Disclaimer: I own nothing…
A/N: Well, you guys managed to fall a bit short of my hoped number of reviews, but still, THANK YOU for all the reviews! They're—as always—greatly appreciated! I understand about not getting up to a hundred, the last chapter was more of a… Establishing chapter so to say. Nothing all that important happened… Sorry it took me so long to update… Well, without further ado, here it is… I hope you enjoy…
Ava walked into Lily's room and looked around as she set down her trunk. As Lily's best friend since first year, she had been to Lily's home many times and had always enjoyed it. She didn't expect this time to be any exception.
"Sorry, but we have to share a room with Anna, I know it's a bit cramped," Lily said as she walked into the room seconds after Ava had and set down her trunk against the wall, looking around the room.
Lily lived in a fairly large, but modest house. It was white and Victorian style with a veranda and charming shutters on all the windows. The inside was large enough with five bedrooms: one for she and Anna, one for Petunia and Katherine, one for Devon and Kain, one for the Iris—the baby of the family, and (of course) one for her parents.
"Last time I visited, you and Petunia were sharing a room," Ava said with a laugh as she remembered that visit. It had been dreadful. Petunia had been horrid to she and Lily.
"Yeah, thank goodness that's over," Lily said as she looked around, observing the changes that had taken place in the past few months.
The walls were still a navy blue of sorts and all the furniture was still white and their duvets were still navy blue and fluffy. All in all, not too much had changed. There were two beds opposite the door, a dresser covered in pictures and candles against the left wall, a large walk-in closet to the right, and a desk against the same wall the door was on. There were windows behind the beds and more on each side of the dresser.
"Yeah," Ava said awkwardly. It really sucked for Lily that she and her own twin sister couldn't get along. Then again, it wasn't Lily's fault that Petunia hated her just because she didn't understand her.
"Lily!" Screamed out a child's voice as a mane of red hair ran into the room and flew into Lily's arms. Lily bent down and embraced the young girl.
"Iris! Look how much you've grown," Lily cooed as she held the child away from her for a moment and smiled.
"I'm four now," Iris said, holding up four fingers and giggling.
"Yes, you are," Lily said as she hugged the young girl tightly again.
"Who's this?" Iris asked as she pulled out of Lily's arms, looked at Ava, pouted, and put her hands on her hips.
"I'm Lily's friend, Ava," Ava said as she crouched down beside Lily and Iris slightly worried. Ava, being the youngest child, wasn't really used to children, but Iris seemed downright adorable and delightful. She was short—even for her age—and looked just like a young version of Lily with a long mane of wavy red hair, her sister's bright green eyes, and freckles across her tiny nose.
The little girl just stared up at her apprehensively.
"You probably don't remember her, Iris, last time she came, you were just a little-bitty girl. Now you're a big girl," Lily said in a gentle voice as she wrapped her arms around Iris and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"I thought it was just going to be you and me?" Iris asked, sticking out her lower lip.
"Of—" Lily began to say, but was cut off.
"I'm so sorry, I hope she wasn't bothering you, the moment she found out you were home, she just had to run right upstairs to see you," Lily's mother said, appearing in the doorway, wiping her hands on her apron. She was a middle aged, kind looking woman with the same bright green eyes and red hair as her children—though her's was slightly flecked with gray--and a few age marks on her face, mostly around the eyes.
"No, it's fine," Lily insisted as she continued to hug her young sister. "Mum, you remember Ava, don't you?" Lily asked. That afternoon, Lily's father had picked them up from the train station. When they had gotten home, Lily's mother and Iris were out doing the grocery shopping.
"Hello, Mrs. Evans," Ava said as she stood up and smiled. The woman was a welcoming sight. Ava's own mother looked like she could be her sister and—while she was a good mother—Ava could never picture her being as kindly as Lily's mother.
"Hello, dear, it's good to see you again," Mrs. Evans said welcomingly. "Well, I'll be downstairs fixing supper. If Iris gets in your way, just send her to the kitchen." The woman said before starting to turn around.
