Chapter 5: Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Lily was in a dilemma.

She had no clue what to wear for the Secret Santa!

Obviously nothing too fancy, but nothing too laid back either. She was scouring through her closet, unsure of what to wear.

"Lily?" came a voice from behind her.

She whirled around. It was James, dressed in a light brown sweater and jeans.

"Hey, James. Excited for Secret Santa?"

Something flashed in his eyes. "Yep."

She frowned, and then she saw that his hands were both behind his back. "What's that?"

"Nothing."

She narrowed her eyes. "What are you hiding?"

"Well… if you really want to know…"

She knew that tone. He was trying to give himself the upper hand, have something to exchange.

But what did he want from her?

"Just hurry up and give it to me already," she ordered.

"Fine, fine." He held the mystery object out.

It was a red tin in the shape of a heart.

"Er… A box? That's not a big thing. Well, it's really pretty."

James sighed exasperatedly. "Open the box, Lily."

"Oh, right." Lily turned pink as she pried open the box. Inside were a bunch of oatmeal raisin cookies. "Oh, wow. Did you make these?"

"Nope. I asked Remus and Tonks to make them. I just sat in the kitchen and watched."

"Wow. Why did I even ask?" She reached out to take a cookie, but he swiped the box away from her.

"What the…"

"These are for me, Lily."

She blinked. "Huh?"

"I didn't get these for you, Lily. I got them baked for me."

She stared at him. "Okay then." She turned away and continued rummaging through her closet.

"Dang it," he muttered. "I suppose I could give you some… only if…"

She whirled around again. "If what?" Of course he was here to exchange.

"Well, if you could tell me who your person is."

"Nope. Keep those cookies to yourself. I'm sure Tonks would bake me some, anyway."

"Oh, no she wouldn't. I told her not to."

"You did?"

"Nope, but I definitely can."

Lily shrugged. "I can live without cookies, anyway, James. Stop trying to get me to spill who I'm gifting to. You'll find out tonight, anyway."

He wrapped his arms around her, looking her in the eye. "Please, Lily," he said. "Tell me."

"Not a chance," she told him. "Bad luck for you."

He cursed.

"Darn it."

Tonks opened the door to her flat to see Remus there.

"Hi," she said brightly. "I was about to leave. Am I late?"

"No, not at all," he laughed. "I just wanted to pick you up. That way we can go to the gift exchange together."

She beamed. "Sounds great. Give me one second, I have to get my shoes."

"Go ahead," Remus replied, smiling. Girls and their shoes.

Tonks disappeared into her flat and came out with her standard black boots. "All right, I'm ready. Make sure I don't fall, okay?"

"I would never let you fall," he said, looping his arm around her waist and holding her tightly so that she wouldn't fall. Tonks wasn't great with cobblestones, and the street that her flat overlooked was decked with them.

They walked until they reached an Apparition point, where they Apparated to the space outside Number 12, Grimmauld Place. Just before they went inside, however, Remus stopped her at the door.

"What?" she asked.

"Well, I know you're not my person, but I wanted to get you a gift anyway," he said, a little nervously. "You know, for the holidays?"

"Right," she said, smiling.

"Right. I don't know if you'll like it, but…"

"Of course I will! What is it?"

Nervously, he drew a small bracelet from inside his cloak, holding it out to her. It was adorned with little pink shells that were strung together. She took it from his hand, holding it up to her eyes, smiling widely.

"This is so sweet, Remus! You didn't have to get me anything!"

"Do you like it?"

"Of course I do!" She slipped it onto her wrist. "I love it! I have something for you too, but I didn't bring it. It's at home."

"That's okay, Dora, I'm touched. Truly."

She laughed, her bright pink hair bouncing around her shoulders. "Let's go in?"

"Let's do that," he replied, smiling.

Grimmauld Place was definitely in a festive mood.

All sorts of decorations were put up. Confetti was hanging from the ceilings, streamers were draping against the walls, and miniature plastic snowmen were decking the halls, waving.

Santadore was standing in the middle of the big sitting room, where the Secret Santa was going to happen, wearing a red hat and a sparkly red and white suit.

"Ho ho ho!" he yelled. "Happy holidays!"

Arthur frowned at him. "Er, thanks, Santadore."

So far, only Arthur and Molly had arrived. Then the Floo roared to life and in came Bill, his hair disheveled. The door swung open and in came Remus and Tonks.

