Chapter Twenty
A Gingerbread Cookie Village
Lily rolled over in her bed, groaning slightly. She had a headache...not a bad one, but enough of one to be an annoyance. She finally opened her eyes and blinked around her bedroom which was flooded with winter sunlight. She heaved herself out of bed to the window, drawing back her curtains to look outside. The ground was covered with soft fluffy snow that remained undisturbed in the early morning, for no one had yet ventured outside.
Lily crawled out of bed, checking the clock on her vanity. Eight thirty. Lily sighed, her gaze slipping to the wall where she had pictures pinned up of her family, friends and...her and Remus. Lily sighed and pulled the pictures of Remus off, stowing them in her bedside table's drawer. She wouldn't throw them out because she had indeed gone out with him for about two years, but she didn't exactly want to look at the pictures anymore. Especially because she didn't feel the same way about him anymore.
Lily quickly dressed in a comfortable pair of sweat pants, and a white tank top before hurrying down into the kitchen where her mother was standing over a frying pan cooking breakfast.
"Mum!" Lily said happily.
"Lily flower!" Her mother responded with a smile, abandoning her cooking to run over and give Lily a bone crushing hug. "Oh, my Lily flower is finally home!" Her mother said happily, squeezing Lily tightly, squeezing every breath of air out of Lily's body.
"Mum, I can't breathe..." Lily protested between gasps.
"Oh, I've missed you so much. And your father and I were so worried last night. But your dear sister reassured us that you were safe, and said she would wait up for you, and if you weren't home by midnight she would wake us up and we would send the cops out to find you...but I'm so glad you're back!" Her mother continued, completely ignoring Lily's comment, continuing the break every bone in Lily's back.
"Mum..." Lily gasped feebly. Footsteps appeared, clunking down each step, and they were shortly joined by James as he entered the kitchen. A grin spread across his face when he saw Lily standing there, attempting to pull away in protest. "Help!" She mouthed silently.
"Er...morning Lily." James grinned. Lily's mother dropped hold of Lily instantly and spun around to see James. "Morning, Mrs. Evans." James added with a rather awkward nod.
"Mum, this is James, James this is..."
"Oh, call me Joan, please." Lily's mother insisted with a rather warm smile toward James.
"Er...good to meet you, Joan." James grinned meekly, ruffling his messy black hair.
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"Hey Bianca." Remus grinned, taking a seat on the couch next to Bianca in the empty Common Room. Candace and Sirius were elsewhere, most likely having a rather passionate scene, and Alice was off with Frank while Peter had disappeared to the depths of rat world down some sewer or gutter system or something of the sort. No one really knew where Peter went anymore.
"Oh, hi Remus." Bianca said quietly, smiling slightly. Remus grinned slightly as a stray strand of dirty blonde hair fell into her face. He reached his hand up and pushed it back, tucking it behind her ear for her, resting slightly on her cheek. She gasped, beginning to blush.
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to scare you or anything." Remus muttered, withdrawing his hand from her face.
"Oh no!" Bianca exclaimed. "You're fine..." she finished somewhat awkwardly. Remus smiled guiltily in response. Things were going to be a lot more difficult then he thought. He had really fallen for her...
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Lily and James climbed up the snow covered hill behind Lily's house, going nowhere in particular, plainly walking to do something rather then just sit around.
"It seems strange that it's already Christmas Eve." Lily said quietly, making sure her footing was firm on the hill so she wouldn't go sliding down twenty feet.
"Yeah, I guess." James muttered in response, looking at the ground. He was still in disbelief that he was with Lily for Christmas break and the fact that her parents had asked him to call them Joan and John. Like they had actually approved of him...
Lily smiled as they finally reached the top of the hill, overlooking the forest that Lily had explored every inch of in her childhood. Just when she thought she had known everything there was to know about that forest, she always discovered something new.
"Just a forest down there?" James asked curiously.
"Yeah, and a couple streams run through but it's nothing worth seeing at this time of year. It's beautiful in the summer, though." Lily smiled, memories flooding into her mind. James smiled at the expression on Lily's face...it was so beautiful. She was so beautiful...so pure. She was a goddess. The ultimate goddess.
Lily sighed, lowering herself to a sitting position in the foot deep snow. She could hardly believe that James was with her, and that he wasn't driving her off the wall. In fact his presence was actually welcome.
