WHO: James Potter & Lily Evans
WHAT: James wants to propose again--the right way.
WHEN: Lily's birthday
WHERE: Their Her room.

James loved birthdays, like lots of people did, and he loved his own very much, but he seemed to enjoy other people's more. Maybe because he was in on all the secrets and felt like it was gift all on its own to see how happy he's made other people. Or maybe he just liked buying stuff, whatever the case, James loved birthdays, and waited patiently, sitting on the foot of his bed, for Lily to wake up (which would be in one minute, because her alarm was never wrong and she never hit the snooze button, and today certainly wasn't a day for her to start). He left the cake and cookies on her table and the bouquet on his pillow with his note, and James looked down at his hands to the ring box his was flipping around in his fingers.

If he wanted to be truthful, if the St. Patrick's slip up hadn't occurred, he would have been proposing for the first time, today. It was a monster relief, knowing that his plan would have gone smoothly, but what helped it out was the fact that he'd managed to get his mother's ring. James hadn't been sure he would have been able to get it, and it had always bugged him that Lily wasn't walking around with the engagement ring that had been passed down through the Potter line for...for probably a few centuries. That was crazy, wasn't it? James couldn't even think past his great-grandparents, which was probably bad, but it was true.

Though, he was nervous that she wouldn't like it. Girls liked their own rings, right? Maybe. They liked. Their own things. Oh---door opening. Too late. James stood and smiled widely.

"Haaaappy birthday!"

Lily smiled sleepily at her fiancé from the doorway before pushing off and letting herself inside. She probably looked tossled and horrible in just her robe and her pyjamas, but she had supposed that his note meant that she was supposed to come to his room upon reading it--and who cared? It was her birthday, she could walk around in all the bedroom attire, looking tossled and horrible all bloody day if she wanted to. Okay, so she wouldn't allow herself to leave without brushing her teeth and smoothing down her hair a bit first because, well, birthdays were practically synonymous with snogging and she hated it when he started messing with her before they had even gotten out of bed but--

--but right. Birthdays and James and it didn't really matter right now.

"Thank you," Lily replied, with a genuine smile as she casually flung her arms around his shoulders, feeling the sleepiness draining away much more quickly than it normally did in the mornings. "I got your note."

"Did you?" James asked, not realizing that his voice was also a bit scratchy from sleep; he hadn't spoken since he woke up about an hour ago, so it should have been expected. He was just too worried thinking about her presents and making her happy to speak, not that...there had been anyone around, to talk to, but the---okay, stop thinking and hug her.

The ring box pressed into her back slightly as he tightened his arms around her and James really did enjoy her all disheveled this way; reminded him that Lily Evans (soontobePotter, a thought that always crossed his mind when someone said her last name) had let him in to her what had once been a fortress of solitude personal space. Or whatever you wanted to call it, that just sounded more manly than her own little bubble, like Marlie called it.

He kissed her once, twice, a few more times before kissing her hard. Guh, he loved this girl.

"I haaaaave something for you," he muttered into her mouth, because once they started kissing it was hard to stop, but the hand with the ring box was bouncing on her back, so it wouldn't take Lily long to figure out where her gift was.

Lily furrowed her brow at him as he pulled back the last time, removing one of her arms to reach behind her back and groping for his hands. "What in Merlin's name do you keep hitting me with?" she asked with a frown. Once she was finally able to twist her arm around enough and place her hand over his, she noticed something very small, very hard... kind of velvety... something kind of like a...

The epiphany hit her quite suddenly, and she turned green eyes back to him with a disbelieving, but unmistakably delighted look to them. "More jewlery? You're really going to spoil me," she chastised lightly. "You don't want me to get used to this kind of thing, do you? By our fifth I'll be demanding diamond rings and tennis bracelets for every year we've been married."

Haaa--she still got butterflies in her stomach saying it, anything having to do with her and James and weddings and marriage and she was certain that it was impossible to be any more happy than she was right now. How could she have ever been afraid of this? You didn't just feel this bloody happy when you were going down the wrong path.

"I'm rich," he retorted immediately, a small grin forming. "And will be even more so with my healer salary, so you're allowed to get a bit spoiled. Just don't ask for ostrich or other fancy bird eggs for breakfast, that I'm not sure I'm willing to spend money on."

The arm with the ring dropped from behind her (with a bit of teasing to her hand), though the other stayed firmly around her waist. James needed to explain the gift because maybe, if she didn't really like it, she would be polite enough to act like she did and then they could snog while he was oblivious to her unhappiness (which, as long as he was getting snogged, was pretty okay, even though---). Right. But there was still a chance she would like it, all on its own without feeling like she had to and---James. Just. Stop.

Doing a wobbly sort of backwards walk toward the bed, James sat down on the edge again and let go of her, both hands covering the ring box as he pulled it to his chest with a sly grin, even though his insides were churning madly.

