"Think the train will be as packed at Christmas as it was coming here?" Harry asked Ron over breakfast.
"You'll have to tell me," Ron said, not reaching Harry's eyes as he continued to gorph back his eggs.
"You're not going home?" Hermione asked inquisitively, having just joined the table.
"Change of plans. Mum, Dad and Ginny are going to Romania to visit Charlie for the holidays, so I'm staying at Hogwarts over break," Ron responded, half excitement, half disappointment coming through his voice.
"You're still going home, are you not, Harry?" she asked, anxious for his response.
"Yeah." His gaze was still focused on a upset Ron who was hiding his sorrows in his food consumption.
"Want to sit in a compartment on the train together, then?"
"Sure, Hermione," he said happily, "That'd be great!"
"Perfect. Well I'll see you both in Herbology, I need to discuss the holiday homework with Professor Sprout before class." And with that she was off, a single piece of toast in her hand and her heavy book bag in the other.
Ron and Harry sat in silence, only the sound of chewing and the clanking of dishes providing the soundtrack.
"10 minutes till class, ladies and gentlemen. Finish up please," McGonagall yelled, making her way down the rows of tables directly towards where the two young Gryffindor's were sitting. "Mr. Weasley, I see you and your brothers have added your names to the 'staying list', are you joining them as well, Mr. Potter?" she asked, her eyes still darting across the room to ensure that students were taking her warning seriously.
"No, Professor," Harry responded, his eyes still caught on his best friend.
"Very well then, you best get to class," she said, accepting his answer. She turned to hurry the rest of the students off to class.
"Professor! Wait!" Harry said, an idea having just popped into his head. "Is there another way to communicate with other witches and wizards besides owl post?"
"Of course, Potter. Why do you ask?"
He looked over to where Ron was still sitting, a frown still present on his face before turning back to his Head of House. "I was wondering if you'd be able to help me get in contact with my parents, today?"
"For what purpose?"
"I want to invite the Weasley's to stay with me over the holidays, but I need to ask my parents first."
She too looked to the youngest Weasley who was just packing up. "Meet me in my office after you eat," she said, a small sympathetic smile tugging at the corner of her otherwise straight lips. "Now please, go to class, and bring Weasley with you. At the rate he's going he won't get there until New Year's."
"Ron! Ron!" Harry yelled, trying to quickly break through the crowds of students as they commuted to their next class. He spotted his red headed pal at the end of the fourth floor corridor, headed towards History of Magic. "RON!"
"What, Harry?"
"MumandDadsaidyoucanstaywithusforChristmas!" Harry exclaimed in one breath.
"What?"
Having caught his breath and somewhat settled down his excitement Harry started again. "Mum and Dad invited you, Percy, Fred and George to stay with us over the holidays! I floo'd them from Professor McGonagall office— that's why I left lunch early! McGonagall even floo'd your parents who said it would all be ok!"
Ron starred at him, jaw dropped to the floor.
"Did you hear me?" Harry said, practically jumping up and down. "You're not staying at Hogwarts for Christmas!"
"You're joking— no way your parents would agree to that!"
"I'm not, I swear!"
"Wicked! We have to find my brothers!" Ron said eagerly— his frown now completely gone and replaced by a grin bigger than that of what Harry has ever seen.
"Ready to go?" Harry said, latching his trunk shut and swinging it over the side of the bed.
"Yeah, let's go!" Ron agreed, pulling his own trunk down the winding stone steps to the common room, ahead of Harry.
The common room, whose crackling fire never seemed to go out, was filled with students and their trunks, already all bundled up in their red and gold scarves and mitts to head out into the blowing storm to catch the Hogwarts Express out of the village a short whiles away.
The boys immediately picked out their bushy haired friend standing with a book in her hands huddled near the door. They quickly picked up their trunks and made their way through the group of excited students, eagerly waiting for McGonagall to lead them to the front hall to catch their carriages. Along the way they saw an excited Fred and George, who beamed at Harry as he passed. Percy also gave him a grin before returning to a conversation he was having with his fellow Gryffindor prefect.
