"What do you know about Quidditch?" Lily asked Sirius as they walked down to the Quidditch pitch with Dorcas, Remus, and Peter. For some reason Lily couldn't figure out, Jack Herman, the 5th year who had commentated the Gryffindor Quidditch matches, had let Sirius take over for the final. The part she really couldn't wrap her head around was that Dumbledore and McGonagall were allowing him to.
"Plenty," Sirius smirked at Remus, who seemed to send him a glare.
"How?"
"I am best mates with James, aren't I?"
Lily narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "From what I hear, you don't know a quaffle from a hinkypunk."
Sirius laughed knowingly. "Oh Evans, I'm sure you will enjoy my commentating immensely."
Lily shrugged and smiled a little. "Just try not to get into too much trouble. James'll be impossible if you end up in detention during our last weeks here."
"I promise not to get in too much trouble," he smirked at her. "But who knows what other people will do." Remus hit him on the shoulder. He rubbed it and then raised his eyebrows at the solemn-faced boy.
"Well, whatever other people do will have nothing to do with anything you say. Will it, Sirius?" Remus glared.
Sirius shook his head, though he was still grinning. "Definitely not. Unless, of course, Dorcas throws some sort of fit because I'm sitting in the announcer's booth and she's stuck with the rest of you lot."
He threw his arm over the girl next to him; smirking at her. She gave a half-smile.
"I'll still get to listen to all your witty comments, won't I?" she said flatly. Everyone could sense the sarcasm.
"Well yes," Sirius ignored the obvious poke and grinned. "I suppose you'll be alright then."
"So, are we going to win?" Dorcas changed the subject.
"Of course we are," Peter said from his place next to Lily. "James is captain isn't he?"
"Ravenclaw is pretty good this year," Remus shrugged. "I mean, the Arrows are recruiting Seymour and Bradley's always a threat."
"Cade Bradley is a prat," Sirius said; scowling. "We'll kick his arse just like last year." Dorcas elbowed him lightly in the side.
"Be that as it may," Remus rolled his eyes. "He does play good Quidditch. They'll have to work to get the quaffle past him, especially with someone taking Annabelle's place. Who is the replacement, by the way?"
"Eudora Thomas," Lily said. "4th year. James says she's pretty good. She might have beat out Lizzie Stimpson if she had tried out at the beginning of the year."
"Well," Sirius grinned. "If James says she's good, she must be good."
"Could you tell if she was good?" Lily eyed Sirius again.
He dropped his jaw in mock offense. "I will be a wonderful commentator, Lily Evans. My Quidditch knowledge will be sufficient for this."
She didn't say anything, but looked thoroughly unconvinced. Dorcas smiled at Sirius when she looked away. He poked her in the ribs.
"Come on Lily, let's go find some seats." Dorcas said when they reached the Quidditch pitch. "Good Luck Sirius."
"I am Sirius Black," he had called after them. "I do not need luck."
"You idiot," Remus said the minute the girls were out of ear-shot. "You almost gave it away."
"Come on Moony," Sirius rolled his eyes. "I was nowhere near giving it away."
"But now she's suspicious."
"Relax," he said. "Do you both remember the plan?"
Peter and Remus nodded.
"Have the ring, Moony?"
Remus patted his trouser pocket through his robes.
Sirius smiled. "Excellent."
"You remember what you're supposed to do, Wormtail?"
Peter looked a little nervous. "Um…I know I'm supposed to go to the loo when you say James is the 2nd best looking wizard at Hogwarts…and then…I..I?"
Sirius rolled his eyes and sighed. "I'll tell you one more time, Wormtail. And you HAVE to get this right."
Peter bit his lip and nodded. "I will, I promise."
"After you go to the loo, you transform and come back to…"
"Oh, I remember now," Peter said suddenly; grinning.
Sirius and Remus exchanged looks. "You're sure?" Remus asked.
Peter nodded enthusiastically; happy to be involved in a Marauders adventure again.
"Good," Sirius nodded. "Well, I've got to get up the booth. Good Luck Mates."
"Good Luck," they repeated as they began to walk after the girls.
Remus sighed. "They had better win this match."
