Of Secrets and Stags
"Wake up, you lazy guys! It's Christmas!" shouted an ecstatic Lily Evans as she ran into the Boy's Dormitory, still in her pajamas.
"Five more minutes…" Peter muttered before going right back to sleep.
"Hibernation…" Sirius cried out before hiding under the covers, still half-asleep.
Remus said nothing. He was a deep sleeper, and even Lily's shouts didn't wake him up—not even to a half-asleep state.
"No! It's Christmas! We've got presents!" James exclaimed, just happy that Lily herself had come.
Sirius and Peter both jumped up and glanced around the room before glaring at James. Sirius, however, realized what day it was and began shouting his "Hoorays.
"Huh? But aren't you normally the last one to get up?" Remus asked, having been woken by James' shouts, which were considerably louder than Lily's. However, to make up for his deep sleeping habits, he always seemed to wake up coherent.
"Yeah, well… I've got an alarm clock that wakes me up from at least fifty miles away," Lily said with a laugh, referring to Alice.
"Anyways, let's go open presents!" Sirius exclaimed, unable to hold it in any longer. He dashed down the stairs, Lily and James just behind him. Remus walked down the stairs, and Peter trudged down towards the tree.
"Wow! Look at my pile!" James exclaimed before looking around. "Aha! Here it is!"
"And here's mine!" Sirius shouted. They both held up their presents from one another and looked at each other. "Ready?" Sirius prompted.
"One… two… thr—Now!" James yelled, ripping the paper off carelessly and tossing it aside.
"Wow! I love it!" Sirius cried out, holding up a gigantic pack of a ton of different assorted candies—some of which had never been heard before and were very hard to find.
"Amazing! Look at this kit!" James said, holding up a special broom-care package that came from Romania. Neither one of the two best friends, who were both loaded with money, were cheap with the other. Both presents had cost a lot—things that the other two couldn't afford.
Lily laughed at their ritual, having not noticed it before now. "Yeah, they do that every year," Remus said with a chuckle and a shrug.
"They must be really close to have weird rituals like that…" Lily mused.
"They have one for Halloween, birthdays, Valentine's Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, summer break, and even St. Patrick's Day," Remus said, making sure to count them all off.
Lily stared at him, her mouth wide open and her eyes as big as saucers (not literally, but you get the idea).
"Anyways, let's start on ours!" Remus yelled out happily.
----
Lily's presents included: a set of silver bracelets from Alice; a book on Defense Against Dark Arts from Remus; a large set of Sugar Quills, Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans from Sirius; a set of changing color ink from Peter; and beautiful pairs of silver earrings from her parents (almost as if they and Alice had compromised on it, actually).
James' presents included: hair gel from his dad (as a prank gift); a book on Quidditch strategy for Seekers from Remus; a pranking kit from Peter; a large notebook full of original spells (with a note inside saying that they would kill him if he used it wrongly) from both Alice and Lily; and a very, very nice dress robe from both of his parents with a card attached saying: "You'll be wearing this on your wedding day. She to it that it doesn't take forever." Both of his parents had been hinting for a while that, right after Hogwarts, he should get married. It got on his nerves just slightly.
And Sirius, Remus, and Peter's presents were all mainly the same: a book and tons of candy.
Lily looked down on her presents and frowned. "What is it?" Remus asked after swallowing a bite of chocolate.
"I…" she began and looked down. She looked around, noticing that James and Sirius were talking animatedly, before continuing, "Ididn'tgetanythingfromJames! Whatdoeshehatemeorsomething?" she said really fast, almost incomprehensible.
Remus laughed and shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he said nonchalantly, having known James' plan for the past few days now.
As if perfectly on cue, or at least with amazing timing, James stood up and asked, "Lily! Care to take a walk with me?"
Lily tried not to look shocked or blush (at which she added silently to herself that she didn't like James Potter) as she nodded shyly and followed him out of the room.
"If James comes back and he and Lily aren't an item… James is a very pathetic person," Sirius said, to which Remus and Peter nodded, both wanting desperately to know the outcome.
----
"I noticed you got silver bracelets from Alice and silver earrings from your parents," James began, trying to slowly segue into giving her her gift.
"Yeah…" Lily said with a laugh.
"Well… I think they made a bad choice," James said with a shrug.
Shocked, she turned to him. "How so?" she asked, trying not to lose her temper.
"I mean… It's obvious! Gold suits you much better…" James said, seemingly thinking to himself.
"Just… what are you saying?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrow.
"I'm not saying anything anymore. I'm giving you your present," James said in matter-of-fact tone, before taking out a box and handing it to her.
She looked carefully at the dark green velvet box before taking it and sliding off the golden ribbon that was tied around it. She opened the box to reveal an emerald stone, attached to a golden chain. She pulled it cautiously out of the box, admiring its beauty. "Why… why are you giving this to me?" Lily asked, completely awestruck.
