A.N. – This is my second oneshot (hopefully it's better than the first, which I really didn't like). I got the idea when I was opening my presents this morning – my mother got me a sweater like the one in this story. Anyway, hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy!
Christmas at Potter's
Lily Evans absently ran her brush through her thick red hair, her thoughts and feelings conflicted. It was Christmas, a day for joy and laughter, a day she should have been spending with her family. Instead, by some miserable twist of fate, she was staring at her reflection in the vanity mirror of Mrs. Potter's guest bedroom.
This was all Petunia's fault. Petunia Evans Dursley had once again taken it upon herself to ruin Lily's Christmas; she had invited the family to dinner at her new house. Now, normally this would not have been a problem – Lily enjoyed spending time with family. But when "family" included someone like Petunia and her new husband Vernon Dursley . . . Well, then even Potter's home started to look appealing.
Lily had not been invited anyway. It was commonly known, even among the sisters, that Petunia loathed Lily and did anything necessary to make that obvious.
Mrs. Evans had also invited over some relatives – Aunt Marie and Uncle Donald – both of whom smoked heavily. Lily, with a slight asthma condition, could not be in the same household as the two, for the smell of cigarette smoke lingered everywhere. Another push toward leaving.
The final draw was this: all of Lily's friends were either vacationing for the holidays or spending time with their own families. All had offered Lily a place to stay, being polite, but Lily had turned them down. She wouldn't intrude on someone else's Christmas.
Finally Lily reached her lowest point of desperation. She had written James Potter – the most arrogant, bigheaded, self-centered student at their school – asking for a place to stay for the holidays.
James responded immediately with a positive answer of acceptance and assurance that she would pose no intrusion, that his best friend Sirius Black would be staying with their family as well. So, with no alternative, Lily packed up her things and apparated.
The Potter home was unsurprisingly large and ornate. James's parents were famous Aurors and altogether too wealthy for their own good; this was reflected in the dozens of unused rooms and gaudy decorations that James blamed entirely on his grandparents' "odd" taste.
Mrs. Potter was a kind woman with long, vivid red hair to match Lily's, a trait that Lily found most awe-inspiring. Not many people shared that characteristic. Mr. Potter had short black hair and playful brown eyes that captured Lily's attention fully. She noticed he and his son both seemed to radiate a mischievous charm.
Sirius Black had his own bedroom and was obviously a regular guest at the Potter home. He had cut his famous mane of black hair short earlier that summer, and Lily could hardly wait to see the disturbance it would create among his fans back at school. Though she had to admit, he did look rather dashing with shorter hair.
James, much to her surprise, hadn't been nearly as annoying as she had expected. He avoided her at all costs and only spoke to her when the circumstances called for it, though sometimes she caught him watching her out of the corner of his eye. Lily could not understand the sudden change in his demeanor.
Christmas was finally here, after a week of anxious waiting. She and Sirius had done their best to adjust the living room to the upcoming holiday; Lily had cut out so many paper snowflakes that she never wanted to see scissors, or snowflakes, again. By now the room looking almost too Christmas-y to bear – the tree was up and decorated so brightly and enthusiastically that the actual tree could no longer be seen, paper snowflakes hung everywhere from ceiling to said tree, and James and Sirius had strung garland and tinsel throughout the whole thing. All in all, it was pretty awesome.
Lily had finished wrapping her gifts for the Potters and Sirius only minutes earlier; she felt it would be proper to get them something to repay their hospitality. For Mrs. Potters she had bought a red and gold scarf to support Gryffindor (the house the three teenagers were in at school, Hogwarts). Mr. Potter was going to have to make due with a watch. Sirius had been difficult to buy for, but Lily had finally settled on the "Dung-Bomb Super Pack," which she knew she would later regret (probably along with half of the school population). James . . . He had been the ultimate toughie to buy for. Lily did not want to buy him anything that could be seen in any way possible in a romantic light – her feelings toward him were entirely platonic, if not resentful. All the same, she hadn't wanted to seem impersonal – after all, he had answered her plea for help in her time of need. So, on her last visit to Quality Quidditch Supplies in Diagon Alley, she had bought him a jersey displaying the name of his favorite team – Chudley Cannons – and a book called "Quidditch Through the Ages." She hoped he didn't have them yet.
Lily sighed and placed the brush back on the vanity, observing her appearance once more in the mirror before gathering up her things and levitating the presents down the stairs to the living room.
Mr. and Mrs. Potter were already there, along with Sirius, though James was nowhere to be found. Sirius's eyes were wide with delight, looking like he did every time he entered the candy shop in Hogsmeade. James's parents were smiling happily and both gave Lily appraising glances as she laid her presents beneath the tree and took a seat on the couch beside Sirius.
James finally made his entrance, dressed in casual attire (jeans and a t-shirt with the logo for a muggle band written across it), and sat next to Lily.
