Fiancé

Chapter 2

"Uh, April?" Dad interrupted Mum, who was reaching out to give James another hug. "I would like to hear the whole story first before I do any celebrating," he said dryly. He directed his stern glare at James. "Speak."

"Oh, yes, James, do tell us how it all happened," Mum urged.

"I'd rather not hear this," Petunia said stiffly.

"Hush, Petunia," Mum hissed.

"No," backpedaled James, "she's right. I don't want to intrude -"

Petunia scoffed loudly, and Vernon put his arm around her chair to comfort her.

"Oh, it's not an intrusion at all," Mum insisted blindly. "I've simply got to hear the story. How'd you propose, James? Was it terribly romantic?"

James laughed nervously. "What'd you say, Lily?"

I frowned. I was not going to indulge him. He dug himself in this hole, and I was just fine with him dying in it. "I don't seem to have any memory of it," I said, my voice sounding clipped. I crossed my arms across my chest and stared at my framed artwork from grade school across the room.

"Well, yeah, er," James stuttered as he fingered his hair, "that's because she's still in shock. Just happened."

"Really?" Mum asked. "Today?"

James nodded. "Yeah, um, this morning at breakfast."

"She's not wearing a ring," Petunia pointed out haughtily.

"You can't be really engaged without a ring," Vernon added smugly. "Couldn't afford one?"

"There was a ring," James said defensively. "I just needed to send it back to get sized. Lily's got bigger fingers than I thought," he joked lamely. "It should be ready tomorrow."

Bloody prick.

"That quickly?" Vernon observed.

"I move fast."

Dad made a strangled sound in the back of his throat.

"I mean, that is to say, that customer service is very high for such wizard products. Goblin made, see?" James added apologetically.

"Did you hide the ring in her drink?" Mum questioned in a dreamy voice.

"No," James said. "Much better than that."

Petunia hissed. I had forgotten to tell James how Vernon had proposed to Petunia. It was the fancy dinner, ring in the champagne glass deal. Oh Merlin, I was bloody going to kill James. Was he trying to burn every bridge between Petunia and me?

"Uh, well, you see," James said as he looked around the room, as though the answer would appear on the wallpaper. He tried to find my gaze, but I avoided him. "There was a rat."

"A rat!"

"Yes, and it was running across the Great Hall, and then there was a lion."

"I'm sorry," Vernon interrupted. "But do you attend a school or a circus?"

James gritted his teeth before plunging ahead with his tale. "And everyone around us was running around, and I turned to Lily, and I asked her to marry me."

Mum looked at me eagerly. "What'd you say, Lily?"

"Hell if I know," I replied back.

"She was shocked, obviously," James rushed to answer for me. "But then I got down on one knee, and she saw that I was serious. I took the box out of my pocket, opened it up, and showed her the ring. She said 'yes.' I put the ring on her finger, and then fireworks started going off."