Magical Mischief: The Marauders and the Ring
The Marauders got into all sorts of mischief during their time at Hogwarts, but there was only one person who James Potter wanted to impress – Lily Evans. So, it’s no surprise that when the prat finally managed to do just that, he’s all doe-eyed and lovesick, with Sirius being the perfect wingman (or would “pawman” be a better term?). One such example of the Marauders being the best wingmen is when James musters up all his Gryffindor courage and decides it’s high time to propose – but before he does that, Remus has to chaperone them as they panic while picking out the perfect ring.
This imagining is the first installment of Magical Mischief. It will focus on all the panicking, hilarity, and chaos that’s to be expected when one James Fleamont Potter goes engagement ring shopping.
Remus was contemplating how he’d gotten to this point in his life – in the middle of a large jewelry store at Hogsmeade, watching as James and Sirius pored over the vast display of engagement rings, muttering to each other as though they were going over an intricate Quidditch strategy. Peter was next to him, his eyes darting from one piece of jewelry to another; his jaw dropped even lower than Remus thought was humanely possible as each diamond seemed to get larger and larger.
“Tell me again why you look like you’re about to have a conniption?”
Sirius’s head whipped toward him, and his eyes widened comically as he leaned backward, placing his hand over his heart. “Moony,” he gasped, pointing a shaking finger toward him, “our Prongs finally plucked up the courage to propose – to Lily bloody Evans no less! He needs to get the ring right.”
He slung his arm over the young wizard in question, twisted their bodies to face their two friends, and ruffled James’s unruly hair. “Isn’t that right, Prongs?”
“Argh, get off me!” The hazel-eyed teen pushed his best mate off of him, glaring as the Black heir guffawed before doubling over in laughter.
“Merlin,” he wheezed, “See – I told you he’d be worse than Lucius.”
Remus stared fondly at his friends before letting out an exasperated chuckle. He shook his head from where he was propped up against the wall before he pulled Peter along with him and walked toward the still-glaring form of James Potter. After a few long strides, they reached the other two mischief-makers, and Remus leaned on the glass casing of the displayed jewelry. He casually waved his hand over the many beautifully crafted rings and glanced at James. “So,” he raised his brow, “Have you finally picked out a ring?”
James let out a long sigh and unceremoniously dropped his head onto the glass casing. “No,” he groaned, putting his arm next to his forehead.
Peter cast a worried glance at his friend and placed a consoling hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Prongs. We’ll help you.” He glanced at the rings James was previously looking at and pointed to one with a large diamond surrounded with rubies. “That one looks nice.”
Raising his head, James glanced at the ring his friend was pointing at, whined, and then slumped into Remus’s shoulder. Sirius’s lips twisted into a wry smile, and he shook his head. “It is, but he can’t give that ring – it’s too similar to the other ring from the Potter vaults.”
“Exactly! If I gave that ring, it would be pointless. Then again, looking for another ring when I’ve got the bloody Potter heirloom was already doomed, to begin with, but won’t Lily think that I’m a pretentious, rich bastard? Merlin -”
Sirius’s face broke into a grin as he stifled his laughter at James’s seemingly endless tirade. He glanced at Peter and Remus, who looked exasperated at the normal occurrence, took his wand out of the right pocket of his velvet robes, and pointed it at James. Immediately, the Potter heir was struck dumb mid-tirade, and he glared heatedly at the laughing forms of the rest of the Marauders before taking his wand out and canceling the Silencing Charm.
James grumbled under his breath before flicking his wand, smirking as ice started to crawl up Sirius’s arm. The dog Animagus yelped and cradled his cold arm, huffing in annoyance when he saw that James was smirking amusedly at him.
When Remus saw that Sirius was readying his wand, he hastily took it from the irritated wizard’s hand and stared pointedly at James when he doubled over in laughter.
“You do realize that we’ve been here for three hours already -”
“Merlin’s saggy left -”
Sirius was cut off when the elderly shopkeeper loudly cleared her throat, and he laughed nervously when she continued to stare at him while muttering darkly under her breath.
Peter looked at James’s grinning face and raised his brow, glancing at the rings one more time before he spoke up. “Can’t you just… buy all the rings and ask Lily to choose?”
“That’s brilliant -”
“You bloody genius-”
“She’ll hate that,” Remus deadpanned, rolling his eyes at the confusion etched on both James and Sirius’s faces. “Honestly,” he continued, rubbing his temple, “you both know Lily – she’s not the type of girl who’d be impressed with you spending thousands on Galleons on rings. Plus, wasn’t the whole purpose of getting another ring because it had to be special?”
“Yeah,” Peter agreed, “you’ve got to pick something that… well, pick a ring that reminds you of her.”
“Reminds me of Lily,” James muttered, hazel eyes shining with affection as he thought of her.
When James opened his mouth, Remus could see Peter grudgingly hand Sirius a couple of Galleons. “But they all remind me of her!”
The three Marauders groaned, and Sirius looked like he wanted to stab James’s eye with his wand.