"Come in, come in," Molly called, bustling into the living room, hanging up streamers around the room. "Welcome, dears."

"Hi, Molly," Remus said, frowning slightly. "Where's Sirius?"

Molly shrugged. "This is his house, after all, but he's nowhere to be seen!"

"He's probably upstairs, asleep," Tonks added helpfully.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Let me go get him." He disappeared up the stairs.

"Well, where is everyone?" asked Molly impatiently. "The Secret Santa is going to start in five minutes!"

"That's the whole point," Arthur said from his position on the sofa. "People aren't going to come until five minutes from now. We're only here because Molly's always early," he added to Tonks.

Molly shot him a death stare.

"Nothing wrong with that," he said quickly, raising his hands. "Nothing wrong with that at all. I was just saying."

"Shut up," snapped Molly. "You should be helping me, you know, with all these decorations! But instead you're lounging on the sofa like a couch potato! I expected b-"

"Tonks, would you like some tea?" Arthur interrupted loudly.

"That'd be great, thanks," Tonks answered, grinning. Arthur literally ran out of the room.

"Sure, forget about me," called Bill. "I wanted tea too!"

"Then come make your own tea," Arthur called from the kitchen.

"No, thanks," Bill grumbled.

"Well, then, help me with the decorations!" Molly yelled at him.

"On second thought, I think I'm going to make myself some tea," Bill said quickly, dashing to the kitchen. Just then, the doorbell rang, sending Mrs. Black's portrait into a screeching mess.

"I'll get it!" Bill shouted, going to open the door.

In came Fleur, wearing a black gown. "Hello, Bill," she said in a charming voice.

"BILL! THE DECORATIONS!" Molly shouted, glaring at Fleur.

"I can help too," Fleur offered politely.

"Go play with gorillas," Molly told her disapprovingly, grabbing Bill and stuffing a streamer in his face.

"Ouch," he muttered.

Just then, Remus came down the stairs, dragging a rather sleepy-looking Sirius with him. "Here's Sirius."

"Oh, good," Molly said. "Sirius, if you could please hang these up." She handed him a roll of streamers.

"Hey, Tonks," Sirius said with a grin. "Do you want some tea?"

"I already got her tea!" Arthur shouted from the kitchen.

"I'll take some tea," said Bill.

"Come get it yourself!" Arthur shouted.

"Er, Arthur?" Remus said slowly. "Grimmauld ran out of tea two days ago."

Everyone stopped dead.

"ARTHUR WEASLEY, YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" Molly dropped all the streamers and ran to the kitchen.

Just then, the ceiling cracked, and James and Lily dropped down majestically. They unlatched their ropes and dusted off their shoulders.

"What the…" Bill, Tonks, Fleur, Remus, and Santadore said.

"What have you done to my house?!" wailed Sirius. "Fix it now!"

James blinked, then turned to Tonks. "Oh, hey, Tonks. Would you like some tea?"

Tonks blinked. "Why am I so special today? That's the third offer I've gotten today for tea!"

James's eyes widened. "Oh. Well, Molly, would you like some tea? Molly?"

"YAAARGH!" Molly was chasing Arthur around the house with a frying pan.

"What is going on?" Lily asked.

"He threw a cabbage at me!" screamed Molly, pointing to Arthur. "I will punish him!"

"Self defense," murmured Arthur, ducking as Molly attempted to swat him with the frying pan. It hit the table instead, and the table broke into two, revealing Emmeline, who was crouched into a ball.

"Emmeline?!" asked Molly.

"What are you doing beneath the table?" gasped Bill.

"Have you been here the whole time?" Tonks asked.

"I was playing hide and seek with Santadore!" she explained weakly.

"You broke my table!" sobbed Sirius.

"Let's all calm down," interjected Remus. "Molly, I've put up all the decorations for you."

"Thank you, Remus dear," Molly said weakly.

"Mr. Perfect," muttered Tonks.

"Now," Remus continued, "it's time for the gift exchange to start. So let's all clean up the place and sit down."

"No, but seriously," Tonks said. "Can I get some tea?"

"There is no tea," Remus answered patiently. "We ran out two days ago. Molly, please repair the table. James, Lily, fix the darn ceiling already."

"Tell Arthur he has to fix the cabbage!" Molly said, pointing to Arthur.

