"Lily? Lily, come on, wake up!" Lily could feel someone lightly shaking her. Even as lightly as it was, she was startled and sat up quickly… bashing her head into someone else's. "Ow! For the love of Quidditch!" Lily let out a gasp.

"Potter?!" She looked around- she was back in the Common Room, and it looked like nothing had happened. There were no bodies of dead mice, no blood, there was no way a battle had taken place here last night… but then, she looked at her feet. One of her slippers was missing. She looked under the tree- her slipper was lying there, next to an open present, lying on its side with the top facing her. And next to the box… was her Nutcracker.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Evans," James said, rubbing his head. "Although this wasn't exactly the greeting I expected."

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, straightening herself on the chase lounge, confused. Everything that happened last night… had it all just been a dream?

"Are you all right?" James asked her, a bit of worry in his voice.

"I'm fine," she replied, shaking her head a little. "I just had the strangest dream and… I'm not even sure if it was a dream." Within a few minute, Lily had told James the entire story- the battle between her Nutcracker and Severus, the wisecracks from Remus and Sirius, the palace… and James just sat there, smiling. "What?"

"I told you that story was real," he said with a grin. Lily let out a groan, rolling her eyes as she got to her feet and walked over to the fireplace, standing in front of it, staring at the flames. "Lily? Is something wrong?" She shook her head.

"No, not really…" There was a pause. "He asked me to stay with him. Be his princess."

"What did you say?" James asked curiously.

"I didn't get the chance to say anything."

"What would you have said?" Lily smiled a little bit. She had been trying to figure out the best way to tell him the truth… he was making it way to easy for her.

"I would have said no," she replied.

"Why?"

"Because," she said, her back still to him. "There's this guy I know... and when the mice came... all I could think about was not being able to see him again." She could hear James growl a little at the mention of this "guy," causing her to bite her bottom lip to hold in a giggle.

"I see…"

"This guy," Lily continued. "This guy has been waiting six and a half years for me to realize something." James raised an eyebrow, an amused look slowly appearing on his face.

"What?" he asked. "That this guy is a complete and total idiot and wasting his time?" Lily chose this time to let out her giggle, thinking that it would be appropriately masked. "Get it dead on, eh? Why am I not surprised." Lily giggled a bit more before continuing.

"The guy is a complete and total idiot," she agreed. "But…" she paused. "But, I was one too thinking that I could be happy without him."

James just stood there, his eyes wide with surprise. Could it be, could it be after all this time? Was the love of his life saying really what he long hoped to be true? Was Lily really saying that she loved him too? His heart melted like butter, he felt his knees go weak. He opened his mouth, but he couldn't find the words to speak. After all these years, now was the time. I can do this, he thought, I can make Lily mine! He ruffled his hair, and flashed her a grin. The moment was right, there was no way he couldn't win. (AN: Sorry for the poetics, I'm watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas" as I type this out, and as those of you who've seen the movie know, there's a lot of poetics in there. But that's it, I swear. Read on.)

"You know," he said as Lily brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, the familiar cocky tone in his voice. "You could have said all that in three little easy words and not gotten yourself all worked up."

"Oh?" asked Lily. "And what would those words be?" She could hear him start to walk towards her. She only needed him to take three steps… two steps… one step…

"I think you know what they are," James said. That was far enough.

"Caught you!" Lily exclaimed, turning around, a broad grin on her face. James looked at her, totally confused.

"Huh?" Lily continued to grin, then pointed above James's head. He looked up… and discovered he was standing under a sprig of Mistletoe. He said nothing for a moment, a blank expression on his face. But, after a moment, he started to grin. "That's not fair."

"Oh?" Lily asked, walking over to him. "Why not?"

"I" he said, "am the master of trickery. To trick the master just isn't cool." A light giggle escaped Lily's lips.

"I won't tell anyone James. I promise." He rolled his eyes.

"Sure you won't." She smiled, putting her arms around him.

"It's locked away in my heart, James Potter," she said. "And you, yourself, hold the key." With that said, she pulled him close to her and gave him a kiss. James instantly tensed up, but he soon relaxed, taking her in his arms. He had, after all, been waiting for this since he was eleven years old. It was everything he ever dreamed it would be. Soft, but strong. Warm, but it chilled him to the bone. Sweet… bitter sweet. Was this all… just a dream? No, he decided. This wasn't just a dream. The Gods of Quidditch just wouldn't do this to him.

A moment later, Lily gently broke this kiss. Her bright green eyes looked into James's dazzling blue ones. Both saw the same thing- a person they loved. A person they couldn't live without. A person they would die for. (AN: I could comment, but I'm not about to ruin the moment.)

"Merry Christmas, Potter," Lily said softly, leaning against his chest. James smiled, holding her close and smoothing down her hair.

"Merry Christmas, Evans." That's when they heard the voices.

"Remus, did you get the pictures?"

"Yep, five of them. Man, Wormtail's gonna be pissed that he went home for the holidays." Lily and James looked up and the balcony over looking the Common Room to see Sirius Black and Remus Lupin standing there. In Remus's hands was a camera. James narrowed his eyes.

"Excuse me, Lily," he said, annoyed. "But I have to go…"

"Stupefy!" James's eyes widened. Lily had his wand in her hand… and his two best friends were standing there looking like… well, like himself in the Quidditch shop in Diagon Alley. James looked at Lily and smiled.

"God, I love you." She smiled back.

"I love you, too." He pulled her close again and leaned in for another kiss.

"This," he thought. "This is obviously the best Christmas ever."

The End

I'm almost sorry it's over. I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Later days!