"I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings..."

...

Magic couldn't be used around muggles. Everybody knows that, but it can be a fact that is forgotten every once in awhile. In this case, Sirius was not a happy camper when he realised they were moving in near muggles and they would have to push the couch up the stairs themselves.

The girls had gone out to get flat supplies at a local store, which meant they weren't equipped with much logic. As much as he wanted to claim it, Remus did not have a lot of control over the ideas that James and Sirius proposed. Often times, Remus would just let them backfire upon themselves as it was a great source of entertainment for him. However, that day he stood on the staircase, frustrated out of his mind, while James was about to give up and let go of the couch.

"I'm begging, Moony! Just give me my damn wand back!" Sirius pleaded again as Remus had disarmed them all.

"No, because you're going to use it to fly the couch up the stairs and you'll probably find a muggle to crash it into accidentally."

...

Wizard stores were so much cooler than muggle stores. That was one of the things that absolutely floored Lily and Mary when they first entered their new world.

The products held within the different stores differed greatly—much to their delight. While muggle stores held regular paint, the paint in wizard stores was color-changing, could become invisible, or was self-painting. This happened to be why they were in a wizard store right now.

The flat owner had said they didn't want anything to change about the interior of the place they had chosen to rent, but since they were a muggle, they had no clue what kind of tricks the wizards had up their sleeves.

First, they would choose the wall primer. This was basically just to keep whatever is underneath the paint clean and untouched.

Then, they picked out a few colors. This was the best part in their opinion. All four of them were quite creative people—always had been—so it was nice to dabble into this side every once in awhile.

"Hey, do you guys see that guy staring at us too?" Mary asked, her protective nature taking over.

Being an older sister had brought out her protectiveness. In fact, the only reason she wasn't more on edge was since Julia was at Annie's house.

"I noticed a while ago and I've been trying to keep an eye on him," Lily responded, while picking up another gallon of paint.

They continued chatting through their choices, which didn't take too long. Casual jokes were being thrown about and soon they forgot about the creepy man still staring at them. He really should've left it alone, but he just had to walk up to them.

"What are pretty ladies like you going around here?" He said, slightly condescendingly.

Marlene absolutely hated comments like those. They seemed like a compliment, as the person had called you pretty, but they also just implied that pretty women couldn't handle themselves in regular stores.

"I'd watch who you're talking to, wise guy," she responded hotly.

He looked around as if there was an audience watching their conversation play out, but it seemed that the aisle was empty except for them.

"What is it with people in this area? Cant learn to just take a compliment?" He asked, stepping forward towards Marlene.

It turns out, Mary wasn't the only one in the group feeling protective that day. Alice stepped forward and knocked the guy to the ground, using a swift punch with her left hand.

"Let's bounce," Lily spoke in a rushed manner, trying not to let her laugh escape her lips.

They dropped the gallons of paint they were holding to practically run out of the store.

"I didn't peg you as the punching type, eh?" Marlene proudly swung an arm around Alice's shoulder.

"I've never felt so alive! I think the ring added more oomph!" Alice spoke excitedly, near bouncing down the street.

"You'll have to tell Frank later," Mary laughed.

...

Dumbledore welcomed everyone into his enlarged office with an appreciative twinkle in his eye. He understood well that without them accepting a place in the Order, he would not have enough people to fill the job spots.

They all sat down quietly, almost apprehensive of what they had actually gotten themselves into. A few, such as Sirius and Marlene, looked defiantly in front of them.

"Welcome to your first Order of the Phoenix meeting. Today, I will just be making sure everyone is here for later attendance purposes. When I call your name, give me some indication that you are, indeed, here."

He paused before continuing. Looking around the room, he could spot the nerves growing on some people, while others looked simply unbothered.

"Lily Evans?"

"Here."

"James Potter?"

"M'here."

"Sirius Black?"

Sirius chose to raise his hand in response. He couldn't tell if he was having trouble speaking with Doodles because of how he treated Lily or if it was something else. He couldn't help but see a manipulative old man in front of him, instead of the brilliant professor he used to believe he was.

"Remus Lupin?"

