Chapter 37

"Trust me, Gail!" James attempted to be convincing around a mouthful of turkey. He effectively spewed small bits of food onto Gail's arm. He was lucky that her temper took a lot to ignite.

James continued after watching Gail wipe the food off of her arm with a napkin, "my parents want you to come over for Christmas break. Mum doesn't want you to be alone during the holidays."

"That's nice and everything, but I don't want to intrude on your parents. They're already putting up with Sirius," Gail shook her head.

"Oh come on," James batted his hazel eyes, "not just Padfoot, but Moony and Wormy are also planning on visiting too."

"Then they won't need a fourth visitor," Gail said slowly.

"You should take up their offer," Remus stated convincingly. He was sitting next to James and giving Gail a knowing look, "that way, we'll be able to see each other on Christmas."

"Mmm," Gail thought about it for a moment, "I guess. You're sure it's okay, James? I don't want to be a burden on your parents."

"Naw," James said, chewing on a new piece of food, "Mum likes you. You can stay in the spare room. I'm sure Sirius won't mind sharing my room."

Lily, who had been quiet throughout the entire conversation, was glowering across the table at James and Gail. She finally opened her mouth to speak, "Gail, are you really going to spend your holidays with them?"

"Looks like it," Gail confessed, tossing a dreamy smile to Remus, which was returned to her. For what seemed like once in months, Peter had decided to join his friends for a meal, not that Gail paid any attention to him.

"Good luck," Lily snapped, pouting a little bit, "send me a letter if you need anything."

"What about me?" James asked, causing Lily to appear slightly confused.

"What?" Lily asked incredulously.

"What if I need you? Can I send you a letter?" James asked, using his best sweet smile to Lily.

Momentarily, the redhead looked like she was going to regurgitate her breakfast. She gave no response to James. Instead, she turned away to start a conversation with Amber. Obviously, Lily didn't seen the downcast look on James' face. It was sweet how nice he was being around her.

"I'm sure Lily would like a nice letter for Christmas," Gail said, rubbing James' arm comfortingly. She snickered, "a normal letter. One that's poetic and sweet."

James seemed to cheer up significantly. Gail ignored the death glares that she was receiving from the redhead. Instead, she turned her attention to Remus, doing her best to ignore the "sweet" exchange between Sirius and Jo. They seemed to be getting along quite well recently. Jo was a good mix of exciting and understanding; she effectively balanced out Sirius' cool, somewhat overbearing personality.

"I'll see you in a bit," Gail offered Remus a small wave, "I have a few questions for Professor Sid."

"Sid?" James mouthed the name slowly.

"Our Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor," Gail explained, "you would know his name if you paid any attention in class."

"Don't need to," James quickly ran a hand through his hair. Gail didn't miss his quick glance towards Lily, who was ignoring him, "I've already learned everything."

Gail snorted, taking a swipe at him as she left. It was true that she wanted to ask the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor about shield charms. She had been largely unsuccessful in performing them in class. Even after they'd been covered in Charms, too, she was still unable to perform them. Hopefully, Professor Sid would be able give her a few pointers.

It felt strange to say her good byes on the platform and not bid the two sneaky marauders adieu. She heard a few fox whistles when she gave Remus a departing kiss. She was half expecting James to admit that it was all a joke and that his parents really didn't want her over for Christmas. That joke never came, though. Mr and Mrs. Potter greeted their son and Sirius warmly. Mrs. Potter covered both boys in a slew of kisses and tight hugs. Mr. Potter was more withdrawn, offering a handshake to Sirius and a short hug for his son. By the time they turned to greet her, Gail was feeling like a fifth wheel.

"Oh Gail!" Mrs. Potter looked absolutely teary, "how horrible this year must have been for you."

The woman pulled Gail into a hug. For a moment, Gail felt her eyes watering uncontrollably. It was so similar to the hugs that Mrs. Prewett had given her time and again. For a moment, she forgot who had their arms around her. Of course, there was no mistaking Mrs. Potter's silver speckled, brown hair for Mrs. Prewett. The two women were roughly the same height and they were both motherly. It took Mrs. Potter a few minutes to pull herself back together and out of the hug.

