A/N: Wow, this was a faster update then I expected. It's probably since I'm new to fanfiction and was just really eager to keep going. You can probably expect me to be remarkably inconsistent with updates, just knowing me.

Like I said, I'm entirely new to fanfiction, so reviews would be very much appreciated. Thank you to those who have already favourited/reviewed/followed.

And Happy New Year!

It was a bleak Christmas in the Evans household. When the only two children of the house were in the middle of a longstanding feud and had scarcely spoken to each other since 1972, how could it have gone any other way?

Still, Mrs Evans tried her hardest. "Good morning Lil Pill!" She said cheerfully as her youngest daughter trudged down the stairs. "I made Tuney and Dad wait for you to start opening presents. And after that, we'll make pancakes, yeah?"

It was fairly obvious to everyone that Mrs Evans was desperate for a family reconciliation. She was bringing up old nicknames that hadn't been used in years, she was making pancakes, and she wore a tight smile that appeared to be in grave danger of sliding off her face. Lily decided to humour her.

"Good morning mum!" She said, with a level of fake enthusiasm that almost equalled her mothers. "Thanks so much, I appreciate it. Where are Dad and… Petunia?"

"In the living room. They'll be thrilled you're down."

However, when they trundled into the living room, it was clear that not everyone was as happy as her mother insisted. When she saw her younger sister, Petunia sniffed and moved her gaze to Lily's right.

"Merry Christmas, Tuney," Lily said, praying that her sister would have enough compassion for her mother to answer her back.

"Good morning, Lily," Petunia said stiffly. It wasn't a 'Merry Christmas', but it was something, Lily supposed.

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart," Mr Evans said, breaking the tension that was quickly forming in the room. "Sweet dreams?"

"The sweetest," Lily grinned. It wasn't a lie, either. She had dreamed of Hogwarts, as she had every night since returning to Cokeworth for the Christmas holidays.

"I'm sure you girls are dying to open your presents!"

Well, Lily couldn't speak for Petunia, but she knew she wasn't. She had a pile of gifts from her school friends upstairs that were still unopened, but the only presents for her under the Christmas tree were from her parents and her sister. She didn't even want to know what her sister had gotten for her, and as for her parents, well…As much as she loved them, and she knew they loved her, since she'd gone off to Hogwarts, they just didn't really know her anymore. It was a thing to be expected, Professor McGonagall had warned the Muggleborn witches and wizards at the start of their first year, that they would feel as if they were growing distant from their families as they immersed themselves in the wizarding world. But eleven year old Lily couldn't comprehend ever feeling distant from her parents, who were the most important people in her life. She was even optimistic that Petunia would forgive her and things would go back to the way they were. But now, she wasn't sure if things could ever go back to the way they were.

She couldn't say any of this out loud, however. "You bet!"

While they opened their gifts, Mr and Mrs Evans tried desperately to keep the chatter alive.

"So, Tuney, how's that clerical job going?"

"Wonderful, Dad," Petunia gushed. "And I've met this really amazing guy there too, his name's Vernon, and things are really on the verge of getting serious. He-."

"That's absolutely wonderful, dear!" Mrs Evans exclaimed. "Lily, any man in your life?"

Lily noticed how her sister's shoulders slumped as her mother cut her story off. She felt a twinge of guilt, and then brushed it off.

"Sadly, no. I'm as single as a person could possibly be," Lily said, not entirely sure if she was lying. While it was true that she didn't have a boyfriend as such, there was certainly something on the horizon. Since the start of the school year, she'd become increasingly close with Anthony Frawley, the Ravenclaw prefect. She suspected he liked her as more than a friend, and her friends were fully encouraging of their relationship- Mary MacDonald had advised her to "jump on the Tony Train before somebody else did". But, there was nothing of interest to report yet, and she didn't want to seem like she was trying to compete with Tuney.

"Figures," muttered Petunia, too quietly for her parents to hear. A comment like that would probably have upset Lily a few years ago- or at least made her blush with anger- but now she'd gotten sort of numb to her sister's jabs.

The family forced chatter for a few hours, and then took one of the most uncomfortable Christmas photos in the history of Christmas photos on the couch. In previous years, they'd gone to their grandmother's house for lunch, however, she'd become too ill to host. So, they ate their Christmas lunch in the house, meaning they all had to endure the uncomfortable tension throughout the entire day.

Lily hated this. She felt horrendously ungracious to think it, but she did. She hated it. She wished she could have stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas, with Mary and Debbie Johnson. She'd done that, once in fourth year, and it had been the best Christmas she'd had since before Petunia had started hating her guts. Despite the somewhat irritating presence of the Marauders- and one Marauder in particular- she'd had a great time with her friends. In fact, she'd had her first kiss over those holidays, with Amos Diggory, who was a whole year older than her- an age gap that seemed huge and incredibly exciting back then. But she never could forget how hurt her mother had sounded when she replied to Lily's letter informing her of her decision to stay at the castle. And she could never hurt her mother like that again. Merlin, it was incredibly tiring, trying to please your Muggle family and pursue a wizarding career at the same time.

