A/N: Thanks for reading the last one-shot. I hope you enjoy this one.
By the way, Peter has been kicked out of (most of) these, because I don't like him. I know that bugs a lot of people but, *shrug*.
12 Days of Christmas
Lily Evans woke up to a flurry of snow one Monday in December, the chill in the air more obvious than usual. She snuggled under her covers for a few minutes, enjoying the warmth and dreading the cold shock she would receive when she got up to get ready for classes. Finally, she couldn't stay in bed any longer without the risk of missing breakfast and being late to class. She pushed the covers back and hurried over to her wardrobe, thankful that the Head Girl's room had been carpeted. She could only imagine how cold the stone floor felt, even through a pair of woolen socks.
After changing into her uniform and Hogwarts robes, Lily went out to the common room that she shared with the Hogwarts Head Boy, James Potter. In the past, the two of them had not gotten along well; Lily had found James extremely obnoxious and childish, even though James had claimed to be in love with her for six years and never seemed to leave her alone. Having to work together as Head Boy and Girl meant that they had to get along, and eventually they did. By mid-October, they got along as well as they could without truly being friends.
On her way out of her room, Lily almost stepped on a small box sitting on the floor in front of her door. Confused, she bent down to pick it up. The box was covered in red paper and tied with a green bow, with a tag that had her name on it. It was odd, because Christmas was still almost two weeks away. She considered waiting to open it, but curiosity got the better of her, and she pulled the lid off. Inside were twelve small chocolate hearts, each with a small lily engraved on the face of them.
Picking up one of the hearts, Lily popped the chocolate in her mouth. It was rich and delicious; the perfect kind of chocolate. "But I wonder who sent it?"
"Sent what?" James Potter was standing in the doorway to his own bedroom, watching her. His jet-black hair was a mess, as always, and his glasses were a little crooked.
"These chocolate hearts," Lily said, holding the box up. James crossed the room to examine it, peering at the lumps of chocolate through his glasses.
"Looks like someone has a secret admirer," he teased with a grin.
"How did they get it in here?" Lily asked. "No one knows the password except us, right?"
"And Alice, and Marlene, and Frank, and Sirius, and Remus," James said, ticking off the names of their friends on his hands. He shrugged, and added, "Anyone could have asked one of the house elves to drop it off, they're not hard to persuade. They're pleased to do whatever they can to help us, really."
Lily looked down at the chocolates again, and repeated, "I wonder who sent it."
James shrugged. "Coming to breakfast? I'm starved."
"You're always hungry," Lily said with a laugh. "Let's go, I'm sure Alice and Marlene are already down there, wondering where in the world I could be."
The two of them hurried down to the Great Hall and sat down with their waiting friends. James and his best friends, Sirius and Remus, often sat beside Alice, Marlene, Frank, and Lily. Even though they often chatted together, there was an obvious line between the two groups. Lily took her seat next to Marlene while James sat beside her, across from Sirius and Remus. As Lily filled her plate and was beginning to cut her sausages, James said, "Lily's got a secret admirer. Someone sent her chocolate."
"Really?" Alice asked, looking delighted. "That's so sweet!"
"Or a little weird," Marlene said, taking a bite of eggs.
Lily thought for a moment, then said, "A bit of both, really. I just want to know who sent it so I can discourage them."
"What if he's cute?" Alice asked.
Lily shrugged. "I have school to worry about."
Marlene made a face. "Oh please. You're the smartest person in our year. You have plenty of time for a boyfriend on top of homework, if anyone does. Alice and Frank are dating, and they still get all their homework done."
Lily didn't answer, but went back to eating her breakfast. James nudged her and said, "Maybe she's just embarrassed because she's never had a boyfriend before."
Lily flushed bright red. "I have so! And I'm not embarrassed."
"Oh really?" Sirius jumped in with a wolfish grin. He liked teasing Lily, because she got so angry. "When did you have this boyfriend? Because I don't seem to remember you ever dating any of the boys at this school."
Lily turned a brighter red, her skin almost the same color as her fiery locks. "It was over the summer, before sixth year," she muttered.
"And what happened?" Sirius asked, clearly enjoying himself.
Lily gave a noncommittal shrug. "I had to come to Hogwarts for almost nine months, and he found someone else to date."
"You're lying," Sirius said, examining her face carefully.
