"This one or this one?" Lily held up two dresses. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Ask Charity." Sirius muttered, not even looking at the dresses she was holding.
"She's out." Lily informed him. "Which one?"
Sirius glanced at the dresses. Christmas was definitely a Lily season. All the good colors on her were seasonal. One of the dresses was deep green with silver ruffles and trim. Sirius scowled. It was a very, well, Slytherin dress. The other was cream-colored with golden accents. The green dress had short sleeves and a long skirt, while the lighter-colored dress had long sleeves and a shorter skirt.
"The white one." Sirius told her.
"It's not white!" Lily protested. "One never wears all-white after Labor Day, duh!"
"Whatever color it is, the lighter dress. Well, actually, it depends on what you're serving." Sirius told her. Lily looked frustrated. She draped the dresses over the arm of a nearby chair and placed her hands on her hips.
"What on earth are you talking about?" She demanded.
"Well, Peter's coming. If you're serving anything that stains very badly, you won't want the light-colored dress." Sirius explained.
"We're serving lasagna and turkey and some other stuff." Lily told him.
"I'd go get another dress. The green is too, Snape, and the light one will get stained." Sirius told her matter-of-factly, as he turned back to his Quidditch magazine.
Lily groaned and went back upstairs.
"Merry Christmas, Lils." Sirius mumbled with a sly smile.
"Okay, Sirius. Here's the deal. While I'm upstairs, you are to get the food out of the stove, and put it in the nice dishes on the counter. I labeled them with butter letters so you could figure out which dish goes onto which platter. On the little lace things on the table, there are labels so you know where to put the food. Cover each dish. There are place-cards in front of each chair, and you are to put one of the golden boxes to the right of each card. That should take you an hour. I will be down in forty-five minutes. Alright?" Lily asked him. Sirius nodded. "And don't stain that sweater."
Sirius was wearing Lily's gift- A deep blue cashmere sweater, and his own khakis (they won over Lily's suggestion of dark gray slacks). Lily hopped upstairs, and Sirius set to work. Lily had sent for her best silver filgree dishes to serve the food in, and Sirius had his own silverware set to add to the charm. And then a set of gorgeous floral China at each place added class.
Meanwhile, Lily found a pretty light-blue blouse with an assymetrical cross-over V-neckline, three-quarter sleeves with ruffles and a white collar. Her skirt was pencil-straight and deep blue. She slipped into a pair of bright blue silk stockings and a pair of black pumps.
"Sirius better not stain his sweater." Lily muttered, sweeping up her hair and pinning a golden lion head brooch to her collar. She put a pair of diamond studs on her ears and looked at herself with satisfaction.
"Golden boxes.. Yum." Sirius stood, eating chocolates and arranging the presents under the tree. He had finished in half an hour, and Lily was supposed to come down in fifteen minutes. The room looked nice- The wallpaper was cream colored with glistening gold stripes no wider than a piece of string. On one wall there was the red brick fireplace with shining darkwood frames, in the corner on the opposite walls was the small Christmas tree, and the table was dark and set with doilies and china with the Hogwarts seal and crystal goblets.
Sirius put a golden box full of candy on each plate, behind the place cards. But there was something wrong. Lily was in between Remus and Clarisse (who, he knew for a fact, would not be satisfied with the separation at all). He moved Clarisse and Remus next to one another so that Lily ended up next to James. He gave a small smile.
"I'm coming." Lily shouted as she ran down the red carpet, the one trimmed with white lace. It lined the dark staircase, and Lily put the last touch on her gold earrings (it had taken her ten minutes to decide they were more festive than those diamond studs).
"Sirius, where are you?" She muttered under her breath. She knew she should have been down there earlier- Almost all of her guests must have been there. Out one of the windows, she noticed it had begun to drizzle.
"Who is it?" Lily rushed, opening the door with anticipation. Standing there under the small roof that covered the top step of the stoop was an amazing brunette wearing a trenchcoat and dark clothing.
"Oh. Hi." Lily managed to squeak. "Come in."
James took off his hat and Lily helped him with his coat, pulling it several times so it would drip on the doormat. She hung it up and led him to the dining room.
