AUTHORS NOTE - NOW LILY IS HAPPY! I HAVE REALLY RUN OUT OF IDEAS - SO ANY WOULD BE SO WELCOMED! THANKS TO ALL YOU GREAT REVIEWERS, PLEASE ASK YOUR FRIENDS TO READ THIS STORY BECAUSE ITS PROBABLY THE BEST HP FANFIC I'VE EVER WRITTEN, NOT TRYING TO SOUND BIG-HEADED OR ANYTHING. THANK
YOU ALL SO MUCH!
22nd December
Common Room
The snow is deep on the grounds. I am sitting in my favourite armchair by the windowsill, writing this, staring at the snow. I have so many things to be happy about. Let me list them -
1) I have the greatest friends in the world. (Anna, Rachel, James, Sirius and Remus. Oh, I suppose Peter as well. Kind of.) Not only are they there to support me, but they are there to help me succeed at Hogwarts (take your bow Remus)
2) I have the greatest boyfriend in the world. I mean, this morning when I got up late (c'mon - it's the holidays!) and slouched downstairs to scrounge some leftover breakfast, I found a bowl of porridge and some rolls and jam at a place next to James, still warm because he had performed the Tepiditius Jinx on them. How cool - and sweet! - is that?
3) I have the greatest enemies in the world! I saw Paul today, and he made a disgusting remark about something you do not want to know about, concerning the night of the Ball and other things that are unmentionable and should be left to the imagination - I still dread to think about it - so I strung him up to the chandelier in the corridor on the 4th floor, and put a weak Memory Charm on him so he'd have no idea how he got there. He's all right now. Professor Porter got him down in the end. After about four hours!
4) it is snowing (that is a very good thing. We definitely do not get enough snow in Surrey)
5) going back to friends thing, Sirius and James have just come back from the kitchens and offered me a warm cookie. That is an even better thing than snow. I think I will set aside this journal and eat…. A lot
23rd December
Bed
The castle has been decorated for a while now, but is only today that I realised its Christmas soon! I mean, of course I knew it was coming, but it has just, you know, sunk in.
I am now going to jump out of bed, get dressed and get breakfast. Which is a really big deal for me because its only 7.30!
Still 23rd December
Common Room
I am so tired! I can't believe how much fun can be crammed into one day. And all with your two best friends, your boyfriend and his friends (one of which happens to be one of your best friends boyfriend as well, but whatever).
First off I had breakfast - egg, bacon and sausage - then, once I was fully awake and had said hi to everyone, we all wrapped up and had a massive three hour snowball fight! Then, after lunch - luscious chicken breast served with roast potatoes, baby sweet corn and broccoli - me and James went for a walk around the grounds.
We sat by the lake, just staring out over the frozen water, me hugging my knees in the cold, my hair blowing in the slight breeze. I huddled closer to James.
'So,' he said, 'how'd you like an early Christmas present?'
'Yes please.' I grinned.
He replied by kissing me, which we kept up for about forty minutes until I could hardly feel my rear end any more.
Then, we stood up and wandered - hand in hand of course - over to Hagrids hut.
Hagrid's hut was warm as usual, with a blazing fire in the grate. His old shaggy grey dog (called Sidjon, no less) was curled up in a corner. Hagrid handed me and James each steaming mugs of hot chocolate, and set a bowl of sugared almonds on the table. I bit into one, but nearly cracked my tooth, so I hastily stuffed it in my pocket.
It soon began to go dark, so we trailed back to the castle. Then James took me to the kitchens! I'd actually never been before, but it was really interesting. It was about the same size as the Great Hall, but packed full of tiny little house elves. James introduced me to some of his "friends". I liked Mimi best. She was a charming little female elf, with tiny bat-like ears and an oddly shaped head, but she was very nice. She offered me a Danish pastry, which I accepted. I shall have to throw away the weighing scales in our bathroom, because if I actually look at how heavy I am now, I'm sure to become bulimic.
December 24th
Christmas Eve!
I CAN'T FIND IT! THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!
