Ch. 19

"You are now all members of the Order of the Phoenix. Congratulations." Dumbledore smiled down at the group. Lily looked around and saw her friends hugging and high-fiving. It had been about a week since the catastrophe in Hogsmeade, and Dumbledore had invited them along with many others into the secret order.

"Alright everyone. Don't get too excited. Training starts tomorrow, bright and early. This is a war, people. And you are now all soldiers." Mad-Eye Moody announced. People became more somber after that, but there was still some chatter. Lily ran up to Alice.

"Okay, I need to ask you a question."

"I know. And yes, it is true." Alice smiled. "Frank and I got married."

"WHAT!" Lily screamed. "I cannot believe you didn't tell me."

"I know, I'm sorry." Alice grimaced. "We eloped and we were going to tell everyone after graduation, and then, well you know."

"Well I'm happy for you guys. And we should throw you a party."

"I'd love that!"

"It's perfect." Lily leaned her head on James' shoulder, admiring the finishing touches to their new flat. Both of them were eager to leave their parents house and James had found the perfect place in Diagon Alley. Lily thought it was unnecessarily big for them at first, but he convinced her that they would always be having guests over, so she conceded. Sirius and Remus lived down the hall, so it was perfect.

"Are you sure we shouldn't move the couch to that corner?"

"If you want to try that, go ahead. I for one am exhausted and eager to see how our new bed feels." James took the hint and followed her in to the master bedroom. She was waiting for him on the bed in the button down shirt she'd been wearing, but she'd taken off her jeans to reveal black lacy underwear.

"Potter." She said in a sexy voice.

"Evans." He smirked, walking toward the bed and slowly unbuttoning his shirt. She licked her lips.

Letting his shirt drop to the floor, he finally climbed on top of her, kissing her cheek then making his way down her neck and in her cleavage. He quickly unbuttoned her shirt and kissed every spot as it opened. He caressed her round breast while continuing downward and lowering her knickers.

"Oh please James." She arched her back, sighing and eagerly showing him what she wanted.

"Well, since you said please…" Instead of diving in, however, he sat up and lay on the bed next to her. She gave him a dumbfounded look until he grabbed her waist and pulled her up so she was straddling his face.

"Oh my!" She leaned forward to brace herself on the headboard when James' tongue made its way into her pussy. The new position was giving him more access than ever before while also allowing him to tease her clit. She bit her lip and moaned through her mouth.

He loved the taste of her and continued licking her juices as she came, her body shaking while he held her thighs in place.

"Oi! Open up!" They heard a loud banging on the door.

They looked at each other with worried faces and began dressing. Lily put on a robe and ran toward the door. She opened it and she cringed.

"What's going on? Who's there Lils?" James ran in with nothing but his boxers.

"Just us, Prongs." Remus was dragging Sirius to the kitchen. He had blood running down the side of his face and his eyes were glazed over.

"What happened?" Lily asked, running to the bathroom.

"I found him outside the Leaky Cauldron. He's been getting pissed every day, but Tom said he started a fight so he threw him out." Remus said as they sat the drunken man down. Lily came back with a cold washcloth and a small bottle.

"I donnn't need help." He tried to push away her hand as she lifted the cloth to his face, but completely missed. She pressed it to his forehead and he flinched.

"This can't go on. He needs a better way to deal with…her." James said. After Lily fixed his wound, he and Remus took Sirius to the bathroom for a cold shower.

"He won't talk to me. And I barely see him. All he does is go out and get drunk." He looked tired.

"James, you guys need to do something before training starts. Otherwise he won't show up and he'll be fired before he even starts."

They tried everything, but soon realized that only time heals wounds. After a few months, Sirius slowly started turning back into himself again. Eventually, Sirius decided she would have wanted him to move on with his life. So he chose to work on fighting to avenge her death instead of pitying himself.

He started coming to the Sunday night dinners at the Potters' again, and for his birthday they bought him a motorbike. He became extremely busy with Auror training as well as jobs for The Order.

And now, as he flew his motorbike over London, Sirius thought about the past and the future. So much had already changed, but so much was about to change. His best friend, his brother, was about to make a giant leap. And, of course, he had forgotten the most important thing. He landed in front of the Potters' and pulled up to James, got off and smiled at him. "This is it, Prongs." He handed his friend a small package, which he then put in his jacket.

James took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair, then attempted to pat it down. "Yeah."

"Don't be nervous mate, she's gonna say yes."

