2 – Do they know it's Christmas?

James sat on the edge of a couch back at the orphanage with a wet rag in his hands, dapping Lily's forehead. He had brought her back and Theresa had given her a big plaster over the gash and James the wet rag in his hand to dab her with. Lily had not yet woken up, and Theresa had lit a fire in the fireplace and left them alone in the little living room.

James couldn't help but think she looked beautiful, just lying there, peaceful on the couch despise the plaster on the side of her head. He put the rag back into the little bucket with water and studied her a little more. He let his fingers run very lightly all the way over her head on the plaster-free side and into her hair. In the very same second Lily blinked a couple of times and then opened her eyes. James' hand stopped at the end of her hair and he gave her a little smile.

"Hi," he said.

"Hey…" Lily said with a faint voice.

"How's the head?"

"It hurts," she answered and took the one hand up to the plaster. "What happened?"

James grabbed the rag again and wrung out the water and began to dab her head again. He was surprised to see that Lily didn't push his hand away, but just looked at him.

"Well," James said. "We were on the way back through the storm which knocked you of your legs and you hit your head on the kerbstone. I brought you back here where you got the plaster on your head – and arm for the matter of fact – and we placed you in the couch… and here we are."

"Oh…" Lily said and studied her bruised arm. "Ouch."

"Yeah, don't touch it," James said, smiling faintly "It looks almost as bad as your head."

"But my parents will be very worried but now…"

"Theresa has called them and told about the snowstorm. We'll stay here until it's over."

Lily nodded slightly. "What about your parents?"

"They'll know as soon as they get home. We have this mirror…"

"Okay," Lily said and looked out of the window before she looked at James again. "Did… did you carry me all the way back?"

"Yeah," James said and nodded.

"Wow," she sighed. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," he said and shrugged. "It was the only thing I could do."

Lily gave him a smile and slowly pushed herself up at her. James removed the rag and threw it back into the bucket.

"What time is it?" Lily asked.

James looked out of the window; it was getting dark outside. Then he looked at his watch.

"Half past seven," he said and when Lily didn't respond he got up. "Want some hot chocolate?"

Lily looked up at him. "Sure," she said and nodded.

He walked out of the living room and over to Theresa in the kitchen; she was cocking. He told Lily had woken up and she said she'd come with a cup in five minutes and James headed back to the living room where he saw Lily was about to pull a sweater over her head and the t-shirt she was wearing. It seamed to be a bigger problem so James rushed over there.

"Here," he said and sat down next to her, "let me help you."

Lily let go of the sweater and let James help it over her head and arms.

"Thanks," she mumbled and looked up at him.

James brushed some dirt of her shoulder and then looked up, meeting her eyes. They weren't looking at him with disgust and hate as they usually did, but something else hid behind them James couldn't quite place. She looked so innocent and vulnerable, just sitting there, letting him have his hand on her neck.

On her neck! James pulled his hand back with a jerk and broke the eye contact in the same second as Theresa came into the room with two cups of chocolate. She smiled warm at them both.

"Here," she said and they took the cups. "Lily, he's awake now. He really wants to see you."

Lily smiled suddenly. "He is? Oh, of course!" she said.

Theresa walked out of the room and seconds after a little boy around seven years with dirty blonde hair and a tiered look around his eyes stormed into the room. James was strongly reminded of his friend, Remus Lupin when he saw the eyes of the boys on a closer look. He looked also tiered and outworn despise his young age.

"Lily! Lily!" he called as he flung his arms around Lily.

"Hi!" Lily said and hugged him back. "How have you been?"

"It doesn't matter. Tim said you've brought your boyfriend!"

"I didn-"

"When you get married and have children, will you then name a boy after me?"

Lily grinned. "No, Harry, I won't."

"Please?"

"Maybe. Beside that, he's not my boyfriend, just one of my friends."

The boy, Harry, looked at James with his tiered eyes. James smiled widely; Lily had just called him her friend!

"Okay, but…"

James let Lily and Harry talk for a while until Lily sat him down again and he stormed out of the room. James looked at Lily.

"Was that the boy who was asleep?" he asked.

Lily nodded. "Yeah, it's Harry. He's got lung cancer," she just said, but continued as James looked questioned at her. "It's muggle illness. If Theresa had had enough of money, he could have gotten into chemotherapy, but now it's too late and-"

Lily's voice snapped over and James placed his one hand at her shoulder. He got what she was telling.

