Author's Note:

Reviews and Comments: To EnigmaticEmperor: Petunia is definitely very vile! I love the singing howler as well, thank you! To A Huge Fan: I love that something so short gave you so many feels, thank you! Wow congrats on the adoption! I wish you nothing but happiness in that regard and a lot of luck because kids are amazing and wonderful and a lot of work. Wishing you and your partner all the best! Thank you! To Sets: Sirius totally told James that Lily was in a funk. He definitely wants them both to be happy. Thank you! To ascfan: Lily is lucky to have James and for him to have her. Thank you! To ellyann13: Family situations would trump those kinds of things in my opinion, or they should. Thank you. To Bellmel: It's true, she had the Marauders and James to support her in her grief, but let's be real, they would have been there for her regardless if her and James were together. James is so wonderful! Hmm, that book isn't familiar to me? Thank you! To ThomasAvery: Thank you very much!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the lyrics of "Something" and "Love Is All I Need" those belong to the Beatles.

My posting schedule: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Thanks to Dusk for her amazing editing skills.

As always, thank you very much for reading and please, please review!

Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you for all of your continued support!


CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT:

The One With the Proposal

May 1978…

When the package arrived from his mum, James shoved it into the pocket of his robes, his cheeks heating. Sirius gave him a suspicious look over his porridge and James shook his head, not wanting to draw attention to it. Sirius left him alone, but the moment they left the Great Hall, his friend pulled him into the boys bathroom.

"What gives? Your mum sent a package and you looked like you were going to upchuck your breakfast."

James chewed his bottom lip nervously. "It's nothing."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Liar."

James checked the stalls around them to make sure no one was around before he reached into his pocket to pull out the box. When he opened it, Sirius' eyes widened.

"Holy shit! Is that… bloody hell, mate! Are you serious?"

"No, that's you."

Sirius gave him a pointed look. "Haha, now is not the time to use my own joke against me. That was your grandmother's, right?"

James nodded, his foot tapping as he stared down at the ring. "Yeah. Gran left it to me when they passed. It's been in my family for generations."

"And now you're going to really propose to Evans?"

"I love her, Sirius."

Sirius' eyes softened. "Fuck, I know that. You and her are made for each other. We all see it, but marriage… mate, you're only eighteen."

"And she's Muggleborn," James said, his eyes meeting his friend's grey ones. "I don't want to rush into anything, I'm not saying that we have to get married right now, but if she marries me, she'll be safe, Padfoot. Not only will it protect her, but she'll have power and… she'll become marchioness one day. The name Potter means something."

"Evans isn't going to let you marry her to protect her, Jamie. She doesn't want protection."

"Maybe not," he admitted. "But she's going to get it. She's it for me, Siri. She's my heart. I want to wake up every morning with her next to me. I want to kiss her goodnight. I want to have babies with her."

"Um, godfather status. I'm calling dibs now."

James snorted. "I didn't say that we were having babies right now."

"Yes, but in the future," Sirius prodded, his eyes twinkling. He glanced back down at the Potter heirloom in his best mate's hands. "She's going to say yes."

James shoved the ring back into his pocket. "I hope so. I'm going to ask her tomorrow night."

"Why tomorrow?"

"Because we're both not patrolling and I still have to figure out how to… I want to make it special, you know?"

Sirius draped his arm across James' shoulders. "Come on, let's go talk to Moony. He's good at this kind of thing. Planning is his specialty."

James gave his friend a grateful look. "I want to ask her tomorrow, Siri."

"And you will," Sirius assured him. "But first, we have to make sure everything is just right."

After talking to Remus and Peter, it turned out that James really didn't have a plan.

"Absolutely not, Jamie," Remus insisted, shaking his head. "What makes you think Lily would want the huge grand gesture to happen in front of the whole school? She never responded to any of that when you asked her out."

"But this is a proposal," James said. "It's supposed to be grand and magical."

"Yes, it is," Remus agreed, "but grand and magical doesn't mean ginormous and public. This is about the two of you, Jamie. It should come from the heart. It should be a moment just with you two."

"Oooh, like naked," Sirius suggested.

Remus glared. "Do not be naked. Proposing marriage during sex is not recommended."

"Why not?" Sirius asked. "You're both happy and naked and all glowing from mutual orgasms. Seems like it's the perfect time to me."

"Do not propose during sex. Or after sex," Remus insisted. "Trust me on this. Don't be naked."

James looked unsure. "Why am I trusting you on this? When did you become the marriage proposal expert?"

"James…"

"Okay, okay," James said, grinning at his friends. "I get it. Don't propose during orgasms. Don't make it big and flashy and public. So how do I do it?"

"Keep it simple," Remus told him. "You and Lily love each other. Plan a romantic date for the two of you, something you know that she'll love and then tell her how you feel. Ask her then."

