Lily in Full Blossom

Chapter 12: A True Christmas Present

Pre-Author's Notes: This fic is based on the manga, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e also known as For You in Full Blossom. I had to change some elements from the Harry Potter story to make it work, so live with it. Yes, I am aware that some of the facts from the Harry Potter series is off, but I had to change it for the story. ^^


The next morning, Lily and James woke up and got down to the living room just as Frank was coming down. The snow had fallen again just hours before dawn. Isabelle greeted them with smiles and hot chocolate. The Malfoys were still in bed, so this gave the Gryffindors some time to enjoy the morning.

"Let's see," said Frank as he dug through the presents. He separated the presents into piles for each person. "Here's my present, Lucas."

Lily opened it and found that it was a set of quills. They were different kinds. One kind produced ink like water colors, another had ink like a colored pencil, and the last one was just plain ink. The first two quills changed colors into various shades, while the last one was just black. "I thought you could use them," said Frank with a shrug.

"Here's my present," said James as he handed her a box. She opened it and found a book. "I didn't know what to get you," he admitted.

Lily opened it. "It's a journal," she murmured. "Looks like the quills will be put to good use, Frank. I can draw in this."

"I figured as much. With your wand, you can make the book have lines wherever you want," said James.

"Thanks, guys," said Lily with a smile. "Frank, here's your present."

Frank opened it and found an assortment of different kinds of candy, including some he had never seen before. "What's a Mars bar?" he asked as he picked it up.

"I figured you deserved to have something a little exotic. I put in a mix of Muggle candy in there," said Lily with a smile. "Along with some wizarding candy. I didn't know what you wanted either. But, look at the bottom of the box."

Frank lifted some of the candy and found a stack of strange Muggle comics. "I used to get those when I was at home in the States. If you don't want the candy, I'll take it," said Lily.

"No," said Frank. "It's okay. Wow. Look at these comics, James. None of the pictures are moving. What a mind trip." He flipped through a copy of Superman. He also had copies of X-Men and Spiderman.

"Yeah, those are Muggle comics from America. My brother used to collect them all the time, so I sent him some money, and he sent them right over," explained Lily. "I hope you don't mind the gift. It's not too Muggle for you."

"No, I already said it's okay. It's just that I've never seen anything like this before," said Frank as he flipped through the comic books. "This is so weird. None of these drawings are moving. This would definitely freak most people out."

"Most wizards out, you mean?" corrected Lily with a laugh. She was very happy with her presents. Most people would have thought they were too practical. To her, it showed her that her friends put a lot of thought into getting her presents. It showed her that they cared about her, which only served to increase her guilt.

James elbowed her to snap her back to reality. Lily looked at him with mild surprise followed by uncommon embarrassment. "Come on. Let's go and get some breakfast before the Malfoys get up and ruin everything," he suggested.

"Yeah," agreed Frank.

They trouped over to the kitchen to get some biscuits and to refill their mugs with more hot chocolate. "Don't worry today. You have the day off," announced Isabelle. "I just got word from the Malfoys' parents. They have sent a message for their children to return home."

"Yes!" exclaimed Frank and James in unison. Lily rolled her eyes at them, but smiled. "This truly is Christmas," said James.

"We should help them pack, so that they could get on their way faster," suggested Frank eagerly.

"Yes," agreed James as they started to make their way towards the Malfoys' suite.

Lily shook her head at them and didn't move. Isabelle came up to her and said, "They're very lively this morning."

"It's Christmas," said Lily as a way of explanation as she decided to finally join the boys.

*

Within an hour, the Malfoys were all packed and ready to go. They had to bring their presents with them, making the space underneath the tree even barer than before. None of that mattered to Frank and James just as long as the Malfoys were leaving. James couldn't stand Lucius and Tara another day, while Frank couldn't stand Lucius and Kat another second.

"Bye. Make sure you haven't forgotten anything," said Frank. "We wouldn't want you coming back here too soon."

"Aren't we a little eager, Longbottom?" asked Malfoy as he picked up Kat who had been gesturing him to do so for more than five minutes.

"No, of course not," replied Frank very quickly.

Tara wasn't happy about it at all. She was whining to James about it. "But, I don't want to go home! I was having fun here. It's like Father always knows and always jumps right in to stop my fun!"

