Written For:
Hogwarts C&A Assignment #10:
- Fruits (SecretFruits)
- Gryffindor
- Muggle Studies Task 1: "Write about someone celebrating a Christmas tradition"
- Word Count: 396
Christmas At The Movies: Four Christmases
Christmas Character Challenge: Presents
For Cel
"And at the center we'll put a lily and a petunia!"
Mark Evans beamed at his younger daughter. Looking so sweet in her freshly ironed green and white Christmas dress, the five-year-old melted his heart. "That's lovely, Lily."
And it was. Even after a morning of being touched by young hands, the glass shell of the ornament didn't have a single fingerprint. The purple paper flowers nestled inside were just the right size, not too crowded yet clearly the centerpiece.
"Thanks, Daddy!" Lily slowly screwed the top on, then stood and walked to the Christmas tree. "Mum! Daddy and I are ready!"
Laughing, Mark scooped her into his arms. "Patience, Lily-flower." He plopped them both onto the couch, sinking into his wife's favorite reindeer pillow. "Though where is Petunia?"
Lily sighed, impatience echoing through her tiny frame. "But I want to turn the lights on! And put on the angel! And we can't do that until all our ornaments are on the tree. It's tradition, Daddy. And I want to see Tuney's ornament!" After a moment's pause, she added, "And Mum's ornament. And where's your ornament, Daddy?"
With a smile, he pulled the clear ball from his pocket. Inside it were four interconnected golden rings. Lily could barely make out her name on the smallest one. "It's beautiful, Daddy!"
"Why thank you, Lily flower. And just where is that sister of yours?"
Lily snuggled deeper into his lap, her hair brushing against his jumper. "She wanted to do her ornament in her room. TUN-"
Mark squeezed her arm gently, cutting her off. "Patience, remember? If she's finishing, let her finish. She'll come down when she's ready."
Gazing at her own creation, Lily nodded. "I bet hers is something magical. Tuney is really smart, you know."
Petunia watched her father and sister, her chest filled with some emotion she couldn't name. Her palms were sticky from glitter and glue, a concoction which had somehow found its way into her hair and across the front of her once-red dress. Rather than the magnificent spectacle of fairy-dust she had imagined, her ornament looked like an explosion of teal dirt.
It must have been a trick of the light, but for a moment the flowers in Lily's ornament seemed to be dancing.
Petunia scowled. She shuffled around the corner and far away from the living room.
It was freaky, really.