"Hermione!" they both greeted her merrily.
"One second," she muttered, her eyes still glued to the old tattered book that was inches in front of her face. "Sorry," she continued, putting the book down. "Ron, I didn't think you were going home— why are you packed?"
"He's coming with me! Fred, George, and Percy are coming too," Harry said, signaling to the other Weasley's also gathered in the common room.
"That's great, Ron! Now you'll be able to help Harry and I look through these books I got from the library, on the train," she said excitedly, pulling about a dozen library books out of her bag and placing them on the top of her trunk.
"We're doing what?" Ron said, scratching his head. "I thought we already looked through every inch of that place for Flammel!"
"Well we haven't," Hermione said crossly. "I've divided them up, so we each have a stack."
"I thought you were going away with your parents over the holidays, 'Mione?" Harry asked.
"I am. We're going skiing in France."
"How are you…" but his question was interrupted as the portrait hole opened and Professor McGonagall stepped through, draped in her own long wool cloaks.
"Attention, please students! Attention!" she yelled, her voice jumping off the walls. "Now, that you're settled and ready to go— students who have their name down on the staying list, please wish your fellow students a happy holiday and proceed back to your dormitories. Students who are departing for the Hogwarts Express, please, follow me."
"Come on, let's go."
The three friends followed McGonagall down the staircases and out to the grand oak entrance doors. Their trunks clunked and jiggled as they rolled down the stairs, their wheels significantly slowing down when they finally made contact with the freshly frozen snow in the courtyard.
"Next group," McGonagall called as the next carriage pulled up to the steps. "Potter, Weasley, Granger, other Weasley's, step up!"
The trio with the help of Ron's brothers, loaded the 6 trunks onto the back of the carriage, waving goodbye to McGonagall before she slammed the door shut behind them.
"So, Harry, where exactly are you taking us to?" prodded Fred.
"London," Harry responded.
"Yeah, but where do you live?" George asked, assuming that Harry only meant to King's Cross.
"London. I live in London."
"Where?" but this time it was Hermione who asked.
"Knightsbridge."
"Oh I've been near there, with Mum and Dad!" she exclaimed.
"Do you visit London often?"
"Well, not really, seeing as I live there too!"
"Where?" this time it was Harry's turn to ask.
"Hampstead Heath! You don't live far from me at all! You must come visit in the summer, when we're actually home!"
"Definitely," Harry said, equally as ecstatic as she was, that he had a friend near him to go and visit.
"Anything?" Harry asked Ron, who had just clamped his own book shut, choosing instead to peer out the window.
"No, but I think we're nearly there!"
"Oh, we are too," Hermione agreed, after confirming their location. "Best change out of our robes now," she added, reaching up for her trunk on the rack above.
The boys followed her lead and quickly changed into their pants and sweaters making sure to layer in preparation for the cold London winters. As the train slowed down nearing the station, the trio took the opportunity to bring their trunks down from their racks so they would be in the first group of students off the train.
"Now, don't forget the plan," Hermione whispered, moving down the hallway with her trunk trailing behind. "Try to find any books in Harry's house that might lead us to something about Flammel, and try, Harry to ask your parents— they might not be too suspicious of it."
"Right," Harry agreed halfheartedly just as the train pulled to a final stop at Platform 9 and 3/4. He knew his mum normally questioned him after he asked her questions, unless the reason why was right in front of her nose.
The doors of the train swung open as soon as it let out a final whistle. Students bustled out of their compartments almost immediately, following in behind Harry, Ron and Hermione who were making their way down the couple steps to the concrete ground below.
Hermione quickly wished both boys a Happy Holiday before vanishing with her parents back through the barrier, telling them that they would meet back on the platform at term start.
"Where else did she expect to meet us? Mars?" Ron remarked, causing Harry to laugh.
"Where d'suppose your mum and dad are, Harry?" Fred and George said simultaneously, coming up behind the two boys, causing them to jump. "A little antsy there are we?"
