A/N I do know the difference between your and you're thank you, I'm not an idiot, but I make that mistake a lot whilst typing, because I'm rushing, and I haven't been using my beta-reader for these last chapters. J
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Mr. Grinch
James Vs. Christmas. Will James Potter Finally Get In the Christmas Spirit?
By
Sierra Sitruc
Baby Please Come Home
Christmas...
The snow's coming down
I'm watching it fall
Lots of people around
Baby please come home
The church bells in town
All ringing in song
Full of happy sounds
Baby please come home
They're singing "Deck The Halls"
But it's not like Christmas at all
Cuz I remember when you were here
And all the fun we had last year
Pretty lights on the tree
I'm watching them shine
You should be here with me
Baby please come home
They're singing "Deck The Halls"
But it's not like Christmas at all
'Cause I remember when you were here
And all the fun we had last year
If there was a way
I'd hold back this tear
But it's Christmas day
Please...
Please...
Please...
Baby please come home.
Chapter 12
1 Day Until Christmas
Waking up in her own room was a lot different, from waking up in her dorm. The covers weren't scarlet, but instead a light blue. There was less snow on the windows, and the small room was lighted better, which meant Lily awoke at the crack of dawn.
She adjusted herself to her surroundings, recalling where she was--at home. Her mother and she hadn't talked much on the way home in the car, it'd been late and Lily had dozed off, then, once home, she'd crawled to her room to sleep--she hadn't seen Petunia or Grandma Ruthy yet.
Lily was still lying in bed, when their came a sound from the window. She sat up, pulling the covers to her, when she looked out the window there was an owl--she sighed in relief and opened the window and let in the bird.
It was carrying a package it appeared, Lily took the package and the owl flew off out the window.
Immediately she noticed the drumming coming from the large box. Lily gasped in surprise, before grabbing the package and throwing it out the already opened window. If Petunia had seen the 12 drummers drumming, things could have gotten ugly.
Lily shook her head, and put on some slippers and her robe, before heading down to the kitchen.
No one was there yet, since they were all still sleeping, so Lily made herself some toast and orange juice. It was very lonely without the Marauders making racket first thing, and James coming in every morning... Maybe she shouldn't have gotten so mad about the birthday thing--but he shouldn't have made that comment about the snogging. He was going to pay dearly for that before any words of forgiveness came out of her mouth.
"Lily? Dear what are you doing up this early?" Came Greta Evans' voice.
"Couldn't sleep--too much light. Hogwarts' dorms are darker then my bedroom here at home." Lily said with a shrug. "What are you doing up so early, Mum?"
"I needed to get started on some Christmas Cooking--and since you're up, you can help me." Greta said, smiling as she tugged on an apron.
They began getting out ingredients and materials they needed to cook pies, and Lily started making idle chit chat. "So, how's Petunia?"
"Just fine, she has a boyfriend now--Vernon." Greta said disdain coming out in her voice, and Lily wrinkled her nose.
"Vernon Dursley?" Lily asked in disbelief. "The boy she claimed was the biggest pig she'd ever met? What changed her mind?"
Greta snorted, "I think it was 'His sophisticated business technique'. I don't see it, but she's head over heels for the blundering idiot--he's coming for Christmas dinner, so watch out--no talking of Hogwarts or any magic. He's ALL muggle, and besides, Petunia doesn't like magic anyway." Greta instructed.
"I know, I know--its standard procedure around all muggles in the Wizarding World, I know how to handle things Mum." Lily said, as she began poking holes in the pie crust (store bought pie crusts), while her mother worked on the batter.
There was quiet between the mother and daughter for a moment, until Greta asked, "Any boyfriends with you I should know about?"
"Well...up until yesterday I might have been able to tell you yes, but--no." Lily said sadly.
"What happened?" Greta asked, in her most motherly tone.
Lily sighed, "Well--remember James Potter?"
"The boy who hates you?"
"The very same--well--over the past week or so...I've been trying to get him to like Christmas--and I finally succeeded--and it seemed her liked me in that way--and I liked him, but then... Well, he neglected to tell me something, and we had a row--and then I came home." Lily said shortly. "That about sums it up. He said some...terrible things, and well--he owes me one hell of an apology."
"Watch your language Lily." Greta said nonchalantly, as she stirred the mix.
"Yes Mum."
"So, I won't have to worry about you running off with that Potter boy to get married?" Greta asked.
"Why is it, everyone always puts me and James together in a marriage?" Lily asked no one in particular.
"Maybe it's a sign." Greta said, smiling.
"Oh shut it." Lily said half heartedly. "So...Do you have any boyfriends?" The mood changed drastically.
