Adventure
June, 1979
Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw James poke his head suddenly around the doorframe. "Lily."
"Mm?" She didn't look up from her book.
"Let's go on an adventure."
"Mmm... why?"
James gave a stunned silence. "Why? Lily, did you just ask me why we should go on an adventure?"
She finally tore her eyes away from the page. "It's just that I'm terribly comfortable. We just came back from a mission last night, I've only just finished the cleaning..."
"Yes, I'm sure you charming the feather duster to float about was a dreadful amount of work for you. Come onnn. All the more reason to go have us a little fun. It's a gorgeous day, Lils, you can't spend it all holed up in the den."
Lily was still hesitant. "What sort of adventure?"
"Well, I'm not sure yet. That's half the fun of having an adventure."
"James, I know you well enough to know that your adventures always have some ulterior motive."
James looked scandalized. "They do not!"
"All right, what about the time in seventh year you grabbed me by the hand and took me on an 'adventure' to Hagrid's cabin where Sirius, Peter and Remus were watching a Blast-Ended Skrewt hatching and we all ended up with little tiny burns all over us?"
"Well, all right, but that was one time..."
"Or what about the time when we took an 'adventure ride' on your broomstick after a mission and we met up with Mundungus Fletcher in the Hog's Head and you got so sloshed that I had to ride us home?"
James snickered. "Well I couldn't have been completely sloshed, I certainly remember you trying to fly through Hogsmeade without bowling anyone over, to a complete failure..."
"And what about my 'Birthday Adventure' where you took me to Sirius' for my 'surprise' party, except that only your friends were invited, Sirius' mum shouted at me the entire time for being a Mudblood, and I actually knew about the party three days in advance?"
"All right, all right, you've made your point," James snapped dejectedly. "I just thought it might be fun is all. A break from routine or what have you. But nevermind. Forget I said anything." He pulled his head slowly back around the doorframe with a sulky expression. Lily felt a pang of guilt despite herself.
"James, wait," she said with exasperation after a moment. His head slowly creeped back around the doorframe to peer sadly at her. "All right, we can go on an adventure. But you must guarantee that it doesn't involve any mystical creatures, or surprise parties, or anything involving me trying to steer a broomstick."
James brightened immediately and stepped into view, sporting dress robes and a broomstick. "Okay! Now run along and get all fancy, we mustn't be late."
Lily was very, very tempted to come down quite suddenly with a bout of the flu, but she put her book down and walked suspiciously into the bedroom to change into her own dress robes, for reasons she was completely clueless about.
---
"All right. Now you've got to shut your eyes."
"James, I am not shutting my eyes on a broomstick. You are already quite aware that being fifty feet in the air and I don't fare well together. I at least have to see my surroundings to make sure you aren't steering us into a tree."
"Lily, darling, have you ever seen anyone more capable on a broom than I?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
"Many people. Dumbledore. McGonagall. Most of the Order. Sirius."
James gasped and brought the broom to a sudden standstill. "Sirius is far below me on the broomstick capability scale!"
"James James James you know I don't like simply floating here."
"You've got to close your eyes, love."
"No! Please keep moving."
"Please shut your eyes?"
"Jaaaames."
"Please, Lily. It'll ruin the surprise otherwise."
"Oh, all right." Against her better judgement, Lily reluctantly closed her eyes. She felt James twist around in front of her to get a glimpse of her face. Apparently satisfied, he nudged the broomstick gently and slowly accelerated through the early summer air. "Oohhh, James, I don't like this," she said shakily, tightening her grip around his waist.
"It's all right, I'll keep you safe," he said softly. Immediately her anxiety lessened; as usual, James had the ability to make her feel perfectly safe, even if she was flying through the air on a piece of wood without having the slightest idea as to her surroundings. "We're just about there anyhow, I wouldn't put you through such a terror for longer than absolutely necessary."
Lily nestled her face into James' back and kept her eyes tightly closed, not even opening them when he warned her of their landing. She slipped somewhat ungracefully off the broom, James catching her arm and putting one hand over her eyes. "All right, now forward," he instructed with a smile in his voice.
She sighed, but smiled despite herself. "I do wonder what you have planned that you are being so insistent about."
"Well, it took a bit of planning, and quite a lot of bribing Sirius."
Lily stopped. "Uh oh."
"No no, nothing to be worried about. Keep going," he nudged gently, his breath tickling her ear.
She stepped forward again, letting James' strong arms guide her gently into tall, soft grass. "It smells of flowers," she noted, giving into the pleasant mystery.
"Hmm. Does it?" asked James, feigning ignorance. "All right… you can open your eyes."
James removed his hand from her eyes. Lily looked around and realized they were in a meadow covered in buttercups, with lilies lining the forest where the meadow ended on either side. In the middle of a meadow was a picnic blanket, with a traditional wicker picnic basket sitting on top and a bottle of wine in a tub of ice. Birds chirped happily in surrounding trees. Lily considered joining them in chirping.
"Oh, James, this is absolutely beautiful," Lily breathed. She stepped forward and looked with wonder at the scene before her. Finally she stood on the picnic blanket and looked at James with a gigantic grin on her face. He stood where he had let her go, holding his broomstick limply in one hand, and he stared at her with soft eyes and a half-smile on his face. "What? What's the matter?"
