Eyes as Green as a Fresh Pickled Toad

Chapter Eight

Christmas at the Cottage

November, after the Quidditch game, flew by very fast, and melted almost imperceptibly into December. Some professors sped up their lessons so they could finish everything up nicely before the Christmas holidays; others were less worried. Professor Binns, for example, plowed right on through the Wizarding Emigrations of 1770-1820 as though there were no holiday approaching at all. The only thing that was keeping Lily awake through this particular History of Magic class was the thought that she'd be going to a meeting about the Auror Training Program immediately after it.

The previous meeting had been rather uneventful. Professor McGonagall, upon realizing that every student in sixth year was trying eagerly to jam into her office for the meeting, had sighed and requested that everybody who wasn't a Prefect should leave, because they probably wouldn't have a chance of getting in otherwise. This, while not unexpected, made several students very unhappy. So unhappy, in fact, that they had attempted to curse several Prefects, only to have the curses go haywire and perform the exact opposite of their intent, but it sent people to the hospital wing nonetheless (those who had done the cursing had been given a detention apiece).

At any rate, Lily managed to stay awake enough so that, when the bell rang at the end of the period, she was the first one out of the door. She was among the first to arrive at Professor McGonagall's office as well, though she had not managed to beat the slew of Hufflepuffs who had just finished Transfiguration class. Students trickled in through the door in small groups, except for the Slytherins, who all managed to arrive together. Among them, Lily picked out Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy--both equally detestable boys, though Malfoy wasn't quite as slimy as Snape. Lily's own friends arrived only a short time after her, save Gertrude, who was already there, and the Marauders, who showed up just before the Professor, as usual, and, as usual, laughing hysterically about something-or-other.

They came over to Lily in a huge bubble of movement and noise, and swallowed her up in their glee. Lily discerned, between shouts of laughter and exclamations of excitement, that an enchanted pair of fuzzy pink bunny slippers was now hopping its way around Professor Thorne's Potions dungeon. Just seconds before Professor McGonagall stepped in the door, the Marauders shut up and composed themselves, as though they had all been equipped with some sort of miraculous Professor Radar since birth.

McGonagall wasn't entirely fooled, however; the second she entered her office she eyed the Marauders sharply, as though she knew they'd been up to some kind of mischief. The rest of the students also fell quiet, and McGonagall considered them all for a moment before speaking.

"Do you all have your papers written, then?"

There was a great rustling sound as all of the Sixth-Year Prefects reached into their bags for the papers they'd been asked to write about why they wanted to become Aurors.

"Good. You will all place them on my desk in an orderly manner. Dumbledore, I, and the rest of your Heads of Houses will read them and post a list of Prefects who are to come to the next meeting in the Great Hall before Christmas Holidays. You are dismissed."

The hum of excitement in the room immediately flattened, as the students all realized they would not be doing anything fun or hearing anything interesting, and that some of them would not be able to return--many of them had not taken the paper very seriously, and gulped nervously, positive that their efforts had not been enough--Peter Pettigrew was one of these.

"Enjoy your weekend in Hogsmeade!" McGonagall called, as the first students filed out of the door. This brightened the mood considerably, as the students remembered that they had a weekend of butterbeers, candies, and Christmas shopping ahead of them.

Lily returned to her common room immediately and began working, frantically, on all her homework, so it would be done before she departed for Hogsmeade the next day, as she intended to spend the entire trip exhausting herself with buying Christmas presents, and didn't plan to leave, between the shopping and the wrapping, any time for studies. Mimi entered the common room shortly behind her, and spent half an hour leisurely painting her toenails before begrudgingly picking up her Potions book and beginning her homework, while she could still get help from Lily.

"So, have you heard the plan yet?" Mimi asked, as they neared the end of their essay on: 'The Importance of Being Precise: Why Some Potions Ingredients Must be Picked Under the Full Moon'.

"Plan?" Lily echoed, measuring her parchment--it was just long enough. Good; she didn't want to have to add to that essay again.

"Yeah, we're all going to meet at the Three Broomsticks tomorrow as soon as we get into Hogsmeade."

Lily frowned. She and Mimi both had several groups of friends; 'we' wasn't quite specific enough. "Who's 'we'?"

"All the Marauders, duh!" Mimi said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh. We. Right. Well, I kind of already had plans," Lily said, rather distractedly, as she was now fishing around in her bottomless bag for her half-finished Herbology essay.

Mimi visibly perked. "Plans? What plans? Do you have a boyfriend? Oh, James is going to be so jealous!"

Lily giggled and shook her head. "Not those kinds of plans...no, I was just going to go Christmas shopping for everybody, but I suppose I can stop by the Three Broomsticks first to say hi to everybody."

"Well, of course you can!" Mimi chirped, and then frowned down at her essay. "Oh no...Lil, what are the words for the Severing Charm? I started writing my History of Magic paper beneath my Potions essay again."

*    *    *

Lily walked down to Hogsmeade with Gertrude, Matt, and Susie. It was cold and the wind was chilly; a light snow had fallen last night, and it crunched pleasantly under their feet as they walked. Lily found herself clutching her cloak more tightly around her, and shivered once or twice as they reached the village. She parted with her friends at the entrance to the Three Broomsticks, where, inside, she found the Marauders already making a ruckus--the only thing they seemed to show up early for was food. Sirius and James were at the bar, charming Madam Rosmerta, the young and rather attractive new waitress, and Remus, Peter, Melody, Mimi, and Mundungus Fletcher were over in a corner, dragging two tables together to make room for all of them.

Lily took off her gloves and stuck them in one of the many pockets of her cloak, then pulled down her hood, shaking her long, curly red hair free. It was already frizzing horribly, though she had put an Anti-Frizz charm on it only an hour ago. She sighed and pushed the hair out of her face, frowning at it a little; not even magic could tame her stupid red curls.

