Disclaimer: I don't own anything Harry Potterised, and some of this story is inspired greatly by a Korean drama called 'Full House'. x) So anything you recognise of theirs... is not mine. xD
Full House
Chapter Fourteen ll Let It Snow
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A blustery whirlwind descended upon Hogwarts castle, the grounds lightly covered with the first, gentle fall of snowflakes and the trees waving their feathery white branches. The air was crisp and refreshingly cold, and students began adorning their dragon hide gloves and knitted scarves in an attempt to battle the frosty onslaught.
With Christmas and joyous holidays dancing around the corner, older students began to lose interest in their studies and work, and instead focused on the delightful possibilities that December was bound to bring.
"I'm so cold!" Rinoa Leonhart shuddered emphatically, drawing her scarf up over the bottom half of her face, "Can we please go inside Honeydukes or something?"
Lily chuckled as they crunched along the icy paths of Hogsmeade, "We've been in there four times already."
"But I'm sick of walking," Rinoa complained, grudgingly lugging her Christmas shopping with her, "What about the Three Broomsticks? Only been in there twice!"
"Okay, okay."
The two girls forced their way into the full, merry bar. From a corner Remus Lupin waved at the girls, and Rinoa cheerfully went over, Lily following half-heartily. Remus and Rinoa undoubtedly had a spark going on there, and though she really did like Remus very much, Lily never could contrive to enjoy herself whole-heartedly when in their presence.
Unfortunately, she would have to tolerate this uncomfortable company for the whole Christmas break.
"We're gonna fling those idiotic books in the fire, stuff ourselves silly with turkey, ham and four thousand helpings of pudding, build a snowman - remember Mr. Hankey from first-year? - have a snow war, dance till our legs drop off, eat some more pudding, make a couple of snow angels, go tobogganing down past Hagrid's hut and then come back to top it off with a midnight snack," Rinoa said happily, outlining their schedule for the winter holidays.
Lily smiled, but deep down knew she and Rinoa would not find enough time to do all those things and eat so much dessert, what with Remus around too. She sighed a little, feeling a bit left out of it, but checked herself reproachfully. She knew that she had neglected Rinoa to some extent that year - there had been so much happening.
Lily, Rinoa and Remus weren't the only ones staying at Hogwarts. James decided he would lodge at the castle as well, after a letter of advice from his family.
We just don't think it's a good time for you to be coming back home yet, sweetheart... reporters are still hounding the manor, hoping that you'll have a sudden, insane impulse to come back in the middle of the school year... You'll be safer at Hogwarts, James.
This created a spot of bother as it meant James wouldn't be able to accompany Lydia back to her house in Italy and stay for a week, which she had invited him to do and he had amiably accepted.
"I suppose I'll have to go alone, then," she replied dolefully.
James felt rather guilty. He knew her parents wouldn't like her to travel by herself and felt bad about backing out of it at the last minute. He tried to work out a solution over the next few days, then after much thought and doubt he approached Sirius hesitantly and asked him how he'd feel about taking Lydia back. Her family would be more than happy to have him stay over, and James knew Lydia was only pretending not to care about Sirius anymore.
Sirius, being the wonderful person he was, obliged, though rather unenthusiastically. When James told him that she missed him (which he knew was true), Sirius only sighed and muttered that he missed her too.
Other than that, the week leading up to the much-anticipated Christmas holiday was a most smooth yet dragging one, the days passing by much slower than usual.
Finally, Christmas Eve arrived in a great tide of tinsel and holly, and the seventh-years were all grouped in the cosy common-room saying goodbye to their friends.
"Bye, Wormtail," James said warmly, clapping Peter on the back, "Take care and say hi to your mother for me." He then turned to Sirius and Lydia, who were standing together awkwardly and had given up making small talk. Feeling in control, James smiled at them, hugged Lydia and half-hugged Sirius.
"I better get that Lightning Cleansweep," Sirius said good-naturedly, his dark eyes glittering as they parted.
James harrumphed, "Yeah, you will... a drawing of it," and Remus laughed.
Peter, Lydia and Sirius left together after the farewells, followed by other students, climbing out of the portrait hole. Remus and Rinoa immediately turned to each other and the world around them had seemingly lost all meaning. This left Lily and James to communicate in an awkward fashion.
"I'd never seen you smile before," Lily remarked with a smile as he sat across her, "It's not a bad sight. You should try it more often."
