All was quiet in Hogwarts until about eight in the morning, when Lily awoke. She was, as usual, the first of her dorm mates awake. But not for long, if Lily had anything to do with it!
"Wake up, Marlene, its Christmas!" Lily shouted as she jumped on her best friend. Her yells woke her other dorm mates, who grumbled and called obscenities at the Head Girl.
"Sorry, girls, but rise and shine!" she yelled, jumping on each one in turn. "Hestia, up you get! Remus is waiting for you!"
Hestia stretched and smiled at Lily. "Merry Christmas, Mrs Potter," she teased, before rolling over and attempting to get back to sleep. Lily yanked Hestia's pillow out from under her head and started hitting her with it.
"Ow – Ouch – OW! ALRIGHT! I'M UP!"
"Shut up, guys," Mary MacDonald's quiet voice came. Lily began laughing.
"Oh, no, Mary! Come on! It's Christmas! Aren't you excited?"
"In a few hours."
Lily heard Marlene begin to snore softly again. Disappointed in her friends' lack of enthusiasm, Lily got out her wand threateningly. Choosing Marlene as her first victim, Lily murmured "Arguamenti!" and hit Marlene with a spray of water.
Spluttering and furious, Marlene jumped out of bed and began chasing Lily around the dormitory. Pleased at her success, Lily laughed. "I'm glad you're awake!" she said as she turned and went into the bathroom. "I want everyone dressed and ready with their presents in fifteen minutes!"
Jumping in the shower, Lily hummed to herself. She did love Christmas.
Finally, fifteen minutes later – ignoring Mary's pleas about staying in bed, mourning her parents' death, saying she had dragon pox, trying to bribe Lily to allow her a few more hours of sleep, and pretending to have forgotten her presents – the four descended down to the common room. Mary waved goodbye to the trio, heading for the Ravenclaw common room to spend Christmas with her sister. "I bet she won't be up," she said pointedly to Lily, who simply shrugged and smiled.
They turned to the couches in front of the fire, only to find them already occupied. Disgruntled, Lily had every intention of kicking whoever had stolen their seats out of them, only to find it was the marauders, and they did not look happy.
"Are you aware," Sirius said grumpily, "Of how early it is in the morning?"
Marlene snorted and fell into the seat beside him. "Don't remind me."
"Are you also aware of how loud you can scream?" Remus added, before blushing at his unintentional innuendo. James started laughing loudly. "Oh, Moony. Don't ever change."
Hestia and Lily sat directly in front of the fire on the floor. "Enough chit chat, present time!" Lily announced. After a moment, she looked at Sirius sadly. "I'm afraid I didn't get you anything, Sirius," she said. "I didn't want to fuel your ego too much."
He waved off her comment. "I already have everything I want in the world, anyway."
Lily caught James' eye. He winked at her, pulling something from his pocket. "Are you sure, Padfoot?"
"Yes."
"Truly?"
"Yes! Why?"
James sighed. "Then I guess you don't want this…"
He held out his hand. In his palm, a real chocolate kitten. Lily recognised it from Honeydukes, on her and James' first date, when he offered to buy it for her. That made her smile.
The kitten was pawing James' hand at that particular moment, looking deliberately adorable. Sirius' jaw dropped. "Prongs! You shouldn't have!" he cried, gently picking up the cat and holding it close to his chest. "I've always wanted to eat a – "
Lily couldn't help but laugh as she watched Sirius' face go from gleeful to horrified.
"Why did it just poo on me, Prongs?" Sirius asked quietly. "It just… shit… on me…"
"They're chocolate cherries," James explained happily. "Its poo is edible!"
After a moment of deliberation, Sirius began nodding. "I love it! Thanks, mate!"
Everyone began handing presents to each other, erupting into smaller conversations. Lily gave Peter an arts and crafts set, which made him blush profusely. Quietly, he stumbled out a "thanks, Lily," before giving her a large amount of Chocolate Frogs.
For Remus, a large tome on defence against magical creatures, as Lily knew Defence Against the Dark Arts was his favourite class. In return, he gave her a silver chain necklace which she immediately put on.
Marlene received a beauty kit from Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions, which made her smile. "This has come at the perfect time, Lily," Marlene thanked her.
"Ah, well, gotta keep you vain somehow," Lily teased. Hestia had received some blue sapphire earrings, about an inch in length. Hestia immediately put them in her ears. "It's just costume jewellery," Lily laughed, "But they're still really pretty!"
The boys (except Sirius) looked confused as they eavesdropped on their conversation. "They don't look like they should be worn with a costume," Peter said finally. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Costume jewellery is just a term used for fake jewellery. It's a knock off of actual jewels."
Nodding in understanding, the boys didn't question how Sirius knew that, so the girls followed their lead.
Lastly, James received a broomstick care kit from Lily who was grinning mischievously. "I know how you love that stick of yours," she giggled. James raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe I'll show you how to look after it one day," he replied casually, admiring the kit. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lily blushing profusely.
Serves her right. You don't start an innuendo war with James Potter.
"Oh, I almost forgot," James said suddenly. He reached into his pocket and threw a little box at Lily. "Here. Merry Christmas."
Lily opened the box to reveal a gold ring with a giant ruby encased in diamonds. Small garnets were encrusted in the band of the ring all the way around.
Shocked, she looked to James for an explanation. He was looking at her already with a small smile on his face. Biting her lip, Lily quickly gestured for him to follow her. The couple moved to a corner table; the very same one James had asked her to the ball at.
James watched Lily struggle to find words. "I can't take this," Lily said at last. "It's too…"
"It was my grandmothers," James said softly, taking hold of Lily's hand, ensuring that she held on to the box. "She'd be proud to know you're the girl I want to give it to."
"James, I'm not ready for this," Lily whispered. James lifted her head a little and smiled.
"Hey, you don't have to be. It's alright. I just want you to keep it. Merlin knows you'll be wearing it one day."
Lily looked amused. "Are you sure about that?"
"I've been sure about it for a few years now," James said earnestly. "So keep it. You don't have to put it on right away. Whenever you're ready. I have every intention of marrying you, Lily Evans. I know that one day you'll want to marry me too."
"Well, I don't know about that," Lily teased.
But as James leaned down to kiss her softly, holding Lily in his arms, accepting that she doesn't want to marry him yet, and knowing that she may not be ready for a long time, Lily wondered if marrying James would be such a bad thing.