Finally, in the early evening, Lily decided that surely it would no longer be considered rude to retire to her bedroom and open her other presents. She sat on her bed, and eagerly tore open the first gift- a Beatles record from Mary. Mary was the only one in her group of friends with a Muggle parent, so she was the only one that really understood what she was talking about when she brought up Muggle cultural icons. Perhaps this common ground was why they'd become such fast friends. Mary was the first real friend she'd made at Hogwarts- after Sev, of course… but she didn't really like to think of Severus anymore. Luckily, he hadn't returned to Spinner's End for Christmas. She supposed that even his romantic infatuation with her- and yes, she'd had to accept that he did have feelings for her when he started with the desperate love poetry after she'd officially ended their friendship- wasn't enough to make him return to his horrible father, which was fair enough.

She opened the letter that came with Mary's gift, eager to hear from her best friend.

DEAR LIL- it began-,

How're you? Miserable without me? Or have you finally reconciled with your Muggle sister? Ha, don't answer that question. I'm not an idiot, I know you told me that would never happen in a million years.

The castle is SO MUCH FUN this time of year, Lil. Why didn't you stay? Oh right, I know why. You didn't want to hurt your mum's feelings or something. And I get that, but at the same time, I think you must be MENTAL, because Sirius Black is hosting a huge New Year's party in the Room of Requirement and YOU'LL have to sit at home miserable while I'm getting sloshed and snogging Adrian Jones (in other news, I really fancy Adrian Jones now). And you can bitch and moan all you want about Marauder parties, Lil, but you won't fool ME for one single second, because you and I both know they're always so much FUN!

Merry Christmas Lily! And a Happy New Year (although how 'happy' your New Year can be when you're not snogging Adrian Jones at Sirius' Black's party is questionable. But do your best.) I miss you and Marlene so so so much.

LOTS OF LOVE,

Mary xxxx

PS Deb just came over and panicked because she hasn't even thought about STARTING writing her letter to you yet. TYPICAL. It's obvious who the better friend is here, Lil. Seriously.

PPS AND Anthony Frawley's at Hogwarts this Christmas! Bet you're feeling sorry now! Ha, somebody's going to have to wait before jumping on the Tony Train.

Lily grinned. She missed her Hogwarts friends like mad. Given how happy hearing from Mary had made her, she decided to read her cards and letters before opening the remainder of her gifts, starting with the one from Debbie.

Dear Lily,

Hi! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Hope your sister isn't giving you too much strife. Mary and I both miss you to pieces.

Love,

Deb.

PS IN SPITE of what our DELUSIONAL friend Mary might be insisting, I did not panic, and I had not FORGOTTEN about your letter. I just hadn't gotten around to it yet, but I would have, I SWEAR.

Then there was Marlene's:

Dear Lil,

Merry Christmas! How are things? Merlin, don't you just miss Hogwarts? Last year I didn't, because I was in Italy, but this year I'm stuck in bloody Dundee, which is absolute shite. At least I have my brother, but unfortunately he's gone and gotten himself a holiday girlfriend- randy little bugger- and won't stop going over to her house to snog her. It's SO frustrating, I'm so jealous of Deb and Mary.

Missing you,

Marlene.

And then there was the letter from Anthony that made her smile like an idiot.

Hey Lily!

Merry Christmas! I was so disappointed when Mary told me that you wouldn't be staying at Hogwarts, but wherever you are, I hope you have a spectacular break. I assume you're with your family, what are they like? I hope they're nice. If they're anything like you they'd have to be.

See you next term.

Love, (!)

Anthony.

Those were the letters with the most sustenance, but there were several shorter cards and letters, from people like Emmeline and Remus. There was even one from Hagrid, which was a pleasant surprise. She read them all and replied to most of them before even beginning to open the rest of her presents, which she did slowly and methodically, one by one. By about one in the morning, she was completely finished. She cleared the gifts off of her bed and tucked herself in. But before she could even close her eyes, she heard a tapping on her window. Sure enough, when she looked outside, there was a small, brown owl, trying to fight its way in through the glass barrier.

"Idiot," Lily muttered, going to open it so the small bird could enter. Merlin, though, she recognised that bird. She hoped she was wrong, but sure enough-

Dear Lily, she read out loud.

Merry Christmas! Have a good one.

James Potter x

Oh Merlin. What was his problem? Who the hell gave him her address? And how, she asked herself as she opened the gift, did he know her favourite flavour of Honeydukes fudge?

James Potter was somebody that confused her quite a bit. Slow as she was, she'd cottoned on to his non-platonic feelings towards her in fifth year, when he took to asking her out every five fucking seconds. But she had despised him then. And not, as her friends seemed to insist, because of Severus, although that was a part of it. She disliked him because he was arrogant, rude, and ridiculously entitled. And he just couldn't leave her well alone.

Since the Snape Incident, he'd at least had the decency to stop asking her out. In fact, they'd more or less stopped talking all together, but she'd heard enough from Remus to assume that he still fancied her. She couldn't honestly say she actively hated him the way she'd done the year before, but that was only because she didn't even have a reason to spare him a second thought these days. And now, here he was, sending her bloody chocolates to her fucking house. Just when you thought he was gone for good.

Although, the letter did seem really casual for him. A right change from his old self. Merlin, this bloke was confusing.

She crumpled up the letter and threw it on the floor, amongst the torn up wrapping paper. But, she reasoned to herself, taking a bite, her immense dislike of Potter was no reason to turn down perfectly good fudge.