'I can't believe I thought all those things about him yesterday...' Lily thought, running her gloved hands through the soft snow. James plopped down onto the ground next to Lily, and began packing it into small snowballs watching Lily's every move. He couldn't stop looking at her.
Lily looked up and caught his gaze. She smiled slightly, and looked back down at the snow. "I wonder how everyone is doing back at school." Lily smiled.
"Ah, I'm sure they're fine. Probably glad to have complete run of the place.
"Of course." Lily grinned in response. "I'm sure Candace and Sirius are enjoying the peace."
"What's that supposed to mean?" James laughed. "Not saying our dear friends are doing dirty things, now are you?" he asked in mock astonishment.
"Oh, you know they are." Lily giggled. "You did so called dirty things with Candace the minute you got her drunk enough." She laughed.
"What can I say?" Was the only thing James could think to say in response.
"I don't know. What can you say, James?" Lily grinned, enjoying picking on him.
"That I didn't enjoy it." James answered with a slight shrug, not really wanting to touch on the subject much more then they already had. For some reason is was just so...awkward. Especially because he had done it to prove something to Lily. And the fact that he had been comparing Candace to Lily when he was kissing her wasn't exactly something he was willing to tell her.
"James Potter didn't enjoy making out with Candace Daily?" Lily laughed in disbelief.
"Well, not really." James replied truthfully wishing that the topic would pass. Though he knew he had gotten himself into the matter. "I mean, I never really had feelings for her. I was just not in the best of moods that night. And Candace just couldn't keep her hands off of me, so..." James grinned with an air of cockiness. The air that Lily had hated for so long, yet amazingly found it very endearing at the moment.
"Oh sure." She laughed. She wondered what he could have been so upset about, though she refrained from asking. Doing so could lead her to some interesting answers she never wanted to hear.
"We should probably head back. My mum will be wanting help getting ready for dinner." Lily said quietly. James stood to his feet, and reached his hand down to help her up. Lily smiled, taking his hand. When she finally managed to stand up, she was merely inches from his face... Lily gasped, her heart rate quickening at an alarming rate. James didn't know what to do...he would have to move only two inches to kiss her...but did he dare? It didn't seem like she was making any action to stop him from doing so...
But for some reason it just didn't seem right... Lily smiled nervously, stepping away. James sighed, and started down the slippery hill with Lily at his side. Who knew what would have happened had he tried to kiss her...it could have ruined everything. Yet what if it hadn't? He would live forever in doubt wondering what it would be like to kiss Lily Evans, for he knew he would never get an opportunity as perfect as the one he had just had.
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Lily placed the plates out on the dining room table, James following close behind her setting out the silverware, each utensil in it's respectable place. It amazed Lily that he actually knew how to set a table. Most people, guys in particular, didn't have a clue on the matter of where the fork, knife, and spoon all went.
The front door opened, and a cold bit of air entered the house as Petunia and Vernon entered, placing their coats on the coat rack by the door. "Happy Christmas Eve!" Petunia called happily to her parents, giving her mother and father a kiss on the cheek.
"Ah, Lily." Vernon said with what he seemed to think was a pleasant smile. "I believe our encounter last night was no less then dismal, but it is excellent to see you again. And in such good health." Vernon said, shaking Lily's hand once again. And just as before, it felt like her hand was a sponge that he had just wrung all the water from. James blinked at the large man slightly as he placed out the remaining silverware upon the table.
"Oh, Vernon, meet my friend James from school." Lily said, motioning toward James. "James, this is Vernon, Vernon, James." James nodded curtly, making it seem like he was too busy fiddling with table settings to come over and properly introduce himself. There was just something James didn't like about Vernon. James wasn't sure what it was, but whatever it was, he knew Lily was right about this man's character.
"Oh good, you two are here!" Lily's mother said, setting a bowl of mashed potatoes out on the table. "Hurry now, everyone take a seat and we'll get dinner started!" She hurried back into the kitchen, her shoes tapping on the tile as she went.
James stepped forward and pulled a seat out from the table, standing back to allow Lily to sit. Smiling slightly, Lily took a seat as James pushed her in to the table.
"Well, let's get started." Lily's mother smiled, taking some turkey, then passing the plate to James.
