Year 1: The Legend Unfolds
Chapter twelve: Happy Christmas!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.
A/N: So this is the last one of my pre-written chapters. I'm working on chapter 13 but it's not ready yet. No promises on when I'll get the next chapter up, but hopefully it won't be too long of a wait. I'm aiming for next Saturday just to keep up the tradition, but again no promises. But anyway, I really hope you like this chapter! Personally I really like it. It's fun. So yeah... please reveiw at the end!
XOxoXOxoXOxoXO
"Here is your present mate," James said, handing Sirius a wrapped present. Remus and Peter followed suit. They were sitting at the Gryffindor table, eating their breakfasts. James, Remus, and Peter were going to be going home for Christmas right after breakfast, so they were giving Sirius his presents now.
"I wish at least one of you was going to be staying, Christmas alone really isn't much fun..." Sirius said, picking at his eggs.
"I know mate. I would stay, but my mom always throws this annual Christmas party and I have to be there. But believe me I would rather be here, especially since Evans is going to be at the stupid party," James said.
"I don't think she is really that bad," Remus said.
"Well, we kind of have a history..." James said. Remus shrugged.
"I heard that Marlene is staying though," Peter said. Sirius shrugged, as he hadn't really gotten to know Marlene very well as of yet.
The boys finished eating their meal, and about ten minutes later they heard the voice of Professor Slughorn magnified through the hall.
"All students who are leaving for Christmas must be on the train in the next ten minutes, as that is when it will be leaving. All students to the train,"
"We had better go then," James said, putting his fork down on his plate. Sirius nodded gloomily and watched his friends walk off, each levitating their trunks in front of them. As it turned out, that really was a good spell to learn first.
Sirius watched as Lily, Melanie, and Alice walked off too, and waved to Marlene, who was also sitting alone now. She smiled and walked over to him.
"You staying here too?" She asked. Sirius nodded.
"Yep," they finished eating their breakfasts and headed back up to Gryffindor tower together. On the way there, they talked about everything under the sun, from school work to the joys of pranking. As it turned out, Marlene was a prankster as well.
"We definitely need to plan a prank over this break," Sirius said as they walked through the portrait hole and sat down on the couch in front of the fire. Marlene agreed and got out a piece of paper. Together they started brainstorming and Marlene wrote the ideas down on the paper. Soon, they had concocted a wonderful prank... now the only step left was to find an unsuspecting victim to pull it on...
XOxoXOxoXOxoXO
"Alice!" Came a call to Lily's left. She turned to see a woman waving, presumably her friend's mother. Alice smiled and waved back.
"Hi Remus," she said, and Remus waved too. He had just walked up with James and Peter, who were now standing next to the girls on the platform.
"Hi Aunty," Remus answered.
"I guess I'll be going then. See you when school starts again. Happy Holidays," Alice said, giving Lily and Melanie each a hug good bye.
"Bye, Merry Chrismas," Lily responded.
"I'll see you on Christmas, Remus," Alice said, turning her attention to her cousin.
"No, you won't," Remus said before he could think to stop himself.
"Wha... oh. Oh, right, sorry. Well, I'll uh, I'll see you when we get back then," Alice said, casting a wary glace at the others on the platform. She gave him a comforting smile and a hug before walking off. James frowned.
"What was that about?" he asked, looking after Alice's retreating form.
"Nothing, it's just that um, we usually see each other on Christmas, being cousins and all, but this year we won't. So, um, yeah, I think I see my mom over there, so I'll see you guys after break," Remus said, scurrying off in a random direction.
James frowned as he watched his friend rush off, but when he looked back to his friends he saw that none of them seemed to notice it much, as they were all just busy looking for their parents.
"Oh, there is my mom!" Lily said suddenly, breaking James from his thoughts. He looked in the direction she was pointing and saw with horror that his mom was with hers.
"Mine too... I'll see you later Pete," James said, bidding his friend farewell and following Lily over to where their parents stood.
"Hi James," his mom said, pulling him into a tight hug. James hugged her back smiling. When he released her, he felt another pair of arms throw themselves around his waist. He turned to see Jack's head of messy black hair. James smiled and hugged his little brother back.
"Miss me?" he asked, smiling. Jack nodded.
"The house was much too quiet," he said.
"It's good to see you again James," Mrs. Evans said, and James responded that is was good to see her again as well.
"Where's Petunia?" Lily asked, just realizing that part of her family was absent, "And Dad too?"
"Oh, Petunia wasn't feeling so good, so she stayed home with Dad," Mrs. Evans said. Lily nodded, getting a feeling that sickness had nothing to do with the reason why Petunia hadn't come.
