That's what Christmas means to me
A young woman was hurrying down the almost deserted street. She pulled a hat over her head. It had started snowing earlier that day, so it was getting cold. The snow was still coming down from the dark sky. It was late in the afternoon, but it was already completely dark outside. The streets were only lit up by the few street lamps. She didn't mind, actually she would rather it had been a bit darker. These days it was better to move in the dark where no one could see you. She suddenly heard her boyfriend's voice in her head telling her to be careful whenever she was outside. She had been given this lecture way too many times. The first time she was a bit surprised to hear something that serious come from him. She shook her head and the voice disappeared. She turned a corner and walked through a dark alley. She tightened her grip around the wand she had in her pocket, just in case something should happen. She finally got to the end of the alley, where she entered a small pub. She ignored everyone in there, only walked through it. She walked through a door and was outside again. She let out a sigh – the worst part was now over, though things were still not safe.
She considered to apparate the rest of the way, but quickly shook that thought from her mind. It was way too dangerous. It was safer to just walk, and she wasn't far now. She had been here before, and knew the rest of the way well. She took a short cut, where she was positive no one could follow her. Soon after, she was out on a road with small houses on both sides. She followed the road until she reached the house she had been searching for. She walked up to the front door where she carefully knocked five times in a certain way. Suddenly she heard noises from inside the house until someone reached the door. It was opened and she was greeted by a red haired woman around her age. "Reilly!" the woman said happily and hugged Reilly. "I was starting to think you weren't going to make it."
"Of course I made it," Reilly said with a smile and hugged the woman. "How have you been Lily?"
"Busy," Lily answered with a sigh of relief, "Now come in, come in." She stood back so Reilly could get inside. She walked past Reilly into the kitchen. From the kitchen she continued the story, and spoke loud enough so Reilly could hear everything in the entrance. "Would you believe that coming from me, when you're the one working hard at St. Mungo's and the boys are off fighting Death Eaters?" Lily chuckled a little to herself, but stopped soon after when she thought about her husband fighting somewhere.
Reilly walked into the kitchen after having gotten her coat off. Her brown curly hair was now hanging loosely on her shoulders. She noticed the nervous look on Lily's face. "They're fine," she told her. "I spoke to Sirius last week, and not even a hair on their heads has been hurt." She sat down at the small table in the kitchen and looked up at her friend.
"You know he is telling you that so you won't worry," Lily said. She took two cups from a cupboard and poured some hot tea in it. She took the two cups and placed one in front of Reilly. She then sat down across from Reilly and took a sip from the tea.
"You're probably right," Reilly said. She was perfectly aware of that but she wished he was telling the truth, so that is what she told herself. "Nevertheless, I managed to get contact to him. So at least he is well enough to reply," she swallowed hard but then remembered something else, "And I haven't seen any of them at St. Mungo's."
Lily nodded. She guessed Reilly would know if something had happened. Every Auror or someone else who worked for the ministry, would end up in St. Mungo's if they got hurt. "How is work these days?"
"Hectic," Reilly answered honestly. She took a sip from her tea before continuing, "We don't have many beds left, so if the Death Eaters attack suddenly, and many are injured I'm not sure what we will do. Right now we just have to cure as many as possible, then get them out of the hospital as quickly as possible so there will be room for the next load. It's a mental battle every day." She spoke honestly, because she knew Lily knew exactly what was going on at St. Mungo's. She had taken a few months off to take care of her son.
"Maybe I'm not so busy after all," Lily said with a sad smile.
"I'm sure you are," Reilly assured her with a smile. "Speaking of, where is the little monkey?"
"Upstairs. He is taking a late nap, though it is probably about time he gets up."
Lily got up to go upstairs, but Reilly came ahead of her. She stood up as well. "Let me do it," she said. Lily nodded thankfully. Reilly hurried up the stairs, where she came to a small hallway. She walked through the first door on the left. She looked around the room. Toys were perfectly organized in stead of lying everywhere on the floor, and by the wall was a small blue crib. Reilly turned on a lamp, that didn't bring too much light into the room. She glanced into the crib and saw the dark haired baby staring up at her. Apparently, he was already awake. Reilly smiled and reached down to take the baby out of the crib.
"Hey there, Harry," she said with a smile. "How's my favourite little guy doing?" She looked into the green eyes that looked back at her, and the smile that met her. "Merry Christmas, Buddy." She smiled back at the baby, then turned the lamp off again and walked downstairs with Harry on her arm. She walked into the kitchen where a lovely smell of food met her. She smiled at Lily, and so did Harry. "He is looking more and more like his father every day."
