A/N- Don't own Harry Potter…. Please Read and Review….

CHAPTER 2 – ENGAGED

Lily Evans had never been more excited in her life. Earlier this evening, she had left the house as a free woman but was entering it with a promise of becoming Mrs. James Potter. As she walked up the stairs of her new apartment, the telephone rang. As she was muggle- born she grew up with a telephone. Most witches didn't have one but Lily did as a way to contact her parents. *Who would be calling at this ungodly hour?*

"Hello." Lily answered.

"Good evening, darling." Lily's mother replied.

"Oh, hey mum. Why are you calling me at this time of night?"

"Dear, we just heard the most wonderful news. Petunia is pregnant!"

"Oh, well, Congratulations to her and Vernon. "

"Yes, well they just told us. I better let you go back to bed, Good night dear."

"Good night mum." Lily said as she hung up the phone. * Wow. They didn't beat around the bush. Been married a month and she's already pregnant.* with that Lily took herself up to bed. Lily was deeply upset about how she had not been chosen to be Petunia's bridesmaid. She figured it was simply because Petunia despised her for being 'abnormal'.

In the morning, she woke to the sound of an owl hooting at her so she could collect the post.

"Oh, sorry. Here's the money. Thank you very much." The owl left Lily to sort through her mail. *Daily Prophet, letter from Witch Weekly, letter from Alice and last a letter from James.* She opened the one from her best friend Alice first:

Lily,

Yesterday, I moved into my new apartment. It is so adorable. It's two stories high and has two bedrooms. I heard you moved into your new apartment as well; hope it's suiting you well. It's so weird that we won't be returning to Hogwarts anymore. I miss that place, but at least we have the memories of our time there. I can't wait to see you,

Love Alice Fortesue xoxo

Then the one from James:

My Dearest Lily,

Last night, you made me one of the happiest men alive. I thought perhaps tonight we should have dinner with your parents and tell them about our engagement. Let me know if this suits you and I'll pick you up around six?

Lots of Love

You fiancé

James

Lily wrote a reply saying she'd organize it with her parents and would see him at six. Then she jumped in the shower. She washed he hair before getting out, she wrapped the towel around her. She began arranging her still wet hair on top of her head. She looked at the clock and decided to do by magic as she didn't have time to it herself. She ran to her room and put on a pair of jeans and a blue shirt, which was then covered up by her robes. Today she had an interview at St. Mungo's. It was for a job that she hoped to get. She had always dreamed of being a doctor, and since becoming a member of the wizarding world, changed her desire to be a doctor to becoming a mediwitch. It was also important for Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix that she get this post.

The Order of the Phoenix is a secret society that Albus Dumbledore formed to fight You Know Who. Lily had been asked to join during her seventh year at Hogwarts along with James, Remus Lupin, Peter Petigrew, Sirius Black, Alice Fortesue, Frank Longbottom and many others. In her job at St. Mungo's she would not only be required to be a mediwitch, but she would also have to keep her eyes out for suspicious injuries at the hospital and report back to Dumbledore.

After Apperating to the hospital she walked to the front desk to find out where she was required.

"Good morning, I'm Lily Evans. Uh… I'm here for an interview with a Mr. Gradlemen?" Lily asked the receptionist, who had white blonde hair and was wearing a white lab coat with a name badge that read; Millicent Furganie.

"Ah, Miss Evans, he's waiting for you on the 3rd floor, room 672." Millicent said in a dull voice and she never lifted her eyes from the numerous bits of paper her quill was scribbling across.

"Thank you. "

Lily took the stairs up to level 3. She walked along the corridor to a room that had 627 unscripted above the door.

"Ah, you must be Lily Evans. I'm Mr. Gradlemen. Please have a seat. " The man with a large mustache and looked rather obese took out his hand for Lily to shake. Lily took his hand and shook it twice.

"Pleased to meet you. I trust you read my resume?" Lily questioned as she sat down opposite him.

"Yes, I read it. Quite impressive. Top of the class in Potions and Herbology. Ah, very good marks in deed. Well, Lily. Why do you want to be a mediwitch?"

"Well, I guess, as I was muggle-born, I wanted to be what they call a doctor which is similar to a Healer. When I was introduced into the wizarding world, I grew to the idea of becoming a mediwitch."

"Thank you for your time. I'll send you an owl to let you know whether you got the job."

