Chapter 4: Going Home.
Weeks past and everyone got into the swing of the school year. The students were now used to waking up at ungodly hours to get ready for classes, well, most of them anyway. Within these weeks, the new batch of first years had got themselves quite known with the whole school. Especially those from Gryffindor and Slytherin. Lily's name was known through many reasons, as were those of James, Sirius and Remus. Lucius and Severus had also become quite known and it was between these groups that most arguments, fights and pranks were done.
All too soon, the season's changed and where crisp green grass was seen, was soon covered with snow which was surprisingly thick this year. The School decorations changed as trees started to appear everywhere, and tinsel would be wound around the suits of armour which were unnaturally shiny. Yes, the Christmas spirit had reached Hogwarts, and Lily loathed it.
"You'd think Snape had seen you naked with the way you're acting," Gladys commented as she watched Lily's mood grow foul. Lily sat by the cold window ledge staring angrily outside as more snow fell.
"Everyone is just too happy this time of year. Personally, I don't give a shit about Christmas," Lily spat out the word.
"Lily! Language!" Gladys scolded.
"Sorry Mother dearest," Lily said sarcastically and rolled her eyes.
"Honestly, there must be much more of reason as to why you hate Christmas so much," Gladys said.
"Gladys, I hate Christmas, let's just leave it at that," Lily said, finality ringing in her voice.
"Fine. So, are you going home for the holidays?" she asked. Lily sighed heavily.
"Yeah, probably gonna be as shitty as it was last year," Lily commented.
" Aw, well, if it makes you feel any better, Malfoy got detention today." Gladys smiled. Lily laughed.
"The bugger probably deserved it anyway!!" she commented.
"Come on, let's just have some fun today." Gladys exclaimed. Lily raised her eyebrow at her.
"What? No extra work you want to do?" Lily asked.
"Nah, I've done enough work this term, I feel like going outside," she said.
"Are you crazy? Look outside? It's suicide in that blizzard!" Lily said pointing outside.
"Come on Lily? Where's your sense of adventure gone? Anyway, we could always go out when everyone else is outside and feeling all happy-go lucky," Gladys said. Lily smiled, Gladys always knew what she would and wouldn't like.
"Ok then! But if I get the flu, watch out girlie," Lily warned her with a sly grin.
That afternoon was spent trudging around the grounds in the blizzard. It was good exercise actually and Lily hated to admit it, but she was enjoying the feeling of the cold harsh snow hitting her. It made her feel stronger and made her feel like she could face any of the elements that came at her. It wasn't until she felt a whole heap of snow hit her back. She turned around and saw Gladys laughing at her through her two scarves and her woolly hat which was too big for her. Lily grinned evilly and sent a mound of snow at Gladys who got hit, splat on the head. 'A snowball fight in the blizzard, this is cool,' Lily thought. The snowfall soon stopped and both of Lily and Gladys were completely drenched. Luckily Lily knew the charm to quickly dry themselves up. They headed back to the castle and enjoyed the warmth of the common room. They talked through the afternoon.
"LILY!" A loud shout interrupted the girl's conversation. As soon as Lily turned around, Sirius pounced on her and pinned her arms on the ground.
"Attacking from the rear? That's low Sirius!" Lily said with a grin. She placed her legs on his stomach and flipped him over her. She then turned and sat on his back still, twisting the position of her hands so that she now pinned Sirius to the ground.
"Ouch…ok…that was painful," Siruis said. James, Remus , Peter and Gladys laughed. All four of them had grown accustomed to Lily and Siruis' play fights and wrestling matches.
"Painful as that was, I will not be defeated that easily," Sirius said and flipped around to his stomach, making Lily fall off him. They both grinned and went into ninja stances.
"You have improved Sirius-san," Lily said in her Japanese accent.
"As have you Lily-san," Sirius said in an accent reminiscent to that of Lily's Japanese one. The both charged at each other.
"Alright, 5 Sickles that Lily wins," James challenged Peter.
"You're on," Peter accepted.
Sirius had Lily in a headlock and started giving her a noogie. Little did he know that Lily's leg was head for him from behind, making him fall, still holding on to her.
"AH! Sirius! The least you could do is let go of me before you fall!" Lily said rubbing her head where she had banged it.
Sirius then turned to pin her. Lily once again tried to flip him, but he dodged and soon they were just rolling around the common room floor, trying to pin each other to the floor. The
fight went on until a really strict Gryffindor prefect separated them.
"I guess neither of us will lose any money then," Peter said.
"Oh well, it was good while it lasted. Well fought Sirius," she said and held out her hand. Sirius took it. They shook, but his face contorted in pain.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow….Lily! Let go!" Sirius gasped. Lily smirked and let go of her killer grip handshake.
"Alright, pay up Peter, Lily won that round!" James laughed as Sirius held his throbbing hand.
Soon enough, it was time to leave Hogwarts for the holidays. Lily said her goodbyes to Gladys, who was staying for the holidays. She was going to spend her time with the other girls in the Gryffindor year, Avril and Rafaela. So, Lily sat in a compartment near the back, like when she arrived to the school. Her mood was foul. She didn't like Christmas with her family. She hated it. Lily sat alone for a while until James came into her compartment.
"Hey you! What are you doing here all alone?" he asked as he sat beside her.
"Wallowing in self pity, what does it look like?!" Lily snapped.
"You're very unattractive when you go into bad moods like this, unless it's with a Slytherin, then you're just way too funny," James commented. Lily smiled a little and gave him a friendly wallop.
"Shut up James," she said, in a more friendly way.
"So, you doing anything special this Christmas?" he asked. Lily turned foul again.
"No. It's always the same bloody things as last time," Lily replied.
