Disclaimer: Not mine…if only.
Chapter 11…here goes nothing. ^-^ Merry Christmas! (har har har)
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Pounding, there was lots of pounding.
Moaning, Remus Lupin sank lower into his bed, burying himself deeper and deeper in his covers. Despite the fact that it was Christmas morning, Remus did not feeling like waking up this early. Granted, he was usually downstairs by now opening presents, but he was no longer a seven-year-old, and he wanted his sleep. The presents could wait, but Remus could not eradicate the loud, pounding noises he was hearing in his head.
'Dear God, make it stop.' Remus turned over beneath his covers and cautiously lifted his sheets up off his face. Lazily, opening an eye, Remus surveyed his room, and found the origin of the loud pounding. There was a large, waving figure hovering at his window, and one of its large appendages was hitting his glass. Rubbing his eyes to better view the stranger at his window, Remus fell back onto his bed as he realized his discovery.
"You have got to be kidding me…" Remus covered himself back with his blankets as the figure continued to pound, louder this time, at his window.
"Remus, let me in! Don't go back to bed, you dolt!" Hovering on his broom, freezing in the chilly December air, Sirius was shouting at Remus to let him into his room, and to celebrate Christmas with him. Unfortunately, it seemed as if Remus did not appreciate Sirius' unexpected presence at seven in the morning.
"C'mon Remus, open the window…bloody hell, it's freezing out here. Don't leave us hanging, it's Christmas. I'm your best friend." Sirius continued to whine and plead from his broom outside.
Not one to leave his one of his closest friends out in the cold, Remus groaned and slowly extricated himself from the covers. Mumbling under his breath ("Why am I always the nice guy…too damn nice…"), Remus grabbed some pajama bottoms and pulled them over his boxers. Not able to find a clean shirt, Remus just decided to walk over to the window to let Sirius inside. Sirius gratefully grabbed hold of the open window and floated gently into Remus' small, but relatively spacious, room.
Shaking off the snow that had caught on his cloak, Remus also noticed a second guest with Sirius. The guest removed their cloak also, and Remus was soon facing a very pretty, and very curvaceous, blonde. She began walking around Remus' bedroom, looking at the various pictures and books he had on his shelves. Ignoring the blonde stranger, Remus turned back to Sirius.
"Do you have any idea what time it is? What an earth are you doing flying?" Remus yawned and stared at Sirius.
Shrugging, Sirius said, "I don't know. Just wanted to wish you a Happy Christmas, Remus. As for the flying, well, Aimee wanted to see my new broom."
"Aimee?"
Sirius pointed to the blonde that was staring intently at a picture of Juliet, Lily, James, and him taken sometime in the fifth year. It was taken after a particularly awesome Quidditch match because it showed them standing next to a beaming James, who was still holding the snitch in his gloved palm.
"Oh. Where did you find HER?" Remus inquired, slowly waking up more and more as he continued the conversation with Sirius.
"Paris. My family stopped by over the holidays. She's attends Beauxbatons and is apparently really good at Charms. Let's just say her 'Charms' look pretty good to me." Sirius waggled his eyebrows and Remus rolled his eyes. He turned to Aimee
"Nice to meet you Aimee. Happy Christmas." Aimee turned, smiled, and shook hands with Remus.
"Very happy to meet you too. You have beautiful room!" Aimee exclaimed, with a heavy French accent. "Sorry, my English is quite weak…only aunt speaks English." She continued to walk around Remus' room, touching everything, while Sirius watched her swaying hips appreciatively.
At that moment, light footsteps could be heard outside in the hallway. Sirius and Remus turned to see Juliet, still in her nightclothes, walking into Remus' room.
"Happy Christmas Remus. You might think I'm crazy but I swear I just heard—why, Sirius! Hey, I wasn't hearing things!" Sirius hugged Juliet, and Juliet proceeded to kiss Remus.
Looking at the clock, Remus turned and said, "Hey, I think we can head down and open some presents. I noticed that you brought yours over here with you, Sirius. Sounds like my mom is making some breakfast too. Wanna head off?" Sirius nodded his head and grabbed his small bundle of gifts. It seemed as if he charmed it to be lighter than it was. Sirius grabbed Aimee's hand and they began out of Remus' room and downstairs to his family room.