Lily was suddenly aware of someone staring at her, and let her eyes wander around the room. They came to a rest on James, who was waving at her from over by the bar; Madam Rosmerta was now busy fixing drinks behind he and Sirius. Lily smiled and waved back, then wound her way through the already-crowded bar carefully.

"'Lo, James. 'Lo, Sirius," Lily said as she reached the bar.

"Lily-bean!" Sirius said happily. "So glad you could come."

"Come on, Lily, we have a table!" James said, grabbing her hand rather impulsively and dragging her across the floor to the half-full table at which the rest of the Marauders were seated. Mimi and Melody's eyes immediately flickered to Lily and James's intertwined hands, and Lily blushed and immediately withdrew hers, sitting herself down carefully in the empty seat next to Remus. James sat down across from her, and Sirius sat to James's right, next to Melody, who was in turn next to Mimi; Mimi was sitting across from Mundungus, on whose right sat Peter, and on Peter's right was Remus, thus ending the circle. (A/N: Did that confuse anybody?)

Madam Rosmerta came over a moment later, carefully balancing two trays, one on each hand. A magical tray-holder followed closely behind her, and set itself up next to her. She carefully set down the tray on her right hand, and began distributing the eight butterbeers she had on the other tray, before turning back to the first and setting three baskets of cheesy fries on the table. "Enjoy!" she said, before picking up both trays and walking away, the magical tray-holder winding its way through the crowd behind her.

The Marauders attacked the cheesy fries eagerly, all but Lily; she had just eaten breakfast. Apparently the rest of her friends had skipped that step this morning. She did sip her butterbeer gratefully, however; it warmed her insides, and she was still chilly from the walk to Hogsmeade.

"Do you fffant fum sheesy fwies, Wiwy?" James asked, mouth full, offering a near-empty basket to her. Lily giggled and shook her head.

"I'm not hungry."

James shrugged and ate half of what was left in the basket; Sirius snatched up the other half before he could get at it all. Lily giggled again. Once the cheesy fries were completely devoured, the Marauders (meaning the boys; even Melody had her limits) all took up their butterbeers and downed them in nearly one sitting. They seemed to be working on clockwork.

"So," James said, wiping his cheese-lined mouth with a napkin (Lily was impressed; boys were usually oblivious to the fact that napkins even existed), "Who's paying?"

Everyone dug in their pockets or (in Mimi's case) their purses (Lily and Melody weren't too fond of the things) for money, and gathered a pile of Sickles and Knuts to pay for their...er, meal. After Sirius and James had collected the money and paid, the group split.

Melody and Mimi went off to look at shoes in Gladrags Wizardwear (apparently it was a shared obsession); James and Sirius set off to see if anything new had arrived at Zonko's; Mundungus, after unsuccessfully trying to get Remus to go with him to the Shrieking Shack, went with Peter instead; Remus went to the post office to see about sending an owl to his second cousin Hector in Uruguay; Lily went off on her own to Christmas shop for everyone, as she'd intended.

She went first to Honeydukes, where she bought candies for all of her siblings. Next stop was Zorcoran's Charmed Gifts, a store that sold normal, everyday objects with enhancing charms on them--among them were Self-Brushing Hairbrushes, Self-Applying Make-up Kits (this was sometimes annoying; the make-up applied itself as soon as you opened the container, and if you tried to wipe it off before closing the container again it would battle with you for the chance to re-apply itself), Quick-Quotes Quills, Self-Tying Ribbons, and Self-Watering Plants. Some of these items were allowed to be used only in the wizarding world, but most had a little red Ministry of Magic stamp of approval on the packaging, certifying the gifts okay to give to Muggles, but only those who were aware of the charms placed on the gifts and were prepared to follow the accompanying instructions in order to keep the magical nature of the gift hidden from other Muggles. Lily had gotten Dean Self-Tying Shoelaces here last year.

A sound like a wind chime tinkled in Lily's ears as she entered the store, and she immediately felt warm from head to toe. There must have been some kind of charm around the doorway; she hadn't gotten this warm stepping into Honeydukes.

"Welcome," said Mr. Zorcoran from behind the counter. He always bade welcome to everyone entering his store, even if there was a horrendously long line stretching away from the register, as there was today. Lily recognized a lot of students from school, but, thankfully, didn't see any of the Marauders. Lily smiled back at Mr. Zorcoran before heading farther back into the store. She planned to buy a Self-Watering Plant for her father; it was the kind of thing he would love.

Lily liked Mr. Zorcoran. He was tall, and fairly old, with longish black hair that was beginning to grey around the edges. He had a long crooked nose, which, remarkably enough, looked nothing like Dumbledore's; rather, it looked almost sinister, and were it not for the kindness in Mr. Zorcoran's eyes, Lily would not have trusted him or his store.

"Lily!"

She was halfway to the display of plants when she heard her name being called out, by a voice that sounded very small and quiet against the hustle and bustle of the store.

"Lily!" she heard again, and turned to see her third-year friend Wendy and her best friend Lin struggling toward her through the crowd.

"Hi!" Lily called, and retraced her steps to meet them. They were both a good foot shorter than her yet, and looked up at her with equal expressions of delight.

"Christmas shopping?" Wendy asked, noting the bag in Lily's hand, and the older girl nodded.

"You?" she asked.

"Yep!" Lin replied, holding up her bag. It was very full. "We're almost done, but we wanted to say hi."

"Yeah, and we wanted to ask you if you'd mind helping us with some of our homework--Professor Thorne's already assigned us an essay to work on over the Christmas holidays," Wendy said, pulling a face. Lily laughed.