A slight smirk graced his lips as he replied, "I have too smiled before."
"That's not a smile. It's more of a leer," she said distastefully, turning her head slightly and waving at Charlie cheerfully as he caught her eye from the other side of the room.
James also glanced at him and turned back to her with a grimace, "What have I told you about him?"
Lily scrunched up her face, "And since when do I listen to you? You keep your friends and I'll keep mine, thank you."
He looked slightly nettled but then she teased, "Potter, you're not smiling," and the conversation took a turn from there.
After a magnificent dinner that bore hints of the next night's Christmas banquet, Rinoa and Lily chattered away gaily as they went upstairs to the Head tower for a little sleepover. They raided the kitchens at around eleven and, stifling giggles, ran back up with their arms full of treats.
"I can't believe this is our seventeenth Christmas," Rinoa said in a hushed voice, sitting cross-legged on the rug in Lily's dormitory where colourful candy spilled out of their packets in front of her.
Lily swallowed a gummi worm and nodded dolefully, "Who knew so much would happen this year? Sleeping here in this dorm... Crysta not even talking to us anymore..."
"You being in Witch Weekly," Rinoa added mischievously, turfing the cover of the outdated magazine that had caused so much havoc just a few weeks ago, "Engaged, too."
"You snogging Remus Lupin..." Lily shot back, equally slyly.
"At least I'm doing the relationship process in the right order - ouch!" Rubbing the top of her head reproachfully, Rinoa, catching sight of the time, said cheerlessly, "Yeah, yeah... and a Merry Christmas to you too, Lil."
Grinning charmingly, Lily replied, "Merry Christmas, Mrs Lupin."
---
"LILYKINS! IT'S SNOWING!" Rinoa shouted at the top of her lungs, scrambling from the mess of tangled blankets and clothes to shove her face against the white window, "Ow, the glass is cold - BUT LOOK AT THOSE LITTLE SNOWFLAKES!"
"Rin, it's been snowing for a few weeks now," Lily, who had woken up abruptly with a shriek at Rinoa's yell, mumbled, her voice thick with sleep.
"I know, isn't it exciting?" the raven-haired girl squealed, stepping blithely around their sleepover and toppling over her pillow. "Look, our presents!" she cried happily when she landed next to her pile.
Lily groaned, rolling backwards and pulling the quilt over her head.
Several minutes later the two girls were opening their Christmas presents merrily, exclaiming over cherished things they had received and laughing at each other's odd gift that cropped up every now and then.
Picking up one of her last few presents, Lily pulled off the card and opened it up.
Hope you find this handy for all your essay and story writing.
Merry Christmas.
James.
"Potter got me a present!" Lily exclaimed, half-shocked and half-guilty, "I completely forgot about him! Do people usually give their enslavers Christmas presents?"
"I wouldn't waste my time," Rinoa said matter-of-factly, peering over, "What is it?"
Lily unwrapped the gift to reveal a long, thin box. She opened it up and gasped when she saw a black Deluxe Quill. Near the end of the sleek, glossy feather was her name in golden lettering.
Rinoa's jaw dropped open, "Wow! Those are so expensive and he got it customised." She looked up at Lily dubiously, "Are you sure you two aren't really engaged?"
The redhead chuckled, her green eyes glistening as she looked at the quill.
"Here, there's a PS on the card," Rinoa pointed out, passing the card back to Lily.
PS. Your name changes to 'house-elf' whenever you say something lousy about me. Just to remind you who's who in this business.
"That prat!" she exclaimed, shaking her head exasperatedly. That was a mistake, however, when the Lily Evans written in gold on the black quill slowly formed into House-Elf.
Rinoa was letting out hearty peals of laughter while Lily scowled fiercely.
"Oh, this is hilarious. You're gonna have a hard time keeping your name on that quill, Lil!"
When they had finally gotten dressed and semi cleared up their pigsty, the girls set out to the Great Hall. As she closed her bedroom door behind her, Lily smiled subconsciously at the familiar common-room she found herself in. It had seemed so strange and foreign the first time she set foot in here.
Glancing across at the Head Boy dorm, Lily hesitated.
"Maybe I should thank him for the quill," she said doubtfully, and Rinoa half-shrugged.
"Be my guest... you're too kind for your own good, Lily."