"You came out of nowhere, of course we are!" Ron replied harshly.
Harry looked around the platform for his parents, but couldn't spot them anywhere. "I'm not sure," he said, the confusion apparent in his voice. "Maybe we should wait for them outside of the barrier?"
Percy, who had just made his way over to them agreed almost automatically with Harry's suggestion and began leading the group away from the mini-reunions that were taking place all around them.
The five of them whisked through the barrier, hoping to spot Harry's parent's on the other side but had no luck.
"Think they forgot?" Fred asked a disgruntled Harry.
"How could they have— I talked to them about it just yesterday!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in outrage.
"Parents do that sometimes," Ron commented, "Mum does it all the time with us."
"But I'm their only kid, you'd think they'd remember," Harry muttered.
He looked around for a few moments more. "I supposed we could go call a couple of cabs out front…"
"Wicked," the twins chorused, falling in step behind the other boys as they winded their way through the busy King's Cross Station filled with people going this way and that trying to catch their own holiday expresses.
"Cabs are round this way," Harry called over his shoulder as the twins started to take off in a different direction the moment they got out of the doors.
Together they all got in line behind a group of travelers covered in snow. Their strange accents intrigued the twins and set them off doing imitations of the frustrated group. Harry stepped forward as soon as a couple of full cabs drove off, to tell the driver where they needed to be taken. The driver automatically agreed and he hopped out of the cab, warming his hands by blowing a couple of warm breaths into them before loading as many trunks as he could into the back before tying the final two to the top. With Harry and Percy settled into the front with the driver, and Ron, Fred and Gorge comfortably in the back, their cab drove off onto the snow filled streets towards Trevor Square.
The drive was slower than usual in the current weather causing the driver to lay on the horn quite a few times when fellow drivers made unexpected and risky moves ahead of him.
When they finally turned onto Harry's street, the snow picked up, causing almost a blizzard, which caused the driver to announce that they would most definitely be his last stop. He pulled to a slow stop in front of number 34, getting out quickly to unstrap the trunks from the roof. He handed the trunks to Fred and George before opening the back to dish out the rest. Harry dug into his pocket upon receiving his and paid the man for his services, wishing him a happy holidays before leading the boys to the front door.
The house looked merry with its white christmas lights draped around the small christmas trees on the balcony above and in a garland around the front door. A wreath with small ornaments hung on the shiny black door that opened easily when Harry pushed it forward. The five boys slipped in quickly, trying to close the door to the raging winter storm behind them as fast as they could. Inside the fire in the living room was crackling and the radio was playing some of Christmas classics. They took off their shoes as soon as they were all in, leaving their wet footwear to dry on the front mat. Harry brought them into the living room where the fire was crackling peacefully to place their trunks while they waited to see where they would stay.
"Gotten anything to eat?" Ron asked as his stomach grumbled.
They all chuckled at him before Harry nodded his head in response and directed Ron towards the kitchen.
Up the stairs, just moments later, he could hear footsteps treading lightly but quickly, making their way across the floor.
"… I can't believe you let him get near that," he heard his mum say loudly.
"I'm trying to fix it—no need to get worked up, and I didn't let him do anything!" his dad tried to reason, coming down the stairs just seconds behind her.
"I still blame you."
"It was not my fault—did you see me causing a problem? No," James said, still following Lily as she went into the kitchen, her hands throw up in the air in frustration. "The answer is no. No I didn't see you do anything, James…" he continued no to avail.
"Yes, but they are your friends and since they are a little 'caught up' the blame falls on you," she ranted as she came into the living room, obviously oblivious to Ron in the kitchen.
"Mu-" Harry began but his mouth was soon covered by George who was eager to watch the rest of the marital play out.
"You invited them both to stay!" James protested, making his way into the living room where Lily was tearing apart one of the storage cabinets.
"I, uh… fine," Lily relented, finally having found what she was looking for.
