Chapter 12
(A/N) I got a flame! Hehehe… So. Very amusing. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! Oh, and I'm not sure if it's "Happy Christmas" or "Merry Christmas" in England, so don't mind if I'm wrong.
Disclaimer (Different and interesting. Sharpen up your Greek Mythology): I own the plot. Narcissus is a character in Greek mythology, he's the one that Echo, the nymph (?) cursed to fall in love with someone the same way she loved him, and would never actually get his love. They say he fell in love with his reflection in the pond, and ended up turning into a little yellow flower that always was found near the water, "admiring its reflection". And Echo… I can't remember, but they ended up naming the little flower "Narcissus". And that's a real myth, not my own. And the flower's a real one, too. And the songs, you can look up yourself, I obviously don't own any of them.
*~*~*~*~*
"Mistletoe," Lily whispered looking up at the ceiling. "Duck."
The two edged away from the (hazardous, in their opinion) mistletoe, and watched as the small clump of green and red drifted over another unsuspecting couple and stuck there.
"I'd feel bad for them," James murmured, "But then, it's Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape. So, it's actually quite humorous."
Lily hid a laugh. Indeed, the mistletoe was dangling over Malfoy and Snape, who were still with their own dancing partners and were too busy to notice.
"They shouldn't be so close to each other," she said. "Quite an easy target, it makes them. And now, we'll have to scar the minds of any fifth years by watching those two kiss."
"Or," James countered, "they could wait for it to disappear at midnight, and remain within five paces of each other for the rest of the night."
Lily glanced at the ceiling, "Mistletoe."
The two waltzed quickly out of range of the mistletoe and watched as it struck the next two unsuspecting victims: Gilderoy Lockhart and… his reflection in the mirror.
"That's it," James said under his breath, "The mistletoe's rigged."
Lily shrugged. "Maybe it means that he's totally and completely in love with himself."
"Oh, so it's a Hogwarts version of Narcissus, huh?"
"I guess. Duck," Lily said. The mistletoe passed them.
Several pairs had been coupled by the mistletoe by then, and most were fairly odd pairings.
*~*~*~*~*
"… And that concludes the opening dance. You may all move onto the dance floor now," Dumbledore's voice sounded.
Lily and James quickly parted, Lily running into none other than Gilderoy Lockhart.
"Lily! Shall we have a go at the waltz, then?" Gilderoy beamed. "I was quite the champion back at the hometown, you know. You might have some trouble following my steps, but no worries, I'll teach you."
With that, he dragged her onto the dance floor.
"But-"
"I know, I know," he said knowingly, "I'm far too advanced for you to catch up to my level, but you shall learn."
"Gilderoy, you don't know the-"
"Turn, turn, turn!" he said, suddenly spinning her.
"G-"
"Now we dip," he said, dipping her a tad too far; her nose was close to the floor.
"Gilderoy, this isn't-"
"And now, I swirl you off your feet," he smiled at her, attempting to spin her again.
Naturally, she fell. Into the arms of James Potter, that is.
*~*~*~*~*
Mr. Potter, startled, looked up to see his son catching the Head Girl before she fell.
Now that was very unorthodox. Not to mention, a little too much show of affection in public.
But, he had nothing to worry about. If his son really liked the girl, he could forbid him to ever see her. Or, he could have her transfer to Beauxbatons. He most certainly wouldn't have a muggle-born daughter-in-law, if he could help it. The press would have a field day! He could already hear the headlines: "Potter Heir weds Muggle-born Witch". Not that he had anything against her, aside from the fact that she was a bit too smart, meaning that she would most definitely be one quick to argue… and the press would likely pick up on that, also.
No, Lily Evans was out of the picture.
*~*~*~*~*
James looked disgustedly in his father's direction.
He could tell, from the look on his father's face, that he was already jumping to conclusions.
"Potter, let go of me," she hissed, none too appreciatively.
"More than happy to," he replied, and dropped her. She fell again, this time, onto the floor.
Getting up again, Lily glared at his retreating figure. "Excuse me, Gilderoy," she said to the Hufflepuff, "I have to make my contribution now."
*~*~*~*~*
"Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas,
May your heart be light,
From now on, our troubles will be out of sight…"
James turned to see Lily on the stage with the piano player, singing.
"Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on, our troubles will be miles away…"
"James, come here," a stern voice said suddenly.
"Dad?" James turned.
"There's something going on between you and her, isn't there?" Mr. Potter asked, looking at Lily.
"Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore…"
"Where'd you get that idea?" James frowned. He and Evans showed absolutely no signs of liking each other, how would anyone, even someone as narrow minded as his father, be under the impression that they did?
