An Eventful Holiday Season (part one)
It was the day after Boxing Day, and was surprisingly warm. The sun peeped through the clouds, shining down, melting any snow that had settled the week before. James, Sirius and Remus were waiting at James' house for their friends to arrive.
Sirius had spent the entire Christmas holidays at the Potters', as he was no longer welcome at his own home. Remus had spent the majority of the holidays at his own house, but had come to James' to spend the rest of the time there with his friends. Peter had only been in touch with them once, to say that he had gone abroad for the Christmas holidays.
Sirius was fidgeting restlessly.
"What's taking them all so long? Are they coming by Floo Powder?" he groaned.
"Shut up moaning, Sirius, they'll be here," Remus said.
"And yes, they're coming by Floo Powder," James added.
Suddenly there was a whoosh of green flames in the fireplace, and William stumbled out of the fire.
"Hey guys!" He grinned, dusting himself off. "It was good of you to invite me here – we don't know each other all that well."
"Well, you're a laugh, and you and Carmen –"
But Sirius was interrupted, as the fireplace became green once again, and Dominic appeared, followed by, a few seconds later, Carmen, who tripped and fell on the floor.
"Will!" she said, surprised, as she looked up at him. "I didn't expect to see you here!"
William laughed and helped her up off the floor, wiping some soot off her shoulders.
"Well, James asked me just after we said goodbye, so, here I am!"
"I didn't know you guys were good friends," Carmen said, putting her overnight bag on the floor.
"Well, we're not really, but since you two are going out, I thought we should get to know each other," James explained, taking everyone's stuff and putting it into a spare room near the fireplace.
William and Carmen immediately stared at each other. William flushed, and looked embarrassed, while Carmen laughed, her cheeks blushing faintly.
"William and I aren't going out! What would make you think that?"
James' eyes widened.
"Oh. Sorry, I just assumed –"he began.
"Good one," Remus and Sirius murmured.
He trailed off, and an awkward silence spread over them. Thankfully, it was broken, as Sarah emerged in the fireplace.
"Hey everyone," she said, putting her things down to kiss Dom and wave to everyone.
"What's going on?" she asked.
Everyone instantly began talking at once.
"Nothing!"
"I'll just put your stuff in here."
"So how was your Christmas?"
Sarah frowned slightly as she was bombarded with questions.
"Er, yeah, it was great, thanks."
"Why do I show you where you will all be sleeping, yeah? Okay," James said, quickly directing them up the stairs, sharing a worried glance with Remus.
All the guests were in their rooms, getting ready to enjoy the unusual warmth by going swimming in James' outdoor pool. James' mother and father had greeted everyone and insisted on showing them all around the house, much to James' embarrassment. The Potters' house was absolutely enormous, with three floors and almost too many bedrooms and bathrooms to count. The grounds were spectacular, containing a rather large magically heated swimming pool and enough space for a large game of quidditch.
Carmen sat on the edge of her bed in the room she had been allocated, pulling a top on over her swimsuit when she heard a tentative knock at her door.
"Come in."
William poked his head round the door, and smiled at her hesitantly.
"Hey. I thought I would come and apologise about before -"he said, smiling sheepishly.
"Hey, no, don't worry about it! Why should you apologise? Look, it was a bit awkward but it's fine. Right?" Carmen replied, looking at him for reassurance.
He nodded. She could have sworn she saw his smile falter somewhat, but brushed it off.
"So, you looking forward to swimming?" she asked him. A change of subject seemed necessary.
"Oh yeah, I love swimming," he said, his mood lifting.
"Great, I do too! Hey, do you know why Peter isn't here?" she said.
"Apparently he went abroad somewhere."
"Oh yes, I remember Remus telling me, I think he –"she stopped suddenly, looking at the window.
William followed the direction of her gaze, and saw a handsome looking owl perching on the outside windowsill, an envelope in its beak. Carmen got up and opened the window, taking the letter from its grasp. The bird hooted and took flight once again.
William watched as she opened the letter, as her eyes scanned the writing her face lit up, and her mouth spread into a grin.
"What is it?" William asked.
Carmen didn't respond. She seemed to have forgotten that anyone was in the room.
"Carmen?"
"What? Oh, it's a reply from my friend Phil, he wanted to know if I wanted to meet with him for lunch today, as he lives near James," she said without looking up.
"Oh. So, are you going to go?" He asked trying to act casual.
"Yes, of course! I've been looking forward to meeting up with him all holiday - he is so cute!" she said giggling, and rushed out of the room to find Sarah and Lily.
William sighed. He was about to walk out of the room when he noticed something poking out of her coat, which was hung on the door handle. Looking closer he saw it was the present he had bought her, still unopened. He looked away, dejected, and walked out of the room.
