Author: Silverhair Theory
Disclaimer: I own nothing. J.K.Rowling owns everything. Don't sue me!
Remus Lupin was bored stiff. It was graduation night at Hogwarts, and everyone was dancing except him. James was dancing with (who else?) Lily, Sirius was with some random girl from his entourage of admirers, even Peter had managed to get Lovegood to dance with him.
And here was remus, all alone, sitting on a table by himself with James, Sirius and Peter's stuff strewn around him, and nothing to do for anotherfour hours. Most definitely dire.
He cast his eyes around the table. Sirius had left a coat, a black leather one which Remus thought had far too many studs. Peter's debris was an unfinished drink, a drink that was supposedly ginger beer, but was actually laced with firewhiskey by Sirius, and was probably the source of Peters bravery in asking Lovegood to dance.
His eyes fell on the bunch of stuff James had left on the table when he went to dance with Lily. It was a little black pouch which was half open. Remus glanced at James, but he was far too busy with Lily and so Remus turned the pouch upside down. Out of it fell some muggle hair gel, the keys to James' trunk, what seemed to be a Tigerlily flower, which was magically fresh, a small locked box, and a folded piece of paper. Unable to help himself, Remus took the piece of paper and started to read.
What he read made him fall off his chair in surprise.
Remus sat in shock. He had put the letter back into the bag and had his hands clutched together, trying to stop them shaking. He was not really succeeding. The shaking traveled up his arms and he got up and rushed out of the room, before his whole body started to shake.
In the mens toilets he glared at his reflection in the mirror and gripped the sink. His face stared back. The face was deathly white, with huge shadows under the eyes and the brownish hair slick with sweat. He stared at his reflection for a full ten minutes before the shaking in his body stopped and his face resumed a small amount of colour.
His mind went back to the other items in the black pouch. The flower, the keys, the box all rushed to the front of his mind and he felt sick with apprehension. Suddenly he leant forward and vomited into the sink. As he clutched his stomach, doubled over with pain, he thought he heard a footstep behind him.
"Had to much to drink, have we?" A familiar voice said. Remus spun round and there was Sirius, face flushed and eyes bright. His shirt had the top two buttons undone and his hair was mussed up. Remus suspected he'd had a very close "encounter", as Sirius put it, with a girl, probably one of the ones Remus had left him with.
Remus straightened up and the hair fell out of his eyes. Sirius saw and did a double take. Then he came forward and gripped Remus by the forearms, staring into his eyes, in much the same way that Remus had stared into his own eyes in the mirror.
"What is wrong, Remus? And don't say nothing because it obviously isn't." Sirius' voice was firm but kind.
"I...I...Oh Sirius!" Remus cried and fell forward and buried his face in the other boy's shoulder. Sirius was rather surprised but he patted Remus on the back. "Sirius...James...Lily..."
"Hey calm down mate." Sirius said in that warm tone he had. "What is wrong with James and Lily?"
Remus told him.
Sirius stiffened, the colour drained from his face just as it had done from Remus'. He swayed slightly on the spot then pshed Remus out of the way and vomited into the sink, just as Remus had done. When he came up, wiping his mouth, he had a determined look in his eyes.
"I have a Plan." He said, and Remus was never more glad.
Approximately seven and a half minutes later they crept out of the front doors of the castle, safe under the guise of the invisibility cloak. When leaving the bathroom they had seen James taking Lily outside, black pouch in his hand, and Remus had stressed the importance to Sirius of the lack pouch and instead of running upstairs to get it, Sirius had simply summoned the cloak from their dorm. Only a couple of minutes after James, they had crept out, invisible.
Sirus silently changed into a dog and sought the scent of James. Remus, careful to keep both himself and the dog safe and invisible, followed him. They passed the little lighted grottos and eventually came to the one with James and Lily in. Sirius pushed through the bushes, followed by Remus, until the were in the middle of the foliage. Sirius snapped twigs with his jaws until they had a fairly big clearing in the middle of the bush.
Remus peered through the leaves, aware of Sirius changing back beside him. Together they quietly pulled back leaves until they could see the clearing of rosebushes, with the soft fluffy cushions that James and Lily were lying on. They were holding hands and talking in low voices, only just loud enough for them to hear.