With a smile, Lily went over and knocked on the door. After knocking twice, she opened the door gently and peeked in. The four-poster bed was empty and neatly made; evidently no one had slept in it that night. Feeling slightly disappointed, the redhead closed the door and Rinoa linked her arm with hers. Together they walked to the portrait door and pulled it open.
"Ahh!" they both shrieked, leaping back when they saw someone standing in the hole already.
The stranger raised an eyebrow, the act of which was uncannily like James', and Lily instantly remembered who she was - the broad-shouldered, thick-eyebrowed girl with the personality and stance of an army general. Lily could feel Rinoa shuffle slightly beside her on beholding the girl's appearance.
"Is James in?" was her instantaneous demand, once again releasing her aura of command and conquer.
"Uh..." Lily said tentatively, her eyes fixated on her permanently frowning face, "No, he's not. I'm not sure where he is."
"He should be at the Gryffindor tower," Rinoa piped up helpfully, and the girl switched her smoldering gaze to her for a brief moment.
"And how do I get there?" she said impatiently, sounding both ashamed and angry at having to ask.
Rinoa's brown eyes widened, "You don't know how to get to the Gryffindor tower? Surely you still remember your way around the castle, it's only been a couple of years, hasn't it - ?"
The older girl's black eyes seemed to rekindle with a black fury as she laid them stonily on Rinoa, who promptly broke off, seeming to realise that she had just said something highly offensive though she wasn't quite sure what. She glanced helplessly at Lily who looked just as bewildered.
"I never attended this school," she said coldly, "I've only visited on very few occasions in recent years."
She said no more, only glowering at the two seventh-year girls who both felt very small all of a sudden. Then after a moment, the dark-haired girl asked again, "Are you going to tell me how to get to the tower or not?"
Lily and Rinoa gave her quick instructions, careful to talk politely and respectfully. When they were done, however, Lily rallied up the courage to get a few answers of her own.
"Excuse me," she said bravely, twisting her hands together nervously and looking up at the domineering young woman, "But could you tell us... who you are?"
Narrowing her dark eyes at Lily, the girl said in her booming voice, "James hasn't told you?" She looked resigned and, sounding as though it were killing her, she answered stoically, "My name is Regina Potter. I'm James' sister."
Lily made her face rigid as to hide her shock (which she knew would be highly rude), "Ooo-ooh. That's right. He - he mentioned you a few times, actually."
Rinoa was a little less successful in concealing her surprise, but luckily Regina was not looking at her.
"Well, everyone's heard about you - Lily Evans," she said almost critically, scrutinising Lily, "I must say, when I invented the 'arranged marriage' rumour I never expected it to turn out like this... didn't think James could ever - well, forget it." And without thanking them or acknowledging their kindness in any way, Regina turned on her heel and set off to the Gryffindor tower.
"That's James' sister?" Rinoa whispered incredulously, "I think the good looks gene skipped over her..."
"Rin!" Lily exclaimed, half-laughing, half-shocked, "That's a horrible thing to say!"
"You know it's true."
After breakfast the girls went outside to enjoy the snow, where most of the other students were also. There they met Remus, and Lily was thankful that he and Rinoa did not wander off into their own little land so that she was completely shut out. As she shook snow out of her red hair, curiosity got the better of her.
"Hey, Remus, where's James?" she asked casually.
"Oooh," Remus was busy trying to duck from Rinoa's snowballs, "He won't come outside, he says he's sick."
"Sick?" Lily repeated, nonplussed. It certainly wasn't an image she'd ever projectiled of manly, macho James, "So he's just staying inside for the whole day, by himself?"
"I think so," Remus replied, still hiding from Rinoa. He turned to look at Lily curiously, "Why?"
Lily flushed, though she hadn't any idea why, "Oh - uhh... I was just wondering. You two would usually hang out together, wouldn't you?"
Remus smiled blithely, "Yeah, we sure did that last night. Stayed up to two o'clock. He slept at his old dorm," he explained at her enquiringly look, "It's good to have James back, hadn't realised how little I've seen of him this year." Lily nodded morosely, as the same was true of her. "Anyway, he told me to come out without him because he's only gonna be studying and reading. There's only so much chess and Gobstones you can play."
"He's studying? During Christmas?"
"I told him to take it easy, but he waved me off. You know how he is."
"Mmmhmm."
They spent the morning together, just basking in the chilly weather and building snowmen and attempted igloos. They then went inside the Great Hall for a warm, hearty lunch. To her surprise, James wasn't present at the nearly empty Gryffindor table. She quietly ate her way through her pie, wondering where he was, half-hoping he'd turn up sooner or later, and then questioning her wiser instincts on why she was fretting over him so much.