Juliet nudged Remus. "Who is she?" Remus lightly shrugged his shoulders.
"Beats me. She's from Beauxbatons, and if you ask me, I think she's Sirius' Christmas present." Juliet laughed as the pair walked downstairs to open their gifts.
~*~
Back at Hogwarts, Christmas morning dawned bright and early for James. Normally at his house, he woke up around eight o'clock, ate breakfast with his parents and other assorted relatives that were visiting, and then opened his presents. And this morning was no different.
Yawning in his bed, James lazily reached over for his glasses and ran his fingers through his unruly hair. He looked at the clock, 8:15am, and then looked at the sleeping form that was in the next bed. Lily was snuggled in Remus' covers, and only a few strands of her auburn hair were sticking on the white pillow. Apparently, there was a large fourth-year slumber party in the dorm room next to Lily's, and she could not get to sleep. Every few moments there was large explosion of giggles followed by loud laughing and screaming. Normally one to enjoy a party, Lily was really tired and all she wanted was to sleep, and unfortunately could not accomplish that goal in her own room.
So at around two in the morning, James woke up to a quiet knock on the door and ushered a sleep-deprived Lily toward Remus' bed. She instantly fell asleep as James fell back onto his on bed, yawning. James slowly got out of bed and put on some pants and a shirt as he headed toward Remus' bed.
Lily was still fast asleep when James started opening the curtains wider. Her reddish hair was strewn all over the pillow as one of her hands was clutching the comforter tightly. She looked so peaceful, James almost did not want to wake her from her slumber. He put his hand on her shoulder.
"Lily," he said quietly. "C'mon Lils, time to wake up. It's Christmas." Lily mumbled something incoherently. "You have a lot of presents under the tree," he added, and that did the trick. Lily opened her eyes and sat up straightaway.
"Good morning, James" she said pleasantly, suddenly awake. She rubbed her eyes and got of out bed. Looking around, Lily said, "Now, where are those presents you were speaking about?"
"Hmm. A brainteaser," said James sarcastically. He grabbed Lily's hand as they walked out of the room and down toward the gigantic Christmas tree in the Common Room. Other students were already down opening their gifts, but there was still a large pile of presents at the foot of the tree for them. After collecting their gifts and situating themselves by the fire in the Common Room, James and Lily began to unwrap their packages.
"Let's see," Lily said, grabbing a small, square present from her pile. She read the card, the gift was from Juliet, and proceeded to open the gift. Lily unwrapped it to find the latest installments of a Muggle series she was currently reading. Ecstatic, Lily put down the books and reached for another gift as James folded a bright green sweater and tossed it aside. Lily laughed as she saw the appalled look on James' face.
They had fun opening their presents in the Common Room. They both received a lot of presents from their friends. Peter had sent both of them a large box of Chocolate Frogs each; Juliet, a huge bar of James' favorite chocolate for himself ("For those long hours, ahem, STUDYING," she had written in the card).
Sirius had sent James a new speed counter for his broom. It was enchanted to dictate the speed that the rider was going at a certain point in time. James' old one broke when the guys were racing at James' house during the summer. Sirius decided to replace it. To Lily's surprise, Sirius had spent quite a lot of money for her gift, giving her a lily-shaped crystal. If placed correctly in the light, the crystal would emit a shower of light. Lily had seen it in a store window at Diagon Alley earlier last year, and it seemed as if Sirius remembered and saved enough money to buy it for her. Lily smiled in appreciation.
Remus had sent both Lily and James novels. Lily's was entitled 15th Century Song Charms, with which she looked fascinated, and James' was called Animagi for the Experienced . Lily grinned at Remus' choice of present for James, and James' smiled back as he began flipping through the various pages with interest. Putting his new book down, James turned and saw that he had only a few presents left, as did Lily. He spotted Lily pick up his own present to her.
"Now, don't be incredibly wishful," he said, as she picked the lumpy package up. "But it's not a diamond necklace or anything."
"Incredible," said Lily sardonically. "You mean they don't make them this shape any more?" James laughed and she began to tear off the gold paper.
"It's just that I did not know if you'd agree to be my girlfriend…and I bought this gift a long time ago. I just want you to know that you mean a lot to me, even though my gift might not really reflect it." James said ruefully, as Lily stopped unwrapping the gift.