"I am not!" Lily cried, looking ready to hex him.
"Leave her alone, Padfoot," James advised, recognizing the look. "She's going to turn you into a flobberworm if you're not careful."
"I don't need your help," Lily shot at him, frustrated that she had to rely on James to get Sirius to stop teasing her.
"Of course not," James said, turning back to his own breakfast.
After classes that night, James and Lily sat together in their common room, doing homework quietly. James, who was much better at Transfiguration than Lily was, helped her master a spell they had been working on in class. In turn, Lily helped James complete his Charms assignment, which he was no good at. This was the time when they seemed to get along best—when no one else was around. When they had completed both assignments, Lily got to her feet and stretched. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, James."
"Night, Lily," he said, getting up as well. He put his school things away and disappeared into his room. Lily did the same, and changed into her warmest pair of pajamas before turning the light out and crawling into bed. She stared at the ceiling for a while, wondering again about who had sent her the chocolate hearts. She fell asleep thinking about the present.
. . .
The next morning when Lily woke up, she dressed quickly and was on her way down to the Great Hall when she found another box waiting in front of her bedroom door. She scooped it up and pulled the lid off. Inside were miniature Pumpkin Pasties. After counting them out, she discovered that there were eleven. This second present made her thoughts whirl, because how many people knew that Pumpkin Pasties were her favorite? She realized that her admirer knew her better than she thought.
Down in the Great Hall, Alice and Marlene were waiting for her, but none of the boys had made it downstairs yet. Lily was grateful that James and Sirius weren't around to tease her again, and she told her friends about the second gift. "I wonder who they're from," Lily said.
"Maybe they're from James," Alice said. "He still likes you, you know."
"What?" Lily asked, surprised. "No he doesn't. He got over that, because I told him that I wasn't interested."
Marlene and Alice exchanged looks, and Marlene shook her head. "Lily," she said slowly, "James didn't get over it. He's still really into you."
Lily reviewed all their recent encounters in her head, but didn't come up with anything suspicious. "I really don't think James likes me anymore. He doesn't act like he used to."
"Because he's gotten more mature," Alice informed her. "Besides, Lily, you'd be the last to realize if a boy liked you."
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Lily demanded.
Alice didn't say anything else, but she and Marlene exchanged knowing looks again.
. . .
On the third morning, the box that Lily found in front of her door contained ten Christmas cookies, a variety of trees, bells, mistletoe, and other holiday shapes. They turned out to be quite delicious, which confused Lily even further. None of the boys she could think of even knew how to turn an oven on, let alone bake her a batch of cookies.
"More presents?" came James' voice.
"Yes," Lily answered. "But I still don't know who they're from."
"Doesn't not knowing make it more fun?" he asked.
"No," Lily said irritably. "I want to know who's sending me these presents." Really, she found the presents a little annoying – she didn't have time to deal with some annoying boy who had a crush on her. If he was anything like what she'd had to deal with when James had liked her for six years, she didn't want to have anything to do with him.
. . .
On the fourth morning came a box of butterflies – live butterflies. When Lily pulled the lid off, nine brightly colored butterflies fluttered into the air, leaving trails of glitter in their wake. For the first time, Lily liked her present. The butterflies danced across the room, creating beautiful patterns with their glitter trails. Perhaps her secret admirer wasn't as annoying as she'd thought.
Alice sighed happily when Lily told them about the fourth present. "How romantic!" she said. Then she turned on Frank and asked, "Why don't you do anything like that for me?"
"I don't know where to find magic butterflies," he said, holding his hands up as if to ward off an attack. "Besides, I already have your Christmas present planned out."
"Alright," Alice relented, before returning her attention to Lily. "I wonder if he'll ever tell you who he is?"
"Maybe," Lily shrugged. But when she thought about the butterflies, which had disappeared after an hour, she decided that maybe she didn't want to know after all.
. . .
On the fifth morning, the box that she found contained eight small rolls of paper. On each paper was a different poem, each describing her admirer's feelings for her. Each poem made Lily's stomach do a flip, and she found herself echoing Alice in her head. How sweet.
When she told Marlene and Alice about the poems, she refused to read them. Lily felt possessive and didn't want to share them, but keep between her and whoever had sent them. Marlene gave up after a few minutes, and Alice begged, but to no avail. After finishing her homework that night, Lily laid on her bed and read the poems over again. Her favorite poem read
Lives are for living and I live for you.
