Lights and... Action!
"... so basically, she just spent the remaining days of the break looking at me with this disgustingly smug expression" Lily Evans was saying as she and James Potter, her boyfriend of six months ,walked around the lake.
He was thoughtfully silent, just looking at her with an obvious loving expression, while she talked about her sister's wedding, which took place during Easter break.
"I mean, seriously. Like it matters if she got married before me or not, I'm just glad I got through the entire event without gagging – mum would've killed me otherwise"
Was it intentional? He didn't know. Maybe she was trying to urge him to propose by talking about a wedding. That was a good sign…
"She got married at 25. What's with that? Doesn't she want to live first? she practically turned in her life on a silver platter – that Dursley fellow boasted loudly to his co-workers about what a good house wife Petunia is. That's probably all he is expecting her to do…"
… or maybe not. She thought 25 was too young an age to marry? James couldn't stop the expression of horror, which took over his face like a dictator on a country with a financial crisis. If she thought 25 was too young, then 18 was definitely too young.
Maybe she didn't want to get married until she was 30… Maybe she didn't want to get married ever… James paled at the thought and his heart began beating a little too fast.
Maybe she was okay with marriage in general – but just didn't want to marry him…
James took sharp breaths, his eyes widening slightly.
He couldn't live without her! And… and he'd already bought the ring. It was for her and no one else. He had it specifically made since he couldn't find any ring he liked. It was a lovely ring – why wouldn't she want it? Maybe she only wanted the ring… Well, he would give her the ring. She would always have that to remind her of him.
But maybe she'll get sick of remembering him. Maybe she'll get sick of the ring itself. Maybe she won't like it to begin with…
"JAMES!"
The sound of Lily's troubled voice penetrated his masochistic thoughts. She didn't sound happy and to James that was top priority. He could worry about how he would feel without her later – he had to help her now.
James turned quickly to where her voice came from and was met with bright, green, concerned eyes.
"Are you okay?" James and Lily both asked simultaneously.
Seeing her forehead furrowed and her eyes confused and worried triggered something in James's mind and he instinctively took her face in his hands, running his thumbs across her cheeks, trying to remember every eyelash, every spark in her eyes, every movement of her mouth as she said his name-
"James?"
She sounded uncertain and looked at him like he was crazy.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine"
"James," she breathed his name with a small, mirthless, smile. "You're not giving me enough credit – it's obvious something is wrong".
He just looked at her with the same desperate expression, but his thoughts were loud and frantic. 'I'm sorry! Please! I… I'll give you more credit. I'm already giving you more credit! They call me Credit Giver already – don't you hear them cheering?
'Oh, no… That's just my heart, brain and ego shouting at me. Each using a different approach but all saying the same thing basically: 'suck it up, you wimp, or not only will she reject you – she will also look at you with that pitying expression…'
James let go of her Lily's face quickly, shaking his head slightly to clear his mind.
"Should I be worried?" she asked, looking at him with a curious expression.
"I don't think so," he replied, looking up and seeing his best mate leaning against a tree, about twenty feet away, giving him enthusiastic thumbs up.
Lily noticed his eyes looking at something behind her and followed his gaze, turning around just in time to see Sirius making a crown out of leaves and humming a tune she thought sounded like 'Here Comes The Bride'. She turned around to look at James with an expression of amused curiosity and raised an eyebrow at him.
He wouldn't look at her in the eye, just kept twisting and fidgeting. "There is really no easy way to say this is there?" he finally said, seeming to be agonizing over something.
"Oh…" was all Lily could say. She suddenly remembered a guy in a movie she saw when she was younger, saying the exact same thing just before he told his girlfriend that he cheated on her , got that girl pregnant and is moving with her to Italy…
"Will you marry me?"
… the girlfriend attempted suicide and was locked away after the 15th attempt. Of course, it was a soap opera kind of movie and things like someone giving a damn about you only after you try to kill yourself 15 times didn't actually happen. Or did they? Lily made a mental note to look into it…
"Lily"
"What!" Lily said, a little more forcefully then she would normally. How could he dare making her fall in love with all her heart while he was off getting another girl pregnant! She was the one who was supposed to be pregnant with his child…
Suddenly, Lily realized just how much she wanted to be with him. But he wasn't the type to settle down –
"Lils?"
So if he wasn't going to propose to her. She was going to propose to him then – there was no way that tramp girl was going to have him. Lily wasn't ready to give up her life and letting James go was doing just that. But... if he was with someone else, that probably meant that he was tired of her. So would letting him go be the best thing for him?