"He is, isn't he?" Lily said with a smile as she put something into the oven. "It's almost like James is here every day." She smiled sadly then suddenly looked into the living room. "Oh dear, I almost forgot about the tree."
Reilly turned around and saw a Christmas tree standing in the living room. There were a few boxes standing next to it, but it had not yet been decorated. "Let Harry and I take care of that," Reilly said with a smile. "Looks like you have your hands full here in the kitchen.
"You're a life saver."
"What's a best friend for?" Reilly asked with a smile. "Besides we're just decorating the tree, not saving the world." Reilly laughed a little before taking Harry with her into the living room. She put him down in a chair, making sure his head was supported, then walked over to the small boxes and started decorating the tree. She heard small giggles from Harry. "What are you laughing at?" Reilly asked him with a small laugh. "This is going to be the most beautiful tree you have ever seen Harry James Potter."
"He has not seen any other Christmas trees," Lily's voice suddenly sounded in the room. She walked over to her son and picked him up, before sitting down in the chair Harry had been sitting in. "So I'm sure you can stick to that promise."
Reilly smiled. "I don't make promises I can't keep," she said with a laugh. "How's the food coming along?"
"Good. Thanks for coming here and celebrating it with us."
"Oh my pleasure," Reilly said and hung a silver angel on the tree. "I would have been stuck home alone, or at work, if you hadn't asked me to come over. Besides it's been way too long since the last time I was here. It's not like when we were at Hogwarts and spend almost every hour of every day together."
Lily smiled at the memory, "Good times." Reilly nodded. Lily glanced out of the window as the snow kept falling. She then looked down at Harry and held him a little tighter than before.
"I'm sure James' Christmas wish is to be here with you and Harry as well," Reilly said as if she had just read Lily's mind.
"He has not been home for two months now," Lily said quietly. "Harry has grown so much since then." She looked up and noticed Reilly looking down sadly she was in the same situation, only without a child.
Reilly walked over to her friend. "Come on," she said, "Let's eat. It's Christmas Eve, your son's first Christmas I might add, so how about we have some fun? We haven't had a real girl talk in three weeks." Lily looked at her friend and smiled. She stood up and handed Harry to Reilly, then walked out into the kitchen where the food was ready. "Don't worry Harry," Reilly said with a smiled as she followed Lily to the kitchen, "You can be there for the girl talk as well." Lily laughed at that comment.
The two friends sat down at the table, and as the snow kept falling outside, they exchanged memories and updated the other person. Even though they hadn't seen each other in three weeks, the conversation was flowing as freely as ever. This took their mind of the horrible that was going on in the world outside. "Look at the time," Lily suddenly said after having glanced at her watch. "It is way over Harry's bed time."
Reilly nodded. "You go put him to bed then, I'll take the dishes away." Lily nodded. She stood up and took Harry, who was starting to look extremely tired, into her arms, and walked upstairs to his room. "'Night Harry," Reilly called after her with a small chuckle. She took the dishes and started cleaning them, using her wand. She knew that possible wasn't the best idea, but she wasn't in the mood for doing it the muggle way. With the wand, it didn't take long before she was finish. She could hear a low singing coming from upstairs, and figured Harry wasn't easy to put to bed.
Reilly walked into the living room. The fireplace was lit and the Christmas tree was sparkling in the light coming from the flames. She walked over to the window and looked out on the snow covered street. There were hardly any lights anymore. The street lamps were covered with snow so the light was coming from the houses. She suddenly saw two shadows walking across the street. She shook her head slightly. Who would be walking around outside at this hour and in this kind of weather? She closed the curtains, hoping the people outside would get home soon before they got sick.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Reilly walked out into the entrance hall but stopped and just looked at the door. Who would be out this late? She took her wand out of her pocket as she stepped closer to the door. She could still hear Lily upstairs. Reilly took a step closer to the door and opened it. Once she saw who was outside she dropped her wand on the floor and took a step back. "You should really be careful with that wand," one of the persons outside said, obviously a male. "Wouldn't want that to happen if the wrong wizard was standing on your doorstep."
"Shut up, James," Reilly said with a smile and hugged him. James laughed and hugged her back. He stepped into the entrance hall and another man walked up behind him. "Hello Remus," Reilly said with a smile and hugged him as well. Remus smiled and walked inside as well. He closed the door behind him, leaving a quizzical look on Reilly's face. "Where's Sirius? And Peter?"
"Well they…" he paused looking at Remus for help.
