Chapter ten, ignoring
When she ignores you, give her your attention
"Lily, baby, don't ignore me. Baby, don't be angry, not still." He grabbed her arm but she pulled away quickly, busing herself with the menu. It was James' idea they'd go out and eat tonight, the idea did not come without a back thought but with Lily still mad at him it did not feel good at all.
"Would you like to order?" their waiter for the evening asked and James nodded solemnly.
"A bottle of your finest Champagne, and I'll have the pasta Toscana. What do you want, honey?" he turned to Lily.
"I'll have the same, and a glass of water."
The waiter scribbled on his little notepad, nodded and then left them quietly. James studied the surroundings. They sat by a mahogany table, round with a fancy table cloth on top. A fancy chandelier was their only light. Around them there were a dozen different sized, similar looking tables with a couple or several couples sitting around, ordering food or just simply talking. James and Lily seemed to be the only couple whom were arguing, even though it was silently.
Sirius and Remus had helped him find this place, for a special occasion such as this was to be, and he had to say that they'd done a fantastic job. At first he'd thought Sirius would confound Remus and then give him the address of a shitty place somewhere, but surprisingly he hadn't. He must know how much Lily meant to James or else he would've.
"How was your day?" he asked Lily, praying she would stop being mad sometime soon so that he could do what they came to do. Or, he could do what he came to do.
But Lily was too lost in taking in the surroundings to even reply, or at least she appeared to be.
"Lily, I know you're mad but if you could only talk to me maybe we could sort this out?"
Lily sighed and when she next looked at him it was with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry, just every time I see you I think of how I thought you were… yesterday."
Her voice cracked and she was unable to utter the word. "I'm sorry James; we should be enjoying ourselves tonight."
She spotted his hand lying on the table and grabbed it, stroking it and smiling all the while. "I love you, I'm sorry I'm such a bitch sometimes. Just remember, when I'm bitchy, I only am because I care about you."
"You should've told me that way back in Hogwarts." James said and smiled cheekily. Lily smacked his hand but smiled nonetheless.
"I probably should. You weren't even half as bad as I made you seem sometimes."
"I'm glad to know," James actually felt some relief shot through his stomach. And here he'd thought it didn't matter what Lily had done, only what she did. He supposed it did matter, a little bit at least.
Their food arrived and after toasting their make-up in Champagne they ate and chit-chatted about any and everything. Mostly, James was only listening with half a mind, most of his brain was just taking in how beautiful Lily looked in the candlelight. It illuminated and cast mysterious shadows over her hair and gave her face a porcelain look which made her freckles appear more clearly and her eyes sparkled like two tiny, green fires.
The restaurant was playing soft music, and James only waited for his queue, his nerves tightening by the minute. Each second that passed seemed to be an eternity. What if she didn't want to, what would happen between them then?
His own feelings he was sure of, but what did Lily want? They were still so young, maybe when Lily saw her distant future she didn't see him and kids.
He thought back on the previous three days. Lily had forgiven him for not sending word of his delayed return, but she'd barely spoken to him. Actually, today was the first day they spoke, and it relieved James to no limit. He'd thought they were done with for a while, stupidly, it was only lovers' quarrel not anything serious and he didn't think for a minute even, that Lily would leave him over something so trivial.
-:-
Lily once again surveyed the fancy restaurant she found herself dining within. There were fancy chandeliers and interior design, not anywhere she and James would normally go, they usually preferred tiny, cheaper places to this over the top fancy restaurants. And she couldn't help but suspect the reason behind this sudden fancy dinner; she suspected James was feeling guilty for not sending his patronus the other day.
But really, she should be the one making amends. She had gone ballistic for such an ordinary thing, James had been in an Order meeting, how on earth was he supposed to have remembered to send his patronus? Lily could barely say she would've remembered it herself.
It was such a sweet thing of James to do, and such a typical as well. He always took the blame for about everything that went wrong between them, even though they both knew it was Lily's own fault. And he always did things over the top. He knew she hated it, but did it anyway. Like that time in seventh grade, when they started dating;
"Lily, aren't you going to eat anything?" asked Alice.
Lily had only been picking in her food and dinner was already coming to an end. But she couldn't force herself to eat anything, hadn't been able to for quite a while now. What was with her? Just because James had snogged Marilynn she wouldn't eat? It wasn't as though she liked him or anything.
