[ 9 ]
The best part was, he was actually going with her on visits to Hogsmade, instead of hiding in a bush and stalking her. And he was simply overjoyed. Well he would like to say that he was. At the moment, he was a bundle of nerves... waiting for Lily... by the entrance-
What if she doesn't come? What if she stood him up? What if she forgot? What if she remembered but realized that it was a bad idea, so she decided not to come last minute? What if she regrets going with him to Hogsmade? What if-
And there she was... smiling beautifully towards his direction. All his doubts faded away as she made her way toward him.
[ 10 ]
He caught her fiddling with his mom's wedding ring once-the one he always took with him once his mother passed away-while they were dating. Of course, when she saw him lean by the doorway with an amused smile, she quickly denied it and said that she only picked it up because it dropped on the floor. However, he knew for a fact that the ring had been tucked carefully in his robe pocket, and he never took it out or placed it anywhere else, in fear that she would see it and freak out. Well he wouldn't mind, honestly, but he had intended to propose to her with that ring and wanted to completely surprise her.
However, she was Lily, and there was nothing more to be said about that. He could not get anything past her, no matter how hard he tried. He didn't hide many things from her, but if he did, she would eventually find out. In spite of something as big as this, she did not once brought it to his attention. This worried him to no end. Did that mean that she did not want to marry him? Did that mean that she wasn't taking the same approach to their relationship as he had? It's true that he had fancied for a longer period of time, but he couldn't help but feel worried about his proposal. He had never felt so much nervousness as he had felt the moment before getting down on one knee and blurt his question out.
Nothing worried him as her answer. She was never known for her straight responses... just very indirect, ambiguous, and cheeky answers.
Fear of rejection-that's what it was. After all these years, he never really got over it.
Some Gryffindor he was.
He knew that he ought to get better at speaking to Lily. They were dating for more than a year but he still couldn't find the nerve to talk to her about certain things sometimes... how exactly was he supposed to ask her to marry him if all that came out of his mouth was gibberish every time he tried.
A/N: This may or may not be my last chapter.