Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
A/N: Hey there people and thank you so much for your reviews. I'm glad that you are enjoying this fic so far. Now, a question came up as to how far into the time line this story will go. This story will go all the way to the night of October 31st, 1981 and a few days afterward. Many many thanks to my incredible beta enb2004 who has two great HP stories as well. As promised, here is Chapter Three. Enjoy!
Lily looked at James oddly as they walked together towards the restaurant.
He was constantly running a hand through his hair and straightening his glasses. James was holding her hand in his and it seemed sweaty and tense. James was always confident. The only time Lily had seen James upset was when his parents had been killed.
"James, honey, is something wrong? You seem a tad nervous," Lily said looking James straight in the eye.
At Lily's question, James suddenly tensed. "Does she know, does she suspect? Oh god, what if she doesn't want to marry me?" he thought, steadily becoming more and more panicked by the second.
"James? James what's wrong?" Lily asked, now truly concerned for her boyfriend's well being when James didn't answer her.
Hearing Lily's concerned voice brought James out of his stupor.
"Oh, nothing is wrong Lils, nothing at all. Everything's just great, just great!" James said trying to be extra cheerful.
Apparently he had been a bit too cheerful and Lily just gave him a look that said yeah right.
"So where are we going James? I would like to know where we are headed for," Lily said seeing that James didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering him and decided not to ruin this night by forcing him too.
James smiled in relief that Lily had not continued to question him. "It's a great restaurant Lils! It's called Flemings and has some of the best food around," he said smiling happily while trying to conceal his nervousness.
"Flemings huh? I do believe that I have heard of it. I think my parents went there once though I can't remember why," Lily said frowning, trying to remember the significance that the restaurant had held for her parents.
"See! That just confirms that this is the perfect place. Oh come on Lily! Look, there it is!" James said in a squeaky voice.
Lily looked at him oddly again but said nothing about the odd voice. "Come on then James. I don't know about you but I am starving!" she said, her stomach grumbling from the delicious aromas that were in the air.
"Sounds good to me Lily. Shall we?" James said, offering her his arm.
Lily giggled and hooked her arm with his. She didn't know what is was about this dinner but she felt like she was back in Hogwarts and going on her first date with James.
Together they approached the manager who was taking reservations.
Clearing his throat, James got the attention of the manager.
"I'm James Potter and I have a reservation for two at six-thirty," he said, his voice shaking slightly.
"Welcome! Follow me right this way to your table," the manager said leading the two of them to a beautiful table in the center of the room.
"Thank you very much. This is lovely!" Lily exclaimed, eyeing the room appreciatively.
"Your waiter shall be right with you," the manager said while beaming at the compliment before leaving the couple to themselves for a few minutes.
"Oh James! Now I can see why you wanted to take me here for our anniversary. This place is just exquisite!" Lily said in awe.
James smiled at Lily. He had been here once before with his parents for his seventeenth birthday. In a way, it was kind of ironic. He, a wizard raised boy, had been to Flemings before Lily, who was a witch with muggle parents who had actually been to Flemings before.
Some of his amusement must have shown on his face for Lily smacked him playfully in the arm.
"Do you find something amusing James?" she asked, a red brow arched elegantly.
"No Lils, nothing at all," James said, managing to keep a straight face. Well, he was a Marauder after all.
Lily raised her other eyebrow in disbelief but let it pass without further comment.
Shortly afterwards their waiter came and took their orders. Lily ordered the Oscar Fillet while James ordered a regular fillet, not being particularly fond of sea food. Together they ordered the garlic mashed potatoes, and sautéed onions for their side dishes.
Their only problem ordering was with deciding what to drink. Lily chose to go with the Merlot, while James scanned the wine list whilst all the while wishing for firewhisky or at least a good butterbeer. When it was apparent that there was nothing on the wine list that even remotely resembled either drink, James gave in and ordered the Merlot as well.
While they were waiting for their dinner to arrive, Lily and James made only small talk while sipping their wine.
At last, when their dinner arrived, they dug in with gusto, barely taking the time to talk for the food was that good.
While they ate, Lily noticed that James kept on digging around in his pockets for some reason or another.
After watching him do this throughout the meal, Lily decided to find out what was going on.
"All right James, I'll make this very simple. What's wrong? You look as though you're about to be sick," Lily said with some annoyance and concern at the same time.
James looked up at her while slightly panicking. This was it, it was time. Their dessert was on their way and they had just received the Champagne he had ordered for the both of them. There would never be a more perfect moment than this.
"All right Lily, I'll tell you why I've been so nervous tonight," he said seriously.
