"Oh, is that James?" Luna asked, looking up from a pot of very strange flowers. About two seconds after she'd shipped off her request to spend Christmas with James and his family, Luna had sent a letter saying that James inviting her to Christmas at the Burrow was the best thing to happen to them since the defeat of Voldemort. Sierra still wasn't that thrilled at the possibility of more Weasley arguments, but she supposed that for James, she could handle them.
"No, mum," Lorcan said tiredly. "I think you're seeing things." He sighed, still looking out the window, his blue eyes drooping slightly. Sierra watched him with a tender smile on her face. She'd remembered how excited he'd been the night before, unable to sleep. He liked Lily Potter to the point that it scared her, because she worried that he was going to chase her like a lovesick puppy.
Then she had to scold herself for thinking like that, because she knew that she'd been just as excited, and just as unable to sleep, thinking about if James would like his present, or what the Burrow would be like, or whether there would be any pranks pulled.
"He said noon," Sierra's dad piped up. "It's only eleven fifty."
"And James is always late," Sierra added as an afterthought, trying to cheer up her brother. Really, she knew that she wouldn't be really worried until well after twelve thirty. Knowing her friend, he'd probably arrive at the latest possible time, full of stories and excuses. She smiled at the thought.
"Do we really have to do this?" Lysander asked from the kitchen table. He wasn't a fan of social gatherings, much less terribly large ones. At the moment, he was much more interested in his new wizard chess set that he'd opened up that morning.
"You haven't met Harry yet," Luna said. "I think that every young wizard should meet Harry Potter." Sierra laughed.
"Mum, if I'm correct, you sound rather infatuated." Both of her parents laughed.
"I'm scared, Sierra," her father said, "If James has gotten even you to start joking around, I don't want know if I want to know how bad he is." Sierra smiled, wondering what he'd do if he actually knew some of the things she'd been doing with her new friends.
"Oh, quit worrying Rolf," Luna piped in. "I'm sure that James is a nice, caring boy. He is our Sierra's future husband, after all."
"Mum," Sierra complained. "I don't think-" But she was interrupted by a sharp knocking on the door. With a smile, Lorcan hopped out of his seat yelling that he was coming, all the while in a dead sprint.
Then, when he tore the door open, his face fell.
"It's just you two," he said disappointedly.
"After making a comment like that, I'd watch what you eat from now on," Fred said darkly, strutting into the house like he owned it. James easily followed, and Sierra sprinted over to him, throwing her arms around him in a huge hug. Laughing, he spun her around.
"Miss me much?" he whispered into her ear. She beamed.
"It was actually quite serene without you around."
"Serenity my arse," he said, still softly enough that only she could hear him. She loved the way that his breath tickled her ear. "I'd say that blowing things up and causing chaos is more fun anytime. Oh, and just for the record, I did miss you.
"Okay, enough whispered confessions of undying love," Fred called out, promptly picking Sierra up and giving her a huge almost as big as James's. Leaning into her ear, he whispered, "That strange man is a git with a capitol "G". I'd stay away from him. Stick to the nice guys, like me."
Sierra took a step back.
"Do you want me to tell Brooke about that proposition?" He waved it off.
"Ah, I'm going old fashioned pureblood. As many wives as my heart desires. I'm sure that she won't mind."
"Oh, but I thought that she was going to marry James," Luna said, joining in the conversation. Sierra looked at James in horror, but to her relief, he just laughed it off.
"Not until after graduation, Mrs. Scamander. Don't rush things." Now it was Sierra's turn to blush. James put a hand on her shoulder. "What's the problem, luv? Scared?"
"Very," she answered as cheekily as she could.
"Well, you should be," he said, then looked back at Luna. "And I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier, Mrs. Scamander. James Potter, and that's Fred Weasley the Second. We're going to be your escorts today."
"Any injuries sustained along the way are going to be blamed on yourself and yourself alone. If there is blood, that's an extra ten dollars for traumatizing us, and possibly ruining out shoes and/or clothing…"
"I believe that covers everything. Oh, yeah. If you find our service unsatisfactory and decide to complain, we will feed you to the gnomes that inhabit the garden of the Burrow."
"Is that clear?" Fred asked. Sierra looked around to see how her family reacted to one of their tirades. Rolf looked slightly surprised, Luna had a dreamy smile on her face, Lysander frightened, and Lorcan like he thought it was the funniest thing in the world. Sierra herself was smiling. She really had missed the two of them.
