Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling. Lucky lady.
A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited, followed, or even read this story, including the guests! It means so much to me that you are enjoying my story, and I hope that you continue to enjoy it! The Chrstmas present ideas from Azzurolunali, TheTaleOfTheScribbler and Megan will be used in this chapter, some have been slightly modified, but thank you for your suggestions!
Basically, thanks a million to all of you!
Enjoy xx
"But I can't!"
"James-"
"It's Christmas Eve! How am I supposed to sleep?"
"Uh, by laying down and relaxing?"
"You know what I mean!"
"Prongs, with all due respect, shut up and go to bed."
"But Sirius-"
"James Potter! Be quiet and let Lily and Sirius go to sleep!"
"But Mum, it's Christmas Eve!"
"Yes, and it's also twelve o'clock at night. Go to bed!"
I'm woken up before the sun the next day by James jumping on my bed.
"James...what?"
"Get up, Lily! It's Christmas!"
I jump up in bed, hair falling into my face, and chuck the duvet off me.
"Merry Christmas!"
We kiss quickly, and I can feel James' excitement, mirroring my own.
I love Christmas. Always have. In third year, I stayed at Hogwarts at Christmas for the first time, and Alice said that with my red hair and green eyes, I look like Christmas, or what it would look like if Christmas was a person. That made us all laugh, and we got up at six to open our presents.
James gets me up at five.
"Is Sirius awake yet?" I ask frantically, pulling my jumper over my head, and James shakes his head, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"Not yet. Come on, we have to wake him up!"
We race like little children into Sirius' room, and James yanks open the curtains as I shake Sirius.
"Sirius! Get up! It's Christmas!"
"Go away..." He mumbles, burrowing further down into the covers, and I lean down to sing in his ear.
"We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas,"
"And a happy New Year!" James calls loudly, and Sirius groans, turning over and pulling his pillow over his head.
"You had to get together, didn't you, to two people who are obsessed with Christmas..."
"Come on, Sirius, come on. Or I'll ask Effie to not give you breakfast!" I add threateningly, and he sits bolt upright, knocking me to the floor.
A loud crack echoes in the room, and Effie appears, a wide smile on her small face.
"Master James and Miss Lily! Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas Effie!" James and I chorus, and she gestures to downstairs, ears flapping.
"Does Master James wish Effie to get you some breakfast?"
"Yes please!"
We run down the stairs, bursting into the kitchen, me giggling like mad. There are some letters on the table, two addressed to me, and I tear the first one open hurriedly.
Dear Lily,
Merry Christmas! I bet James will have you up at five, so good morning, too!
I sent your present to James' place, and he said that he'd make sure you got it. Enjoy Effie's cooking!
Love,
Remus
I smile and yank open the next one. It's short, and to the point.
Lily,
Vernon doesn't want you to come to the wedding, but I insisted. I'll see you on May 22rd.
Merry Christmas,
Petunia.
I look down at the letter, a lump in my throat suddenly making it difficult to swallow, and shake my head.
There's no need to feel sad. At least I'm going to the wedding.
Five minutes later, I'm eating toast at the speed of light, desperate to get into the living room and open some presents.
Yes, I am like a little kid when it comes to Christmas.
James is just as bad!
"Are you nearly done?" My boyfriend urges his mum, who's buttering her toast agonisingly slowly, and Sirius, who's working his way through enough food to feed a small army.
"Yes, James, I'm nearly done. You need to be patient!" Mrs Potter is chuckling at him, and I grab his hand under the table, rubbing his knuckles. He shudders at our contact, and I edge my chair closer to him so I can lean against him. A few minutes later, Mrs Potter is finished too, and we're all looking expectantly at Sirius, as he finishes his last mouthfuls.
"I'm done!"
James cheers triumphantly, and we run into the living room, over to the tree that we so lovingly decorated, and I sit myself down in James' lap.