"Then have mutual orgasms to celebrate," Sirius said, popping a grape into his mouth from the bowl of them that Peter was eating.

"That sounds like a good plan," Peter agreed, swiping the bowl back from Sirius.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Just be honest, James. Keep it simple and you'll be fine."

James looked around at his friends, his brothers, and nodded. It would definitely be fine.

He just needed to plan something romantic. Piece of cake, right?

~ TFTA ~

It definitely wasn't a piece of cake.

By the time the following afternoon had hit, James was starting to panic a bit. He'd roped Marlene and Mary into helping him plan a rooftop picnic on the balcony of the Astronomy Tower. Marlene insisted floating candles would make it romantic, but Mary thought it was too over the top and instead suggested floating lanterns in soft colours. In the end, he decided to go with the lanterns.

He spent two hours at the top of the tower, making sure the blanket was just perfect and making sure that the lanterns floated high above them, but not too high, to provide light. He sat his guitar on the side and snuck into the kitchens to ask the elves to prepare a meal for them. He had a bottle of red wine, the sweet one he knew she liked, and most importantly, he had the ring burning a hole in his pocket.

When he led her upstairs a few hours later, he was a complete nervous wreck.

"James," Lily breathed, her eyes widening at the sight before her. "It's beautiful. You didn't have to do this."

"I know," he said, gesturing for her to sit down. "I wanted to. I thought we both deserved a nice break before we're pulled into the craziness that is NEWTS."

"I can't believe there's only one week left of classes and then we'll be in serious crunch time."

"Then we'll go to Europe," he said, taking her hand and kissing it.

Lily's green eyes lit up. "I still can't believe that we're actually going."

"We are," he promised. "And it's going to be amazing."

James picked up the guitar, moving it into his lap.

Lily leaned back on her hands. "I love it when you play."

He smiled, strumming his fingers over the strings. "Good. Pour yourself some wine while I just tune it up here."

Lily smiled back at him as she did just that, passing him a glass of wine. He took a sip as she watched him. He cleared his throat and began to strum the guitar. When he began to sing, his voice clear, her green eyes were full of admiration.

"There's nothin' you can do that can't be done. Nothin' you can sing that can't be sung. Nothin' you can say, but you can learn how to play the game — It's easy. Nothin' you can make that can't be made. No one you can save that can't be saved. Nothin' you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time — It's easy. All you need is love. All you need is love. All you need is love, love. Love is all you need."

When Lily only continued to smile at him, he kept strumming.

"There's nothin' you can know that isn't known. Nothin' you can see that isn't shown. There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be — It's easy, it's with me," he teased, making her chuckle. "All you need is love. All you need is love. All you need is love, love. Your love is all I need."

"James…"

"My poetry's never been great," he began. "But the Beatles have never steered me wrong, Lily. There's something in the way you move, attracts me like no other lover. Something in the way she woos me… you're asking me will my love grow. It has, Lily. I've been in love with you since I was thirteen years old. You've always been my beginning, my middle, and my end. Your love is all I need."

He put the guitar down and opened the picnic basket in between them, sitting on top nestled in a bouquet of pink orchids was a beautiful gold ring.

Lily gasped, her hands covering her mouth as she looked down at the breathtaking ring. The band was half covered in diamonds and the centre stone was a red ruby the size of a penny outlined in diamonds with two small rubies embedded in the ring on either side.

"I love you, Lily Evans. You are everything to me. You make me a better man, a better wizard. I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you. I want to spend the next hundred years with you. I want to make babies with you. I want to travel the world with you. Lily, would you do me the incredible honour of becoming my wife?"

Lily's eyes were wide in surprise, tears glistening in the emerald orbs. "Yes. Yes! A million times, yes!"

James' smile was big enough to crack his face as he plucked the ring out of the flowers and slid it onto her finger. "Yes? Really?"

"Really," she said, leaning in to kiss him. "You are all I need, James Potter. For now and for always."

James cupped her face in his hands as they kissed and when she looked down at her ring, a huge grin on her face, he couldn't help but grin back at her. "Do you like it?"

"It's beautiful," she whispered. "I… I've never seen a more beautiful ring, truly."

He kissed her finger around the ring. "It's been in my family for generations. My grandmother always told me that it would be mine one day. The Potter ring for my future marchioness."

Lily's eyes widened. "Your… wife. I just want to be your wife, Jamie."

"And you will be," he vowed. "But I'm a catch, Evans. Marrying me gives you all sorts of extra benefits."

"I don't consider becoming a marchioness a benefit to marrying you."

James kissed her palm again. "Too bad. It's a good benefit."

Lily moved up to her knees, crawling over the basket to straddle his lap. "I can think of a few more benefits to marrying you, James Potter."

"Oh?"

She linked her arms around his neck and brushed her lips near his ear. "But all we need is love."

His eyes danced in the light of the lanterns and when their lips met, he knew that her love was all he needed.