James and Lily were in the pool waiting for everyone to join them. They were very much enjoying each other's company, as they had not had any time alone since the Christmas Ball.
"You know what, you look so gorgeous in that little swimsuit thing," James mentioned, pulling Lily closer so he could wrap his arms around her.
"Really? Ah, well thanks. You know, you don't look half bad either. Actually, you look pretty good," she said, placing her arms on his shoulders and giving him a kiss.
"I missed you, while you were in the Hospital Wing and during the holidays," said James seriously.
"I missed you to. I'm glad everyone is taking so long getting ready."
James grinned. He opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and closed it again. Changing his mind again, he put his hand under Lily's chin and lifted her face so she was looking directly at him.
"I have something I've been wanting to tell you for a little while," said, looking at her nervously.
Lily noticed his anxious look and frowned.
"What? What is it? Is it bad?" she asked, getting worried.
"No! No, not at all!" he said, laughing. Lily smiled, relieved.
"Then, what is it?"
James took a deep breath, and looked straight into her eyes so she knew he was being completely serious.
"I love you."
Lily gaped at him, speechless. She didn't say a word, but merely blinked at him.
"Uh, please say something," said James, waiting for some sort of response.
"I-I, a-are you sure?" she whispered.
"Never been surer about anything."
"I uh, I-I," she stammered. "I don't know what to say."
James looked at her a little disappointedly. He had a feeling she wouldn't be able to say it back.
"Thank you would suffice," James smiled teasingly.
Lily chuckled.
"Yes, of course. Thank you, James. Nobody has ever said that to me, and it's the most amazing thing to hear – I just-I can't say it back," she replied honestly.
"I didn't think you would. I just wanted to tell you – I had to tell you really. I don't mind that you don't love me."
Lily gazed at him, a guilty expression on her face.
"It sounds so awful when you put it like that! I'm sorry, James," she said hugging him, thinking carefully. After a moment, she added, "Don't take it to mean I never will, though."
James looked up at her, surprised.
"Really?"
Lily kissed him fiercely, putting as much feeling into the kiss as was possible, and running her fingers through his wet hair.
"Is that a good enough answer for you?" she questioned, pulling away from him.
"That was a very good answer," James grinned. "Only, it was rather short – I was kind of hoping for more of a nice, in depth, thorough answer. You know - one that takes a long time to finish-" he was cut off when he felt Lily lips on his own, kissing him passionately.
He lost himself in her kiss, and felt the pool wall hit his back as Lily pressed herself against his body, wrapping her arms tightly around him. Faintly, as though from a great distance away, he heard some noise and he and Lily broke apart.
"Jeez at last, thought you guys had gone deaf on us," Sirius joked.
Remus, Dom and Sarah stood at the edge of the swimming pool, staring at them, smirking.
"Why am I always present when you two decide to have a heavy make-out session?" Sarah said, her hands on her hips.
The couple blushed, and as Lily attempted to move further away from him he pulled her back into his arms.
"Don't be embarrassed – it's only those guys – it's not like it was my parents," James whispered in her ear, making Lily's cheeks redden even more, but she put her arm round him nonetheless.
Sirius and Remus jumped into the pool, sending a huge wave of water at Dom and Sarah, launching the latter into a fit of squeals. Laughing, Dom picked her up, despite a big struggle, and threw her, screaming, into the pool, resulting in a big round of applause from the boys and a glaring Sarah as she emerged from the water, her brown hair plastered to her face.
"You. Are. Dead," she said.
"You know, that would be a whole lot more believable if you weren't trying so hard not to smile," Dom pointed out, winking.
Sarah couldn't help smiling. Dom's grin, however, wavered, as something behind him gave him a big shove, and he fell, with a yelp, into the water. He came to the surface to find a smug looking Carmen standing at the pool edge.
"Don't act too cocky, mister," she warned, as the girls whooped in victory. He stuck out his tongue at her.
"Why aren't you in your swimming stuff?" Lily asked.
"That's what I was going to tell you, before it became necessary for me to finish off another task," she said, raising her eyebrows rather pointedly at Dom, who rolled his eyes in response.
"I've been asked out to lunch by Phil, so I was wondering if you guys would mind terribly if I went for a couple of hours – he lives relatively near here, and it would just be in the village," Carmen explained, looking at them all hopefully.
"Yeah, sure." James said. Carmen beamed, and jumped on the spot.
"Phil? Phil, who?" asked Dom, suddenly looking sternly at her.
"Dom! His name is Phillip Hughes. He's just a boy from our year – look, stop acting all protective and older-brotherly, it's just lunch!" Carmen said.
"Hmmm. Alright, fine, I'm sorry. Go have fun, then,"
"Great! Thanks you guys. Right I'll see you later." And with that, she skipped off to meet Phillip.