"I think this will do the trick," Lily said, standing up and whipping around to face James who was standing, a smirk spread across his face and his hands dangly loosely in his trouser pockets. "Come on, let's go fix this mess of theirs…"
"So we're good?" he asked.
"I don't think so," she said, her expression falling as she took in the five trunks piled high in the corner behind James.
He took one look at her face and whipped around to see the trunks as well before he flung his torso again to see Ron Weasley standing in the doorway with food stuffed into both of his hands.
"I'm going to kill him!" James yelled, before grabbing the object from Lily's hand and storming off up the stairs. "Sirius Black!" he screeched.
Lily looked apologetically at the boys before rushing to follow James as he booked it up the stairs.
The boys looked at one another before following suit only to come screeching to a halt when they saw, suspended from the ceiling, and glued together were Sirius and Remus. Below, Lily was trying to unstick their backs from one another with the contraption she had found downstairs while James kept a levitating charm beneath them so they wouldn't fall on their faces. The sight sent Fred and George into hysterics, but got progressively worse when they spotted the very thing that had gotten Remus and Sirius into the mess in the first place. Within no time at all Harry and Ron too were trying to separate another set of troublemakers.
"Well that was entertaining," Sirius declared as he dusted himself off finally standing upright, but that too only lasted a moment as James soon took the opportunity to knock Sirius down by hitting him upside the head with a pillow. "Bloody hell, what was that for?" he questioned, rubbing his head a little as he fixed his footing.
"It's 3 o'clock," James said, straight-faced with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Right, nap time for me," Sirius joked, but quit automatically when he took in the expressions on Lily's and Remus' faces now too. "What day is it?"
"The 18th, Sirius," Lily said, shaking her head.
"It's 3 o'clock…on the eighteenth…" Sirius said, trying to rack through his brain for the answer when it finally hit him. "Harry! We have to go!" he jumped, running towards his room. Stopping in his tracks when he took notice of the clump of kids near the stairs. "Well that was simple—you have a prodigy here, Prongs! Kid can apparate and with others!" Sirius exclaimed, ruffing up Harry's hair a bit.
"We took a cab!" Harry responded, ducking away from Sirius' reach to avoid further messing.
"Ah well, none the less, means less travel for me," Sirius responded, shrugging and taking off towards the stairs. "Lily, is it time for dinner yet? I'm hungry!"
"He's worse than Ron," George whispered to Fred.
"Is not!" Ron protested.
"They remind me of you and Sirius a bit, do they not?" Remus said quietly to James, whose arm was wrapped around Lily's waist.
"Far too much," James joked back, starring in amusement at the Weasley boys and Harry's interactions.
Lily smiled as she watched on with the two men. She turned around to look at the raging storm outside as it pelted snow and ice against the window panes. She slipped out of James' grasp to make sure the locks on the doors leading to the balcony were shut tight so they wouldn't open a random to the wind knocking on them. James turned to watch her, waiting to catch her eye. When she finally looked up he motioned towards the boys before pointing down to the floor. She got the hint and nodded, whispering to give her two minutes and then they could go. Lily reached towards the coffee table and picked up the remains of Sirius' mess. The three looked once more towards the group of boys who were talking excitedly and loudly about Quidditch before they winked at one another and headed towards them.
"We have a surprise for you," Lily whispered into Harry's ear, pulling him into a hug from behind.
He spun around to look at her, but before he could she was already moving down the stairs, motioning for them to all follow. He looked at his dad and Remus who merely nodded to follow, chuckling as the boys all rampaged down the stairs.
Together they moved down towards the foyer, turning to pass the living room where the trunks still lay and forward into the still brightly lit kitchen despite the dark clouds outside. Lily stepped aside after opening the door that led to the rarely used basement.
"Wha-where are you taking us?" Harry questioned, halting at the top of the dark stairs.
"Where's your sense of adventure, Harry?" Fred asked as he and his double pushed past and headed down.
Harry just looked at Ron who shrugged before following the twins, Harry and Percy trailing closely behind. They staggered a little, as none of them knew the footing of the stairs that Harry had only gone down a couple of times in his life.