"Where in the world is your sister? She is never this late," Mrs. Potter said, scanning the crowd of students for any sign of Brighid. James and Lily looked for her too, and soon James started snickering, having located her.
"I think I found out why she is late Mom," James said. He pointed his hand over to where Brighid was. She was leaning against a stone pillar, kissing a boy.
"Oh for heavens sake," Mrs. Potter huffed.
"I can go get them if you want Mom!" Jack said, eager to be the annoying little sibling.
"No, no, that's okay," Mrs. Potter said, putting a hand on Jack's shoulder. They waited for a few moments, and soon Brighid came walking over to where they were all standing.
"Hi everyone!" She said. Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Potter both looked at her with knowing looks, and James had to work to suppress his laughter. Lily just rolled her eyes and James's childish behavior.
"What?" Brighid asked.
"Nothing honey," Mrs. Potter responded, "Well, since we are going to the same place anyway, we only took one car. So let's go!" the four kids followed their mothers through the platform and over to where a minivan was parked. They all piled in the car, and James ended up sitting squished between Lily and Brighid in the backseat.
"Why were they all looking at me earlier?" Brighid muttered to her brother, who grinned.
"I'm going to give you a bit of advice. Next time you want to kiss a boy, don't do it where your mom can see," James said.
"What? They saw me?" Brighid whispered urgently. James nodded. As if on cue, Mrs. Potter began talking from the front seat.
"So, Brighid, who was that handsome boy you were with?" she asked, her eyes sparkling angelically. Brighid moaned.
"Moommmm," she said burying her face in her hands. James smirked and even Lily had trouble holding back a giggle. The rest of the ride was filled with many remarks about Brighid kissing the boy, and when they finally reached their homes, Brighid got right out of the car and stormed up to her room.
"This family is so infuriating!" she yelled after her, right before they heard a door slam.
XOxoXOxoXOxoXO
"Jeez, we have been waiting here for hours it seems," Marlene moaned. Sirius shushed her and turned his attention back to the portrait at the entrance of the Slytherin common room.
"You have to be patient. I'm sure someone is going to be coming out soon," Sirius responded. Marlene rolled her eyes and slid down onto the floor to sit with her back against the cold stone wall.
"I don't think anyone is coming..." Marlene said after about five more minutes, "Maybe everyone went home." Sirius hushed her again and she crossed her arms. It was a few days after the start of break, and after much careful planning the two mischief makers were ready to pull their first prank together.
Suddenly the portrait hole opened, and out walked three Slytherins. There were two boys in front, each who looked to be about in their 4th or 5th year, and another boy was lagging behind them.
"Keep up, Crabbe! Man, first years are slow," one of the older boys said. He had blonde hair that reached almost to his shoulders, and had a cold, mean look in his gray eyes.
"Excellent," Sirius said, grinning triumphantly. He took out his wand and said an incantation. Soon, all of the boy's hair started growing like mad.
"Aghh! What is happening?" The other older boy exclaimed, grabbing fistfulls of his now shoulder length hair in his hands.
"I don't know! Fix it Nott!" Said the boy with the blonde hair. Since his hair was already long to begin with, it was now nearing his lower back.
"How?" Asked the boy called Nott.
"Let's go to the hospital!" suggested the first year named Crabbe. The others nodded and sped out of the dungeons, trying not to trip on the hair that was now reaching the floor.
Sirius and Marlene burst into laughter as the Slytherins retreated. Sirius fell to the floor and Marlene was clutching a stitch in her side.
"That was brilliant," she gasped.
"Agreed," Sirius said, pocketing his wand and standing up. They walked out from behind the stone pillar and turned to walk up the stairs to the entrance hall. However, they were stopped by someone behind them.
"Hello Black," came a cold voice from the portrait hole. Sirius and Marlene spun around to see Severus Snape standing there, looking at them viciously.
"Shove off Snape," Sirius said.
"What's wrong? Just angry because your Mommy didn't want you home for Christmas? Tut tut, poor dear," Snape said. Sirius gritted his teeth, but stayed put. It took every ounce of self control in his body not to lunge at Snape but he kept his actions at bay.
"Shut up," Sirius said dangerously, but Snape didn't stop there.
"I can't say I don't blame her. I wouldn't want to talk to you either if you were my family. Espeically when you hang around with mudbloods like you do..." Snape said, nodding his head at Marlene. Sirius couldn't take it anymore, and he whipped out his wand and sent a jelly-legs curse at Snape.
"Don't call her or anyone else that again!" Sirius yelled. Snape took out his wand but before he could do anything to Sirius, Marlene was dragging him up the stairs and out of the dungeons.
