Author's Note: Oh good heavens. I think this is the longest it's ever taken me to update. I'm so, so, so, so, sorry. The explanation is at the end, but for now I'll just let you read.

Windowseat Wonderer: Thanks! Yeah, I really want Christmas to come soon!! Even though I never have snowball fights because I live in California, and it's really hot down here. And the gifts suspense will be revealed in this chapter!

dishantpandya: Glad you like it, and I'll try to hurry! Thanks!

Lady of Masbolle: Thanks so much! I hope my writing keeps getting better!

hgvfiygouih: Um…okay. That was a pretty useless review. I think there's actually been a lot of debate about whether James was a Seeker or a Chaser, and I don't know which one it is. I even read Philosopher's Stone last week and specifically looked for if it said that and it didn't. And I'm so sorry that I made one little tiny mistake--I'll make sure to do better next time just so an idiot like you can be completely happy with my story. Next time don't waste my time by writing such a stupid review.

Midnight Stars: What a coincidence…I'm in 10th grade too! And I read your bio, and you know what's even weirder? I live in California too! Whoa, talk about crazy, huh? And yeah, school is kind of killing me too, but I haven't been getting lots of homework for some reason. I'm sure it'll start coming soon though…eurgh. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

Chapter Fourteen

There was a definite air of holiday cheer in the castle the next morning, for several different reasons. The first was that the mess with Peeves had been sorted out very quickly when Dumbledore had arrived on the scene. Someone had finished the decorating overnight, and it was certainly the most remarkable decorating that Lily had seen in seven years of being at Hogwarts.

Secondly, it was snowing rather merrily outside when everyone woke up. The grounds and forest looked like something on a Christmas card. Though this did mean it would be freezing outside, Sirius remarked that it was perfect snowball weather--though he wasn't too eager to go snowball fighting again.

The reason for this was (along with being one of the reasons that James, Lily, and Anna were so happy when they woke up) that someone had finally repaid Sirius, Remus, and Peter for their antics on the grounds yesterday--and they had paid dearly. Several Ravenclaw fifth years, sick and tired of being covered in mountains of snow every time they went outside, had performed a rather clever bit of magic and had engulfed the three Gryffindor boys in something of an avalanche. They had returned to the Common Room last night sopping wet and, as Sirius put it, "Freezing their bloody arses off."

So, all in all, everyone was very happy that Christmas was coming. However, everyone suspected that James and Lily's happiness had less to do with the regular reasons than with pure glee that they were together again. After the "Peeves Incident" as McGonagall was calling it, they had both been asked to patrol the corridors and make sure that nothing else went wrong. Truthfully, neither one would have known if anything was going on in the castle, because every time they tried to pay attention and patrol properly, they ended up getting distracted. In fact, they got so sidetracked that they ended up "patrolling" a half an hour too long--something Sirius noticed immediately and had teased them incessantly about for the rest of the night.

However, even though everything seemed blissfully perfect inside Hogwarts, everyone knew that things were not going very well outside the castle walls. It was nearly deserted in Hogwarts, mainly because students had gone home to be with their families. Most large Christmas parties & celebrations had been called off; they were decided to be too much of a target for Voldemort and his supporters.

But it really was very hard to pay attention to all that bad stuff when Christmas was coming, you were around all of your friends, and there was no homework at all.

---

"Okay, okay, will everyone please quiet down? This is kind of important!" Lily yelled over a crowd of the Prefects. Dumbledore had asked her and James to call a meeting in light of the destruction Peeves had caused, and it had been difficult to round up the Prefects that had remained at Hogwarts. However, it was proving to be even harder to quiet them down, especially because it was Christmas Eve.

"Oi, what are you playing at, calling a meeting over the holidays? That's not fair!" One of the Prefects yelled as everyone had begun to quiet down.

"Who are you?" James asked rather aggressively. The boy who had yelled flushed slightly.

"William Smith, and I resent the--" The boy began.

"Whatever," James interrupted, "We've got a meeting to finish, and we haven't got time to listen to all of your complaints."

"Yes, that's right," Lily said, "This is just mainly to talk about the new rules regarding Peeves' trouble-making around the school. Professor Dumbledore wanted to let you know that any and all school rules Peeves breaks from now on are to be reported to any of the Heads of Houses immediately."

"So…are you saying that if he sticks gum on a doorknob…" A short blond girl said.

"You have to report it, as soon as it happens," Lily finished for her.

"That is the biggest bloody waste of time I've ever heard of, and you can bet I'm not going to be reporting small infractions of the school rules, after all, it's not as though I've memorized that rule book or--" William Smith began again.