"I know you care about me, James…you mean so much to me too. You're one of my best friends. And if you ask me, what we have is much better than any Christmas gift." Lily leaned over and kissed James on the lips. "But the presents aren't that bad either." James laughed as Lily finished opening her gift from him. She held up her present, and gasped.
"Oh James! It's absolutely lovely." It was a very beautiful cloak made of dark blue imported silk. Lily could tell that it must have cost James a fortune, and instantly felt humbled and shy. She looked to James, who was grinning ecstatically at her happy face, and said, "Gosh, you did not need to spend so much money on me. I love it James, thank you very much." Lily hugged James, who whispered in her ear.
"Nonsense, can't a guy buy something nice for his best girl anymore? It was nothing…I'm very glad you like it. I know you are always cold when we go out, so I thought this would be the perfect gift."
"Absolutely perfect." Lily replied, resting her head on his shoulder while still clutching James. After a few warm moments, the pair detached and finished opening their presents. After opening Lily's gift, a watch that James' had circled in a catalogue she had seen, the pair cleaned up their paper and headed towards Lily and Juliet's dorm. Lily placed all of her nice presents on her desk as she hung her new cloak on her dresser, admiring it. Smiling, Lily sat back down next to James, who was sitting on her bed.
"So, what do you want to do now?" Lily inquired, turning to James.
James shrugged, and with a charming grin, lowered his head and kissed Lily.
Giggling lightly, Lily kissed him back. "Looks like a plan to me…" she said between kisses, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
~*~
Later that evening, back at the Lupin household, Christmas dinner was just getting started. Sirius and Aimee had stayed most of the day and celebrated Christmas with the Lupins and Juliet. Juliet had arrived the day before, and was spending Christmas to New Year's at Remus' house. At the moment, Remus and Sirius were setting the table as Juliet helped Remus' mother in the kitchen. Aimee was sitting in the corner of the room and fluffing her newly permed hair.
"My God, she's a fox." Sirius said, placing a fork next to the plates that Remus was placing around the large, oak table. Aimee was adjusting her tight blouse as Sirius continued to stare. Remus laughed lightly under his breath as he continued to set the large Christmas table.
"Whatever you say, Padfoot, whatever you say."
Sirius slowly moved his gaze away from the blonde and shook his head sadly. "Dude, you've got your own girlfriend about a twenty feet away from you, staying in your own damn house, and Peter's probably gonna get some action with Elmyra, so I think I'm permitted to be a tad bit obsessive with my own catch." Sirius threw and exasperated look. "Honestly, I think even James is getting some with Lily this holiday. Not to make their relationship seem trivial, but c'mon…they're bound to hook up and 10 galleons say they AREN'T snogging right now."
Remus sighed as Sirius continued to bitch about his situation. They then proceeded to go upstairs and change into nicer clothes for Christmas dinner. Remus was buttoning his robe as be walked back into the dining room to check the place cards of the diners. Some of his relatives began drifting into the room also. At that moment, Juliet walked in and started placing food on the table that Sirius and Remus just set. Juliet returned with a platter of vegetables followed Mrs. Lupin set down a large dish of potatoes. She
Was already changed into her dress robes and was trying to avoid catching her sleeve in one of the food dishes.
She walked over to Remus, who complimented on her new dress robe. Smiling, Juliet kissed his cheek.
"Thanks. You bought it for me last year, of course it's nice." They smiled as they watched Sirius and Aimee in the corner. Aimee was sitting on Sirius lap, and was whispering sweet nothings in his ear in French. Remus laughed and Juliet smiled at Sirius who was throwing looks of 'Oh yeah, baby' back to Juliet and Remus. They gave Sirius a thumbs-up sign as the pair continued their seemingly intimate moment in the corner of the dining room.
Juliet sighed. "So, does Sirius even know her last name?"
Remus shrugged. "Highly doubt it, but does it matter?"
"Guess not. Glad they are enjoying…each other." Juliet smiled as she heard Sirius giggle from the corner. "I mean, she's even got him giggling. I haven't heard him giggle since his escapade with Louisa Micheln last year after the Quidditch Championships."
"At least he's happy. Definitely a happy Christmas for him," Remus replied.
"And one for us too." Juliet kissed Remus, who kissed her back. "Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas too, baby."