"So, Lily, James, what do you study off at school?" Vernon questioned with an overly friendly smile.
Petunia practically jumped out of her seat. "Oh, that doesn't matter!" She said, laughing shrilly. "Just the fact that, you know, they're learning and...can I get you anything Vernon dear?" Petunia asked in a ferocious attempt to occupy Vernon enough so he would forget about his question. James raised his eyes at the oddity of Petunia's reaction. She wasn't ashamed of Lily and James being magic, was she? Lily must have been telling the truth when she told him that Petunia thought she was a freak for studying magic. It was the only explanation.
Lily looked down at her plate. Oh lord. She could already see it coming. The, "my sister is an abnormal, deranged little freak" speech.
"No, Petunia. Thank you, but I'm fine. And one shall never be punished for being curious." Vernon said, winking at Lily who rolled her eyes in response. "Perhaps I shall get a response if I ask again?" He asked.
"Petunia dear, Lily...and James, I suppose you could come as well. Would you please meet me in the kitchen to grab the few remaining dishes of food that we've forgotten?" Lily's mother asked sweetly, standing to her feet. Lily, James, and Petunia stood as well and followed Lily's mother into the kitchen, James looking slightly bewildered.
"Petunia, dear. You can't hide it forever. What if this man is, like you've been saying, the one?" Lily's mother whispered. James looked even more confused.
"What's going on?" He asked, shaking his head slightly.
"Petunia thinks that we're freaks, therefore doesn't want to tell sweet little Vernon that we're magic." Lily said, glaring at Petunia.
"Stop! I don't want to talk about your abnormality under this roof!" Petunia said, a bit too loudly.
"You will not speak about your sister and her boyfriend like that!" Lily mother responded in a defensive tone.
"Mum...he's not my boyfriend." Lily interjected quietly.
"Er..yeah." James agreed, though he wished it wasn't so.
"Oh dear..." Lily's mother blushed in embarrassment. "And all this time..." she started, though was interrupted.
"Everything all right in there?" Vernon questioned from the dining room where only he and Lily's father remained.
"Yes, just fine, Vernon." Petunia growled, her voice dripping with annoyance.
"We're going to go out there, and we're going to tell the truth. If he leaves you because your sister is a witch, Petunia, then he isn't worth it." Lily's mother said firmly. Petunia let out a small whine, but Joan glared at her with such firmness that she withdrew. Lily's mother strode back into the dining room and took a seat back where she was before their little rendezvous in the kitchen, and watched Petunia expectantly.
"Well, Petunia?" She asked, glaring at her. Lily just watched in silence, feeling a bit hurt for causing such dismay to her sister for simply being who she was. It was making her feel more abnormal and hated by the minute.
James seemed to sense the worry in Lily's face, and he wished there was something he could do. He wasn't really bothered that Petunia thought he was a complete and utter freak for being a wizard because, you know, he could turn a desk into a pig while Muggles couldn't make two plus two equal five. James was proud of his magic ability, but apparently Lily didn't feel the exact same way about it.
"Petunia's ashamed because James and I attend a school of magic." Lily finally burst. She couldn't take the silence anymore. She was getting sick of it.
"Magic?" Vernon scoffed. "You mean using the art of deceit to make it look like you can make one thing look like another?" He laughed. "That's ridiculous!"
"No, it's not deceit." Lily snapped. "It's real."
"Petunia dear, are you sure your sister is all right?" Vernon whispered, though Lily heard him.
"I'm fine!" Lily said angrily. "Go ahead. Think I'm a freak just like she does. What difference will it make? I go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I study Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Divination..." Lily burst, her face turning rather red with anger.
James looked at her, his eyes slightly wide in awe. He had never seen her blow up in such a manner. There must have been a lot of pent up anger behind her outburst, for Lily usually kept her cool. Unless she was dealing with him of course, but that was another story.
Vernon was soundlessly shaking his head, then he began to laugh. "Funny joke. Very funny. All in the spirit of Christmas, I suppose?" He chuckled, taking a sip of wine causing his reddish face to darken.
"It's not a joke." James said, finally piping in to Lily's defense. Her parents simply sat there watching in silence, too afraid to intervene in their discussion.
Vernon laughed again. "What proof do you have for such nonsense?" He laughed.