Dreams are for dreaming and I dream for you.
Hearts are for beating and mine beats for you.
Angels are for keeping. Can I keep you?
. . .
The sixth box held seven hand-woven bracelets in it. Despite the fact that they weren't very well made, Lily loved them. Like the chocolates, each had a flower at the center, but instead of lilies, the bracelets had yellow daisies; Lily's favorite flower. Daisies reminded her of tiny suns and never failed to cheer Lily up. But when had her favorite flower ever come up in conversation with anyone other than her friends?
Lily picked a green one and tied it around her wrist before going down to breakfast. She didn't say anything about her gift, and neither Alice nor Marlene noticed the bracelet until they got to Charms, their second morning class.
"Is that from your boyfriend?" Marlene asked, pointing to it.
"He not my boyfriend," Lily said defensively, yet her cheeks burned brightly. "I don't even know who he is."
"But it's from him, right?" Alice said, stepping over to look at it. "It's cute!"
"He needs to work on his weaving, though," Marlene said.
"I think it's fine," Lily said defensively, pulling her arm away. Her feelings about her admirer had changed so much in just a few days, and Lily's heart beat increased whenever she thought about him. She spent the rest of the day wondering what he looked like and if she would like him back. He really seemed to know her, and the thought of a boy going to all the trouble to learn all her favorite things pleased her.
. . .
The seventh gift was a little different. Instead of a box, Lily found a red vase with six beautiful glass roses in it. She pulled one out and turned it every which way, awed. They must have taken a lot of work, as this sort of magic was advanced even for seventh year students. She picked the vase up and put the roses on her nightstand, stepping back to admire them before she went down for breakfast.
After eating, Lily brought Marlene and Alice to her room so they could see the roses. Even Marlene couldn't help letting out a small sigh when she saw them. "They're beautiful," she admitted. "And they won't die, so you'll be able to keep them as long as you like."
After crawling into bed that night, Lily stared at her roses until she fell asleep.
. . .
Her eighth present included five pairs of earrings: hearts, daisies, stars, squares, and just plain studs. They all seemed to be made of diamond, but she couldn't imagine someone getting her five pairs of real diamond earrings. She put the stars on, and went to the Gryffindor tower to wake Alice and Marlene up. On Sundays, everyone usually slept in, but Lily was usually up before either of her friends. They complimented her earrings immediately, and Alice complained that Frank had better be getting her something amazing.
"I'm sure he will," Lily said soothingly. "He loves you a lot, Alice."
"Besides, it's the thought that counts. Whatever he's getting you is from his heart, even if he isn't showering you with presents like Lily's admirer."
"I know," Alice admitted. "But it's a little hard not to be jealous."
"You might not be as jealous when we find out who it is," Lily joked. She was a little afraid that whoever had been giving her the gifts would turn out to be someone that she just couldn't have feelings for. But then she thought of what Alice and Marlene had told her. Maybe it was James after all. She could return his feelings easily, she was beginning to think.
. . .
The next morning brought disappointment, because there was no box waiting for her when she got up. When she and James walked back to their common room together after dinner, however, the box was waiting for her. James sat down on the couch and watched her open it. This one contained four small stuffed animals—two deer and two lions. There was a stag and a doe, and a lion and lioness. The lions were obviously because she was in Gryffindor, but Lily didn't understand the deer.
"I'm going to go find Alice and Marlene," she told James, intending to ask them their opinion on the stuffed animals. They didn't have any more ideas than she did.
"They're little couples," Alice said, sitting the stag and doe beside each other. "It's really cute. He's obviously trying to tell you that he wants you to be his girlfriend."
"I think he made that obvious a week ago," Marlene said.
"Just three more days," Alice said. "Are you nervous?"
"A bit," Lily answered. "What if he doesn't tell me who he is? What if I don't like him?"
"Don't worry," Marlene said. "I'm sure you'll like him just fine."
At her words, Lily's thoughts turned to James.
. . .
The tenth present went along with the sixth. Another vase was waiting for her when she woke up, this one with three silver lilies in it. Lily took the flowers and arranged them in the vase with the glass roses. They looked nice together, but Lily began to worry again about who her admirer was. She just couldn't seem to stop.