"Nothing," he said at once in a wispy voice.
"James, you've got a very peculiar expression on your face. What's going on?"
"Have I?" he said, more upbeat, and a real grin spread across his face as he stepped toward her. His eyes, however, remained rather softer than usual. "Sorry, got lost in space for a moment there."
"Mm. Nice up there?"
James sat down heavily on the blanket. "Quite. Bit nippy."
"I can imagine, this time of year."
"It's June."
"And in December it's right freezing."
James laughed; the sound bounced off between the trees and came back to them. Lily smiled warmly and began unpacking the picnic. Peanut butter and jam sandwiches, strawberries, and a bar of Honeydukes chocolate came out of the basket. Lily laughed gleefully and bit happily into one of the sandwiches. After a silence punctuated with chewing, she sighed happily and patted his knee affectionately. "This was a highly successful adventure, James, thank you."
He gave a high-pitched, nervous laugh in reply. "Don't say that yet." She noticed that he had only taken a couple of bites of his first sandwich, while she was already tearing into her second one.
"James?" she asked with concern, putting down her sandwich.
James grinned nervously and put down his sandwich. He looked briefly past her and nodded at the trees. She twisted around to look, but saw nothing; instead, she heard the melodic tones of a violin emanating from the trees. She looked back at James with a quizzical expression and saw him watching her with a sober expression, his eyes wide and sincere. He held out a hand as he stood and brought her to her feet. Soon both her hands were clasped in his.
"My family had this saying," he began, all traces of kidding gone from his face. Rarely was James this serious. "It goes, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. It sounds bad, I know," he said hastily at the expression on Lily's face. "Dad said it a lot. All he meant was that it was important that we live beyond death, in memory. To do so is to defeat it." James swallowed and looked briefly at his feet. The violin played on. Lily opened her mouth to speak, but James looked back at her and kept going. "He was always quite adamant that people are here to change the world, to give their existences meaning. Fighting dark forces is part of that for me, but I realized the other day that there was something missing from that meaning. It wasn't complete. And finally I figured out what it was.
"You are the reason that I fight, Lily. I'm not fighting to give my life meaning. I'm fighting for a world where you and I can create a life for ourselves in peace. I'm fighting so you and I can live the rest of our lives together and have a family and change the world that way, by bringing beautiful and happy children into the world and teach them to make a difference. I firmly believe that I am on this planet to give you the happy and fruitful life that you deserve, free of this chaos and pain and suffering. I am here so that I can provide you with picnics like this every day without having to cast a dozen protective charms before doing so. That is my purpose. That is why I am here."
James fished something out of his pocket and got down on one knee. "I love you madly, Lily Evans. You're the only woman in the world for me, and that will never change. I hope you will do me the honour of becoming my wife…" James seemed to have more to say, but his voice got caught in his throat. He held the ring out in gesture of the rest of what he wanted to say and looked up at Lily with wide eyes. For a second, all he could do was watch the tears rolling down her face, her red hair being teased by a light wind, her mouth covered by her hands. Then she moved her left hand and there was a grin behind it; she nodded as she extended the hand to him gracefully. James grinned with relief and moved to put the ring on her finger – and promptly dropped it onto the blanket.
"Damnit," he said quietly as his large and sweaty fingers struggled to pick it up. "I'm sorry there's no velvet box, I took the ring out to look at it and the box fell into the toilet and –"
The ring now on her finger, Lily bent down and kissed James to silence him. "It's perfect," she whispered, apparently unable to stem the flow of tears down her face. James stood up and wrapped his arms around her, holding her slender form against him and swallowing against the lump that had formed in his own throat.
A strangled cry of joy came suddenly from inside the forest, then a clang as the violin apparently fell to the ground. James shut his eyes and chuckled against the image of Sirius with his arms in the air as Lily accepted, forgetting the violin he was enchanting to play.
Lily laughed too and turned into the woods. "You can come out, Sirius," she called.
A handsome figure came bounding over the lilies and through the meadow, a wide grin across his features. "You're engaged!" he cried. "You're engaged!"
"I know!" Lily shouted back at him. Sirius came over and took one of each of their hands and began bounding in a circle.
"Wedding time, wedding time, wedding time," Sirius chanted gleefully.
"Oi, Padfoot, chill out," James said finally, laughing as he stepped away from his hyperactive friend. Sirius grinned as his own behaviour and panted playfully, imitating his canine self even further. "Here," James said, picking up a sandwich and handing it to Sirius. "Now bugger off."
Sirius frowned. "I put all this together and all I get is one sandwich?"
"What do you want, two sandwiches?"
"Well… yeah."
"Fine." James handed him another. "Now bugger off, please and thanks."
Sirius grinned and saluted. "As you wish, o engage-ed one." He patted Lily softly on the shoulder, went to the edge of the meadow, and turned on the spot to disappear.
James turned to Lily sheepishly. "I'm sorry about that. I rather forget how excitable he is."
Lily smiled and kissed James tenderly. "That's all right. I suppose I've got to get used to it if I'm going to be Mrs. Lily Potter."
James giggled happily and took her into his arms again. "So… successful adventure?"
Lily nodded against the fabric of his robes. "Very."