"Yes, well, none of us have memorized the rules either," James said shortly, "But you can just make sure to report all the things that you get stuck writing lines for." William Smith flushed again and mumbled something about "undeserved positions".

"I think that's it, and now you can all go back to your Common Rooms," Lily said brightly, and the group of Prefects all shuffled towards the door. Lily and James waited until they had all left (James eyeing William Smith with a look of disgust) before exiting the room themselves.

They made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. James grumbled the whole time about the prefects being "unbearable little snotrags", and he was in a significantly horrible mood by the time they arrived at the portrait hole. Lily had tried (unsuccessfully) to cheer him up along the way, but nothing had worked. They sat across from each other in the armchairs surrounding the fireplace, at first in silence.

"You know, I just thought of something that would probably make you laugh," Lily said quite suddenly, "Do you remember a few days ago when I told you about how Muggle children believe in someone called Santa Claus?"

"The big fat bloke in the red suit," James said, "Who's supposed to fly through the air in a sleigh pulled by reindeer? Believe me, that's not something I'm going to forget quickly."

"Well, in any case, Petunia has this boyfriend," Lily continued, "Who is about comparable to Santa Claus in terms of size. And last year at Christmas, I went home, and Petunia's boyfriend came round on Christmas Eve. If it wasn't funny enough that he had started growing this little bit of a mustache, Petunia forced him into this Santa Claus suit because she thought it would be so cute. His face got so red it nearly blended with the suit."

"Why would she do that?" James asked incredulously. Lily shook her head.

"Couldn't tell you. I suppose Petunia has never been exceptionally bright," Lily said, "But I did insist on taking a picture before he got out of it. I'll have to show you it sometime."

"Well, let me warn you that under no circumstances will I be getting into some huge red suit because you think its 'cute'," James said.

"That may be one of the most horriffic mental images I've ever had," Sirius interjected. He, Remus, and Peter had just come down the stairs from the boys' dormitories, "But why are you talking about huge red suits?"

Lily explained the story of her sister and the Santa suit. Sirius automatically asked who was Santa Claus and why he was gallavanting around in bright red trousers.

"I wouldn't exactly describe it as 'gallavanting'," Lily replied, frowning, "But I really don't want to explain it. I can almost predict your reaction exactly." Anna then just walked through the portrait hole, pulling off her scarf.

"Hello, everyone," She said, "It's freezing today, isn't it?"

"Why did you go outside then?" Sirius asked. Anna rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't outside, I was in the Owlery," She replied, "But as its got no glass on the windows to speak of, it's nearly like being outside anyway. I was sending a Christmas card to my parents."

"Oh, how sweet," Sirius said.

"Shove it, arsehead," Anna said sarcastically, "I'm going to change." And she walked up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

"What a sweet-tempered young lady she is," Sirius remarked after she'd left.

"I'm surprised she didn't go home for Christmas," Lily mused, "I spent one Christmas at her house and it was the most fun I'd ever had."

"Obviously you've never been to my house for Christmas, then," James said.

"Oh ha ha, very funny," Lily replied, "Obviously not. Why would I have wanted to go spend Christmas with someone who was the biggest prat I'd ever met?"

"Well, that was only because you were having a cozy Christmas eve with your boyfriend," Sirius said. Lily raised her eyebrows.

"What boyfriend?" Lily asked.

"The giant squid."

And so they spent the rest of Christmas eve laughing and talking amongst themselves, reminiscing on the things they had done in the holiday seasons past.

---

Severus Snape moved as quickly as he could, though it was so dark he felt as though he were blind. It was so cold out that every time he breathed it felt as though someone were stabbing him with a knife.

Really, He thought, It's worth it. It may be freezing and pitch dark outside, but I'll finally be rid of him.

Finally, little twinklings of light appeared in the distance. He knew exactly where the bit of light were coming from, and it made his stomach lurch so much that he had to stop in his tracks.

What's wrong with me? This shouldn't be so hard, He thought to himself as he started walking again. He'd done it only a few times before, but he supposed this time he was so nervous because he would be finally meeting Him.

There was no need to ask who He was; for there was no other He who could make Severus' blood run cold, his heart stop beating, and his knees feel weak. And tonight, He had called Severus to see him for the first time.