"How long?" he asked.

"Less than a half year," she said and looked up at him with small tears in her eyes. "He doesn't even know."

"Wow," James sighed.

Lily just nodded. James thought for a moment before he pulled her into a hug. Lily didn't respond at first, but then she slowly let her arms slide around him too. He stroked her hair comforting slowly over and over again.

"You know," he said after a few minutes of hugging Lily. "Maybe we should drink our chocolate before it gets cold."

Lily pushed herself a bit away from James and nodded. "Yeah."

James grabbed both the mugs and handled Lily one. Lily gave him one of her rare, but beautiful smiles before she led the mug up to her mouth and took a sip. James took a sip too while studying Lily. They sat in silence some minutes and drank the chocolate, just looking out in the storm or at each other.

The door creaked and both of them looked over there to see Theresa enter. She smiled.

"Harry was happy to see you," she said, "and he's glad you could find time to him, even here, at Christmastime."

Lily smiled. "I'm just glad to be here."

Theresa nodded. "I've made you beds. Lily with the girls and James with the boys."

"Thank you," James said and smiled. "It's really nice of you."

"Don't think about it, dear," Theresa smiled. "You could always as a payback go up and tell the small ones a bedtime story. They're growing tiered of mine."

"Sure!" Lily grinned. "I'd love to!"

"Yeah. Me too," James said.

He got up and offered Lily a hand too. They walked after Theresa out in the kitchen and up a small staircase. They ended in a little corridor with five doors. Four of them placed across of each other and the last one in the end.

"There, James," Theresa said and pointed at the first door to her left. "And Lily the other. You know. I've laid a pair of pyjamas to you on the beds."

They all parted and James entered the boys' small dorm. There were two rows with five beds in each at the two walls, but there only sat or laid boys in seven of them. James spotted an empty and made bed in the end with a pyjama on. He walked down there with all the boys' eyes on him. He quickly changed and sat down on the bed; he noticed Harry sit in the bed next to him.

"Theresa said you'd tell us a bedtime story," he said in his innocently voice.

James grinned at him. "I'll not only tell you a story," he said as he spotted the night lamp.

"Then what?" asked another boy from the bed across his.

James looked at all the boys. "Gather around here," he said. "Then you'll see!"

"But we've been put to bed and have to stay there."

"I give you all permission. Come! Sit!"

The boys exchanged glances and slowly moved out of their beds and settled down at Harry's instead. James grabbed the lamp and placed it at his bed and turned it on.

"Okay, here it goes…" he said and moved his hands into the light. "Once upon a time there was a little bunny called Winka." He formed his one hand so in the light it looked like a bunny. "Everyone in Winka's family had very long ears, but he had very short. And all of his friends had longer ears too." he made another bunny with his other hand, making sure it had longer ears. "They all laughed at him and teased him with his ears and said, 'you're not a really bunny!' Winka was very sad about it, but couldn't make his ears grow larger. One day a dog ran over the meadow where they all lived. He spotted some bunny ears and ran after them."

All the boys looked intensely as James made a dog of his one hand and made it chase his bunny-hand around. They all roared of laughter as James made a specific funny movement. James continued his story and the boys fell silently again. He could hear steps outside in the corridor, and guessed one of the girls had just gone to the bathroom, and continued. He demonstrated through his story several other animals he could form with his hands, and made the boys laugh every time.

"…Winka saw the brightest light he had ever seen. It made him blind. Seconds past before he could see a figure form in the middle of the light," James told several minutes later and made a pause.

"What was it?"

James looked up; it was not a boy who had spoken. At the bed behind Harry's sat all the girls, looking at James' hand-formed animals with open mouth.

He spotted Lily standing behind them all in her pyjamas and arms crossed, looking at him with raised eyebrows and a slight smile on her lips.

"It was an angel," he said while looking at Lily. Then he moved his gaze to the children again. "An angel had come and told him the earth was not worth having him around. He was taken to heaven."

He folded both his hands into a figure which looked very much like a human and the children sighed and made 'aw's.

"And there he lived happily ever after." James ended the story.

The children sat back, open-mouthed and looked at the figure in the light, then a girl broke the silence.

"I think it's time to bed now."

James looked at Lily and nodded. "You heard her. Off to bed. All of you."

The girls got of the bed and started to walk out while Lily shoved them lightly in the back, sending James a last glance.

