"GIRLS!" Mrs McKinnon called "will you please come down stairs! Their portkey will be arriving shortly". This day had come too quickly. I thought I would have more time on my hands to mentally prepare for the arrival of the Potters. Stupid snowball fight distracting me and then stupid sleep for wasting my precious preparation time.
Marlene literally dragged me off the bed, where I had been lead reading Witch Weekly, and onto the landing. I grumbled and shuffled my feet behind her as Marlene bounced down the stairs in front of me. The McKinnon's all lined up in the hall ready to welcome their guests; I, on the other hand, sat half way up the stairs slightly hidden by the bannister. Marlene swished her golden hair back and spotted me in my hiding place. She just rolled her eyes and turned back to the front door as a loud booming knock echoed throughout the foyer.
Oh God. It's time.
Mr McKinnon wrenched back the door to reveal a man even taller than he was. "Jack!" the man thundered stepping over the threshold and bringing with him the smell of cold air. He carried a suitcase in one hand whilst the other was still shaking Mr McKinnon's enthusiastically.
"Charlus, it's good to see you again" Jack replied "you haven't changed a bit, well maybe the odd line here and there".
"Ha like you can talk you old dog!" Charlus returned with a joyous laugh, pulling Jack into a headlock. If this was James' dad I could see where he got his mischief from.
"Merlin! Could you men be any louder?" A woman, who could only be James' Mum, giggled. Everything about her screamed petite; the total opposite of her husband. She carried a wrinkled piece of a muggle newspaper, their portkey. "Evelyn, my darling, I cannot thank you enough for accommodating us" she said as she kissed first Mr and then Mrs McKinnon's cheeks.
I didn't notice them at first, which is weird as they always command attention whenever they enter a room, but the two black haired boys had stumbled in behind the slight lady. I shrank back, attempting to hide in the shadows, watching silently as they both greeted the McKinnon's. I was probably the only one who noticed when Sirius gave Marlene's butt a subtle pat as he pulled away from their welcome hug.
As Potter finished grasping hands with Mason, he looked up at me – the light glinted off his glasses. "What are you doing all the way up there?" Potter smirked. Damn.
"Just staying out of the family reunion" I said, getting up and walking down the remaining stairs. There was no point in hiding now that he had spotted me.
"Oh Lil, you daft dimbo, I thought you'd just gone to the loo!" Marlene laughed as she pulled me into her side. "You are part of this family!" I smiled shyly.
"Well since I'm here…" Sirius pounced on me giving a bone crushing hug and ruffling my hair. He laughed at my protests before releasing me to Potter, who picked me up and twirled me around in a circle. I couldn't suppress the giggle that rose in her throat.
"Potter put me down!" I squealed. Oh dear Merlin, I was enjoying myself! Once free I moved quickly to shake hands with Mr and Mrs Potter before retreating behind Mason.
"Well" Mrs McKinnon said clasping her hands together "let me show you to your rooms whilst this lot go and finish preparing breakfast". Evelyn lead the Potter's through the closet door as Jack proceeded to direct the children's cooking skills.
When the last set of cutlery had clattered onto the china plates, Dorea lent forward so that her chin was resting on her hands.
"What are you kids planning to do today?" she asked with a small gleam in her eye.
There was silence in which Sirius glanced sideways at Marlene before she piped up saying "Lily and I have decided to have a girl's shopping trip to London!" That was definitely news to me.
"And when did we decide this?" I asked her getting up and placing my dishes by the sink.
"Oh no, I did. Just now" Marlene replied with a small smile playing on her lips.
"But why do you need to go all the way into London? I just can't be bothered!"
"C'mon Lil" she said, standing to put her dishes to be washed too, "I know how much you love looking at the Selfridges displays on Oxford Street and I need to go to Diagon Alley to get some more potion supplies!" I huffed grumpily.
"Why do you need potions supplies?" Potter interjected "it's the Christmas holidays for crying out loud".
"Ahh my dear Jamesy" Marlene slipped round the table and wrapped her arms around his neck, "I need those supplies because I am brewing you a large batch of Amortentia for your Christmas present as you have a severe lack of love in your life!" She kissed his cheek before stealing his last piece of toast and skipping back to her seat.
