Written for the Jily Secret Santa exchange on tumblr. This is dedicated to ghost-of-bambi, my recipient and a fantastic Jily writer. Merry Christmas! I hope you like it :)
Lily jolts awake at eight in the evening on Christmas Eve, neck stiff from leaning on the armrest of the couch. Her first thought is, Merlin, I can't believe I fell asleep whilst studying Charms.
Her second thought sounds a bit like a scream. Probably because that's what's coming from her throat.
"Bloody hell, Lily, shut up!" James clamps a hand over her mouth and waits until she calms down. When he lets her go, she beats him with a pillow.
"You prick, you nearly scared me to death! Why are you looming over me like that?"
A sheepish expression crosses his face. "I was looking for you. Didn't think you'd be here, of all places, still studying. It's Christmas, Evans, not OWLs week!"
"James. Why did you wake me up?" She's cross and sleepy and only wearing pajamas, for Merlin's sake, not to mention the disgusting state her hair must be in. She tries to smooth it down without him noticing.
His grin tells her he hasn't missed a thing. "Well, apart from how uncomfortable your sleeping position must have been, I thought you and I could go for an adventure."
She sighs. She may be dating the bloke, but that doesn't mean he isn't thick. Or mad, for that matter. "You do realize that your adventures usually end in detention, right?"
"Trust me, you'll like this adventure. Unless you're a Grinch. Or on a diet." He frowns.
She gives him a dry look. "Why would I be on a diet?"
"I dunno, you're a bird. You lot do strange things." He shrugs and pulls her to her feet, offering her the jumper he'd brought for her as they move away from the fireplace. "Now come along, and try to be quiet."
"Where are we going?"
He fishes a silvery fabric from his pocket and winks at her before draping it around them. "You'll see."
The corridors are quiet aside from the occasional drunk portrait. The castle is mostly uninhabited, its occupants away for the holidays. Lily tries not to dwell on why the two of them are still here instead of their own homes, but her heart clenches as the thought of their parents slips through her mind anyway. Her hand reaches for his, still trying to soothe the pain that has overwhelmed him ever since that letter arrived a month ago. He holds onto her tightly, maybe thinking, in turn, of the painful (awful, heartwrenching) August week she'd spent living with Petunia before she could board the Hogwarts Express back. The silence envelops them.
James steers them down multiple staircases until they reach a brightly lit corridor, pictures of food hanging everywhere. He stops in front of a huge portrait of a fruit bowl, no other visible passageway around it. Lily gives him a quizzical glance, one he ignores in favor of tickling a green pear. She frowns. "What..."
A loud giggle splits the air and she stares in amazement as the pear squirms before turning into a green door handle. He pulls the cloak off their shoulders and grasps the handle, swinging the portrait open. "Ever been in the kitchens before, Evans?"
She steps inside to see a huge room, as big as the Great Hall, complete with House table replicas and heaps of pots and pans hung on the walls. A fire is crackling off to the side and Lily can hear the faint whistle of a kettle somewhere in the back. Everything is gleaming brass and polished marble, and she turns to gape at James. "How on earth did you find this place?"
"Peter has an uncanny ability to find food. It was only a matter of time, really." He leads her to the back of the space, closer to the actual cooking equipment. "I think all the house elves are asleep, but I managed to persuade a few of them to leave some ingredients out," he adds, grinning when he spots the food on the counter. "Perfect. I'll clean our whole dorm for a month as a thank you."
"I can't even imagine the horrors those poor house elves face in your dorm," Lily teases. "They're so sweet; they shouldn't be subjected to such torture."
"Come off it, it isn't that bad," he insists. "I even put my socks in the laundry basket now." Lily chooses not to say anything, instead turning to look at the items on the counter.
"What exactly are we doing here?" she asks, peering into a sack of flour.
"We're being spontaneous and making cookies!" He blinks under her hard stare. "All right, you might be helping me carry out a Christmas prank."
"Helping you ca - You mean I'm your cover?"
"I couldn't tell the house elves I wanted to mix a Hiccuping Solution into the Slytherins' cookies! They thought the idea of making cookies with my girlfriend was very romantic, though, thought I was the best boyfriend in the history of Hogwarts. You should join that conversation, I'm sure you'd have lots to contribute - "
"James Potter, I am not pranking the Slytherins' batch of cookies!"
"Well no, I'll do the actual pranking. You've just got to help me make the cookies."
"No. It's immoral and wrong, not to mention how bad it'd be for our respective Head positions. James, honestly, what on earth were you thinking?"
"That it's only immoral and wrong and bad if we get caught. Which I have no intention of doing." He gives her a hard stare of his own. "Come on, Lily. When's the last time you had any fun?"
"Last night with Dorcas."
"I mean real fun. Laugh until your stomach hurts fun. Stop worrying about tomorrow fun. Real fun."
She thinks. She'd love to have a response ready, she really would, especially since he's giving her that old challenging glare that used to spark arguments back in fourth year. But ever since August she's had weights around her ankles and chains around her heart, and she can't remember the last time her stomach hurt from laughing. She can't remember the last time she's breathed in and breathed out without worrying in between. She can't - God, she can't remember the last time she did something just for the hell of it, just because she's a teenager and stupid and able to do magic, for Merlin's sake. She can't remember anything but grey nights and fretful days, long hours of waiting for something she knows won't come. She can't remember anything but heartbreak.
So she looks James straight in the eyes and says, "We're only making the cookies."
He takes her hand, squeezes it once, then drops it, a small smile on his face. "All right then, tell me what to do."
The next hour or so is spent mixing flour and eggs and milk, dropping chocolate chips on the floor, and throwing handfuls of sugar at each other. James not-so-sneakily pours half of his potion into one batch, but Lily thinks of Mulciber and pretends not to notice. The smell of baking cookies fills the room when Lily opens the oven door to take out the trays and she laughs as James's misshapen attempts come to view. He tugs her hair and eats one right away, swearing as it burns his fingers and tongue. "They're perfect," he declares, reaching for another one. She swats his hand away, still giggling.
"I certainly hope they taste better than they look," she says, poking at a particularly demented one. "This one almost looks like Peeves..."
James, far from being offended, tilts his head to stare at it. "I swear that's Mrs. Norris."
"You're mad, that's clearly the Astronomy Tower."
"It's Dumbledore's beard when he's having a bad hair day."
"Sir Cadogan on his pony."
James slaps the counter, eyes widening. "No, I've got it. It's the Giant Squid. With mittens on."
Lily explodes into the laughter she's been holding in, slumping to the ground as she struggles to breathe. James watches her with a grin. "Merlin, you... you're just so... God, we are the most idiotic pair - "
"I prefer 'lovesick fools,' actually."
" - to ever walk these halls. Ever, James." She wipes at her eyes. "With mittens on... How on earth you thought of that, I'll never know."
She has flour on his jumper sleeves, sugar in her hair, and a smudge of dough on her chin. James, of course, thinks she's beautiful.
"House elf standards have really gone down this year," Sirius observes the next day, inspecting a deformed cookie.
"Must be all the hard work," James deadpans. Lily stifles a snort.
"I mean, look at this. It looks like... like a bloody Mandrake, not a Christmas cookie."
"You know, Pads, I - "
A loud hiccup echoes from the Slytherin side of the Great Hall. Lily throws her spoon down and dissolves into giggles; James is not far behind.
Sirius stares. "Insane, the pair of them. 'Round the loop."
Their stomachs hurt from laughing.