For Emily

I

"He is so hot!" shrieked Amora Vain, who was met with disagreement by the rest of her giggling roommates.
"Ew no, I'd only give Sirius a five out of ten. Still, I wouldn't say no," said Mary Macdonald with a cheeky grin.
"Mary! Knowing you, you wouldn't even say no to Professor Slughorn!" said Alison Abbott. The girls laughed and Amora span the bottle once again on the floor of the Gryffindor girls' dormitory. The four of them were sat in their room, on the floor, passing the early hours of the morning with girlish banter. Each of them was staying at Hogwarts for Christmas. The bottle stopped on Lily Evans.
"Lily, it's your turn! Truth or dare?" Asked Amora leaning in.
"Umm... Truth," she said apprehensively, almost knowing what they were going to ask.
"Is it true that you were snogging James Potter outside the owlery?" said Amora.
"No it is not!" Lily said, "Really, I don't know where these rumours start!"
"Oh please, Lily, we know something is going on between the two of you. You're virtually bubbling at the cauldron every time you're with him," said Mary smugly and Alison threw her head back with giddy laughter.
"I'm sure he's sparking at the wand for you too," Alison added.
"Stop it," Lily said, "James and I are just very good friends. We went on a walk of the grounds together last week. We were just talking."
"That's how it starts," said Amora, "Soon they'll be after more than talking."
"I'm not some common tart like Narcissa Malfoy." Her roommates weren't satisfied and continued to push Lily for more information of her love life.
"You must be more than friends. Come on, Lily, tell us. We're your friends," said Alison.
"Oh fine! Well I do think James is rather handsome. And I do have a thing for quidditch players-" she was momentarily interrupted by Mary who gave a short speech about the rather inappropriate things she would do with a quidditch player- "And he is nice, brave, friendly, funny..." she trailed off into thought.
"Oh it looks like you are smitten for him!" said Amora.
"Okay maybe just a little crush, okay? But keep that on the down-low." The other girls screamed in excitement.
"Oh my god, you are totally going to get in there!" said Mary.
"As a matter of fact," she said with a little grin, "I'm spending Christmas day with him."

II

It was a white Christmas in Scotland in 1977. Lily had awoken due to the screaming and excitement from her dorm-mates. Alison was jumping on the bed yelling "It's Christmas, It's Christmas!" and Mary and Amora were already eagerly ripping open their presents. Lily yawned before a smile cracked across her face and she joined her friends in excitement. Yes, half of the excitement was Christmas, but the other half was that today she was meeting again with James. After the foursome had opened every present in the pile, Lily grabbed her present for James and briskly left the room, eager to see James' face once again. She hurried down the dormitory stairs and headed into the common room.

The common room was always virtually empty over the holidays, but today, one young man stood waiting by the fire with a very small and untidily wrapped gift held out in his hands. "Merry Christmas, Lily."
"Merry Christmas," she replied. There was a moment's silence, before the pair decided to exchange gifts. "You first," she said. He smiled and carefully took off the paper, trying not to ruin her perfect decorative skills. Just as he caught the first glimpse of Lily's gift his eyes lit up like a young boy in a sweet shop.
"Well hex me up the bum! This is the new Nimbus 1500 broom-care set, isn't it? And look, new Nimbus designer gloves! I love it, Lily, you're the best!" He said a jumped n her with a hug. She found it so cute when he was like this over Quidditch, and she was relieved that he genuinely loved it so much. She held on to the hug for as long as possible.

"Hey, it's your turn now," he said finally releasing her. He handed her the small box with the scruffy wrapping and she held it up to her ear, rattling it, and tried to guess what it held inside. The box wasn't pretty to look at, but it was plainly obvious that he had tried his utmost best to make it look presentable. Art and craft definitely wasn't James Potter's forte. Anyway, she proceeded to open the box to find a small golden object glinting in the light of the lit fire. A snitch. It wasn't a look of disappointment that James saw, but of confusion. 'Why on Earth has he given me a snitch?' she thought. He noticed this and simply said: "Open it."
"But how?" said Lily.
"Like this," he said and gently touched the golden orb against her lips. With a click, the snitch sprang open and within sat a shimmering silver necklace. She held it up to the light and was amazed at the figure that was the pendant.
"A doe!" she said in awe, "My favourite. It's beautiful."
"I thought you might like it," said James, who too was relieved that she loved her gift, while Lily admired the pendant. The pair of them embraced once again, but this time it was more sincere; it had more feeling. They let go and gazed into each other's eyes, a moment that could last eternity.