"No Fred, I'm afraid that you have to repeat it," Sierra said. James rolled his eyes.
"We're going to be your escorts today. Any injuries sustained along the way are-"
"Can we just go?" James laughed, and then the five of them set off on the short walk to the Burrow, James and Fred flanking Sierra the entire way.
"Sierra!" a familiar voice yelled when she stepped into the Burrow behind James and Fred. Almost immediately Brooke came sprinting towards her in a flash of dark hair and desperate eyes. "I am so glad you came back. Fred-" she said, looking at him accusingly, "-left me here alone. With his crazy cousins and aunts and uncles."
Sierra looked at her in panic.
"They aren't that bad, are they?" But Brooke never even got a chance to answer, because a girl who looked about ten came sprinting up to Brooke. She was beautiful, with rich dark chocolate hair and latte-colored skin. Her dark eyes smiled up at Fred's girlfriend.
"Where'd you go?" she asked. "I was looking everywhere-" Fred cut in front of her and picked the girl up, throwing her over his shoulder.
"Come on Roxy, let's go find mum. Maybe she'll agree to let me lock you in the shed for the rest of the day."
"James, help me!" she screamed, but he completely ignored her. Instead, he looked at Brooke.
"She's kind of obsessed with you, isn't she?"
"Ugh, I swear. That girl is the most annoying little-"
"Brooke, you haven't happened to have seen Roxanne around here anywhere, have you?" George asked, pushing his way through the crowd.
"Fred just took her off to lock her in the shed out back," Brooke said with a smile. George let out his breath in a whoosh of air.
"Oh, thank Merlin. That girl has way too much energy. I was going to lock her up myself. Too much like her mum she is-"
"George Weasley! What did you just say?"
"Well-" James tapped Sierra's arm.
"This is when we run away," he whispered, taking her arm with one of his hands, and Brooke's with the other. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my dad. He isn't as terrifying as any of these-"
"Where in the hell is Dominique? I'm going to kill that bloody-" Louis Weasley, who Sierra recognized as the Head Boy from her third year, came stomping through the room, his unnaturally angelic face red with anger.
"Louis," James snapped. "Quit acting like a prat. There are guests."
"But she has my wand," he growled, then pushed past him like he wasn't even there. Sierra clutched onto his arm.
"I'm scared," she said, only half joking. He sighed.
"You get used to it," he said with a weak smile. Then his face lit up. "Okay, sanity," he said, pulling her over to a head of black hair identical to his own. Sierra felt her heartbeat quicken. Harry Potter. She was meeting the Boy Who Lived.
"Dad," James said, almost shouting to be heard above the background noise. "Dad," he tried again when his father didn't turn around.
"'Arry, where's 'Arry?" someone shouted in a French accent. Harry sighed and stood up, but James grabbed his arm.
"Make Bill do it!" he shouted at an amazingly beautiful witch who stuck her head out of the kitchen. "'Arry," he mocked, "is busy."
"I can help her-" Harry started, then saw Sierra, his lips curving into a smile. "Luna's daughter." She smiled, loving to be identified with her mother. That was one of the things that she took pride in, because she knew how amazing of a person that her mother had been.
"Yes," she said with her best smile. "And you are…?" Both he and James laughed.
"Ronald Weasley, at your service," he joked.
"Nice to meet you, Ronald," she said, holding out her hand. He shook it warmly, eyes twinkling. She felt herself relaxing. He really seemed to like her.
"Speaking of Ronald," a witch with curly chestnut hair muttered, brushing past them. Sierra watched cautiously as she approached one of the many heads of bright red hair and started chewing him out for forgetting to bring the wine. Then she turned back to Harry.
"Is there a problem with wrackspurts in this house? It seems as though everyone I've met has been acting rather…"
"Loud, obnoxious, noisy," James tried.
"Yes, all those."
Harry laughed. "I'll tell you a secret. It's not the wrackspurts, it's the Weasleys," he said. "You think this is bad, try being married to one of them."
"Hey, don't mentioning marrying Weasleys around her, or she'll go and chase Fred," James teased. She rolled her eyes.
"I rather think that Teddy is more my style. He does have the body of a god, you know." Harry gave her a strange look and James laughed.
"She's mocking your sweet little daughter."
"Oh, she's still not all on about that, is she?"
"Don't worry," James assured his father. "Sierra's brother is going to take care of that problem
"Perfect," he joked. "Having two Scamanders in the family will be nice."
"Thank goodness, James," Sierra said. "I thought only my mum talked like that."