*

The next day it did still snow very much and the door had been blocked by snow by now. They were trapped at the orphanage so James found no other thing to do than help with preparations for the next day and the evening.

One thing that amazed James was the way everything that mattered at the orphanage was on another level than he was used to. As Lily so kindly had pointed out the day before, he was not used to be in an environment where money had nothing to say. He was used to get what he wanted from his parents, get the food served by Titta and Droley, their houseelves, and not even have to clean up his own room. But at the orphanage it was different. He saw the children, who already had less than nothing, help each other when they were asked for it. He helped cocking and cleaning; he even tried to change a diaper at a very little child.

"You seriously stink at that, James," Lily grinned as he saw James make a face as he couldn't do it, (and of the smell of course).

"Yeah, something here definitely stinks," James mumbled so only Lily could hear it.

She suppressed a giggle and pushed slightly to James. "Here, let me help you," she said.

James let go of the diaper and let Lily get to it. She quickly grabbed it and put it on before James could even blink.

"Like that!" she smiled. "Now take this and put it into the bucket over there."

James grabbed the used diaper and put it into the bucket, making a disgusted face.

"I think it's kind of healthy for you," Lily said and nodded slightly. "You could probably learn a lot of things here."

James grunted a response as he grabbed the little boy and held him in his arms, not really sure what he was about to do. He watched as Harry and a girl named Erica hung up mistletoe in the doorway to the living room. Harry stepped down from the stool he had been standing on and gave Erica a quick kiss.

James looked at Lily who was grinning at them.

"Aren't they only seven?" he asked.

Lily looked at him. "So?" she asked wit raised eyebrows. "They care for each other and show it with a kiss. Beside that… the children have been taught about traditions, and in this house you don't walk away from under mistletoe without kissing each other."

"Oh," James said, thinking of a way to accidentally 'bump' into Lily under that, but found that it wasn't the way he wanted his possible only or first kiss with Lily to find place.

He looked away from the mistletoe and at Lily who were observing him with raised eyebrows and a strict gaze in her eyes.

"No funny ideas!" she said.

James tried to smile. "No, no," he said quickly. "I'm not really like that."

"Good. You want me to take him?"

James looked down at the boy. "No, it's fine. I can handle him."

"You're sure?"

"Positive!" he grinned and shrugged. "I mean. I have to learn it sooner or later, right?"

Lily studied him a couple of seconds before she turned to the sink to wash her hands.

"Wow, James Potter thinking of family and responsibility. Something's wrong here!" she mumbled so low James could only just hear her.

"What's wrong about that?" James asked, a bit offended.

Lily looked up and blushed slightly. "Um, nothing…" she said slowly, showing she had not expected James to hear it. "It's just… I don't see you as a family man with children and wife, showing responsibility… you know."

James looked at Lily with eyebrow up under his fringe of surprise.

"Wow, Lily. You really don't know me then."

"I don't?"

"No, really." James said and let his eyebrow fell back. "I'm much more than the guy you see at… at school. I can be sweet, carrying and helpful. I know I'm a bit spoilt. Well, much, but I try to be good to my friends and those I care about, and really, I'm not into dating five girls a month as you might think. I'm much more to just…" he looked her into the eyes, "… one girl."

Now it was Lily's eyebrows which were high up under her fringe. They quickly fell down and a slight blush crept up from her neck. She cleared her throat.

"Maybe I should take Joss," she said faintly. "He needs his nap."

James nodded and let Lily take Joss upstairs to sleep. He watched her back as he let his hand run through his hair.

"You like her, don't you?"

James looked down and saw a blonde girl; Anna was her name, looking up at him.

"What makes you think that?" he asked.

Anna shrugged. "Just the way you look at her," she said. "So you do?"

James grinned to himself. That girl was really smart. He crossed his arms and leaned against the table.

"Yeah, I do," he said and nodded.

Anna smiled. "I understand that. Lily's really sweet."

"She is," James said and nodded.

They stood for a couple of minutes, looking into the wall with an empty gaze. At last James cleared his throat.

"We could go and light up the fire?"

Anna nodded and smiled suddenly. "Yeah. We could do that."

In the evening al the children gathered around the fireplace and each hung a brown sock at the mantelpiece. They each wore a name so they could tell the difference. Later James told the children another bedtime story which they loved just as much as the one the night before.