I have lost James' present! OH NO OH NO OH NO OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Be calm Lily, cool, calm…
I'd just got everyone else's sorted, and made a checklist…
Anna - yes
Rachel - yes
Sirius - yes
Remus - yes
Peter - If I must…
Hagrid - yes
Mum - yes (posted)
Dad - yes (ditto)
Petunia - yes (double ditto)
Ebony - yes
And James . . . . um . . .NO!
What am, I going to do? I can't give everyone else a present, and NOT my boyfriend?
Still December 24th
Not here!
Still Dec 24th
No luck…
Even later, Dec 24th
Where is it?
Later still, Dec 24th
Anna has come looking for me. Says James wants to say goodnight.
My bed, can't sleep
HE IS SO SWEET! AND I AM TRULY HORRIBLE! I CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER WHERE I PUT MY BOYFRIENDS CHRISTMAS PRESENT!
I went outside, down the stairs and found James by the portrait hole. Everyone else had either gone to bed, or were curled up by the fireplace, yawning and chewing mince pies.
'Hey,' he grinned when he saw me.
'Hi.' I replied. 'So you going to bed?'
'In a minute, I just gotta look out peoples presents - Remus, Sirius, Peters…. Yours…'
I forced a smile, feeling repulsive.
'But I want to say goodnight first, and show you something.' He pulled my hand and led me to a secluded corner.
'What?'
He pointed upwards. 'Mistletoe…'
I rolled my eyes at him ironically. He grinned and held me close.
Let me tell you something, kissing - an area which I have little experience - is nice. And many of the first years were staring, but I didn't mind. We'd been kissing a lot lately, and not just under mistletoe either.
CHRISTMAS DAY!
This is turning out to be the best Christmas ever! And not just because it snowed last night!
The most unbelievable thing happened. Mimi woke me up on Christmas morning at six, but I didn't mind a bit after she showed me what she'd found down the back of my bed when she was cleaning up. JAMES' PRESENT!
I thanked her so much, and gave her one of my favourite badges to wear on her tunic. She said thank you, then scurried off to make Christmas dinner.
I jumped out of bed, pulled on my dressing gown, then had a shower. When I got out, everyone else was awake, and had started opening presents. Anna and Rachel had two huge piles, as did I. We stuffed them into bags, then hijacked the boys bedroom, throwing crackers everywhere, dragging our sacks of presents in and waking them up in the process.
Sirius stirred groggily when we invaded, then sat up fast when he saw who it was.
'Hey!' said Sirius indignantly, 'how'd you get in here?'
'Easy,' I replied, 'we used the staircase.'
'But when we tried in third year, it wouldn't let us into the girls room - the stairs turned into a slide!' said James, pulling off his covers and yawning. His hair was sticking up more than usual. I couldn't help but notice how well-defined his chest and stomach muscles were. Mmmnnn…… Must be all that Quidditch….
'That's probably because the only reason you wanted to get there, was to spy on Lily.' said Remus, fully clothed and emerging from the bathroom.
I glared at James at this news, but jokingly. Then we got down to some serious unwrapping.
I made a list of the things that everyone got me.
Anna - a box of Melodic Allsorts from Honeydukes (sweets where you suck them, then open
your mouth and a different tune comes out each time), and a set of Non-Wilting Roses,
and some UnPoppable BubbleBath
Rachel - a gorgeous vintage-beaded bracelet in blues and oranges and turquoises with tarnished
silver charms, like leaves and acorns, and some glitzy nail varnish.
Remus - a book called Confuddle and Befuse (a set of funny spells fro your friends)
Sirius - a key that will unlock any door, and some Honeydukes chocolate
Peter - a jar of Mordant Mothballs (apparently, they will eat the moths alive. Gross)
Hagrid - some homemade cookies, and a handcrafted wooden model of a robin
James - a new journal - purple, with tiny silver letters on the front spelling out Lily Evans, a
Peacock feather quill and some Every-Flavour Beans
Mum+Dad - 50 Galleons! (shopping trip is yet to be organized!) and some Sherbet Lemons (my
Ultimate favourite!) and a card saying they've got a surprise for me when I next visit
Stocking - loads of little things, like a pack of Teeth Whitening Gum, an apple, and orange, some
chocolate coins, some eyeshadow… can't actually remember anything else
Petunia - not much really. A Card. And a bar of chocolate. Wow.
