A/N: Aggggggghhhhhhhhhh! I'm so mad! I have a really good idea for a story
but I can't write it because I have two other fics to work on. This one
makes me maddest. I don't want to have to have other stories when I write
the new one because then I can't put all of my efforts into it. So, if this
skips around a lot its because I want it to be finished.
Disclamier: Other chapters you must see.
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In the Dictionary
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Chapter four: Kris Kringle Comes to Hogwarts
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The weeks after Halloween passed with Lily avoiding James and James avoiding Lily. They barely even looked at each other. It wasn't until Dumbledore summoned them to his office that they were within three meters of each other. (about twelve feet for all you people not on metrics)
"I've called you two up here to inform you that you will be in charge of the Christmas decorations. You were such a big hit at the Halloween feast, that I want you to make this holiday very special." Dumbledore looked at the two students in front of him and wondered what he was doing. The two clearly didn't get along, so why was he forcing them to collaborate?
Lily looked as if she had just received her death sentace and James looked like he had just been told that he must ride the Gringotts trollies eighty times. The two dearly wanted to protest but neither dared stand up to the headmaster. With pleading eyes, they left the room.
Meanwhile, Sirius and Remus and Diana and Hellen were talking about Christmas customs. Hellen was saying how Lily had told her that at the primary school she had atteneded, the students had a peculair way of exchanging gifts. The friends all gave their presents, as was usual, but there was something extra. This something extra involved picking a random name out of a hat and getting that person gifts. This was called Kris Kringle and Lily seemed very fond of it.
"I know!" Diana Exclaimed. "We can have a Kris Kringle here at Hogwarts. Let's do it between us seventh year Gryffindors. That way we all know each other at least a bit and we won't go off giving peanuts to someone who is alergic."
"Let's do it to surprise Lily. The poor dear has been working so hard lately." Remus voiced the thought that was on everyone's mind.
"Well, first we must write everyone's names on scraps of paper. No cheating either. That wouldn't be fair."
"Right. I'll go and fetch some quills and parchment." Hellen left the room and came back two minutes later with identical squares of parchment and magic quills that alternated between the colours of red and green.
"Wicked quills!" Hellen turned slightly pink at Sirius' comment. She was just playing coy-an art she learned from Lily-she didn't really fancy him.
The group set to work on writing everyone's names on the slips of parchment. There were about forty Gryffindors in seventh year. (A/N: I did some math and JK Rowling says that there are about one thousand students at Hogwarts. This means there are about 35.7 people in each grade level in each house. I wanted their year to be a bit bigger. I don't even think that we've met all the people in Harry's year. So umm ya that's how I got that number in case you were wondering.) By the time the had finished writing the names and putting them into one of Diana's hatboxes, Lily and James had returned. Neither of them looked very happy, but once Lily saw what her friends were doing, her eyes lit up.
"Wicked-I mean how lovely!" Lily had almost used slang-one of the many things under her mother's list of "don'ts"
"What is all this?" James was confused since he had never participated in a gift exchange like this one. He was looking curiously from Lily, who looked happier than he had ever seen her, and Sirius and the others who were staring back at him with conspirital looks on their faces. Once it was explained to him, he looked almost as happy as Lily. "This is great! When do we draw names? I'll go and get the others."
"We can do it tonight when we are all in the common room. So just be patient until then." James looked a bit disappointed with Remus's statement but he was good and didn't even bring the subject until it was evening.
All of the seventh years were gathered around Hellen as she was explaining what they were about to do. One by one, everyone reached into the hatbox and pulled out a name.
"Now remember it's very important that you keep the identity of the person you are giving the gifts to a secret. It's no fun if you know who the person who is buying you stuff is," Hellen said this for about the seventh time. Lily rolled her eyes playfully as she reached into the box and drew out a name. On the little slip, in flashing red and green letters was:
Jessica Neiderman.
Jessica would be easy to shop for. She loved anything that Lily did, it got a bit annoying but Lily put up with it. James was having a much more difficult time with his person. He stared at the parchment as if daring it to do something. The words "Lily Evans" flashed almost mockingly at him. He wasn't sure if this was such a good idea after all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lily was standing under the doorway, directing James where to place the mistletoe. He was up on a ladder and Lily was holding it for him. "There that's perfect!" James had finally satisfied Lily. She was going to be the hardest person to shop for in the whole school- it seemed like nothing made her content. She and James then set off to decorate the rest of the castle.
Something changed over the next few days. Everyone in the castle could feel it. Most of them couldn't tell what it was but it was there. Lily and James had become very good friends. It wasn't spoken but they had stopped avoiding each other and now made a point to greet each other in the corridors and at meal times. James was glad they were becoming good friends but he still had no idea what to get Lily. His question would soon be answered, however.
