The Marauder Way to Propose, a harry potter fanfic

"When are you going to ask? It's almost the end of seventh year, Prongs. You're running out of time!" Sirius whined again. He had been doing that a lot recently. At first it was only him, but then, Remus and Peter began urging James to propose to Lily as well.

James Potter and Lily Evans. No known as the Golden couple at Hogwarts. Many people still couldn't believe it. How on earth had Lily, who was widely known for hating James' guts, finally agreed to go out with him? Some people even thought that james had slipped her a love potion. (he didn't, though he thought it was a good idea.) But he hadn't, and they had been going strong for a one time now, much to the disappointment of the crowds of jealous girls, and even some desperate guys who desperately wanted a chance with the fiery red-head.

"I'll do it when I'm ready." James replied, annoyed. It was the same answer he had been giving for over two months. Each time Sirius, Remus, or Peter asked, it was either 'I'll do it when I'm ready' or 'I'm working on it' or just a simple 'Soon'.

"Well, you better do it soon, because with the way you're answering, I'm starting to think you really don't want to ask her." Remus said tentatively. That was true; it really was the impression James' replies gave. But he didn't want to make his friend feel worse so he left out the fact that other people might also be thinking along the same lines.

Nevertheless, this had the effect he wanted. James whirled around, and the disbelief was clearly etched on his face. "What? That's ridiculous!"

Sirius wasted no time at all in backing up what Remus said. "Hate to burst your bubble, but its true. I thought you were going to ask her last week during the party but you didn't…and two weeks ago, I passed some of those yucky girls in the hallway and they were listing ways to get you to dump Evans. One of them even said 'He clearly doesn't like her.'"

James' jaw dropped. "Who said that? I'm gonna-" he waved his wand wildly.

Sirius shook his head. "Not telling. And I didn't tell you that to get you to go curse someone. I told you that to show you the seriousness of the situation-er…sort of. I hope I'm not pressuring you. Why don't you want to ask anyway?"

James felt that this was one of the deepest things his friend had ever said. A year ago, he knew Sirius would never have said that. But the war had changed everyone, especially the attack on Hogsmeade in the beginning of the year. The war. That was another factor, another reason he should ask. To bond together forever before the chance was lost.

"I'm just…not exactly ready for marriage yet," he said slowly.

That was a lie. James had been ready for quite a long time, and had even started to have dreams of Lily walking down the aisle in a white dress, a veil covering her face. 'I do.' James would say, but the dream always ended before Lily could say it. And that was the problem. He was afraid. He was scared that Lily would say no. Whatever the reason, whether it was because she wasn't ready or she didn't want to be with him, he knew that if he was rejected, it would hurt, and he didn't want that to happen, so he put off asking.

"That's not true and you know it. You ARE ready." Remus sighed, looking weary. "I know why you're putting it off, James, and I can tell you it's not gonna happen. I promise."

Sirius looked confused, but he seemed to know that it wasn't the right time to comment. He really had changed a lot and was no longer the young, carefree boy that laughed at everything, played pranks every other day, and joked nonstop. Sure, there was the occasional prank, and they still laughed and joked around quite a bit, but it wasn't the same. James had changed that way too, and it was that that finally made Lily agree to go out with him.

James looked grateful and relieved, but not by much. "I'll do it soon. I promise." And there was a finality in his tone that told everyone to drop the subject and that the matter was over.

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The last Hogsmeade weekend. James and Lily were going together. They weren't going to go into Honeydukes or Zonko's or even The Three Broomsticks. No, this date had to be special. It was their very last Hogsmeade date, the last time they could visit the village as seventh year students. And so they had a picnic.

They were lying in the shade of a tall tree, spread out on a red and black checkered blanket. They were full already, so they were resting and just simply having a good time.

"Remember the time you Polyjuiced yourself into Alice so you could go into the girls' dormitory?" Lily laughed. "Hey, how'd you get in the dorm anyway?"

"Sirius and I flew up on a broomstick to the window, and I got in. Padfoot waited outside; we made sure you girls weren't inside yet..."

