Hey! I know, I know—I've taken waaaay too long but it's been so hectic and I've been so tired and I didn't want to write you something crappy so here it is. And as a treat, James is going to be much nicer due to the fact that it's Christmas…I've decided he shall have some days in which he and Lily are almost friends b/c that's only natural. But he'll go back to being his lovely full-of-it self next chapter. This chapter is pretty fluffy simply because I felt that they all needed a break from life-threatening accidents (poor Lily!) Only about five more chapters (after this one) to go until the end of fifth year! Then sixth year shall begin, with much more adventurous action in it b/c I can only write so much fluffy action (although it will also have fluffy action). So yeah…please let me know how you liked this chapter…I think it shows James' nicer side and that he and Lily CAN get along sometimes. -PhoenixPlume
Christmastime
Snow fell down softly and thickly on Christmas Eve, covering the frozen window panes of Gryffindor tower. The remaining Gryffindors were lounging around the red and gold common room, vying to win the position closest to the merrily crackling fire. Lily lay in an overstuffed armchair, sipping cider and reading a good book. She sighed happily as she turned the page.
"Lily!" exclaimed Alice, her brown eyes dancing with anticipation. "We just had a stupendous idea!"
Lily turned towards her excited friend, and answered with, "Mmmm?"
Alice and Emmeline beamed and glanced towards each other, "We should bake Christmas cookies!"
"That's a great idea!" jumped in Sirius, who cheekily wrapped his arm around Emmeline, his latest pursuit. He had decided that she would be a challenge, a change for him.
"We didn't say you could come," Emmeline retorted, glaring at him as she shrugged his arm off of her. "What do you think, Lils?"
Lily's eyes twinkled at Black's facial expression after Emmeline had cast away his arm. "I have to agree with Black. It's an absolutely marvolous idea."
"Does that mean I can come?" asked Sirius, giving the three girls puppy eyes. Alice, ever the softy, gave in with a smile.
"I suppose; but don't let Potter come too. He and Lily will have some sort of row."
"Let's go!" urged Lily, noticing that Potter and Remus (Peter was participating in a snowball fight with some fourth years) were staring with curiosity at the huddle the girls and Sirius had made. "Before they follow us!" Sirius looked sadly at his fellow troublemakers, but knew that Alice was right about Lily and James fighting.
"Right," agreed Emmeline and they headed towards the portrait hole, but not before Potter interrupted their escape.
"Where are you going, Padfoot? I thought you wanted to go caroling," James said, a mischievous smile spreading on his bespectacled face.
"Got places to go, people to see," Sirius eyed Emmeline suggestively, "Things to do. I'll see you guys later." Potter grinned at Sirius' implied meaning.
Emmeline rolled her eyes but could not bring herself to frown at such a great excuse, which she thought would surely make Potter stop this interrogation.
"But then, why the entourage?" asked the persistent James, his eyebrow raised. He focused on Lily and started to realize that something must be up since she was impatiently tapping her foot.
"Um…because…" Sirius drifted off, avoiding the girls' and the Marauders' eyes. "Wow! Would you look at that storm out there."
"Seriously, Sirius. You're getting a bit rickety at coming up with diversions. What's up?" Remus asked, a wry smile on his face.
"Wow! You made a pun! Seriously, Sirius," he laughed weakly, but stopped when he recognized James' "you better tell or else" look. "Okay, well I thought it was funny."
Emmeline snorted. Lily glanced at the other girls and decided to just tell them, "We're going to the kitchens to make Christmas cookies. We didn't want Black (at this Sirius looked hurt and mouthed "Sirius!") okay fine, Sirius to tell you because Potter and I don't really mix too well."
"Well, it's not my fault," said James irritably, "You're the one who won't go out with me, even though I'm obviously the sexiest guy in the whole school." Sirius looked highly affronted at this remark. He muttered, "After me."
"And you're the one with the head about to explode because it's so full of yourself," retorted Lily, fire in her verdant eyes.
"Well, you're the one with the explosive temper," James replied.
Alice the peacemaker exclaimed in exasperation, "Can you two just call it a truce until Christmas is over? I am so sick of these rows you all keep having!"
They all looked in surprise at Alice, who had been silent ever since she had agreed to letting Sirius come on the girls' cookie-making expedition. Lily spoke up quickly, "I will if Potter will stop asking me out."
Potter glared doggedly at Lily but finally relented with, "Fine."
"Good," said Remus in a saccharin-sweet voice, "Now—"
"COOKIES!" shouted Sirius, clasping his hands exultingly.
"Yes, Sirius, that's what they're called," Emmeline gibed, as she followed impatient Lily out the portrait hole. The Marauders followed. Lily turned and put her hands on her hips.
"Did we say you three could come?"