In a freak accident, Lily's dictionary-the one with her portraits in it- was destroyed. An owl had flown into her dorm and, instead of a letter to her parents, took the book and headed off for her home. The owl was very stupid however, he only made it to Hagrid's hut, thinking it was Lily's house. The owl did yet another stupid thing; he dropped the book down the chimney. This wouldn't have been so bad, had not a fire been lit below. The book burned in mere seconds.
Lily woke to find her dictionary missing. She was very distraught over this and soon had half the castle looking for her. Hagrid came up and gave her what looked like the remains of what was once a very fine book. He told her that he had no idea how it had gotten there. Another student had seen an owl fly out of Lily's dormitory, holding a rather large object. She eventually came to the conclusion that was mentioned earlier. The only good thing that came from this event was that, now, James knew what to get Lily for Christmas.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Christmas morning dawned on Hogwarts as the students slowly stirred from their sleep.
"Lily, wake up! It's Christmas!" Every girl was crowded around Lily waiting for her to wake up. They didn't want to open their presents without her.
"I'm up. I'm up." The girls didn't need to hear anymore-they all started to rip open their gifts. Right now the only things to open were the things from family and friends. The Kris Kringle would take place in the common room that night. Lily was excited to find out who had her and who her friends had. Lily had gotten lots of clothes and make up from the girls who didn't know her too well. Diana had given her a magical day planner. It made noises if you forgot to do a project or attend a meeting. Lily didn't really forget things but she tended to over-book herself. Hellen had given her a shape-shifting stuffed animal. It changed into whatever animal you wanted. Sirius had given her a set of biting tea cups for her sister. James had given her a chart of what all of the former Head Girls had done and were doing. Remus gave her some quills that could change colours. Peter (A?N I bet you thought that I had forgotten him, didn't you?) gave her some Muggle mood rings as a kind of joke. They had a converstation on how stupid Muggle trends could be. Lily laughed at Peter's gift.
Everyone spent the day enjoying their presents and anticipating the evening. Most people got bored so they all went outside and started a snowball fight, Lily included. They split up into two teams, Lily, Diana, James, Remus and some other people were on one and Hellen, Jessica, Sirius, Peter and the remainer of the students were on the other.
Lily had to duck below James at one point to avoid getting pumelled by Hellen's snowballs. It was then when she got a strange feeling. She turned around only to find a strangely familiar bum right in front of her eyes. 'Where have I seen this before. . . . Oh yes the ice cream shop. . . . . That means that I can finally meet the owner of that wicked bum!. . . . .If only he would just turn around.' These were the thoughts running through Lily's mind at the time. She finally did get her wish and the person turned around. her mouth was open wide in shock. It was James.
Lily was saved by Sirius who announced that it was time to go in and prepare for dinner. He was actually just cold but he would never admit it. Everyone dragged themselves back to the common room. There, they each went to their rooms to change for the upcomming feast. The girls were all preening and the boys were all complaining about their growling stomachs. Finally they were all ready and they set off for the great hall. Everyone but Lily and James were stunned. They had never, in all their seven years at Hogwarts, seen the Great Hall look so magnificent. It seemed as if they had just walked into a Muggle holiday special. All that was missing was the movie stars and plastic Sanats and Elves.
The feast was also spectacular. Everyone left the table stuffed. They all slowly walked up the the common room for the best part of the day. Lily had gotten a little personal shopper type thing for Jessica. It told you what clothes matched and what looked awful. She couldn't wait to see her face when she opened it up. James was nervous about his present. He really hoped that Lily liked it. Sirus had gotten Peter as his person and he had gotten him a huge book of spells that would be useful in any future pranks. Remus was getting a necklace for Hellen and she got a insulting mirror and a large supply od dungbombs for James. Diana gave Remus a picture album of everyone in this past semester. Jessica was giving Sirius a quill that will do homework for the owner. Lily was the last one to open her gift.
It was another dictionary. Only, this one was different in a good way.
"Instead of one person staying under a word forever, the person's picture is under whatever word describes them best. For instance, look up greasy." James was explaining the present.
Lily did as she was told and let out a small laugh. Under the word greasy, was a picture of Serverus Snape. She looked up at James with new eyes. They showed something else. Something that had not been there before. All she could do was wisper, "Thank you."
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A/N: Ok guys I'm a bit depressed. Barely anyone is reviewing. One story (not naming names) isn't even half as long or as good (in my opinion) as this one, yet it has about fifty reviews! Please review. I don't want to have to be like some people and only post new chapters when I have enough reviews. Only because I do this for fun but that doesn't mean that I don't like reviews. I love them. Please review! If you do, I'll name you in the final chapter. I promise.
