Disclaimer: Everything related to Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling. 'I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus' is a Christmas Carol that belongs to someone other than me, also. However, the plot is most certainly mine.
A/N: I just thought I'd try this, since I've never done it before. This chapter is dedicated you guys, the readers who have contributed over 15000 hits; to the roughly 55 people who have added this to their favourites; to the 65ish people who have this on story alert, and especially, to the people who have given me over 250 reviews. Your support really makes my day, guys!
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Chapter Twenty: In which the Marauders wreak havoc at Christmas (but not really)
The Monday before Christmas, the castle was suddenly flushed of a great majority of its students, who were returning home to their families for the holidays. Lily spent Sunday evening with Emmeline, helping her pack while her best friend talked happily of her return home, and of the day in London she and Benjy had planned together, the day before their return to school. Lily listened patiently, exclaiming at all the right moments, and was cheerful enough for Emmeline to miss the secret longing hidden within Lily's almond-shaped eyes. James, on the other hand, hadn't missed the arrival of a letter just before lunchtime, nor Lily's deeply saddened reaction. Her mother, the letter said, was feeling rather ill, and her father thought it might be best for Lily to stay at school that Christmas. James had given her a weak smile, and grasped her hand.
"Don't be so sad, Lils. The lads and me are all staying. You won't be lonely."
"You're not going home to a family who wants you there?"
James had shrugged, pulling her into a hug. "Dad will be working all holidays anyway. Besides, this is the last chance for Marauders to wreak havoc on Hogwarts over Christmas. Do you really think we'd miss it?"
Lily had laughed quietly. "No, I suppose not."
James had then pulled away and peered down at her, smiling. "I'm glad you're staying," he confessed.
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Lily and Emmeline finished packing, and moved down to the common room, taking the comfy armchairs by the fire just as three fourth years vacated them. James sat with the Marauders across the room, and had found it impossible to miss Sirius' unblinking staring toward Miss Vance.
James nudged him gently. "Oi."
"Oi what?" Sirius asked crossly, tearing his eyes away for a moment to glare at James.
"Stop staring at Em."
"Was not," Sirius responded softly, and excessively childishly.
'Were too," James retorted, a smile playing around his lips.
Sirius stood up abruptly. "Fancy a trip to the kitchens, Prongs?"
"I do!" Peter replied eagerly, while Remus kicked him.
"We're staying here," Remus told him, smiling painfully at James.
James frowned, not wanting to leave any of his friends behind, but Remus merely shrugged.
"I'd like a chocolate muffin, if it's not too much trouble," Remus added.
Sirius smirked. "Oh, I bet you would, wouldn't you, Moony?"
James rolled his eyes and roughly dragged Sirius away, pausing by the fire and smiling at Lily and Emmeline.
"Fancy anything from the kitchens, girls?"
Lily smiled and shook her head, although Emmeline requested a pastie, smiling sweetly at them both all the while.
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As soon as James and Sirius left the common room, James heard Sirius sharply expel his breath. Crossing his arms, the Head Boy raised his eyebrows.
"Is it really that hard to be around her?"
Sirius sighed. "Yes," he replied, sounding miserable. "Pete and I could form W.A.L.E - the "We All Love Em" fan club. It's bad, Prongs. You have no idea."
James scoffed, and rolled his eyes. "You seem to forget that I've fancied Lily for years."
Sirius shot him a look of disbelief. "But that's completely different!"
James frowned, falling silent as they continued their way down the school. It was rather late, although not quite curfew, and there didn't seem to be anyone else about. It was strange, to have the school so deserted, but at the same time it suited his purposes perfectly: namely, it was empty enough to hold a private conversation without being overheard by anyone but the portraits. And, as Peter had always said, rather darkly, 'The portraits know everything, anyway."
"How?" James asked finally, as they made their way down the marble staircase into the Entrance Hall. "How is it any different?"
"Because everyone could see that you were going to get your happy ending. Not me, Prongs. The Black family doesn't do happy endings."
James opened and closed his mouth, surprised, and found that for once in his life he couldn't offer his best mate any comfort.
"You're not much of a Black, anyway," James said eventually. "Always gone against tradition. Plus, you're a Marauder. Doesn't that count for anything?"
Sirius seemed to consider that, pushing open the door and entering the cheerfully lit passageway that led to the kitchens.
"Marauders do the honourable thing," he said finally. "And the honourable thing, for me anyway, is to do nothing, Prongs. Emmeline's happy, and last time I interfered I messed things up."