"I knew this would come up; get the eggs dear...No time like the present... Lily--I'm engaged." Greta said bluntly.
Lily stared at her mother for a few moments, two eggs in her hands. The eggs slipped from her hands and broke and Lily said shakily. "Engaged? To who?"
"Remember that man...Donald Saberhagen?" Greta asked.
"Yes...He's the postman." Lily said. "Mum! You're marrying the postman!?" Lily exclaimed in horror.
"Uh huh, isn't it wonderful?" Her mother was bursting with happiness--and Lily didn't have the heart to argue about it.
"Yeah Mum...Wonderful." I can't believe that this can be a worse Christmas then 1st year, Lily thought grumpily.
~*~
"What am I going to do?" James moaned, still lying in his bed, refusing to get up. Remus and Sirius were trying to be supportive, but they were also planning what to do to get James out of this mess. They could only do so many things at once.
"Well, saying sorry is your best bet." Remus said from his spot on his own bed.
"Obviously, Moony, but it needs to be bigger." James said to his friend.
"How about you give her something--something she really likes." Sirius suggested, his voice hardly heard, as he was lying under his covers. They'd been up since three in the morning, when James had let out a yell of frustration, from a lack of good ideas.
"Lily doesn't go much into the presents thing." James said. "I need something good!"
"What does Lily like?" Remus asked his despaired friends.
"Christmas." James said automatically.
"Do something for her about Christmas for her then." Remus tried.
"No...I can't think of anything!" James growled, as he hit his head on his bed post.
"Maybe you could send her a card--signed Mr. Grinch--because, you know--." Sirius said unsurely.
"Shut up! That's not going to help me!" James grumbled. "No...Wait a second. Sirius! You're a genius!"
"Huh?"
"This can be fixed, that's what I'll do!" James said, off in his on little world, a plan hatching in his Marauding mind.
~*~
"Petunia, how do you feel about Mum getting married?" Lily asked her sister, who was sitting at the kitchen table, peeling apples for a desert, a few hours after Lily's conversation with their mother.
"I think it's a good idea." Petunia said haughtily. "I mean...Mum does need a man around the house. Four single women in the same small house can get--strange. Well, I'm not single anymore, but that's beside the point."
"I heard about that, congratulations on the boyfriend." Lily said with a smile, relieved at how easy it was to talk to her sister and mother...There was no awkwardness, it was easy to just fall into conversation. "I see how it's a good thing Mum had a boyfriend...But the postman? That's--like the kind of thing women gossip about at the beauty parlor!"
"What is?"
"You know...A middle-aged woman, having an affair with the postman." Lily said with a small blush on her cheeks.
"Normally, it's the milkman." Petunia said with a smirk.
"Maybe, but, we don't have a milkman." Lily said jokingly.
"Right, so Mum settled for the postman." They were quiet a moment, before Petunia let out a moan and said, "Oh no! Watch our Christmas presents from him be stamps!"
Lily cringed. "That could be disastrous--imagine how much fun people will make of us knowing our step-dad is a postman!"
"Well--it's not so bad. That's only his part time job now." Petunia said. "You'll meet him at Christmas dinner; he's not as bad as you think."
"How'd you know I thought he was bad?" Lily asked, catching the slip up.
Petunia looked uncomfortable. "Well...It's just...You seemed upset with the whole idea. I mean--Lily, you dropped eggs on the floor." Petunia said narrowing her eyes at her younger sister, while tumbling an apple into a bowl.
Lily laughed, "I guess I did overreact a bit."
"A little? Hey, I'm the one who fainted when Mum told me...and Donald was there! It was so embarrassing." Petunia confessed.
"You fainted when you heard the news?" Lily giggled. "That's hilarious! I wish I'd seen it!"
"It was awful! I woke up, and Donald's hovered over me, fussing over me like an over concerned puppy dog." Petunia said shaking her head. "He's a nutcase, but Mum loves him and that's what counts--and he's a nice guy too."
"Right." Lily said.
"I'm done, come on--now that I'm done, do you want to go build a snow fort?" Petunia teased, bringing up something they'd always done when it snowed.
"Sure...Are we going to build a bookshelf this time too?" Lily teased back.
"How about a toilet? Wasn't that your idea?"
"My bum was really cold after that." Lily said thoughtfully, as she and Petunia dropped of the bowl of apples in the kitchen and went to get their coats.
"Mum had been so furious that you'd tried to pee in the snow!" Petunia laughed, tugging on her navy blue coat, her blonde hair getting messed up by the fuzzy hood. Lily in return, did the same thing with her green coat.
"I was four and I hardly remember that!" Lily said in her defense.