"And to think that they were both with us just last year," Mrs. Potter sniffed, pulling out a tissue to wipe her eyes. She seemed to notice Gail's teary eyes too. She offered the tawny haired girl a tissue, which Gail took and blew her nose.

"We're happy that you could celebrate with us," Mr. Potter said quite clearly, though he looked equally sad as his wife, "in times like these, it's best to celebrate together while we still can."

Before Gail could open her mouth to say anything, Sirius decided he would override the conversation, "Mummy, I missed you!"

With that, Sirius wrapped his arms around Mrs. Potter. Laughing ruefully, Mrs. Potter swatted him away, "that's enough. I guess we should get going. We'll be using the floo network today."

The Potters' house was exactly as Gail remembered it from the previous year. The timeless antiques were decorated in paper snowflakes and different coloured cloth snowmen. Gail had to bite her lip to prevent her reoccurring sadness.

"James, could you show Gail to the spare room?" Mrs. Potter said after the three men stepped out of the fireplace, "make sure Sirius' mess has been cleaned up."

"Alright, c'mon Gail..." James carried Gail's trunk up the stairs and lead her into the bedroom. Surprisingly, Sirius hadn't left the room in such a mess. Of course, he'd put up a few posters of girls in bikinis, but those could be taken down or covered up. There was a faint odour in the room; Gail didn't want to know what it was from. There were some dirty clothes that had been left on the floor that Sirius hadn't bothered to take with him to Hogwarts.

"Make yourself comfortable," James said casually, placing the trunk in the corner of the room, "I'm gonna go make sure that my mum didn't clean my room."

After he left the room, Gail set Fright's cage down on the floor beside the bed and then flung open her trunk and pulled out some of her books and things, which she left on the counter of the vanity. Her next mission was to get the posters down. With a flick of her wand, she summoned the posters easily and stored them in the dresser drawer. Sirius' dirty clothes were also scooped into a neat pile and shoved into the closet.

Near the bottom of her trunk, the bag of owl treats had spilled open. Grabbing one, Gail gave Fright a treat for being good in transit. Before she could do anything else, there was a rap on the door.

"Come in," Gail called calmly, as she quickly closed the lid of her trunk.

Sirius slunk into the room, took one look at the barren walls and turned to glower at Gail. He didn't seem overly happy that she had claimed "his" room so quickly. Undoubtedly, he had hid a few joke items in the room. It was probably for the best if Gail didn't riffle through the vanity and dressers.

"I put your clothes in the closet. Your posters are in the bigger dresser," Gail responded, "I just really don't want to stare at them."

"Why not?" Sirius asked accusingly. He quickly moved to retrieve his posters, "I only put the best up on the walls."

"Face it, mate," James entered the room after him, "Gail just doesn't like women the same way we do..."

"Why do you have muggle women on your posters, anyway?" Gail asked slowly, "James only has posters of witches... Mostly playing quidditch. Wizard pictures are much more entertaining."

"Muggles annoy his mum," James explained, jostling Sirius with his elbow, "and he likes them."

"Oh, I heard he likes the blondes," Gail commented airily as she did her best impression of Amber flicking her hair back over her shoulder.

Sirius rolled his eyes and walked towards the door, "I would watch where you put your head on the pillow, Forester, if you know what I mean."

"Gross!" James laughed, following his friend.

That left Gail to stand alone in the room. What was worse, Gail had no idea what Sirius had meant by mentioning the pillow.

A few days after the break started, Peter dropped by for a visit. Gail was rather glad to see the plump little boy. There was only so much time that she could spend around James and Sirius before she could feel her temper flare up. They had started wrestling in random places about non-issues. When they weren't goofing off, they had taken to performing small pranks on her every once in a while, such as placing a static charm on her hairbrush. This inevitably lead to Gail doing her best to avoid them.