James grinned, remembering the sound of Emmeline's cauldron contacting with Sirius' head.
"Besides," Sirius added. "I am a Black, as much as I want to ignore it. I'm as stubborn, bitter and cynical as the best of them. So I think I'll just sit back and let her go, thanks very much."
"And you won't sit there and moan about your long suffering love?"
Sirius gave a bark-like laugh suddenly. "Hardly. I had to listen for you for long enough, you've thoroughly put me off pining. Although I can't speak for Pete."
James shrugged as they reached the entrance to the kitchen. Carefully, he extended a single finger and tickled the pear.
"Peter's always been all talk anyway," James said lightly. "I wouldn't worry."
The pear became a handle, put James hesitated. "Sirius?"
Sirius looked at him, surprised by the tone of his voice.
James smiled, reassuringly. "Just wanted you to know I'm proud of you, for putting Em first, and all that."
Sirius grinned and rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that, Prongs," he protested, although secretly pleased. "Besides," he added offhandedly, although his eyes were serious, "I had a good teacher."
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In the ensuing days, with the castle so empty, Lily seemed to move about it in a daze. It wasn't that she had never stayed at Hogwarts over the holidays before, and more so that all her previous Hogwarts Christmases had been celebrated by choice. On the other hand, it was lovely to be able to take a break from patrol duties, and Lily could quite easily source out a cozy corner in the library in which to sit and immerse herself in a book without any interruptions…. Well, almost.
"You feel like a walk?"
Lily glanced up from her book, startled, to meet the hazel eyes of her wild-haired boyfriend. She nodded. "Sure."
Carefully, Lily bookmarked her page. James watched, faintly amused by Lily's obvious reverence.
"Cloaks?"
"Of course."
James took her hand as they wandered through the school, making Lily smile at the simplest of gestures.
Without the usual crowd of students, the grounds too seemed to be flourishing. The snow lay across the rolling hills largely untouched, except for the deep footprints that led down towards Hagrid's hut. James and Lily followed them, laughing as they leapt from hole to hole. The fun ended abruptly for James as he lost his balance, landed face first in the snow and decided that it was so cold he didn't fancy repeating the experience.
Lily laughed to hard that it was some time before she offered to help him up, a small, cheeky smile on her face. With a sympathetic wave of her wand, he was completely dry again.
"You amaze me," he murmured gratefully as they resumed their walk.
It might have been the cold air whipping colour into Lily's bright pink cheeks, but James didn't think so. Her emerald eyes were large and bright in her little, flushed face, and her hair set the snow on fire, spilling down her back in rich red waves. Feeling suddenly compelled, James cleared his throat.
"Lily?" he began. "You know when I said I loved you?"
Lily raised her face to look at him, eyes glittering with mischief. "You lied?" she prompted.
James frowned, confused, until he recalled that they had been his exact same words only a week before. He grinned then, and rolled his eyes. "No," he told her, deliberately emphasizing her silliness.
"It's more… That I want you to know that this is so real to me, Lily. It's not just some childish thing we have going on. Well, I mean, I don't know how you feel, but I know that…"
He broke off, running his hands through his permanently ruffled black hair, and looking thoughtful. Lily watched him, patiently waiting for him to continue. He was almost a good foot taller than her, she realised with surprise as she gazed up into his face. His left hand was now fingering the bridge of his long nose.
"I just want you to know that I'm in this for the long haul, if that's what you want."
Lily blinked, eyes still intently focused on James' face. It was his turn to colour under her gaze. Nevertheless he didn't break eye contact, and Lily felt her stomach flutter as he grinned. He was what? She smiled weakly back.
"What do you mean?"
James shrugged, casually draping an arm around her and resuming their walk. "Nothing important," he told her. "At least not yet, anyway."
"James."
He detected a warning note in her voice now, and she tried to pull away from his arms.
"You can't just go all serious and then not explain yourself," she accused, gloved hands planted on her hips.
"Can't a guy be mysterious?"
"Not my guy."
James blinked, once more surprised, and then smiled ruefully. "This is going to sound rather silly," he warned her gruffly.
Lily shrugged, and cocked her head to the side, waiting. James sighed.
"Well, Miss Evans, the fact of the matter is that I have the full intention of marrying you one day."
Lily squinted up at him, her face inscrutable. James waited, twisting his free hand behind his back, the only betrayal of his nerves that he would allow.