"Hey Lily." James was saying. "Do you like flowers?" Remus' breathing quickened. So he was doing it now? Merlin's beard, he hoped this went okay...
"Yes, I suppose..." Lily was saying back. "As much as any other girl."
"What kind of flowers?" James asked, sounding simply curious.
"I dont know, really." Lily replied. "Most girls like roses, but I think they are so cliché."
"But what's your favorite?" James said, sounding even more curious. Merlin, he's good at acting, Remus thought.
Lily was silent for a moment. "Guess." She said, with a laugh, which was not a giggle but was definitely girly.
"What? Oh fine." James said. Remus could see him pouting in that puppy dog way of his. "Umm...daffodil?"
"Daffodil?" Laughed Lily. "Why?"
"Becasue you're sunny and so are they." James said. Oh James, don't mess it up... Remus thought, but Lily seemed flattered rather than put off.
"You're so sweet!" She laughed again. "But you're wrong. Guess again."
"Lets see...petunia?" James said with a crafty grin.
"No! Thats my sister's name! Ugh, even the flowers annoy me." Lily sounded hyped up. Oh, bad move, James. remus thought.
"Oh, sorry." James said, pulling her into his arms. "I know you don't like to be reminded of your sister. I just thought that the petunia was so unlike your sister, so pretty and precious, not at all like her at all." He was stroking her hair.
"Yes...well. I just don't like them. What is she like then?" Lily sounded hurt still, and James seemed to realise this.
"Hmm...probably a pink rose." He said, sounding thoughtful.
"A pink rose? Thats a beautiful flower! You said she wasn't beautiful!" Lily was pulling away from James, but he held her back, even as she fought to face him.
"Yes. I know. Petunia is like a pink rose because on the outside she wears such beautiful clothes, but then her face and her heart are like the stem, all thorns and sharp edges. Yes, definitely a pink rose. So unlike you." James added, making it sound like an afterthought, but Remus knew better.
"Why, what flower am I?" Lily asked, settling back into James' arms, but still looking up at him.
"You, my dear sweet Lily, are a flower which is very close to your name, and in its name even describes you. Can you guess what it is?" His eyes twinkled down at her. Lily looked up, forehead wrinkled with puzzlement.
"No." She said, after a moment. James smiled, and reached into the black pouch, which sat next to him.
"This is what I think of you as." He said, holding out the Tigerlily flower which Remus had seen earlier. Lily took it and looked at it, a smile growing on her face. She looked up at James, smiling so broadly that Remus himself would have grinned as well, except for the tight knot of worry that was growing bigger and bigger with every word James spoke. "You're my Tigerlily." James said to her, kissing her forehead.
"Oh James!" She said, reaching up to pull his face down to kiss. Instead he took her outstretched fingers and kissed them softly.
"Do you want to play a game?" He said, smiling. She looked at him, as if unsure of what he meant.
"Okay..." She said.
"Did you ever play a game when you were little, where you had a flower and you picked out the petals one by one, and said the little chant, 'He loves me, he loves me not'?"
"Yes..." She said. Then she looked down at the Tigerlily, and then back up at him. "You want to play that with my Tigerlily?"
"Yes." James said. Please, please say yes... Remus willed Lily.
"Okay." Lily said. She settled herself on James' lap and started to pick them off, one by one. " He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not..." She kept on with the rhyme.
Remus looked at James. His face was getting paler with evey word. His lips were moving, and Remus realised he was counting under his breath. Lily was coming to the end of the petals.
"...He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me...he loves me...not?" She stopped, the last petal in one hand, the empty flower head in the other. For a few seconds there was total silence, save for the rustlings of the bushes around them, and Sirius' deep breathing next to Remus.
Remus' heart felt like it was about to stop. He had known something would go wrong. He had known. James' face was utterly white and Lily's was full of shock.
"I swear Lily, I must have counted the petals wrong. I'm really sorry." Lily turned to face the mumbling James, reproach all over her face. "I'm sorry." He finished lamely. He hung his head.