James looked at Lily for help, but she stood there in silent amusement. Her emerald green eyes were twinkling with unexpressed laughter. "Well, have a Merry Christmas," said Lily finally as she came up to Tara.

Tara gave Lily a hug, which caused Lucius' attention to turn back to them. "Hey, don't hug him!"

"I'll hug whomever I want, Lucius," spat Tara indignantly as she went to go and hug James. He stopped her before she could even put her arms around him. She looked at him with hurt eyes.

"I have a girlfriend," James told Tara.

"What? Since when?" she asked.

"Yeah...since when?" asked Lily suspiciously. Even Frank and Lucius looked utterly surprised at his announcement. "This is the first I've heard of it," she went on.

"Just a bit ago. I'm sorry, Tara," said James without looking at Lily.

"Well, there you have it, Tara," said Lucius. He was suspicious because he'd noticed that Lily didn't know either. There went the theory that James was gay.

"But, who?" demanded Tara angrily.

"Let's go," said Lucius more forcefully as he grabbed her arm. "You should act more mature about this." Inadvertently, he had leaned forward just so that Kat was within reach of Frank. She took full advantage of it and grabbed Frank's longish bangs.

"OW!" exclaimed Frank as he tried to pry Kat's hands off. "Let go!"

Lucius turned his attention away from Tara to laugh at Frank. "HA! She's got you!"

Lily put her hand in front of her mouth to hide her smile. The smile quickly vanished because Kat started to cry as if she was in great distressed. "I don't want to go home!" she sobbed.

"What's wrong?" asked Lily as she walked up to Kat. "Why don't you want to go home, Kat?"

Kat sobbed and cried in response, but couldn't say what was wrong exactly. "Tell her to let go of my hair," said Frank. Lily didn't say anything for a minute as she studied the situation. After that she snapped her fingers.

"I know what's wrong, Frank. Kat likes you. She doesn't want to go because you're here," explained Lily. Lucius rolled his eyes as if he was in pain.

"Why? Merlin, you girls are stupid. These boys are Gryffindors," said Lucius exasperatedly. "We have to get going. I want to get out of here before I catch something and find myself attracted to Evans."

"Okay, okay," said Frank, feeling bad for making a three-year-old cry. He fished something out of his pocket. "It's my good luck charm."

"I thought you didn't believe in that kind of stuff," piped up Lily with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't, so that's why I'm giving it to you," said Frank as he handed a rune key chain from his set of keys. He had another key chain in the set, so it wasn't a problem. "Take good care of it, okay?"

Kat let go of his hair and took the key chain with tearful eyes. She gave him a small nod and pressed her head against her brother's chest. "Let's go!" ordered Lucius impatiently.

"Very well," said Tara with a sigh as she looked at James. "I'll never forget you." She held out her hand for him to shake. James gave her a very short handshake. "And if things, don't work out--"

"Never mind that," snapped Lucius as he grabbed her arm. "Let's go," he repeated.

"Can't you think of any variation?" asked Tara. "You keep saying 'Let's go.' You're so boring."

Lucius wouldn't hear of it any longer. He dragged Tara off and carried Kat with one arm. Lily, Frank, and James helped by picking up their luggage for them and following along. In less than fifteen minutes, the Malfoys were well on their way. Just as soon as they were gone, James and Frank were breathing sighs of relief. They didn't stop waving until Lily said, "They're gone. You can stop pretending now."

"Oh, thank goodness," muttered Frank, relaxing the fake smile on his face.

"I thought they'd never leave," said James happily. He stopped waving his hand.

"Since when did you get yourself a girlfriend, James? I mean I'm your roommate and I don't know about it," said Lily calmly.

"Yeah, James, Lucas is right," said Frank as he rounded on James. "Who is she?"

"Her name is Lily," replied James casually.

Lily nearly choked on nothing, causing Frank to come to her aid. "Are you okay, Lucas?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

She glared at James at that moment. Her thoughts started going faster than James on his broomstick. What is he thinking? What is going on in that thick skull of his? Is he joking? He'd better not be joking. If he is, then I'm going to--

"You can't be bloody serious!" exclaimed Lily finally.

James didn't look at all disturbed by her words. Instead, he smiled at them. "Wait, I don't know who that is," said Frank. "Who is she, Lucas? Do you know her?"

