Trials and Tribulations

Summary: Harry Potter knew he was going to get shocked when he visited his parents graves. He knew that'd he'd see family he never met; like grandparents, uncles, and aunts. But one thing he didn't know was that he was going to meet his sister.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am not making any profit off of this fanfic.

Chapter Seventeen: Cliché

Lily wasn't sure how they did it, but somehow she, James, and Remus were sleeping on the loveseat. Sirius was spread out all over on the floor, his left leg nearly knocking over the pile of gifts underneath the Christmas tree.

Lily's eyes opened and she looked around. She felt as if her bladder was going to explode, and at the moment there was no way to get off the loveseat without waking James. His arms were wrapped tightly around her middle, and her legs were resting on Remus' lap. She blinked slowly and then carefully tried to disentangle herself from his grasp. The four of them had stayed up all night, and fell asleep right before dawn, which was only a few hours beforehand.

After a moment James's hands were resting at his sides. Lily carefully lifted her feet away from Remus, wincing at the stiffness in her legs. She stood up and walked silently towards the stairs. James had told her that only two of the twelve stairs creaked, and that it was the one at the bottom and the third from the top. Lily carefully skipped over those stairs, not wanting to wake James's grandparents.

After using the loo, Lily made her way back downstairs. Halfway down the steps she nearly fell as she heard Sirius scream at the top of his lungs, "HAPPY CHRISTMAS! WAKE UP!"

After steadying herself, Lily walked down the stairs. She saw Sirius beneath the Christmas tree, passing out presents, and James was groggily trying to wake himself. He seemed to be awake when Remus dumped a cup of cold water on his head. Lily laughed and then she looked around. A moment later James's grandparents left the kitchen, as if they knew this chaos was going to happen.

"Lilee! Where you be? Come get your presents before I open them for you!" Sirius shouted, still under the tree. Lily cleared her throat.

"I'm right here Sirius."

"Goodness Padfoot, can't you just look out to see who's up?"

"Where're my glasses? Did I drop them?" James slowly got off the couch and began searching for his glasses. "Bloody chess board. Why'd we play chess so late?"

"Language," Lily reprimanded, walking to the side of the couch that Remus slept on and picked up his glasses. She handed them to him, and he smiled gratefully.

"Presents," Sirius reminded, coming out from beneath the tree. "Everyone ready? Grandma Sophie and Granddad Frank? Are you here?"

"We're up Sirius," Sophie said, walking to the couch and sitting down. All the teenagers got on the floor, Lily sitting on a pile of sleeping bags.

Sirius evenly distributed the presents until they were all gone. Then he counted to three and everyone dug into their presents.

The first present Lily opened was from Sirius. It was a large photo album and it a lot of pictures of James. When she opened the cover there was a note from Sirius.

Lily, I think it's about time you get this book. It's full of strange and stupid things that Prongs does, and you should use it for reference. If your child ever does anything like this, correct it immediately, or the child will turn out exactly like Prongs, hence the first picture.

Sirius Black

Lily looked at the picture. It was the most peculiar thing she had ever seen. It was of James and it seemed like he was drinking gelatin through a straw. It was a moving picture, and after a moment, James would pull away and grab his jaw, and then he would drink some more, then the picture reset itself.

Lily looked at James, who wasn't paying attention to what Lily had. He was trying to unwrap a difficult present. Lily returned her attention back to the picture and giggled to herself. There were a lot pages with pictures and notes attached to them, so she knew she'd have a lot of fun reading it.

"Ahh, the stupid book," Remus said, leaning over Lily's shoulder to look at it. "We all have one, I think."

Lily just smiled and set it beside her. There were a handful of presents from Alice and Elizabeth, most of which Lily was very glad she had. There was foot rub for her aching feet, and a picture frame that had to of been decorated by Elizabeth, because it was quite creative. It had macaroni and beads and a few things Lily didn't even recognize. Her mother had gotten her a book, which Lily knew she was going to read, and her father got her a gift certificate to a baby store, one Lily had never heard of.

"Lily, your parents got me boxers and socks," James held up two separate packages for Lily to see. "Guess they weren't expecting to get me a gift."

"Ahh…well…" Lily said, unsure if he was offended or not. James looked up at her and smiled, which filled Lily with relief.