"Nope. Dad's even worse," James whispered, taking her arm again and leading her away from his father. Sierra waved a good-bye, and Harry smiled back at her.
The two of them fought their way through the cramped house until they reached a staircase. James took her hand and led her up and away from the crowded lower level.
"If you don't mind, I find family gatherings a perfect place to work my magic," he said, pulling her through the first door they came to. She suddenly became hyperaware of the fact that they were very alone, standing inches apart. Her heartbeat quickened, and suddenly he looked very distracted. For a minute, they stood there and looked at each other, until he finally let out his breath in a whoosh of air that tickled her face before taking a small step back.
"I've got everything that we'll need to make this day completely memorable ready to go. Now, here's the plan." He leaned forward again, somewhat hesitantly, and started whispering every little detail of the pranks that he'd been working on. Fred already knew about all of them, so all that James needed to do was fill her in.
The first involved a charmed set of mistletoe that Fred had charmed to follow Lily. Sierra smiled as the leaves positioned themselves above the little redhead, who didn't even notice. But she knew someone who would.
"Lorcan," she whispered, thankful when she found the boy through crowds of people.
"Lysander," he said.
"You know, it's not so easy for you two to switch places now that he's so much scrawnier than you are." The boy smiled
"So you think I've got myself a nice body?"
"If I were you, I would get off that Quidditch team as quickly as possible. It seems as though James has put you under some kind of charm that makes you too much like him."
"Sierra, you know that I'm not the only who James has under his charms," he said. She made a face.
"Not like Lily has you under hers. Although I have no idea how you can compete with Teddy Lupin…"
"Sierra," he snapped. She shrugged.
"I don't know. She is looking pleasantly beautiful today. I think that she's even looking for you." His face lit up.
"Really?"
"Yes." Then he took off, Sierra following closely behind him. The second he saw Lily, his smile grew to almost James-sized proportions.
"Hey, Red," he said cockily. Sierra felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Teddy standing behind her.
"Your hair is very festive," she noted, taking in the Christmas green color.
"I try," he said with that wonderfully charismatic smile.
The two of them fell silent as they watched the scene play out between Lorcan and Lily.
"My name is Lily," she said roughly. His grin turned sweet, and he took a dramatic step closer.
"He's spent too much time around James, hasn't he?" Teddy asked her. Sierra nodded, still watching intently.
"That's what I told him."
"Okay, Lily," Lorcan said. "I hear you've been looking for me.
"Where did you hear that?" she snapped. His confidence didn't waver in the least.
"Sources. So, have you looked up lately?"
Her brow furrowed. "Have I looked up? What are you on about?"
"Oh, I don't know. Nothing really." Which, of course, made her look up. Her eyes widened in horror, but before she could react, Lorcan was already leaning in to kiss her. His lips barely touched hers before Fred let out a loud catcall, and Luna made a loud comment about how now all that had to happen was James and Sierra to get together.
"WHAT. WAS. THAT?" Lily shrieked the second the Lorcan broke away.
"I don't know, but you obviously liked it," he said smoothly. It was true, Sierra mused. Her eyes had even shut
"You just, you just…" her voice trailed off in obvious rage. By then, James had made his way over to Sierra with a smile on his face.
"Cute couple, huh?"
"I don't know," Sierra mused. "I liked her better with Teddy." The green-haired man simply laughed.
"Don't let Victoire hear that, or I'm afraid that there will be blood."
"Don't let Victoire know what?" another familiar voice asked. James shrugged.
"That he had a two year stint with my baby sister, and she still hasn't gotten over him, which is where that insane crush came from, and now that he saw her kiss Lorcan, he's insanely jealous and is going to leave you for her."
"Teddy," she said, sounding aghast. "Is this true?"
"Time to get out of here," James whispered in Sierra's ear. "They'll fake argue for a while, and then it turns into snogging, and then it just gets disgusting." Almost as if in response to that, the charmed mistletoe went from over Lily's head and settled above Teddy's. Sierra decided that she could do without watching what came next.
The two of them left that area and met up with Fred, at which point they continued on their trouble-making streak. Fleur was next, when James cast a spell on the seat of her dress that emitted farting noises whenever she sat down. That was one of Sierra's favorites, she realized, seeing the composed and delicate witch panicking and blushing in embarrassment.
Next was Percy Weasley, who in Fred's words, was the biggest tight arse he'd ever met. Sierra realized just how true that was when James turned his eyebrows blue and his hair orange, and he had a minor episode after he looked in the mirror.