"Is there a switch down here?" Harry called to his parent's behind him.
"We've got it!" the twins yelled in unison, flipping the switch when they finally reached the bottom.
"Surprise!" the now four adults yelled, Sirius having joined them from the kitchen.
Harry looked around at the space around them, to see it totally transformed from the dark room full of boxes that he had seen it as before. In front of them now was a wall lined with bookcases that had been part of James' office upstairs before Sirius and Remus moved in. There were a couple of couches placed in front of them and a cupboard full of games set up near the stairs.
"Come back here," Lily instructed, the boys following on cue. "That's the loo there," she said pointing to a newly constructed door that stood near where the middle of the room was once considered to be. "And here," she continued smiling at the three eldest boys, "is where Percy, Fred and George will be staying."
Inside the room at the far end of the basement, was three beds, two set up by the one wall and the other on the opposite side from them. The room was set up in the gold and red hues of Gryffindor, the wallpaper resembling that of the common room at Hogwarts. There were a couple wardrobes lining the walls beside the door where Lily pointed out there were hangers for the boys to place their garments on. She then sent the Marauders up to the living room to grab the three trunks and bring them down to the boys while she continued to show them around their new quarters.
In the meantime Ron and Harry ran all the way up the three flights of stairs to his room on the third floor to see the new set up with Ron's bed in the room. They piled their own trunks in Harry's closet and set up Scabbers in his cage on the desk before heading back down to the kitchen to where they were promised their well-deserved lunch would be awaiting them.
"Merry Christmas," James whispered in Lily's ear as he rolled over, sliding his arm around her side as he did so. He smiled when he felt her curl up further into him, her eyes fluttering open while he kissed her long hair, his lips tracing the line from her neck to her shoulders.
"Mmm, morning stranger," she smiled, turning over to face him completely, catching his lips as she did so.
He pulled her in closer, feeling her warmth up against his before he started shaking her shoulders to which she opened her eyes completely, shock filling them.
"What, what are you doing?" she asked, giggling a little.
"It's Christmas morning!" He whispered loudly. "Don't you remember what happens on Christmas morning in this house?"
"Y-yes, but you're half on top of me, I can't get up," she protested, trying to push him off so she can get out of the bed. She laughed louder as she pushed him off the bed, the covers falling off with him. Lily swept across the room to the cupboard to grab her housecoat, pulling James' off the hanger after she had tied it around her waist and tossing it on top of his head.
"Thanks," he joked, tying his own around his waist before he stealthily opened their bedroom door, creeping on his tip toes down the hall, motioning for Lily to follow behind.
She stifled a laugh, following behind until they made it to Harry's door. They creaked the door open a little to see their son curled up in his covers on his bed, still fast asleep with Ron across the room from him, small snores escaping his mouth, gradually getting louder.
James counted them down, just as Lily had done a few months earlier on Harry's birthday. They busted in just a few moments later, jumping on both of the boy's bed yelling about the fact that it was Christmas morning just like two year olds. Lily had taken to tackling Harry with James but James soon parted to go jump on Ron's bed. Both boy's yelled out of confusion at first but they soon joined in the fun, chucking their pillows at Harry's retreating parents who were already running out the door towards their next victim's.
Harry and Ron quickly slipped on their slippers and fled out of Harry's room, jumping down the final few steps to the second floor where they heard yelps and laughter coming from Remus' and Sirius' room. They caught a glimpse of Lily's bright red hair as it fled down yet another flight of stairs, undoubtedly following James as he went to find his final victims.
They watched as Remus and Sirius groggily walked out of the double doors that once marked the entrance to James' office, sleepily wishing the two boys a 'Merry Christmas'. The four boys walked down the stairs, listening to the sounds of screams coming from the basement only to see a disgruntled Percy make an appearance in the kitchen doorway moments later.
"Never again," was all they could make out of Percy's speech as he muttered under his breath making his way to the living room.