Or, if she could be honest (and she could, because it was only to herself) she had to admit the guy looked pretty damn good. And had humor, lots and lots of it, he was funny to hang around with, she'd learned during their times as potions partners. And he always had a witty comeback, which she'd learnt during their millions of arguments. He was a skilled wizard, one couldn't deny, they only needed to see him in class or watch one of his and his friends' infamous pranks. Which were pretty damn funny if you weren't the victim, she could admit now that she was on a roll. And, this was important not to forget as well, he was an incredibly loyal and good friend, which Lily could not help but appreciate. Maybe, if she admitted it only to herself, she could say that she actually harbored some more than friendly feelings towards the infamous, unruly haired prankster.
Just as she came to the conclusion she might be falling for over-the-top-James, loud music filled the Great Hall. There were not many students left, most had gone home during the winter holidays and the few left were in Hogsmeade or in their dormitory. Only a handful students sat and ate together.
When she listened closely she recognized the music and lyrics to Born to Be My Baby, but the voice singing the lyrics live she did not recognize. Upon looking up from her un-tasteful looking plate of food she noticed every student in the room looking at none other than James Potter, standing on the table before her (how she didn't manage to notice him before now was beyond her) his magically enchanted voice echoed through the hall and actually sounded pretty good.
"You were born to be my baby, And baby, I was made to be your man, We got something to believe in, even if we don't know where we stand, only God would know the reasons, but I bet he must have had a plan, cause you were born to be my babyand baby, I was made to be your man…" A distressed and disapproving McGonagall looked down upon them from the teachers table with a scowl on her face, looking the opposite of the bemused Dumbledore which eyes twinkled as never before behind his horn rimmed, half-moon glasses.
"You were born to be my baby, baby I was made to be your man" James finished the song speaking, a little out of breath, looking down on Lily. "One date, just one?"
When she finally was able to comprehend what had just happened, all she could do was nod, wide-eyed.
James' eyes turned just as wide as hers while the few students left to witness James' little act stood on their feet and cheered. Lily even saw Dumbledore smile, quite widely, and applause, and she swore she saw McGonagall applause before she realized what she did and turned her attention to her food, a small smile playing on her ever-before pursed lips.
"Really, you will?" James asked once he seemed able to think straight again. His eyes were still as wide as before, staring disbelievingly down on Lily, probably questioning reality.
The face of James that moment was forever etched into her mind.
Lily laughed lightly and James was instantly curious to what was on her mind, what had made her laugh.
"I was just thinking about the last time I heard this song," Lily said, knowing he wanted to know even before he had to ask. "And your face when I said yes."
"Yes… Oh, happy day." James sighed, lost in the very same memory Lily had been lost in seconds ago. Born to be my baby continued to play in the restaurant, its occupants unaware of what was to happen only seconds from then. They looked a little surprised over the choice of song, and the volume of it, to the fancy restaurant who until recently had played soft, calming tunes.
James fingered the small box in his pocket.
"How about we make another memory to this song? And your face will be the long this time." James stood and Lily looked bewildered, not understanding anything.
"James, wha-" she interrupted herself when he got down on one knee before her, grabbing her hand in his.
"You were born to be my baby, baby I was made to be your man. Be my wife as well. Lily Marie Evans, will you marry me?" The whole restaurant had quieted and watched as he fished the ring box out of his pocket, opening it and offering it to Lily.
Seriousness, bemusement, love, expectation, hope, fear, desire all mixed up to a big lump of feeling in his chest. He was sure they all showed in his eyes, allowing Lily to see his sincerity.
He'd been fairly certain she would say yes, but now the moment came and he could only think of all the different ways in which she could reject him. Spill her drink over his head and tell him she detested him, laugh at him, scorn, frown, silently walking away, rejoice…
Or she could just say yes, as he hoped… (to be continued)
AN: I have a chapter that supposed to be up before this, but I have barely gotten halfway then I got stuck, so I figured I'd post this and make the other chapter sort of half flashback, so I'm sorry for the late update! I've just been on vacation, two weeks on Gotland, it was really nice.
SORRY FOR ALL THE LINES I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE THEM DISAPPEAR! Yeah, I'm blonde, but delete didn't work and computers really aren't my thing… :(
So, how did you like it when it was a little from Lily's perspective? Would you like it if I inserted some of her perspective in the next chapter, or should I stick to James?
Also, I've decided to make a canon ending, but I've changed a little bit from the books.
Lastly, A BIG CONGRATS TO MY WONDERFUL FATHER AND HIS GIRLFRIEND WHO'VE GOTTEN ENGAGED. They're what inspired me to write this chapter. It was really beautiful, the announced it on the beach and acted all love-dovey or what the hell you call it!