Lily finally nodded. "Good," she said, and resumed walking toward the lake.
James watched her, confused. Now what did 'good' mean? Lily turned, still moving toward the lake, to beam at him.
"Are you coming or what?"
But she wasn't going to have to wait very long: James was already running. He caught her in a hug, so fiercely that Lily, who had still been walking backwards through the snow at the time, toppled backwards, landing beneath James with a small squeak.
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Hogwarts became increasingly festive toward the end of the week. Floating balls of mistletoe seemed to zoom out of nowhere to drift above Lily's head whenever she was with James, and when she wasn't with James, she was invariably attacked by sprigs of holly trailing delicate little snowflakes that settled in her hair and refused to melt. The portraits were all getting into the swing of things, and held wild, raucous parties fuelled by spiked eggnog late into the night. But no where, it seemed, was exuding a more festive spirit than the kitchens – at least, according to the four boys who seemed to be spending an awful lot of time down there.
"It's a Marauder tradition," Sirius explained lightly as they made their way through the school on Christmas Eve. Today, as their work had been finished, Lily was allowed to join them, and she did so with a great curiosity.
"I hope you haven't been doing anything against the rules, Sirius," she told him sternly. "I'd hate to have to dock points."
"Oh come off it Lily, its Christmas!" Remus smiled. "Would we ever do something illegal?"
Lily frowned. "Well, there was that time…" She was cut off abruptly by a large hand covering her mouth.
"You heard absolutely nothing," James warned her, so seriously that Lily gulped and nodded, completely missing the laughter in his eyes.
In fact, James' warning and Remus' chastisement kept Lily silent for the entire trip down to the kitchens. Remus was right, it was Christmas, and she needed to relax and have fun. The boys had never meant (or, to Lily's knowledge, caused) any harm, and Lily was quite sure that James was determined for things to stay that way. Timidly, she slipped her hand into his, not darning to make eye contact, but at the same time obviously asking for forgiveness. He squeezed her fingers reassuringly, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Then, it occurred to her that she was being rather silly anyway; this was James after all, the boy who could never be angry with her. Plus, after all, it was Christmas.
"So what have you been doing?" Lily asked quietly. "Helping the house-elves cook?"
James grinned. "Naw…. Like Sirius said, it's sort of a tradition. Every year we go down to the kitchens at Christmas and teach the elves-"
"And Moony," Peter sniggered, earning himself a sharp jab in the ribs from Remus.
"- to sing Christmas Carols."
"Oh?" Lily murmured. It was the sort of 'Oh' one exclaimed when they couldn't think of anything more to say. "That sounds like…. fun?"
They had reached the entrance to the kitchens, and Sirius grinned as he tickled the pear. "Oh Lily, you have no idea…"
The kitchen was a chorus of noise. If Lily strained, she could pick up the gentle rhythm of song… Except that each busy house elf seemed to be singing to their own tune and rhythm. Of course, the noise ceased as the four boys and their guest filed into the kitchen.
"Good morning, everyone!" Sirius called brightly. "Ready for practice?"
Lily was astonished to see their little faces light up with broad, toothy smiles as they finished what they were doing and made their way toward the boys, forming themselves into three lines: front row sitting, middle row kneeling, and back row standing.
"We are ready, if you pleases, Masters?" a tiny, female elf in the front row squeaked, looking excited.
Sirius elbowed Remus. "In you go, Moony," he murmured with a patronizing smile.
Remus sighed reluctantly and moved forward to kneel beside the standing row of elves. The elf on his left, an elderly kitchen-hand named Barmy, bowed in greeting. Lily tried to hide a smile at the sight of Remus with the elves, something which none of his three other friends even bothered to do. In fact, Peter produced a camera and took a few photos.
"All right," James said. "One, two…. Three!"
The house elves began to hum, conducted by Sirius. Remus, looking distinctly embarrassed, tentatively joined in. It seemed that these were the first few opening bars, as suddenly the kitchen once again broke into noise.
"No, follow my hands!" Sirius commanded gently, kneeling in front of them and attempting to look stern but kind. "Let's start back from the first line."
James had moved behind Lily and slipped his arms around her waist.
"Why do you make Remus sing?" Lily asked, bewildered, as she eyed the strange choir.
She could feel James shrug. "We needed someone to offset their high little voices, and Remus didn't mind. Not really, anyway. Secretly, old Moony loves this just as much as they do."