"Present."

"Peter Pettigrew?"

"H-here."

He was probably the jumpiest out of the bunch. Everyone assumed this was just because he was timid in the fight against Voldy, but it was since being in that room signed him up for both sides of the war.

"Marlene McKinnon?"

"Here."

She smiled her red painted lips. It was a risky move to be involved in the Order, but it was the only right choice for her that she could see.

"Mary Macdonald."

"Here."

Her grip tightened on Remus's hand under the table. Mary and Lily had held a conversation earlier that week about the troubles they would face being muggle-borns. Lily had said that technically, whether they liked it or not, they had signed up for the war the moment they entered the wizarding world. Their very existence was daring, so why not just take the extra step and join the organization designed to protect people like them?

Alice and Frank had talked to Doodles about being allies with the Order, yet not actually being full blown members. Alice planned on becoming an auror like Frank, so they could establish high rankings in the Ministry, and give him valuable information.

"Liz White?"

Lily's eyes snapped up in Elizabeth's direction. The blonde sent a meek smile her way before turning her attention back to Dumbledore.

"Here."

"Hayley Unwerich?"

"Here."

If looks could kill, Hayley would be six feet under. Marlene knew how to hold grudges, and the biggest one she held right now, was against Hayley. At this point, she couldn't even remember what Hayley had done to deserve her anger, but now just looking at the girl's face summoned spite.

"Timothy Eliope?"

Mary actually snorted when Dumbledore said his name out loud. Remus gave her a "shut up before I start laughing as well" look, before Timothy could even say here.

"Here."

"It seems you folks are the only new members as of right now. So, I will call you each back to my office for individualised information on your training at a later date. I will do so by a message patronus."

...

Sirius had been acting extra strange—which was hard for him to do since he was always strange—yet this worried Lily a bit because he was practically dragging her out of the girls' flat.

"Can't you just tell me where we're going?" Lily pouted after she giving in to Sirius's requests.

"Now, that would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it? Where's your adventurous side, Evans?" Sirius all-knowingly smirked.

She just narrowed her eyes and continued walking to the park just outside of the apartment complex. Around ten feet away, she could see James's silhouette sitting down on a blanket with candles leading up to him.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Sirius urged her to walk on.

Instead of following her, he turned right back around and marched into the building. He let out a short victory whoop before being shushed by the lobby receptionist.

"So, this is why Sirius was acting weirder than normal?" Lily said, sitting down in the process.

"Sort of, it's more so how he deals with excitement though," James spoke briefly.

He wasn't quite making eye contact with her either, which made her nerves jump to conclusions.

"Excitement? What's going on?" Lily probed James for further answers, he just chuckled in response.

"Remember when you came bursting into Minnie's classroom with Sirius after you found out your patronus was a doe?" James deflected her question with ease.

"I still can't believe he did that! It was my chance to do some 'big Potter gesture' and then he went around and screamed it in front of an entire class." Lily feigned hurt.

"Yeah, well, either way it made me unbelievably happy. I couldn't think straight for the entire lesson because of it. I never thought anything would make me quite as happy as that did, but now I've realised that I was wrong."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, Lily. Will you make this the happiest memory I'll ever hold by marrying me?" James asked on one knee.

"I think you know the answer to that, dingbat," Lily couldn't help but let a few tears slip her eyes.

"Tell me so I know it to be true."

"Yes."

...

Author's Note:

The lyrics at the beginning of the chapter are from Paper Rings by Taylor Swift!

Can I just say how much I just realized I actually love jily? I definitely knew before this chapter, but I think it finally sank in.

Just for a reminder, Liz/Beth White was the girl who Lily punched in All the Stars. Hayley is the one that Marlene hates who was head girl their sixth-year. Timmy Eliope was Mary's boyfriend, but he cheated on her with Liz. Chris Chang didn't really do anything bad. He was the Ravenclaw quidditch Captain in All the Stars before he graduated.

The future plot is getting me so excited! Most of the next chapter is centered around the Order, so I hope that's alright with all of you!

Lmao anyways thanks for reading
-teddy🥸