"I'll be writing them a note," he said, setting them aside.

Lily laughed. There was one present left for her, and she thought it was from James because she hadn't gotten one from him yet. She opened it and was surprised when the card attached to the gift said Remus and it was double wrapped. Lily took off the second layer of wrapping paper and was stunned to see a gift basket full of Muggle candy.

"Oh my, Remus, you did your research."

"I had to sneak out of Hogsmeade to get that stuff Lily. You're lucky I can apparate." He gave Lily a one armed hug. Lily was tempted to start eating it, but thought better because she hadn't eaten breakfast yet.

"Well, if that's everything, we'll eat breakfast and then clean up," Frank said. Sirius was the first one up, tip-toeing around presents and wrapping paper. Following him was Remus and James. Lily gave James a weird look, slightly hurt that he didn't get her anything.

She managed to get up on her own, listening to everyone in the kitchen goofing off. Sophie was trying to order them, but they were having too much fun being loud. As Lily was about to walk away, something fell off her stomach. She looked at it, and it was a small package connected to an envelope. She picked it up and opened the envelope.

Lily,

I know things have changed a lot between us. Honestly, I'm surprised that you're even talking to me, because I've totally thrown your life off course and in a totally different direction. But I think of that as a good thing, you know what I mean? Not everything can be, or should be, for that matter, planned out, and the small (or, in our case, big) surprises can change us for the better. Just look at me as an example. I've grown up a wee bit since September. You've grown…kinder to me since September…

I spent ages looking for a gift for you Lily, and I only got one. I wanted to get you everything and anything, but that just didn't seem like enough, and then what I ended up getting you…it's kind of cliché, to be honest. I didn't want to get it at all, but then you would have ended up with nothing, and that's absolutely out of the question!

I'm not sure what you would call it. It's lovely to say the least. I didn't get you something from Zonkos, that's for sure. Actually, I didn't get you anything from Hogsmeade. Like Remus, I had to leave to find this.

But now you know I'm terribly cliché, and that's just the way I am.

I hope you like it nonetheless. I heard Muggles like cliché's, and since you're Muggle born…

And I know we haven't talked about anything yet…but I've fancied you for years Lily, and this isn't a proper engagement…thing, but I want you to think about it, okay?


James

Lily finished the letter, and read it twice for good measure. Then she tucked the note under her arm and opened the small box that was attached to it. A million things had been running through her mind as to what cliché thing James could have gotten her, and even though the gift that he gave her was at the top of the cliché list, it still took her breath away.

It was a white gold band with a flower in the middle. There were six white gold petals to the flower, and each petal was set with a diamond, in the middle of the flower was a diamond.

At first Lily couldn't breathe. Then she thought back to the letter. 'Engagement ring? He's proposing? For nearly the passed seven years I've hated him…and after a few months he's proposing? Proposing? Am I ready to spend the rest of my life with him?' Lily grinned broadly. 'I wouldn't have it any other way.' She managed to get the ring out of the box and onto her right index finger in a flash. She felt giddy for a moment, just staring at it.

"Lily, are you going to eat breakfast?"

Lily looked up. James was standing in the doorway leading to the kitchen. Lily wasn't sure where the energy came from, but she ran to James and leapt into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. She hadn't moved that quick in ages, and she was glad James didn't fall.

"What is…"

"I love it! I love you!" She grabbed his face and kissed him soundly on the lips. James was beyond surprised, and when they pulled away he gave her a bemused look. She just grinned at him broadly.

"So cliché is good?" he asked.

"Cliché is more than good," Lily said, hugging him tightly.

"And did you say you loved me?" James asked, pulling away. Lily looked at him and blushed slightly. She hadn't even realized she said it. She nodded her head, her eyes sparkling brightly. 'If he proposed, then he shouldn't be surprised by my feelings.'

James's smile seemed to grow, making his face hurt. "I love you too," he said, before kissing her again.

xoXoXoXox

BB/N: So…I'm updating! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been really busy with school and I just haven't really felt the urge to actually type…Maybe that's because I haven't had time to type…

Well…I have to go.

I swear on everything that I own that I'm going to get back into the groove of typing and updating regularly!

Love,
Bob Bennit