Disclaimer: Mostly everything belongs to J.K Rowling, except for a few characters.
"James, Lily, as the Heads, I'm asking you both to plan another ball. The annual Yule Ball is coming up, and you'll need to decorate, have a theme, get a band to play, among a million other small things." Professor McGonagall was saying.
It was Tuesday evening, and Professor McGonagall had called a meeting. James had been sour about it, as it was cutting into his Quidditch practice. He had a lot of coaching to do, as he was the coach of Gryffindor's team.
"We'll take care of it Professor," Lily said, smiling sweetly.
"You also need to pick a date for Hogsmeade again," McGonagall told them, standing up, indicating that the meeting was over.
"We'll do that Professor," James assure her, standing up as well. He was already dressed in his Quidditch robes.
As they walked down the corridor, James wrapped his arms around Lily's waist.
"Wanna watch practise?"
"Not particularly," Lily laughed, "It's freezing rain outside. I think I'll stay in by the fire and catch up on some reading."
"Alright," James sighed, he had known that it was highly unlikely that Lily would want to watch the practise, especially with the weather. He was still a little disappointed.
"I'll see you later," Lily replied, kissing him goodbye. He watched her walk away before heading out to the Quidditch pitch.
XXXXLily sat on the sofa, enjoying the romance novel she had brought from home. Usually, Lily hated romance novels, but this one was well written. She had tossed it in her trunk during the summer to read if she got the chance at school. Lily hadn't thought she would get the chance.
It was nearly ten when James stumbled through the door, he was soaked and shivering with the cold. His glasses practically had little icicles growing off them.
"James, don't you look cold. Go change into warm close then come sit out here with me," Lily said, as she waited for him she made hot chocolate for them both. A few moments later James came out, he sat down on the sofa and held the blanket up for Lily to join him.
"So cold out," James mumbled, taking the mug she offered. She sat down, snuggling against him.
"How was practise?" Lily questioned, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Horrible," James moaned, "Couldn't see two inches in front of me. The new Beaters aren't focused and one of my Chasers is thinking of quitting." As he spoke, he ran his free hand through her hair.
"Do you think we'll win the match still on Saturday?" Lily lazily questioned, relaxing.
"Yeah, with me coaching it will only be a matter of time before everyone's whipped into shape." James yawned, drinking from his mug.
"Alright, so when do you want to go into Hogsmeade?" Lily questioned, getting down to business. "I was thinking maybe December 2nd, so people could get their Christmas shopping done."
"Makes sense to me," James nodded, not really thinking about it. He knew Lily would sort out all the details for Hogsmeade without his help.
"We have a lot to do that day. We have to Christmas shop for ourselves, plus get decorations for the Yule Ball, and plan a little Christmas party for here," Lily said, smiling.
"You want to have a little Christmas party?" James questioned, finishing his hot chocolate.
"Yeah, I love having Christmas parties! When I was younger, before I got the letter of acceptance to Hogwarts, my sister and I would plan out the coolest parties," Lily replied, smiling warmly at the memory. Then her face clouded.
"Why don't you do that anymore?" James questioned. "When you go home for the holidays, don't you do it then?"
"No, when I go home for the holidays I spend time with my family and get ignored by Petunia."
"Why?" James questioned, slightly confused. He had always been an only child, and Sirius had a brother whom he hated with a passion, for good reason but James still didn't understand why families fought so much, he'd give anything to see his parents again and be able to complain about them grounding him for all the stupid things he did. His grandparents were just to soft on him, not that he didn't love them. It just wasn't the same as having parents.
"Well, Petunia and I were really close growing up. We shared a bedroom by choice, and stayed up late talking about boys and stupid things, giggling and laughing. We did stupid things together. It all changed when I got that letter from Hogwarts and started attending here, Petunia called me a Freak basically every time I walked in the house. She hates me now, and won't even speak to me. I wish I had that bound with her still, I miss the old days," Lily told him, struggling to keep her composure.
"No offence, but your sister sounds like a prune who doesn't like magic," James replied, kissing her on the forehead. "Your above that Lil, she's just jealous because your so amazing and she's not."
"I've written basically a whole diary full of letters to her, every day since my first day at Hogwarts. I want to give it to her for Christmas this year, with someone else of course as she'll probably throw it in the trash once she sees what it is." Lily said, confining in him her deepest secret. No one new she wrote to Petunia, not even Marlene. Marlene, Ellie and Alice all spent their time bad mouthing Petunia, thinking that was what Lily wanted to hear.
"Sounds like a good idea to me, kinda like forcing her to see your world," James nodded, "Go for it."
"What about you James?" Lily questioned, shifting so she was looking into his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"Your family, do you have any siblings?" Lily elaborated.
"Uh, no," James replied, debating on whether or not to tell her. Usually he kept his personal business to himself, only Sirius, Remus and Peter knew the secret of his parent's death. But Lily was his girlfriend, he planned on marrying her one day. "I live with my grandparents," he added awkwardly.
"What of your parents?" Lily questioned gently.
"They died… about a year before I came to Hogwarts," James replied.
"Oh, I'm sorry James," Lily said sincerely, wrapping her arms around James's neck and kissing him gently on the lips. She had been sitting there complaining about her sister when James had very little family left, she felt guilty in the knowledge that her parents and sister were all alive and well.
"It's alright," James sighed. "I'm ok with it." What he left out was all the pain and suffering he went through after their death. The extreme loneliness he felt, he wanted his parents back and alive. Merlin, all the things he would do to have one more day with them. He'd take ballroom dancing lessons like his mother had wanted and play one last game of Quidditch with his father.
Lily knew he was thinking about his parents and the time lost with them, so she held him.