"Sure, I'll help you. We can meet in the library Tuesday; I'm bus--oh no, what's he doing here?" Lily cried, suddenly ducking behind a display of Self-Supplying Tissues (they jumped out of their boxes and hovered in front of you when you sneezed). Wendy and Lin turned their heads to see a greasy-haired boy prowling through a display of Self-Stirring Cauldrons.

"Who's that?" Wendy whispered.

"Severus Snape," Lily said. "Is he gone yet?"

"Yeah, he's leaving," Lin replied, watching him walk out of the store.

"Good," Lily said, straightening, and she shuddered. "I hate him."

"Well, we have to finish shopping, but we'll meet you in the library Tuesday right after class," Wendy said, tugging Lin toward the door; her friend was looking interestedly in the direction of a display of Self-Applying Nail Polish.

"Bye!" Lily called, waving as they left the store.

She bought her dad a Self-Watering Plant, and her mom a Self-Curling Curling Iron, and then a roll of Self-Tying Ribbon for herself, to aid her in her present wrapping.

Lily put her hood back up as she stepped out of the store, and bumped into the first person she came to.

"Sorry," Lily said automatically, barely glancing into the face of the person she'd run into; there were too many people shopping to worry about who you ran into; she was constantly being bumped into herself.

"Lily!" the person cried, and Lily looked up, blinking.

"Oh--James! Hullo." She looked around for a moment, frowning. "Where's Sirius? I thought you two were inseparable."

James smiled. "Well, he did have to buy me a present, you know. He's making a big production of it again--he won't even let me see what store he's going into; he made me stand with my eyes closed to the count of twenty so he could run off." He smiled wider. "He's going to end up getting me the same thing he does every year--Every Flavor Beans, a bag of Dungbombs, and whatever happens to be in the small display window at Quidditch Supplies Unlimited."

"So what are you going to get him?" Lily asked.

James grinned again, even wider, if possible. "I've had his present since July!" he said happily. Lily laughed.

"What--" But she didn't get to finish her question, because several people came out of the door to Zorcoran's and nearly ran her over, and she had to dodge them. "I think we should get away from this door," she said, and she and James began walking down the street, side by side. Lily drew her cloak close around her, teeth chattering, body bent against the wind, but James walked easily beside her, seemingly unaffected by the cold.

"You look cold," James said amusedly.

"Aren't you?" Lily demanded, looking up at him in amazement.

"Ardor," James murmured, taking out his wand. Lily's eyes widened in surprise as her body suddenly warmed, from the outside in, and the wind, while it still whipped her hair against her face, was no longer bitter and cold.

"Where did you learn that?" Lily asked, impressed.

"My mom," James said, shrugging. Lily nodded, and wondered, for probably the thousandth time since she'd arrived at Hogwarts, what it would have been like to grow up in a wizarding family. They both walked absentmindedly across the street and into a store together. Lily looked around, bringing her head down out of the clouds, and saw that they were in a store filled with musical instruments.

"I've never been here before," Lily murmured, slightly surprised. She'd thought she'd been to every store in Hogsmeade when she'd discovered Flitwick's shop last year.

"I have," James said. "My dad's friends with the owner, Windkey. He gave me clarinet lessons when I was younger."

"Clarinet?" Lily asked in surprise, her eyebrows shooting toward the sky.

"Sure! What, don't I look like a clarinet player to you?" James asked.

"Erm...no," Lily said, laughing. "Not really."

"Well, I'm offended," James said, sounding as though he were commenting on the weather, and banging on the key of one of the grand pianos in the front of the store. "Hey, listen to this!" he said excitedly, and sat down on the piano bench. "I learned a little piano too." He banged out a simple version of 'Deck the Halls', carrying the tune with his right hand and playing whole notes with the left. "Pretty cool, huh?" he asked, turning around, and Lily giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Move over," she commanded, flipping her hair over her shoulder and setting her bags down at the foot of the piano. James, raising his eyebrows, vacated the piano bench, and Lily took his place. "Let the master work," she said, cracking her knuckles, and then she wiggled her fingers over the keys for a moment. James saw her eyes searching over the piano, and she set her hands into place. Her fingers hovered over the keys for a moment, and James heard her mutter, "Let's see if I remember how to do this." Then her fingers laid themselves out into a beautiful, chilling chord that sent shivers up James's spine, and Lily launched into such a beautiful arrangement of 'O Holy Night' that by the time her fingers settled into the last glorious chord he was tingling all over, nearly crying--he hastily blinked the tears back, of course, but he was still shaken. Lily had caressed the keys like a professional, bringing the sound out in full force here, teasing it out of the piano here; humming along with it now here, and closing her eyes in the beauty of the music there. It wasn't just notes she had played, it was a powerful, moving, beautiful song, that her entire body had sung along with, whether she had been humming or not. The music had become an extension of herself, almost; James had gotten so caught up in the music that at times he couldn't tell whether the song was coming from the piano or from Lily herself.

The last chord resonated around the store, vibrating through the piano, into James's ears, and into Lily; she felt the strings of the piano singing into her body through the foot pedal. She took her hands gently off the keys but held the pedal, letting the sound slowly melt out of the room, and took her foot off just before the sound became strained. Playing the song always moved her to tears, but she didn't wipe them away, at first. She wanted to still feel the music. She didn't know why she had broken into 'O Holy Night'; she had meant to play either a much more exciting version of 'Deck the Halls' or her favorite version of 'O Come, All Ye Faithful'. But her fingers, apparently, had a will of their own, and for some reason had wanted James to hear 'O Holy Night', which she didn't like to play in front of people, because she always got too carried away, and afterwards normally felt quite embarrassed, feeling as though she had bared her soul to the world, for an instant, and always wished she could somehow take it back, while at the same time wishing she could do it again.

