A/N- Again, all credit for the characters and locations go to the lovely JKR.
Her foot kicked something. Lily startled awake as she heard it hit the floor. Alice Lancaster, the only other person in the room jumped out of bed, fully aware of everything. Lily, on the other hand, was frozen in her bed. Alice made her way over to her roommates bed and picked up a small wrapped parcel from the ground.
"G'morning Lily. Merry Christmas. I'm going to find Frank." Alice grumbled as she grabbed her robe and left the room.
Opening the parcel that Alice had handed her, she found a silver heart necklace with a card from her Mum and Dad, telling her to have a nice Christmas. At least she was still on talking terms with her parents. She continued on into her presents to find a new quill, a new journal, and the latest book from her favorite Muggle author.
Lily got dressed in her favorite sweater and jeans, pulled her hair into a ponytail, and went down for breakfast. The meeting from the night before had almost completely been erased from her mind while she slept.
All of it had come rushing back when she entered the Great Hall. The few other kids that had come down early Christmas morning were all in a cheerful mood, talking about the same thing that she was noticing now.
James had outdone himself. The entire hall glittered as if it were covered in frost. It wasn't cold or slippery though, as Lily found out while making her way towards an empty table. The trees spun, and snow drifted down from the ceiling, melting before it touched the students' heads. A few younger kids from Hufflepuff came up and congratulated Lily on a job well done. Lily nodded and smiled, informing them that it had mostly been James Potter's work.
"Lily. We need to talk to you." Lily jumped at the sound of voices behind her. Turning, she saw Remus Lupin and Sirius Black sit down at her table. Sirius looked as if he'd had a bad night's sleep.
Sirius looked up at Lily as he sipped a goblet full of orange juice. "Prongs has been beating himself up all night, keeping us up, and we are assuming you're the reason. You were the last one to see him." Remus rolled his eyes at his friend and looked at Lily. Thinking for a moment, he spoke to her in a soft tone.
"Lily. Do these decorations have anything to do with it, would you think? Or maybe the fact that James kept repeating the words, 'I'm a stupid bloody git,' over and over again?" Remus shot me a knowing look as Sirius grinned.
She swallowed a piece of toast that had appeared on her plate. "James was a bloody git." Lily agreed with Remus.
"You forgot the stupid in the stupid bloody git," Sirius added. His eyes darted to the door and quickly back to the redhead, where he shot her a dazzling smile. James plopped into a seat beside her before he realised who the third companion at the table was. His hair was, as usual, untidy. His eyes, like Sirius and Remus' had dark circles underneath, which stared at the unusual guest.
"I see I'm late to the party." James spoke softly as his breakfast appeared. The four of them sat in silence and ate. Finishing her meal in record speed, Lily looked up at the two Marauders she wasn't mad at, and apologized for not being able to answer their question. Turning, she nearly made it to the doors before she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Lily." James' voice was low, and she could feel his breath on her neck, reminding her of last night.
"What is it Potter?" She sighed. Lily didn't want to deal with him again. James took her hand and led her out of the Hall and into an empty corridor. The only light the two could see by was the torch light. It almost gave James a scary look with his dark rimmed eyes and messy hair. The only thing stopping it from being scary was the sad expression on his face. She thought back to the night before, looking into his eyes and seeing the hopefulness as she leaned in closer.
"Last night," James started, bringing her back to the present. "Last night was amazing to me. I thought I'd finally gotten you after all these years. I was a jerk. I'm sorry." This would have shocked even Sirius, James' closest friend. James, in all of his years of teasing, had never apologized. "I know it doesn't make up for it, and I don't expect to get another chance, but here. I got you something." James held out a small box. Lily took it and put it in her pocket without looking at it.
James' eyes looked only slightly happier, but it made a difference. "Merry Christmas Red." Lily nodded at him.
"Merry Christmas Potter." With that, James turned back to the Great Hall and walked off with his hands in his pockets.