"So, I guess it's a no then"
Hopefully the tramp girl's kid was from someone else – God knows that whore had slept with 719 people already. She probably had thinner hips than Lily…
"That's okay. I… I figured you'd say no"
Wait, what was that?
"But I hope you'll at least let me still be with you. You know, just… near you"
Lily blinked away tears and observed her shoes. "Sure, James. Whatever you like".
James shifted uncomfortably. "Well... I would like more".
Lily forced herself to look at his face and began wondering why he didn't look happier. He was hooked up with a sexually experienced, thin-hipped woman – it was every man's dream wasn't it? "More like what?" she asked carefully.
He blinked. "Well, you accepting would have been ideal. But I'm not trying to pressure you" he added frantically.
"Accepting what?" she snapped slightly. "It's not like I have a choice in the matter".
"Why wouldn't you have a choice?" he asked, bewildered. "It's a yes or no question".
"You mean if I said no, you'd accept it?" she scoffed.
"Well, I would have to-"
"Cut!"
The two of them turned around to see Sirius sprinting towards them. He paused for a second, standing between them with a confused expression.
"Would you mind letting me know what this is about?" he asked, worried about the turn out of what was supposed to have been the happiest day of his best friend's 18-years-long life.
"She said no" James recounted.
"Wait, I'm not trying to be difficult; I definitely didn't say no" she objected, fighting the indignation at the fact that Sirius knew about all this before her, though it made sense that James would have confided in him...
"It's got nothing to do with being difficult. It's your decision; I'm not trying to talk you into it" James replied, getting agitated. "Besides, not saying anything is the same thing as saying no".
"What?" Lily snapped. "Since when is silence translated into 'I don't accept you leaving'".
"Leaving?" exclaimed James and Sirius at once; Sirius staring at James and James staring at Lily.
"Yes!" Lily replied just as loudly, almost crying with desperation; not wanting it to be real.
"Who said anything about leaving?" said James, a little less loudly than before.
"You! You're leaving me!" she cried, almost bursting with the tears welling up in her eyes.
"No, I'm not!" he replied, shaking his head frantically.
There was a sudden silence, as Lily stared at James, James stared at Lily and Sirius stared into space, trying to make sense out of the situation.
Eventually, Sirius shook his head, deciding that all the misunderstanding was overloading his brain. "Right... I'll be... um... not here" he muttered, before turning and walking back to the tree, within perfect hearing distance.
"Right, let's try this again" James stated, business-like, to a bewildered and shell-shocked Lily.
She was snapped back to reality when he cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs caressing her cheeks lightly.
"Are you listening?"
"Yes"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes"
"because this is really important – I need your full attention-"
"James, I'm listening!" she snapped. "Go on".
"Wow, okay" he said, breathing faster and getting himself slightly panicked again.
She was the one who grabbed his face then, noticing his quick takes of breath. "James, calm down. Just say it; whatever it is. It's alright" she said softly, trying to sooth him.
"Will you marry me" he stated rather than asked, desperate to make his intentions known, staring into her eyes.
"Yes" she replied in the same tone of voice; slow and clear.
They stood there silently, still staring into each other's eyes. Suddenly, without letting go of the other's face, each of them leaned in as one and desperately locked their lips against the other's, not leaving any amount of space between them.
"... And that is how I, Sirius Black – misunderstanding reverser extraordinaire - saved Lily and James's life" Sirius summed up.
All the wedding guests as one began clapping and laughing at the bride and groom's expense.
Lily buried her face in her husband's shoulder, while he smiled in amusement, laying a soft kiss into her hair as the best man sat back down in his seat, smirking and looking pretty amazed with his own brilliance.
"Thanks mate" James said, slightly sarcastic.
"No problem" Sirius replied, now full out grinning. "I know, you owe me your life and happiness, but since I'm so selfless I won't ask for anything in return".
"Wow, how noble of you" Lily commented dryly, finally emerging from her hiding place, her cheeks faintly red.
"... except for being the godfather of all of your children; no exceptions" he added, Siriusly.
The newly weds gaped at him, the thought of children not having crossed their minds.
"Don't worry" he informed them, ignoring their thrown expressions. "I'll be there when Lily will announce she's pregnant to avoid more misunderstandings".
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AN: I loved writing this one-shot! I was just browsing through my stories' file and spotted this unfinished little one-shot which I began writing in February and forgot all about.
Hoped you liked it :-)
Please, let me know what you think...