Hogwarts, Christmas Eve 1971
I can't help reminiscing
Knowing I'll be missing
Christmas Eve in my hometown
…
Through dreams and just pretending
I'm there and I'll be spending
Christmas Eve in my hometown
Lily sat curled up in the corner of the Gryffindor common room, her knees hugged to her chest underneath her floral nightgown. The younger students had all gone to bed ages ago, eagerly awaiting presents in the morning. The older students who had gone to the Winter Ball were mostly back, and those who weren't were probably finding some cozy corner of the castle to snuggle up with their dates. Lily might only be eleven, but she knew all about such things. Unlike the rest of the school, Lily was not particularly excited about Christmas, in fact she was feeling a bit blue. She rested her head against the soft fabric of the chair, allowing it to caress her cheeks. She thought she might have been dozing off in the warmth of the flickering fire when the sound of footsteps on stone made her look up.
"Oh, sorry," James Potter said looking abashed and turning as though to go back up to his dormitory.
"That's alright," Lily answered hastily, sitting up straighter in her armchair and adjusting her nightgown. "You can stay if you want, I don't mind." She did not particularly want James Potter's company, but it was a common room after all, and he had just as much right to be there as she did.
"Okay," he replied quietly, his bare feet making no noise on the carpet as he walked over, choosing to sprawl out on the couch in front of the fire. "What are you doing down here?" he inquired, after a few minutes of silence.
Oh, I… I just…" she tried to think of some lie to tell, but the only though in her mind was that this year was the worst Christmas ever, and tears began to well up unbidden in her eyes.
"Lily, are you alright?" James asked, bolting upright with concern lacing his features.
"Yes, I'm fine," she sniffed, slightly overwhelmed by his concern and not at all missing that it was the first time he had ever called her Lily and not Evans. "It's just not how I expected Christmas to be this year, that's all."
"What d'you mean?"
"I thought I'd be back home with my family for Christmas, that's all," Lily stated, not wanting to spill her secrets to James of all people.
"So why didn't you?" James pressed, leaning back against the couch casually. "Go home, I mean. We are allowed to, you know."
"Yes, I'm aware," she snapped at him, crossing her arms across her chest.
"So?" he pursued, and Lily huffed in annoyance.
"My sister asked me not to, if you must know," she answered, and though she was trying to seem brave, her voice wavered a little too much to be convincing.
"What?" James said, sounding shocked.
"I've been writing letters to my sister all term," Lily began, and suddenly everything was coming out in a rush of words that she couldn't seem to stop, "and she hasn't answered a single one because she's so upset that I'm here and she thinks I'm a freak and that I should give up my magic or something because she thinks its this awful, terrible thing, and so I wrote a few weeks ago to say that I was coming home and I couldn't wait to see her and that I hope we could be friends again, and she answered at last and it was… it was this."
Lily reached into the pocket of her nightgown with shaking hands and pulled out a worn piece of parchment, and handed it to James, tears glittering in her green eyes. He unfolded it carefully, eyes focused on her for a moment, until they flicked down to read the words that had been scrawled there in Petunia's neat handwriting.
Don't bother. No one wants you here, freak.
"That's terribly, Lily," James said quietly, his voice almost a whisper. When he looked back up at here, his eyes were soft, almost like they were giving Lily a hug. "I'm sure they miss you lots, even your sister."
"Yes, I know, but…" she hesitated before deciding she really had nothing to lose at that point. "I always loved Christmas, it was my favourite, but now she's gone and ruined it."
"Well don't let her!" he asserted, scooting to the front of the couch and leaning towards her. "If you let her get to you, then she wins, so don't let her. Turn your nose up at her and have the best Christmas anyway!"
"I'm not sure that I can," Lily answered, smiling softly.
"Why not?" James challenged, all boldness.
"Because I haven't gotten to decorate a tree or make cookies or mince meat pies or sing carols or do any of the things I love to do."
"Well, we can fix that, come on, what's your favourite carol?" he said, standing excitedly and offering his hand.
"Silent Night," Lily replied, delicately placing her hand in his and letting him pull her to her feet.
"Er, right, okay," James hesitated for a second, but then pulled her over to the evergreen tree in the corner of the common room. As Lily looked on, slightly confused, James pulled several of the red and gold ornaments off its branches and placed them on the floor, kneeling down next to them when he had amassed a significant pile.
"James –" Lily began to protest, but he shushed her.
"Give me a minute," he said, pulling his wand out of his red pajama bottoms, and he started waving it at the little pile of baubles, muttering quietly.
After a moment, Lily gasped as the baubles started to shift – one become a lion, another a snitch, another a little sprig of mistletoe, and yet another a bright red poinsettia.
"Okay, go ahead, place them wherever you like," James instructed, standing up and backing away from the tree a few paces.
Lily crouched down next to the pile, picking up the poinsettia bauble first. As she approached the tree, she heard James start crooning, quite terribly, Silent Night behind her, and she couldn't keep the smile from her face. When she had placed all the baubles back on the tree precisely where she thought they looked best, James stepped up behind her.
"Do you have your wand?" he asked, and she shook her head. He handed her his own and then wrapped his hand around hers on the handle. "Okay, move it like this –" he made a loop-the-loop type motion "- and say ornatis."