"It was implied," James responded, "And surely you could use our sought-after company!"
"Potter…" Emmeline began threateningly. He shut his mouth quickly after the egotistical comment. Lily had quickened her pace (she did that when she was angry) and was now two feet ahead of the others. James quickly caught up to her and extended his hand with a sincere smile.
"Look, Ev-Lily, I'm sorry I irritated you. See—I'll be a perfect gentleman the rest of the evening…just don't get used to it." The mischievous gleam reappeared in his hazel eyes, hidden behind glasses that had been through as much as their owner.
Lily gave him a small smile and took his hand. "Alright, Potter. I mean, James. We can call it a truce today. Just remember, as soon as you start being a berk again it's back to angry Evans for you. And no torturing Snape."
James savored holding Lily's hand—why did she have to mention Snivellus to ruin his beautiful moment? James had some strange suspicions about Snape. Snape's helping Lily had been viewed as quite extraordinary by others besides James. It made him wonder… "Didn't I get enough comeuppance after that hippo song?" Lily folded her arms together in a "determined to have my way" manner. So, James subsided with, "Okay, I'll try to leave the greasy git alone," Man, her hand was soft and much smaller than his. He liked holding it very much.
Lily pulled her hand away from him, and replied, "Be sure that you do. He did help me out there with the carpet incident." James looked away, having enough humility to be somewhat embarrassed that it had been his fault in the first place that Lily had had to be helped by Snivellus.
Emmeline's voice rang out with, "We're here!"
"I'll do the honors," offered Sirius, smiling down at Emmeline, who returned the gesture on a smaller scale. Sirius tickled the pear on the painting of fruit hiding the kitchens, and the painting swung open revealing a spacious, sparkling kitchen. As the Gryffindors stepped into the room, they shed their winter cloaks; the kitchens were a warm change from the cold, drafty hallways throughout the rest of Hogwarts. The house-elves ushered them in, and offered them food. Sirius was accepting when Emmeline cut in with, "No, we actually would like to make Christmas cookies."
"So what kind of cookies are we making?" inquired James. "I've never made Christmas cookies before."
Lily looked at him in disbelief, "You've never made Christmas cookies?" James shook his head.
Alice took pity on James and answered his question, "At my house, we make sugar cookies and spread colored icing on them."
"Well…" James said slowly, looking down for once, "We never need to make cookies at Christmas because the house-elves do it."
Remus smiled, "I would have invited you over, James, if I'd known."
"We don't have any happy traditions in my family like that—except decapitating our house-elves whenever they get too old to work. Rather bloody business, really," Sirius remarked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Shhh," hushed Lily, glancing at the house-elves. "They could hear you! Well, let's get started then, shall we?"
"I'll get the flour," volunteered Emmeline, turning towards a house-elf. "Where do I get it?" The house-elf took her hand and led her into a small storage room. The others looked at each other, standing there dumbly, until Sirius spoke up.
"I'll get the sugar!" he volunteered with excitement obvious in his gray eyes.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Padfoot," laughed Remus as he side-stepped Sirius and asked a house-elf where the sugar was.
"Right here, Mr. Lupin," replied the tiny elf, whipping out a 20 pound bag of sugar. Sirius looked like he had just won the lottery, except, he didn't know what the lottery was. Emmeline re-entered the main kitchen just in time to help keep the sugar out of harm's way, namely Sirius.
"No, Sirius," Emmeline reprimanded as she snatched Sirius' hand away from his one focus of attention, the bag of sugar.
Sirius smirked at her knowingly, "Coming up with excuses to hold my hand, eh, Em? There must be a broom-closet here somewhere."
Emmeline glared at him, but smiled lightly as she said, "Thanks. Now we know where to put you in order to make you shut up."
"I'd be mighty quiet if you were in there with me, Emmy darling," Sirius grinned conceitedly, eyeing James with amusement. James had been trying to get Lily to let him help.
"No, James. When you crack the egg to make the icing, you don't put the egg-shells in," the others heard Lily's amused voice explaining to James.
"Crikey! And all these years I thought that was why cookies were crunchy." Lily laughed.
"No, that's because the heat makes the dough crispy—it has nothing to do with the egg-shells." Alice joined them and watched as Lily was stirring a mixture of egg, flour, and sugar, and "Could you find some orange-peel, Alice?"
"Oh! You put orange-peel in your cookies too?" asked Alice happily.
"My grandmother did, so I do too. Hers are the best! Although, her cookies are still superior to mine."
"I doubt that," declared James, observing Lily's stirring with admiration.
"Why, is James Potter actually complimenting me?" asked Lily in mock-shock.
"You lucky girl, you," James said, playing along, as he stroked his hair with an air of smugness. Lily gave him a warning look.
