September 03, 1978

Lily rolled over in bed, felt the comfort of newly washed sheets, and sighed. Her sinuses were clear and her skin refreshed from the sea breeze blowing through the open window. She wanted to lie in bed all day just breathing in the atmosphere, like peace was something she could consume.

Her work at the Order was nothing like she'd anticipated. Yes, she'd prepared for times of scarcity and the harrowing violence, of seeing someone she knew die. It was the waiting that she hadn't expected, the moments where it felt like she'd fallen out of time altogether and was trapped with nothing but her thoughts, which swirled with fear – for her loved ones, for the unknown, for the sanctity of the human spirit. All imperiled by a few selfish bigots.

After four months of near-death misses and nights spent trembling with anxiety, James had cleared a holiday for them to the sea shore. Busy with their respective work, none of their mates had come, so it was just the James and Lily alone by the sea.

They'd rented a cottage on a stretch of abandoned shore with nary a soul in sight for six kilometers in either direction. Like they'd been carved out of time, the isolation allowed them to truly forego their thoughts on the war for once. It also allowed the young couple to rediscover each other as individuals, not soldiers. Just the night before, Lily had told James that she felt like she'd fallen in love with him all over again.

Unlike the visit to James' parents where they were kept busy to the point of exhaustion, they'd luxuriated in their holiday. Each day was spent hiking across dunes or swimming in the waves, already gone bitterly cold. They would make love in the mornings and again at night. Throughout the course of their six days in the secluded cottage, they'd amassed a pile of ten empty wine bottles, spending every day in a fog of tipsy frivolity.

Lily was full – of food, life, and most importantly, James. Her afternoon nap had been the first significant time they'd spent apart the entire week. (They'd even taken to showering together to maintain the intense connection fostered during the trip.) It was their last night together before reality would barge back in and ruin everything, so James had insisted that Lily rest while he grilled down on the beach.

Weeks before, James had purchased the muggle grill and had practiced (with many fiery disasters along the way) the art of grilling chicken.

Figuring he must be nearly finished with dinner, Lily wandered outside. Their cottage sat on a bluff overlooking the sea where James was set to grill, so she could see the top of James' head as he was busy at work. Only, James wasn't focused on the grill a few meters away. No, he was on his knees in the sand, positioning dozens of polished stones to spell out: "Marry Me!" The exclamation point was unfinished, and as she watched, he reached into a pile of rocks at his side to add to the symbol.

Lily went running. Not a thought in her mind, she raced down from the cottage, stumbling in her haste on the sandy dunes and burning her bare feet. James say Lily coming and went pale. He stood in front of the written message, like he might be able to hide the letters stretched out over five meters with his body.

"You weren't supposed to come down until I called!" James shouted, unnecessarily as she had neared him now.

"I could see from the house," Lily said.

James ran a hand through his hair. "Well, yeah, the goal was for you to come out and I'd be here with the ring out. I was going for romance."

"I don't know what to say," Lily said, a placeholder to reflect from the fact that she'd started to cry.

James took the opening, dropping down to one knee, the muggle way. Lily cried even harder.

"I know it wasn't perfect," James said. "But you are. We are. And I want us to spend the rest of our lives together. And I know you said no only a few months ago, but we're out in the big, scary world now, and I think we've both figured it out for the most part. If you say you're still scared, I'll understand, but I wanted, no needed to ask. Marry me."

"You don't think I'm perfect," Lily gulped out. "You think I'm bossy and a bad cook."

"Oh, that's true. Definitely."

"Oi! You can't insult me while you're proposing," Lily chastised him.

"Sorry, yeah, but you are a bad cook and you're really bossy. It's just the ways you're mad complement the ways I'm mad pretty nicely, I think, so perfect. Yeah, perfect," James said.

Lily sniffed loudly. He was perfect and she loved him and she wanted to marry him and she was very overwhelmed. All she could smell was the shrimp and chicken, almost finished cooking on the grill, and she was sure her hair looked like a haystack from the sea breeze buffeting it in every direction.

"I love you so much. This, James, it's beautiful, and it's sweet and everything I could ask for, but…We're only eighteen years old. My parents would never understand. My sister would never understand. Hell, I'm not sure I fully understand. I know I love you so much, and that I dream of being married to you, but it's just not how things are done," Lily said as gently as she could.

In her head, Lily could hear the voices of all their friends berating her for her stupidity. She was nearly paralyzed waiting for James to respond, fearing what he'd think of his second rejection. Yet, the voices of her family drowned out all the others. She couldn't help the way she was raised.

"I should have seen this coming," James said eventually, a half-laugh in his voice.

"Please don't be upset with me," Lily pleaded.

James waved away her concern. "You told me back on that first date, the picnic, that you didn't see yourself getting married until you were older. I'm just an impatient prick when it comes to getting the things I want. I'm impatient, and you're a traditionalist."

"I am a traditionalist," Lily agreed. "I never thought I could even imagine getting married before I was twenty-five, but I love you so much that maybe –"

James kissed her before she could finish, cutting off any promises she might struggle to keep. "You're worth the wait, Evans, so I'll be here when you're ready."

By the time they broke their kiss, the sun had dipped below the mountains in the distance and the sky was ribboned with red. James ran his nose against her own so tenderly that Lily almost burst into tears again.

It was their final night in paradise, and Lily wanted to make the most of it.

With the brightest smile she could manage, Lily pulled free from James' arms and asked, "Want me to bury you up to your head in the sand?"

They both scrambled into action, clearing away the stone letters of James' marriage proposal, the stone exclamation point dashed, and digging at the sand with their bare hands. And they played on the beach until well after the sun had disappeared altogether.

A/N: Review if you enjoyed pls & thank you!