.
James got comfy and grinned dazzlingly at Lily, who sat obediently on her chair with a matching expression. She could hardly hold herself together, she wanted to kiss him so badly.
"Lily, the day I don't tell you I love you will be the day I die. No, wait, oh, God, that was awful. Don't--please don't tell Sirius I said that, he'll never let me live it d--"
"James!"
"LilyEvanswillyoumarryme?"
She snorted, and stood up, pulling James with her and pressing her lips to his briefly before replying, "Oh James, just when I thought you couldn't get any more frustrating." He smiled broadly and rested his forehead against Lily's. "Of course I will."