Remus sighed. "Arthur, fix the cabbage. Santadore, please get all the presents ready."

"Spoilsport," muttered James. "We were having fun!"

"No we weren't! Everyone was breaking my furniture!" snapped Sirius.

"It was still fun, though," James said.

"Enough, you guys," Remus said. "Is everyone here?"

"No, Mundungus is missing," Emmeline said, getting out from under the remains of the table.

"Where did he go?" asked Fleur.

"Knowing him, some business deal," Tonks muttered.

"Dora." Remus shot her a look. "Help everyone clean."

"Why do I get singled out?" she complained. "All I wanted was some tea!"

"I can get you some," Arthur offered.

"Oh, no you don't!" Molly snapped. "Go fix the cabbage!"

It had been around twenty minutes, and Mundungus still hadn't shown up.

Molly checked her watch. "Ohh, I'll kill that slimeball! Why hasn't he come yet? He's making us all wait!"

"I'm bored," complained Bill. "Can we start?"

"Yeah, can we?" Lily asked. "We can just skip his gift. It doesn't look like he's gonna show up, anyway."

"Yeah, we should," agreed Remus. "We should just start, and-"

"Does anyone know the lyrics of Bingle Jells?" interrupted Santadore.

They all turned to him.

"What?" he asked defensively. "I have to post this on my Tik-Tok feed for the holidays!"

"What's a Tik-Tok?" asked Arthur. "Do you mean a clock?"

"No!" wailed Santadore. "I mean the app on my i-Ph… Oh, nevermind. I'll do it myself. Bingle Jells, Bingle Jells, Bingle all the way. Oh what boring it is to ride on a two-horse closed sleigh… HEY!"

"I'm pretty sure that's not how it goes," muttered Tonks.

"Fine, fine," snapped Molly. "Let's start. Santadore, put away that box and let's start!"

"Box? No, Molly, I am offended! It is an i-Phone, the latest version!"

Molly glowered at him, and the Secret Santa started.

"We'll go in order of arrival," announced Molly. "So that means, me first."

"What about Arthur?" Fleur asked. "Wasn't he with you?"

"He ruined the cabbage, which means he goes last," Molly snapped. "Me first!"

"Hey, I was here first!" Emmeline argued. "Remember? Hide and seek?"

"It's my house!" argued Sirius. "So I was here first!"

"How is that fair?" James asked him. "You were upstairs! You only came down after everyone had joined."

"Well, you're certainly not going first. You ruined my ceiling."

"But I was here with you!" Arthur exclaimed. "The cabbage doesn't count-"

"This isn't going to work," mumbled Remus. "How about we just do alphabetical order?"

"I agree," said Santadore, nodding.

Remus glanced at him. "Thanks."

"Fine," muttered Molly sourly. "So that means… Arthur first." She glared at him.

"Finally!" cried Santadore, holding out Arthur's gift.

Arthur unwrapped it. It was a box with two holes in it. "What is this?" he asked.

"A toaster!" Emmeline informed him. "A…"

"How do you know?" Arthur asked suspiciously.

"Oh… I love bread."

"What does this have to do with bread?"

"It toasts bread, you see. My Muggle friends use it."

"Ah, right." Arthur nodded. "Well… let's see… oh, who would give me a toaster?"

Emmeline turned pink.

"Er… ah… well… uh… ergh… Is it you, Molly?"

Molly cackled. "Wrong!"

"Hey, I'm the one who has to say that." Santadore scowled. "Well, Arthur, WRONG!" He pressed a button on his sound machine next to him, which played a wrong buzzer sound.

Arthur scowled.

"This gift was given to you by Emmeline," Santadore told him.

"Aw, man. Hey! I should have known! How else would Emmeline know?"

Emmeline shrugged.

"Next up is Bill!"

Santadore gave him a small envelope. He opened it to see two Quidditch tickets there.

"Aw, thanks, Mum! You're the best!" Bill exclaimed.

"It wasn't me, you dimwit!" Molly cried.

"THAT'S MY JOB! WRONG!" thundered Santadore, pressing the wrong buzzer. "It was Tonks! Next… Emmeline?"

Santadore gave her a box.

She opened it. Inside was a small carton of apple juice.

"What the heck is this?!" she cried. "BILL!"

"Ah, yes, correct!" Santadore pressed another button, which made the right buzzer noise.

