"Padfoot?" Sirius whirled around, his wand out, staring around for the owner of the voice.
"Padfoot, it's me. In the fire." Sirius turned and looked into the fire, which was crackling merrily. James's head was resting on a flaming log.
"Oh! Prongs! You surprised me, I- what is it?" Sirius asked, seeing the excited look on his face. James only smiled more widely, looking slightly embarrassed and very surprised at himself.
"What?" Sirius asked again, kneeling down closer to the fire. He quickly grabbed a threadbare pillow from the drooping, moldy, old couch in the corner and sat down on it.
"Tell me!" He exclaimed.
"I- I did it," James said weakly.
"Did what?" Sirius asked, exasperated.
James gave a nervous laugh, "I… Lily… She- well, I… I asked her…"
"Asked her what?" Sirius roared.
"I… asked her to- er…" Sirius gasped, looking shocked.
"You… you… Did she say…? Did you give her the ring?" James nodded.
Sirius's handsome face broke into a wide smile. "Tell me about it! Did she like the ring? Have you set a date?"
"No, not yet… I was a bit nervous. I'd been carrying it around in my pocket for a week and we went for a walk. She was telling me what a bad week she'd been having and she said that just being with me was making her feel better and, well, I just knew it was the moment."
"So, you just got down on your knee and asked her to marry you?"
James nodded. "And she was so happy, she conjured up a whole flock of birds and I had a firework from that party weeks ago in my pocket and I enchanted it so it said 'she said yes!' and then we went back to my place and she only just left to go tell her family!"
The two friends sat in a stunned silence for a moment. "Have you told Remus or Peter yet?" Sirius asked.
"Nope," James said, shaking his head, "Just you, mate. I was praying you'd be home. I want to ask you something."
"What?" asked Sirius, curiously.
"Will you- Well, mind, I haven't talked to Lily yet… Or made any plans at all, or anything, but," James paused, studying his best friend's face, "Will you be my best man at the wedding?"
Sirius smiled, "I'm flattered." James cocked one eyebrow. Sirius rolled his eyes, "Oh well, not really. I'd be disappointed if you didn't ask. Of course, if it's alright… I'd love to."
They sat quietly for a moment, each thinking his own thoughts. "Wow," Sirius said at last "One of us… getting married. Who would've thought… And to Lily Evans, too," Sirius mused. "If you'd told me four years ago, that James would be the first marauder to get married and to Lily Evans, I'd never have believed you." He shook his head wonderingly and James's head shrugged in the fireplace.
"Why don't you go tell old Moony, o.k.? And say hi to your mum and dad for me, too. I'll check in on you later," Sirius said.
"Alright," James said, grinning. "By the way, how's it going with you and Stell?"
"Well, it's a bit weird, because she's still at Hogwarts. I almost never get a chance to see her, but I guess it's good. She might come by today. Hey, if she does, can I tell her?" Sirius asked.
"Of course! Maybe we can get together later. You and Stella and Lilly and I."
"Sure. I'll ask her if she comes by…" Sirius smiled, gazing absently into the fire.
"Is anything wrong?" James asked, deciphering Sirius's expression.
"No, not really… It's just she seems so young, and all of us in the Order are in danger. I guess I'm worried they could use her… to get to me, you know? But that's probably stupid. It's more that I think I might… well, have a bad influence on her."
James nodded sympathetically, although he wasn't entirely sure where Sirius was going. "She wants to join the order," he said abruptly.
"She does?" asked James, taken aback.
"Yeah," Sirius said, "I didn't give away anything about it, but they're desperate for new members and you and Lily were in it, so it seemed like a good idea at the time… But now I'm worried. She's too young; I don't want anything to happen,"
Sirius was quiet for a second, staring into the flames, past James's head.
"She's not that young. Only two years younger than us. You have to let her grow up or you two will fall apart."
Sirius nodded, but James wasn't sure he had heard a single word. "Prongs," Sirius said, looking back into James's eyes, "I think I'm in love with her."
A/N: Yay! I updated! Hope you enjoyed the long awaited proposal to Lily! Reviews would be much appreciated. Well, actually they would be more than appreciated. They would be worshipped. I would get down on my knees and pray to an alter honoring any reviews. lol, well, probably not, but I would mentally hold all reviews and reviewers sacred!