"I got a letter six and a half years ago when I was eleven that accepted me into Hogwarts. I've gone there every year since then. You can dig through my trunk. All you'll find is a bunch of spell books, wizard robes and even my wand." Lily snapped.
"Petunia....?" He asked, looking at Petunia in bewilderment.
"It's true." Petunia managed to mumble. "It's all true."
"Can't be! It's impossible!" Vernon burst. "This is all nonsense! I thought you were a logical person, Petunia!" He said, looking utterly shocked.
"I don't condone to what she's doing, Vernon! It's not my fault that she's some witch freak!" Petunia burst.
"This, this is...a distasteful joke!" Vernon managed to spit. "There is no such thing as magic!"
"That's where you wrong." James said quietly.
"Ridiculous! Completely and absolutely ludicrous!" Vernon exploded, his round face reddening in anger.
"Vernon, please contain yourself." Lily's mother said politely.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Evans. I believe I'll have to retire early. I don't appreciate this kind of jest, or whatever joke you're trying to pull." Vernon snapped, stepping to his feet. "Merry Christmas, and goodnight all." He said, exiting the dining room. Moments later the front door of the house slammed, the wreath upon the outer door shaking violently, the bells jingling as they crashed to the ground.
"Oh dear..." Lily's mother managed to softly murmur. But Petunia wasn't going to let Lily get away with what she had done. Or what Petunia thought she had done. Lily had just made the man that Petunia was in love with run away from her in fright. And that wasn't going to be forgiven very easily.
"You...you abnormal, deformed, wretch! You witch!" Petunia shrieked.
"Petunia!" Lily's mother said, rather appalled.
"Petunia dear, go upstairs and get some rest." Lily's father commanded. But Petunia refused to budge.
"You deserve to be burned at the stake like all of those other witches in the Salem Witch Trials!" She shrieked. Lily felt a knot forming in her throat. She was sick of not being accepted no matter where she went. At home she was an abnormal freak, at school she was a mudblood. No one would ever be satisfied with her because she wasn't born into a wizarding family. And it was really beginning to wear away at Lily. She couldn't handle much more, and Petunia was about to push her over the edge.
"I hate you!" Petunia shrieked, Lily's parents in the background telling Petunia to go to her room. "I wish you had never been born! You witch! I wish you would die!"
Unable to take any more of it, Lily stood to her feet in fury, storming into the kitchen and out the side door into the winter night. Unlike the turmoil in the kitchen, outside was peaceful and serene, snow flakes falling gently to the ground, lights twinkling through the snow. Not even stopping to close the door, Lily began to run toward the small town nearby where no one would be out. All the small shops would have closed, and Lily would be guaranteed peace there.
Finally reaching the large fountain at the center of the village, Lily slowed to a walk, her breath rising in the air. Tears stung her eyes. Tears for the fact that there were always people who would refuse to accept her for who she was. For a reason uncontrollable to her. She was sick of it. She despised it, and more or less was deeply hurt by it.
Lily's parents stared in awe as Lily jumped up from the table and tore out the door. Petunia sat down, slightly out of breath from yelling so much, her face red in anger. James couldn't believe the things Lily's own sister had just said to her. Lily wasn't the wretch. Petunia was.
"That was really low." James growled at Petunia. "Very low. Saying that to your own sister. That Vernon may be the flavor of the month or what-not, but you have to live with Lily for the rest of your life. I hope it was worth making her hate you. Because if she does hate you, you without a doubt deserve it." James finished, getting up as well. He hurried to the coatrack by the front door and grabbed his coat as well as Lily's making out the door after her, shutting it softly behind him. He pulled his coat on quickly, folding Lily's gently over his left arm.
She had already gotten quite the head start, so all James could really do was follow her foot prints in the snow. He couldn't believe Petunia. She really was a cold hearted girl. James felt sorry for narrow people such as her. Those who cared about what others thought of them more then they cared about loving their family. He almost wished misery upon Petunia for making Lily hurt in such a way. And even if she tried to deny the pain for anger, she couldn't. James had seen the look on her face when Petunia spoke to her, and it was filled with sorry, and even regret.
James finally came to a small village area where several small shops were placed in a square pattern. The lights of the buildings were out, and the only lights that remained were those of the street lamps.