She really couldn't talk with Mr. Potter, because he was practically a stranger and it was like talking to an extremely old version of James. She always had the feeling that Mrs. Potter was too busy cooking meals and cleaning to have a serious conversation with Gail. It was a nice change to have a conversation with Peter. For the most part, Gail hunkered down and continued to read the animagus notes to pass the time.

"Hello Peter," Gail greeted the boy. He seemed to go slightly pink, probably because Gail usually ignored him. It was true, he had recently become more like a shadow, following James and Sirius around but never really being noticed by others. There were moments when he wasn't around, but it wasn't like anyone really cared. He was almost too good at sneaking around.

"H-hello Gail," Peter smiled bashfully at her.

"How's your break from these two morons been?" Gail gestured at James and Sirius, who were wrestling over who would get the second chicken leg that night. She had long since given up trying to wrestle with them, feeling that it was highly inappropriate when Mrs. Potter would cluck her tongue.

"It's been good," Peter responded cheerfully, "although, my father has been making me do more chores around the house, recently. He said it was because I got too many detentions."

"You've been getting detentions?" Gail asked incredulously.

"Just shows how much attention you pay to the rest of us," Sirius quipped, looked over his shoulder. He appeared to be winning the fight, "when ol' Moony is around."

"Yeah," Peter agreed, completely oblivious to the embarrassed blush on Gail's cheeks, "you tend to only see him when he's around. You haven't greeted me during meals in a while."

"Oh Peter," Gail looked shocked, "I'm really sorry."

"Gail and Moony, sitting on a broom," Sirius chided, "k-i-s-s-i-n-g."

"First comes love, then comes marriage," James joined, gleefully pouncing on Sirius, whose attention was elsewhere.

"I certainly hope you haven't been kissing any boys, Gail," Mrs. Potter interrupted their conversation. She settled herself in the arm chair next to Peter, "I haven't heard much but it sounds like you and Remus are dating."

"That's right," Gail nodded timidly, doing her best to keep her mind off of kissing Remus, "we just went on our first date a few weeks before my seventeenth birthday."

"Oh, that reminds me. James, dear..." Mrs. Potter turned her attention to her son, "oh for goodness sake, James, let go of Sirius. You are not brothers, you know. You must treat your guests, ALL OF THEM, with respect."

"Yes mum," James released his grip on Sirius' head and retreated slightly. Sirius grinned cheekily at Gail and tossed a wink. That signified that he had won the scuffle. Gail was more impressed by how easily Mrs. Potter had reined in the messy haired youth.

"Have you signed up for apparition lessons?" Mrs. Potter asked calmly, "they should be starting just after you get back to school."

"Yes, mum," James pushed his glasses back up his nose and stared at his mother, "I signed up a few weeks ago when the notice got posted. I think Peter's the only one that's gonna have to wait another year for the lessons."

Mrs. Potter turned to survey Peter, a dismal look on her face, "your birthday comes after the test, doesn't it?"

"Yes," Petter nodded his head in agreement. He didn't really look ashamed that his birthday came later in the year, which was somewhat surprising.

"That's too bad, Peter," Gail patted the boy's arm, noticing that his face went slightly pink, "but at least you'll have Sirius and James to tutor you about apparating."

"Oh, I raised such nice boys," Mrs. Potter smiled fondly at both boys. The woman leaned forward in her hair to try and flatten out the back of James' hair. It wouldn't stay where she put it, so she eventually gave up. The whole situation was quite strange to Gail, who had never seen James act so much like... well, a Momma's boy.

"I suppose I had nothing to do with that, did I?" Mr. Potter entered the room and promptly dropped himself into a seat across from his wife. It was the first time Gail had seen him with a pipe, but she figured it suited the elderly man. The smoke that lingered around him smelled somewhat sweet.