"Remember when I used to proclaim my love for you, right after pranking you before?" James asked with a laugh. Lily nodded dumbly, still completely shocked. "Well… now I'm proclaiming it, but this necklace is no joke. Lily, will… you go out with me?" James asked, getting down on one knee (yes, in the snow) and holding her hand.
Lily began laughing her head off before saying, "Yes. Yes, I will. But it feels strange to say that when we're both in our pajamas," Lily said, casually pointing out that they were outside, in the snow, wearing nothing but their nightclothes.
James saw the humor in that as well, and began laughing his head off. "Well, let's go back up to the Common Room and have some hot chocolate, then!" he exclaimed happily.
"Good idea," Lily said, nodding as James wrapped his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.
----
Frank and Alice awoke with a start as Ms. Longbottom, sorry, Beatrice, threw open the curtains to their room. Since they had started getting along, Beatrice had decided that the guest room was no room for her precious, soon-to-be daughter-in-law. In fact, Frank was kind of scared that she had taken to Alice so quickly, and wanted to know what exactly made such a change in her.
They all dashed down to the Christmas tree in the main room, where gifts were piled for all of them, except Ms. Longbottom, who had only two—one from Alice and one from Frank, which was sort of depressing.
"Save my gift for last," Frank said with a wink. She looked at him, a curious look on her face, but nodded.
"Same for mine," Alice added with a laugh. Frank nodded, and they all set to opening their gifts.
Alice had gotten Beatrice an expensive set of cosmetics, especially made just for her. Frank had gotten his mother a beautiful necklace that had a locket attached, with a two pictures already inside of him and Alice.
Beatrice had given Alice something that wasn't necessarily expensive, but it meant a lot to her. It was the first thing that her ex-husband had given her—a black charm bracelet with cats, owls and cute frogs hanging off of it. Alice also got a large book of special Transfiguration spells from Lily, and a ton of candy from the Marauders.
"Hey, what did you get the Marauders?" Frank asked curiously.
"Oh, a book for James and Remus, and candy for Sirius and Peter," Alice replied.
Frank nodded and turned to her. "Ready for me to open my gift?" he asked.
Alice nodded and bit her bottom lip. Frank tore the wrapping off to reveal a regular shoebox. He opened the box and gasped. Inside were pictures of him and diary entries from before they were going out to just recently. There was also everything he had ever gotten her—jewelry and stuffed animals.
"What's… this?" he asked, completely amazed.
"It's… a box full of my feelings for you. When I was little, I decided I would wait until I was older and attach myself completely to my first boyfriend, and that my first boyfriend would be the first guy to say that he liked or loved me. But… I turned down countless confessions like that because I had already liked a guy. Look back at the first entry," she pointed out.
He flipped through the entries that had been taken from her personal journal. "October 2nd, 1974… Whoa! Our… 5th year! You've liked me back since then?" he exclaimed, shocked.
"Yeah… and since then, I was waiting for you to notice me…" she admitted with a small laugh. "I was amazed when you finally asked me out, actually. I thought it would never happen, but I kept hoping and trying," she said with a small smile.
"I think you should open my present now," Frank said with a small smile.
Alice nodded and opened the large box. It, too, was a shoebox. She opened the shoebox to reveal that, inside, was a smaller box. She grabbed the box and opened it, only to reveal a silver ring with roses engraved into it.
"Alice… I… Well, will you marry me?" Frank asked, getting down on one knee and holding her hand awkwardly, not sure how to put it. "Of course, after we graduate," Frank said, flashing her a smile.
Alice gave him a bright smile before throwing her arms around his neck and yelling, "Yes!" before kissing him on the cheek.
Frank smiled brightly as he hugged her back. Alice leaned back a bit and held out her hand for Frank to slip the ring on her finger. After he did so, he lightly pecked her on the lips and hugged her tightly once again.
----
"You know, seeing those two together makes me want to go on a date," Remus said suggestively to Sirius.
"Remmy, my dearest, would you please consider accompanying me on a snowy panic for two, as opposed to eating in the Great Hall for lunch?" Sirius said, a brilliant idea suddenly striking him.
"I'd love too, Sirius," Remus said with a happy smile.
"We ought to do the same, Lily flower," James said with a smile.
"Sounds great," Lily said brightly.
Peter stared at the tree and moped. "I feel bad for him though…" Remus said.
Sirius thought for a moment. "Peter! Eat with the Hufflepuffs! I'm sure you can talk to the girls there and manage to snag one!" Sirius suggested with a smirk.
Peter thought about it and nodded. "You're right. I could really use a girlfriend, huh?"
All in all, it was a magical (excuse the pun) Christmas for everyone.
A/N: Teehee, a romantic Christmas. I'll be finishing off this story with one more chapter and an epilogue of graduation from Hogwarts! Be ready! ;D