"Merry Christmas, Lily!" someone called, from far away.
Lily rolled over on to her back, so that she could press her pillow into her ears, in a futile attempt to block the sound.
"Rise and shine, Lily divine," continued that irritatingly cheery voice, "It's Christmas!"
"Go away," she mumbled crankily.
"I will, then, but you're not up in the next five minutes I'm going to open your presents without you," the voice threatened.
Presents.
That threat served its purpose; Lily shot out bed, only to hear the laughter of her soon-to-be dead best friend.
"Knew that would get you up," Hestia chuckled.
"You-you-" Lily seemed unable to find a bad enough word to call Hestia, and that only fueled her laughter.
"Go, Lily! Presents are waiting for you!" Hestia chided.
Lily nearly trampled over Hestia in her haste to reach the loo.
Hestia traipsed down jubilantly, catching the eye of one Remus Lupin.
"Assuming by your triumphant expression, I'm going to presume that you managed to get her up," Remus guessed.
"Your presumptions were correct," Hestia announced, "I'm proud to say that I have successfully gotten the ever resilient Lily to get her arse out of bed."
"And that 'resilient Lily' is going to hex you later, for blackmailing her," came a new voice, distinctly grouchy.
Hestia tactfully didn't deny the false accusation; instead she gathered everyone in one large circle. One didn't mess with Lily this early in the morning, even on Christmas Day.
They went around the circle, person by person, opening two Heads, Lily and James, unwrapped theirs first.
"Oh, Hestia, this is simply lovely," gushed Lily over a new book, Jane Austen's be specific, "I can't wait to starting reading this."
James snatched away the book from her hands before she started reading right then and there. Lily tugged it back, held it protectively to her chest, and sent James a disapproving look. Nothing could tear her away from her baby.
Lily's next gift was from her other best friend, Alice Prewett.
"Alice, this potions set is marvelous," Lily exclaimed, "It must've cost a lot of money!"
"Oh, it's nothing," mumbled Alice modestly.
"Hey, no fair," whined James, "You got to open two in a row. It's my turn."
"Oh fine, you big baby," Lily snapped.
James didn't respond, he was too busy tearing up the wrapping of another present.
That was from Hestia. She had bought him a new bottle of broom polish.
"Thanks, Hest! I've been meaning to buy one for ages," enthused James.
James opened another one, which, according to the tag, was from Remus.
It was a set of winter gear. Mittens, scarves, winter cap, you name it. And the cherry on top? It was all Gryffindor themed. The scarves even had a lion who roared silently.
"Cool! Thanks, Moony!" James said happily.
The general atmosphere in the common room was warm and relaxed, contrasting starkly with the uninviting, blustery, blizzard-like conditions outside.
However, the Marauders had different ways of thinking. They (namely Sirius and James, with the support of Peter) decided it was the perfect day to have snowball fight.
"What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?" Lily bellowed, as the boys unceremoniously informed the girls of their plan "You'll catch your death out there!"
"Lily, it's not that bad," James soothed, but he was contradicted almost immediately as a monstrous wind rattled the window and made the inhabitants of the room shudder voluntarily.
"See?" Lily spread her arms out, "It's dangerous."
"Aw, Lily's worried about us," said Sirius impishly.
Hestia snorted. "That's the understatement of the century. Look."
Lily was now wringing her hands and ranting under her breath. They caught words such as 'irresponsible' and 'treacherous', but that didn't faze the Marauders. Since when had they cared about the hazards of going out in a snowstorm?
James donned his new snow gear, and the rest of the Marauders bundled up for the frigid weather. The girls looked on, Lily most disgruntled.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," reminded Lily belligerently, as the four boys trekked out of the common room.
Sirius blew her a kiss, and she swatted it aside disgustedly. The portrait swung shut loudly.
There was a momentary silence, as the girls began collecting the shredded wrapping paper.
Then Hestia anxiously peered out of the window. "They'll be all right, right?"
Lily harrumphed. Alice glanced up at the brunette. "I think they'll be fine. It's the Marauders after all."
Lily, Hestia, and Alice continued cleaning up until the room was immaculate, Lily looking sullen.
About an hour later, the Marauders hadn't returned yet.
Lily was reading her new book, though her eyes were glued to the window. It was still snowing heavily outside, and if anything it had increased drastically.