~*~
Back at Hogwarts, Lily and James had managed to disentangle themselves from each other and began to walk down to eat Christmas dinner in the Great Hall.
Professor Dumbledore had cunningly put enchanted mistletoe under many of the doorframes, so James and Lily took cautions not to walk through doors if there were Slytherins approaching. This mistletoe was enchanted, as it would glow brightly if two people walked underneath it. Lily had already walked through a door at the same time as Snape, who was also staying at Hogwarts, earlier that day, so she too was watching her step. James had almost choked laughing when he had witnessed Professor McGonagall and Professor Crogh walking through a door together, and seen their embarrassed faces, as they had continued in opposite directions.
The Hall always looked stunning in the run up to Christmas, but it looked as though Dumbledore had pulled out all the stops for the day itself. A dozen Christmas trees stood around the edges, decorated with glittering pixies, glistening ice crystals, and miniscule golden owls at the top of each. In addition, each tree was surrounded by large groups of shimmering fairies, which were lighting up the Hall. It was an amazing sight to everyone who walked into the Hall. Lily and James were quite surprised.
"Wow," Lily exclaimed looking at all the decorations. "I swear, I've never seen the Hall look this beautiful."
"Seriously," said James from her side. "Holy crap..." Their statements of awe mingled with all the other statements from the various Hogwarts students.
They sat down at the Gryffindor table and began to pull some wizard crackers that were strewn all over. James laughed as one of their crackers exploded and nearly went sailing towards Snape's unsuspecting head. Amazingly, throughout their entire Christmas holiday, they did not run into Snape at all. In fact, their lack of fighting was quite surprising to James.
'But then again, my mind has been occupied somewhere else for the past few days,' James thought, taking a glance at a certain redhead next to him who was conversing with a Ravenclaw she knew from Muggle Studies. Lily turned back to James and grabbed her glass of pumpkin juice from the table. She raised her glass as she watched James do the same.
"Well Jamesie," Lily began, holding her glass. "Hope this Christmas was a great one, and that you got everything you wanted." James nodded in agreement and appreciation.
"Here, here. You too, Lils." They were about to clink their glasses, when the pair thought better of it and kissed instead, placing their glasses back down on the table.
It was a very merry Christmas after all.
~*~
A/N: Yes, I know it's been a while. I said 2-3 days, and it's been about two weeks. Oh well. This chapter took a long time to write…there wasn't really that much to say. I don't know. But thank you for reading, and please review. I definitely appreciate feedback!
Definitely a hectic adjustment back to school…midterm, tests, projects, and with fourth quarter starting now…gonna be a rough ride. My boyfriend's volleyball team played, so I had to go to a couple games. So yeah, thanks for your patience! I definitely appreciate it!
Until next time,
~ Stellar
Special thanks to my reviewers…you guys are stellar!
Harriet Ennis – Oh gosh! 34 pages?! Yowza! But I'm very glad you think it's worth it…I try very hard to make my characters realistic and not be overly funny or 'cliched'. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Snow Flurry – No Sophie in this either! Yeah, think I'm getting annoyed with her. Thanks for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it!
Seshat – Yeah, the death scene is very hard! Ahh, took me a while. Thanks for reading and reviewing. And I definitely bet Sirius wants some of those see-through glasses.
Thistlemeg – Fluffy Chapter 10! Fluffy Christmas Chapter 11! I'm on a roll! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Ravenclawgirly – Thanks for reading and reviewing my story! I am so glad that you like it! Lily will tell James sometime…I got it all planned out! ^- ^
Princess Hermione – I've very glad you enjoyed my story! Thank you very much for reading and reviewing!
Martini addict – I know…so cute! I'm trying to post as soon as I can! Thanks for r/r! Appreciate it greatly!
Felicity Aulia Evans – Glad you liked it! Muchas gracias for reading and reviewing!
Anime girl – Alrighty, I know I was the biggest slowpoke ever in re- posting. But I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I'll try to write as fast as I can! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Love 'em!
Slytherin Sweetheart – I'm very happy that you liked the chapter! Sweet is good! Thanks a bunch for reading and reviewing…I really appreciate it!
Krissia – I know, I know, this chapter took even longer to come out…I'm trying! So hard to write regularly with school and such. But anyway, thanks for enjoying my mush and reviewing about it too! I am getting better (I hope). Thanks so much for reading and reviewing, and I great cherish it!