III

The snow was crunching under their feet as he led her, running, through the grounds of Hogwarts. "James, slow down," she pleaded.
"I can't. This is going to be amazing. Hurry," he insisted. He continued to lead her, holding her hand, towards the lake. The pair of them reached the black lake, but the image they saw was almost unrecognisable. In the place of the murky, dark and stagnant surface, was a glossy white, icy sheet. Both stood in silence for a moment to admire the beauty of the sight, then James spoke. "Lily, I want to show you something. I know I can trust you, you're my best friend. But I- er- promise you won't tell anyone, okay?" James looked nervous.
"I promise."
"Well okay then..." He took two steps back and one breath in. Lily Evans squealed in horror as her friend was no longer before her, but instead a stag.

"James?" she said uneasily and the stag bowed its head. James then knelt down, his head almost touching the snow, indicating to Lily to climb upon him. She agreed, and mounted James Potter. Slowly at first, he stepped foot onto the ice. Then he gained confidence and began to canter around the vast lake. And with that it began to snow. For Lily, this was like a dream. The snow was gently brushing her pale face as she glided across the ice. She let out a loud laugh, laughing at the euphoria and bizarreness of this moment. James howled in reply, and then sped up. His majestic legs outstretched even more as he galloped. And then he stopped. Lily dismounted him and stroked the fine velvet of his magnificent antlers. Then in an instant he was himself again.

"How was that for a Christmas treat?" he said smugly. Lily playfully pushed him before saying:
"Utterly perfect." Her eyes glistened with intent as they looked upon those of James. She could now honestly say that she had never known a more perfect person. She wanted to kiss him, and he wanted to kiss her too. She leant the slightest bit forward before laughing awkwardly. James was disappointed, but regardless said:
"Let's go back to the castle. Let's have our lunch, eh?"

'Next time,' he thought, 'I'll get her next time.'

IV

Lily let out a sigh. Clearly she had eaten way too much. Back in the common room, James and Lily found Sirius sat awkwardly between Amora and Mary. Mary was stroking his leg, then turned to Lily and gave her the least subtle wink she could muster. At the same time Sirius mouthed to James: "Help!" Lily and James laughed at the awkwardness of it all and rolled their eyes at their respective roommates. "From living in my dorm, I don't think Sirius is too fond of either Amora or Mary. I've heard he's got the hots for Remus," said James.
"Sirius and Remus? I don't see that happening at all; it's ridiculous," Lily said, "How do you know?"
"Well when the pair of them sneak out every other night and say that they are 'going to steal more cream cheese from the kitchens,' you just kind of get a feeling." Lily put a finger in her mouth and mimed throwing up at thought of Sirius and Remus. But as if on cue, Remus entered the common room. He nodded to Sirius, who then stood up and said quickly to his female companions:
"Sorry girls. I must go. Talk to you later." And with that Sirius and Remus disappeared off into their dormitory. Amora and Mary soon left afterwards.

And with that James and Lily were left alone again. "I've had a great Christmas today, James, the best ever," she said with entire sincerity.
"Me too," was all he could say, "Me too." They shared a warming look before something glittering above caught James' eye. "Mistletoe." Finally, his chance had arrived; this was it. He leaned in for the kiss but then...
"Ew, cliché!" she said with a laugh to which he simply said:
"Oh, come here!" and he put his hand behind her head and pulled her in for the first kiss. For Lily, and for James, it was perfect.

Perfect moments, however, don't last forever, as the kissing couple were interrupted by Mary Macdonald wolf-whistling from the doorway. "Get your gillyweed in, James!" she called, "Because you'll be neck deep in-".
"Mary!" gasped Lily. Their faces were now as red as the jumpers they wore.

The remainder of Christmas day passed, filled with hand-holding and chocolate-eating. Nothing could have happened that evening to ruin Lily Evans' Christmas. It had already been the best day of her life. Magical.