"Okay. It's---it's not anything new or---well, it is shiny, but---it's been in my family for ages and---you deserve to have it." James held the ring box out to her and managed to open it with his thumb (he'd been practicing. "I should've--this is what I should've proposed with."

Lily sort of felt like she wanted to protest when James let go of her, but thought better of it, because... well, she was a girl, jewlery was fun and exciting, and she could snog James later, after she'd seen the dazzling ring and Merlin, she was going to run out of fingers if this kept up, even though that wouldn't be so bad, because rings were very fun gifts to get and--and she was rambling, she really needed to stop letting her subconscious run away with her.

Just the fact that he had a sly grin on his face made her compelled to arch her eyebrows at him in anticipation and maybe a bit of playful worry. "You know, I think I might kill you if that box explodes or something," she warned him. Lily doubted that'd happen, but it sounded like something he'd do.

Something, however, apparently so very very very far off the mark, if that big--holy fuck--glittering diamond that the box actually held were any indication. The Gryffindor's eyes involuntarily widened and she couldn't help but lean forward a little because... oh God, it had to be the most gorgeous ring she'd ever seen in her life and oh--and James was saying something and she should probably listen because there had to be an explanation as to why he'd get her something so--so--holy crap, was there even a word for how amazing that was?

It was probably a good thing that she did listen, albeit for the fact that his words made her shock level go up about a thousandfold. Lily tore her eyes away from the jewlery to give him the same wide-eyed stare. "Oh, James--are you sure?" she asked breathlessly. "An heirloom, I mean--are you sure you want me to have that? Your family, I--"

Ahhh--er---did that mean she wanted it? James gulped and looked down, unsure of how to take her question, because maybe she was looking for an excuse not to accept it. He could've bought her own, he'd been looking because James liked getting Lily stuff, and--he---ah---er--Merlin, this was far too confusing.

Maybe she just liked her claddagh ring and didn't want a replacement; he could deal with that, he supposed, even though it hadn't been bought to an engagement ring...well, Gleny had said that it could be, that it was a Celtic, Gaelic thing to do, use the ring and---oy, just---shut up.

"Er--well, yes. I mean. This is what my dad proposed with and, erm..." he hadn't felt the build up of his voice occurring, but his words shook slightly as he thought about his meeting with his father over easter, "And--my mum, she, well, last year, she gave it to him, before she----and, cause I'd told her about---you and---it's yours."

Lily put a hand over her mouth as if it would help stop the tears welling in her eyes as she turned down to stare at the ring again. She shouldn't be getting all emotional--okay, no stuff it, she could get emotional if she bloody well wanted! This ring meant a lot to him, it had been passed down his family line, generations and generations of Potter women and she was the next one that was supposed to wear it? And that was such a powerful feeling, it was almost overwhelming and she was allowed to get teary as long as she didn't full out cry over it, right?

"I love it," she said quietly, her voice quivering with emotion. "I love it, I love you--so so so much, Merlin, I--I don't know what to say---"

"Ooh, okay."

That was awfully dumb of him to say, but James was feeling awfully dumb because how could he have thought she wouldn't like it? Well, there was always the chance, but it was so good to know that Lily appreciated the gesture as much as he hoped she would and seeing her get all weepy almost made him (not that he already wasn't---ah, no, he wasn't weepy, come on now, people--). It just that this reminded him that his mother would never see Lily wear the ring, that her parents never would, that his father hadn't that---that sometimes life really sucked, but then they got to do things like this, and get married and have a big party and---

James took a breath and plucked the ring out of the box; for some reason his hand was shaking as if he was actually proposing for the first time. He took her hand and waggled his eyebrows slightly to try and take some edge off of the moment and slipped it on her finger so that it bumped into the claddagh ring. They looked really nice together, but James found he didn't mind which one Lily walked around with wearing, at the end of the day, she was marrying him, not the ring right?.

She decided very quickly how she would end up wearing the rings--the claddagh would go back on her right, the real engagement ring (holy crap, it was a real engagement ring) would stay on her left--but right now it didn't matter because she didn't want to take this new one off for even a second. She'd do it before she showed Liz and Marlie and Gillian, though, definitely, because she was going straight to them to squeal and be excited right after she was done with James.

Of course, that wouldn't be for a while, she thought with a smirk, because she was so not even close to done with him.

It was difficult to stop staring at the diamond and the white gold and the shining and the--right, and all the absolute gorgeousness of it, but she knew she would get to look at that later too. Right now all she wanted to was snog this silly man senseless, this silly, wonderful, amazing, great man, Merlin's coathangers was he the most magnificent person in the world and as she tackled him quite suddenly back onto the bed, she couldn't help but thinking she was the luckiest girl on earth.