"Faster than you can say Dumbledore," James said. "James began to transform. His ravish good looks vanished and his human skin turned to rough wood. He turned into a nutcracker, much like his nickname. Cilla screamed, telling her father to get the "ugly thing" out of her sight. James was taken away from Newton and ended up in the toy shop, where I bought him for you."

"That's so sad," Lily said, holding the doll close to her.

"There's more," James continued. "Dame Mouserink placed a curse on James- the only way he could break the curse was if he defeated Prince Severus… and if someone could look past his ugliness and see the beauty within…"

"That's sweet Potter, you telling the Mudblood a story." James' eyes narrowed as he looked over his shoulder.

"Don't you have some vampire to be necking with, Lucius?" Lucius Malfoy ignored him and snatched the Nutcracker out of Lily's arms. "Give that back!"

"Why should I?" asked Lucius, tossing it up and down. Lily tried to grab it back but he moved away from her and tossed the doll into the air again… this time letting it smash on the ground. "Oh now look what I've done," he said sarcastically, pulling out his wand. "Let me fix it for you." He pointed his wand at the broken doll. "Expelleramus!"

"No!" Lily cried. It was too late- Lucius had cast the spell on her doll, making it magic proof- she'd have to have it fixed the Muggle way. "You bastard!" Lily balled up her fist, looking ready to punch him in the face… but Lucius ran out of there before she could.

Lily fought back the tears coming to her eyes as she picked her Nutcracker up off the floor. He wasn't completely broken- his moveable jaw had come out of his head and it truly pained Lily to see him like this. James sat down next to her, reaching for the doll.

"Let me see him," he said kindly. Lily handed the pieces over to James and watched as he carefully put the Nutcracker's jaw back in place and tying a makeshift bandage around it with the ribbon that once wrapped his box before handing it back to her. "I used to fix my toys before I learned magic- once I get some tools, I could fix him for you Evans…" Lily just nodded, her heart broken at the sight of the poor Nutcracker. She'd only had him for a few minutes… but she felt there was something special about him… something she loved…

"Don't worry, Nutcracker," Lily whispered, holding him close. "I'll take care of you."

That evening, after much teasing and tormenting from Lucius and his cronies, Lily retreated the Gryffindor Common Room, sitting in a chair in front of the fire, cradling her injured Nutcracker in her arms.

"Lily?" asked a voice. "Are you all right?" Lily looked over her left shoulder.

"Hello, Professor Dumbledore," she said, surprised. "Merry Christmas." The old professor smiled and sat in a chair next to Lily.

"Merry Christmas to you as well," he replied. "James told me what Mr. Malfoy did to your Christmas present and pretty much told me that if I didn't do something about it, he and his friends would. Although whatever they might do would be completely justified in my eyes, I told him to stand down and I took fifteen points away from the Slytherin house."

"You didn't have too, Professor," Lily said, trying to hide how pleased she was with this news. "It's just a doll…"

"Nonsense," came the reply. "As head girl, I'm surprised you didn't punish the house yourself." Lily simply shrugged.

"Didn't think about it at the time, I guess. I just…" She sighed. "I don't know." Dumbledore smiled, putting a kind hand on her shoulder.

"Someone gave you a gift for no real reason at all," he said. "You liked the gift and it hurt you to see it destroyed." He got to his feet smiling. "But it is Christmas Eve, Lily- magical things can happen." With that, he left the room. As Lily watched him go, one thought crossed her mind.

"James doing something without a reason… that's a strange thought."