Disclaimer: The usual
Vase
"Hey Lils, have you seen the massive package we received today?" James asked as he walked into the living room holding a huge box.
"No, what is it?" Lily replied.
"I dunno I haven't looked at the tag…" James' brow furrowed as he read the tag that came with the present.
"What does it say? Who is it from?" Lily asked.
"Uhh….it says, Congratulations, I'm sure my nephew will be a freak, just like you. Oops, maybe I shouldn't have read that out…" James said apologetically.
Lily sighed. "Petunia? That's actually not very insulting, coming from her. Believe me James, I've heard far worse."
James looked shocked. "You have? That's not very nice!"
"It doesn't matter, James. Why don't we see what my lovely sister sent us?" Lily said.
"Are you sure you want to open it?" James asked apprehensively. "What if it turned out to be Bubotuber pus in a box?"
Lily laughed. "James, you're forgetting something. Petunia is a muggle. I don't think she has access to Bubotuber pus."
James joined in Lily's laughter. "Okay, so I forgot. Let's open the present then! Look Harry, your aunt Petunia sent us something!"
Harry just laughed at his dad and held his arms up to be carried. "Okay, okay, let's play the aeroplane game!" James said while holding Harry above his head. Lily smiled at the two as she unwrapped the present to find a huge vase.
A huge ugly vase.
Lily wasn't sure she had seen anything so hideous. James took one glance at it and said, "Merlin's beard! What on earth is that! Is she trying to give us a heart attack or something?"
Lily blinked, not quite sure how to describe the vase. It was set in autumn colours, mainly yellow, with flowers on the side. Except the flowers looked nothing like flowers, and from far away, Lily felt like she was looking at cells through a microscope. The greens, oranges and reds that splattered the whole vase made it look even creepier; Lily was sure she was going to have nightmares from the thing.
"What are we going to do with it?" James asked.
"Use it, I guess?" Lily said. She didn't really want to, but after all, her sister had sent it to congratulate the birth of Harry…
"Do we have to? I mean, it's a little… ghastly, don't you think?" James asked timidly; he didn't want to offend Lily, it was a present from Petunia after all.
Lily laughed. "Ghastly is about right, I reckon. We can always just put it in the corner or something, just so it looks like we're using it, yeh?"
James was about to reply when Harry let out a huge cry. Apparently, he had just seen the vase, and, terrified, had broken out in tears.
"Oh Harry, it's okay, look, this vase is going in the corner, you don't even have to look at it!" Lily said soothingly as she placed the vase in the corner, flowers facing the wall. Now no one had to look at the 'cells'.
James chuckled. Looked like even little Harry disapproved of his aunt's present.
A/N: And we all know what happened to the vase! But that's another story ~ Thanks to tasha27 for beta-ing this and for everyone who reviewed!!