Disclamier: Other chapters you must see.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In the Dictionary
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter four: Kris Kringle Comes to Hogwarts
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The weeks after Halloween passed with Lily avoiding James and James avoiding Lily. They barely even looked at each other. It wasn't until Dumbledore summoned them to his office that they were within three meters of each other. (about twelve feet for all you people not on metrics)
"I've called you two up here to inform you that you will be in charge of the Christmas decorations. You were such a big hit at the Halloween feast, that I want you to make this holiday very special." Dumbledore looked at the two students in front of him and wondered what he was doing. The two clearly didn't get along, so why was he forcing them to collaborate?
Lily looked as if she had just received her death sentace and James looked like he had just been told that he must ride the Gringotts trollies eighty times. The two dearly wanted to protest but neither dared stand up to the headmaster. With pleading eyes, they left the room.
Meanwhile, Sirius and Remus and Diana and Hellen were talking about Christmas customs. Hellen was saying how Lily had told her that at the primary school she had atteneded, the students had a peculair way of exchanging gifts. The friends all gave their presents, as was usual, but there was something extra. This something extra involved picking a random name out of a hat and getting that person gifts. This was called Kris Kringle and Lily seemed very fond of it.
"I know!" Diana Exclaimed. "We can have a Kris Kringle here at Hogwarts. Let's do it between us seventh year Gryffindors. That way we all know each other at least a bit and we won't go off giving peanuts to someone who is alergic."
"Let's do it to surprise Lily. The poor dear has been working so hard lately." Remus voiced the thought that was on everyone's mind.
"Well, first we must write everyone's names on scraps of paper. No cheating either. That wouldn't be fair."
"Right. I'll go and fetch some quills and parchment." Hellen left the room and came back two minutes later with identical squares of parchment and magic quills that alternated between the colours of red and green.
"Wicked quills!" Hellen turned slightly pink at Sirius' comment. She was just playing coy-an art she learned from Lily-she didn't really fancy him.
The group set to work on writing everyone's names on the slips of parchment. There were about forty Gryffindors in seventh year. (A/N: I did some math and JK Rowling says that there are about one thousand students at Hogwarts. This means there are about 35.7 people in each grade level in each house. I wanted their year to be a bit bigger. I don't even think that we've met all the people in Harry's year. So umm ya that's how I got that number in case you were wondering.) By the time the had finished writing the names and putting them into one of Diana's hatboxes, Lily and James had returned. Neither of them looked very happy, but once Lily saw what her friends were doing, her eyes lit up.
"Wicked-I mean how lovely!" Lily had almost used slang-one of the many things under her mother's list of "don'ts"
"What is all this?" James was confused since he had never participated in a gift exchange like this one. He was looking curiously from Lily, who looked happier than he had ever seen her, and Sirius and the others who were staring back at him with conspirital looks on their faces. Once it was explained to him, he looked almost as happy as Lily. "This is great! When do we draw names? I'll go and get the others."
"We can do it tonight when we are all in the common room. So just be patient until then." James looked a bit disappointed with Remus's statement but he was good and didn't even bring the subject until it was evening.
All of the seventh years were gathered around Hellen as she was explaining what they were about to do. One by one, everyone reached into the hatbox and pulled out a name.
"Now remember it's very important that you keep the identity of the person you are giving the gifts to a secret. It's no fun if you know who the person who is buying you stuff is," Hellen said this for about the seventh time. Lily rolled her eyes playfully as she reached into the box and drew out a name. On the little slip, in flashing red and green letters was:
Jessica Neiderman.
Jessica would be easy to shop for. She loved anything that Lily did, it got a bit annoying but Lily put up with it. James was having a much more difficult time with his person. He stared at the parchment as if daring it to do something. The words "Lily Evans" flashed almost mockingly at him. He wasn't sure if this was such a good idea after all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lily was standing under the doorway, directing James where to place the mistletoe. He was up on a ladder and Lily was holding it for him. "There that's perfect!" James had finally satisfied Lily. She was going to be the hardest person to shop for in the whole school- it seemed like nothing made her content. She and James then set off to decorate the rest of the castle.
Something changed over the next few days. Everyone in the castle could feel it. Most of them couldn't tell what it was but it was there. Lily and James had become very good friends. It wasn't spoken but they had stopped avoiding each other and now made a point to greet each other in the corridors and at meal times. James was glad they were becoming good friends but he still had no idea what to get Lily. His question would soon be answered, however.
