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Green Eyed Monster
By: Noelle
Chapter 9: A Mysterious Christmas
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Friday came rather quickly, and James soon found himself standing outside the Fifth Year Girls' Dormitory, waiting as Ella carefully applied mascara.
"Will you hurry up?" James said, as he looked over his shoulder. He expected Lily to come up the stairs at any second, wondering why James was with Ella in the dormitory. Technically, he was in the doorway of the dormitory, but still... there would be too many questions.
Ella frowned, as she began to apply mascara to her left eye. "James, you always have to look your best. You never know who will be watching..."
"Hopefully no one will be watching, since we are illegally going to Hogsmeade. Now, can we go before we get caught?" James gazed over his shoulder once again, clearly paranoid.
His accomplice sighed, and put down her mascara. "Fine. As long as you know that I'm not happy." Ella took the moment to gaze at her reflection once again. James saw her frown, and begin to reach for her mascara wand. He grabbed her arm, and dragged Ella down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, he paused, making sure the coast was clear. A few First and Second Years were sitting by the fire, playing Exploding Snap, but there was no one else. Most people were out on 'dates'.
James dragged Ella all the way out of the Common Room, down the stairs, and down several corridors until they reached the statue of the humped witch. "Dissendium," he whispered, tapping the statue. It swung open, revealing a small passageway.
"Ew..." Ella said distastefully, as she examined the walls. "There's slime."
He rolled his eyes, dragging Ella forward. However, Ella brushed off his grip. James frowned, wondering how he could make Ella go faster. "There's also giant spiders, so I suggest we hurry."
That did the trick. Ella quickened her pace, and ran to the end of the tunnel, where they found stone steps. They began to climb in the dark, trying not to trip over themselves or each other. After climbing what seemed like five hundred steps, James heard a thud, and heard Ella groan.
"I think I hit something," she said.
James rapped on the ceiling. "That's the trapdoor. Help me push it up." Together, they managed to push the heavy door up. James put his hand on Ella shoulder to tell her to stay still, and he crept forward. He emerged in the basement of Honeydukes. He looked around before reaching out to grab Ella's hand. "No one's around. Come on, before someone comes."
Ella stepped into the basement. "It's always 'Hurry, Ella. Go faster, Ella. You're too slow, Ella'," she said in a voice, mimicking James' voice.
"Well," James said, "if you would do what I said..."
"James Potter, you shut your mouth right now before I make you wish you had!" Ella put her hands on her hips, and gazed defiantly at James. Although she was a full head shorter than him, she gave the appearance of looming over the tall Gryffindor. James turned, not saying a word, and led her into the store. They looked around for a few moments, to not look suspicious, and left.
It was snowing outside. Ella pulled her hood on, and James followed suit. "Where to first?" he asked.
Ella said, "Do you have any idea of what you want to get for Lily?"
He frowned. "That's your job," he said. "You know Lily best. So you know what she likes..."
Sighing exasperatedly, Ella looked around at the different shops. She sighed once more, turning back to James. "Do you at least have a price limit?"
"The sky is the limit," James said, shaking his pockets. Ella could hear the coins clanging together. "I have plenty of money."
Ella began to walk into a shop. James didn't even pause to see what store it was. He was quite embarrassed to find that it was a lingerie store. "Ella!" he hissed. "I am not going to get Lily a lacy black bra enchanted to make her chest bigger!"
She reached out, grabbing his arm. "Of course not," Ella said, "this is just a shortcut." She led him out the back of the store, into another street. "Here is where we want to be."
Ella dragged him into a store filled with glass trinkets. James looked around, but knew that he would not get anything for Lily in there. In the next store, there were stuffed animals. Ella found a teddy bear that she said Lily and her both liked, but James waved it off. He didn't want to get Lily a stuffed animal. He wanted to get her something special. When Ella went to look in the back of the store, however, James sneaked over to the counter and bought the teddy bear for Ella. He also paid to have it wrapped and delivered on Christmas.