Since break had begun, Lily, Alice, and Marlene spent the day relaxing and discussing what Lily's final two presents might be.
"Maybe he'll give you a kitten," Alice said.
Marlene shook her head. "Pets are not good presents. What if Lily was allergic to cats?"
"He knows everything about her, so he'd know if she were allergic to cats. You're not, are you?" she added to Lily.
"No, I'm not allergic to cats. But I don't think I'd want a kitten," Lily said with a smile.
"Who's getting a kitten?" Sirius asked, passing by their seats in the Gryffindor common room to join James and Remus in the corner.
"No one, nosy," Marlene said. "We're just talking about Lily's admirer."
"Oh," Sirius said. "Pets don't make good presents."
"That's exactly what I said."
"I think we're all agreed," Lily laughed, watching James from the corner of her eye. "No kittens."
. . .
On the eleventh day, Lily decided that she had found her favorite present. Inside the box, this one purple with a blue ribbon, were two silver necklaces. One necklace had a key charm, while the other had a lock charm. Lily had only thought they were pretty, until had Alice pointed out their meaning.
"Isn't it obvious?" she asked. "He's telling you that you've got the key to his heart."
"Doesn't that seem a little cheesy?" Marlene said, frowning.
"Yes," Lily said. "Definitely cheesy. But incredibly sweet, all the same." She put the lock necklace back in its case, but clasped the key necklace around her neck.
"Tomorrow is it," Alice said, rubbing her hands together excitedly. "Come see us as soon as you find out."
"Alright," Lily said. Her stomach twisted with nerves as she imagined what tomorrow would hold.
. . .
On Christmas morning, Lily woke early and her stomach flipped excitedly. No amount of bad thoughts would be able to taint the excitement of finally discovering who her secret admirer was. When she went out into the common room where her presents were waiting, she saw that James was already up, and had waited for her before opening presents.
"Merry Christmas," he said.
"Merry Christmas," Lily answered. "Have you seen one of those boxes-"
Before she had finished, James picked up a box like the ones she had been receiving and handed it to her. Like the first box, this one had a tag on it. But this time, it had two names on it. To Lily, from James. Her conversation with Alice and Marlene returned to her, and somehow she wasn't surprised.
"So it was you," Lily said, looking up from the tag. "Alice suspected."
James smiled. "I'm surprised she didn't know, actually. Frank's not good at keeping secrets from her."
"Frank?" Lily asked, slightly confused.
James nodded. "I had to ask him for a little help, since you ignored me for six years." There was silence, but then he continued, "You liked everything, then?"
"The presents were great," Lily said. "You're pretty good at pretending. You acted surprised when I found the box of chocolates."
James grinned and said, "It would have spoiled all my fun if you had known from the start that it was me."
"I had a feeling, after what Alice and Marlene told me."
"But you didn't know for sure."
"No," Lily agreed. "But I do now."
"And how do you feel about that?" he asked, a little nervously.
"I'm glad." Lily smiled.
"Really?" James looked surprised.
"You've been so different this year, and these presents made me realize that you really do care for me. I used to think that you only liked me because I hated you, and then it seemed like you didn't care anymore. I've never had anyone do something so sweet for me before. It would be hard for me to say that I don't like you after all that. It helps that you're not constantly annoying me like you used to."
"So, to put it briefly, you do like me?"
"You're so thick sometimes," she laughed.
James nodded at the box in her hands. "Are you going to open it?"
Lily pulled the lid off the box and pulled out a tiny plant. "Mistletoe?"
"Mistletoe," he echoed. He took the box from her and put it on the couch, then grabbed the mistletoe and raised it above their heads. "You know the rules."
"You're such an idiot," Lily said, rolling her eyes, but she leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss. This, however, wasn't enough for James. He put his free arm around her waist and pulled her in for a longer one. Lily protested for a moment, but quickly gave up and slipped her arms around his neck. The mistletoe fell to the floor but neither one of them cared. When they broke apart, James grinned. "Merry Christmas, Lily," he said, brushing a strand of hair from her face.
"Merry Christmas, James."
A/N: I'm not above begging, soo… Please please please please PLEASE leave me a review and make my day? Please?
The poem seen here does not belong to me. I suck at poetry, and I borrowed one off the internet.