In a freak accident, Lily's dictionary-the one with her portraits in it- was destroyed. An owl had flown into her dorm and, instead of a letter to her parents, took the book and headed off for her home. The owl was very stupid however, he only made it to Hagrid's hut, thinking it was Lily's house. The owl did yet another stupid thing; he dropped the book down the chimney. This wouldn't have been so bad, had not a fire been lit below. The book burned in mere seconds.
Lily woke to find her dictionary missing. She was very distraught over this and soon had half the castle looking for her. Hagrid came up and gave her what looked like the remains of what was once a very fine book. He told her that he had no idea how it had gotten there. Another student had seen an owl fly out of Lily's dormitory, holding a rather large object. She eventually came to the conclusion that was mentioned earlier. The only good thing that came from this event was that, now, James knew what to get Lily for Christmas.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Christmas morning dawned on Hogwarts as the students slowly stirred from their sleep.
"Lily, wake up! It's Christmas!" Every girl was crowded around Lily waiting for her to wake up. They didn't want to open their presents without her.
"I'm up. I'm up." The girls didn't need to hear anymore-they all started to rip open their gifts. Right now the only things to open were the things from family and friends. The Kris Kringle would take place in the common room that night. Lily was excited to find out who had her and who her friends had. Lily had gotten lots of clothes and make up from the girls who didn't know her too well. Diana had given her a magical day planner. It made noises if you forgot to do a project or attend a meeting. Lily didn't really forget things but she tended to over-book herself. Hellen had given her a shape-shifting stuffed animal. It changed into whatever animal you wanted. Sirius had given her a set of biting tea cups for her sister. James had given her a chart of what all of the former Head Girls had done and were doing. Remus gave her some quills that could change colours. Peter (A?N I bet you thought that I had forgotten him, didn't you?) gave her some Muggle mood rings as a kind of joke. They had a converstation on how stupid Muggle trends could be. Lily laughed at Peter's gift.
Everyone spent the day enjoying their presents and anticipating the evening. Most people got bored so they all went outside and started a snowball fight, Lily included. They split up into two teams, Lily, Diana, James, Remus and some other people were on one and Hellen, Jessica, Sirius, Peter and the remainer of the students were on the other.
Lily had to duck below James at one point to avoid getting pumelled by Hellen's snowballs. It was then when she got a strange feeling. She turned around only to find a strangely familiar bum right in front of her eyes. 'Where have I seen this before. . . . Oh yes the ice cream shop. . . . . That means that I can finally meet the owner of that wicked bum!. . . . .If only he would just turn around.' These were the thoughts running through Lily's mind at the time. She finally did get her wish and the person turned around. her mouth was open wide in shock. It was James.
Lily was saved by Sirius who announced that it was time to go in and prepare for dinner. He was actually just cold but he would never admit it. Everyone dragged themselves back to the common room. There, they each went to their rooms to change for the upcomming feast. The girls were all preening and the boys were all complaining about their growling stomachs. Finally they were all ready and they set off for the great hall. Everyone but Lily and James were stunned. They had never, in all their seven years at Hogwarts, seen the Great Hall look so magnificent. It seemed as if they had just walked into a Muggle holiday special. All that was missing was the movie stars and plastic Sanats and Elves.
The feast was also spectacular. Everyone left the table stuffed. They all slowly walked up the the common room for the best part of the day. Lily had gotten a little personal shopper type thing for Jessica. It told you what clothes matched and what looked awful. She couldn't wait to see her face when she opened it up. James was nervous about his present. He really hoped that Lily liked it. Sirus had gotten Peter as his person and he had gotten him a huge book of spells that would be useful in any future pranks. Remus was getting a necklace for Hellen and she got a insulting mirror and a large supply od dungbombs for James. Diana gave Remus a picture album of everyone in this past semester. Jessica was giving Sirius a quill that will do homework for the owner. Lily was the last one to open her gift.
It was another dictionary. Only, this one was different in a good way.
"Instead of one person staying under a word forever, the person's picture is under whatever word describes them best. For instance, look up greasy." James was explaining the present.
Lily did as she was told and let out a small laugh. Under the word greasy, was a picture of Serverus Snape. She looked up at James with new eyes. They showed something else. Something that had not been there before. All she could do was wisper, "Thank you."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Ok guys I'm a bit depressed. Barely anyone is reviewing. One story (not naming names) isn't even half as long or as good (in my opinion) as this one, yet it has about fifty reviews! Please review. I don't want to have to be like some people and only post new chapters when I have enough reviews. Only because I do this for fun but that doesn't mean that I don't like reviews. I love them. Please review! If you do, I'll name you in the final chapter. I promise.