Who: James and Lily What: a proposal of marriage. When: 31 July, 1978 [backdated... obviously] Where: Potter residence Warnings: cute? TBA Status: Threaded; incomplete
James had intended this to happen sooner than it was going to, but that didn't mean it was going to be any less special. He could not have helped that in the midst of forming his plans, Lily's parents had died; he'd managed to come to terms with the way it had happened enough to continue with his plans. He had asked them to dinner to request permission to marry Lily, and that had been the night they died, in a car crash on their way home from the restaurant. Though he could not have foreseen it or done anything to stop it, he felt immensely guilty, and yet - and yet, if he put off the proposal for too much longer, he would feel yet more guilty for it. One of the very last things they'd done in their lives was grant him permission to be a part of their daughter's life forever, and he was intensely grateful for that, even if it was a bittersweet memory for him at best.
There was going to be none of that tonight. James was absolutely determined that there would be no grief tonight, even if he planned to honor them briefly in his speech. If he didn't forget the words in his eagerness to get to the essential question, that was.
Well, he had planned it as best he could, and he'd just have to hope that it went well, without any shadows cast over the evening later on. He'd asked one of Lily's friends to distract her for a bit that evening, but to have her home by eight; his parents and Sirius knew about his plans and would not be around until the next evening. (God, he hoped he hadn't sent any of them to their deaths by asking that of them. Was he getting superstitious? Maybe a little bit.)
In the entrance hall, on the table, he'd left an array of toy weapons: a basket of water balloons, a water gun, a paintball gun, a large plastic broadsword, and a bow with a quiver of soft-tipped arrows. The note beside them read: Choose your weapon, as I've chosen mine. Then come out to the garden at your own risk.