The rest of the day was very pleasant; they spent the afternoon inside the common-room with mugs of hot chocolate and reminiscent stories of their earlier Christmases at Hogwarts. After a magnificent Christmas dinner (James still absent from the proceedings), Lily bade goodnight to Remus and Rinoa and trudged up to the Head tower with a warm sense of happiness.
She stepped inside the common-room, dimly aware of the glowing embers in the fireplace, and jumped when a feeble voice stirred, "Lily?"
"Potter!" His figure was curled drowsily on the couch and he struggled to a sitting position. "You've been here this whole day?"
"I - I'm sick," James mumbled, stifling a yawn.
"You don't look sick," Lily retaliated, scrutinising him closely.
"I've been recovering," he shot back defensively, now looking more awake. He ran a hand through his jet black hair, "Can you knock something up for me, I'm starving."
Lily just stared at him curiously. Perching herself on the side of the couch she asked, "Did your sister find you in the end?"
James looked surprised, then he nodded, "Oh, right. She mentioned that she met you and your friend briefly here. She thinks you're impertinent." A smile toyed at the corners of his mouth as he watched her reaction.
"Me, impertinent?" Lily repeated shrilly. Then she shook her head, "Whatever! I don't care. What did she want with you?"
He yawned lazily, "Why do you care, Evans?"
"Because if my instincts are correct," she spoke tranquilly, brushing her hair away after she pulled her beanie off, "It's got something to do with why you spent the entire Christmas Day alone, by yourself, cooped up miserably in the castle with," she took his book from him, "Quidditch Through The Ages. And you are most certainly not sick."
James raised an eyebrow at her. "Fine, I'm not sick, then, Sherlock Holmes," he said snappishly, snatching his book back, "If you must know, Regy told me not to go outside when the school's so empty because of this whole engagement thing. It hasn't really blown over yet, and Slughorn's always having these random outsiders lurking the grounds."
"What about me, then, I've been out all morning!"
"You don't matter," James said dryly, shooting her a look, "Because without me, you're not interesting."
"Oh, grazies, Potter, you sure know how to make your bride-to-be feel special," Lily said sarcastically. She grinned mirthfully when he gaped at her in slight horror. "I'm kidding. Don't look so horrified."
"If you ever forget this is strictly a contract only engagement I'm gonna have to kick you out," a relieved James mumbled.
She grinned, ever-so-cheerful, "But honestly, Potter, when you do find yourself a fiancee - bless her soul - try to be kind and loving toward her."
"I'll keep that in mind," he said through clenched teeth, her cheeriness starting to make his head ache, "Now go and make some risotto for me or something."
Lily was unperturbed; sometimes, annoying James was very entertaining, especially as he did it to her much more often. "Come on, Potter. Let's go to the kitchens."
"What? Why?"
"Because I'm not gonna cook now! It's your fault you didn't come down for the feast," she pointed out. When he groaned irritably, Lily grinned again and began to feel a slight twinge of pity for him. Then and there she decided to make his Christmas Day worthwhile after all, even with only (she checked the time) a few hours left till its demise.
"C'mon, there's plenty of leftovers, and I'm kinda hungry now." Grabbing his arm, the redhead pulled him up with stupendous effort and dragged him to the door, despite his protests.
The house-elves greeted them squeakily and happily as they went inside the brightly lit kitchens. As soon as they sat down at the table several dishes appeared in front of them. James blinked. Lily beamed and thanked the little creatures.
He tucked in hungrily, having been famished all day, feeding on dry biscuits and stale cakes. She watched him intently as he ate, which didn't escape his attention.
"What?" James finally asked, his hazel eyes sweeping over her scornfully, "Stop staring at me, Evans, you're creeping me out."
Lily chuckled buoyantly, which also unsettled him, "Sorry, Potter. I was just wondering... have you really been doing nothing all day?"
"I've been studying."
She scoffed, "Yeah, right. And I'm in love with Snape."
"Are you now?" James asked her with renewed interest. She glared swiftly at him, "Of course I'm not!" He sniggered.
Lily rolled her eyes again as they fell back into silence. James glanced at her in between bites and asked, trying to make it sound offhand, "What have you been doing all day, then?"