"Thank you." Lily left the room with the feeling that a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

When she got outside, she apperated home and got ready for her dinner with her parents. The outfit she chose was a very conservative one. It was a flowered business skirt, her green blouse and a suit jacket. The she put on her black pumps and opened the door, only to see her fiancé with a dazzling smile on his face.

"Hello, Gorgeous!" James greeted her.

"Stop! What is did my fiancé say when he proposed?" Lily said with her wand drawn.

" He said; Lily Evans, I loved you since our first year at Hogwarts. And I want to love you forever. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"Yes, yes I will." Lily beamed as she jumped into James' arms giving him a big kiss.

They arrived at the Evans' house and knocked at the door.

"Darling, you're here!" Mrs. Evans greeted them.

"Hi, mum. You remember James Potter, don't you?"

"Oh, yes darling. Nice to see you again Mr. Potter."

"Good evening Mrs. Evans. Thank you for inviting me."

After entering the house they spied Petunia and Vernon Dursley sitting on the sofa in the lounge room. Vernon was already stuffing his face with the biscuits that were set out on the coffee table.

"Hello, Petunia. Vernon. Congratulations on the baby." James said politely.

"Thank you. Hello Lily." Petunia said with a snotty tone.

"Hello, dear sister. Hope married life is treating you well." Lily said in a polite tone.

"Dad, how are you?" Lily bent down to kiss her father on the cheek.

"Ah, my Lily. I'm fine thanks. Never better. James, my boy, did you ask her 'the question'?" Mr. Evans said with a broad smile on his face.

"Yes, I did, sir." James returned a similar smile.

"You knew, you both knew?" Lily asked suspiciously.

"Yes. James was polite enough to ask me first. Traditional. And what was her answer?"

"I am proud to announce Miss Lily Evans has accepted my proposal to marry me." James beamed. Lily had never seen him so proud.

"Oh. Honey, that's fantastic! Oh, my. Another wedding, a grandchild on the way! This is wonderful!" Mrs. Evan squealed.

"Let me see the ring." Petunia asked.

"Sure." Lily said holding out her left hand. Petunia saw a smooth gold band with a diamond shaped emerald on there. She was hit with a wave of jealousy. How could that Potter boy, afford such an expensive ring. Her engagement ring had a silver band and a small fake diamond in the center. At that moment, she hated Vernon. She wanted someone with lots of money yet it was too late now to change her mind. She was married with a baby on the way.

After dinner Lily and James excused themselves and went outside for a nice walk.

"Are you ok?" James had noticed that Lily was extremely quite at dinner.

"Yeah, I guess… I guess I just can't believe I'm going to be your wife." Lily replied.

"Yep, having to spend the rest of your life with me. Must be a terrible thought. Look, we will have a wonderful wedding, a romantic honeymoon and a great life as a married couple. " James tried to reassure her.

"Yeah… Look, I'm real tired. Do you want to go home? I mean, Petunia made dinner hell anyway. Bragging about her unborn baby and how she and Vernon only had to try once for them to conceive that baby."

"Ok, Lil, I'll take you home."

When they arrived at Lily's apartment, Lily kissed James good night and sent him on his way. She went upstairs and got into her pajamas and hopped into bed. As she rolled over hoping to get some sleep, her mind began to wonder. Her thoughts were filled with possibilities and facts. But one thing that stuck in her mind was the fact she was to become Mrs. James Potter. Was this what she really wanted?

At some point she must have fallen asleep because she awoke soon after 9am. The good thing was that today she only had to work for the Order this afternoon, so she had the morning to herself. She went downstairs and ate some porridge while she flicked through some bridal magazines that her mother had given her last night.

She saw many dresses that she liked, but not one had that spark, had that urge that said 'I'm the dress you have to have'. She saw bridesmaid dresses in pink, violet, baby blue and red. She saw flowers and table settings and many other things. At that precise moment there was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Lily asked with her wand drawn.

"It's me, Alice." The tall lean woman replied.

"What was written in the last letter that you wrote to me?" Lily asked, hoping Alice would remember.

"I said; Lily, yesterday, I moved into my new apartment. It is so adorable. It's two stories high and has two bedrooms. I heard you moved into your new apartment as well; hope it's suiting you well. It's so weird that we won't be returning to Hogwarts anymore. I miss that place, but at least we have the memories of our time there. I can't wait to see you, Love Alice Fortesue"

"Oh Alice, It's great to see you!" Lily exclaimed as she opened the door for her best friend. "How are you? Oh, come inside." Lily let Alice in and gave her a big hug.