James could not have agreed with Remus anymore. He felt unbelievably stupid at the moment. How on earth could he concentrate on playing Quidditch when he was going to ask Lily to marry him immediately after the match? Part of him wanted to go find Sirius and tell him to just forget the entire thing. He'd ask her some other time. Still, he couldn't think of a better way to do it. Plus, the match was going to start in about five minutes. But if this was going to go off right, Pauley had to catch the snitch. Otherwise the whole thing would be ruined. Well it wouldn't be ruined, per say, but it would be severely damaged. James wanted this to be as perfect as it possibly could be. He prayed that his braking charm would work, that the team would remember what he had asked them to do, and most of all that she would say yes.
"Ready?" Owen socked James lightly in the shoulder; grinning at him.
James swallowed hard and took a huge breath; nodding.
"You look a little green mate," Jason Norman said; a concerned tone in his voice.
Owen chuckled. "That's normal for a bloke who's about to propose to a bird."
Then Sirius' voice rang out. "Welcome to the 1978 Hogwarts Quidditch Cup Final. A match which will no doubt go down in history as the day when James Potter…"James froze. "led his Gryffindor team to greatness."
There was a pause.
"Professor McGonagall has just informed me that Ravenclaw will be playing too. Cade Bradley must be very depressed."
"BLACK!"
Lily had been on edge the entire match. She was always like that at James' Quidditch matches. It was a bit ridiculous, really. She supposed she cared so much because Quidditch meant so much to James. That's why she was so surprised when she noticed he wasn't playing nearly as well as he usually did. His flying was rather erratic and he had thrown two shots directly to Bradley.
"You should thank him Bradley," Sirius had said. "Those are the only quaffles you'll be catching anytime soon."
Immediately following the comments, there had been a muffled argument and Sirius had said.
"Excuse me, Mr. Bradley. You definitely catch quaffles better than I, but I keep other things…"
McGonagall ripped the microphone away from him.
Thankfully, Eudora Thomas was brilliant and helped make up for James' less-than-stellar performance. The score was tied 50-50 when Kevin Pauley, the Gryffindor's 5th year seeker, dove sharply toward the north edge of the pitch. Colin Quirke was right on his heels.
"They're off for the snitch," Sirius said. "COME ON PAULEY! The bugger's right on your tail…..I mean, Pauley and Quirke are both going for the snitch. Pauley is ahead. He's gonna get it. Pauley's going to get the Snitch…or maybe Quirke. Come on gents! PAULEY! YOU'RE A BLEEDING FOUR INCHES FROM THE THING! GRAB IT!...go Quirke."
Then Sirius let out a huge scream. "PAULEY'S GOT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"
Lily burst into a huge smile and began searching the pitch for James. Dorcas had gotten them seats right in the front and Lily could see the entire match perfectly, but she couldn't find James. Where had he run off to?
Suddenly she felt something brush past her leg. She looked down and saw a rat milling about by her left foot. She smiled and tapped it lightly with her foot.
"Remus," she whispered to the boy at her left; still looking at the rat. "What is Peter doing?"
"I'm standing right here, Lily."
Lily turned to her right and saw Peter standing directly next to her; smiling broadly. Shocked since Peter had gone to the loo ages ago and hadn't returned yet, Lily stood still until the rat ran over her foot again. She jumped and shook it off of her. Finally, it scurried off.
Looking curiously at Peter first, she turned back to the front to continue looking for James.
"Wait a tick," Sirius said; a mischievous note to his voice. "Did Pauley drop the snitch? What is that shiny bit over at the other end of the pitch? Right in front of the lovely Miss Lily Evans?"
The rest of the crowd leaned forward to look at what Sirius was talking about, for there was indeed a shiny object hovering in mid-air.
Lily gasped the minute she saw it. She knew immediately what was catching the light that way. It was a ring: an emerald ring floating in mid-air right in front of her. She held a hand to her mouth; for once in her life completely speechless. Then she heard a familiar voice from the announcer's booth.
"You're a bloody good seeker, Lily Evans. You snatched me and my heart the way Pauley just caught that snitch and won us the Quidditch Cup. But the Cup means absolutely nothing compared to you."