"Oh... had a snow war with Remus and Rinoa, had lunch, then we shared youthful stories..."
"Did - did you guys build a snowman?"
The redhead furrowed her brow curiously, as it was a bit of an odd question, "Yeah..." His eyes quickly darted away and he stuffed his mouth with more food. A smile unfurled across her face, "You were lonely, weren't you?" she accused mischievously.
"What?" he asked indignantly, going pink, "What are you talking - "
"Bet you were peeking out of windows to watch us having such fun," she teased with a cute little expression on her face, "Aww, poor Potter."
How had she known he was watching them jealously?
"Whatever," he muttered, preserving his dignity.
"C'mon, Potter, who wouldn't be lonely on Christmas Day when they're by themselves?" Lily was grinning exultantly at him now, unnerving him greatly. Her green eyes sparkled and she leaned in excitedly, "I know, let's go outside now."
"Now?" James repeated, his voice going high at the end, "Why?"
"Christmas isn't complete if you don't enjoy the snow," she said nonchalantly, wrapping her scarf around her neck tighter. She stood up briskly, "Let's go! Are you done yet?"
She had gone insane. That had to be it. Perfect, rule-abiding, Head Girl Lily Evans was ordering him to go outside in the middle of the night to enjoy the snow. James had never heard anything equal to it, but the blithe, jaunty expression on her face made him have second thoughts. Perhaps it wasn't such a mental idea after all... he had been cooped up inside the castle all day... and after all, it was Christmas!
Before he could say anything, though, she was already heaving him to his feet. My, someone was certainly pushy today.
"Hey - hey - my apple pie - !"
"Oh, forget the stupid pie."
The night air was much cooler than it was during the day and the two were thankful for the extra jackets and scarves they'd donned. As they trudged out of the castle, Lily spotted the frozen lake and instantly made a beeline for it, dragging him along.
"Evans - where are we going?" James asked uncertainly, his breath coming out in misty puffs.
"We're gonna go ice-skating! We never got around to doing it today. Come on!" She happily ran towards the locked hut where the skates were kept. James' eyes widened apprehensively.
"You're kidding me..."
Five minutes later he found himself on the slippery ice, a pair of skating shoes strapped tightly on either foot. Lily had enchanted some lights on the surrounding trees so that visibility was existent. Now the redhead was gliding over the smooth surface, grinning as the wind blew onto her face. She circled around a stationary James, "What are you still doing there?" she teased, coming to a perfect halt, "C'mon, start skating! This is great."
"Easy for you to say," he muttered, struggling to keep his balance. His legs were quivering dangerously and he cursed under his breath.
A peculiar expression crossed Lily's face, "Potter... you don't know how to skate, do you?" He glanced at her ominously and she cracked up laughing, her eyes crinkling up. His expression softened somewhat; she looked quite endearing when she laughed.
"The great James Potter doesn't know how to ice-skate," Lily sung merrily as he glared at her. She giggled, skating away from him, "Too bad for Hogwarts' best Quidditch player..."
"Flying's got nothing to do with maintaining balance when you've two metal blades under your feet!" James yelled after her broodingly, then yelped as his legs crumpled underneath him - for one foolish moment he was half-bent over the ice and then the world spun around and he had fallen over.
This was absolutely absurd. He should have never agreed to come out here with Evans. He must have been brainwashed or something.
Her mirthful laughter rung in his eyes as she gracefully skated in front of him. James lifted his stony gaze up to her. Still grinning, Lily extended her hand.
"Would it kill you to ask for help?" she wanted to know, raising her eyebrows. James reluctantly took her hand and she pulled him to his feet, all while managing to stay balanced herself. As soon as he was upright he stumbled forward and immediately grabbed her to prevent him from falling over. A laughing Lily steadied him, placing both hands on his arms.
"This is mental, let me off!" James demanded through clenched teeth, his dignity marred and cheeks flushed at their close proximity. Her hair smelt... nice.
"All you need is a little practice," Lily consoled musingly, both of them still holding onto each other. She hadn't realised he was so tall. "And then you'll be able to do this - " Releasing him for a second, she performed a swift pirouette on the ice, arms aloft.
James looked at her enviously.
"Show-off."
Lily gave him the evil-eye, "Want me to leave you here again?"
That sobered him up.
The next half an hour was spent trying to teach James how to ice-skate, which proved to be an enormous feat. Lily stayed at his side, instructing him how to move his feet properly, but he mostly ended up on his backside. She tried her best to bite back her laughter, but it was just too funny. James looked just like a little boy, struggling against friction and gravity.