"Oh, you!" Mrs. Potter smiled lovingly at her husband, "of course you did. Why, I remember when James used to run around in the backyard shouting that he was going to be just like his father."

There was a slight pause in the conversation. Gail half expected James to become embarrassed and tell him mother not to say anything about his childhood, but apparently Gail didn't know him well enough. He peacefully sat there, quite content that the entire conversation was focused on him. He as such a strange boy to enjoy being the topic of such an embarrassing conversation.

"Oh, I remember when he took my broom for a flight before he was even in Hogwarts," Mr. Potter said wistfully.

"That was fun," James protested slightly, "besides, no one cares about broomsticks. The muggles here don't mind."

"Your mother was right panicked," Mr. Potter recalled calmly, "and you even had the audacity to steal your poor mum's favourite hat right off her head."

Gail could just imagine a naughty little boy flying around on a broom that was far too big for him being chased around by Mrs. Potter. The thought made her smile. James must have had a wonderful childhood, she was almost jealous.

"What about you, missy?" Mr. Potter turned his attention to Gail, "what were you like growing up?"

"Oh me?" Gail thought about it for a moment, "I was a chubby, shy little girl."

"Oh, you must have been cute," Mrs. Potter smiled faintly at her, "but it's rather hard to imagine you chubby or shy."

"She was though," Sirius butted himself into the conversation, a wicked smile on his face, "used to give Peter a run for his money."

Mrs. Potter's mouth formed a circle, but she seemed a little speechless that Sirius would say something like that. Gail noted, out of the corner of her eye, that James seemed quite unhappy about the conversation not being centred around him. There wasn't anything she could do about it, though, because Mr. Potter was the one who changed the topic.

"Oh, Sirius," Mrs. Potter finally scolded mildly. She looked fairly displeased by the handsome boy's comments. She was more annoyed than anything. Instead of scolding Sirius more, though, she turned her attention back to Gail.

"I'm sure Gail wasn't ever that bad. Look what a lovely woman she turned into. You're able to perform magic outside of school now, right?"

"Yes," Gail nodded in agreement, "as an adult, I think I'm going to start renting my own flat over the summer. It's really not fair of my to intrude on Fabian and Gideon for another summer."

Sirius looked a little interested. If it had been just Gail and the boys in the room, she would have suggested he become her flatmate, but as it was, she didn't want to offend the Potters.

Mr. Potter shook nodded in approval, "if you ever need a place to stay, know that our doors are open. Sunday dinner is always at noon. But the next time you visit you should bring your red haired friend. I heard she's quite pretty."

"Dad!" James protested, "you're not allowed to flirt with Lily when I introduce her to you."

"I'm looking forward to it, son," Mr. Potter beamed at James. It seemed that they were having a father-son moment.

Author Note:

Oh, I love writing about holidays. Sorry, I'm updating a bit late in the day; I had a friend over and I had to drive her back to the train station.

Tomorrow will be my last update until Friday. Big things will be happening.

-Rue

The Comment Gallery
Host: Gail Forester
Guest: Remus Lupin, James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew

Gail: Welcome to the Comment Gallery. The marauders are here. Say hello, boys.

Marauders: Hello!

Gail: Peter, read the first review.

-Sirius mimics whipping Peter-

Peter: O-oh! Okay. The first review is from Apocolips.

Remus: That cake was good. Mmm...

James: My plan is working! IT'S WORKING!

Gail: Sirius, read the next one.

Sirius: Fine... Thanks for reviewing, Angel of Apathy. We all want some cake.

Remus: CAKE!

Gail: Yes, Sirius and Jo are developing, Musik Drache.

-Sirius grins cheekily-

James: MaxRideRox! My friend! My partner! MY SUPPORTER! Thank you.

Gail: That reminds me of a song by Evanescence.

Remus: Very interesting.

Peter: The last review is from Lift the Wings.

Sirius: Don't worry, Melanie is a small fry.

Gail: Without further ado, this chapter is BEING posted. See you all next chapter. Thanks for the reviews!