Lily nodded thoughtfully as she watched Sirius once again pause the choir.
Several hours later, Sirius seemed to feel he was getting somewhere. He called everyone in close, and announced that he thought they were ready to give it a proper try. James beamed.
However, it took about seven of Sirius' "proper tries" for any definite lyrics to emerge… And when they did, Lily found herself clapping her hands over her mouth, although whether it was to hide her horror or her amusement, Lily herself couldn't be quite sure.
James turned to Lily, grinning. "Well, what do you think?"
Lily thought about it for a moment. True, the sound of all the chorusing house-elves (plus Remus) had been quite amusing, and the carol was essentially a classic. On the other hand, it was so terribly offensive, not only to poor Professor McGonagall but also Professor Dumbledore himself…. And then, Lily remembered.
"Why didn't you just use that 'Oh Snivelly' song you used to torture Snape earlier this year? And what is it with you Marauders and Christmas Carols, anyway?"
James shrugged. "Well," he said reasonably. "They're fun, and festive, and they brighten the castle. We make up a new one every year. And we couldn't use that one again because the lyrics weren't very Christmassy any more, were they?"
Lily had to concede point. "I suppose not, no."
"So?" James prompted, smiling as though he already knew the answer.
Lily sighed. Well, it was Christmas, she reminded herself. And the house elves did seem to enjoy themselves... Then, the Head Girl smiled.
"I think its fantastic."
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Christmas Day appeared in a flurry of activity. Lily was woken at a startlingly early hour by James, who had carried both of their piles of presents down to the common room so that they could open them together. Lily realised immediately that something else was also amiss, as James looked rather sheepish. It took Lily three good bouts of pillow fighting to have James confess that he had tripped and mixed their gifts up.
Lily
and James had spent a good ten minutes trying to sort out whose gift
was whose when there came a great hammering on the Carved Witch.
"Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew," she called
weakly. "Please can I let them in, it hurts!"
James smiled and granted her permission, and was shocked to see that she was looking rather battered (for a carving, at any rate), when the door swung open. Sirius, Remus and Peter piled in, looking to be in various stages between anger and amusement.
"Prongs!" Sirius bellowed. "Where are my presents?"
When James grinned sheepishly for the second time that morning, Lily braced herself, feeling the situation appeared somewhat ominous. Lily wondered whether James, too, was experiencing a sense of deja vu.
"Merry Christmas!" he said, trying and failing to sound jovial. "I had the house elves bring them here, so we would all open them together…"
Lily groaned audibly and eyed the two (admittedly large) piles of gifts that she and James had just sorted out. "Don't even say it," she warned him darkly.
James looked genuinely incredulous. "Don't say what? They're behind the lounge, lads!"
The second major incident came half-way through the day, when Peter and Sirius decided it might be fun to enchant all the wizarding bon-bons so that not only did they explode like a canon and produce real hats and random paraphernalia, they would do it on a rather large scale.
Even Professor Dumbledore conceded, with a festive twinkle in his eye, that it did make Christmas lunch exciting to have four ferrets (the size of large dogs) and seven white rabbits (which were even larger) running around the Great Hall, before a ferret inevitably discovered the door to the entrance hall.
Lily smiled, watching the final rabbit vanish through the oak doors, and shook her head. Across the table, Professor Flitwick's hat was so large that when he tried it on, he vanished completely beneath it. Beside him, Hagrid kindly plucked it off and settled it on his own head, pronouncing it a perfect fit, with a wink to James.
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"Our last Christmas at Hogwarts," Remus sighed wistfully, watching the snowflakes flutter down onto the blanket of white that seemed to flow across the school grounds.
The Marauders had moved a lounge up to the Head's Tower gallery, and set it in front of the picture window to watch the snow, in a rare moment of reflection. Lily had come out of her room some time ago to find them like this, and she leant in her doorway, as she had seen James do so many times before, and watched them.
Sirius, sensing her gaze, looked around at her and smiled, beckoning her over. Lily complied.
"Budge up, there, Wormy, make room for the Head Girl," Sirius ordered, effectively evicting Peter from his seat on the lounge and forcing him to perch instead on the arm-rest.
Lily squeezed herself in between Sirius and James, who merely smiled peacefully at her and draped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer.
