Disclaimer... these characters belong to JKR
A.N. Hi guys! So I've decided to do a series of twelve oneshots about Jily's first Christmas as a married couple from December 12th all the way to the 24th. I'll post one a day until Christmas Eve. Hopefully. Internet depending, of course. Anyways, I include a few characters from my on-going Marauders' era Hogwarts fic A Rise and Fall and I include a few references to events within that story. It's not necessary to read it to understand this one, but a few moments might make more sense. If you're a reader of A Rise and Fall, welcome, and I hope you all enjoy. Merry Christmas!
December 12th, 1978. Godric's Hollow.
Snow lay in a thick blanket over Godric's Hollow, like a coat. It seemed like the town was bundling up for winter, slumbering under the snow. Lily twitched the curtains aside to peer out at it. She traced delicate patterns on the frosty window.
"James!" she called. "It snowed in the night, come look!"
The sun hadn't risen, and the village was lit by soft blue light. It reminded Lily of the silver-blue glow of a Patronus. Behind her, there were footsteps, and someone yawned. She spun round to see James. He rubbed a hand over his face, and he looked at her sleepily. His hair stood on end, sleep mussed.
"Why're you so sleepy?" Lily asked suspiciously. He always woke up first.
"Sirius came by, once you went to bed"
"Did he want to run round in the snow?"
"Maybe"
"Children"
He grinned at her shamelessly and wrapped his arms round her waist. She stood on tiptoes so she could tilt her head against his dark one. It was chill in their living room, but thick rugs underfoot sopped up the worst of the cold.
Lily reached behind James to grab her wand lying on the coffee table, and pointed it at the empty fireplace. A fire sprung up, and the heat reached them almost instantly.
"Merry Christmas, Lily" James said, still holding her.
"James. It's the twelfth"
"You and your logic"
"Let me go, I'll make breakfast. Is Remus coming by today?"
Reluctantly, James untangled them and stepped back from her as she scooped a dressing gown off the couch and shoved a pair of slippers on her feet.
"I think so – I asked him last week but he might've forgotten. Sirius and Peter are definitely coming"
"Mary and Marlene as well"
"Excellent"
They cooked in companionable silence for a while, smoothly passing each other in the cottage's small kitchen. It was almost like a dance. That was when Lily knew that this whole thing would really work - their first night in Godric's Hollow, before they got married, and the first dinner that they cooked together. They fit. They worked. They could anticipate each other's movements and trade kisses as they did it.
Remembering, Lily smiled, and tossed the box of tea to James.
The snow outside drew the eye, like a diamond pendent on a woman's slender neck. Across the road, their neighbour's small daughter ventured out into the untouched whiteness, bundled in jackets and scarfs, and with the tell-tale steam from a Heating Charm rising off of her.
The girl kicked at the snow, and Lily remembered an autumn day not so many years ago, when she dashed into a pile of golden leaves and kicked them into the heavens. James had been there, of course. He was always there.
It was a reassuring thought, and Lily interrupted his tea-making to pull him into a kiss. She was allowed to still be a giddy bride. They had been married for all of five months, and she was all of eighteen years old. She smiled against his mouth, and pulled him closer as the snow spun outside their window.
Peter and Sirius and Remus and Mary and Marlene arrived at lunch time – Marlene Flooing from the Order's headquarters, and Mary from her flat that she shared with her boyfriend. Sirius, Peter and Remus arrived at the front door and stomped snow from their boots before being ushered inside by a delighted James.
"Look" James was saying. "We have a house. We're like grown-ups"
"They've been over before and we've been grown-ups for a while, dear" Lily told him fondly, pulling on a scarf and passing him a hat.
"You might've been a grown-up, Lily, but he certainly hasn't" Remus said, giving her a quick hug before exchanging greetings with Marlene and Mary.
"He'll have plenty of time to grow up, I suppose" Lily cast a dubious look at her husband, who'd chased Sirius outside and was pelting him with snowballs.
"We're on a mission for a Christmas tree, yeah?" Peter said, following the others out the door.
"The biggest one we can find" James confirmed, stomping through the snow. Lily hurried ahead to tuck her arm through his, and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.
"Don't listen to him" she called back over her shoulder as he pulled her along. "We're looking for a reasonably sized tree. It has to fit in our living room, remember?"
A little ways out of the village and up the hill where James used to play Quidditch, there was a pine forest, coated in fluffy snow. The trees looked like strange cakes with white frosting.
"I suppose we can just shrink one" Marlene said.
"Oh right" Sirius remembered happily. "We have magic"
Lily grinned back at them and James gave her arm a tug, sending her into the snow.
"Sorry!" he laughed, trying to pull her up from the snow bank. Before she could struggle up, Remus snuck up behind him and shoved him into the snow as well.
It took a considerable time before they could find a tree that they were happy with.
("What about this one?" James asked. "Look, it had a weird – lumpy side" Mary pointed out)
("No, that one's too skinny" Peter said dismissively. "Poor tree, it's not its fault")
("Too tall" "We could shrink it" Marlene suggested. "I'm not shrinking a tree, it shouldn't have to have cosmetic surgery to be perfect")
Sirius was the one who found it. It stood a little apart from the other trees, branches so coated with snow that you couldn't quite tell it was a tree at all.
"It's this one" he said confidently.
Lily squinted at it. It was a reasonable height, and it could probably fit in their pokey little cottage.
Remus murmured a spell and all the snow floated off the tree, dumping itself a little ways away.
It was tall and proud – its branches symmetrical and it was just round enough to not be considered skinny. Lily circled it slowly, checking for bald spots.
"It's perfect" she said finally, slinging an arm around Sirius.
"Our first tree" James said, beaming at her. Lily couldn't help but smile back, and she didn't even stop smiling when Mary dumped a load of snow down her hood.
They were together, and it was Christmas.
James slipped an arm around her waist, and kissed the snowflakes off her lips.
A.N. Thanks for reading! If you like, I'd love a review.