"I've seen the way you two look at each other…"
"Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near us once more…"
James frowned. What look? "We don't look, dad, we glare."
"Hmm. That's what I said," Mr. Potter muttered.
" Through the years we all will be together
If the Fates allow.
Hang a shining star above the highest bough,
And have yourself a Merry Little Christmas now."
Lily smiled as the audience applauded. "My contribution," she said.
James just looked at her, trying to see, for once, what everyone seemed to see in her. The glowing personality, the beautiful eyes, the pleasant features, the calm and composed air around her.
He couldn't see it.
*~*~*~*~*
James danced with dozens of girls that night, one advantage of going alone, he noted.
Dumbledore chuckled to himself, as his eyes wandered to the Slytherin table.
"Minerva," he said, "Have you seen Mr. Black around?"
Professor McGonagall frowned. "Why, no. Whatever do you mean, Albus?"
"Have you, by any chance, seen the dinner dishes of the Slytherins?" Dumbledore asked, his expression altogether too calm.
Professor McGonagall opened her mouth to answer, when Lucius Malfoy's voice rang out, "BLACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
*~*~*~*~*
Sirius Black laughed heartily as he sped out of the Grand Hall, hearing Malfoy's yell.
Peter had been the inspiration, ironically. The boy had wanted to grab some more food the other day, and had went to the Kitchens to get some. Professor McGonagall had walked in, so he had transformed into his animagi form as a rat before she could see him. Then, before he knew it, he was on a dinner plate, and was suddenly popped onto a table; the Slytherin's table, to be exact, at dinner. The unlucky Slytherin, Severus Snape, found a rat in his soup, and screamed, as did every single other Slytherin.
So the Slytherins all shared a common phobia of rats, Sirius had found out.
It was a simple charm, really, turning all their food at the Christmas Ball to resemble a rat and not lose its flavor. Still, it sent many of the Slytherins looking petrified at the sight of it. Pale-faced and stiffened, they all threw their dinners out, only to discover it was a trick, and could no longer receive any more food.
He loved Christmas.
*~*~*~*~*
"A wishbone?" Evelyn frowned.
"Muggle tradition," Lily explained. "You make a wish, then we both pull it, and whoever gets the longer piece gets their wish granted."
"Really?" Evelyn asked. "So there's magic in the muggle world, too?"
"No, it's just a silly tradition," Lily shrugged. "But since this is Hogwarts…"
Evelyn laughed. "I wish that I could get a puppy."
"You weren't supposed to tell me," Lily said. "Now your wish won't come true."
*~*~*~*~*
"Ice cream, Mr. Potter?"
James declined. "No, sir. It's cold enough outside as it is."
Dumbledore chuckled. "So," he said, popping a chocolate in his mouth, "are you enjoying the Ball?"
"Yes, I am," James said.
"That's good," the Headmaster said. "In fact, it's grand."
James nodded, and reached for a chocolate. "Have any other prefects made their contributions?"
"Indeed they have, Mr. Potter. Mr. Patil and Miss Patil, the fifth year prefects of Ravenclaw, contributed the chocolate you're eating now," Dumbledore answered, eating another chocolate.
"They're good," James said.
"Yes," Dumbledore agreed. "Their mother made it, in fact. Miss Patil told me that her brother was, I quote, too lazy to get off his bum to get a contribution of his own, so they both gave the same thing. Amusing when you make brother and sister prefects of the same house, isn't it?"
*~*~*~*~*
The Christmas Ball was, undoubtedly, a success. Even Peter was having a good time, dancing with a Hufflepuff girl who did, in fact, "fancy" him, as Sirius had jokingly put it.
Amos Diggory wasn't too happy, though, as the entire Hufflepuff female population was paying much more attention to James Potter than him. Still, he was contented to dance with one girl.
"Students, get your gifts ready, midnight is a minute away," Professor Dumbledore said, as the band struck up a lively, upbeat, jazzy version of "Jingle Bells".
Lily smiled, and said a quick charm, and her presents suddenly appeared in a neat pile on her table. Others, however, didn't have quite an easy time.
Most students had resorted to the Summoning Charm, and the gifts were colliding into each other, whacking their owners on the head, or dropping midway.
"Oh, dear," Lily said, concealing an amused laugh as Gilderoy's gift knocked him off his chair.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said, getting up. "I suppose I was just a tad enthusiastic when I said it."
*~*~*~*~*
James' gifts all appeared in an organized pile on his table, through the use of a Retrieving Charm. Well, it was supposed to be a Summoning Charm, but since he wasn't doing too well at Charms, it came out a Retrieving Charm, which worked out much better, he'd found.