"This is horrible!" he cried. "I look like a fool."
"Is there something wrong with being colorful?" Teddy asked loudly, which caused even more riotous laughter.
After that, there was the dung bombs under Molly Weasley's chair, which Fred proudly explained that his father and the original Fred Weasley had done to their Great Aunt Muriel many years ago. Then, of course, was the training of several rapidly transfigured spotlights on a snogging Ron and Hermione, followed by more spotlights on their daughter and one Scorpius Malfoy. Later, Albus grew a beard very quickly, Roxanne developed a compulsion to consume canary creams at inconvenient times, and Angelina threw up on George when he unknowingly fed her a puking pastille.
By that time, the mood in the house was chaotic. Sierra, Fred, and James were getting glares, along with a few high fives from the ones who still thought it was funny, including Harry, which thrilled Sierra to no end. Her own mother was smiling at her proudly, as though she wanted nothing more than to see her daughter having fun, no matter how said fun was taking place
Despite the few smiles, the majority of the crowd was extremely wary of them, especially Lucy, who Sierra vaguely recognized as a Gryffindor who'd graduated last year. She was Percy's daughter, and kept scolding the three of them for their 'horrible manners.'
"She's more of a tight arse than her dad," Fred said to Sierra when Molly walked away.
"Who, may I ask, are you talking about?" Percy asked from behind them, his hair and eyebrows now returned to normal. Sierra smiled up at him sweetly.
"Lucy. You wouldn't happen to know which one of you she belongs to, do you?" His eyes turned hard.
"Why, you…"
"Langlock," she said with a flick of her wand, then scurried away while a very red-faced Percy started throwing a minor tantrum.
"Cheeky," Fred told her with a grin. "I'll give you that."
"I've learned from the best," she said, and the two boys laughed, throwing their arms around her and walking away. Only moments later, Molly yelled that supper was ready, which James said ended the pranks for the day, but that was okay with Sierra, because she'd already had more fun than she could have imagined anyway.
The meal was an event in itself. With all of the children, and grandchildren, guests, nieces, nephews, and everyone else, there were over thirty people present. About half squeezed into the table, where everyone else just stood on the edges, holding their plates. Molly made a huge fuss about how sorry she was for it, but Sierra was plenty happy where she was, sitting in a corner with Brooke and James and Fred all around her.
The four of them laughed and joked the entire time they were eating, and Sierra would have been happy to stay there all night, but eventually everyone was finished eating, and Rolf called out to Sierra that they had to leave soon. When he heard that, James grabbed her hand and pulled her aside, into a small corner where people could still see them, but they could talk in relative private. She looked at him strangely, but didn't think anything of it.
"So, you're still alive," he said with a small laugh. She shrugged.
"Just barely. I wasn't sure I was going to make it, after Percy…"
"I still can't believe you did that. Did you see the look on his face? Priceless."
"He had it coming." The conversation died off for a moment or so, James studying the ground nervously, Sierra studying him carefully. Finally, he looked up.
"It looked like you were having fun."
"I was."
"Good." Another few moments of silence. He ran his hand through his hair, making sure to look anywhere but at her. After a few more seconds, he was finally able to speak.
"I- I got you a Christmas present." Sierra smiled at him.
"I got you one too."
"Really?" he asked, his eyes lighting up like he was a little kid and opening Christmas presents was still the highlight of the year. She nodded and reached into her pocket before pulling out a small silver locket.
"It was charmed by Albus Dumbledore," she said while he studied it.
"Charmed to do…?" She smiled mischievously.
"It'll opens locked doors, even ones that usually need a password." He smiled like he was mad again.
"So you're saying that I can sneak into the Ravenclaw's girl's dormitories at night?" he asked. She made a face at him.
"If you wish to, I suppose." He laughed, and then wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.
"It's perfect."
"Yeah, I know." He rolled his eyes at her, then took her hand and started pulling her to the door."
"Come on, I still have to show you your present," he said. "Well, if we can fit that ego of yours through the door."
"I don't know if you should be talking."
"I don't have an ego, per se, but rather attractive confidence." He opened the door with his free hand, leading Sierra out into the chilly night air.
Snow fell lightly from the sky, barely even dusting the already blanketed ground. Sierra noticed how everything sparkled in the moonlight, giving the yard a rather surreal appearance. It was one of the most beautiful sights she'd ever seen.
Then James spoke, and the beauty seemed to shatter. Or at least the heavenly, ethereal kind. But when Sierra thought about it, everything that James said and did had a kind of beauty to it too. Like it was interwoven with laughter and smiles.