"Yeah, yeah I hope. I just want it to be perfect."

"Right, well, I'll see you in a bit then. Good luck, and don't lose that ring!" Sirius walked toward the house.

James disapparated back to his kitchen and swallowed. He was sweating profusely and had to keep rubbing his hands on his pants. He heard Lily come out of their room in a gorgeous black cocktail dress with her hair in sleek curls.

"Ready to go?" She asked, a big smile on her face.

"You look insanely sexy." He said, kissing her cheek. "I would love to ravish you right now, but unfortunately we have a reservation."

"You look quite handsome yourself." She grinned. He took her hand and with a pop they were gone.

They were in the middle of London at a tiny, four-star famous French restaurant. Lily had always wanted to go there, and it took him weeks to finally get a table. As expected, everything was delicious. James was thankful that Lily was distracted with how good the food was to notice his nervous sweating.

"James, you have to try this. It is to die for." Lily took a piece of her fish and put it on his plate.

"Thanks. I, er- would you want to go for a run after this?"

"A run? I mean in these shoes…" Lily started, but James gave her a knowing look. "Ooooh you meant…ok. Yeah, that'd be nice."

"Great. Shall we order dessert?"

"Of course! I am not missing out on that chocolate mousse; I don't care how full I am." James laughed.

James paid the check and they walked outside into the cool night air. Lily rubbed her arms.

"C'mon, let's work off some of those calories, shall we?"

Lily smiled. "Let's go." She took his hand and again they were off. This time, however, it was pitch black where they were as opposed to the lit up streets of London.

"Is this where you murder me?"

James gave a nervous chuckle. "C'mon, just follow me Speckles."

"Lead the way Prongs."

In perfect unison, two humans became a stag and a doe.

James was leading the way, but they still ran next to each other. It was not a race tonight, just a casual jog. It had been about twenty minutes when Lily saw a light in the distance and they were running toward it. She was confused but trusted that he knew no one was around.

They arrived at the clearing where he had set up the lights and he felt more nervous than ever. He stopped and transformed back into himself, and Lily followed his lead.

"This is…" She was looking around in wonder.

"Where we were on our first date. This is the same spot." James said. He could feel his voice shaking and prayed Lily didn't notice.

"Its beautiful. Did you do this yourself?"

"It didn't take too long." It had taken a few hours, but he wanted it to be perfect. He had transfigured a small area of the forest floor into marble, with rose petals covering it and candles along the sides. There were beautiful lanterns floating amongst the trees. It was incredibly romantic.

"James…" Lily was smart enough to know this was no regular date night, and her eyes were glassy.

"Lily Marie Evans, you are my world." James bent down on one knee. "You are everything I could ever need or want in this life, and I want to grow old with you. I have loved you since we were thirteen, and my love for you gets stronger every day. I would never promise to be the perfect husband, because I know I am far from perfect. But I am my best self with you, and I will strive to be as close to perfect as I can be. Because no matter what, you are perfect to me." He pulled out the small box from his jacket pocket. "Will you marry me Lily?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh, James I love you so much. Oh merlin James that was beautiful." James put the ring on her and stood up. Lily looked at the ring "James! This ring is divine!"

James didn't have any words to say. He simply picked her up and spun her around as if they were in some cheesy movie. Lily laughed and hugged his neck. He put her down and kissed her in a frantic, deep kiss that said so much. Soon enough they were on the floor and Lily transfigured their clothes into a blanket.

"CONGRATULATIONS!" Everyone was waiting for them at the Potters. The boys, Ali, Mary, Marlene; even Lily's mother was there. She felt a lump in her throat seeing all of her loved ones together. Just for a moment, she let herself forget the outside world and feel completely happy.

"Okay c'mon then, let's see the ring." Mary pushed through the crowd with a glass of champagne in her hand. She roughly grabbed Lily's left hand. "Whoa, James! Nicely done."

"I appreciate the approval, Mary."

They talked and laughed for hours. The girls (including Grace and Mia) started planning Lily an elaborate wedding while she rolled her eyes. The boys were smoking cigars outside, probably discussing James' bachelor party. Grace had brought them and then had to explain what they were while James laughed. He had seen them before, but never smoked one. Sirius seemed very intrigued.

Everyone left at around midnight, sleepy and a bit tipsy. Well, some more drunk than others.

Lily and James, excited to get back into bed as a newly engaged couple almost missed the note that was waiting for them on their counter.

You both are needed at headquarters. Now.

-M