living with them, ginny weasley & the marauders

twenty three

chapter twenty three; personally, i think lily potter sounds better

"YOU PROPOSED TO HER?!" Peyton and Ginny shouted in unison, stomping up to James in the corridor.  The poor boy had been innocently walking to lunch, with his satchel draped over his shoulder, whistling to himself as he walked. Now, he had the attention of most bystanders, thanks to the two very angry girls who were currently approaching him.

"What are you talking about?" James whispered harshly, stepping closer to them and trying to be as quiet as he possibly could.

"Lily! You proposed to Lily!" Peyton whisper-shouted slightly aggressively, her jaw clenched tightly and her hands in fists. Ginny dragged James over to the side of the corridor, trying to get as far away from the crowd as possible.

"What — no I didn't!" James retorted quickly, furrowing his eyebrows in indignation. "I got friend zoned!"

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Ginny scrunched her face up in confusion and looked back and forth between a very furious Peyton and a very puzzled James.

"Last night, when I was talking to her under the tree, she told me that she loved me 'as a best friend'."

"Ooft, that harsh," Ginny sighed, squinting as if Seamus Finnigan had just blown up something right in front of her face.

"Well, anyway, she came into our dorm room this morning, very confused and panicked because she said that you kind of, sort of, slightly, maybe proposed to her and she didn't know how to react," Peyton rambled, still clearly very annoyed and frantic.

By now, (despite the very intriguing topic) the bystanders had backed away slightly and, James was able to raise his voice a little bit more. "She was perfectly calm after it happened—"

"So it did happen?" Ginny clarified, nodding her head on the last two words of her question.

"Yeah — well I mean no, not exactly. She was talking hypothetically about what would happen if she died in this war —." Ginny zoned out for a few seconds, digging her nails into her hands and, trying her hardest to keep her mouth shut and her eyes dry. "—or something like that, I don't really remember. Anyway, I told her that she couldn't die because I wanted her with me forever and she said it sounded like a marriage proposal and I didn't say that it was but, well, I didn't exactly deny it either."

"So she was right; you kind of, sort of, slightly, maybe proposed to her!" Peyton through her hands up in the air exasperatedly. " You are unbelievable, Potter! You realise we're trying to help you, right?"

"Yes, and thank you, but I don't really see the point," He shrugged, though his comment was sincere.

"The point is to get Lily to realise that she is in love with you!" Peyton groaned impatiently.

"Woah, woah, woah, big time out on that one. No one said anything about love. Not on her behalf at least." James looked down as he mumbled the last few words. Ginny and Peyton shared a quick smile before he looked back up and huffed finally. "But either way, Lily seems pretty adamant to love me as a best friend, and the last thing I want to do is ruin my relationship with her like that idiot grease ball did. So, if you two ladies don't mind, I'll be off to lunch now to go sit with my best friend, Lily Evans."

They looked at each other as they let him walk away. However, he had only gotten about ten meters when Ginny decided to open her mouth. "Personally, I think Lily Potter sounds better," she smirked.

James froze in place but, after about four seconds, he turned around and marched back towards them and sighed frustratedly. "Okay, what do you want?"

"To help you!" Peyton cried, continuing to get even more impatient.

"Look, have you been working on those songs lately?" Ginny asked him, getting down to business.

"Yeah, I worked on one of them last night. Why?" James asked, unsure of where this was going.

"Because it might take Lily five months to realise the truth, but at least we've got Plan A," Ginny nodded contently, looking only ninety percent convinced.

"And if that plan doesn't work?" James asked.

"Haven't you ever heard the saying? If plan A doesn't work, there's always 25 other letters in the alphabet. Although I highly doubt we'll need them," Peyton smiled at Ginny reassuringly.

"Now, you go and sit with your 'best friend' and we'll go talk to Dumbledore," Ginny instructed James.

"Okay — wait, why are you talking to Dumbledore?" James questioned, confused.

"You don't need to know that part of the plan just yet." Peyton tapped him on the shoulder, supportively. James was scared by this gesture and continued to stare at his shoulder after she'd touched it. "Now, go sit with Lily and just — just be yourself, because apparently she's into that."

"Okay," James dragged out the 'ay' sound, as he walked away, very unsure of what had just happened.

"Okay let's go talk to Dumbledore," Peyton said, heading towards the Headmaster's Office.

"Woah, woah, woah, where are you going? Dumbledore is eating lunch in the Great Hall," Ginny said, pointing in that direction.

"Really? Why?" Peyton said, walking back towards her.

"Beats me," Ginny shrugged, quickening her pace. "The man may be wise, but he's pretty odd."

The girls broke into a run, not being able to contain themselves. They sprinted eagerly down the middle of the Great Hall and arrived at the teacher's table in front of Dumbledore, panting and slightly out of breath. Dumbledore didn't say anything to them. He merely sat there, seeming quite amused. After sucking in some deep breaths, Peyton finally regained the ability to speak.

"Sir, Ginny and I were just wondering if — if we could host a big concert in the school grounds on Valentines Day next year," Peyton suggested nervously.

Dumbledore paused for a moment. "I think that's a wonderful idea. And who, may I ask, would be performing?"

Ginny and Peyton looked at each other and back at their Headmaster. "We have someone in mind," Peyton smiled mysteriously.

Dumbledore didn't ask her to elaborate, he just nodded. "Very well then. But I trust that the two of you will take care of all the organising."

"Really? Well, that was easy," Peyton smiled happily. "Thank you Professor, we really appreciate it. Come on Ginny, let's go."

"You go ahead, I'll catch up with you," Ginny smiled. As soon as she knew Peyton was out of ear shot, she turned back to Dumbledore. "Professor, I need to talk to you about Marlene McKinnon. She's figured out...some things," Ginny finished dumbly, not wanting anyone to overhear her.

"Very well. Bring Miss McKinnon to my office during dinner tonight," Dumbledore said simply. Ginny nodded with a smile. Dumbledore looked down at his plate and then offered, "Cockroach cluster?"

"No thank you, sir," Ginny laughed.