Chapter 11…here goes nothing. ^-^ Merry Christmas! (har har har)
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Pounding, there was lots of pounding.
Moaning, Remus Lupin sank lower into his bed, burying himself deeper and deeper in his covers. Despite the fact that it was Christmas morning, Remus did not feeling like waking up this early. Granted, he was usually downstairs by now opening presents, but he was no longer a seven-year-old, and he wanted his sleep. The presents could wait, but Remus could not eradicate the loud, pounding noises he was hearing in his head.
'Dear God, make it stop.' Remus turned over beneath his covers and cautiously lifted his sheets up off his face. Lazily, opening an eye, Remus surveyed his room, and found the origin of the loud pounding. There was a large, waving figure hovering at his window, and one of its large appendages was hitting his glass. Rubbing his eyes to better view the stranger at his window, Remus fell back onto his bed as he realized his discovery.
"You have got to be kidding me…" Remus covered himself back with his blankets as the figure continued to pound, louder this time, at his window.
"Remus, let me in! Don't go back to bed, you dolt!" Hovering on his broom, freezing in the chilly December air, Sirius was shouting at Remus to let him into his room, and to celebrate Christmas with him. Unfortunately, it seemed as if Remus did not appreciate Sirius' unexpected presence at seven in the morning.
"C'mon Remus, open the window…bloody hell, it's freezing out here. Don't leave us hanging, it's Christmas. I'm your best friend." Sirius continued to whine and plead from his broom outside.
Not one to leave his one of his closest friends out in the cold, Remus groaned and slowly extricated himself from the covers. Mumbling under his breath ("Why am I always the nice guy…too damn nice…"), Remus grabbed some pajama bottoms and pulled them over his boxers. Not able to find a clean shirt, Remus just decided to walk over to the window to let Sirius inside. Sirius gratefully grabbed hold of the open window and floated gently into Remus' small, but relatively spacious, room.
Shaking off the snow that had caught on his cloak, Remus also noticed a second guest with Sirius. The guest removed their cloak also, and Remus was soon facing a very pretty, and very curvaceous, blonde. She began walking around Remus' bedroom, looking at the various pictures and books he had on his shelves. Ignoring the blonde stranger, Remus turned back to Sirius.
"Do you have any idea what time it is? What an earth are you doing flying?" Remus yawned and stared at Sirius.
Shrugging, Sirius said, "I don't know. Just wanted to wish you a Happy Christmas, Remus. As for the flying, well, Aimee wanted to see my new broom."
"Aimee?"
Sirius pointed to the blonde that was staring intently at a picture of Juliet, Lily, James, and him taken sometime in the fifth year. It was taken after a particularly awesome Quidditch match because it showed them standing next to a beaming James, who was still holding the snitch in his gloved palm.
"Oh. Where did you find HER?" Remus inquired, slowly waking up more and more as he continued the conversation with Sirius.
"Paris. My family stopped by over the holidays. She's attends Beauxbatons and is apparently really good at Charms. Let's just say her 'Charms' look pretty good to me." Sirius waggled his eyebrows and Remus rolled his eyes. He turned to Aimee
"Nice to meet you Aimee. Happy Christmas." Aimee turned, smiled, and shook hands with Remus.
"Very happy to meet you too. You have beautiful room!" Aimee exclaimed, with a heavy French accent. "Sorry, my English is quite weak…only aunt speaks English." She continued to walk around Remus' room, touching everything, while Sirius watched her swaying hips appreciatively.
At that moment, light footsteps could be heard outside in the hallway. Sirius and Remus turned to see Juliet, still in her nightclothes, walking into Remus' room.
"Happy Christmas Remus. You might think I'm crazy but I swear I just heard—why, Sirius! Hey, I wasn't hearing things!" Sirius hugged Juliet, and Juliet proceeded to kiss Remus.
Looking at the clock, Remus turned and said, "Hey, I think we can head down and open some presents. I noticed that you brought yours over here with you, Sirius. Sounds like my mom is making some breakfast too. Wanna head off?" Sirius nodded his head and grabbed his small bundle of gifts. It seemed as if he charmed it to be lighter than it was. Sirius grabbed Aimee's hand and they began out of Remus' room and downstairs to his family room.
Juliet nudged Remus. "Who is she?" Remus lightly shrugged his shoulders.