"If you are going to say they're somewhere like St. Mungo's, I'm…" Reilly started angrily.
"You're what?" Another man entered through the door with a large grin on his face.
"Sirius!" Reilly smiled brightly as she jumped into his arms and kissed him on the lips. She didn't even have time to be angry with him for scaring her like that. Peter entered behind him.
"Merry Christmas," Sirius laughed once they pulled apart.
"Rei, where's…?" James started behind them.
"Upstairs," Reilly answered before James could finish his question. He nodded, so she must have gotten it right.
As James walked upstairs, he could hear Reilly taking Remus, Peter and Sirius into the living room. James walked up to the top of the stairs. He could hear a familiar voice coming from his son's room. He smiled as he walked in there. He noticed Lily standing over the crib, singing softly to the little boy lying in the crib. He observed her for a moment until she noticed him. Their eyes met in the dark room, and none of them said anything for a while.
Finally Lily moved over to him and put her arms around him. James held her close and buried his face in her red hair. It smelled like it always did. Everything was as he had left it two months ago. "Merry Christmas Mrs. Potter," He said, still with his face in her hair. He could feel her laugh slightly, then he felt his shoulder starting to get wet. He pulled away from her, but only enough to just see her face. "Hey," he said trying to calm her down. "I'm here. I'm back."
"I know," Lily said and wiped her eyes. She smiled up at him and laughed nervously. "Thank you," she whispered and kissed him. James happily kissed her back. They had both been longing for this for so long. "I love you, James Potter," Lily whispered again once they pulled apart.
"I love you too," James whispered back. He glanced over at the crib with the sleeping boy. He walked over there and looked down at the small human being. He could feel Lily coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around him. "We did something good, didn't we?" James said with a small laugh.
"We did," Lily said happily. "He looks so much like you, even Reilly could tell."
"That can only be a good thing." James laughed again. Lily rolled her eyes slightly but laughed as well.
Shortly after, the two of them walked down the stairs hand in hand, to join their friends in the living room. Remus was kneeling in front of the fireplace to get the flames going. Sirius was sitting in the couch with an arm around Reilly, who was sitting next to him. She placed her head on his shoulder. And finally, Peter was sitting on a huge pillow next to the Christmas tree. James sat down on the floor, leaning against an armchair, and Lily sat down in front of him. He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her as if he would never let her go. "Oh Merlin," Lily said. "Where's my hospitality? Do you guys want some tea? After that cold trip over here you must need something to warm you up."
"Relax Lily," Reilly said and stood up. "I'll get it." James nodded thankfully and Lily smiled to Reilly.
She hurried into the kitchen and started boiling some water. She waited for a second and decided that is was taking too long. She pulled out her wand and with a spell the water was suddenly boiling. She took a tray and carried the tea and cups into the living room. She put it down on the small coffee table, took the cups and tea off, before returning to the kitchen with the tray. She left it on the counter and returned to the living room.
"Stop!" Sirius said suddenly as Reilly was standing in the door way to the living room. He stood up and walked over to her.
"What?" Reilly said not following completely.
"Look," He pointed right above her head. "You're standing under the mistletoe," Sirius explained.
Reilly looked above her and saw the small mistletoe above her. "When was that…?" she started but was interrupted when Sirius' lips touched hers. She was smiling inside as the kiss deepened. "You put it up there, didn't you?!" Reilly asked with a smile once they pulled apart.
"You have been hoping all Christmas that I would," Sirius said with a grin. Reilly raised her eyebrows slightly then laughed. They sat back down on the couch, where Sirius put an arm around Reilly again.
"You know," Lily said suddenly. "Even though I have a feeling you four won't be staying for long," She felt James touching her shoulder. "I'm glad you're all here."
"There's nothing like a Christmas with all your friends," Remus agreed with a smile.
"And once Harry is a few months older," James said to Lily. "You will understand everything that's going on again." Lily nodded smiling slightly. She was not sure if that was a happy or sad smile. She wanted to know what kind of danger her husband was getting into. On the other hand she didn't mind spending time with Harry, and sometimes she thought it was better not to know what James was doing so she didn't have to worry too much.
"Could we please talk about something else?" Peter said. "I mean it is Christmas."
"Hear hear," Reilly said. She held up her tea cup with a smile. "Cheers to a happy a Christmas, with good friends, and no worries," she continued, then added something, "for at least a few hours."
A chorus of "cheers" and laughter sounded in the small living room.
A/N: "From all of us(me) to all of you" ;) Merry Christmas
Title: From Stevie Wonder's that's what Christmas means to me