A very drowsy Lily Evans woke because of footsteps. She burrowed her face farther into her arms, taking mental stock of what felt wrong. First of all, she was sitting. Where had she fallen asleep? She didn't fall asleep at her kitchen table, and there was nowhere to rest her head on the livingroom chairs. And her cat didn't step nearly so heavily, so that wouldn't explain those footsteps…

Her heart sped up as she tried to think who's feet she could hear, but after a few seconds the smell of the room broke through the barrier her arms had created. Antiseptic.

She shot to her feet, only to have to sit back in her chair as her vision clouded. Don't stand up so fast, she chided herself. As safe a place to faint as this would be, you have places to be. She checked the clock hanging on the wall and choked slightly at the time. She, the foolish girl that she was, now had 2 minutes to get home, ready for work, and to the Ministry.

Lily quickly gathered her things and trotted to the doorway, only to find it obscured by a very surprised James and Peter. James looked at her with mild annoyance, but Peter grinned at her.

"Evans! We didn't know you would be here. It's awfully early." He smiled at her for a moment longer, before taking in her bedraggled appearance. "You didn't… did you sleep here?"

She rubbed a hand over her unruly hair sheepishly. "Ah, yeah, I came to talk to him and just, fell asleep."

"Do you want to get breakfast with us? We were going to stop by the cafeteria before going to work."

"Oh, no, that's fine, I'm about to be late for work as is-"

Peter gave a gasp of inspiration. "You should have Christmas with us!" Lily and James both gaped at him, the former with speechlessness and the latter with alarm.

James spoke up in a hurry, much to Lily's relief. "Peter, Lily has probably got family of her own to have Christmas with. Besides, we oughtn't invite people to my parent's place without talking to them first."

"James, this is Sirius' fiancee. You know they would want to meet her. Especially since she saved his life."

Both boys looked at her with expectation, each sure that she would side with him. She cleared her throat awkwardly, uncertain what the correct answer was.

"Well, um, I don't have any plans for Christmas at the mo'," she paused when Peter made a triumphant sound, and winced when James shot her a look of irritation. "But, well, I probably have to work that day. Gotta give the people with families a chance to holiday, right?"

James gave Peter a victorious look, but made disappointed sounds at her. "Oh, that's too bad, Lily. My parents will be so sad."

Peter stepped toward the nightstand to scribble on a piece of paper. "Well, if you find out you can come after all, here's the address. Do feel free, Evans. Once you marry Sirius, you will be a part of our family. Might as well start now, yeah?"

Lily trudged into work a half hour late, and Moody shot her a look. "You know, Miss Evans, I'll let this slide today, since you've earned a reprieve after your heroics yesterday, but don't you try this again. After that disaster yesterday, we need constant vigilance." He paused for a minute, and Lily lamented the lack of her usual bagel. "How are you holding up, Lily? I know that yesterday was stressful." He sounded slightly pitying, and something about the tone inspired a bolt of anger within her.

"Oh, I'm just splendid. My dream husband is in a coma, everyone thinks that I'm his fiancee, and now his family wants me to meet them for Christmas dinner. Happy holidays, indeed." Her voice had spiralled from sarcasm to hysteria, and Moody's eyebrows shot up.

"Why would they think that you are engaged?" Lily miserably explained the previous day's events, omitting nothing. She told him about the nurse's misunderstanding, the audacity of James Potter, and her overnight at the hospital. Her heart filled with something painful when she told him about her invitation, and she chalked it up to the fact that it had been several years since she had had a proper Christmas dinner. Sure, she was being invited because of a misunderstanding, but she almost wished that the lie was true.

He scoffed at her story, and gave her advice that she gaped at him. "Play along. Come now, Lily, just pretend for a bit. Finding out the truth will do nothing but upset them. Pretend you are the boy's lover, tell them the truth when he wakes up, and they will thank you for keeping up their spirits while they waited. Better yet, run off before they can find out that out you lied. Let the boy tell them himself. You needn't face the consequences."

Lily made a sound of disbelief, but considered the advice. It was Christmas Eve, and she couldn't very well tell his loved ones the truth today, or tomorrow for that matter. Tell them the truth in a few days. Now is not the time.

Lily went back to the hospital in the evening, carrying a bouquet of cheap, heavily scented poinsettias. She placed them down by Sirius' bedside, and wasn't even surprised when Remus walked in. It seemed to fit the way her day had gone thus far, and she gave him a weak, though sincere, smile.

"Hello, Remus."

He grinned in response, and the sight of his bright teeth made her smile slightly more genuine. At the very least, it came out easier.

"So Pete invited you to Christmas, yeah? You should come." When Lily blinked up at him in silent surprise, he shrugged. "The Potters are good people. They raised James very well, though you haven't exactly gotten to see his good side yet. They have been good to Peter and I, and have been the family that Sirius never had. I know that it's odd to meet the family without the fiance present, but you should still meet them. They have been desperate to meet you since they heard about you. They have missed Sirius terribly since the falling out."

"What was that over, if you don't mind my asking?"

Remus sighed, and she was suddenly struck by how old he seemed. It maybe had something to do with the grey streaks in his hair, and the thin scars that crossed his face. She wondered briefly about those, but decided that she had no right to ask about them. "James and Sirius are the sort of men who make a lot of enemies. They are very charismatic, but admittedly capable of being terrible. Sirius did something… well, he did something to endanger the life of one of those enemies. This man wasn't a bad man, exactly, but he had always stood against James and Sirius. What Sirius did both violated James' moral code and put others' health and safety at risk, but Sirius was unapologetic. When the rest of us refused to let him get away with what he had done, he left. We hadn't seen him since then, at least until this."

Lily swallowed. In every fantasy, she had never given Sirius any attributes like this. Sure, the answer had been vague, but she had imagined him as being gentlemanly and kind. Occasionally reckless, perhaps, but in a purely fun way. Not dangerous.

She finally nodded, and Remus gave her a serious look. "There are no bad feelings between us all right now. The accident killed all of those. But I don't want you doing anything that may bring those hurts back up again, Lily. I don't mean to be unkind, and I know that the Potters will love you, but I need you to really work to keep James from getting angry again. Please try not to bring anything up."

Lily nodded emphatically. "Oh, yes. I don't want to hurt anyone."

Remus peered closely at her face for a moment, and she was taken aback. As earnest as this conversation had been, she felt as though he was searching for something. Or maybe listening for another meaning? Whatever he was looking for, he seemed to find it, as he nodded back at her. He gave her a broad grin before bidding her goodbye.

"I'll see you tomorrow night, Lily. Wear something nice."

Lily smiled uncertainly smiled back, and felt her chest flutter with excitement and dread at the thought of Christmas dinner with the Potters.