James unusually serious and quite demeanor set off warning bells in Lily's mind. She somehow knew that whatever he was about to say was going to change both her life and his forever.
"All right James, I'm listening," Lily said just as softly with a hint of nervousness in her voice as well.
Taking a deep breath, James got up out of his chair and approached Lily.
Seeing James standing, Lily went to get up but James motioned her to stay in the chair.
Lily looked confused but stayed where she was, the butterflies in her stomach growing more and more by the second.
Taking one more deep breath, James went down on one knee in front of Lily.
"Lily, the reason that I have been so nervous tonight is that I have a very important question to ask of you. Lily, I have loved you since the first moment that I saw you on the train going to Hogwarts for our first year. It took me many years to recognize that I loved you but when I did, my love for you completely overwhelmed me. I spent nearly every waking moment talking or dreaming about you. When you agreed to be my girlfriend and told me that you loved me too, I was the happiest person alive. Now, I have one question for you, and I'm hoping that when you answer it, you will make me the happiest person alive," James said all in one breath.
Throughout James whole speech, Lily sat numbly in shock. He wasn't, was he? No, he couldn't be, could he? When James stopped, it was all Lily could do to nod to tell him to go. She was currently incapable of speech at the moment.
James saw Lily's nod and took it as a bad sign for she hasn't said a word. Summoning up his courage, James continued.
"Lily, I love you more than life itself. Lily Evans, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" James asked, holding his breathe and waiting for her response.
"He asked me. Oh my god he actually asked me! He wants me, little Lily Evans to be his wife!" she thought to herself in shock. "Don't just stand there Lily! Answer the man!" her inner voice demanded.
James was beginning to become nervous. Lily hadn't said or reacted in any way. He wasn't sure if this was a good sign or a bad one. Just as was about to give up hope on receiving any sort of response, Lily suddenly pounced on him, taking both of them to the floor and kissed him passionately.
"Oh James! Of course I'll be your wife!" Lily said as soon as she had finished kissing the life out of James.
James whooped and quickly brought himself and Lily to their feet and twirled Lily around happily.
The restaurant burst into happy applause as James whirled Lily around, having witnessed the proposal and Lily's response.
It was only after James had put Lily down that they both realized that they had an audience.
James and Lily blushed and hurriedly sat back down at their seats.
"Oh James, this is a dream come true! I knew you loved me, and god knows I love you, but I never thought that you would ask. You've made me the happiest girl on the face of the Earth James Potter," Lily said her eyes dancing with happiness.
"Well, I know that you have made me the happiest man alive! I don't know about you though Lils. You haven't seen the ring yet afterall and that just might make just even happier," James said smiling in anticipation of Lily's reaction to the ring would be.
Lily's eyes widened at the mention of a ring. "You, you bought me an engagement ring?" she asked, her voice squeaking a tiny bit.
James smiled happily at his fiancé. "Of course I did Lily and I just happen to have it with me if you should desire to see it and possibly wear it. But I suppose that you want to wait until we...." he started to say but Lily interrupted him.
"James! Let me see it please! If you really have it I would like to wear it, starting right here, right now," Lily said determinedly.
"I was just teasing Lils, of course you can see it and wear it," James said while reaching into his pocket and bringing the box out.
He carefully handed the precious box over to Lily who took it with shaking hands.
Slowly, she lifted the lid and gasped at the ring. It was exquisite! Between the ruby lily, the emerald leaves, and the two diamonds, Lily was truly shocked.
"Oh my.... Oh my god, James, this is gorgeous! Where on Earth did you find this?" she asked after kissing James fiercely on the lips.
"Oh in a little alley somewhere in London," James said winking at Lily.
Lily laughed as James paid the bill. "You know James, I'm willing to bet that you had this custom made," she said waving her hand in front of his face, the ring glistening in the dim lighting of the restaurant.
James blushed. "You caught me there Lily, but I knew that you would love it," he said smiling happily at the ring on her finger.
"Of course I love it! I think that it is one of the most beautiful rings that I have ever seen, let along own!" Lily said beaming at him.
"Come on Lily, what do you say we get out of here, and away from prying eyes, and take a walk?" James said, shooting the "couple" behind his table a look.
"How did he know that we were here?" Lily heard Sirius whisper.
"We'll see you later boys, behave," she said mockingly.
Ignoring the two peeping Tom's, James took Lily's hand in his own and they both walked out of the restaurant and onto the streets.
To them, their future had never looked brighter, despite the war. Things could only get better from here they both thought. They were at the beginning of their lives and things were finally starting to take shape. Had they known what their future held in store for them, they would have thought very differently.
TBC