"Mum, before you leave could you tell me where everyone is? This house is never empty," Lily asked in a confused voice. It was true, her cozy, homely house was never empty. Voices and movement could always be heard from throughout the house.
"Well, your father had to run back to the office after he dropped you girls off, Petunia is at the library—"
Lily snorted with laughter—Petunia at the library.
"Anna and Katherine are getting some last minute Christmas presents, and Kain and Devon are outside, playing in the snow," Mrs. Evan said, ticking off the names on her fingers. "Don't worry though," She said as she saw the look of worry on her daughter's face, "They'll all be home for supper. Oliver's coming home for a visit just to see you."
Lily perked up.
"Thank you, mum," She said with a smile. She had missed her family so much over the past few months. Heck, she had even almost missed Petunia.
James sighed as he stepped out of the fireplace at Ava's house. He had flooed there from one of the many convenient fireplaces located on platform nine and three quarters.
In all honesty, he had wanted to go home to his parents house with Sirius and spend the lovely, magical Christmas the house elves always put together. Unfortunately, his parents didn't really seem to care and had decided that it was time to go on a fifth honeymoon. Really, who needed five honeymoons? When he and Lily, darling, were married…
"Mr. Potter, Woodie would be honored if he could take Mr. Potter's trunk," Woodie, one of the many Labeau family house elves said as he materialized at James' feet, looking up at him with big brown eyes.
James put down the trunk and looked around the living room. As always, it looked as though no one had been in the room since it was decorated. The entire room was a shiny sort of white and gold with small red accents. Gryffindor colors. Even the couch was white. James was almost afraid to move because it might disrupt the gravitational balance of the room or something. Everything was in the perfect place. The tea set on the tiny table near the wing-backed chair, the 'throw pillows' the exact same color as the couch.
Sure, James' family was just as wealthy—if not more—than Ava's family, but his house didn't have quite the same… Sterilized feeling as this one. Maybe it was because his mother was such a welcoming person, but his own home was much more comforting than the one in which he would spend Christmas.
James sighed again and slowly tried to make his way out of the room without dirtying or bumping anything. This was a very hard task, seeing as how he was a very clumsy lad who happened to be covered in ashes.
In ten minutes—yes, ten minutes—time, he managed to get across the room without breaking and/or permanently staining anything. Well, he did break a tea cup with the Gryffindor symbol on it and stained one of larger round throw pillows…
After exiting the living room through the huge double doors made of mahogany wood, James walked down the hall, past the huge mahogany staircase, through the little sitting area with deep red carpet, and into the large 'den' which was furnished with large deep red couches that a person could actually sit on and—
"Damnit James, you ever hear of announcing your presence when you enter a room?" Bev—Ava's older sister—screamed out, jumping off of the couch she had been lying on and reading the Daily Prophet.
James was snapped out of his reverie by her screams. Looking up, he saw Ava's older sister by ten years, Bev, standing beside the claw footed couch with one knee on it and her hand clutching her chest. She looked a lot like Ava. She had the same golden brown hair—only hers was cut to her chin and flipped out everywhere—and big chocolate brown eyes. As a matter of fact, the only way to tell apart the two sisters was that Bev was a bit shorter (only reaching Ava's height in heels) and had a more mature face. She was wearing a pretty well fitted black sweater, a black scarf, tight boot-cut jeans, and spiky black heels. Just like Ava, Bev was drop-dead gorgeous.
"Shouldn't you be off, attacking some unsuspecting lad, and then wrapping him up in your usual web of lies?" James asked, quite proud of himself for successfully comparing Bev to a spider. He was two for two today. He had managed to not break anything in the living room and had compared Bev to a spider. Things were beginning to look up.
"Aw, poor little James, so clueless and naïve," Bev cooed as she sat back down on the couch and opened back up her newspaper.