"Number one rule of thumb," began Alice, "Don't touch anything unsanitary when you're cooking, such as HAIR or else you have to wash your hands." She pointed to the sink. "Second rule of thumb, don't make the cook mad." She glanced towards Lily who had begun rolling the dough.
"Good point," agreed James as he went off to wash his hands. Remus entered their area and asked if he could help.
"After we finish making the cookies, you can help ice them," replied Emmeline, turning away from Sirius who was still trying to convince her to join him in a local broom-closet. "Can I help, Lils?"
"Yes—how about you use those cookie-cutters. I got out the Christmas trees, Santas, bells, and stars."
"Aye, aye, Captain," smiled Emmeline. James returned, and nicked some uncooked dough, earning him a glare from the usually mild Alice.
"That wasn't cooked, James. You could get sick, you know," Alice cautioned in manner evocative of a mother hen.
"He's immune," offered Sirius, "Ever since I gave him that milk with five uncooked egg-yolks, he's been okay with uncooked eggs." The girls looked at him in shock. Lily spoke first.
"You could have killed him!"
"I love you too, Lily," James said in a smug voice.
"No one asked you," growled Lily, turning to Sirius, "Didn't he get sick?"
"Um…well…" drifted Sirius.
"He was up-chucking for a while," Remus said with a wry smile. He sniffed the cookie-fragrant air with anticipation
Sirius added quickly, "But he was okay the week after that!"
Emmeline rolled her piercing, blue eyes at him. "Honestly, Sirius. You'd think you two were brothers or something."
"As a matter of fact," Sirius said, "I live with the Potters when I'm not at school."
"Oh," murmured Lily, wrinkling her eyebrows, "Why?"
"I ran away," Sirius replied brusquely, "The cookies ready yet?"
Remus checked the oven, "Yeah—they look about right. Shall I take them out Lily?"
"Sure," Lily responded, checking her watch. "We need to ice those soon."
"But won't they take a long time to cool?" demanded James.
"I'm a witch, James," Lily said slowly and deliberately, in a way that hinted her doubt in his intelligence.
"She'll perform a cooling charm, James," Alice explained.
"Maybe she should perform one on her temper," James mumbled rebelliously, not looking at Lily.
"What did you say, James?" Lily asked icily.
"Nothing," he replied, a little too quickly.
"I'm sure," laughed Emmeline, turning to Sirius who was poking her in the back.
"Sure of what?" asked Sirius, a smile slowly forming on his face, "Of us?"
"There is no us, Sirius," Emmeline laughed, "It's just you and yourself falling in love with each other."
"Is not—I WANT COOKIES!" The cookies were hot; their delicious aroma wafted temptingly throughout the white-washed kitchen. Remus and James stopped Sirius mid-stride from taking the scaldingly hot cookies. Lily calmly pointed her wand at the cookies and performed the cooling spell. The boys loosened their hold on Sirius and Emmeline lifted the cookie sheet and put them on the counter. The Gryffindors began adding color to the icing, and then proceeded to spread the brilliant frosting on the cookies.
"I think you're spreading more on your fingers than your cookie, Sirius," observed Lily, laughing as he licked his fingers.
"That's disgusting!" exclaimed Alice and Emmeline at the same time.
"How dare you call Lily's icing disgusting!" reprimanded Sirius defensively. Lily rolled her eyes.
"You know exactly what they're talking about, Sirius." Remus took advantage of their distraction to lick some icing off his finger.
"It's not like he's going to admit it though," James stated, sneaking a glob of gooey icing into his mouth. "You're a good cook, Lily!"
"You're not supposed to know that yet, James," Alice remonstrated. "Did you have more icing?"
Remus grinned at James and James grinned at Sirius, who in turn, grinned at Emmeline with puppy eyes. Emmeline looked at the disapproving Alice. Alice surveyed them all with an amused expression. "Are you all afraid of what I'm going to do to you? Come on, it's me. Not Lily, remember?" They all smiled (even Lily) and relaxed.
"Pass that silly icing over here, Sirius," commanded Alice, her brown eyes dancing with fun.
Christmas morning dawned brightly in the Gryffindor dorm. James burst out of his bed like a jack does out of its box as the first rays pierced the red velvet draperies hanging from his four-poster bed. He shoved his wire-rimmed glasses up his nose, threw on a warm robe since it was chilly, and grabbed a bucket filled with icy water.
Sirius Black was lying peacefully, albeit snoring, in his four poster in the fetal position. Just as he launched another loud snore, he felt an unwelcome wet freezing mass collide onto his face. Sirius cracked his left eye open to see a familiar sight: James looming over his bed, an impish grin on his face. "Merry Christmas, Padfoot!" Sirius' mood swung from negative 1000 to positive 2000.
