Disclaimer... these characters belong to JKR.
A.N. So the lovely Ravendor42 requested this as a continuation of my other holiday fic, so here you go!
It was snowing on January 31st and the world was still and silent. Rather than the boisterous joy of Christmas, New Year's was quieter and more contemplative. Again, by virtue of being the only people with a proper house, James and Lily were hosting, and Lily ushered in their friends, divesting them of soggy coats and frozen scarves. For a while, the tiny foyer in their cottage was filled with noise and laughing warmth as everyone gradually kicked off snow crusted boots and gravitated towards the cosy, flickering-light-filled living room.
They'd all seen each other only a few days ago so after Lily dragged James in from the kitchen, the whole group chatted in lazy murmurs.
"Did you hear about that Ministry official that was under the Imperius?" Marlene McKinnon asked, taking a sip of the mulled wine that James had handed around.
"There's plenty, these days" Lily said darkly.
"No sadness tonight" Sirius ordered. "It's the last night of the year; let's go out on a good note"
"Just one thing" Marlene said. "I assume you heard that Barty Crouch is legalizing the Unforgivables for Aurors?"
Mary MacDonald shuddered. She was a petite curvaceous witch with large dark brown eyes and she closed them tightly, shaking her head. Her black ringlets bounced. "It won't help anything" she said mournfully. "Fighting fire with fire is always a bad idea"
"Agreed, Mar" Remus said, nudging her with his foot. "The DMLE's new direction isn't looking good"
An uneasy silence fell. It was so easy those days, to fall into hopelessness.
Lily was vaguely dismayed by the direction in which the evening had turned. Normally when the group of them got together the pessimists were balanced by the optimists and the realists kept both sides in check. But tonight, on the New Year, they were all a little melancholy.
"What were we doing last New Year's?" she asked the group at large. She tucked her feet under herself on the couch, leaning into James's side, head tilted against his shoulder. He was much warmer than her, and Lily turned her head so her nose rested against his neck.
Marlene frowned contemplatively. "You know, I actually don't remember"
James snorted. "I seem to remember that you spent most of the evening drunk"
Marlene threw a pillow at him, and Lily caught it, laughing.
"I don't remember much of last New Year's either" Sirius said thoughtfully.
"You were also drunk" Peter told him.
"It was a good New Year's" Mary said, somewhat wistfully. "We went up the Astronomy Tower"
"Oh!" Marlene brightened. "I remember that. There were fireworks"
"We should've gotten fireworks" Peter said.
The seven of them sat in a cosy circle by the fire – Sirius leaned back against Marlene's legs and Peter had stretched out on his stomach, pillowing his head on his arms. Remus had taken the only other available chair and Mary perched on the armrest, from time to time reaching across Remus to refill her glass or grab a handful of crisps from the tray on the low table.
"Mm" Lily hummed. "Fireworks are good"
It was, Lily thought, a mark of their friendship that they were all able to sit in comfortable silence, broken by a few idle conversations as the clock ticked closer and closer to the New Year.
The clock in question was an antique that used to belong to James's parents before their deaths. It was a simple design, constructed from black walnut, and it shone deeply in the firelight. It sat on the mantelpiece, in the centre, and its face was silver. Skilful etchings of stars and moons surrounded the numbers, delicate and gleaming. Looking at the face of that clock was like looking into the winter sky, when the air was so clean and cold that everything looked sharper, more distinct. When the sky looked sugared.
The quiet ticking of the hands was hypnotic, and Lily's head fell farther onto James's shoulder. His arm tightened reassuringly around her.
"I'm very fond of you" Lily murmured, lifting one hand to trace his jaw, and she felt him smile.
"I'm fond of you too, dear"
"Aww" Sirius said, sitting up straighter and leering at them. "You two are just so sweet"
Mary reached over to dump a handful of crisps down the back of his shirt and he sputtered indignantly, fishing around to try to get them out.
"Happy New Year's Sirius" James told his friend and Sirius pulled some crisps out of his shirt to fling at him.
"It's been quite the year" Remus said, ignoring his bickering friends.
"We graduated Hogwarts" Peter agreed.
"I got married" James said, planting a kiss on Lily's cheek.
"We joined the Order" Lily added.
"Friends left and we made new ones" Mary said.
"This is getting very sappy" Sirius said, concerned. "I don't like where this is going"
"I caught a fucking Death Eater" Marlene said dreamily.
"That's less sappy" Sirius allowed.
It was five minutes to midnight when James broke out the Firewhisky from the walnut liquor cabinet in the corner.
"This is nice" Mary said, swirling hers around in her goblet. "I don't normally like Firewhisky"
Lily took a small sip of the golden liquid and felt fire reach through her veins, warming her fingers like pent up magic.
The fire seemed to burn a little brighter in the grate and she stretched out her sock-clad feet towards it gratefully. Everyone concentrated on their Firewhisky as the clock ticked.
We'll have so many more New Year's, Lily thought happily. Decades of them. We have so much time.
She squeezed James's hand and he looked at her.
"We're going to have an amazing year" Lily predicted quietly.
"I know" James said. "We'll be together, won't we?"
And then the seconds were ticking down and Marlene and Sirius were cheering and waving their wands like sparklers, purple and gold sparks shooting out the end, and Mary had pulled Peter to his feet and coaxed him into an impromptu dance, and James kissed Lily and Lily kissed James and the year was so shiny fresh you could see your reflection in it.
"Happy New Year's" Lily whispered in James's ear, pulling him closer.
A.N. I know, it's short. But Happy New Year! Please review, and have an amazing last day of 2016.