"Can we open them now?" Sirius asked eagerly. Lily smiled and tried not to roll her eyes, thinking, Immaturity, thy name is Sirius. (A.N. – I borrowed that line from CSI, "Vanity, thy name is Hodges.")
Mrs. Potter nodded and Sirius dug in. He had appointed himself unofficial "hander-outer" of presents for that night, but was sorely disappointed when he discovered this meant he could not open his own until the end.
Mr. and Mrs. Potter were delighted with Lily's gifts, and in turn she received a gift certificate worth ninety galleon for Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore in Diagon Alley. Lily was so overwhelmed by the value of this that she tried to give it back. Ninety galleons was a lot of money.
"Oh no, dear," said Mrs. Potter, laughing as Lily tried to hand the certificate back. "You keep it. We've got more than enough money ourselves. James said you liked to read and we had already finished most of our Christmas shopping, so we took the easy route out! I hope you enjoy it!"
I will." Lily stared wide-eyed at this present for another full minute before Sirius handed Lily her nxt present.
It was from Sirius. Lily smiled, touched by his sincerity.
"You know you didn't have to get me anything," said Lily. Sirius shrugged, and lily tore off the paper. She laughed loudly as she extracted a package of socks with an assortment of designs on them, from little dancing, moving Santa Clauses to reindeer struggling to pull the load in Santa's sleigh. Lily gave Sirius a hug and settled back onto the couch, resigned to the idea that she had gotten all her presents.
Sirius handed James Lily's gift, and James ripped open the paper after staring for a while at the name tag. He loved it.
"Evans, this is great!" he said, flipping through the pages of "Quidditch Through the Ages." "I've seen this in Flourish and Blotts and I've always wanted it, but I've never bought it. How'd you know?"
Lily shrugged. "It reminded me of you, I guess."
Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "It's nice to know each time you see a book you think of old Prongsie here."
"Prongsie?"
"Long story," said James dismissively, shooting Sirius a glare. Oooh, thought Lily, this looks like it would make some awesome blackmail. I'm going to find out about it someday, even if it kills me – which it probably will.
After not too long, there was only one box save Sirius's underneath the tree. Sirius pulled it toward him, checked the tag, and handed it to Lily. Confused, lily saw her name written in neat print on the tag, followed by a "From: Potter."
Lily cut her eyes upward to meet James's, but he broke contact immediately.
"Well," said Sirius, "open it."
Lily rid the box of its wrapping paper and slid off the lid. Tucked with careful consideration between layers of tissue paper was the prettiest article of clothing Lily had ever laid eyes on. It was a dark green v-neck knit sweater, slightly longer than a normal sweater, with sleeves that started out slender but widened into small bells at the end. It was cut to Lily's shape and was partially see-through, so Lily knew she would have to wear something underneath it. A pair of jeans lay beneath the sweater.
"Thanks," Lily breathed to James. "They're beautiful."
James shrugged, looking embarrassed. "They're not much, really," he said. "I didn't know your size, so I sot of guessed at it. I have the receipts if they're not the right size, if you need to exchange."
Lily checked th size of the sweater and jeans, and smiled up at James. "You must be pretty good at this," she said. "They're my exact sizes. By why green?"
"They match your eyes," said James in explanation. "Why, don't you like it?"
"No, I love it. I just wondered." How did he know my eyes are green?
James smiled and blushed as Sirius began opening his gifts.
--
Loaded down with cake and ice cream, Lily made her way back up the stairs to the guest bedroom. Once there, she placed all her gifts in an armchair and threw herself back on the mattress, instantly asleep. She thought she heard a noise sat one point during the night, but after rolling over, it was gone.
The next morning, Lily stretched and opened her groggy eyes to meet the world. Sunlight filtered in through the thin lace curtains, illuminating the room in a soft glow.
Grumbling at how quickly morning had come, Lily rolled off the bed and over to the vanity mirror, wanting to find the nail file she had left in its drawer the day before. When something cold hit Lily's neck, however, she glanced up in the mirror to discover its identity. She gasped.
A beautiful emerald pendant hung from a silver chain around Lily's neck, glittering magnificently in the light. She could not remember this necklace from anywhere. There was only one other possibility.
The Potters and Sirius were busy eating breakfast when Lily made it downstairs. James and Sirius, like normal teenage boys, appeared to have consumed and were still consuming everything at the table.
"Morning everyone," said Lily, and they chanted back, "Morning Lily/Lils/Evans."
"Alright, I have a serious question to ask you guys." Upon the word "serious," Sirius looked up. Lily cut off his corny retort (he was known for making plays on his name) with, "Does anyone know where this came from?"
Lily unclasped the chain from around her neck and let it fall into her palm. She gazed expectantly at the people around the table.
Mr. and Mrs. Potter shook their heads. Sirius announced how he loved the color but could never have afforded something that expensive even for himself. Which brought Lily to James.
She thought she caught a shadow of James's smile before Mrs. Potter passed Lily the syrup for her pancakes.
A.N. – The end! Please review!