A/N: I am beyond sorry for the time between updates but my life got quite hectic out of nowhere. Hopefully, people still want to read my story. Apologies for the length. Also, Chapter 34 of TLAT. CHAPTER 34. OH MY MERLIN.

I was sitting at the kitchen counter, tapping my foot ideal on the barstool, waiting for the water to boil so I could make tea. As I did so, my eyes wandered over to my boyfriend. He had fallen asleep on the couch in the sitting room; I'd heard him stumble into the house about two in the morning, obviously drunk. I waited for him to come to bed but obviously, James had crashed on (more like, onto) the couch. He was sprawled out at an awkward angle that didn't look the least bit comfortable.

In the past, I would have been furiously angry at James; however, the times called for different allowances. He'd been with the Order all weekend, on a mission and that in itself excused the drinking and the coming home late – he had probably had a few pints with Sirius to rid the horrors of said mission from his mind. I understood and was partial to a few Firewhiskey's myself, although generally inside the privacy of my own home.

I heard the kettle whistle and dashed across the kitchen in the hopes that the noise wouldn't wake James. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a mop of untidy hair pop up from the couch. Damn. No such luck.

"Lily?" called James, his voice husky. I heard him wince at the sound of his voice. He's got a hangover.

"Good morning, James" I called back, lowering my tone due to his aforementioned hangover. "How are you?" I added the tea leaves.

"Hung-over" came James's muffled reply. I laughed quietly and told him that tea would be ready in a minute. I heard James remove himself from the couch and pad into the kitchen. He stopped briefly to wrap his arm around my waist, kiss my temple, and glare at the kettle that had woken him before he moved to sit at the counter.

There was silence while I finished the tea and poured James a steaming mug. I crossed the kitchen and handed it to him; his eyes locked with mine and I saw him wince. A bit taken aback by this reaction, I asked if everything was alright.

"Fine, Lils. Just…stuff. Last night was... it was, well, you know?" I nodded – the Order was certainly not a walk in the park; not the glory we'd all imagined - but noticed he still didn't meet my eyes. Hurriedly, James took a drink of tea and said "Good tea."

I narrowed my eyes at him and watched as he tried not to choke on the boiling hot tea. He smiled sheepishly at me, his eyes flickering between mine and the mug of tea.

"James, would you please just tell me? I know you…something's wrong."

One hand fisted in his hair and the other shot to massage his left temple. "Lils, I just… you don't want to know. Trust me. And I don't want to do this."

My heart thudded loudly in my chest. "Do what, James?"

James's shoulders slumped, defeated and he leaned back in his chair. "You sure you want to hear?"

I nodded. Obviously, James, you great prat.

He sucked in a large breath, and then exhaled loudly. "Okay, well, last night, after the mission, I went out with the boys. To the pub – to have a few drinks, which I guess turned into a lot of drinks. A celebration of life, after the mission, you know."

"Of course. I expected as much." I told him and he licked his lips before starting again.

"Well, we'd all had a few too many drinks and Sirius and those Prewett brothers were making bets and such. I wanted in, of course because… I'm James and an idiot." I smiled benignly at this but didn't interrupt. "Anyway, I made a bet. And it's got me a bit worried because I don't really want to lose."

James finished with a look of disgust. I giggled, which caused him to look at me.

"What was the bet?" I asked. James shook his head and told me that was the part he didn't really want to tell me. I snorted.

"Tell me or I'll withhold sex" I told him, grinning. James's eyes narrowed and his face flushed with his defeat – I held the trump card and we both knew it. He stuck his tongue out at me, slid off the barstool and made his way up the stairs.

"I'll be back in a few seconds, Lils. Then you'll figure out the bet. Probably withhold the sex anyway, to be honest" he called back to me, as his feet made the stairs creak. We need to fix those – although, if someone intrudes… they might come in handy, those creaks.

I sat at the counter, waiting for James to return, idly twirling a strand of my hair.

When he did reenter the kitchen, he came to stand in front of me and made full on eye-contact with me. Without dropping eye-contact, which made me shiver from its intensity, he dropped to one knee. I dropped my mouth and my hand shot up to cover it. His hand revealed a small box, the lid already opened.

"Lily Evans, will you marry me?"

Several things washed over me at once: 1. James was PROPOSING. 2. He was doing this for a bet. He'd bet something on a proposal. 3. The ring was absolutely gorgeous. 4. WHAT?

James was eyeing me cautiously, as if waiting for me to explode, which I sort of promptly…did. Not because I was mad or angry or sad or happy but rather in spite of these emotions… I couldn't sort them and it confused me and so I screamed.

"JAMES POTTER, YOU BET ON A PROPOSAL. YOU ARE PROPOSING TO ME BECAUSE YOU BET THAT YOU HAD TO! HOW MUCH OF A BLOODY PRAT CAN ONE PERSON BE? I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU! HOW ON EARTH CAN I SAY YES UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES? OH MY MERLIN, I WILL ABSOLUTLEY KILL YOU IF YOU RETURN THAT RING…AND SIRIUS WAS IN ON THIS – WHERE IS HE? HE DESERVES THIS WRATH AS MUCH AS YOU DO, JAMES POTTER!"

Somewhere in the middle of the tirade, I had risen from my seat and was now standing over James, who was still on one knee in front of me, hands clutching his head, which was most likely throbbing from my screaming and his hangover. I could feel my chest heaving and I knew I was flushed and my hair was crackling, probably frizzing even after all the time I'd spent getting it to lie somewhat flat. James was looking at me as if I were some sort of crazed banshee. When I had calmed enough – thoughts still swirling – to sit, I said, "James?"

He whimpered a bit in response. "What was the actual bet? Word for word… because I'd really hate to hurt you and Sirius, if this is all just a misunderstanding…"

James swallowed, rubbed his eyes and rose from his knee. Head hanging, like a shamed child, he spoke. "Well, Sirius said I was taking too bloody long to propose and that I needed to get on it or you'd go away. And I said, nope, I could propose whenever I wanted to but the right opportunity had never come up. It kind of…escalated from there and basically, I had to propose to you tomorrow – which is today – or do Sirius's laundry for the rest of his life. And clean his house."

My mind raced to keep up with this information. Did that mean…"too bloody long to propose"… "needed to get on it"… how long had James had that ring?

"How long have you had the ring?" I asked him and James mumbled something to the effect of –"eight months ago."

I took a deep calming breath and sorted through my convoluted feelings. Was I mad that I was being proposed to as a bet? No, because James had been meaning to do this for years. And that was that because… I wanted to say yes to James Potter. Mrs. James Potter. Lily Potter. Lily Evans-Potter. No, no hyphens. Just Lily Potter.

I snapped out of that stupor and cradled James's face in my hands, watching his eyes carefully. "I don't know whether I should slap you or not… because I feel like I should but I don't think I'm going to. But, YES! MERLIN, YES!

James stumbled back at my sudden outburst, which sent my cheeks flaming. Perhaps he hadn't really wanted to propose…but no, look at him.

James's mouth was open, his temple throbbing from his headache and he was glowing. Glowing, like a little kid given a key to a candy shop. "Really, Lils? You'll marry me?"

I nodded sheepishly and bit my lip. I was going to marry James Potter, of course I was. Knew that from the moment I started bloody dating him, didn't I?

"I couldn't have you doing Sirius's chores when you could be doing mine, can I?" I said cheekily.

And suddenly, I was being attacked by James Potter – I was twirled and kissed and touched and we knocked over a cup of now cold tea with our excitement but we just didn't care. Because we were young and in love… and we were going to get married.

Merlin's Pants, I needed a dress.