Remus and Sirius led the way into the living room. The room itself was totally transformed. Sitting in the corner between the couch and the fireplace sat the tall evergreen tree that was lit up like the night sky on a clear night—they lights twinkling and reflecting off of the shiny ornaments that hung from every branch.
Lily and James had decided to wait until all their guests and their son had arrived home before they went to pick the annual tree from the lot that resided in Hyde Park, not far from their house, during the merry season. The twins had made the trip the most entertaining of Harry's life when they had started picking random ones out and started making them move as if they were alive, their own hands sticking out from behind them. Sirius and Lily in the meantime had argued about what exactly a Christmas tree should look like, Sirius believing that it should be anything you can throw lights on—Lily was less than amused. When they had finally picked a tree out, Percy winning the competition to see who would pick the best one, James handed the salesman his money before he and Remus heaved the tree up on their shoulders and prepared for the walk back. That night they all had sat around, pulling boxes from the basement and lights from the upstairs cupboard gathering all the ornaments to decorate the tree. Lily had reluctantly handed the reins over to James while she sat back and got the busy workers some food for their labor. As soon as she had brought it in, Sirius resigned from any duties he had had up until that point and joined her on the couch, munching down any food within reach.
Ron and Harry had started decorating each other with tinsel about halfway through the festivities, but were brought back to reality when James called for Harry to put the tree-topper on just like he had done every year.
Moments later, after Fred, George, Lily and James reappeared in the foyer looking a little put out, Sirius began his whining for food and presents.
Lily merely pushed his head into his pillow and walked towards the fireplace where she detached the nine stockings and began handing them out to their owners. The Weasley's were pleasantly surprised when they received theirs from Lily, noticing that they were the same ones their mum had given out to them every year on this day.
Lily, taking notice of the boy's awed reactions, said, "Your mum and dad dropped them off before taking off to Romania. She wanted you to have a good Christmas, with all your favourite things and I couldn't have agreed more."
"Here honey," she smiled, handing Harry his stocking before sitting down next to him. James sat on his other side, sipping his coffee, which Remus and Sirius were doing as well, stuffed together on the other couch with Ron. The other three were comfortable on the floor.
James watched as the stoking's were torn open, all recipients elated with the gifts they had received so far, especially Percy who had gotten some new polishing potion for his prefect badge. They all sat there for a while, enjoying the little trinkets they had received thus far, but he spoke up after a while when everyone began looking around at one another but eventually all eyes landing on James.
"What're you looking at me for—the presents are under the tree!"
Within seconds all the kids and Sirius had bounded up from where they had been sitting and tore at everything that was under the tree. Presents that hadn't been picked up by their recipient were tossed backwards to another pile that was forming at the base of the coffee table. Once all the kids had settled back to their original positions, a few presents piled at each of their feet, Lily gave her nod of acceptance and the sound of tearing of wrapping paper and tape filled the room, Remus, James and Lily just sat back and watched.
Harry eventually moved over to Ron to look at each other's gift's—excited by the sweaters they had both received from Mrs. Weasley. Ron fell silent, his jaw dropping when Harry unwrapped the last of his gifts. The motion caught James' attention when he surveyed the room for a second in between sips. He got up from his seat after patting Lily's leg in reassurance and went towards his son and his friend. James crouched down next to Harry, who was reading the mysterious note attached to the last present. James read over his son's shoulder, and fell back a little when he understood what it meant. He gasped when he saw Harry stand up as he pulled the long blue and silver cloak from its packaging, looking at it in confusion.
"It's just a cloak," Harry said, draping it over his shoulders. But Ron shook his head, and stood up, all the wrapping paper he had just torn apart falling to the ground in a pile at his feet.
"That's not just any cloak, mate. That's an invisibility cloak," Ron said, picking up the note.
Harry looked down to see his body completely invisible. He shook his head in astonishment before whipping around to face his dad, who was standing behind him with the biggest grin on his face.
James grabbed a piece of the fabric, letting it slip between his fingers, admiring its beauty and silk-like feel before letting it drape back down on Harry again.