As the lights in the distance grew closer, he could hear a part of him screaming to turn back, and for the second time, he had to stop and try and collect himself. Thoughts ran through his head--part of him was saying he should turn back; and in truth he knew that what he was doing was wrong in every way. But another part of him protested that this was what he was meant for; what he had been born to do. He couldn't ignore the signs. Why else would he have been put in Slytherin, why else would he have befriended Bellatrix?

Ah…and Bellatrix. Even as he stood in the enveloping darkness and cold, he felt warmer at just the thought of her. Yes, there would always be people who thought she was horrible, that thought she was insane--but not him. To him she was perfection, there would never be any other in the world for him. But then he remembered how Rodolphus had come in and stolen her away, and anger surged up in him. He kept walking.

And it was these mingling thoughts, his anger at Rodolphus, his admiration for Bellatrix, and his fear of what he was about to do that carried him until the lights were but ten feet away. He walked to the door of the disheveled shack before him and knocked seven times.

"Who comes to the door?" A voice hissed from inside.

"Severus Snape," He replied, sounding much braver than he truly felt. There was a pause so long that Severus actually thought that the person was refusing to enter the door, before it creaked open ominously. A long hallway that seemed top big to fit in such a small building was in front of him, and he slowly stepped in.

He was now sure that the inside of the building had been enchanted to be much larger than it looked, and indeed much less destructed. The walls were covered in dark wood paneling, and candelabras made of entwined metal serpents hung on the walls, the glow from them making the hallway look eerie. It was the kind of place that you would normally want to run out of, but the servants of Lord Voldemort knew that once you turned away, there was no chance of coming back…or living for that matter. So Severus walked down the hall towards a door which was slightly ajar, and knocked on it warily when he had reached it.

"Come in, Severus Snape," A voice said from within. Severus did, pushing open the door, and found himself in a dark room with a fireplace and a single chair. He supposed that Voldemort was sitting in the chair, but he felt like his feet had glued him to the ground. "Please, come so I can see you. I do hate talking to people when I cannot see them."

Severus, feeling extremely terrified by now, slowly made his way towards the chair, then around it. But if he had been feeling fear before, it was nothing compared to how he felt now. Lord Voldemort, while he had expected him to be scary-looking, was possibly one of the most terrifying and intimidating people he had ever laid eyes on.

He was certainly more spider than he was human, or at least he looked it, with his long white fingers and red eyes. It was only now he understood why people were so frightened of Lord Voldemort--it had nothing to do with curses or enchantments, but with the fact that this horrifying form of a person would be the last thing you saw before you died.

"Severus Snape," Voldemort said contemptuously, "So we finally meet." Severus had no idea how to reply, so he merely nodded. "I see you are afraid of me," Voldemort added after a moment, "Aren't you?" Severus really would have liked to reply that he wasn't frightened at all, but he suddenly felt it would be no use to lie to this man.

"Yes, sir," He said, looking at the ground.

"First rule, Severus," Voldemort said icily, "Fear gets you nowhere." Neither one said anything for a few moments. "Do you know what the second rule is?" Voldemort asked, and Severus nodded, "You have nothing and no one to fear if you serve me loyally."

"And how should I best serve you, my Lord?" Snape asked, feeling slightly braver.

"That is what I have brought you here to ask you," Voldemort replied, "I understand that you and James Potter have a considerable amount of hatred for each other."

"Yes," Severus answered, the feeling of hate rising up in him at the mention of Potter.

"Ah, yes," Lord Voldemort said, "Now…I want you to tell me everything you know about James Potter."

---

The next morning felt every bit like Christmas should. It had stopped snowing, but there was a thick blanket of shining, white snow a covering the Hogwarts grounds. Most people woke up earlier than they usually would have on holidays, but that was mainly due to the fact of the many mountains of presents people found at the foot of their beds.

It was no different in the Gryffindor boys' dormitory, where everyone was woken up by the shrill whistle of a Sneakoscope.

"Will whoever owns the defective Sneakoscope please turn the bloody thing off?" Sirius mumbled sleepily.

"Sirius, you are aware that you own the defective Sneakoscope, right?" Remus snapped. He was, of course, right, and Sirius pulled himself out of bed to try and turn it off. Nothing, however, worked, and he ended up throwing it out the window. However, since he was already awake, he immediately started tearing away at the presents left at the foot of his bed. Soon, everyone else had woken up and was following suit.

"Oh, good, I was beginning to run out of these," Sirius said, after opening Anna's gift, which was a box of Dr. Filibuster's fireworks.

They continued going through their stacks of gifts, which included about a ton worth of candy, until there were almost none left. Finally, James reached his last gift, which he assumed was from Lily. It was just an envelope, and he quickly ripped it open, ignoring Sirius ("Ha, no one ever gets good presents that are in envelopes!"), and read the letter inside.