"Beautiful," came a voice, and it was so soothing Lily didn't jump; she simply looked up to see who had spoken. It was an old man, slightly balding, with curly, wispy, whitish hair and small wire-framed glasses. He wore a white shirt with a brown vest and pants, but no jacket; she could see the chain of a pocket watch hanging loosely against his stomach. "Simply beautiful."

Lily bowed her head, but did not blush; for some reason, she did not feel embarrassed to know that this man had heard it, nor did she feel embarrassed about James hearing it, as she had expected she would.

"How long have you been playing, my dear?" Windkey asked (for Lily was sure that was who it was).

"Oh...thirteen years now, I suppose. But I haven't taken lessons for a long time. My mom sat me down at a piano when I was three."

"You have a way with the keys. You play from your soul."

Lily shook her head, but lifted it at the same time. "Not all the time; only that song."

"Ah! But even to play one song as beautifully as that is a rare, rare precious gift."

Lily smiled. "Anyone could learn that song if they practiced," she said, shaking her head.

Windkey frowned. "You should know, my dear, that practicing is not enough. You must feel the music. And you do."

Lily wiped away her tears then; she had nearly forgotten them.

"You didn't tell me you played the piano," James said then. He was still rather dumbfounded by Lily's talent. "Where in the world did you learn to play like that?"

Lily sighed and shrugged. "Church," she replied. "My mum had me take piano lessons there. I played 'O Holy Night' for Christmas service when I was twelve. It wasn't quite as good then...I've been practicing every Christmas I could since, but I hadn't played it for two years until just now."

"Could have fooled me," James muttered.

"Indeed..." Windkey agreed. "My dear, would you be interested in taking lessons again? I'd be honored to have a student with such remarkable talent under my wing--though, I fear, I would not have much left to teach you before long."

Lily did blush now. "Oh..." she said. "Well, I don't really have time; I'm going to school, and I don't really have any money...and I don't know how I'd be able to get here, really, and at Hogwarts there isn't a place to practice..." she sighed. "I would love to play again, though." She swept her fingers over the keys again longingly.

Windkey sighed as well. "You know, if you really wanted it, my dear, you'd find some way to make it work."

"Yes," Lily agreed, then stood abruptly. "Well, we have to be going now, but...thank you for everything," she said, though he hadn't really done anything for her at all. She hurried out of the store, not quite sure why she was so eager to leave, and James followed her, slightly confused.

"Why didn't you accept his offer?" he asked. "With talent like that--"

"You heard the reasons," Lily said, shaking her head and cutting him off. "And the more I play the more I'll miss it, and there isn't anywhere to practice in Hogwarts; you know that. I can't risk letting my grades fall for some silly old piano."

James looked at her in amazement. She could play with the London Symphony if she wanted to, for Christ's sakes, and here she was worried about her grades! "Lily, if you practice hard enough, you won't have to worry about--"

"No! James, I don't want to hear it!" she replied angrily, hastening the speed of her steps. "I've made up my mind! I had it made up a long time ago! There are too many rumors of--of dark times ahead, of evil things, for me to just throw my life away for music. I have to do something for the wizarding world; for the greater good. I need to devote my life to something meaningful."

"Are you saying music isn't meaningful?"

"I don't want to talk about it, James!"

James sighed in defeat. "Fine," he mumbled, then checked his watch. "It's time for me to go meet Sirius anyway. But if I were you, I would seriously consider Windkey's offer. He doesn't give out lessons to just

anybody--in fact, he stopped giving out lessons five years ago."

*    *    *

Lily spent the rest of the day tooling around Hogsmeade, buying more Christmas presents and occasionally chatting with friends. She didn't see James for the rest of the day, but for some reason she kept passing by Windkey's shop. Each time, she hurried past it, trying to avoid it, but for some reason or another she found she had to keep passing by it.

Finally, at the end of the day, when some of the shops were starting to close and most of the students had wandered back up to school, Lily screwed up her courage, threw open the door to the shop, and entered.

*    *    *

Lily spent the remainder of her weekend wrapping presents, with much aid from the Self-Tying Ribbon. The next week of school was the last before the Christmas holidays, and the decorations were coming up. Lily was sad she'd have to miss Christmas at Hogwarts this year, but was glad to be going home all the same.

On Tuesday, she met Wendy and Lin in the library, as promised. She found them at a table with books and papers spread out in front of them, but they weren't working-instead, they were giggling over something.

"Hello," Lily said, joining them. "How have you been?"

Lin giggled. "We've been spying on people."

Lily frowned. "That's not--"

"Wait!" Wendy cut her off. "You'll want to hear this! That sixth-year Slytherin--the one you hate--"

"Snape?" Lily asked, and Wendy nodded.

"Yeah!" she said, and then began giggling as well.

"What about him?" Lily asked curiously.

"He has a girlfriend!" Lin squealed, and then burst into giggles again.

Lily made a sort of strangled noise, and then fake-gagged herself. Snape? Get a girlfriend? And especially before Lily had gotten a boyfriend!

"Who?" Lily demanded, hands on her hips.

"She's a seventh year!" Wendy said.

"She's in Slytherin," Lin added.

"Yeah, and she has a kind of squashed-in face--"

"And she always has her nose turned up at people--"

"Yeah, and she's not really very pretty--"

"Well, she would be if she got that expression off her face--"

"Yeah, like there's something nasty-smelling in the room--"

"She has pretty hair, though--"

"Yeah, it's blonde--"

"We're not really sure about her name yet--"

"Yeah, but--"

"We think it's Narcissa," the girls finished together.

Lily snorted, and then began giggling herself. "Narcissa?" she asked, shoulders shaking. "That's Lucius Malfoy's girlfriend! They're always on again, off again...she's probably trying to make Malfoy jealous."