The next store was a jewelry store. Ella tried to talk James into buy Lily some earrings to match her crystal Lily necklace, but he found something he liked better. He knew that Lily would love it too. She would definitely fall for him. "That way, I win the bet," he told himself.
He also chose to have it professionally wrapped (James had no gift-wrapping ability), and have it delivered on Christmas. Smiling, he followed Ella to the Three Broomsticks, where they each got a butterbeer.
He had found the perfect present for Lily. She would have to fall for him now. She had to...
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Vanessa McKinnon was beautiful. She was intelligent. She was also manipulative and conniving. Everyone else knew that. However, she always managed to get what she wanted.
"Sirius?" she said in her sexy-soft voice, as she straddled Sirius' lap. She had chosen to wear a designer robe that day, that had slits, so that pieces of her robe rested gracefully on the ground, exposing her legs.
Sirius smiled, looking at her with his penetrating eyes. "Yes, love?"
"I'm bored. Why don't we go for a ride?"
Sirius straightened, but Vanessa stayed on his lap. "No," he said quickly, "I'm fine right here."
Vanessa pouted, making Sirius' heart melt. She put her arms around Sirius' neck, and gave Sirius one of her best puppy dog looks. "Please?"
The black-haired Gryffindor forced himself to look away. "No, Vanessa."
The girl would not give up though. She tilted her head, and leaned to whisper in Sirius' ear. Her wavy, long brown hair cascaded down onto Sirius' shoulders. "But you let that awful Ella girl..." she pouted into his ear.
"We can have a lot more fun here," Sirius said, as Vanessa leaned back. She did not look happy.
Vanessa said, "Do you still have feelings for Ella Reichman, Sirius?" She gazed inquisitively at him.
Sirius reached behind his neck, taking Vanessa's hands. He held them in front of him, gazing at her. "It is over between me and Ella. It's over, and that's all there is to it."
The brown-eyed beauty gazed adoringly at Sirius. "Well, as long as it's over," she said, in her sultry voice. "Maybe we can go for a ride tomorrow," she suggested, like she had every day for the past week.
"Possibly," Sirius answered, just like he had every day for the past week.
Vanessa leaned forward to kiss Sirius. "I love you Sirius," she said when she came up for air.
"I love..." Sirius said, while Vanessa wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him passionately. He didn't love Vanessa. In fact, he had never told her that he loved her. He would always begin, and she would kiss him.
As Sirius drowned in Vanessa's sultry kisses, he finished what he wanted to say, in his mind.
'Ella'.
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Christmas finally dawned upon Hogwarts. Lily was in bliss. Ella had stayed with her, and they were the only Gryffindors there. She had three glorious Potter-free weeks. It was heaven.
When Lily woke up, she drew upon the blinds, and was ecstatic to see snowflakes drifting gracefully to the ground. She squealed, and jumped onto Ella's bed. On top of Ella, to be specific.
"Lily!" Ella screamed.
Lily jumped onto her feet, and began to jump on Ella's bed. She grabbed onto the canopy, pulling down one of the lengths of crimson fabric. "It's snowing!" Lily said, as she continued jumping. She began to jump a sort of dance, spinning in circles. "It's Christmas, and it's snowing!"
Her best friend laughed, as she jumped to her feet. She grabbed onto a canopy length, and began to mimick Lily's movements. "It's snowing!" Ella shouted, laughing.
Once the girls tired, they collapsed on Ella's bed, taking deep breaths. Ella grinned. "I am so glad that you dropped your 'Perfect' attitude for the holidays," she said.
Lily shrugged. "There's no one here to be perfect around. And besides, it's Christmas! This is the one day a year you'll see me like this. And you had better not tell anyone!"
"I won't!" Ella said, through her laughter. "Promise!"
"Pinky promise?" Lily asked.
"Pinky promise," Ella said, as they linked pinkies. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, then it's time to open our presents!"
Lily nearly fell off the bed. "Presents? Oh, I almost completely forgot!" She darted out the door, down to the Common Room, where they had transfigured a quill to become a Christmas tree. Their Christmas tree sat in the center of the room, in all of its splendor. They had decorated it the night before.
