The idea popped into my head yesterday and since it's so close to the holidays, I thought, why not give it a shot? Enjoy!
"Done," Lily Evans sighed heavily as the redhead dropped the shopping bags she was carrying onto the kitchen floor of the flat she shared with her fiancé and plopped herself into the nearest chair. "I've finished all my Christmas shopping and finished making the cookies for Alice and Frank's party tomorrow- the muggle way," she added as she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "Preparing for Christmas is bloody torture," Lily muttered bitterly.
A loud crack was heard and suddenly, James Potter was standing next to her, arms overloaded with presents, his glasses lopsided, and hair as messy as ever. "You think you got it bad?" He scoffed behind the stack of presents he was still holding, "If it's bloody torture for anyone, it's me- at least you're accustomed to doing things without magic; I've lived with it all my life! We could've fit all of this-" he motioned towards the gifts in his hands with his head. "-into your purse with one of those extension charms if you hadn't been all persistent on doing everything the muggle way. I completely loathe the muggle way!" He shook his head, exasperated. "I still can't believe how you managed to live through the first ten years of your life without any magic at all,"
Lily got up from the chair, made her way towards her fiancé and began rubbing his back. "It's called 'working', Love," she mumbled, amused. "You might want to give a shot at it some day,"
"So today wasn't it?" James whined.
Lily ignored the complaining and went on. "I'm just glad everything I need to do is done and that the holiday party this year is at Alice and Frank's place. I don't know what I would've done if it was our turn to host this year-"
"Well…" James shifted on his feet uncomfortably, the gifts now on the kitchen counter, the room suddenly feeling quite warm. "About that…"
Lily groaned loudly and placed her head against his back, breathing in his familiar scent, calming down the frustration building up inside her. Eyes closed, she asked, "Alright, what did Alice do now?" The redhead's mind spun as she mentally berated her friend. "I swear- a bloody Puffskein could make less trouble than she does…"
"Funny you should mention that," James laughed uneasily. "Remember that Puffskein she bought from that pet store last month?" he asked, not waiting for any response in particular. "Well, she forgot to feed it yesterday-"
"Typical,"
James forced a laugh. "- and then left it alone in the living room…Well, long story short, their couches and carpet are now completely destroyed and magic's not going to be able to fix it anytime soon,"
"Again; typical,"
Feeling more anxious by the second, he said, "So, uh, guess where the party is now-"
"Alright," Lily sighed, cutting him off, and stood in front of him. "As a result of Alice's empty, clueless mind, I'm guessing the party is going to be at our place this year and the guests are going to arrive starting tomorrow, aren't they?" James looked at her, baffled. She heaved a sighed, "C'mon then; let's get the tree down from the attic and start decorating around here," Lily scrutinized her surroundings for the first time since she had arrived home. "The house does seem quite plain, doesn't it?" she murmured and then looked at James who stood in the middle of the kitchen looking somewhat shocked. "Get a move one then!" she urged.
"But…you…our house…" he spluttered. James shook his head in disbelief, "Lily, you were just getting all irritable- ready to kill, I might say- from all the amount of shopping we just did and you actually said you were oh-so thankful that the party wasn't going to be at our place this year. But now it is at our flat; our flat; where you're standing on right now; the place that belongs to us," He motioned wildly at the both of them, breathing heavily from the immense amount of talking.
Lily laughed lightly, sitting down, quite entertained at the sight in front of her. "Why thank you James; though I am, to a certain extent, fairly aware that this," she indicated to the kitchen, "belongs to us," The redhead smiled, "I'm also fine with hosting the party at such a late notice; honestly, I'm surprised myself that I haven't already marched over to Alice's house and do more damage to the couches and carpet," Lily admitted, chuckling.
James still wasn't falling for it, though. "So…you're not going to kill me?" he asked nervously but also sounding rather taken back.
Lily got up from the chair and kissed her fiancé's cheek lightly. "No Love, I won't kill you. Frankly though, I wouldn't be worried about me; I'd be more worried about you," she said seriously, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"How come?"
"Oh…no reason," Lily responded nonchalantly, restraining the will to grin. "So why don't we get that tree down from the attic?" she said quickly, changing the subject.
"Alright; well let me get my wand-" James started towards the bedroom.
Lily grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him back. "No Mr. Potter, do not get your wand; in fact, you won't be needing it for quite a while," she stated strictly.
"But why? If we can't use wands, then we're not going to be able to get the tree down!" he reasoned childishly.
"Remember that time I said you should be more worried about yourself then me?" Lily suddenly asked mischievously.
James looked at his fiancée, clueless, when unexpectedly; his eyes grew wide, realization hitting him fast like a quaffle right in the face. He started, "No…no, no, no," he shook his head frantically but firmly. "We are not doing this-"
Lily looked up at him and grinned. "-the muggle way,"
Sorry this is kind of short! I plan on this to be about 2-3 chapters long anyway; something short and sweet. Hopefully, the final chapters will be up in the next few days. Also, I do realize the title is 'Christmas with the Potters' yet Lily and James aren't married yet; but hey, they're engaged so that's close right? :] I wanted this to be during a time when they were still young without so much to worry about.
Thank you so much for reading and please review, because remember- reviews are always loved! Happy holidays everyone!