CHAPTER THIRTY

COMING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Don't ask me why I didn't tell them, Molly or Caleb. Because I honestly don't know. Maybe it was because I didn't want to upset them. Maybe it was because there was no need to, I had made my decision in minutes. I would never reveal Molly's secret, so it would have to be me. It doesn't matter anyway, we will both be telling the family at Christamas. However, Molly most certainly wouldn't want the whole school to know, and I ... wouldn't care. So I stand by not telling them, things were going well for me and I wanted to keep it that way.

So it's 3 weeks later, and yes we're heading home for the holidays today. In an hour. I've spent the last 3 weeks keeping my "conversation" with Hailey a secret, Molly's secret, Mine and Caleb's secret and watching my 2 best friends snog my brother and my cousin. Time has flown by. Yes, Rikki and James are an official couple. I think it's the first time James has actually commited properly to someone. I just hope he doesn't break Rikki's heart. But anyway, back to reality.

"Have you seen my pink jumper?" Shout Mel. I'm not sure if she's shouting to me or Rikki. See, they aren't very good at organising so whenever we go home they always get stressed out, packing things last minute, while I sit on my bed and laugh at them.

"Which pink jumper, you hav- Lily, will you stop laughing, get off your lazy arse and help!" Cries a very aggravated Rikki from the bathroom. She knows me so well.

"Nah. I think I'm fine where I am." I say in between laughs, while I flick through an ancient copy of Witch Weekly that I found under my bed, "You should have packed yesterday when I told you to. You've had all weekend."

"I had yesterday. That's not all weekend. I have better things to do than spend my Saturday packing ... like kissing James. If you don't get up and help I'll describe how amazing his tou-"

"Abadababa I'm up, I'm up. I'm helping. Eww, don't do that." I squirm. They both burst into fits of laughter.

An hour later we board the train, minutes before it leaves the station. We are so lucky.

Usually, on the train, I'm in a carriage with Mel and Rikki. That's it. But today ... today the carriage is jam-packed. Practically my whole family are in here. Obviously Louis is here for Mel and James for Rikki. But then Fred and Roxie came to sit with James. Al and Caleb, being rather friendless except for each other, came to join us and for some reason so did Dom. Everyone else is probably with their friends. But Rose is usually with Dom which makes me wonder where she is.

"Where's Rosie-poo."Fred asks her, in his usual cheery manner. If I didn't know better I'd say he and Roxie had made up but they way they are acting, there's a certain ... atmospere. Dom shrugs and everyone moves over to let her sit down. It's so cramped that Rikki has to sit on James' knee, Mel has to sit on Louis' and Roxie has to sit on Fred's. I wish I could sit on Caleb's knee. We are just suggesting what we could do to pass the time when the door slides open. It's Molly. Everyone looks up at her and she just stands in the doorway akwardly.

"Room for one more?" She asks and takes a hesitant step forward. For one split-second you could here a pin drop. Then Roxie speaks up.

"Sure. But don't you have to go sit with the Prefects?"

"Not until later." She says.

"What about lover-boy Jack? Where's he?" Asks Freddie. Never one to beat around the bush.

"We, um, broke up. A while ago actually." She looks down at her perfectly shining shoes. Poor Molly, anyone would think she had it together. But she doesn't and, if you look closely at her stomach - hidden by baggy jumpers, you could probably guess. She has a tiny bump.

"Ok." Shrugs Fred, "C'mon in." We all turn to glare at him but to my surprise Molly bursts out laughing. I don't remember the last time I saw her laugh. Slowly, one by one, we all start laughing. And, for a change, it feels like we're a normal, non-famous, happy family. But then again, what is a normal family?

It feels like only moments later when the train pulls to a stop. We grab our stuff and jump off. Our eyes simultaniously sweep the platform for our parents. Roxie spots them first. I can tell because she squeals in a very high pitch tone and starts running forward as fast as she can while carrying a heavy bag. I laugh and look towards where she's running. The second I spot my family's smiling faces, Aunts, Uncles and my parents, I start running too.

I get to my family, drop my suitcase (thank Merlin there's nothing breakable in it) and fling my arms around my Mum, tightly. She laughs in my ear and hugs me back harder.

"I missed you, Mum." I tell her, my voice muffled by her long hair.

"I missed you too, darling." She kisses the top of my head. The boys walk up, slowly, a few seconds later, trying to be cool in front of all these people. By this point my arms are wrapped around my Dad.

"See you soon, mate." I hear Al say to Caleb. Our of the corner of my eye I watch Caleb walk up to a small family - well small compared to mine at least. There is a tall man with brown, greying hair and a goatee beard, the woman beside him is gorgeous with small dainty features and shoulder length, sleek black hair. She's so small compared to him. His arm is wrapped around her and she is leaning into him, her head on his shoulder. Their eyes are shining at the sight of their son - because there is no doubt these are Caleb's parents. In front of them are two adorable little girls. They are wearing matching plaid dresses, only one is red and one is green, and their dark brown hair is in little tiny bunches. One of them grins widely at Caleb and I spot that she is missing a front tooth. I wonder what our kids would look like? His violet eyes, my orange hair?

"-you ready? Lily!" My Dad calls me back to reality. Merlin, what was that!

"Sorry?" I ask.

"I said, we should probably go now, people are starting to leave. Are you ready?" He smiles and rolls his eyes.

"Oh. Yeah."

As we are leaving the station my Mother looks at me and asks:

"Why didn't you introduce us to your boyfriend? We would have loved to meet him. Where is he? Do you think he's still here?" She questions me, not waiting for an answer before turning round to look for him, "What does he look like?" I avoid her latest question.

"I don't know if he's still here Mum. He's with his family and they have probably already left. Let's just go." I tell her and tug on the sleeve of her jacket. It's only half a lie, really. He is with his family, but I know perfectly well that they haven't left yet. I can see them from where I'm standing. She smiles and laughs in the musical way that only my Mum can. I can't believe how much I've missed her.

"Don't worry, darling, We won't embarass you, I promise. We only want to meet the boy. Promise we can meet him soon." She gives me a look, half asking, half telling.

"Yeah. I'll introduce you then." I nod and she looks away, satisfied for now.