"Oh, Lily. I'm great! Loving the new apartment. It'll be great for when Frank and I get married. Now how have you been?" Alice asked. ( Frank had proposed to Alice during their final year as he became increasingly worried about Voldemort rising to power and he wanted to secure Alice's hand before they died.)

"Well thank you. My sister got married and is now expecting a baby and… I got engaged!" Lily announced excitedly.

"To who?"

"James Potter!"

"AHHHHH! Lily, that's wonderful!" Alice screamed.

"Yeah. Actually it's good that you called by, I need some help picking out a dress and colors and stuff.

They sat down at the kitchen table and flicked though various magazines. They had decided on a short list of three dresses for Lily and had decided in the colors white and deep purple. The flowers they chose were lilies and they had two places in mind for the wedding to take place.

"Alice, James may be angry at me for not asking him first, but will you be my maid of honor?" Lily asked.

"Ah, of course Lily!" Alice was so excited.

Alice left shortly after as they both had to go to the meeting for the Order. When Lily arrived, she found that only her, Alice, James, Frank, Remus, Sirius and, of course, Albus Dumbledore were present.

"Lily, You're here, now we are only awaiting Peter. Please, have a seat. I understand you and James have something to tell us?" Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his blue eyes.

"Yes, James…. James and I um…. Well, …" Lily blushed.

"We're engaged to be married." James took over from a bashful Lily who was seated beside her. They were showered with "Congratulations" and "Good on you."

The meeting was just a routine check to make sure everyone knew what was going on. After the meeting, which went for about an hour, Lily arrived home to a small owl sitting on her kitchen table.

*Oh, my letter. I'll know if I got the job!* Lily thought to herself. She took the two letters from the owls' mouth. She opened the first card and recognized the messy handwriting at once;

Lily,

See you at your house at 7pm; be ready for a fantastic date with your loving fiancé.

We also have some wedding business to discuss.

Love James. Xoxo

This made Lily's day seem brighter. But nothing compared to the next letter.

To Miss Lily Evans,

I am proud and honored to announce that you have secured the job of mediwitch at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

Please pick up your uniform and be at St. Mungo's promptly at 7am on Monday morning for your first shift.

Hoping you are well,

Mr. Gary Gradlemen

She was smiling and nearly jumped a mile high when she read this. She enclosed a copy of this letter in an envelope and before sending it she wrote;

Albus Dumbledore

Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry

She spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for her date with James. After James arrived they decided to stay in, instead of going out. They made plans for their wedding.

"I hope you're not mad at me, but I asked Alice to be my Maid of Honor." Lily confessed.

"Oh, that's ok. Kind of what I expected. I asked Sirius, to be the best man, is that ok?" James said with a dazzling smile.

"Haha, Yeah. Kind of what I expected. Well Alice was over here today and we picked out some things. " Lily showed James what her and Alice had come up with. They had pretty much had the whole wedding planned out by 11pm. James was about to leave, when Lily pleaded with him to stay. So he gave in and he awoke the next morning with Lily in his arms.

Lily was still asleep so he got up, careful not to wake her, and made her breakfast. He made some French toast and some bacon and eggs.

Lily woke to the smell of eggs and bacon. She slid out of bed and blushed when she realized how little she was wearing. She put her silk dressing gown on and made her way down to the kitchen. She saw James standing at the stove cooking. He was dressed in his jeans and wasn't wearing a shirt. Lily took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Good morning beautiful," James said as he placed a plate full of food in front of Lily. He leant down and gave her a big passionate kiss.

"Morning. Since when did you know how to use a muggle appliance?"

"Oh, there a still many things that I know how to do, that you don't know about." He said with a mischievous smile.

Lily gave him a skeptical look and ate the delicious food that had been placed in front of her.

"I didn't know you could cook. At least, not this well. "

"Again, something the smart Lily Evans didn't know!" James teased. "Well I best be off, Albus Dumbledore has requested my presence, work for the Order. Do you have any special requests of me, milady?" James bowed then put on his shirt as he giggled. Lily burst out laughing.

"Good bye. I'll drop by again tonight, if you want." James teased as he kissed Lily goodbye.

"That'd be nice. Love you." Lily called after him.

A/N- If you like Lord of the Rings- try reading stories by Beaufale they are very good… and what she thought Harry should have done with his Invisibility Cloak.

Big Shout out to Sterling-Silver131 ( my BETA reader) Thanks so much….