Never mind Petunia, though. IT IS STILL THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!
James liked his present, which was good. And I definitely liked the way he "said" thank you. (um, well maybe said isn't the right word. Maybe "acted"?)
And breakfast - Oh my goodness, it was fantastic! Hot cranberry juice, warm pancakes with raspberry jam, steaming porridge, fresh white rolls, eggs, bacon, sausages, beans…
It was delicious. I had everything. Even a mince pie afterwards.
I spent most of the day in the Common Room. I beat James twice at chess, then lost to Sirius at Gobstones. Then I lost to Anna at hangman ('toenail clippings' - ew!), and beat Rachel at noughts and crosses. Then we all went for a walk to visit Hagrid.
I think he got the shock of his life when all seven of us trooped in to see him. There wasn't much seating space, so me, James, and Sirius made do with the floor.
Lunch was incredible. There wasn't many people at Hogwarts, as most had gone home for Christmas, but those that stayed all shared one table. I sat by James and Anna, and everywhere you looked was piled high with food. About half a dozen turkeys were placed on the table, as were hams, sausages, roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, baby sweet corn, chicken legs and cranberry sauce. Scattered everywhere were piles of Wizarding Crackers. I pulled one with James, and it burst with a magnificent bang. I received a purple t-shirt bearing a picture of the Wailing Warlocks, and half a dozen humbugs. Then, after pulling a few with some other people, I inherited a self-lighting candle, a padlock, two white rats and seventeen jelly beans.
Deserts were luscious too. Christmas cake, apple pie, Christmas pudding, fudge pudding with hot fudge sauce, chocolate cake, mince pies and chocolate log. I think I had two slices of everything.
I am now lounging around in my new t-shirt and a pair of jeans, and my dressing gown for warmth, just leaning against James' shoulder, feeling the warmth of the fire and his body… talking to people. I don't think anyone can be bothered to do anything else. Dinner was called a half hour ago, but its probably just leftover turkey and cheese sandwiches. I don't think I can lift myself and drag myself to the toilet, never mind the Great Hall.
James has been playing with my hair for the last however many hours. He's just rested his head on my shoulder and peered into this journal - it's the new one he got me for Christmas.
'So what does it say about me in there?' he's just asked.
So I am writing the next couple of sentences for his benefit.
James Potter is the most disgusting boy alive. He dribbles in his sleep and leaves the toilet seat up when he's finished peeing. He can't use a knife and fork, and never combs his hair.
'Really? That's what you think of me?' he said, mockingly shocked. 'Who told you I dribble in my sleep?'
I stuck my tongue out, then wrote this -
James Potter is one of the coolest people I've ever met. He doesn't let anything put him down, and never gives up, even when things don't go his way. He makes an effort in everything he does, and finally those efforts have paid off. He is a fantastic Quidditch Seeker, and has the nicest eyes I've ever seen. His hair sticks up oddly, but it would look strange if it didn't. I like the way he pushes his glasses up when they slip down his nose. I like the way his eyebrows furrow when he's concentrating. I like the way he smiles at me, as if I'm he most important person in the world.
'That's better.' He said, nuzzling into my hair. 'but what about the efforts bit? What efforts? Why have they finally paid off?'
'Because,' I replied, slightly big-headedly, 'you kept asking and asking, but you never got. Those were your efforts. And they paid off, because we're going out now, right?'
'Yeah, I guess so. That's a pretty cool way of putting it.'
'Thanks. I thought so too.'
He gave me a killer smile - on of the ones that make me feel so special.
Everyone is yawning. Everyone is picking at mince pies. Everyone, except Anna and Remus. He's going over some sort of spell with her, but she doesn't seem to be listening. She's just watching him. And I'm watching them. Now they're kissing. Aw - sweet.
It's dark outside. I might go to bed now, and have a lazy lie-in tomorrow morning, then maybe a snowball fight in the afternoon, if anyone's up to it.
But not before I put my two new pet rats to bed in a crate full of straw that Hagrid lent me. He's promised to make them a proper cage as soon as he can. The rats are gorgeous, snow white with pink eyes and quivering little noses. One's called Rosie (female) and the other is called Jim. Very original, I know.
Nighty-night.