Disclaimer: I own nothing.

On a Tuesday morning, Lily found a ring.

It was an accident, one that she felt terrible about. She hadn't been searching for anything but the cloak James had asked for. It wasn't her fault that it had been left so close to the edge of the shelf. Hell, she didn't even know what shelf it had fallen from. One second, she was reaching for a hanger, and the next, a tiny grey box had bumped her on the head. As she'd rubbed the tender spot and stifled a few curses, she'd spotted it on the ground, and she could have sworn that in that moment, her heart stopped. As quietly as she could, she'd knelt down and picked it up with shaking fingers. She knew what it was-how could it be anything else?-but she knew she had to see it, just to be sure.

The second Lily's eyes caught a glimpse of glimmer, her fingers failed her and dropped the box, which, luckily, snapped shut on its tumble back to the floor. Her fumbling hands flew across her mouth as she let out a silent scream. But one glance was hardly enough. She popped the lid again and set the box upright on the ground for a proper look. She couldn't get enough of the small band, with its single diamond twinkling up at her, almost as if it was winking, reassuring her that this was their little secret, one James would absolutely never find out about.

As she studied the most perfect piece of jewelry she had ever seen, everything began to slide into place. She thought back to dinner with her parents, the one they'd had last Tuesday, when James and her father had been huddled in the corner of the sitting room, both looking far too serious for either of the Evans' girls liking. He had asked for her hand. James Potter, that sneaky, charming prick she'd been dating had asked Lily's father for permission to ask her to marry him.

"Oi, Evans!" Lily jumped half a foot into the air and snapped the velvet box shut. She leapt to her feet, box in hand, before she realized that she wasn't entirely sure where it had come from. "What's taking so long?"

"I fell into Narnia," Lily called back. She dropped the box back on the ground and kicked it around a bit so that it wouldn't look deliberate, all the while apologizing to the ring inside and promising to make up for it when it was safe at home on her finger.

"The what? Are you okay?"

"Fine. Just one of those Mug-never mind. I've got it." Once she was sure that the box looked as if it had fallen of its own accord (and it had, so there was no reason for her to feel guilty, right?), she yanked James' cloak from the hanger and hurried out to the sitting room. She was fastening the clasp of her own when James spoke again.

"I hope Sirius hasn't given up on us turning out."

A terrible thought flickered through Lily's mind, wiping away all fantasies of how the secret ring would look on her finger as if they were made of chalk.

"Of course not," Lily said in a falsely bright voice. "He knows we have trouble keeping time."

James frowned. "But you're the most punctual person either of us know."

"So?"

"So why would you say we have trouble keeping time?" James asked as he stuffed his wallet into his back pocket. "Half the jokes Sirius and I make anymore are about how-"

"Let's get going, shall we?" Lily grabbed James' hand and walked him to the fireplace. "You can make plenty fun of me when we get there."

James was unconvinced. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Lily smiled and stumbled forward into the fireplace. "I've never been better."

xxx

"Don't you dare tell him you found it."

Lily felt her draw drop. This was her only chance to settle the queasy feeling in her stomach and the moment had already been soiled. James wouldn't be in the loo for much longer. She knew there was no way to recover the situation after such a reaction, but she saw no harm in trying, at least not as long as she was quick about it.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Sirius practically flew out of his chair and across the room. He sat down on the coffee table in front of Lily, butterbeer in hand, and said sternly, "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"I-"

"The shiny, tiny, glittery it sitting in James' closet." He shook his head urgently. "You can't let him know."

"I didn't even say anything," Lily gasped. "How did you know I-?"

"It's written all over your face, Evans!" Sirius exclaimed. "You'd better hope he hasn't caught on."

"Do you think he has?"

Sirius sighed. "No. He'd have been in a right state if he knew. He's been planning this for weeks."

"I know," Lily said. "I mean, I'd figured. He asked my father, didn't he?"

"I've never seen him as nervous as he was before he went to pick you up that night," Sirius grinned. Lily beamed back and the vision of the shiny, tiny, glittery ring revealed itself to her mind once again.

"Sirius," Lily began gravely, "I don't want to soil this for him. I'm going to let him ask me properly and I swear I won't let on. But I need you to do something for me."

Sirius eyed the redhead suspiciously. "What are you up to, Evans?"

"Nothing," Lily promised. "I'm not up to anything. I-I need your blessing."

A moment of silent passed between them, broken only by the sound of the toilet flushing down the hall. "Damn it, Sirius," Lily hissed. "This is important, and I'm not going to get another chance-"

"Can I still call you Evans?" Sirius asked.

"You can call me whatever the-no, I take that back. But you can call me Evans for as long as you'd like. Even when I'm ninety-eight and shopping for an assisted living residence because my children are too busy to be bothered with me, even then, I'll let you call me Evans."

Sirius scowled. "Are you keeping your maiden name, then?"

"No."

"Then why would you let me-?"

"Because it won't be the same," Lily whined. "Is that what you want to hear? Tell me what you want me to say, Sirius. What will it take to have your blessing? I can't accept his proposal without it. It wouldn't be right. Just tell me what I have to do to be able to say y-"

"Did I miss anything?"

James sat down beside Lily, who crossed her arms and slouched back against the sofa. Sirius took a long drink from his bottle.

"No," Lily huffed. "We were just-"

"That'll do, Evans."

James and Lily both looked up at Sirius, who was now standing tall above them with a smug grin on his face.

"What'll do?" James asked.

"Nothing," Lily and Sirius said together.

"It's nothing important," Lily expanded. As Sirius made his way back to his chair, she whispered, "I'll tell you about it later," and gave James a quick wink.

xxx

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes," Lily repeated. "Absolutely yes. James Potter, yes, I will marry you."

Before James could express his disbelief again, Lily wrapped her arms around him. James lost what little balance he'd been keeping on his one knee and he fell to the side, dragging Lily off her park bench and down with him. She was overcome with a fit of laughter until she felt James tug on her hand. She watched, speechless, as he slid the little ring onto her finger.

"What do you think?" James asked. Lily stuck her hand up into the sky and wiggled her fingers around. The diamond caught a ray of sunlight and glittered more brilliantly than Lily had ever seen it glitter before.

"It looks even better on my finger than in the box, don't you think?"

James took a moment to respond. "The box?"

"Yes," Lily said, "the little grey box." Her voice faltered on the last word. She remembered James pulling her off the path and over to the bench. She remembered him getting down on one knee, reaching into his pocket, and pulling out the ring.

Just the ring.

"James?"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," James answered. "I'm going to pretend that this was a perfect proposal. I'm going to pretend I caught you off guard and swept you off your feet."

"I think that's an excellent plan," Lily agreed. "It doesn't make a difference anyway. I'd have said yes whether I already knew or not."

"And I'm going to pretend Padfoot didn't tell me you said you couldn't marry me without his permission."

"Damn it."

A/N: I don't write James and Lily very often because they intimidate me, but I was asked to share this with the site, so here it is. I hope you enjoyed it! Feedback is greatly appreciated.