"Beats me. She's from Beauxbatons, and if you ask me, I think she's Sirius' Christmas present." Juliet laughed as the pair walked downstairs to open their gifts.
~*~
Back at Hogwarts, Christmas morning dawned bright and early for James. Normally at his house, he woke up around eight o'clock, ate breakfast with his parents and other assorted relatives that were visiting, and then opened his presents. And this morning was no different.
Yawning in his bed, James lazily reached over for his glasses and ran his fingers through his unruly hair. He looked at the clock, 8:15am, and then looked at the sleeping form that was in the next bed. Lily was snuggled in Remus' covers, and only a few strands of her auburn hair were sticking on the white pillow. Apparently, there was a large fourth-year slumber party in the dorm room next to Lily's, and she could not get to sleep. Every few moments there was large explosion of giggles followed by loud laughing and screaming. Normally one to enjoy a party, Lily was really tired and all she wanted was to sleep, and unfortunately could not accomplish that goal in her own room.
So at around two in the morning, James woke up to a quiet knock on the door and ushered a sleep-deprived Lily toward Remus' bed. She instantly fell asleep as James fell back onto his on bed, yawning. James slowly got out of bed and put on some pants and a shirt as he headed toward Remus' bed.
Lily was still fast asleep when James started opening the curtains wider. Her reddish hair was strewn all over the pillow as one of her hands was clutching the comforter tightly. She looked so peaceful, James almost did not want to wake her from her slumber. He put his hand on her shoulder.
"Lily," he said quietly. "C'mon Lils, time to wake up. It's Christmas." Lily mumbled something incoherently. "You have a lot of presents under the tree," he added, and that did the trick. Lily opened her eyes and sat up straightaway.
"Good morning, James" she said pleasantly, suddenly awake. She rubbed her eyes and got of out bed. Looking around, Lily said, "Now, where are those presents you were speaking about?"
"Hmm. A brainteaser," said James sarcastically. He grabbed Lily's hand as they walked out of the room and down toward the gigantic Christmas tree in the Common Room. Other students were already down opening their gifts, but there was still a large pile of presents at the foot of the tree for them. After collecting their gifts and situating themselves by the fire in the Common Room, James and Lily began to unwrap their packages.
"Let's see," Lily said, grabbing a small, square present from her pile. She read the card, the gift was from Juliet, and proceeded to open the gift. Lily unwrapped it to find the latest installments of a Muggle series she was currently reading. Ecstatic, Lily put down the books and reached for another gift as James folded a bright green sweater and tossed it aside. Lily laughed as she saw the appalled look on James' face.
They had fun opening their presents in the Common Room. They both received a lot of presents from their friends. Peter had sent both of them a large box of Chocolate Frogs each; Juliet, a huge bar of James' favorite chocolate for himself ("For those long hours, ahem, STUDYING," she had written in the card).
Sirius had sent James a new speed counter for his broom. It was enchanted to dictate the speed that the rider was going at a certain point in time. James' old one broke when the guys were racing at James' house during the summer. Sirius decided to replace it. To Lily's surprise, Sirius had spent quite a lot of money for her gift, giving her a lily-shaped crystal. If placed correctly in the light, the crystal would emit a shower of light. Lily had seen it in a store window at Diagon Alley earlier last year, and it seemed as if Sirius remembered and saved enough money to buy it for her. Lily smiled in appreciation.
Remus had sent both Lily and James novels. Lily's was entitled 15th Century Song Charms, with which she looked fascinated, and James' was called Animagi for the Experienced . Lily grinned at Remus' choice of present for James, and James' smiled back as he began flipping through the various pages with interest. Putting his new book down, James turned and saw that he had only a few presents left, as did Lily. He spotted Lily pick up his own present to her.
"Now, don't be incredibly wishful," he said, as she picked the lumpy package up. "But it's not a diamond necklace or anything."
"Incredible," said Lily sardonically. "You mean they don't make them this shape any more?" James laughed and she began to tear off the gold paper.
"It's just that I did not know if you'd agree to be my girlfriend…and I bought this gift a long time ago. I just want you to know that you mean a lot to me, even though my gift might not really reflect it." James said ruefully, as Lily stopped unwrapping the gift.