"Hey, is that the latest paper?" James asked, looking around for a place to sit and then deciding to sit down on the couch beside her… On the other side.
"Yes, mentally challenged pseudo little brother, what does it look like?" Bev asked, looking at him as though he were a moron.
"Could I see it, please, Sirius has been snatching it out of my hand everyday before I can read it," James pleaded. It was true. Everyday, just as James paid the barn owl that delivered him the paper, Sirius snatched the paper away from James, mumbling incoherently.
Bev looked panicked and lost for words for a moment.
"No, but your story is touching, really," She said with mock sympathy.
James rolled his eyes, slouched down into the couch, and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Did anyone take pity on you and hire you yet?" James asked with a satisfied look on his face. Three for three!
"Little brother, I know you're dense, but please try and follow this time because you've passed your limit for times to ask the same question in one year," Bev said slowly and condescendingly.
"It'll be a new year soon," James said pointedly.
"Not for a week. Now try to follow me. I have a job. I've been having a job. I'm a school governor—a very high position for someone who's only twenty six years old. I could get you booted out of school," Bev said very slowly.
James glared at her. He was no longer three for three. He was now three for four. Well, four for five if he counted the incident with Snivelly this morning…
"Sirius Orion Black!" Mrs. Black—Sirius' mother—shrieked from somewhere else in the house as soon as he flooed into 'The Noble House of Black' from the train station.
"It's simply dashing to see you too, mother darling," Sirius said back with an edge of sarcasm in his voice. The damned place hadn't changed a bit.
"Don't you speak to me in that tone of voice, you filthy, traitorous, disgrace," Mrs. Black shrieked back.
Fortunately, she was not in the room to see his exaggerated eye roll.
"Yes, mother," Sirius screamed back with a sigh as he walked towards the tea room where it sounded like his mother was. The horrid place hadn't changed a bit. It was still dark and depressing and decorated in Slytherin colors and the heads of dead house elves.
Upon entering the tea room, he found not only his mother, but also his aunt and Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Andromeda—his three cousins.
"All I'm asking is for you to pretend to be normal in front of your aunt and cousins. Otherwise, I'll personally see to it that your Christmas vacation is hell," Sirius' mother hissed into his ear as she gave him a 'hug'.
Unfortunately, Sirius had thought she was going to kill him and had stepped away. What kind of mother just hugged her son after not seeing him for months?
"Don't worry, it already is," Sirius hissed back at her. Sirius looked around the room at his 'family'. In all truth, his only true family was James and the other Marauders… And being the true Marauder that he was, Sirius looked at this week as a time to do what Marauders truly did: Create mass chaos.
Sirius clasped his hands together with an evil smile on his face. This was going to be one interesting week.
~~Well, I know I promised chaos, but this chapter is really long and it would be twice as long if I got to the really juicy stuff! I know nothing overly hilarious happened this chapter, but it is long and does have a lot of descriptions and you meet a ton of new characters… And… I actually kind of like it… Oh well, I'll post—er—write the new chappie when I have 107 reviews!~~
PotterChick1~ Yay! You're back! You really don't think it's even a bit confusing? Yay!! Don't worry, this chapter is just the introduction. Can they really create mass chaos when they've just been home for an hour? I don't think so!
Lannei~ Lol! I just posted it, I swear!
LightPrincess~ Well, here's the next one, but I think the one you're most curious about would be the next one… Mass Chaos…
SpicySuga~ Don't worry, we will hear about it, but not for a while… Atleast probably not until seventh year…
Queen of Zan~ Thank you, thank you very much! Don't worry, the current DADA teacher isn't all that important… It's next years teacher who's really important… Five guesses who it is and I still don't think anyone'll get it…
MoreHPPlease~ Yeah, the first twelve chapters were so full of Marauder mayhem… No one create that much trouble without a small break! Don't worry… I have big things planned… Yeah, James and Lily arguing is great… I mean, we both know how that story ends… Thanks for the box of cookies! I promise, soon I will have earned it… If I didn't…