"Do you think it'll work?" Wendy asked.

"Probably. Malfoy was jealous of Snape in the first place--Snape's always gotten higher marks than him." Then she rolled her eyes. "But enough about that! Now it's time for studying."

The third year girls groaned.

*    *    *

Melody rushed into Potions class on Wednesday morning, face flushed, clutching a letter in her right hand, all of her books completely forgotten in the girls' dormitory.

"You-will-never-believe this!" she said, panting, and slumping over the Potions table behind which Peter, Remus, Sirius, and James were sitting, and Lily and Mimi were standing.

"What?" they asked collectively. Melody's face broke into a silly grin.

"My uncle is going to take me to Switzerland for Christmas holidays!" she squealed.

The other Marauders all began speaking at once. Melody only caught snippets of each exclamation:

"--went there skiing once--"

"--a good time--"

"--not fair--"

"--good food--"

"--expensive resort--"

"--afraid of heights--"

"--too cold--"

"--horrible skier--"

"--want an uncle like--"

"--send me a postcard!" That was Lily. Melody hadn't really been able to discern who was talking about what, but she gathered that James and Sirius had gone there once on a skiing trip, Sirius had liked the food, and James had run into a tree. The rest of it was a bit of a blur, but the rest of them seemed jealous enough to make Melody happy.

Just then the bell rang, and Lily, Melody, and Mimi dashed to their table, where they were joined by Arabella Figg, who had just entered class, panting.

"What took you so long to get here?" Melody whispered as Professor Thorne strode into class, swaggering pompously, and began taking roll.

Melody thought she saw Arabella blush, but it was hard to tell, because her cheeks were already pink. "Forgot my book," she whispered back, and then ducked her head into her bag and began searching for said book before she could be questioned about it further.

*    *    *

On Thursday, Mimi, Melody, and Lily were to be found in the library, with Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions books laying open on the table before them, alongside scrolls of parchment still glistening with newly printed ink, with sugar quills, real quills, and an assortment of ink bottles scattered amongst them. There was just enough room left on the table for the girls to rest their elbows, because after finishing the grueling Potions essay, none of them were in the mood to write another one.

"Only one more day 'til holidays, and still McGonagall assigns us another essay," Melody muttered, twirling her quill around in a bottle of ink. She lifted a sugar one from the table and stuck the end of it in her mouth, sucking on it as she glared at her half-completed essay. "I'm too excited to think!"

Lily sighed. "It doesn't seem fair," she agreed. "But all the same, she did assign it a week ago."

Mimi snorted. "Not that that made YOU jump right into it," she pointed out. Lily shrugged.

"I tried to start it last week, but I couldn't get into it."

Mimi laughed. "Get into it? You sound like you're talking about a book. If I ever start getting 'into' a Transfiguration essay, please, someone Avada Kedavra me!"

This statement had a profound effect on the easy, carefree atmosphere of the table. Melody's face immediately hardened, and she bent over her parchment, suddenly intent on writing her essay. Lily half-smiled, but her stomach twisted unpleasantly. The whispers about wizard and Muggle killings were quickly turning from rumor to fact, and the name Voldemort was beginning to strike fear in the hearts of witches and wizards across Britain.

"Oh," Mimi said softly, covering her mouth with her hand. Lily stared at the floor for a moment, and then looked up, frowning in thought.

"Did you guys hear Snape has a girlfriend?" she said suddenly, and both Mimi and Melody snapped their heads in her direction in surprise. Then they both burst into giggles, and Mimi's careless comment was forgotten.

*    *    *

On Friday, the sixth years were so noisy and boisterous that even Professor McGonagall gave up trying to teach them. Instead, she let them turn their essays in and succumbed to a round of questioning about the Auror Training Program. They really didn't learn much except that, no, their essays were NOT done being evaluated yet, and could they PLEASE come up with a different question, because they all knew perfectly well that the list would be posted outside the Great Hall before dinner.

After Transfiguration, Lily and Mimi headed off to their last class of the day, Double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, while the Marauders headed off for Care of Magical Creatures with the Slytherins. Lily and Mimi had a rather exhausting time of running around the grounds and zapping all of Professor Sprout's plants with anti-frost spells, which had worn off just yesterday, and Professor Sprout hadn't had enough time to zap them again. By the end of the lesson, Lily and Mimi were of the opinion that THEY needed anti-frost spells, but didn't say so to the professor.

The Marauders came hooting and howling from their Care of Magical Creatures lesson quite excited--they'd got to spend the entire lesson chasing around fire-squirrels, which apparently warmed up everything within a ten-foot radius, and had kept them all much warmer than the Herbology class.

Lily spent the remainder of the afternoon in the girls' dormitory, packing her trunk up for the holidays with Mimi. She'd finished all of her assignments for over break, so she didn't need to bring any of her books--that lightened her trunk considerably. She also left behind two pairs of shoes and most of her Hogwarts robes--she really wouldn't need them at home. On top of her clothes she tossed her Bottomless Bag, and spent several minutes debating whether or not she should bring Hera--her owl--'s cage home. She would be fine in the Owlery, but what if she delivered a letter to Lily over the holidays and wanted to rest? Wouldn't she be miffed that Lily hadn't brought her cage for her? Then again, she didn't really feel like lugging an empty cage through King's Cross, either.

"Just use the Shrinking Spell on it," Mimi advised. "That way you can just put it in your trunk, and you won't have to mess with it unless you need it."

"Good point," Lily said, and followed Mimi's advice. After they were done packing, they sat and talked for about an hour, and then, unable to wait any longer, dashed down to the Great Hall to see if the Auror list had been posted yet. It hadn't, but there was such a large crowd of Sixth Years milling around in the hallway that it was hard to tell. Mimi and Lily wound their way over to the Marauders, who were being loud and ridiculous, as usual.