She decided that she liked that kind even better than the sparkling snow kind.
"Okay, Sierra. If you don't like it, hell, if you hate it, you'd better at least pretend to like it, otherwise it's the last gift that I'm ever giving you."
"We'll see." He stopped.
"Nope, if you can't promise me, then I won't hand it over."
"Okay, okay." She smiled. "I promise." James grinned and grabbed her hand again, and the two of them continued trudging through the snow until they came to a small wooden shed with a rickety old door that didn't shut all the way.
"Stay here and close your eyes," he ordered her. She hesitated. If James Potter told you to close your eyes, listening to him almost always resulted in some form of embarrassment or bodily harm. "Oh, don't give me that look. I don't prank my partners in crime. Have you ever seen Fred or I do a single thing to each other?"
"Well, no. But-"
"See, now shut your eyes. If I do one thing wrong, I grant you permission to hex me later." She sighed.
"Fine." And very slowly, peeking at him until the last possible second, she did close them. For a moment she couldn't hear him move, then there was a second of crunching snow, and a creak that she guessed came from the rusty old hinges on the door. A few things were shuffled around, and the hinges squeaked again. She heard James slam the door shut, more snow crunching under his feet, and then his hands were on her shoulders.
"Eyes still closed?"
"Yes." She felt him shift around so that he was behind her, close enough that his warm breaths tickled her ear.
"You can open them now."
What she saw when she did absolutely floored her. There, sitting in front of her, was the newest version of Firebolt. A midnight blue ribbon was tied around the stick in a perfect bow. Her jaw about hit the ground.
"Don't gape. You'll attract flies," James said, and she could hear the smile in his voice.
"I- I-" she tried, but her mouth couldn't form words. She knew how expensive broomsticks were, and this was one of the best that money could buy. Why would he do that for her? She knew they were friends, but if he bought her something like that…. Did he really care that much?"
"How about a thank you, or a hug, or maybe some clapping and squealing?" She shook her head, not completely comprehending that the broomstick was hers.
"You're unbelievable," she finally breathed.
"In a good way, or a bad way?"
"Good," she whispered, and she felt him draw her closer to his chest. "Very good."
"So you like it?"
"Of course I do," she said. "But it is rather strange that you would get something like that for me. Why would you do that?"
"Because, I really, really like you. And actually, if you don't mind, I'd say that this is enough talking for now, because at the moment, I kinda want to kiss you," he said with one of his crazy smiles, his eyes gently asking for her to comply. He looked so cute that Sierra could hardly stop herself from walking over and snogging him senseless. But that wouldn't work. It just… she just felt like all of this was a dream, and didn't want to shatter it by doing something stupid.
"Sierra?" he asked expectantly. She swallowed, but slowly took a step closer. That was all James needed to see. He moved towards her, so that they were only inches apart, and very gently put a big, warm hand under her chin and tilted it up so that she was looking straight into his bright, emerald eyes.
"Please don't be too upset with me for this," he muttered, and before she could do anything else, he slanted his lips against hers.
"For the briefest moment, she hesitated, but as soon as she felt how soft, how warm his lips were, she melted under his touch and started kissing him back. It was her first kiss ever, but some part of her knew that it'd always be the best. She knew that she'd never feel anything like it ever again. The way that he smelled like pine trees, and how his breath tasted like peppermints. How gentle and sweet he was, and how it was somehow so much more than just a kiss.
"Oh my god!" a girl with a very high pitched voice screamed. James pulled back just slightly, but still close enough that she could feel his warm breath on her face. Sierra grumbled in her head, cursing whoever it was.
"That little fart," James growled under his breath.
"Mum, dad, get out here! Look, look!" Sierra sighed and took another step back, craning her head to see whose bag she'd spike with one of the special potions James always carried around. It was Roxanne. Of course, it just had to be Fred's little sister.
"Roxy, what are you-" Angelina broke off when she saw the two of them, standing not a foot apart. "Get back inside, Roxanne. You should leave them alone."
"Nah, we're good," James called. "I was just… uh, giving her a Christmas present."
"Yeah, right," Roxy sing-songed
"Roxy," Angelina urged.
"Don't worry," James said again, putting his arm around Sierra's waist. "Her mum probably wants to leave anyway."
That finally seemed to satisfy Angelina, and she smiled thankfully before pulling Roxy back inside. James quickly picked up Sierra's new Firebolt, and then the two of them headed back to the Burrow.