"I was wondering when I would see this again," he said, smiling at his son.
The scene itself had called everyone's attention, and at the sight of the old cloak, both Remus and Sirius got up from their seats to go and admire it once more.
"Oh the trouble we managed to get away with because of this." Sirius and Remus reminisced feeling the cloak again for themselves.
"That's how you did it!" Lily jumped from her spot, moving towards the boys. She took one look at Harry before slapping James. "Why'd you give him this?"
"I didn't!" he said, rubbing his shoulder. Sirius handed her the note he had grabbed from Ron.
"Who did then?" she questioned, turning the card over a few times, but they all just shook their heads and shrugged.
"Well… Merry Christmas sweetheart," Lily smiled, giving up on the protest of the cloak. She kissed Harry on his head, before turning to James and pecking him on his cheek. She rubbed his arm where she had slapped him before asking him quietly, "Are we still going to go?"
"Yes, of course, it's tradition—but I don't know how Padfoot's going to feel about it," he said softly back, peeking over her shoulder to where Sirius was telling Harry some of their stories from Hogwarts. "I'll tell the kids to get dressed, you go get ready." She smiled before whisking away out of the room.
"Ok, boys," James began, turning to face the room. Harry caught his father's tone instantly and started grabbing his presents from the floor and making his way towards the front hall. Ron followed suit, his brothers catching the idea shortly afterwards.
"We always go to church a little while away and then have brunch on Christmas day. It's mum's family tradition," Harry whispered to Ron and then to his brother's when they were standing in the front hall. "It's not bad," Harry shrugged, before dragging Ron with him back to their room. The older Weasley brother's did the same, heading down to their quarters to get changed.
Sirius turned around to see the room deserted—Remus and James being the only ones left.
"Wha-where'd they all go?" Sirius questioned, joking around by picking up a piece of wrapping paper and looking underneath it for the five boys.
"What is happening, Prongs?" Remus asked, he too confused by the sudden disappearances.
"Do you remember that first Christmas Lils and I were married?" James started.
"Yes?" Remus and Sirius both chimed in response.
"You got me some parts for my bike, and Lily almost flipped when she learned that we were planning to make it take flight," Sirius continued, reminiscing. "And then we went to…Ah! No! That woman made me go with her to the front and sing!" He yelled, catching on. "Please, Prongs! Anything but… I'll wash dishes, clean the house, anything!"
"Now those are words I never thought I'd hear Sirius Black say," Remus chuckled. "I think we should let him do it, James."
"No way, Remus," Lily chimed in. "This house is not being ruined by him. I won't allow it, not today."
"I take offense to that statement, Lily," Sirius said in mocked hurt.
"Get over yourself and go get changed—you're coming," she said, staring him down until he reluctantly left to go get changed. "You two too," she said giving one look to Remus and James.
"You two look very nice," Lily said, looking at Ron and Harry as they made their way down the garland lined staircase in their khaki pants and collared shirtsm which they layered with their new Weasley Christmas sweaters. "Want to go see if the other boys are ready?" she started but stopped when she saw the other three emerging from the kitchen, wearing similar attires to Ron and Harry. "Never mind then. There are some pastries on the counter in the kitchen to hold you over until after the service, if you'd like," she added, leaning over to pick up the rest of the paper from the floor.
The boys all looked at one another before making a mad dash to the kitchen.
"Ready to go then?" James asked, coming into the living room as he finished buttoning up the sleeves on his crisp white shirt.
"Ready, ready," Lily responded, grabbing all their coats from the small wardrobe that sat in the corner of the room.
"Let's go then," Sirius said, rubbing his hands together for warmth before pushing Harry and Ron out the door ahead of him causing them to topple into the snow.
"This should be fun," the twins murmured in agreement.
I'm so thrilled by all the support so far- thank you thank you thank you. The next chapter I am beyond excited for, I can't even suppress my excitement, ahh! Anyways I will post it very soon because it's already done and I want to see what you think. Please review!