XXXX"I've got so many things to do!" Lily said, practically freaking out. She was sitting at the Gryffindor table the next afternoon, trying to eat lunch and finish her homework from the night before. Talking with James had pushed the thoughts of homework far from her mind. They talked about everything, she had gotten him to open up about his real feelings about his parents, and he had even told her what he wanted for the future, reluctantly of course but he had still told her that he wanted a house full of children and her by his side.
"Don't freak out Lil," Marlene said, patting Lily gently on the arm.
"After this I still have Transfiguration and Potions homework to do, and where's James? He can help me with the Transfiguration paper!" Lily exclaimed, searching around the Great Hall for James.
"I'm right behind you," James said, sitting down beside her, prepared to calm her down.
"Oh James, there you are! Merlin, I'm going to fail everything!" Lily sobbed, falling into her book and knocking a plate of chips everywhere. Marlene cleared it away with a wave of her wand.
"No, your not Lily relax," Marlene said for what seemed like the one-hundredth time.
"Ok, all right, pulling myself together now: I have stuff to do," Lily replied, brushing back a piece of hair that had fallen from her braid into her face impatiently away. She went to work on her Potions assignment, scribbling like made in her neat little handwriting.
"Done this!" she declared five minutes later, moving onto the more challenging piece of work, Transfiguration. James helped her through it, and Lily finished it just as time ran out and they had to go to class.
"Lily, you freak out a lot," James told her, pulling her close and kissing her quickly as they walked towards Professor McGonagall's room.
"Gee, thanks James, you sure do know what to say to have a girl swooning," Lily sarcastically retorted.
"Hey, no need for words, you swoon at every touch from me, every look and certainly every kiss," James replied sweetly, proving it by stopping her in the middle of the hallway and kissing her. Lily's knees went weak and she did swoon.
"Shove your ego up your arse James," Lily said sweetly. James grinned, following her into the class. He loved making points.
"I know you all finished those papers I assigned you yesterday," Professor McGonagall announced. Relieved with her timing, Lily handed in her paper, smiling her thanks to James.
Class went on, barely interesting Lily. Her mind was more focused on James. Last night he had told her that his parents had died around Christmas, Lily imagined that Christmas would be a hard time for him, and she wanted to do something special for him.
James's mind also wasn't on the subject, he was thinking about what to get Lily for Christmas. He wanted it to be personal and special. Usually, James never looked forward to Christmas. It was rather painful sitting around the dinner table with two very important people missing, but he always made the best of things. James's grandparents didn't deserve a moody face.
Making a mental note to write to his grandparents that evening, James flicked his wand effortlessly and turned a frog into a kitten. He watched Lily's delighted expression when his kitten crawled over to her, meowing. An idea formed in James's head, and he grinned.
XXXX"Peter, what's up my man!" Sirius said, slapping Peter on the back as he caught up with him in the corridor. James and Remus came up behind them on either side.
"Nothing," Peter replied, looking rather solemn.
"Lady troubles?" Sirius questioned with an understanding look on his face. Peter nodded and sighed.
"Ledaria's getting rather testy," Peter told them, glancing around to make sure no one else was in sight.
"What do you mean?" James questioned, urging him to continue.
"Well, all she wants to do is hang out, just us. I wanted to hang out with you guys." Peter replied, carefully choosing his words.
"Dump her then mate, you don't need a girl that drags you down and keeps you from your buddies, look at us, we're not always with Ellie, Marlene and Lily." Sirius told him, swinging his arm around Peter.
"Oh but Ledaria's not that bad, she's amazing. She's so interested in me, she asks all these questions, trying to get to know me. She says she wants to know me better then anyone else does, and she wants me to know her," Peter told them, jumping over his own words in his excitement.
"Does she tell you everything about herself?" James questioned, sensing something he didn't particularly like in the pit of his stomach.
"Yeah," Peter nodded. James frowned in thought as Peter continued to gush about Ledaria. Something just wasn't right, he could feel it. Something wasn't meshing. He had a bad feeling about Ledaria.
"There you are Peter," a cool voice said. Ledaria was walking towards them, her face cool and composed. James wondered what Peter saw in her, she was pretty but her eyes were so empty and cold. Her face was almost always expressionless, as was her voice. His Lily had a million different expressions, a million different smiles that all reached her eyes. James hadn't seen Ledaria smile once in all their years at Hogwarts.
"Oh, hi Ledaria!" Peter squeaked. "I was just catching up with the guys."
"Oh," Ledaria said, barely glancing at Sirius, Remus and James.
"Uh, I'm gonna go now guys," Peter mumbled.
"Don't forget, be back at the dormitory before nine," Remus winked.
Thanks for reviewing!
Greengrl: I'm glad your not mad, hope you like this update:)
jinxedpotterfan13: Ahh yes its insane how long it took me to update, I got caught up in those silly teenage distractions...mainly boys lol
bRaTsKi: Oh, she is meant to be a bitch, the biggest bitch you'll ever know. Cool and calculating, that's what we want in an evil Slytherin bitch :) I said bitch to much..haha Thanks for loving the story, whats a story without a Ledaria?
BlazeAngleDragon: Yes, they did take it well...a little too well... :O
voulae: More mystery coming!
Tanya J Potter: Breaking up is the last thing they will do... I think. I'll ask the troll... (creative troll, ehm, I'm not crazy there is a troll in the closet of my mind)
Mahazzy: Ohh, a new reviewer:) Hope you like this chapter!
ilovedrew88: Who's drew? sorry got distracted again... yeah it does suck but Peter will get over it...or will he:O I don't even know. Wow.
Alright everyone, thanks for reviewing! I'll start the next chapter as soon as I can...don't worry. Thanks for reading and reviewing!