Lily looked up and saw James standing next to Sirius. He was too far away for her to read his expression, but she could tell from his voice that he was unbelievably nervous.
"You've been there for me through the past four months in a way I never thought anyone would. I can't imagine my life without you. You make me happier than any Quidditch game ever could. You have a passion for life and a kindness that never fails to amaze me. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life and the only one who can shrink my head when it's gotten too big. I love you Lily. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Suddenly the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team arose to Lily's eye level and together with ribbons spilling from their wands, they spelled out the words, "Lily Evans, Will you marry me?"
Lily couldn't stop the shocked grin that pulled her face when she saw those words. She wanted to hear James say them. But he was on the opposite end of the pitch. This was unacceptable.
"Sonorous," she muttered; pointing her wand at her throat. Then, in a very loud voice, "If you want to bloody propose, get yourself over here, Potter. Don't be a prat and do it from over there."
She saw him whisper something to Sirius, mount his broom, and speed over to her. The entire crowd was watching this scene intently, but Lily had no idea they were even there. She was staring at the huge grin on James' face as he flew towards her; her heart filling so much that she was sure it would explode right there all over Peter and Remus. She studied his thin face: the smiling hazel eyes, his black hair mussed to perfection from his recent Quidditch victory, the beautiful mouth that she loved so much. James stopped right in front of her; the ring sparkling above his left shoulder. They stared at each other, reading their eyes, for a few seconds and then muttered, "quietus."
"Sorry about that," he smiled.
She laughed. "I expected you'd do something like that."
He pursed his lips and then smirked; picking the ring out of the air and twirling it in his fingers.
"Always showing off Potter," she tisked; beaming at him as he turned his face to hers again. "Of course you would want everyone to watch this."
"I'm not that bad, am I, Evans?" he smiled back; his hazel eyes sparkling in a way Lily had seen only a few times before: Petunia and Vernon's wedding, the first time they made love. She felt her breathing quickening and smiled even wider.
"I don't know Potter," she joked. "I mean, I had to call you over here. You probably forgot you were proposing to me."
He shook his head; still completely engrossed in her. "I would never forget that Lily. I love you, you know."
She nodded. "Yeah, I know. I love you too."
"So…I have a question to ask you." He held the ring out in front of him.
"James, get off of your broom."
"Oh…" he blushed. "Right."
With her help, he climbed over into the bleachers and Peter moved aside so that James could pull in his broom and stand next to her. He took an obvious breath and she smiled; feeling her heart beat faster than ever as he got down on one knee; holding out the ring. She looked at the ring in his fingertips for a second and then back to his eager eyes.
"Lily Evans," he said softly; beaming up at her. "You are the most amazing woman I have ever met. You're beautiful. You're…"
"I already heard your speech James," she laughed. "Just ask me already."
He laughed nervously; biting a lip and nodding. "Alright then." He took another breath. "Lily, will you marry me?"
"Yes, Potter, I'll marry you," she smiled right into his eyes.
He exhaled and beamed back up at her as he slipped the ring on her finger. She watched his nimble fingers glide it on and almost immediately felt different.
"You'd better get used to that name," he said as he stood and wrapped his arms around her. "It's going to be yours."
"I suppose I can learn to live with it," she snaked her arms up to his neck and pulled him in for their first engaged kiss.
Suddenly the entire Quidditch pitch erupted in cheers. Sirius' voice was heard over everyone else. "Congratulations Prongs! Good Luck with him Evans. You're a crazy woman agreeing to marry him."
Peter clapped James on the back and shook his hand. Lily turned to hug Remus and Dorcas.
"Never thought it would happen mate," Remus smiled as he shook James' hand.
"None of us did," Dorcas gave James a hug.
After the congratulations, James and Lily came back together and embraced
tightly. They kissed again; melting into each other as deeply as possible and the crowd disappeared again.
"Why'd you have to ruin my plan?" he asked; grinning at her.
"I didn't ruin it," she smirked back. "I just altered it a bit."
James licked his top lip. "I suppose I'm going to have to get used to that."
"Aren't you already?"
He laughed and kissed her again.