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Chapter 11

James and Lily walked for hours; James wrapped his arms around Lily's shoulders, at first for comfort, but later for warmth as the night air crept in. The nights were turning colder. Soon winter would come, and with it the snow. Lily pulled James' arm tighter around her as an icy wind whipped her hair around and turned her cheeks and nose rosy. James would have stayed out all night like this, or as long as Lily needed to, but when her hands felt numb and she noticed him shivering, as he had given her his jacket a few hours before, she stopped and turned to him.

"Let's go back to your house James," she said.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, placed her palm on his cheek, and looked sorrowfully into his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure." She paused. "And thank you James. I, I really don't know what I'd have done if it wasn't for you. Thank you so much." She turned away, her voice breaking, and let her fingertips slide away from his face.

James placed a hand on her shoulder and kissed her hair, then said, "Let's go home."

Lily smiled a small smile to herself at the way he called his house 'home,' as if it was home for both of them. This one short sentence, that one word really, gave her a little glow of warmth in a darkened corner of her heart. She turned back to him and leaned into his side and repeated this comfort-giving phrase, "Let's go home."

When they reached James' house, his parents seemed to be asleep. As they crept into the house, James whispered softly into Lily's ear, "Follow me." He led her past her room and to a door on the right that she knew she should recognize, but couldn't quite remember what it was. "Close you eyes," he said as he led her into the room.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked, curiously.

"Just stay right here, okay?" He told her and left her standing in the middle of the room. "Just, stay right there for just a minute."

"James?" said Lily questioningly and remembering suddenly that this was his room.

"Almost ready," he replied in a rather loud whisper. She heard him shuffling around and muttering a bit, presumably some spell or another. "Ready! Open your eyes" He said, now standing beside her. They were next to a large open window, and just outside it, there was a large terrace. On the terrace, a large blanket was laid out and covered with pillows, and dozens of the little blue-flame-jars he had used in the secret room at Hogwarts were scattered around. With an overly-exaggerated bow, he led her out the window to the terrace. "My lady."

"It's beautiful James!" Lily said in awe as she looked around. She settled down on the blanket and wrapped her arms around a particularly soft pillow. James sat down beside her and she propped herself up against him. "Look at all the stars! Aren't they beautiful?"

"So beautiful." He said, though the sky did not hold his gaze.

She turned and saw him looking at her, and blushed as she realized his meaning. She turned back to the sky and sighed.

"What was that for? The sigh, I mean," James asked.

"Oh, nothing, I was just thinking."

"About?" James prompted.

"You'll think I'm silly." She said, then after a moment, she continued. "Alright, I was just thinking of, of how safe you make me feel. How one minute, I'll feel so lost and like nothing will go right again, and then you'll say something or do something, and I'll feel, I'll feel comforted, and safe, and like this is how it should be. You and me, here together, or wherever together; just as long as we're together, everything will be ok. Silly, huh?"

"No, not silly at all." James said seriously. "True. I feel the same way, and you should know that everything will be okay, as long as it's in my power to make it that way. I'll do anything for you, and I'll always be here for you."

Lily felt a tingle run down her spine, though whether it was from the cold, or what James had said, or the way he had brushed her cheek, just barely touching her, as he said it, she couldn't tell.

"I love the way you say that," Lily told him.

"Say what?"

"Always." She told him. "Always; forever; future. All those words most guys avoid like the plague that you say with such ease. That's part of the comfort I think, the way you seem so sure about what's going to happen. Whether you mean it to sound that way or not…"

"Of course I mean it to sound that way. Now that I've finally gotten you to see me as something other than an arrogant jerk Quidditch player, do you think I'm ever going to let you go?" He smiled at her. "I'd marry you right here and now if I could!"

"Oh, James," Lily laughed at the serious look on his face.

"I'm serious! I wouldn't hesitate to say 'I do', as long as it was with you."

"You really want to marry me?" Lily said disbelievingly, her voice now serious too.

"Yes." He said simply.

Lily sat quietly for a minute, apparently thinking hard. "Lily," James started, afraid he may have scared her. "Lily, I…"

"Then you'll have to ask me properly." She said, cutting him off.

James could hardly believe his ears. "What?"

"You said you wanted to marry me, right? Well then, if you want an answer, you'll have to ask me properly."

James' eyes widened, and he barely dared to believe what he was hearing. He cleared his throat, and then knelt on one knee before her. "Lily Evans, would you, will you, will you marry me?"

"Ye-"

"Oh, wait!" James said, pulling out his wand, then turning for a minute and muttering a spell. When he turned around, he was holding a beautiful silver ring with a glistening diamond. "This was my Grandmother's ring. Mum had it put away, for this, you know." He took her left hand, which shone milky white in the moonlight, and slid the ring on her finger. "Lily, will you marry me?" He asked again.

"Yes!" she said breathlessly, shaking form head to toe.

James squeezed her hand, and then pulled her up with him as he rose to his feet. He took her in his arms and spun her around, laughing from sheer happiness. When he sat her down, he looked in her eyes and said, "I love you, Lily Evans."

"Soon to be Lily Potter!" she reminded him. "And I love you to, James Potter!"

He leaned forward and touched his forehead to hers as he wondered aloud, "How did I get so lucky?"

"I could ask myself the same question," Lily said, smiling up at him. He returned her smile with a kiss so soft, and yet so deep, it left them both weak at the knees. They slid back down to the blanket and stayed there all night, enjoying the happiness so pure, they were sure no one else in the world had ever, nor could ever feel the happiness they felt that night.