"He's a git," Sirius muttered angrily as he walked up the stairs with Marlene.
"Yeah, he is, but you can't let him get to you like that. It's just letting him win, and I know you don't want him to win," Marlene said. Sirius crossed his arms over his chest and muttered something incomprehensible.
"Come on, let's just go back to the common room and bask in the glory of our prank a little bit more," Marlene said, trying to cheer Sirius up. He smiled a bit and chatted about the prank the rest of the way up to Gryffindor Tower.
XOxoXOxoXOxoXO
"Mom, my Christmas sweater doesn't fit anymore!" Lily yelled to her mother as she stood in her room, looking at her favorite sweater that was now a few inches too short in the sleeves and middle region.
"What, Lily?" her mom asked, walking into the room. She looked at her daughter in her too-small-sweater and sighed.
"You must have grown like a weed while at Hogwarts," she said. She shook her head, "I guess you will just have to find something else to wear," Lily groaned in frustration, as she loved this sweater, but took it off all the same and looked in her closet for something red or green that she could make presentable for a Christmas party.
After about 10 minutes of searching she finally decided on a plain red long sleeve shirt. There was nothing special about it really, but at least it was color appropriate. Lily emerged from her room, pulling her fancy black miniskirt down, and was almost hit in the head by a flying stiletto.
"Watch it Petunia!" Lily yelled hotly into her sister's room. Petunia emerged from her room and glared at Lily.
"I'm trying to find my black flats. Do you have any idea where they went?" Petunia said, looking at Lily pointedly.
"Why would I take your shoes? They would never fit me, your feet are humongous!" Lily said. Petunia glared at her and walked back into her room, promptly slamming the door in her face.
"Girls, try to get along! It's two days before Christmas!" Mr. Evans's voice was heard coming from his room. Lily rolled her eyes and walked downstairs to sit on the couch. She waited for about 10 minutes before she heard her mom coming down the stairs.
"Lily, grab your coat, we are leaving soon," Mrs. Evans said. Lily got up from the couch and sluggishly walked over to the coat rack. She never had fun at the Potter's Christmas parties. There was a small chance that Melanie would be invited, since she had been at Potter's birthday party, but she doubted it, as Lily had never seen her at a Christmas Party before.
The Evans family briskly walked down the sidewalk towards the Potter's house, all clutching their coats tightly around themselves in the cold night air.
"This party better not go too late. I've had way more James Potter lately than I can handle," Lily muttered to her mom.
"Lily, I want you to be nice to him tonight," her mother warned her.
"I will if he is. But if he is mean to me, I'm going to be mean right back!" Lily said stubbornly as they started to head up the pathway.
"Lily," Mrs. Evans said warningly.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be nice," Lily muttered as Mr. Evans rang the bell. The door opened a few moments later to Mrs. Potter's smiling face.
"Hello! It's so wonderful to see you all!" Mrs. Potter said, leading them into her house. Lily smiled, looking around at the beautifully decorated interior and smelling the scent of cinnamon. She heard yelling from the other room, however, and her mood was quickly spoiled as she saw James enter the room.
"Shut up James!" Brighid yelled, running away from her brother who was chasing her.
"I'm serious!" James said.
"Mom! Did you invite my friend Timmy to the party?!" Brighid asked Mrs. Potter, who was in the foyer taking the Evans's coats.
"Who dear?" Mrs. Potter asked distractedly as she tried to balance all four coats.
"The boy that... my friend from the platform," Brighid said. Mrs. Potter rolled her eyes.
"No, I didn't. James is just trying to get you upset, you should know that by now," Mrs. Potter responded.
"You are dead James!" Brighid said, running into the den, where James was hiding behind the couch. Lily laughed and walked into the den, ready to see if Brighid was actually going to follow through with her word and kill James.
XOxoXOxoXOxoXO
"IT'S CHRISTMAS! IT'S CHRISTMAS! COME ON, GET UP, IT'S CHRISTMAS!" Came a yell from downstairs. Marlene rolled over, looking blearily around the room.
"Come on, get up! Today is Christmas!" She heard Sirius yell again. Marlene looked at the clock and received a shock.
"Sirius! It's 6:00! I don't even get up this early for classes!" Marlene yelled down to him, laying back down and pulling her covers tightly around her.
"But it's CHRISTMAS!" Sirius yelled up to her again, "Now get down here!"
"Make me!" Marlene screamed childishly. She listened, and heard footsteps running over to her staircase, beginning to ascend them. However, after a few moments she heard a scream followed by a thud.