Ella followed her, and she plopped down beside the tree. A rather large pile of presents was gathered around it.
"This one is from my mother," Lily said, as she opened the first box. Inside was a beautiful creme sweater.
Ella grinned. "Well, this one is from my parents," she said, as she unwrapped her first present. Inside was a new lilac dress robe.
The girls continued on like this, until Lily had four presents left, and Ella had two. "This is from my 'Secret Santa'!" Lily said, as she opened the box. Inside was a charm bracelet. Lily was amazed to find that the charms could move, and looked life-like.
"This is from my Secret Santa!" Ella said, ripping the paper. Inside was the cutest teddy bear she ever saw.
"You got our teddy bear!" Lily said, smiling.
"Yeah," Ella said, gazing at the ceiling. "Isn't that a coincidence..."
"What?" Lily asked, as she shook one of her presents. There was no tag to say who it was from.
Ella snapped back to reality. "Oh, nothing. So, what else did you get?"
Lily opened the box, and found crystal lily earrings. A note also fell out. "Listen to this Ella! 'Dear Lily. I saw these, and they instantly reminded me of you. But in my opinion, they pale in comparison to you. However, I sincerely hope that you like them. I also hope that you have a Merry Christmas. I'll be in touch. Love, your Secret Admirer'. Secret Admirer? Ella! I have a Secret Admirer!"
"That's great, Lil," Ella said. "But you still have two more presents, one of them being mine..."
She looked surprised. "Oh, I do!" She opened the other box first. Inside, there was another box. She opened it, and gingerly lifted another box out of it. "Oh my gosh, Ella. Look at this."
The box Lily had pulled out was made of crystal. However, there were also flowers, made of emeralds, rubies, diamonds, and sapphires, encrusted on it. Lily gently stroked the top of the box, where her name was engraved.
"Lily," Ella breathed, "that's incredible. Who sent it to you?"
Searching through the wrapping paper and the boxes, Lily couldn't find a tag. "I don't know. Who would spend so much on me?"
Ella said, "I don't know," holding the box up to the light, "but if you find him, don't ever let him go... Or if you ever consider doing so, give him my name! Lily, it's real. Everything on it is real. This box is worth a fortune!"
"Well, time to open our last gifts," Lily said uneasily, carefully putting the crystal box down. She unwrapped Ella's gift to her, and laughed when she saw her gift. It was a picture of them, soaking wet, in front of the lake. It was a magical picture, so they moved around, diving into the lake, and waving, and splashing each other.
Ella laughed when she saw what Lily got her. It was the exact same thing. "Well," she said, "you know what they say..."
"Great minds think alike," Lily said, laughing.
Her best friend grinned mischievously. "As do not-so-great minds," she finished. "And if you're thinking what I'm thinking right now, I'll meet you in the Great Hall."
"How'd you know I was thinking of food?" Lily asked, in surprise.
Ella just laughed, as she pushed all of her gifts to the side. "I also know that you're going to have to meet me there, since you want to put everything in its rightful place..."
Lily stuck her tongue out at Ella.
Snorting, Ella managed to choke out, "Mature, aren't you?" before running out of the Common Room. Lily gathered up some of her presents, and trudged up to her room. She put the stuff away quickly, and came back down. All that was left was the bracelet, the earrings, and the box.
Lily wondered who her Secret Santa was. She also wondered who her Secret Admirer was. But most of all, Lily wondered who had sent her the crystal box. Lily put the three gifts on her bedside table, before going to the Great Hall to meet Ella. However much she tried, though, Lily could not get her questions out of her mind.
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A/N: So, in the next chapter, Lily gets another present from her Secret Admirer, Sirius and Vanessa have a talk, James gets on Lily's last nerve, and much more. So tune in for the tenth chapter of 'Green Eyed Monster'. I won't be able to update in the next week, because I'm going to North Carolina, but I will update once a day as soon as I get back, if all goes according to plan. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I love you all! And remember, the eighteenth person gets a cameo, so make sure you review!
~Noelle
Luckie7n13@aol.com