Lily looked at him for a few seconds, indecision playing across her face. Then, as if with great effort, she streched out one finger and lifted James' chin up with her finger. THey stared at each other, emotions flying through their eyes as they stared at each other.
A single tear oozed out of James' eye. The spell was broken. Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. It was gentle at first, then james put his arms around Lily and the kiss became more passionate, more firey. Remus felt Sirius shaking beside him then realised he was shaking as well, with relief and with foreboding. Although this was the hardest bit, it was not the last.
Eventually, they broke apart. "My Tigerlily." James said, his voice harsh with lack of breath.
"Don't worry." Lily said, equally breathless. "It's not your fault. I still love you." James looked at her smliing up at him, tears in both of their eyes. Slowly, he reached into his pocket.
And drew out a key. It was small, intricately wrought, and very pretty. Designed out of the silver filigree was a picture of a couple with their arms round each other, kissing. "Do you know what this is, Lily?" James said, slowly. His hand was shaking.
Lily took the key from him, turning it over and over. "No." She said, running her finger over the picture of the lovers. "Is it important?"
"Yes Lily." James said. "Its very important. This is a key of utmost importance. It is the key to my heart." He smiled at her as he said this, and she pressed the key to her lips, then to her chest. "But it also opens somehting." He said. Lily's eyes widened, and Remus thought he saw a flicker of understanding dawn in her eyes.
"What? What does it open?" She whispered, clutching the key to herself. James reached into the black pouch again, and Remus clenched his fists. Here it comes...
James brought out a small, square box. It was black and had, in golden writing on it, James Potter's Heart. It had a small keyhole in the side.
Lily gave a small sharp intake of breath. She put one hand to her mouth, and her green eyes widened. Slowly, with shaking legs, she stood up.
James shuffled around until he was kneeling, on one knee. If it was possible, Lily's eyes widened further and Remus saw her throat move as she swallowed. "Open the box, Lily." James said, his voice deeper that Remus had ever heard it before.
Lily's hand shook with such ferocity as she moved it forward that James had to take her trembbling fingers in his and guide the key to the lock. Together, they turned it. Lily took the key out of the lock and let it fall to the floor. She brought her hand up to her face and held them there, just letting her eyes poke over the top.
James brought his hand up. He was not shaking, and Remus could see an unearthly calm filled his eyes. He gazed at Lily, trembling hands clutching her face, her whole body shaking.
He opened the box.
Inside, sitting on a reby red cushion, were two things.
The first was a golden ring. It had a row of five jewels on it. There was a beautiful diamond in the centre, On either side of it were two deep green emeralds, the exact colour of Lily's eyes, and then beyond them two gems of a deep firey gold, the colour of Lily's hair.
The second was a leaf from a Tigerlily flower.
"I love you." James said. Lily's eyes filled with tears as she realised the petal was the last one from her flower.
"He loves me..." She whispered, her voice barely audible.
"I love you." James repeated, then took a deep breath.
Here it comes...Remus thought, and closed his eyes.
James' voice rang in his ears. "Lily Evans." He said. His voice was free of tremors and it was low and thrillingly deep. "Lily Evans. Will you marry me?"
There was complete and utter silence. There were no voices around them. Even the bushes seemed to have stopped. The whole night waited with bated breath.
Lily mumbled something, her lips barely moving. James looked pained. "What? I mean...pardon?" He grinned slightly, eyes wide.
"Yes!" Lily's cry rang through the night. "Yes! James Potter, I will marry you." She flung herself at him tears flowing down her cheeks, red marks on her face where she had been clutching it so tightly.
She kissed him, and he kissed her back, both of them with tears running down their faces, mixing with each other. James pulled away and took the ring from the box. He slipped it onto Lily's finger and she stared at it, crying and laughing, before pulling him into another kiss.
Remus heard a thump beside him. Sirius had fainted.
Author's notes: Awww... I'm sorry, I just wrote this randomly. It was actually part of another story but I ended up deleting it all except this scene because I loved it so much. And yes, if you want to put a Sirius/Remus spin on it then you are free to do so. If you dont go for that kind of thing...also fine. Hope you enjoyed it! Leave me a review telling me if you did :)