"You could say that," said Lily through her teeth. "Let's talk, James. Now."

"Okay," agreed James eagerly. "See you later, Frank."

"All right," said Frank, wondering whether or not James was going to get killed by his own roommate.

Lily walked ahead of James in silence until they got to their room. She closed the door behind him in a loud snap before turning around and facing him. Her face was now bright red. "What do you mean you have a girlfriend named Lily?" she demanded.

"Calm down, Lily," said James soothingly. "Why are you so mad?"

Lily exploded, "Don't use that name! What if someone can hear you?! Why am I mad?! Why? Because you're saying that I'm your girlfriend! That's why I'm mad! I don't recall agreeing to that!" She was shoving him, causing James to back away from her. "Why aren't you saying anything now? You were talking a lot a while ago!"

James started to laugh, which didn't make Lily any less mad. She started to strike his chest. The back of his knees hit the edge of his bed. He allowed himself to fall back, while taking Lily with him. She was now on top of him, still hitting his chest. He laughed the whole time. It was injuring Lily's pride a bit and perhaps, he should have considered it a serious attack.

He wrapped his arms around her, bring her closer. "Okay, okay. Perhaps, I should have asked you first," he admitted, still laughing.

"James, let me go," muffled Lily against his chest.

"What was that?"

"I can't breath." James pretended he couldn't hear her properly. He knew that she could breathe just fine. "Let me just say this before you interrupt me again. You seem to have a habit for doing that."

Lily made some muffled sounds that sounded like, "I do not."

"You being my girlfriend would make it easier. It would give me a better reason to keep my mouth shut about this whole thing, Lily."

Lily managed to struggle free from James' grip. She looked at him with shocked eyes, but her anger was still there. "Wait, I didn't tell you my secret just so you can blackmail me like this."

"Let's not call it that."

"But that's what it is."

"I know, but let's not call it that."

James' tone sounded so playful that it only served to irritate her even more so. "You can't be bloody serious."

"You're starting to get a little repetitive, Lily. Besides, I'm James, not Sirius."

Lily gave him a That-is-not-funny look. "Okay, okay. That was an old joke." James chuckled.

"Stop laughing already," said Lily.

"I thought you liked me. You liked me enough to dress up as a boy and come to Hogwarts," reasoned James. "So, I figured you wouldn't mind being my girlfriend."

"You're too straightforward."

"I thought Americans like things straightforward and to the point."

"I'm not really an American."

"Well, then I'm going to have trouble remembering to keep this a secret. I mean there's Sirius, Remus, and Peter. I tell them everything. I mean everything."

"Don't you dare!"

"But, I'll have trouble remembering."

Lily glared at him. James' smile never left his face. At that moment, she realized she was on his bed again and tried to get up, but he prevented her. He kissed her cheek. "Even if you don't agree, you can still sleep in my bed."

"James Potter, why aren't you more fun around other people? You haven't acted like this before," said Lily.

"I decided it was time to finally enjoy myself. It's been a while," said James.

Lily's eyebrows knitted in thought with his statement. She had always thought there was something that was bothering him, but she wasn't sure about that. She wanted to learn more about him, but she didn't want to ask what it was. Lily was snapped out of thought by James cupping her chin with his hand. "What are you thinking?" he asked.

"I will go out with you on one condition," she answered.

"What?"

"You know my secrets. Don't keep yours from me," Lily replied as she placed her hand on top of his.

"So, you really want to know everything?" asked James.

"Not right now. Just some things as we go," replied Lily.

"Fine."

Lily smiled at James. "This is the best Christmas I've ever had," she whispered.

"Me, too," he agreed.

For the rest of the afternoon, James and Lily stayed together. This would be the first of only a few happy Christmases they would spend together. From that moment on, they would spend time together as if they had all the time in the world.


Post Author's Note: This isn't the end of the story by no means. I still have three more parts to go. Foreshadowing happens to be one of my favorite devices along with cliffhangers and irony. A lot of the funny James/Lily stories don't have much in the way of foreshadowing events. They do like to say that Lily would make a great mum, or something like that. Just review. I'd also like to say that no matter how many suggestions people will put as to how Lily will reveal herself, I will not listen. So, don't bother trying.

Go to kirikarin.livejournal.com for more info.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (For You in Full Blossom). I just borrowed these for my fic.