He finally spotted her in the middle of the village standing under a street lamp in front of a frozen over fountain, snowflakes caught in her long red hair and tears falling down her soft face. James slowed his pace, and approached her with caution. He realized she might not be too happy to see him, or anyone else at the moment, but he couldn't have just stayed at her house not knowing what had happened to her.
"Hey." James said softly handing her coat to her. Lily took it appreciatively and pulled it on. "You all right?" He asked, somewhat unnecessarily as she obviously wasn't.
Lily sniffled, and nodded slightly.
"You shouldn't listen to what she said." James said quietly. "None of it is true."
"I don't care if what she says is true or not. The point is that she truly wishes that I would drop dead this very instant." Lily choked. "My own sister wishes I would die. She would choose her idiot boyfriend over me, she would choose a lousy bum on the side of the highway over me."
"She's just confused..." James tried to interject.
"You don't understand, James. It's different for you." Lily said, finally turning to face him, her tear streaked face red with anger. "You were born into a pureblood family. You aren't forced to associate with Muggles while I am. And because I am, I'm a dirty mudblood." Lily spat.
"No you're not. You're worth so much more then any of the purebloods in the world, Lily." James responded quickly, his hazel eyes soft in the faint light from the street lamp.
"You're just saying that." Lily muttered, looking away.
"No I'm not. It doesn't matter what blood you have. Lucius Malfoy is a pureblood and there are no redeeming qualities in that kid." James said seriously. "And Wormtail...er...sorry, Peter. He's a pure blood but he still can't tell the top of a cauldron from the bottom."
Lily smiled weakly in response as she wiped some of the tears from her face. "I'm just...I just wish it would stop. I feel so rejected. Like everyone's thrown me out on the street and doesn't want me anymore." she sighed, feeling rather awkward about telling James so much.
"I would never do that to you, Lily." James said softly, realizing that things were going to end bad once again, just like they had when he had told her that he loved her weeks before. Lily turned to face James smiling weakly once again.
James couldn't help but stare. Even though she was devastated and crying, she was the most beautiful girl there ever was. He rubbed his eyes in exhaustion, though he wished he were touching her instead. She ran her hand through her long red hair, and he wished that his hand was hers, tangling it in her beautiful hair. She smiled weakly and he couldn't help but want to kiss her. It took every bit of self control that he had to not jump forward and touch her.
It was beginning to become unbearable. He sighed and closed his eyes trying to resist from looking at her. But he couldn't hold himself back any longer.
He stepped forward and pressed his lips to hers. Lily's eyes widened in shock, but she made no move to stop him, nor did she want him to stop despite the fact that her heart was pounding up into her throat. James pulled away and stepped back turning rather red, looking at his shoes. "I'm sorry...I don't know what I was thinking...I..." James stuttered, extremely angry with himself for not being able to contain his lust. But all the while he couldn't help but think that he had just kissed Lily. It had been the single thing he had wanted to do since the third year or so. And he had just done it. And she hadn't slapped him across the face yet, nor run away.
Lily blushed as well, but couldn't help but feel that all her pain was lifted the moment his lips touched hers. "James..." She said softly, drawing his attention back to her rather then his shoes. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly at first, then slowly becoming more and more passionate.
James stomach dropped. She had come forth and kissed him in return. Happiness surged through James and a feeling of true bliss washed over him. He had been waiting for such an incident his entire life. And here it was. Lily did not despise him anymore, and now it seemed that she cared about him in return. James ran his hands through her red hair just as he had wanted to do for so long before. Their bodies came closer together until they were pressed upon each other, arms wrapped tightly around one another as if they were afraid the other would slip away from them, that they would disappear.
Lily couldn't believe it...James had kissed her, and once he had pulled away she had kissed him in return! This was the boy that she had absolutely loathed for years. And yet there she was in the middle of a gingerbread cookie village under a street lamp in the falling snow, every groove of their bodies touching.
James couldn't believe it...it was almost as if all the years of waiting all the years of her hating him and being entirely disgusted with him was well worth the wait. James knew it would be wonderful to simply kiss her, but to live it out in true form of life, not just his dreams made it about ten times better.
It was almost as if neither of them knew when to stop. Neither of them wanted to end it, to pull away from each other. And it wasn't until the town center clock chimed midnight that Lily and James pulled away from each other, finally deciding to head back to Lily's house, hands entwined as they went.