He yelled, "PRESENTS!" In the process of doing his strange victory dance and yelling, he awoke Remus and Peter. Peter instantly fell off the bed, grumbling about not being invited to have cookies the night before. Remus calmly got up and sidled over to his stocking, murmuring, "Merry Christmas," sleepily. Frank had gone home for the holiday.
Sirius and James were already rummaging through their stockings. "Mr. Beard's Whisker Wonders!" James cried out exultantly. "Thanks, Sirius!" Sirius had other things on his mind.
"A Trickster's Guide to Escaping School!" exclaimed Sirius, his gray eyes dancing triumphantly. "At last, a complete guide to skipping classes with legitimate reasons! It's all here! The instructions to create the common cold, the fever, or pneumonia! Thanks, James!"
Meanwhile, much the same was occurring in the girls' dorm. Alice stirred first, she smiled happily to herself as she leapt up out of her bed, heading towards her stocking with anticipation. She nudged Emmeline and Lily—she didn't want to open the presents without them. "Bleaagh," murmured Lily sleepily, "'S not time tuh geddup yeh…" Emmeline, on the other hand, after a few grunts, sat bolt upright and shouted (forgetting not to wake Marlene and Dorcas) "It's Christmassssssssssss!"
"Bloody morning people," groaned Lily testily.
"But it's Christmas!" exclaimed Emmeline happily, pulling the covers off of her slothful friend.
"Everyone's a morning person on Christmas!" agreed Alice chipperly. Dorcas and Marlene headed immediately for the bathroom to take a shower, as was their habit. They both swore on their Witch Weekly's that they weren't able to do anything unless they were clean.
"Christmas?" repeated Lily thickly. She opened her eyes curiously, and smiled brilliantly. "Oh yeah! 'Cause yesterday was Christmas Eve!"
"Yeah, Lils; Christmas Eve always comes before Christmas," remarked Emmeline, grinning at the completely out-of-it Lily. Lily wobbled out of bed, happy as the rest.
"Well, what are you all standing there for? It's time for presents!"
Christmas breakfast at Hogwarts was always an adventurous affair—each year had its own flavor. Besides the usual snowflakes falling realistically from the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall and the usual crackers, Hagrid had surprised everyone by dressing as Santa. Instead of rows of crackers on the tables, he passed out specific crackers to each person. He eyes James with mischief. "I hear yore pretty good a' singin,' James," he commented cheekily. James blushed, something he didn't often do, as he accepted his cracker. It burst open with a purple plush hippo. Everyone who had witnessed James' strange singing scene errupted in laughter. James gave them a lethal glare, daring them to say anything (and no one wanted to be on the receiving end of one of the Marauders' pranks) and hurried to sit down at the Gryffindor table. Lily's cracker, on the other hand, revealed a monkey singing "Magic Carpet Ride" by the Who. She laughed along with the rest (she liked the Who), although she remembered her humiliating flying experience with bitterness.
When Lily, Alice, and Emmeline had each received a cracker (and it had exploded), they made their way over to the Gryffindor table, and wound up sitting across from the Marauders. Lily couldn't resist asking, "Did you get what you wanted for Christmas, James? You told us repeatedly that only a hippopotamus would do."
"Did you enjoy your "Magic Carpet Ride" song by the Whiches or Whatever's?" returned James. Alice sighed; she knew their good terms were too good to last.
"It's the Who," Lily stated, rolling her eyes at his ignorance.
"That's a ruddy name."
"Is not."
"Is too."
"Is not."
"Is too."
"IS NOT!"
"What are you all talking about?" demanded Remus, who had just come from receiving his cracker.
"Oh no, Moony," James said sarcastically, "It's not the What, it's the Who."
"Oh, stow it, Potter," Lily said irritably.
"Oh, so I'm Potter again, huh, Evans?" asked James.
"I suppose so," said Lily. "If you claim to like me so much, how come you're such a prat to me, Potter?"
"I like arguing with you," he responded casually. "I like how you look when you try to outsmart me. It's cute."
"How—" began Lily, "You're not going to get a rise out of me. It's Christmas. What did you get in your cracker, Emmeline?"
"I got an apple pie—it looks delicious!"
"How come you got something good?"
"Because Santa knew I wanted some!" interrupted Sirius, trying to snatch the pie from beneath Emmeline's nose.
"That's not the way to win a girl's heart, Sirius," Emmeline reprimanded, sternly fixing her blue eyes in Sirius's gray ones. He procured some mistletoe and held it over her head.
He murmured, "If I can't get you in a broom-closet, this is the only way…" and he planted a wet one on her cheek. Surprisingly, Emmeline didn't slap him—she merely blushed.
In general, Christmas was peaceful and happy. The New Year seemed sure to be a wonderful one. Little did they all know…
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