"Me first!" Sirius crows, and I glare at him impatiently, as he pulls the first gift towards him and tears it open. He gets a magical razor from Mrs Potter, the designer leather jacket he's been eyeing up for months from Peter and Remus, a dog bowl and a dog tag with his name engraved on it from me, a box of sweets from Marlene, a smart little wallet from Alice and Frank and, most curiously, a set of keys from James.
"Keys? Uh, thanks mate, but keys? What are they for?"
"Well, that one," James tips me off his lap and points to one of the keys. "is for the front door."
"The front door? You mean, to...to here?" Sirius has rare tears in his eyes, and when he speaks, he sounds choked.
"Yep, and you'll have to wait to find out what that one's for." James points to the other key, a mischievous look in his eyes, and pulls me back into his lap again.
"Me now!" James cries, and I roll my eyes good-naturedly.
I hand James his first present, and he nearly impales me with his elbow in his effort to open the present as quickly as possible.
He gets a new set of Quidditch robes and dress robes from his mum, a full set of Quidditch balls from Sirius, a box stuffed full of Bertie Bott's every flavour beans from Alice and Frank, a bottle of Colour-Changing Ink and a Self-Correcting Quill from Remus and a Rememberall from Peter.
"Is this from you?" James points to the last present in the pile, and I nod eagerly. Tearing the wrappings, I bite my lip as James pulls it out.
"A hairbrush?"
Sirius and I burst out laughing at the same time, and I collapse on the floor, chuckling. Mrs Potter starts to laugh as well, so we're all laughing while James sits in the middle, looking perplexed.
"Here's your real present," I grin, pulling a wrapped package out of my pocket, "but you can keep the hairbrush."
He opens the gift and lifts up a first-edition copy of Quidditch Through the Ages.
"I've been looking for one of these for ages. Thank you, Lily!"
He kisses me on the forehead, a huge smile on his face, and I'm so happy that I think I'm going to burst.
"Your presents now, Lily dear!"
I pull the first present onto my lap and rip it open.
I get a set of quills and inkwells from Mrs Potter, a Sneakoscope from Sirius, a new copy of Numerology and Grammatica from Remus (I threw my last one out the window during the OWLs) , Chocolate Frogs from Peter, a leather-bound notebook from Marlene and an enchanted hand mirror from Alice and Frank. As I start to open James' present, I feel him tense and lean over my shoulder. There's a little leather box and an envelope, and I open the leather box carefully, holding my breath.
"It's...it's beautiful..." I gasp as I see the stunning silver charm bracelet. Attached to it are several charms, and I pick it up, running my finger over each of them in turn. A miniature broom, a golden snitch, a flower, an owl, a butterfly, and my favourite. A stag and a doe, standing back to back. I turn to James, and smile broadly at him. "It's amazing. Thank you so much, James! Can you put it on?" I hold out my wrist, and he does up the clasp carefully.
"There's still that one!" Sirius points at the slim envelope, and Mrs Potter smiles warmly.
"It took him ages to get them."
"Get what?" I ask, but he just shakes her head and points at the envelope.
I open it, and slide out two slips of paper, reading them carefully.
Then I read them again.
And still don't believe what they're saying.
"I'm going to see...the Rolling Stones?!" I squeal, and James laughs.
"Do you like them?"
"I can't...oh my...Merlin...I mean...for real?"
"For real." James assures me, and I squeal again.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I throw my arms around his neck, overjoyed, and he hugs me.
"I'm glad you like it!"
"I don't just like it, I love it! Thank you, James!"
"You're very welcome! The concert's on the 19th of July next year."
"Eeee!" I shriek, and Mrs Potter laughs.
"We thought you'd like it, dearie."
"So, James?" Sirius asks, as I settle back in James' lap.
"Yes?"
"What is this key for?"
"Ah, well, I'll show you."
We get up, and James leads us out to the front of the house, where there's something waiting outside. Sirius laughs, a loud, disbelieving laugh.
"That's not...I mean...my present, it's not...is it?"
"That's it."
Sirius lets out a joyous whoop and runs towards his present, and I look at James, incredulous.
"You got Sirius a motorbike?"
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Asante,
She-who-loves-fanfiction xx