"I know you care about me, James…you mean so much to me too. You're one of my best friends. And if you ask me, what we have is much better than any Christmas gift." Lily leaned over and kissed James on the lips. "But the presents aren't that bad either." James laughed as Lily finished opening her gift from him. She held up her present, and gasped.
"Oh James! It's absolutely lovely." It was a very beautiful cloak made of dark blue imported silk. Lily could tell that it must have cost James a fortune, and instantly felt humbled and shy. She looked to James, who was grinning ecstatically at her happy face, and said, "Gosh, you did not need to spend so much money on me. I love it James, thank you very much." Lily hugged James, who whispered in her ear.
"Nonsense, can't a guy buy something nice for his best girl anymore? It was nothing…I'm very glad you like it. I know you are always cold when we go out, so I thought this would be the perfect gift."
"Absolutely perfect." Lily replied, resting her head on his shoulder while still clutching James. After a few warm moments, the pair detached and finished opening their presents. After opening Lily's gift, a watch that James' had circled in a catalogue she had seen, the pair cleaned up their paper and headed towards Lily and Juliet's dorm. Lily placed all of her nice presents on her desk as she hung her new cloak on her dresser, admiring it. Smiling, Lily sat back down next to James, who was sitting on her bed.
"So, what do you want to do now?" Lily inquired, turning to James.
James shrugged, and with a charming grin, lowered his head and kissed Lily.
Giggling lightly, Lily kissed him back. "Looks like a plan to me…" she said between kisses, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
~*~
Later that evening, back at the Lupin household, Christmas dinner was just getting started. Sirius and Aimee had stayed most of the day and celebrated Christmas with the Lupins and Juliet. Juliet had arrived the day before, and was spending Christmas to New Year's at Remus' house. At the moment, Remus and Sirius were setting the table as Juliet helped Remus' mother in the kitchen. Aimee was sitting in the corner of the room and fluffing her newly permed hair.
"My God, she's a fox." Sirius said, placing a fork next to the plates that Remus was placing around the large, oak table. Aimee was adjusting her tight blouse as Sirius continued to stare. Remus laughed lightly under his breath as he continued to set the large Christmas table.
"Whatever you say, Padfoot, whatever you say."
Sirius slowly moved his gaze away from the blonde and shook his head sadly. "Dude, you've got your own girlfriend about a twenty feet away from you, staying in your own damn house, and Peter's probably gonna get some action with Elmyra, so I think I'm permitted to be a tad bit obsessive with my own catch." Sirius threw and exasperated look. "Honestly, I think even James is getting some with Lily this holiday. Not to make their relationship seem trivial, but c'mon…they're bound to hook up and 10 galleons say they AREN'T snogging right now."
Remus sighed as Sirius continued to bitch about his situation. They then proceeded to go upstairs and change into nicer clothes for Christmas dinner. Remus was buttoning his robe as be walked back into the dining room to check the place cards of the diners. Some of his relatives began drifting into the room also. At that moment, Juliet walked in and started placing food on the table that Sirius and Remus just set. Juliet returned with a platter of vegetables followed Mrs. Lupin set down a large dish of potatoes. She
Was already changed into her dress robes and was trying to avoid catching her sleeve in one of the food dishes.
She walked over to Remus, who complimented on her new dress robe. Smiling, Juliet kissed his cheek.
"Thanks. You bought it for me last year, of course it's nice." They smiled as they watched Sirius and Aimee in the corner. Aimee was sitting on Sirius lap, and was whispering sweet nothings in his ear in French. Remus laughed and Juliet smiled at Sirius who was throwing looks of 'Oh yeah, baby' back to Juliet and Remus. They gave Sirius a thumbs-up sign as the pair continued their seemingly intimate moment in the corner of the dining room.
Juliet sighed. "So, does Sirius even know her last name?"
Remus shrugged. "Highly doubt it, but does it matter?"
"Guess not. Glad they are enjoying…each other." Juliet smiled as she heard Sirius giggle from the corner. "I mean, she's even got him giggling. I haven't heard him giggle since his escapade with Louisa Micheln last year after the Quidditch Championships."
"At least he's happy. Definitely a happy Christmas for him," Remus replied.
"And one for us too." Juliet kissed Remus, who kissed her back. "Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas too, baby."
~*~
Back at Hogwarts, Lily and James had managed to disentangle themselves from each other and began to walk down to eat Christmas dinner in the Great Hall.