Several minutes later, Professor McGonagall appeared on the top of the stairs at the end of the hall. When she saw the waiting crowd, she rolled her eyes, and had to fight back all of the Sixth Years once she reached the bottom of the stairs--they all crowded around her in a vain attempt to see the list.

"Please!" Professor McGonagall said. "Would you all calm down! I will not post the list until there is order in the hallway!" All the Sixth Years immediately quieted, and those hovering around Professor McGonagall backed away and cleared a path to the wall for their professor. McGonagall walked briskly over to the wall, set the list on the wall with a spell, and disappeared into the Great Hall before the large group of Sixth Years clamoring to see the list crushed her.

Lily and her friends were all too far away from the list to see it, but Sirius and James fought valiantly through the crowd, and shouted over all the commotion that all of them had made it-including Peter.

*    *    *

The train smelled like pine and leather, with a faint aroma of chocolate hanging in the air. Sprigs of mistletoe hung over every compartment door, and trays of chocolates were to be found inside each. Lily settled into a compartment with Melody and Mimi, and James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter took the compartment right across from them. They left the doors open so they could yell over at each other if necessary. Sirius and James quickly took advantage of the open doors by running into Lily's compartment and stealing their tray of chocolates.

Melody retaliated by calmly Summoning both trays of chocolate in the Marauders' compartment over to hers and sliding the door to her compartment closed. They all fought over the chocolates for the first half hour of the journey to Hogwarts, but after that there weren't any chocolates left to fight over, so they let their minds turn to other matters. Before they knew it, the train had pulled into King's Cross.

They were let out of the gate in twos and threes. James and Sirius left first, then Remus and Peter, and Lily, Melody, and Mimi followed shortly behind. Mimi spotted her family first, gave Lily and Melody hugs, and made them promise to owl her over break before trotting off to meet her parents. Lily watched as Peter happily greeted his parents, and Sirius, James, and Remus walked over to meet the Blacks, who were standing next to the Potters, who were standing next to...Lily's parents. Oh no. That was NOT a good sign.

"Ooh, there's my uncle!" Melody said suddenly, pointing to a rather large man in a business suit who was standing mostly by himself. A tiny little woman, whom Lily assumed was a witch, with short, curly blonde hair and who was wearing a short, professional-ish red dress (well, as professional as any red dress can be), accompanied him. "I'll send you a postcard-I think! If I can remember your address...well, I'll owl you, anyway. Bye, Lils!" Melody said, giving her a hug and running off. Melody's uncle gave her a disapproving look, and she slowed to a walk, grinning back at Lily sheepishly.

"Bye!" Lily called, waving, and then took a deep breath and walked over to her parents, preparing to meet her doom-the last time they had been like this with the Potters, she had wound up spending an entire week of her summer at James's house. Okay, so not everything about that had been bad, but still!

"Hi, mum! Hi, dad!"

"Lily!" her parents cried, and turned away from their conversation to hug their daughter. Lily gave them quick hugs, and then stepped back. She didn't want to make a scene in front of James.

"What were you all talking about?" Lily asked, rather bluntly. 'Smooth, Lily. Smooth,' she thought to herself.

"Oh, just...things!" Lily's mom said happily. "We'll tell you about it in the car."

"Bye, Lily-bean!" Sirius said, sounding too dramatic about it, and giving her a huge, bone-crushing hug.

Lily coughed, pushing herself away from his embrace, and said, "Uh...thanks, Sirius."

"You're welcome!" Sirius said happily, and then turned to walk off with his parents, who looked altogether very exasperated with him.

"Bye, Remus," Lily said.

"Bye."

Then Lily turned to James, and they both hesitated. An awkward silence passed between them. Should they hug, or kiss, or...what?

"Happy Christmas, James," Lily said finally.

"Happy Christmas."

They waved, and both turned their separate ways.

"What were you talking about?" Lily demanded of her parents as they reached the parking lot.

"Well, the Potters invited us over for Christmas dinner!" Mrs. Evans said happily. Lily stopped in her tracks and stared at her mother, mouth gaping open.

"No!" she cried.

Her parents stopped and turned to look at their daughter.

"Well...what's the matter with that, dear? Didn't you have a nice time at the Potter's last summer?" Mr. Evans asked.

"But-but-" Lily sputtered. "We're going to miss Christmas at home?"

Mrs. Evans laughed. "Of course not! We'll open presents in the morning, have your father's famous Christmas breakfast, and then head over to the Potter's at noon!"

"But-but-!" Lily began again. Mr. Evans frowned

"It's already been decided, Lily, so there's no use fighting it. Let's not ruin the holidays over this," he said reasonably.

Lily sighed. "Sorry, dad." She hated it when her parents were right.

*    *    *

Petunia was less happy about having Christmas dinner at the Potter's than Lily.

"But MUM!" she shrieked. She and Mrs. Evans were having a 'private' conversation in the kitchen. This didn't really work; Petunia was yelling so loudly Lily could have heard her in her bedroom. However, Lily was not in her bedroom-she was, conveniently, in the pantry, getting a snack, so she could have heard her sister whether she'd been yelling or not. "They're-they're-"

"They're wizards, Petunia, not convicts! And they're very nice."

"Mother, they're FREAKS!" Petunia hissed.

"PETUNIA ELIZABETH EVANS! I never want to hear you use that word when talking about magical folk AGAIN! Do you understand me?"

"Yes, mum," Petunia mumbled.

"Good! Now, we are going over to the Potter's for Christmas dinner whether you like it or not, and I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth about it! And out of the kitchen, I have a supper to fix!"

