A/N- Each chapter opens with a verse of my version of the twelve days of christmas. Lily has the perfect gift for the Marauders. But when she tries to be friendly to Snape, will all her plans go to waste? Or can she force everyone to look past their hatred in the spirit of Christmas?
On the first day of Christmas, my best friends gave to me
a box of Bertie Bott's Beans
Christmas. A time for family. At least, that was what everyone said. A time to celebrate being with your family and friends. To give them gifts to show how much you love them. To celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. A time for happiness, not tears.
"Yeah, right." Severus thought sarcastically, wiping away the one tear that had escaped from his eyes. He was glad no one was around to see him like this.
Severus hated Christmas. Okay, so maybe hate was too strong a word, but he just couldn't see what all the fuss was about. His fellow Slytherins kept talking about all their relatives gathering at their mansions, about the hundreds of presents they were given, about the feasts they had to look forward to afterwards. Hearing about all their plans just made him feel more and more bitter about the holiday. Bitter because he wasn't wanted at home. When McGonnagall had gone around with the sign up sheet for people who planned on staying, he'd been the first to sign up. He was the only Slytherin staying.
"I heard Snape was staying for the holidays." Sirius grinned, flopping down on the common room couch. "Sounds like a perfect opportunity for a prank if you ask me."
"Tell me, does your mind every stop thinking of ways to torment Snape? Even for a second?" Lily asked.
"Nope."
"I didn't think so." Lily smiled. "So anyway, I was thinking of finishing my Christmas shopping at Hogsmeade tomorrow, so you probably won't be seeing me there."
"Considering we spend all our time at the Three Broomsticks or Zonko's, probably not." James smiled. "I thought you said you'd finished shopping already?"
"I said I'd finished shopping for my family and for Remus, since he was the only one who gave me any clue about what he wanted."
"What did you get me?" Remus asked.
"Nice try. Which reminds me, I'm kidnapping you tomorrow and taking you shopping with me." Lily said.
"Shopping? Oh no." he protested. "I was going to...to..."
"Give it up, you've got nothing." Lily smiled.
"Why don't you drag James?" Remus asked, hoping she would.
"Don't try to push it off on me Moony." James protested.
"Because I still need to get him something." Lily replied. "I can't take him shopping for his own present."
"Why not? Then you can guarantee that he'll like it." Sirius pointed out.
"Now where would be the surprise in that?"
"We need to go to Honeydukes." Peter said to the others. "I'll need more Bertie Botts Beans."
"You have two boxes right there." Remus pointed out.
"Not for long I won't." Peter grinned. "I'm going to try and see how many I can fit in my mouth. My dad told me he once fit thirty in his mouth."
"Cool! Do it now, I want to see how many you can do." James grinned eagerly.
"Stupid male contest." Lily mumbled.
"You got that right." Sirius told her, watching eagerly as Peter began stuffing beans into his mouth, Remus counting aloud.
"You're going to have some interesting flavors in your mouth once you finish that." lily said as Peter passed twelve beans.
"At least the good flavors might drown out the bad ones." James pointed out.
"That's true."
"Anyone else think Peter is starting to look like a blow fish?" Sirius asked. Peter failed to stifle a laugh, almost choking on all the beans in his mouth.
"You're going to kill him Sirius." Remus said. "You didn't swallow any did you Wormtail?"
Peter shook his head and continued stuffing beans into his mouth, occasionally setting aside ones he knew to watch out for or wasn't brave enough to try. Lily was amazed at just how many he could fit in there. He was a rather small boy, but he was able to fit more beans in his mouth than she could.
"Twenty eight, twenty nine." Remus counted. Peter showed no signs of stopping. "Thirty, thirty one."
"Well, he's broken his dad's record." James spoke up.
"Thirty four, thirty five." Remus continued. "Thirty six."
Finally, Peter was unable to stuff any more in his mouth. He shook his head and set the last box aside. He couldn't have stuffed any more beans into his mouth if he wanted to. In fact, he looked slightly green.
"Wow. Thirty six." James said, with a mixture of pride and astonishment. Just then, Peter choked slightly and raced for the nearest bathroom.
"Can't say I blame him. Who knows how many disgusting flavors he has in there?" Sirius grinned. Peter returned a few minutes later, his mouth now emptied of Bertie Botts Beans.
"Remind me never to do that again. I think I got a seaweed flavored one." Peter sighed sitting down.
"I officially proclaim Peter the record holder for most beans stuffed in his mouth." James announced.
"All hail peter, King of the Beans." Sirius added.
"And all hail Sirius, king of the brain dead." Lily teased.
"James, forgive me, but I'm going to have to tickle your girlfriend to death." Sirius grinned.
"Oh no you don't." Lily cried, trying to get away. She failed miserably. "James, help!"
"Prongs to the rescue." James grinned, pulling Sirius into a wrestling match, which soon included Peter and Remus. As Lily watched her friends, she smiled. This was going to be the best Christmas ever.