"Yeah, well I'm sure that if I dared you to--you'd pee in the snow again."
"I only TRIED to pee--I didn't actually go through with it--my bum was too cold." Lily said, in mock irritation. Petunia threw her head back and laughed.
"Maybe so, maybe so..." Petunia said, pulling on some gloves, at the same time Lily put on a scarf.
"This makes me miss my cloak." Lily mumbled to herself.
"Cloak?" Petunia asked with one eyebrow raised. "That sounds--kind of...Cool."
"Yeah--groovy." Lily said sarcastically, and they laughed to themselves again.
"That is the stupidest word ever--I don't know what makes people say it so much." Petunia said, with a shake of her head as they headed out into the snow.
"It's untouched." Lily noted, as she observed the snow.
"Nope, we don't play in the snow unless you're around." Petunia said, as she fell back spread eagle into the snow, and began swishing her arms and legs back and forth. "Help me up now." Petunia ordered, holding her hands out for her sister to grab. Lily took her sister's hand and pulled her upright, and they stared at Petunia's creation. "A snow angel."
"That's the closest thing to an angel you'll ever be."
"I resent that!" Petunia whined, and then smirked dangerously and pushed Lily into a snow drift.
"Ack! Snow just went up my pants!" Lily shrieked, jumping up and doing a little jig trying to get the snow out...The happy moment faded, as she thought about playing in the snow with a certain Gryffindor boy--remembering the day they'd kissed. Too bad James had to bungle things up.
"What's wrong Lil? You look a little--upset." Petunia inquired.
"Just thinking." Lily shrugged, "It's nothing."
"It's about a boy isn't it?" Petunia asked.
"Yep, how'd you guess?" Lily wondered, shocked at her sister's intuition.
"Mum told me some things."
"Mum tells you everything." Lily said, rolling her eyes at her older sister. Lily had never been jealous of her sister and mother's relationship, because she'd had the same relationship with her dad--and if he hadn't died... Lily shook her self out of those thoughts.
"Yeah--well, I'm around here more then you are. I come home for Christmas each year from my school." Petunia said with a tiny resentment in her voice.
"Sorry about that--I just had a lot of things to do over Christmas break." Lily said casually.
"Oh, I see. So...about this boy--who is he, what's his story?" Petunia asked, while dispassionately making a mound of snow to start their childish fort.
"His name is James Potter; he's infuriating, stupid, and arrogant." Lily said easily.
Petunia gave her a long look before announcing, "You've got it bad."
"I do not!" Lily said offended.
"You do!"
"How can you tell?" Lily demanded, giving in.
"The look in your eyes, you love him to pieces." Petunia said, laughing lightly.
"I do not! He's an insufferable git!"
"That's what they all say--then, the next thing you know--they're married." Petunia said, as she and Lily managed to get up to parallel walls of snow.
"Not that married thing again." Lily muttered.
The two teenagers managed to construct their lopsided fort, while Lily told her sister about what had happened between her and James.
Lily wished that she had gone home for Christmas sooner, it wasn't too bad--a new step-dad would be interesting, and she'd only see him in the summers anyway. She liked talking to her Mum and sister…Life wasn't dreadful--the only real problem was that of James Potter and not knowing who had sent her those gifts...
Speaking of the gifts...
"Lily? Do you hear--drumming?" Petunia asked suddenly.
"Um--no, I think you're hearing things."
"I'm not! It's coming from over there." Petunia went off to investigate, and in a matter of seconds came running back with 12 tiny drummers chasing after her. It sounded like they were playing a song from 'The Nutcracker Ballet'. "They're possessed!" Petunia bellowed, running into the house, Lily burst out giggling, falling over in the process and knocking over their fort.
It was at that moment, that she knew, everything would be fine…Just fine.
¤The End¤
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A/N Ick...Writer's Block. I didn't like this chapter one bit! I mean...Yuck! I'm horrible at ending stories...Let's pray for the best next chapter!!
Thanks for all the reviews guys! Review! We still have the epilogue--it'll be Christmas, and the gift giver will be revealed, Lily will meet her step dad and...It'll be interesting--to say the least...:-)
Sorry it took so long to post...I thought this would be up sooner, because I'd planned to start working on this last night, but then I clicked something wrong in my front page and I would type and it wouldn't stop typing across the page, it wouldn't make paragraphs, one paragraph would be one big line on the screen--I fiddled with it for about 10 minutes, before going to bed, then I spent a part of my afternoon messing with it again trying to fix it. It was so much simpler then I'd thought...Which was pretty annoying in itself, oh well.
Only...444 reviews, and I'll post it! Let's go for it!
Merry Christmas Everyone!
*~Sierra~*