Petunia stomped off, and Lily stood frozen in the pantry, a bag of potato chips in her hand. Freaks? The Potters were NOT freaks! Especially not James! And Lily certainly wasn't a freak, either! FREAKS? How dare she! How dare she talk about wizards and witches like that! Lily rolled up the bag of chips angrily and nearly threw them back on the shelf. She stormed out of the pantry, and her mother looked up, startled.

"Lily! I didn't realize you were in there. Are you-"

"A freak? Oh, yes, of course I'm a freak! Just because I'm different from Petunia, that means I have to be the freak-oh no, SHE'S not the freak, no one in the wizarding world would call HER a stupid Muggle, naturally it must be all ME who's wrong, ME who's the weird one, ME who's all alone in her oddity-God forbid I act any different than the great, perfect, wonderful PETUNIA!" Lily finished her speech seething, and stomped up the stairs to her room. She never got there, however-Petunia stepped out of her room and confronted her sister first.

"You think you're wonderful because you're a witch?" Petunia hissed. "Well, let me tell you-"

"No! Let me tell YOU!" Lily interrupted. "I'm not wonderful because I'm a witch! I'm wonderful because I'm NOT one! Because I'm NOT like you. Sure, I have magical blood in my veins, but that doesn't make me better or worse than you. You're just afraid of it is what you are, Petunia. You're afraid of it because you don't understand it, because you couldn't possibly comprehend it, and most of all because you don't WANT TO. Just because something's different, Petunia, doesn't mean it's wrong!"

With that, Lily brushed past her sister and flew into her room, flinging herself onto her bed, where she began crying. Petunia would never forgive her for being a witch. Not that Lily was going to ask for forgiveness, but...her sister made out like Lily had decided to be different on PURPOSE, when really she'd had no control over it. She and Petunia had always been competitive, at everything. At grades, at beauty, at hair, at piano playing...they'd even competed against each other at ballet when they were younger. They had gotten along, when they weren't battling it out for something-or-other. But now...well, now the race was over. The fun and games were long gone. Petunia and Lily didn't compete anymore. They just fought. Petunia, if Lily ever had the 'audacity' to ask her about it, and if Petunia ever felt like being truthful about it, would probably say that she'd been 'cheated' out of her win. That Lily had done some sort of trick to make her a witch and Petunia a Muggle. That she would have won, had Lily not been different-not been a freak.

Freak.

Lily didn't know if Petunia had been serious about it or not. She probably had. She'd always hated the idea of Lily being a witch, which Lily hadn't quite understood-Dean had been happy for her. Why couldn't her sisters?

Lily sighed. She knew, for the most part. She had just explained the logic to herself for the thousandth time. Petunia felt cheated, and Daisy idolized Petunia, so if Petunia wanted to hold a grudge against Lily, so did Daisy.

James was SO lucky he didn't have siblings.

*    *    *

"I wish I had a brother," James complained, bouncing a little purple bouncy ball against the wall. Sirius had found it at a Muggle shop last summer, after taking an unauthorized trip on his flying motorcycle. James was sitting in the chair at the desk in his bedroom. Sirius was lying on James's bed.

"What do you need a brother for? You have me," Sirius said matter-of-factly, flipping through his Quidditch magazine. On the cover was a picture of Sandra Sheikh, winking and waving. She was the Haileybury Hammers's newest Chaser, and was giving the team unexpected publicity, both because she was very photogenic and because she was very good at pulling off Woollongong Shimmys.

"I don't see why you're obsessed with that girl," James said, bouncing the ball off the wall again. "She doesn't even play for your team."

Sirius's team was, naturally, the Falmouth Falcons. "James, you can't tell me you don't like her," he said, holding up a fold-out poster of Sandra in stunning blue dress robes, smiling and flipping her black, silky hair at him. James shrugged.

"Well, sure I do, but honestly, who doesn't?"

Sirius laughed and went back to the article he was reading about the Wigtown Wanderers. "So, when is Lily-bean coming over again?" he asked out of nowhere. James sighed.

"Sirius, you know perfectly well that she's coming over at noon on Christmas day for dinner."

Sirius smiled. "Yeah, I know, but I enjoy tormenting you."

"Thanks, Padfoot. I appreciate it," James said, rolling his eyes and throwing his bouncy ball against the wall again.

"Anything for dear old Prongsie!" Sirius said happily.

"Speaking of..." James said, smiling. "You feel like going for a run?"

Sirius had jumped up and turned into a dog and back again before James had a chance to finish his sentence.

*    *    *

Hera arrived at the Evans's the day after Lily. She didn't have any letters, but Lily was glad to have her there all the same. After spending an hour or two lying in her bedroom, having a one-and-a-half sided conversation with her owl (Hera seemed to understand what Lily was talking about, but she couldn't do any more than hoot in response), Lily decided to write a letter to James. It was a very interesting letter. It was also a rather disturbing letter, as Lily was really very bored, and she tended to ramble when she was bored. The letter went as such:

'Dear Jamesie-poo,

Don't be afraid. I don't really think of you as Jamesie-poo, I just couldn't think of anything else to call you. I need to come up with a nickname for you, since you and Sirius insist on calling me Lily-bean.

Anyway. How is the weather? Here it's...nice. It's very nice. It's very...sunny! There isn't much snow, but apparently it's enough for my younger brother and sister to make snowmen out of, because they've already made three. Now there are a lot of grass-patches in our backyard, though...but at least we have snowmen!

I don't really have anything to say...well, there's something new, eh?

Um.

Kumquat!

That is a very strange word. I don't remember where I heard it, and I have no idea what it means, but it's a very strange word, don't you think? Yes. Well. I suppose I'll see you on Christmas.