The day passed by, and, what with splashing around in the pool, and having a laugh playing hide and seek, they were too busy to notice the time fly by. Before they knew it, it was time for dinner. Carmen had come home from her date just ten minutes earlier, and was excited to tell everyone about it. They all sat down at the dining table, and began to eat the delicious meal Mrs Potter had cooked for them.
"So, how was it?" Sarah asked, her and Lily leaning in to hear all the details.
"It was fantastic! We had lunch at this really nice little café, and he insisted on paying for it all!" she said, earning squeals of excitement from Lily and Sarah.
"What are you squeaking about?" Sirius asked through a mouthful of mashed potato, frowning.
"Carmen was just telling us about her date," Lily explained, a look of disgust on her face. "You are revolting, Sirius."
He rolled his eyes at her.
"So, are you two officially going out, then?" Lily asked.
Carmen smiled widely, and nodded.
"Great!"
"Congrats."
"Nice one."
Everyone seemed happy for Carmen, everyone except William, who stared at her for a moment, before congratulating her, a false smile on his face.
They all went back to eating again, Carmen grinning happily, when there was a quiet tapping at the dining room window, the noise caused the people at the table to look round. An owl was waiting patiently with a letter in its beak. Remus, who was nearest, let it in and took the letter – it was addressed to Sarah.
"Sarah, it's for you," Remus said, passing the letter to her, as the owl flew out into the dark evening sky.
Sarah frowned and took the letter from Remus. She turned it over to unseal it, and noticed some words written there. It looked like her mother's handwriting, though it was wobbly and the ink was smeared in places.
- Please read this on your own – it will be easier that way.
Sarah frowned even more.
"Uh, I'm just going to read this out in the hall," she said distractedly, standing up and leaving the room. The others stared after her, puzzled.
Sarah shut the door behind her and stood just in front of the staircase, leaning on the banister. She opened the letter and saw it was indeed from her mother, and it was covered with tear-stained smudges.
As she read the letter, her eyes began to widen in horror. She stood, frozen to the spot for what seemed like hours, and, in distress, she collapsed onto the stairs, letting out a heart-wrenching scream.
Hearing Sarah scream, everyone jumped up from the table and opened the door, to find Sarah on the stairs, tears streaming down her face, clutching the letter in her hand.
Everyone looked at each other in shock, Lily and Carmen rushed over to her, but the others stayed back, not wanting to crowd her.
"Sarah, what's happened? What does the letter say?" Lily asked, holding Sarah in her arms.
Sarah couldn't speak, she just cried her heart out, her body shaking with uncontrollable sobs. She passed Lily the letter and fell onto Carmen, holding onto her tightly.
Lily read Sarah's letter and put her hand to her mouth. She looked at Sarah, her eyes welling up with tears, and put her arms round her, Carmen doing the same, looking perplexed at Lily.
"I'm so sorry Sarah. I'm just so, so sorry," she said, rocking Sarah soothingly, a tear rolling down her face. She heard Carmen gasp as she, too, read the letter.
"Sarah, come on, let's go to your bedroom, and you can let it all out, come on babe," Lily said, coaxing the trembling Sarah up the stairs.
James hurried over to Carmen, who was still holding the letter.
"What the hell's happened?"
"Sarah's father has been murdered," she said quietly, her eyes not moving from the letter.
"Oh God," Sirius said, his eyes wide.
Lily came down the stairs.
"Dom, she says she wants you," she said, gesturing up the stairs.
Looking apprehensive, he rushed up the stairs to comfort Sarah.
Sarah's sobs had subsided very slightly. As Dom walked into the room, she let out a moan, and threw herself at him, crying again. Dom didn't say anything, but held her close, letting her tears fall onto him.
After a long while, she looked up at him and kissed him vigorously, the force of it pushing him onto her bed, and he kissed her back, wanting her to feel better. She moved her hands over his body roughly, running them underneath his shirt, and unbuttoning it. She had never done this before, and it surprised Dom slightly, but he continued kissing her. However, when Sarah undid his trousers he pulled away.
"Sarah, what are you doing?" he asked, doing them up again.
"What do you think I'm doing?" she replied, looking at him madly, tears still falling down her shivering face.
"Why? You don't want to do that really –"
"Yes, I do," she insisted, shuffling closer to him.
"No. You don't," he said gently.
"Yes, I do!" she shouted. Dom blinked.
"I want to feel better, Dom – I don't want to hurt, I want to feel alive! If I feel alive, then, then I can pretend he's not dead! I don't want him to be dead, I don't, and I-I- "she broke down into hysterical sobs.
Dom moved over to hug her, but she pushed him away.
"No, go away Dom!" she cried.
"Sarah, I just –"
"JUST FUCK OFF!" she yelled, and lay on her bed, crying into her pillow.
Dom stared for a moment, shocked, before going out of the room, and walking down the stairs, leaving Sarah weeping.