"Good, good," Mr. Potter nodded his approval at the gifts.
"Glad you think so, sir," James replied, sitting up straight.
*~*~*~*~*
Sirius impressed quite a few girls by revealing that he had managed to find a way to apparate objects in Hogwarts.
Alright, he hadn't.
He couldn't quite get the charm right, as had Lily, nor did he wish to give someone a black eye with the weight of most gifts by using a Summoning Charm, so he took the easy way out by bringing all the gifts with him under James' Invisibility Cloak.
*~*~*~*~*
"Merry Christmas, Lily," Gilderoy said, presenting her a small box.
Picking off the ribbon and taking off the box top, Lily found a snowflake. As most knew, it was quite hard to get a snowflake, as it usually melted before one could cast the proper charm on it. The snowflake was in a glass dome that fit in her palm, to enlarge it.
"Why, thank you, Gilderoy," Lily smiled. It was a nice gesture of him to go through all the trouble… until she saw the price tag, which read, "Two knuts."
As anyone knew, a real snowflake cost around thirty Galleons, as it took so much care in the process, and if he had made it himself, it would have been worth twenty-four Galleons, tops. So… two knuts? Still, it was a realistic fake, so she was pleased anyway.
"Here's your present," she said, handing him a red wrapped gift.
Curiously, he tore off the wrapping paper, and found-
"A… book," he said uncertainly.
"Yes," Lily said. "You mentioned you enjoyed classics once." Of course, she knew he'd never touched a classic book, such as Great Expectations, but the boy claimed he did, so why not?
"Oh. I love classics," Gilderoy said.
"I'm sure you do," Lily smiled. "But it isn't really a book."
He looked a great deal relieved.
"It's hollowed out on the inside, and serves as a box."
Opening the "covers", he found a empty inside, with a card and two knuts in it.
"Thanks."
*~*~*~*~*
James sighed as his father wrote off every gift he received as "too personal," "too cheap", "too extravagant", "too useless", or "too impersonal".
So far, he'd gotten a heap of presents from his admirers and friends. They went through this every year, and this was the first time his father had publicly criticized the gifts.
"Dad, can you stop? I can't see what's wrong with Snape sending me a roll of toilet paper, or Sirius sending me a toothbrush."
Sirius had known about the entire "presents standards", with his gifts always being "too personal". This time, it was "personal" with the involvement of personal hygiene, his way of a joke, James had explained. And Snape… he just didn't like him.
"It wasn't funny," Mr. Potter said. "Now, open that Miss Evans' gift. I'd like to see if she can come up with a proper gift."
James sighed. No one, absolutely no one, with the exception of his mother and his father's colleagues at work, was able to come up with the "proper gift".
Picking off the wrapper carefully, and folding it aside, he picked out…
"Pride & Prejudice, Great Expectations," he said, shaking his head. "Wuthering Heights, Black Beauty, The Odyssey, Romeo & Juliet… and a comb."
"Finally! Someone in this school who can get proper gifts!" Mr. Potter nodded.
James frowned, and read the card:
"Potter:
I thought you might want to reacquaint yourself with a few classics. Oh, and there's a comb, too. Perhaps you've never seen one. I have step-by-step instructions for using a comb on the back of this. Hopefully, you'll be able to do something decent with your hair for once.
Merry Christmas!
Lily Evans "
James rolled his eyes. It was quite typical for Evans to do something like that.
"Good to see she's well-read on her classics," Mr. Potter said. "And a comb. Quite witty…"
*~*~*~*~*
"Well?" Evelyn asked her expectantly. "What'd he get you?"
"Er… a paperweight," Lily said. "It has a fire with… snow falling over inside it."
"And the note?" Bella asked, on her tiptoes.
Lily read:
"Evans:
Here's a fire . No different from your personality, I'm sure. Then there's the cold ice. That's you, fire and ice.
Merry Christmas,
James Potter
P.S.
There's a framed picture of you and your "Darling" boyfriend, Lockhart."
"Wow, Lily, it's a magical paper weight!" Evelyn breathed.
"How kind of him… to include a lovely picture which I'm going to burn," Lily said, eyeing the picture of Gilderoy with his arm slung over her shoulder.
Taking a second look at the paperweight, she found it was very nice, as the fire was burned to spell out the word, "Lily" in script, and the snow right over it added to the effect. Still, the way James had put it, she wasn't sure if she was supposed to be insulted or grateful. The picture… well, they were even; she'd given him a comb.
*~*~*~*~*
(A/N) Okay, okay, so James' gift was a little cliché, but give me a break! At least it wasn't one of those necklaces everyone has him get her.
To Come: Stargazing.