"Gladys told me how you're anti-Christmas with your family." James said.
"Yeah well, you would be too if you had a spoiled sister who whines every year just because her shade of lipstick isn't right, a mother who's over obsessed with decorations and the dinner so much that everything has to be so perfect, and a father who just can't loosen up and disapproves of basically everything you do." Lily said quite quickly.
"Whoa, it's that bad?" James asked. Lily nodded and looked outside.
"My sister's the worst. She's the most anti-me person in history. She hates my guts, and I hate her much more than that. She's spoiled, she's annoying, she's girly beyond belief and she's dumbest blonde ever known," Lily said.
"Thank god I'm an only child!" James said trying to lighten her mood. She smiled at him.
"I am so envious of you right now it's unbelievable," Lily said smiling at him. James laughed at her.
"I don't want you to spend Christmas like that. So, you can come around to my place if you want. It's not much but it's nice. Sirius is usually always around and Remus will stay with us for a while. Peter was going to come over but he can't since he's visiting his grandma. So, you can come instead." James offered. Her eyes widened at the offer.
"Really?" she asked.
"Sure! My parents love having people over. The more the merrier. Just come over whenever you feel like it. You can stay with us for a couple of nights too if you wanted." James said smiling at her.
"Alright, you don't have to ask me twice, I'll be there. But…err…how do I get to your house?" Lily asked. James reached inside his pocket and pulled out a pouch.
"Use this Floo Powder. I'll ask my dad to include you in the Floo network. Just shout out 'Godric's Hollow' when you throw it into your fireplace. The flames will rise and you just step in. It's completely harmless, but keep your elbows tucked in." James added.
"Got it. Thanks James!" Lily said and hugged him. James was a bit taken aback but patted her a bit awkwardly. Lily let go and then muttered.
"Don't tell anyone about that hug, ok, it'll ruin my reputation." Lily said.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." James said with a smirk. Just then Sirius bounded through the door followed closely by Remus and Peter.
"James! You're taking your time!" Sirius said and sat down opposite his friends, as did Remus and Peter.
"So are you coming to James for Christmas Lily?" Remus asked.
"Yeah, sounds like it's gonna be fun," Lily answered.
"Of course it'll be fun. I'll be there, how could it not be fun?!" Sirius said all high and mighty.
"Shut up Sirius," Lily said while shaking her head. The group of friends continued to talk until the train reached King's Cross Station.
Lily walked through the barrier and was glad to see that James, Sirius and Remus had waited for her. She saw Peter in the distance with what must have been his parents. She pushed her trolley to where her friends were.
"So, who're your parents?" Lily asked them as there were a throng of adults around them.
"My parents are right at the back, they're probably waiting so I'll see all of you later. Merry Christmas guys!" Remus said.
"Bye Remus! Merry Christmas!" they all chanted.
He pushed his trolley through the crowd and saw a woman who was the spitting image of Remus. Except for the eyes. She had warm hazel eyes, whereas Remus had a strangely enchanting shade of amber. Remus turned back to them and waved. They all waved back at him, especially Sirius who was starting to make a bit of a scene.
"Calm down Sirius, honestly, I'm slightly embarrassed to be standing by you!" James grinned at him.
"I am hurt," Sirius pouted but grinned through it. Lily then saw the familiar faces of her family and sighed heavily.
"Well guys, I gotta go too. My folk's are here, unfortunately with my sister too," Lily said sighing heavily. Both boys turned to where Lily was look and they saw the prissy girl all clad in red and pink. They both suddenly burst out laughing. Lily turned to look at them.
"Lily…that's…your sister?" Sirius managed to say through his laughing.
"Yep, in the flesh…unfortunately." Lily replied. James put his hand on her shoulder, still laughing and said.
"Honestly Lily, if you ever need to escape that nightmare, just come over. I really feel sorry for you," James managed to say. Sirius snorted through his laughing.
"Thanks for the support, well see ya later." She managed to say and walked away from them. She dodged the other parents and her peers and made her way to her family. Her mother gave her a hug.
"Mum! Not in public." Lily moaned and her mother let her go.
"Lily I haven't seen you in so long. I've missed you so much!" her mother said. 'Yeah right.' Lily thought and rolled her eyes.
"Come on, let's head off home, I want to hear a detail account of Hogwarts," Lily's father said and started to push Lily's trolley for her. 'Whatever.' Lily thought. Ravis started to screech, so Lily held her. Her owl still didn't like anyone else handling her.
"What a stupid owl, needs your attention all the time doesn't it," Petunia commented while running her bony hand through her hair. Ravis was utterly insulted and flew for Petunia. Petunia screamed as Ravis bit her nose. Lily burst out laughing and called Ravis back to her.
"Good job Ravis! Serves the bitch right doesn't it!" Lily said to her owl. Lily's mother tended to Petunia's now bleeding nose as they left the train station.
***
A/N: Um…hi! I am firstly going to grovel on my knees for forgiveness. ::on her knees:: I AM SO SORRY!!!!!!! I seriously did not mean to leave all of you hanging on chapter 3! But this think called Writer's Block kicked in and I had no ideas whatsoever. Then I kinda forgot about this story and then I got a new computer and when I was moving all my old files onto it, I noticed this story and I though I was going to be in deep shit with all the reader's if I didn't carry on. So I carried. It was hard, it was tough but ideas soon came to me and then this happened. I hope all my old reader's will come continue to read my fics. Especially Gary Skinner who so thoughtfully was nice enough to review all my HP fanfics. Please forgive me. I promise you I will write the next chapter as soon as I get new reviews. And I write even faster if my old reader's review too! Please! I'm begging here, I'm losing the little dignity I have in apologising! Please read and review!