"I thought Alice sounded different. It was still a pretty good imitation though...Hey, where was the real Alice?"

James flushed. "I-err, yeah, um...She was in on the joke so she was hiding in a girl's bathroom stall." He laughed nervously.

"Oh my god!" Lily face-palmed. "Remind me to kill her later. I still remember what happened..."

"Yeah, you hugged 'Alice'," James said, putting air quotes around 'Alice'. "I gave you quite fright when you suddenly found yourself hugging me instead." He chuckled.

"It wasn't funny!" But she couldn't keep the smile off her face. "It was scary. But the good part was when I hexed you."

"How was that the good part? My ears are still a bit large and my eyebrows are still too hairy!"

Lily laughed and James felt his heart melt. It was incredible that she could still do that to him after all this time.

"You know, I wonder why I didn't get in trouble for that…" Lily scrunched up her nose.

James grinned sheepishly. "Oh, um…I never told Madam Pomfrey it was you."

"What? Why?"

"Because you're you. You always have a reasonable excuse for hexing someone, and everyone knows it. So they would ask why you did it, and, well, I don't fancy telling the professors that I snuck into the girls' dorm as Alice. They might assume things."

She nodded, a light smile on her face. There was another silent moment. Lily leaned back against the tree trunk and James' arm instinctively went around her.

"I love you." He felt himself say. James froze. Where did that come from? It wasn't that he didn't mean it. What if she didn't say it back? That was what worried him. All these insecurities swirled through his head.

"I love you too."

James relaxed, and the words he spoke to his friends popped into his mind:'I'll do it soon. I promise.' And maybe this was the moment.

"Lily, you know, we're already legal adults, and when school's over, well, I don't want to lose you…Will you marry me?" He held his breath, waiting and watching her reaction, but Lily didn't seem surprised.

"Yes, I will." And the smile that illuminated her face was breathtaking…"Isn't there supposed to be a ring?"

Oops. He had forgotten about that. "Ah, well, this wasn't exactly planned, so here. It'll do for now. I'll go to Diagon Alley and get you one later." He reached into the picnic basket and pulled out a plain mini donut, and he slipped it on her finger.

Lily flipped her hair and laughed. It was just so…James. "That's good enough for me!"

The minute James and Lily parted at the common room, Lily turned and flew up the stairs.

"Err, hey, Marlene, hi, Alice." She wasn't quite sure how to break the news to her friends.

"What happened, Lils?"

Lily chose to shout it. "He proposed!" She was then hugged and congratulated fiercely.

"Show us the ring!"

Uh-oh. "Er…see, it wasn't really planned…"

But Marlene, who was oh-so impatient, reached and grabbed her hand. She eyed the donut for a moment. Comprehension dawned on her face and she ran out into the common room.

"JAMES POTTER!" she bellowed, and James came sprinting down the boys' staircase.

"What happened?"

"Please explain to me why the 'ring' you gave Lily isn't a ring and is a bagel?" She crossed her arms.

Lily didn't expect to explain James to explain and he didn't.

"It is NOT a bagel. It's a donut!"

Marlene scowled. "Same thing."

"Nooo, donuts are sweeter and more fattening, but they are better than bagels because-"

"I don't care!"

James sniffed indignantly. "Fine." He grabbed the donut of Lily's finger and popped it into his mouth. "Mmm…glazed." Then he drew a ring on Lily's finger with blue ink. It had hearts and a smiley face. The ink had glitter in it that made it sparkle.

"It's temporary, McKinnon. I'm buying her ring at Diagon Alley next week."

"Oh, fine." she huffed. There was another awkward moment, then Marlene slowly looked up at James, who was raising his eyebrows. "Umm…" she began.

"Yes?"

"Err…Have you got another one of those donuts?"

And that, is the Marauder way to propose.

A/N

Wellllll? How was it? This just suddenly came to me while we were in a tea shop. Hope you liked it. Review, please?

Also, an anonymous reviewer pointed out a few flaws, so I edited this a bit. Thank you whoever you are! And also, thank you, JessandDarcy, Lady Elizabeth of New York, berniegirl13, and iheartweasleytwins for the first few reviewers!