Sirius snorted into his orange juice as Potter's face flushed pink; Charlus and Jack guffawed openly. Josef made a puking sound as he got up and left the room. My ears felt hot for some reason, but luckily no one was paying attention to me.
"And what about you two?" Evelyn smiled as she picked up the remaining dishes.
"Oh we're going to do some Quidditch training" Sirius grinned "You up for it Mason?"
"Yeah sure! Let me just go and get my broomstick servicing kit, I need to sort out the tail" Mason ran out of the room with more enthusiasm than his younger brother.
"Does nobody understand the meaning of Christmas?" Potter moaned "we're supposed to be relaxing!"
"Mate I hate to break it to you but it's only been a few days and I can already see you getting fatter". Sirius had to duck quickly as Potter took a swipe for his precious hair.
"Alright alright" Charlus chided.
"Now, that you are fully informed of our whereabouts, can we please leave the table?" Marlene asked. Evelyn rolled her eyes.
"Yes, get lost the lot of you" she said "just be back for dinner at seven".
Marlene
I glanced sideways to gage Lily's mood. We'd just finished shopping in muggle London and were heading to The Leaky Cauldron for a bite to eat. With bags clutched in both hands, she seemed happy enough.
"Hey Lil" I broached.
"Hey Mar" she mimicked. The streets were loud and busy what with Christmas so near.
"How come your ears went so pink this morning when I said I was making James a love potion for Christmas?" I asked. May as well jump into the topic.
"What?" she said quickly. "I don't know what you're talking about".
"I think you do, seeing as your face is redder than the Prewett's hair" I smiled sweetly at her, reaching for the concealed door to the pub. The conversation was haltered for a moment as we searched for a table.
"So?" I prompted, shrugging out of my jacket.
"Fine" she said, dropping the menu which she had been hiding behind. "I blushed because I know, and you know, that if he ever got his hands on a love potion he'd use it on me so that I'd go out with him".
"Hmm you don't sound too upset about that".
"What? I don't want to go out with that obnoxious prat!" she cried. The couple at the next table gave her a dirty look.
"Alright, calm down woman" I whispered and the couple went back to their meal. "Even if you don't want to go out with him, can you at least try to be friends with him?" Lily's jaw clenched and her eyes flashed dangerously.
"Why on earth would you even ask me that?" she spat, "You know how I feel about his bullying and pranks and all-round arseholeness, so why would you even ask me that?"
"Well, just with him staying with us this holiday. I don't really want any tension or hostility between the two of you at this jubilant time and it would upset Mum if she saw you guys arguing".
"Oh…well…fine…I guess" she stuttered "but only so it doesn't upset your Mum!"
At that moment the door opened again and a large gust of wind blew a large portion of my hair into my face. By the time I had cleared my mouth and looked back at Lily she had gone as rigid as stone. I turned to see what could possibly have this effect on her, when I saw him. The pub's dim lighting still managed to make his slimy hair shine.
James
Since the girls had disappeared off into London for the day, Sirius decided that it would be good for us to exploit the use of the McKinnon's countryside house and fly over the hills on our brooms. For some reason he kept looking at me sideways.
"Is there a bug squished to my face or something?" I asked.
"What? No, why do you ask?" He looked away quickly and sped up. I kept up with him easily, however, and grabbed his broom tail to slow him down.
"Because you keep giving me funny looks and you know it Pads"
"I wonder where Mason has got to" Sirius mused.
"Probably still polishing his pride and glory" I muttered "Now what's up?"
"Alright, fine" He then dived for the ground, levelling out just before and neatly hopping off his broom. He motioned for me to do the same and patted the grass next to him. Once I had taken a seat, Sirius sighed deeply.
"C'mon mate spit it out"
"Okay so me and McKinnon had a little chat" he started.
"What? When? You haven't even been alone with her yet!"
"Don't be dense Prongs, I owled her" Sirius rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Anyway, I asked her if she would ask her little ginger friend to be civil to you during our stay".
"Wait a second," I said standing back up "You asked her to make sure Lily is nice to me?" Sirius just looked at me. "I don't need your help! Merlin! Can't you just let me win her over on my own?"
"Merlin's beard James! Win her over on your own? Don't you know you have a tendency to overdo things?" Sirius was on his feet as well now. "If you do anything too crazy you'll freak her out! At least if she's being civil it won't be weird if you have to spend time with her as she'll just think you're holding up your end of being civil!"