His hand. I'm touching his hand.
My hand. She's touching my hand.
Lily pulled her fingers away. "There. You're sitting next to Remus and—Wait.." Lily frowned. Everyone turned. "Hi James! Hi Lily!"
"Hi." She murmured.
"Hello." His deep voice rumbled.
Lily took her seat and slipped her hands onto the edges of her chair, clutching them with a nervous look on her face.
James sort of chuckled, taking his seat. He had heard her gasp after her little ramble, and he saw her fingers go automatically to the edge of her seat. When was the last time she had done that? She must have been twelve- At the Embassy ball.
"Lily and I have been slaving over a hot stove all day--.." Sirius began. Lily coughed loudly. "Alright, alright. Lily has been slaving over the hot stove and her desk, planning every detail. Enjoy."
All at once everyone started to talk and eat and laugh. Lily liked it- Seeing all her friends in one spot after Christmas. She supposed she must have been pretty silent, just sitting there.
James glanced at Lily quickly as Coco took a breath before continuing to argue with him about the better brooms. She was looking around happily, and silently, but her hands were still nervously on her chair. He slipped his hand under the tablecloth and took her hand in his, squeezing it a bit. Her hand relaxed and the other one flew up to get some food on her plate. They both smiled like dorkbrains (as Peter put it) and enjoyed the evening.
"Come on, everyone- There's half a million gifts underneath the tree and they haven't even been opened yet!" Sirius exclaimed. Soon the air was filled with colorful ribbons and wrapping paper.
"It's great!"
"Thanks!"
"I'll wear it forever and forever!"
"It's nice, Lils." James whispered as she quietly led him aside. Into the doorway. "I'm pretty sure that I'll fly faster for that Snitch now."
"Thanks. It was definitely something I thought you would like." Lily said, blushing.
"You want to go outside?" James asked quietly.
"Yeah. Let Sirius handle this rowdy crowd." Lily joked, slipping her hand into his.
"The air is so cold." Lily whispered, rubbing her arms. She had just put her coat on top of James's on the rail nearby, thinking she could take the wintry air.
"I feel warm standing next to you." James admitted.
"Or maybe it's the mistletoe?" Lily asked him slyly.
"Maybe." James shrugged. They both leaned in. As their lips met, Lily slowly slid her arms around James's neck and his arms circled her waist.
"Come on, guys!" Sirius exclaimed in a loud, excited whisper. They peeked out of the lace curtain on the long, narrow window.
"It's so romantical." Remus whispered. The boys laughed, while the girls rolled their eyes.
"I'm glad I put up mistletoe this year." Sirius told them.
"Aren't we all?" Clarisse asked, snuggling closer to Remus.
"Oh. No.. I can't do this." Lily's brow wrinkled up as she pulled away.
"Why not, Lils?" James pleaded with her as she grabbed her coat. "Where are you going?"
"Anywhere where Christmas isn't made into the doomed romance." Lily told him.
"Why are you so scared of me?" James yelled as her heels clicked on the red brick path towards the street.
Lily whirled around. There was James. James Potter. Looking dishelved, yet so perfect on her stoop. He was running his hand through his hair again. True to his nature. She laughed bitterly as she watched his pleading eyes.
But then she frowned worriedly. " I really don't think you know what I was meant for. I'm a doll that is supposed to be on display for everyone to see- The sparkling angel on top of one's Christmas tree. Everyone compliments it, and someone pushes special love towards it, but no one really, really wants it. They want it for display. Christmas ornaments aren't meant to be toys, James. They aren't supposed to be something you treasure and enjoy for a long time."
"You are not a Christmas ornament. You are a beautiful young billionare and I can't stand it that you are arguing with me over my love for you." James told her.
"You love me?" She asked quietly.
"You really are a Christmas tree topper. You can't see out of your own eyes when somebody absolutely adores you, can you?" He demanded.
"Well, I guess I can't. Merry Christmas, James Potter." Lily pulled her coat closer, turning around and walking down the street. She didn't know where she was going to go, but she was going somewhere. No way was she going back to that house.
James looked down at his feet. "Merry Christmas, Lily Evans."