"Just bend forward a little - no, not that much!" she exclaimed as he almost did a forward somersault onto the ice, his arms comically spinning in circles, "Just enough to balance yourself out."
"I feel like I'm trying to lay an egg," James mumbled apathetically.
Lily rolled her eyes at his synonyms, "Okay, now keep your legs apart, and then push with your right foot..." Squeezing his eyes shut, James willed his foot to slide forward against the slippery ice... and to his surprise, he began to move.
"That's it!" she cheered happily, taking swift strokes forward to keep up with him, "Alright, keep going, just keep pushing one foot at a time..."
As the raven-haired boy continued to slide his feet forward choppily, a tiny smile emerged on his face. Hey, this was actually... fun. The wind blowing against his face was the same feeling he got when flying.
Lily was following beside him, looking delighted at his progress (finally), "You're doing it, Potter!"
James glanced at her and grinned maliciously, "I'll race you to the end."
He took off alarmingly fast, almost tripping at a chipped surface. Lily's green eyes widened before she chased after him, her feet working swiftly and quickly compared to his choppy strides. Very soon they were beside each other again.
"You didn't think you could beat me, did you?" Lily taunted innocently.
James smirked at her angelic expression and tried to go even faster, his skates going double time. Unfortunately he was getting a little ahead of himself and tripped over his own feet, sailing spectacularly through the air to land in the snow on the side of the lake. Groaning painfully, James rolled onto his back and spat out a mouthful of snow. Lily slid to a stop in front of him and put her hands to her hips.
"Even you can't be that magnificent on your first try," she told him solemnly, a smile toying around the corners of her mouth.
"I just wanted to go fast," James said woefully, still lying in the snow and looking up at her like a misbehaving child. With flecks of snow in his dark hair and his cheeks faintly flushed from the cold, Lily started to realise why he was considered the most good-looking boy at school.
She leaned down, her emerald eyes starry, "Why didn't you just say so?" He looked at her incomprehensibly.
"Aaah, slow down!" James croaked, squeezing his eyes shut as the curve came up. He was swung around it incredibly fast, the wind soaring through his hair wildly; he bent his knees even more to ensure his safety so that he was in a kind of quat. Lily glanced back at him and had to grin at his frightened countenance.
After another half hour of fooling around the ice rink, with Lily holding onto his hand and pulling him around the lake ("Gee, Potter, lose some weight!"), and then a game of 'tag' in which James could never catch her, the two exhausted teenagers sat down on the bench, removing their skates and looking up into the star strewn sky, just talking to each other for once.
James winced as he rubbed his wrist, "I'm gonna have a million bruises by tomorrow."
"Wimp," Lily said, shaking her head with a smile after inspecting his wrist, "You've suffered much worse injuries than a tiny bruise."
He smiled in spite of himself, thinking how relaxing and nice it was to be outside in the middle of the night, with the winter air around them and the velvety black sky above their heads. He was glad he had come out, after all. His Christmas Day had ended on a much nicer note than it had started, and he was surprised that it was Lily who had made it so.
Lily. James glanced at the redhead, star-gazing dreamily in her own land. He'd actually enjoyed her company that night. Her merry spirit and optimistic aura had somehow rubbed off on him and he was beginning to like that about her.
And she was certainly talented at ice-skating.
"I guess even house-elves can turn a new leaf," he murmured inconspicuously, pretending not to notice her agitated look as he gazed up at the sky. He looked over at her after a moment, "What? I'm complimenting you."
"You could've put it a nicer way!" Lily complained as he snickered, "Git."
"How'd you get so good, anyway?" he asked a bit grudgingly after a moment's pause, "At ice-skating, I mean."
"Oooh..." the redhead allowed herself a smile, looking up into the night sky once more, "My parents taught me when I was little. We used to always ice-skate during Christmas, you know. It was our little tradition."
James nodded wordlessly. She turned back to him, "What about you? How come you suck at it so much?"
He swept her a look of scorn but replied, "Too busy learning other stuff. Fencing, art classes, pottery... amidst all that, my parents never thought of ice-skating, I suppose. I always thought it sounded kinda stupid, anyway," he added, "Strapping bits of metal on the bottom of your feet to wobble around on the ice."
