Putting The 'M' in Mystery~ Hinny/Jily

Shocked Back

The weeks following Marnie's death passed in a blur for Lily. She threw herself into her studies, and rarely closed her books and collapsed into bed before the early hours of the morning. She barely spoke unless it was to answer a question in class, and was slowly drifting from those who cared about her.

She was numb, and angry at herself for not feeling pain. It was not the staggeringly raw agony that had nearly consumed her after her parent's death; it was a dull ache that she only felt in the dead of night. She found herself avoiding Alice, as the other girl was dealing with her grief slightly differently. Her pain was closer to the surface, and she had only to look at Lily to burst into tears. Lily was sure her friend thought she didn't care about Marnie, and she couldn't bear to look into Alice's swimming blue eyes and see a part of herself in there.

She found herself forcing James away. She got furious whenever he gently tried to prise her away from the revision, but he didn't take it personally. Neither did he raise his eyebrows and shrug it off. He simply didn't give up, not nagging exactly, but simply reminding that he was there for her when, not if, she needed someone to talk to. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before she let herself care again, James put into action what he'd been planning for several weeks.

Remus awoke at 5am to see James pacing up and down the doorway, swearing under his breath. Disjointed words floated across the room to Remus's baffled ears.

"Lily... need to tell you... bloody hell! it's been amazing... oh, sod it!"

He spun around, reaching into the pocket of his dressing down to draw out a black velvet box, and almost collapsed onto one knee. "I love you, will you marry me?"

James hadn't noticed Remus's return to consciousness, and was greeted with his best friend's startled gaze.

"Bloody hell, mate, I like you and everything, but honestly..."

James suddenly realized how ridiculous he looked, and he wasn't comfortable kneeling on one knee. He wobbled, and then collapsed. Remus burst out laughing.

"Seriously, Prongs, I'd try not to fall over when you do it for real."

"I'm screwed," James said from his position on the floor.

Remus nodded. "Yup. You really are."

James rolled over so he was propped onto an elbow, and glared at his friend through narrow eyes.

"That, Moony was not what you were supposed to say. A pep talk would really have been in order."

Remus laughed again, "No, really, Prongs, I'm happy for you. The sight of you down on one knee will probably shock her back to life."

"D'you think she'll say yes?" James asked hopefully, getting up from the carpet and dusting himself off.

Remus snorted. "Mate, if I thought she'd say no, I wouldn't laugh at you. As it is..."

"She'll say yes?" James asked excitedly, leaping onto Remus's bed and yanking his head toward him in a rough hug, resembling more of a headlock, "Oh, Moony, I knew I liked you better than Padfoot!"

"Hey!" Sirius voiced grumpily, "I am awake, you know!"

James released Remus and turned to face Sirius," "Oh, sorry, Padfoot. You know I didn't mean it,"

"Course you didn't," Sirius agreed, at the same time as Remus interrupted grumpily, "Hey!"

"So our little Prongs is finally popping the question," Sirius said happily, sounding uncannily like someone's grandmother, "You know, he's been planning this since he was this high."