He loved every inch of their apartment. He loved the tiny sink that dripped every sixteen seconds. He loved their tiny bedroom and tiny closet and proportionally too-big bed. He loved the yellow hand print Lily accidentally put on the side of their tiny fridge when their sweet muggle landlady insisted on helping them paint the kitchen. He loved the one squeaky floorboard in front of their door and the corner of the ceiling that leaved every time it rained no matter how much magic they used on it. He loved that they lived completely independent of his parents. He loved that every inch was theirs.

He especially loved the head of red hair that he woke up to every morning. Even when underneath the burgundy mess, the sassy girl called out to wake him up.

"James. You've an exam today. Moody will kill you if you're late again."

With great effort, James lifted his face from being buried between Lily's shoulders to look over her at the clock.

"I don't have to be up for another hour," he groaned and let himself fall on top of her as payback. Lily wriggled so she could lie on her back and look at his sleeping face. She kissed his forehead habitually.

"Alright but if you don't want Bangin' Breakfast Friday then I-"

James was out of bed and hopping into a pair of cotton trousers before Lily could even begin her threat. While both hated the work load that Fridays promised, they found ways to make up for that.

And boy, was there any other way to start the day?

In their tiny kitchen, he pulled out the pans and foods as fast as the cramped space would allow. His sleep-fogged mind had him pausing, eyes on the eggs, trying desperately to remember what he was supposed to do next.

"You're a wizard, Prongs," he muttered to himself and pulled his wand from the back pocket where he had left it the night before. With a deft swish, the eggs were on their way to perfection and the toast was preparing to butter itself. He blew on the tip of his wand.

"Am I good? I'm brilliant," he congratulated himself.

"Not yet, you're not," came Lily's voice along with her warm hands on his bare back. In one swift move, James had her up and on the counter, his lips on hers.

He loved waking up every morning. Even in a war.

"Someone's in a good mood this morning," she murmured into the kiss. James smiled wide.

"You're beautiful, I'm beautiful, it's Bangin' Breakfast Friday, an I'm so in love that I don't even notice your morning breath. Why shouldn't I be in a good mood?"

It was Lily's turn to smile. She gave his mouth an affectionate prod with her wand tip.

"I'm a witch, James. I don't have morning breath. Breakfast is almost done," she reminded impatiently and leaned in for another kiss. James didn't resist falling and falling into the frenzy she always pulled him into with her sinful hands at the nape of his neck. Any other Friday and he would have pushed her further with little nips and grabbing her hips and lacing his fingers roughly in her hair.

But this wasn't any other Friday. He had been thinking.

Lily made the tiniest sound when he pulled away that almost broke his resolve.

"James it's Friday," she whispered with an eager tug on the hem of his sweats. James took her face gently between her hands and gave another small kiss.

"It'll be Friday until tomorrow, love. I just want to talk for a second." Lily settled back to listen. "So…" he began lamely. "It's… getting rough out there."

He could have smacked himself. This was supposed to be about them, not the world. Hadn't he had everything all planned out?

Lily pulled his hands down from her face and held them tenderly in her lap.

"Yeah, it is. I've been wanting to talk to you about that."

What was that tone? James stiffened; he didn't like the 'we have to talk' tone. It never, ever, ever went well.

"A lot of people are doing a lot of stupid things. It's… well, it scares me to be honest."

It felt like his heart was trying to beat its way out of his rib cage. They'd come close to this argument once before back in February when there was a Death Eater attack in a muggle village- the 'stay apart to stay safe' argument. He couldn't handle that argument again; it tore him to pieces to hear those words come out of Lily's mouth.

"Listen, I know you're scared- we all are- but there is no way I'm going to do something stupid to screw all this up."

Lily suddenly became very rigid. "Oh," she muttered. Just as quickly, she perked back up with a fake smile. "That's good to know. Can't have James Potter doing anything stupid, can we? No, that won't do at all."

James was taken aback by her bitterness. He touched her shoulder.

"Hey, don't be like that. Why are you so upset? You're always yelling at me and Pads about doing stupid things."

"So it's because I yell at you, is that it?" She sniffled stubbornly. James was completely at a loss. He didn't even know what to think in the privacy of his own mind.

"What are you going on about? I just wanted to have a nice chat with you before you went to work. Are you ok?"

Lily wiped her face and grabbed the hand on her shoulder to kiss his palm.

"Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm just being dumb. What did you want to talk about?"

Recognizing her tone, James went on safely. "Well, like I said," he replaced his hands on her head, smoothing away her bed-hair, "I'm not about to do something stupid that will take me away from you."

Lily let out another "Oh," in a decidedly more surprised tone. "That's the stupid thing you meant. Right. That is quite stupid."

James gave her a questioning look, too curious to go on with what he had planned. "What did you mean by stupid things?"

"I was talking about Frank and Alice eloping last month."

"Oh right. Yes. Stupid that was," he agreed halfheartedly. Honestly? He thought that was a brilliant thing to do. Maybe he should have known Lily's views on marriage before assuming that she would be all for the idea. That had been his problem in school; always assuming the answer 'yes.'

The air around them turned thick and slightly awkward. They stared at each other for a long moment. Not that either of them cared, but breakfast was done and waiting on their plates.

"Do you… Do you want to marry me?" James asked unsurely. She quirked her eyebrows.

"Are you asking if I will?" she countered.

"Yes."

"Yes!" Lily rushed before the word finished leaving his mouth. James pulled her to him, laughing into the kiss and braiding his fingers into her messy hair.

Pages: 3
Words: 1,182
Disclaimer: Don't own
Notes: Stemming away from what I usually do :3 Hope you like it!