He released her hand and she did as he had instructed. The first few attempts nothing happened, but James nodded encouragingly and she tried again. Thin gold streams of tinsel flew out of the wand tip, and Lily draped them carefully over the tree branches, making sure they were perfectly arranged. When she was satisfied, she whispered finite, and the garnish broke off from the wand tip, which she handed back to James.
"How did you know how to do that?" she asked, her emerald eyes wide in awe.
"My mother uses that spell, she taught me a few years ago when I wanted to help," James shrugged, his cheeks flaming.
"Thank you," she whispered, and James smiled, a hint of mischief in his eyes.
"Oh, I'm not done yet," he grinned. "You stay here, I'll be right back."
Without another word, he pushed through the portrait hole, not even giving Lily enough time to object. She stood for a moment in indecision, not sure whether or not to go stop him or to wait and see what he was up to. After a minute, Lily decided on the latter, so she crossed to the bookshelves, pulling a copy of A Christmas Carol down and settling back in her armchair. James was gone for about half an hour, and when he returned, he seemed to be positively bursting with excitement, one hand holding something behind his back. With a flourish, he pulled it out, showing Lily a plate chock full of treats.
"Assorted Christmas cookies and mince pies!" James exclaimed proudly, puffing out his chest as Lily smiled up at him in wonder.
"How did you-?" she asked, reaching out tentatively.
"I went down to the kitchens and asked," he explained. "I know it's not the same as baking them, but eating will just have to do."
"This is wonderful, James," she grinned, and he placed the plate on the little table in front of the fire.
Lily put the book aside and slid down to the floor, so she was kneeling on the carpet next to the table, and she selected her first cookie.
"Well, aren't you going to join me?" she asked, quirking one eyebrow, and James collapsed on the floor hurriedly, grabbing a mince pie from the plate. "So how come you didn't go home for Christmas?"
"I'm not some little kid who gets homesick and needs to see their parents," James scoffed, and Lily felt her heart sink a little bit. James seemed to notice, and he softened, his eyes dropping a bit and his posture relaxing. "And… Sirius' parents still aren't speaking to him, so he had to stay. With Remus and Peter gone home…"
"You didn't want Sirius to be alone for Christmas?" Lily said, more a statement than a question.
"Yeah, I suppose so," he nodded, not looking directly at her, as though he were embarrassed she might see him so sensitive.
"Well," she said, not pressing the matter, and she stood and moved over to one of the side tables, pulling out spare quills and ink and parchment, and she sat down on the floor again spreading her materials out in front of her.
Lily grabbed a mince pie and set to work, dipping the quill in ink and then sketching it across the parchment, her little lines beginning to form the likeness of a tree. She hummed as she went, and James looked on, half amused and half curious, until she sat back, looking satisfied with her work. James tried hard to suppress his laughter, but to little avail.
"Sorry, and what's that supposed to be?" he teased, and Lily smacked him round the head with a roll of parchment.
"It's a partridge in a pear tree!" she nearly screeched, looking at him with irritation and amusement in her eyes.
"A what?" James asked, feeling even more confused than he had by her rather poor drawing.
"You know, from the song," she insisted, a look as though he were missing something rather obvious on her face.
"What song?" he pressed, still not understanding, and Lily let out a sigh of exasperation.
"The Twelve Days of Christmas," she answered, and when his face still looked irritatingly blank, she continued with a lilting sing-song voice. "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree. On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree."
"I've never heard that," James said, looking at Lily entirely enraptured. "Will you continue?"
Lily gave him a soft, shy sort of smile before she continued singing. As she went on, James took the roll of parchment and quill, sketching out each of the little scenes described in the song. Each picture displayed a handsome courtier presenting a fine lady with the items portrayed. When Lily finished singing, she looked on at James' sketches quite impressed.
"We ought to hang these on the walls," she commented, picking one up and walking over to a bare stretch of wall, holding it up. "What do you think?"
"Oh, er, I'm not sure I fancy having them hung up in the common room," James replied, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck somewhat nervously.
"Why ever not?" Lily inquired, surprised by his response.
"They're just… I'm not that good, that's just…" the color rose in his cheeks as he spoke.
"I think they're really lovely," Lily stated, and James gave only a weak smile. "No truly, you have a real talent."
"Thank you, but –"
"If you don't want to hang them, we won't," Lily conceded, and James nodded gratefully.
"You should keep them though, a Christmas present from me to you," he replied, looking up at her at last.
Lily smiled happily, but it turned into a yawn without her consent and she realized how late the hour must be getting.
"James, thank you, you have made this the best Christmas I could hope for," Lily said sincerely, enveloping him in a warm hug that she hoped conveyed the entirety of her gratitude.
"I'm happy to oblige," he answered, returning the hug, if not a little awkwardly.
"I never asked you why you came here," she realized, half a statement, half a question.
"I guess I missed my family too," James replied, and he stepped out of the hug. "Goodnight, Evans, and happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas, James," Lily returned, and the two of them set off to their respective dorms, Lily with his sketches held against her chest.
Before she climbed back into her bed, Lily tucked the drawings into her trunk, settling them right at the very bottom, where they would be safe and not get wrinkled or torn. She placed a rather high value on them, and had quite a mind to keep them for a very long time. It had turned out to be somewhat of a fairytale Christmas, Lily thought to herself as she snuggled under the heavy comforter. Perhaps James Potter was not so very bad after all.