Dear James,

Since it's the first Christmas I've ever gotten you a gift, I was really confused about what to get you at first. Finally, though, I decided to use what I knew about you to get something that you'd like, and there were two things that are most obvious about you: #1, You've got the greatest friends in the world (most of the time), and #2, You really absolutely love Quidditch and are fabulous at it as well. Anyways, these are for you, Sirius, Remus, and Peter to have a great time.

Happy Christmas from your Adoring Girlfriend,

Lily

James picked the envelope back up and pulled what was left in it out and examined it, before his jaw dropped open.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, "Did she get you something awful?"

"No…" James said, almost laughing, "She's got all four of us tickets to a Quidditch match in the spring…and, blimey, they're tickets for the England league finals!"

"ARE YOU KIDDING?" Sirius yelled, racing across the room and wrenching the tickets out of James' hand. As he read over the tickets, his expression of disbelief turned to complete surprise.

"I take it back," He said firmly, "I guess some people do get good presents that come in envelopes."

---

Lily and Anna were having a much quieter gift-opening; everyone else in the dormitory had left to go visit other people or eat breakfast.

Anna and Lily had had a tradition ever since third year of buying each other charms for their charm bracelets, which they had bought that same year. This year, Anna had given Lily a charm that was in the shape of a heart and was covered in little pink gems ("Because of James," She had said.) Lily had given Anna one that had the letters L and A that were tied together with a little ribbon.

Lily had been deliberately leaving James' present until last, predicting that Anna would leave and she would be able to open it alone. Anna did leave to go visit the boys in their dormitory, and Lily pulled James' present towards her. It consisted of an envelope and a small box, which she suspected had jewelry inside of it. She opened the envelope to find two letters inside.

Dear Lily,

I'd never believe anyone if they told me I'd be celebrating this years' Christmas with you as my girlfriend. But now I am, and I knew exactly what I had to give you. Just because you never wanted to give me a Christmas gift didn't mean that I didn't think about giving you one--in fact, it didn't mean that I didn't think about you all the time. In fact, the second letter in here was written in fourth year, and it might sound obsessive, but it's really how I felt. Actually, it's how I feel now, and that's why I wanted to let you have it.

And inside the box is something I bought in fifth year because it reminded me of you. I don't really know why I bought it, especially since you hated me. Maybe I was holding on to the hope that I'd be able to give it to you one day. And, hey, I am! So maybe me buying it was meant to be or something.

Anyways, I hope you have a Happy Christmas and that you like my gifts.

Love, James

Lily quickly started reading the other letter, which had all the signs of being written several years ago. It was crinkled and sloppily written.

Dear Lily,

I feel so stupid writing this letter to you, but I hear somewhere that writing down when you're angry can calm you down. Only I'm writing this because I'm completely in love with you, and I thought maybe if I wrote this letter it would go away. Since you hate me, what's really the point in being in love with you, right? So that's why I'm doing this, and even though you'll never read it, if I can pretend you did, maybe everything will work out.

First of all, why am I in love with someone who hates my guts? I don't even know where to start…it probably has something to do with the first time we met, which may have been the only time you were ever nice to me. It's just you were so nice…and you're always so nice to everyone. So that's reason number one. Also, you're really, really smart, which might seem like a stupid reason, but it amazes me how someone can be so nice and so smart too. And, of course, I think you're beautiful. I've never seen someone with the most gorgeous red hair in my life, and even without it you'd be the prettiest girl I've ever met.

So, yes, even though you hate me, I love you. I love you now, and even after writing this letter and hoping it'll go away, I know I'm going to love you forever. Until the ends of the Earth. So much for this great idea, because I think this whole thing just made it worse.

Love, Love, Love, Love, Love, James

Lily felt like she couldn't really move for a moment. If she'd ever known that James had felt this way…wouldn't she have acted differently? And the shock of this…he had said that this was how he felt now, and she couldn't believe it was possible for him to love her this much in so little time.

But, realistically, she thought, he'd liked her for a lot longer than she'd liked him. In fact, she'd spent just as much time detesting him as he had pursuing her. What was she supposed to say to this? She didn't even know if she loved him now, let alone if she'd love him for the rest of her life. Did he expect her to respond exactly the same way?