Professor Dumbledore had cunningly put enchanted mistletoe under many of the doorframes, so James and Lily took cautions not to walk through doors if there were Slytherins approaching. This mistletoe was enchanted, as it would glow brightly if two people walked underneath it. Lily had already walked through a door at the same time as Snape, who was also staying at Hogwarts, earlier that day, so she too was watching her step. James had almost choked laughing when he had witnessed Professor McGonagall and Professor Crogh walking through a door together, and seen their embarrassed faces, as they had continued in opposite directions.
The Hall always looked stunning in the run up to Christmas, but it looked as though Dumbledore had pulled out all the stops for the day itself. A dozen Christmas trees stood around the edges, decorated with glittering pixies, glistening ice crystals, and miniscule golden owls at the top of each. In addition, each tree was surrounded by large groups of shimmering fairies, which were lighting up the Hall. It was an amazing sight to everyone who walked into the Hall. Lily and James were quite surprised.
"Wow," Lily exclaimed looking at all the decorations. "I swear, I've never seen the Hall look this beautiful."
"Seriously," said James from her side. "Holy crap..." Their statements of awe mingled with all the other statements from the various Hogwarts students.
They sat down at the Gryffindor table and began to pull some wizard crackers that were strewn all over. James laughed as one of their crackers exploded and nearly went sailing towards Snape's unsuspecting head. Amazingly, throughout their entire Christmas holiday, they did not run into Snape at all. In fact, their lack of fighting was quite surprising to James.
'But then again, my mind has been occupied somewhere else for the past few days,' James thought, taking a glance at a certain redhead next to him who was conversing with a Ravenclaw she knew from Muggle Studies. Lily turned back to James and grabbed her glass of pumpkin juice from the table. She raised her glass as she watched James do the same.
"Well Jamesie," Lily began, holding her glass. "Hope this Christmas was a great one, and that you got everything you wanted." James nodded in agreement and appreciation.
"Here, here. You too, Lils." They were about to clink their glasses, when the pair thought better of it and kissed instead, placing their glasses back down on the table.
It was a very merry Christmas after all.
~*~
A/N: Yes, I know it's been a while. I said 2-3 days, and it's been about two weeks. Oh well. This chapter took a long time to write…there wasn't really that much to say. I don't know. But thank you for reading, and please review. I definitely appreciate feedback!
Definitely a hectic adjustment back to school…midterm, tests, projects, and with fourth quarter starting now…gonna be a rough ride. My boyfriend's volleyball team played, so I had to go to a couple games. So yeah, thanks for your patience! I definitely appreciate it!
Until next time,
~ Stellar
Special thanks to my reviewers…you guys are stellar!
Harriet Ennis – Oh gosh! 34 pages?! Yowza! But I'm very glad you think it's worth it…I try very hard to make my characters realistic and not be overly funny or 'cliched'. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Snow Flurry – No Sophie in this either! Yeah, think I'm getting annoyed with her. Thanks for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it!
Seshat – Yeah, the death scene is very hard! Ahh, took me a while. Thanks for reading and reviewing. And I definitely bet Sirius wants some of those see-through glasses.
Thistlemeg – Fluffy Chapter 10! Fluffy Christmas Chapter 11! I'm on a roll! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Ravenclawgirly – Thanks for reading and reviewing my story! I am so glad that you like it! Lily will tell James sometime…I got it all planned out! ^- ^
Princess Hermione – I've very glad you enjoyed my story! Thank you very much for reading and reviewing!
Martini addict – I know…so cute! I'm trying to post as soon as I can! Thanks for r/r! Appreciate it greatly!
Felicity Aulia Evans – Glad you liked it! Muchas gracias for reading and reviewing!
Anime girl – Alrighty, I know I was the biggest slowpoke ever in re- posting. But I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I'll try to write as fast as I can! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Love 'em!
Slytherin Sweetheart – I'm very happy that you liked the chapter! Sweet is good! Thanks a bunch for reading and reviewing…I really appreciate it!
Krissia – I know, I know, this chapter took even longer to come out…I'm trying! So hard to write regularly with school and such. But anyway, thanks for enjoying my mush and reviewing about it too! I am getting better (I hope). Thanks so much for reading and reviewing, and I great cherish it!