"Oh" I could see where he was coming from now, "so what you're saying is that you've set up her mind set so that I can spend time with her?"
"Yes exactly!" Sirius looked very happy with himself.
"Well...erm...thanks...I guess..."
"Guess?! You should be bowing down before me like I'm some kind of God!" He laughed gathering up a snowball and hurling it at me. I dodged it easily.
"Haha you wish Padfoot!" My own snowball hitting him in the side of the head.
"OI! NOT THE HAIR! Sirius roared and lunged at me. I tried to get away but my feet had gone numb and I slipped, he wrestled me to the ground and started punching.
"You shouldn't have done that" I warned him. Before he could work out what I was doing I shoved a handful of snow down his shirt. A dog like yelp came from him.
"Truce?" I asked holding out my hand. He was panting slightly from the exertion but still held out his hand.
We sat there, on the slushy hill, looking out across the town sprawled below us. Finally, without even looking at me, Sirius broke the silence: "Just don't go too over the top if you get her a present, alright?"
"Oh don't worry I haven't" I smiled out at the white landscape.
"What? You've already got something?" he asked surprised. I just nodded. "Well, tell me what it is then!"
"I don't think I will, because you'll tell Marlene and then she'll tell Lily..."
"No! I won't tell Marley a thing!"
"Still not going to tell you though, it'll spoil the surprise!"
"You're so annoying Prongs" Sirius grumbled.
"That's the price you pay for having a big mouthed girlfriend, whose best friends with the girl I love!" I smiled widely and Accio'ed my broom from where we'd left them further down the hill. "Oh and Pads, you're sulking like a teenage girl".
"Bloody McKinnon" Sirius cursed, "Bloody Evans, Bloody Potter!"
"You know it's still weird that you call each other by your surnames even now you're together!" I laughed and hopped back on my broom.
Lily
The gust of unwelcome wind brought in even more unwelcome individuals; Snape and his band of Slytherin pals stalked in to the pub, not noticing us in our corner. My blood began to boil and all the rage that I had been storing up since the spring broke to the surface.
"Lil, stop staring and just ignore them" Marlene muttered.
The three boys were sat at the bar laughing and drinking butterbeers, they weren't even doing anything offensive but I still couldn't stop my angry monster. And then, to top it all off, Snape looked up into the mirror behind the taps and saw me in the reflection. The cocky look slipped off his face and was immediately replaced with one of apprehension. I looked away so quickly my neck hurt.
"Come on Mar; let's go I'm not even hungry"
"What? We-"
"Lily"
I hadn't noticed him leave the bar and make his way over to our table. He was stood looking down at me.
"Get away from me Snape".
He physically flinched when I used his last name instead of his first.
"Lily please just-"
"-just what Snape?" I said angrily. I was on my feet now so I could look him in the eye. "Just listen? Why should I? And you don't have the right to call me by the name my mother called me! You lost that right when you decided to side with them!"
The whole pub was silent from my yelling. A dainty little witch in the corner had her mouth wide open in shock; Marlene had a similar look on her face. At my words his friends – Avery and Mulciber – leapt to their feet and charged across the pub.
"You little ginger bitch!" Avery yelled snatching his wand out of his pocket. I was just as quick to draw mine: "Silencio!" He clutched his throat in horror as he tried and failed to do non-verbal magic.
"No stop!" Snape shouted.
"Shut up Snape! Stop protecting the Mudblood!" Mulciber seemed to have forgotten that he was a wizard and went to back hand me in the face but, before his hand could strike me, he was thrown into the wall. Then Avery was blasted into the bar and knocked unconscious; the whole pub had fallen into mayhem as people scrambled out of the way. I looked round in surprise to see who the new comer was. My heart dropped, again.
"Get going Severus and take your friends with you" He said. His auburn hair glinted in the dim light showing off the hint of red in it.
"Patrick?" Marlene asked amazed. Mulciber had managed to get to his feet again and limped over to Avery whilst Snape stood stock still a pulse jumping in his temple.
"I said get out of here Snape, or didn't you hear me?" Patrick asked. Snape looked as if he wanted to say something but must have decided against it as he turned on his heel and went to help drag Avery's unconscious body from the pub.