Pushing the thoughts away momentarily, she reached for the little jewelry box beside her and untied the ribbon around it. As she looked at what was inside, she gave a little gasp. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

On a thin, silver chain hung a white lily that was made out of glass and more silver. It was gorgeous and so delicate-looking, that it seemed almost dangerous to take it out of the box and risk breaking it. She didn't take it out of the box quite yet, but left the box open on her nightstand so she could look at it every time she came into the dormitory. She began to leave the room to thank James, but remembered to put away his letters first, and then headed up to the boys' dormitory.

As she walked up the spiraled staircase, she could hear explosions and yells getting louder, and she considered for a moment whether she really wanted to see what was happening in their room. Nevertheless, she opened the door and found herself confronted with a number of dazzling fireworks. They finally stopped, and she looked at all four boys and Anna, who had obviously joined them.

"Brilliant, aren't they?" Sirius said, his face shining, "The best invention ever, I tell you!"

"Oh…yes…fascinating," Lily replied, smiling half-heartedly.

"Why don't we go for a walk?" James asked Lily pointedly. She nodded, but Sirius interrupted.

"It's freezing outside, who wants to go for a walk?" He asked.

"Well, we'll go get breakfast then," James replied. He and Lily both left the room quickly.

"Oh, yes, breakfast, that's what they're doing!" Sirius called after them, "We all know where you're really going!!!"

Lily smiled as the walked down the spiral steps, not realizing immediately that there was a significant amount of tension and discomfort in the air.

"Er…thanks for the Quidditch tickets," James said enthusiastically, "That's really the best present I've ever gotten."

"Oh…you're welcome," Lily said brightly. Please, please, please, don't ask me where I got them, She pleaded silently.

"How did you get a hold of them? You have to have real connections for that sort of thing," He asked. Damn, Lily thought in her head, Now, do I tell him the truth or just blow it off…?

"Well…er…I…I got them from…" She stammered, "You remember Ludo Bagman?" James' face turned a little sour and he stopped walking. By this time, they had gone through the portrait hole and were standing right in front of the Fat Lady.

"Ludo Bagman? Wasn't he that idiot two years above us who kept asking you on dates?" He asked.

"Um…well…yes, actually, that's how I would describe him too," Lily said, "Anyway, you know how he's a Beater for the Wimbourine Wasps, and--"

"Are you saying," James interrupted, "That you went and asked him to give you these tickets?"

"Er…yes," Lily said. There was a very long pause.

"What did you bribe him with?" James demanded. Lily began walking again, and James followed at her side.

"Oh nothing," She said airily, "He just asked me to give him a really good snog, it was no big deal."

"What??" James yelled, "I sincerely hope you're joking!!"

"Of course I'm joking, you prat," She said, "I just asked him for them as a favor, and he gave them to me. And I pointed out several times that they were for my darling boyfriend."

"Why would you go talking to him when he used to…" James said, "You know…"

"Like me? Well, I wasn't all that worried about it," Lily replied, "After all, not to brag, but I doubt he'll be the last one who does."

"You're not being funny," James said, stopping again. Lily stopped too, and sighed exasperatedly.

"Okay, I'm sorry," She said, "Listen, it's not a big deal. You don't have to worry about me with other guys."

"Oh really, and why not?" James asked her, sounding skeptical.

"Well, because…because…" Lily said, and then the answer hit her. "You don't have to worry when I talk to other guys, because no matter if they like me or anything, you're my boyfriend, and I…well…I love you." James stared at her, seeming to be taking in what she had just said.

"Are you just saying that because…" He trailed off, but Lily understood what he was asking.

"No, I'm not just saying that because of that letter you wrote me, although it was lovely," Lily said, "But it made me realize that I love you. Honestly, I really do."

"Oh…well…I'd say I love you too, but I think that was already implied," James replied.

"I think I got the message," Lily said, smiling, "Now, how about that breakfast you were talking about?"

And so the walked down to breakfast together, feeling much less uncomfortable, and for the first time they'd admit it, very much in love.

Author's Note: Okay, well, as I said, good heavens, and I'm terribly sorry. Really I am, from the bottom of my heart. There are several reasons that it's taken me so long, and I won't lie. #1: The first part was that I started school and homework started accumulating. #2: I bought The Sims 2, which, sadly, I got hooked on for a very long time. #3: We had finals Thursday and Friday last week. #4: I've been lazy and had Writer's Block.

So, again, I'm incredibly, terribly, absolutely, positively, from the bottom of my heart, bottom of the ocean, ends of the Earth sorry. Because I really do love hearing all your reviews, and I hope you haven't excommunicated me because of this. I do love you, honestly.

Please review, although I know I don't deserve it.