Lily was too used to his randomly negative attitude to be too fathomed by this; it was always much easier to ignore him and continue on with life as if nothing happened. She gazed up at the twinkling stars in a tranquil state, feeling at peace with the world. She loved the stars. They were always winking and smiling down at her.
"James?" she broke the lull as something in her memory stirred.
He started, both at her voice and how she was addressing him by his first name. "Yeah?"
"Thanks... for the Deluxe Quill," she said quietly, not exactly meeting his eyes.
James felt his heart speed up but he waved an airy hand, "It's no problem. I know you like all that writing stuff."
"You do?" Lily asked incredulously.
"Sure. You're always scribbling madly away, like a - like a - " James fumbled around for a simile, " - scribe. Sometimes it gives me a headache watching you."
Honestly, could he ever be nice?
"Well, you're right. I do like writing," she agreed cordially, smiling to herself as tales of dragons and knights and princesses shut up in towers floated in her mind, "Stories are the best. I want to be a writer one day, and have people all around the world reading my stories." A beautiful smile lit her face and her emerald eyes seemed to glisten in the darkness, "Just thinking that people will be reading my words gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling in my heart. It's incredible."
James smiled somewhat reluctantly at the radiant look on her face. Lily swivelled her head toward him appealingly, "What do you think?"
He marshalled his thoughts, gazing at the castle in the faraway distance. "I think... that the most important thing for a writer is to be able to connect with their reader. So," he turned pointedly to her, "Be a writer that touches people's lives, Evans."
Lily beamed up at him, making him feel a little light-headed, "You're right! Wow, Potter, I didn't know you could be so deep."
James grinned smugly, enhancing his handsome features, "You never ask."
---
The Christmas break was nearly over and all students would be returning back to Hogwarts the next day. Lily had drawn her legs up on the sofa in front of the fireplace, a notebook in front of her and her Deluxe Quill poised in her hand. Her holiday had gone by fairly well without any mishaps, and she was looking forward to plunging right back into rigorous studying and revising after such a refreshing break.
James climbed in through the portrait hole at that moment. "Hey," she greeted him without looking up, "Where've you been?"
"Just had a talk with Dumbledore," he said dismissively, coming over and stopping by the sofa. He stood there for awhile without saying anything. Lily glanced up at him.
"What's wrong?"
"He - he wants us to name this place," James said uncomfortably.
Lily frowned, "You mean, name the Head tower?"
He nodded, "He said since it's 'our house', we should give it a name... You're actually excited about this, aren't you?" He looked at her perplexedly as she sat up straighter.
"Well, it'll be fun," Lily said defensively, flipping to a new page in her book, "Okay, give me a name, Potter."
James hesitated, wavering slightly underneath her expectant look, "Well... maybe..."
"Spit it out!"
Thinking vaguely how impatient she could be at times, he half-mumbled, "I was thinking... Full House."
There was silence.
Lily looked at him intently with a soft sparkle in her eyes, "You... you like that name?"
Heartily embarrassed, James nodded sheepishly, "Yeah... I mean, it just feels nice, doesn't it? Kinda like... kinda like a house full of opportunity, of hope, of joy... of love - " He broke off suddenly, a pink tinge appearing on his cheek, "Well, yeah, you know what I mean."
He can be so sweet and naive sometimes...
"You know," Lily said softly, her gaze still upon him, "That's exactly what my father said when he was naming the house."
There was silence again, in which James tried to gain control of the situation, "So - er - Full House it is, then?" he said weakly.
Lily smiled obligingly, eyes a little cloudy with reminiscence, "Full House it is."
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A/N: Ohmygah, yes, it's me... back from the dead. -sniff- I feel really guilty just leaving you all hanging for almost half a year. It's just... so much has happened... and I've been terribly lazy... and Harry Potter is just not my thing at the moment. -cowers from rotten vegetables- (I seem to be doing that a lot.) But, I'm back now! xD Hehe. Okay, okay, that was a bad chappie, I know, but I almost killed my wrist trying to type it. In fact, my keyboard malfunctioned and I had to switch it. Creepy? Yes, I think so. Anyway... I'm so sorry, please forgive me. I'll try and make it up to all of you by staying up tonight and working on the plot. (Yes, I'm still not sure of the plot, even now.) Hehe. Well, if anyone's still here, just here to say... I LOVE YOU! And my wrist hurts. x) Thanks for all the requests for me to hurry my arse and update, everyone! xD - msq.