Marlene got out of bed, confused, and walked out of her dorm. She looked down where the stairs were supposed to be, and saw Sirius laying in a crumpled heap on the floor, and instead of stairs she found a slide.
"What happened?" Marlene asked, sliding down the side and landing next to him.
"I have no idea. I just started going up the stairs and then they turned into a slide and I fell down," Sirius said.
"Hmm..." Marlene muttered, looking at the stairs.
"Oh well. At least it got you up, didn't it?" Sirius said, smirking. Marlene stared at him before sighing in frustration.
"Alright, fine, presents. But THEN! I am going back to bed!" Marlene growled, walking over to a couch in front of the tree in the common room.
"Here, these ones are for you. And these are mine," Sirius said, handing her a stack of presents and keeping the other for himself.
"You already sorted the presents?" Marlene asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Well yeah. I've been up since 5:30 after all," Sirius said. Marlene's eyes widened, looking at him like he was crazy as he sat next to her on the couch.
"I am in a room with a psycho..." Marlene said, causing Sirius to laugh.
"Well, come on then, let's open our presents!" Sirius exclaimed. Marlene grinned and the two 11 year olds began ripping the paper off of their presents.
Marlene had gotten a book from Alice, mountains of assorted candy from Melanie, and some muggle things from Lily. Since they were both muggleborns, Lily had bought muggle things for Marlene when she returned home and owled them back up to the school.
Sirius had gotten a quddich book from James, and all kinds of food from Peter. Remus had given him a gag gift– a copy of the forbidden items that could be found in Filch's office. He had also given him a new pair of dragon hide gloves, since Sirius had dropped him in a girls toilet (don't ask...) and had been too afraid to go back and get them.
Soon there was only one present left to be opened.
"Who is it from?" Marlene asked, putting aside her gifts and looking at the only wrapped present left.
"My parents... I really don't want to know what they got me, after getting into Gryffindor and everything," Sirius said.
"Well, I think you should open it. At least you got a present from your parents," Marlene said, trying to fake a smile. It was then that Sirius looked around and saw that she hadn't in fact gotten a present from her parents.
"Okay, I'll open it," Sirius said. He pulled back the wrapping paper apprehensively, afraid that there would be some kind of dark magic object that they had sent him.
However, when he pulled back the paper he found... a book. Nothing magical or mysterious about it. Just a book entitled Blood Traitors of the 19th Century– What Happens When Wizards Mingle with Muggles.
"Oh, that's lovely," Sirius snorted, tossing the book on the table and making a mental note to burn it later.
"How thoughtful..." Marlene says sarcastically.
"Oh yeah, the Blacks are the most thoughtful people you'll ever meet," Sirius responded, matching her sarcasm.
"So is that the reason you didn't go home? Because your family is a bunch of nutcases?" Marlene asked. Sirius chuckled.
"Yep, that pretty much sums it up. My home life has never been too great, but now that I've become a Gryffindor I shudder to think what they'd do to me," Sirius answered. Marlene nodded sympathetically.
"What about you? Why didn't you go home?" Sirius asked, simply for the purpose of changing the topic as it was a bit of a touchy subject. However, he noticed that when he said that, Marlene's face got kind of dark and sad.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Sirius quickly added, but Marlene shook her head.
"No, it's okay. It's just that... my mom died about 3 years ago, leaving my dad to take care of my 5 sisters and I... so I just thought that I would lighten the load on him, so instead of having to deal with 6 girls, he only has 5. Plus, sometimes he... drinks kind of a lot... and I just wasn't really in the mood to see that," Marlene answered, looking down.
"I'm so sorry," Sirius answered, "Are any of your sisters here?"
"No, they are all younger than I am except for Olivia. She's two years older, she just never got a letter," Marlene answered.
"I am so sorry," Sirius said, truly sympathetic. There are few things people can do without ending up liking each other at the end of it. Knocking out a twleve-foot mountain troll in a girl's lavatory may be one of them... but so apparently is sharing your unfortunate family situation, for since that Christmas night, Sirius and Marlene had a kind of bond.
XOxoXOxoXOxoXO
Hee hee... did you guys like that ending? I dunno if you noticed, but the end paragraph is based off of the last page of chapter 10 in book 1, after the trio fights the mountain troll. Page 132 in the UK version... not sure about the US version, because ironically enough, I don't know where my US books are, so I only have my UK books at the moment, lol.
So... yeah... I hope you guys all liked this chapter! REVIEW!
Next Chapter: The chapter you have all been waiting for! Involves James, Remus, and his secret! GASP! Will Remus's cover be blown? What do you think? Review and tell me, and I'll try to update as soon as I can!