"Aw, man," Bill said sadly. "She guessed it!"

"We know, we know," Molly snapped. "Santadore, continue."

"Next is Fleur."

Fleur opened her gift. It was a necklace.

"Sirius?" she guessed.

"Nope!" said Santadore jovially. "This is from Remus. Next we have, James!"

"You forgot to press your buzzer!" exclaimed Bill.

"Oh, dear!" Santadore gasped, pressing the wrong buzzer. "Now we have James!"

James opened his package. It was a tin full of cookies.

"Lily?" he guessed.

"Nope," Lily said cheerily.

"Nope," Santadore said, pressing the wrong buzzer again. "This was from Fleur!"

"Y'all are a bunch of dumb people," commented Bill.

"SPEAK FOR YOURSELF!" the rest of them shouted.

Just then, Mundungus clambered into the room. "Hey guys! Sorry if I'm a bit early. I had a business d-"

Everyone glared at him.

"Sorry," he said meekly, sitting down next to James, who recoiled.

"Next is, Molly!"

Molly opened her package to see a dunce cap there.

"Ohhhhh, Dung, I will kill you for this!" she shrieked.

"Correct!" Santadore pressed the right buzzer. "Next up is Mundungus."

Mundungus opened his present with his slimy hands. It was a bag of dog food.

"I don't have a dog!" he screamed.

"This is for you," Remus, James, and Sirius said in unison.

"Are you callin' me a dog?"

"Shut up and guess already!" Santadore snapped.

"Well, I'm going to guess, er, let's see now. Molly!"

"I wish it could've been me, you slimy little-"

"It was Sirius," Santadore cut off happily. "You lose!" He pressed the wrong buzzer. "Next is Remus."

"But, Professor, you skipped me!" exclaimed Lily.

"Hush now, child," Santadore said. "You can go at the end."

"WHAT?!" cried Molly. "Then it's obvious! She'll win!"

"Too bad," sang Santadore. "Remus, open it."

Remus took about a minute and a half to open the package without ripping the wrapping paper. Everyone rolled their eyes.

"Open it already," grumbled Tonks from beside him.

"But it's nice paper," he said, finally taking out the package. "What the heck is this?"

It was a whiteboard and Expo markers. He glanced over at Arthur, who was fidgeting in his spot. Obvious.

"Arthur," he guessed.

"Wrong!" cried Santadore. "It was-"

"Ohhh, can I please be excused?" Arthur cut across, fidgeting even more. "I have to pee!"

Remus slapped his forehead. "Thanks a lot."

"It was Molly," continued Santadore, as though there had been no interruption. Arthur's face was turning purple.

"Please!" he cried.

"Get lost, already!" Santadore told him. Arthur ran away to the bathroom. "Next up is Sirius!"

Sirius opened his present. It was cologne. Yummy.

"James?" he guessed.

"Wrong!" cried James and Santadore. Santadore glared at James. "It was Lily!"

Lily looked pleased with herself.

"Nice try, Sirius!" Santadore hit the wrong buzzer. "Next up is Tonks!"

Tonks opened her present. It was a jar of marshmallows, gummy bears, and Dare Squares. She looked at James. "You?"

"No, not me!" cried Santadore.

"I wasn't talking to you," she told him. "I was talking to James."

"Oh, yes. Well, you are correct!" Santadore pressed the buzzer. "Last, we have Lily!"

"Well this is obvious," Lily said as she opened the present. "Arthur."

Arthur came back from the bathroom. "Who said my name? Huh? Say what? What'd I do?"

"Break the cabbage," muttered Molly under her breath.

"Correct!" Santadore exclaimed, pressing the right buzzer. "And that concludes our Secret Santa! Everyone have fun with your presents, and happy holidays!"

"Wait, wait, what's that?" Bill pointed to another present on the counter.

"This is for me," Santadore told them happily. "Arthur was nice enough to get me a bouncy ball! Arthur, this is for you!"

Santadore gave Arthur a stick.

"Er, thanks," Arthur muttered.

"How am I supposed to have fun with this?" growled Molly, holding up her dunce cap.

"Put it on your head," Dung told her. "It's a hat!"

Nobody knew who moved first, but the next moment, everyone was pounding Mundungus to pieces.

A/N: And thus concludes the Order's Secret Santa! Thank you so much to all our reviewers! :)