Finally, Lily couldn't take the quietness anymore. She spoke up.
"Guys," she said clearly, and both girls looked up. Hestia was knitting a scarf, and Alice was busy writing greeting cards to her family and Frank's (her boyfriend of eleven months).
"We need to go find the Marauders," she declared, "It's been a while since they left."
There were general murmurs of assent. Hestia groaned.
"You're just concerned about James," she taunted.
"And rightfully so," Lily retorted, scowling, "They shouldn't have gone out in the first place. I don't know what they were thinking."
"But that doesn't mean we have to chase after them," pointed out Hestia.
"Fine then," Lily said, "You both can be lazy all you want, but I'm going after them."
Lily dressed warmly, and then went out in the snow.
Smack. A snowball collided with her face.
She searched around for her ambusher. Unsurprisingly, she couldn't see anything. So, Lily decided to get some revenge.
She scooped a handful of snow, shaped it into a round ball, and flung it into the direction of the snowball that had hit her.
A muffled thunk and an "OW!" that followed it led Lily to conclude that her missile had hit its target.
She smiled, but before she could do anything else, a projectile slammed into her leg.
Lily gasped as her leg gave out.
"You idiot!" Lily shrieked indignantly, to whom she did not know, "I knew that someone would get hurt, and I was right."
"Come off it, Evans," said a familiar voice.
James emerged from the whirling snow.
He knelt to the ground and examined her leg.
"It's just a bruise, Evans," he concluded, "And it was Padfoot who hit you."
"BLACK!"
James chuckled. "Padfoot had better watch out."
And indeed he did. Lily darted into the blizzard, and was gone.
A half hour later, five soaked Gryffindors entered the kitchen, drenched to the skin. They received hot cocoa from the kind house elves.
And finally they travelled back to the common room, but they encountered a obstacle along the way.
Lily and James got trapped under mistletoe.
If you know how mistletoe works, then you can figure out what kind of predicament James and Lily were in.
James was quite ecstatic, but he put on a believable facade that he didn't want to kiss Lily. Lily, on the other hand…
Lily was feeling mixed emotions. Perplexed, because she was sure that James would want to kiss her. Anger, because Sirius had pushed her under the mistletoe. And...happy.
Happy, because she was going to kiss the boy that she'd fancied the pants off of for a while now. It was just an itty bitty crush. Maybe a little bigger than that.
Okay, okay, she was irrevocably in love with the boy, and mistletoe be damned, she was going to kiss him whether he wanted to or not.
That's why she had fretted so much over his health in particular. She was fallen head over heels for him, and she'd been waiting for long time for this moment. And she wasn't running away this.
So, while Sirius, Peter, and even Remus (cheering halfheartedly) cheered in the background, Lily focused on the boy in front of her.
His hazel eyes were wide and nervous, and he tentatively reached towards her.
He was going too painstakingly slow for her, so she yanked him forward and pressed her lips hard onto his.
He seemed shocked, and for a moment, Lily wondered if she ought to back away now, while she was still in the clear.
But then, he began responding, moving his lips in sync with hers.
It was pure bliss. They were both floating in air, with fluffy clouds and a vivid rainbow surrounding them.
And then, he released her, and Lily was jarred back to Earth.
"James…?" she tried, but he'd fled as soon as the enchantment had broken.
How odd, this reversal of roles.
The remaining three Marauders appeared as stunned as her. They'd expected James to initiate the kiss, not Lily.
"James!" Lily called, taking off after him. He had an admirable head start, and he was more athletic than Lily, but she possessed the best fuel of all: determination.
Surprisingly, she caught up with James quickly with her adrenaline rush. He slowed so that his stride matched hers, and she flashed him a grateful smile.
"James," she said, attempting to catch her breath, "I'm sorry."
The words seemed to work like magic; he unexpectedly grabbed her face and pulled it to his. Their mouths urgently moved against each other; it was a heated, passionate kiss.
An unidentifiable time later, McGonagall caught the pair snogging their brains out in a broom closet, however, Sirius could've sworn that he saw a small smile on her face. The group entered the common room, only to be ambushed by their friends, who'd spotted Lily and James holding hands. They retold their tale, and the news spread, and all was peaceful in Hogwarts for the time being.
James told Lily later that evening "You know, I've always believed in Christmas miracles."
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!