Lily watched the snowflakes falling down upon the school. They twirled and fluttered around in the sky, hesitant, before they took the plunge to the ground. That was exactly how Lily felt. She was sitting here, fluttering around her last six months of school before she took the plunge into adulthood: an increasingly dark and scary world. Tearing her eyes away from the snowflakes, she studied each of the boys' faces. Remus' was drawn, and Lily knew he was bearing the great burden of uncertainty, perhaps the greatest of them all. Being what he was, Remus was going to have a difficult job finding work and a life outside this school, which had sheltered and nurtured him for so many years.
Sirius looked calm: the calmest Lily had seen him for weeks, She did not know of James and Sirius' conversation a week ago regarding Emmeline, but a noticeable change had come over him. He was more considerate now, and less moody, as if a great weight had been lifted from him.
Peter looked worried, although not so worried as Remus. She supposed he was anxious about the exams, and about leaving Hogwarts, as they all were, to a certain extent.
And then, Lily turned to examine James. A light glowed from his eyes that she hadn't seen in years: he seemed content, just to sit and while the hours away with his arms around her and his friends by his side.
Sirius broke the silence.
"You know, since you seem to have decided to crash the Marauders, Lily, I think you need a nickname."
Lily glanced at him and raised her eyebrows. "Crashing, am I? So sorry to interrupt!"
James arm tightened around her, just in case she had decided to leave. "You're not Lils, Sirius is just being an idiot," he explained calmly.
"I know," she replied. "But I still don't need a nickname. You'll only come up with something stupid, anyhow."
"You think our nicknames are stupid?" Peter sounded insulted.
"Peter, if your nicknames were sensible, I'd be alarmed, because that's not normal for you lot anyway. And that wasn't the point. I'm quite content not to have a silly nickname of my own."
"I feel Rudolph would be quite sensible," Remus argued, laughter in his eyes.
Sirius grinned. " No, no, Prancer is much better. Just like the way Lily pranced around Prongs for years."
Lily poked out her tongue. "No, no Rudolphs or Prancers or Dashers or Dancers."
"Or Cupids?"
"No, James, no cupids."
James sighed, feigning disappointment, before a wide, cheeky grin spread across his face. "Oh, I have it," he said quietly, sounding so triumphant that Lily was alarmed.
"Well?" Remus prompted into James' silence.
If it was possible, James' grin widened. "Vixen."
"James!"
"Nice, Prongs." Sirius offered his hand for a high-five in appreciation.
"But that's a fox, not a deer…"
"It's in the song!" James protested, laughing, as Lily hit him.
Remus watched, amused, as Lily blushed, her face growing redder and redder, although it was impossible to tell whether her reaction was in embarrassment or anger.
"It's just a bit of fun, Lily," Remus told her gently, rolling his eyes.
"No one's calling you anything you don't want to be called, Vixen."
"That's enough. Stop ribbing Lily, Padfoot."
"Fine," Sirius sighed. "I'm sorry, I was only joking, Lily."
The red was slowly draining from Lily's face, and she was biting her lip. Sirius strongly suspected she was fighting the urge to smile.
"That's all right, Sirius," she said quietly.
The group lapsed back into silence. Peter chewed his thumb, Remus returned his gaze to the window, and James rested his head on Lily's.
Suddenly, Sirius, who had slumped back against the lounge, looking thoughtful, sat up and smiled.
"Mrs. Prongs?" he asked.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Why do I have to take James' name?"
Sirius shrugged, slumping once more. "Well if you don't want one of your own…"
"Which, you're quite right, she doesn't," Remus supplied helpfully.
"But we're not married, anyway," Lily tried feebly.
"Yet."
Everyone turned to look at Peter, who was smiling knowingly.
Sirius nodded, approvingly. "Right you are, Wormy. And," he added, turning back to the couple, "when you are married, I'm going to be the best man."
Lily and James exchanged a look of pure shock, although James' eyes sparkled with amusement.
Trust the lads to know, he thought ruefully.
"So ready to send me away, Paddy? I'm surprised," James teased.
"Well, we aren't," Remus replied, indicating himself and Peter, who nodded.
Sirius simply shrugged, his dark eyes looking quite serious. "Nobody's sending anyone away. Besides, Prongs, you'll always be a Marauder. That isn't about to change."
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A/N: And so, the time has come when this story must fall to a close… but wait, what's that? An epilogue! One more installment, you say? I say, it's on its way!
In the meantime, I would love to hear your thoughts, especially on what you want to see included in the epilogue! A very important aspect of reading is to review so please remember to do so!