Truly bored,

Lily'

Lily didn't know what James would make out of it, but hopefully he would find it amusing.

*    *    *

'Lily-

You are insane. Did you accidentally perform a Mind-Scrambling Charm on yourself?

-James'

*    *    *

'Dearest fuzzy-wuzzy Jamsie-poo-

Do you happen to own a dictionary? I really would like to know what the word "kumquat" means. Do you know what else is a funny word? Streudel. Streudel! Streudel noodle poodle foodle boodle koodle...hm. I think I might need to work on improving my vocabulary. Carp. Carp is a funny word, too. So is facetious, but that's not the point.

I think Hogwarts should allow salamanders as pets. Especially those fire ones; they could live in the fireplace in the common room or something. Don't you think?

Warm fuzzy feelings from,

Lily'

*    *    *

'Lily-

Where in the world did you hear about Fire Salamanders? You don't take Care of Magical Creatures, do you?

-James'

*    *    *

'Silly willy-nilly Jamesie-poo-

Of course not, you idiot. I bought myself a copy of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" when Melody signed up for it. I thought it'd be interesting.

Huge embarrassing hugs from,

Lily

PS You haven't looked up "kumquat" in the dictionary yet, have you? I don't think we have a dictionary here...'

*    *    *

'Lily-

All those books and you don't own a dictionary?

-James

PS I love you forever I want to marry you and have kids and buy a little house and start a Gringotts account and get a dog.'

*    *    *

'Lily-

Ignore the PS at the end of the last letter. That was all Sirius's doing.

-James'

*    *    *

'Big cuddly gummy bear of a Jamesie-poo-

You mean you don't want to marry me?

Heartbrokenly yours,

Lily'

*    *    *

'Lily-

You can't be serious.

-James'

*    *    *

'James-

Of course not, you idiot!

-Lily'

*    *    *

'Lily-

Just making sure.

-James'

*    *    *

'James-

I think Hera's really starting to hate us.

-Lily'

*    *    *

"Mum!" James cried on Christmas morning, running into his mother's room.

"Yes, dear?" his mother replied, fastening a bracelet onto her left wrist and closing her jewelry box.

"I don't have a present for Lily!"

James's mother turned to him with wide eyes. "James, it's Christmas Day!"

"I know!" James cried helplessly.

"Well, where do you expect to get a Christmas present? Diagon Alley is closed!"

"I don't know! That's why I came to you!"

Mrs. Potter sighed and shook her head. "James, I don't have any extra presents I can just pull out of thin air and give to you to give to Lily. That's just not the way things...wait a minute. Lily?"

James looked rather confused. "Yes, mum, that's what you just said."

"I think I might have something!" she said excitedly, opening her jewelry box.

*    *    *

"Lily! Are you ready yet?"

"Almost, mum!" Lily yelled down the stairs to her mother. It was ten thirty on Christmas morning, and Lily had just had a rather eventful morning with her siblings. They hadn't appreciated each others' gifts (except Dean--he loved everything, as usual), and they'd fought all during breakfast. Lily's father had been threatening to make them all stay home instead of going to the Potters', which was of course what Petunia and Daisy wanted, so that didn't really work as a threat.

Lily straightened out her skirt and fussed over her green sweater one more time before sighing, flipping off the light switch, and running downstairs.

"Oh, Lily, you look just lovely!" Mrs. Evans said, beaming.

"Thanks, mum," Lily said, smiling, and noting the sour look on Petunia's face. Her sister was looking just as horse-like as ever, in a frilly red dinner dress that did nothing to flatter her wiry, bony figure. Lily was shorter and slightly stockier than Petunia, but never felt awkward for it, because she'd always considered Petunia to be far too gangly. Actually, Lily rather liked her appearance.

Lily's other siblings were standing beside Petunia. Daisy looked nice, as usual--she had blond hair, like Petunia, but her face was more like Lily's, and she was wearing a cute navy blue dress with a bow that tied in the back. Dean was wearing dress pants and a polo shirt, and looked absolutely adorable--he looked just like Mr. Evans, with flaming red hair, freckles, and dark brown eyes.

"Well, let's get going before we're late," Lily's dad said, ushering them out the door.

The car ride was mostly silent. Lily and Dean joined their mother and father in a few verses of "Deck the Halls", but Lily trailed off when she remembered what she had promised Windkey, and Dean didn't find it any fun without his older sister, so he dropped out a few moments later, and Mr. and Mrs. Evans eventually gave up. Lily spent most of the ride staring out the window. The day had started out cloudy, and as they left home it started snowing. By the time they reached the Potter's, the snow was coming down in blankets.

The ride took three-quarters of an hour, and as Mrs. Evans pulled up to a wrought-iron gate with an ornate letter "P" wrought into it, Mr. Evans twisted around in his seat to give the kids his usual speech about what would happen if there was any fighting while they were guests at someone's house.

Mrs. Evans rolled down her window and leaned out to talk to something, or someone, that was apparently very low to the ground. Lily, curious, peered over Dean's head and out of the window, trying to catch a glimpse of who or what it was that her mother was talking to. She caught a glimpse of pointy ears and heard a shrill voice speaking to her mother--it was a house-elf. After a few minutes, Mrs. Evans leaned back inside the car and rolled up her window. The gate swung open, and they drove through.

Lily noticed something peculiar as they drove--if she looked behind the car, she couldn't see the road, and if she looked out of the front of the car, she could only see about ten feet of the road before it simply...stopped. But it didn't really stop, because a few seconds later more road appeared. No one in Lily's family seemed to be phased by this, however; in fact, her mother drove on as though this were all perfectly normal. Perhaps, Lily mused, her mother had gotten used to this last summer, when she'd come to pick Lily up. Or perhaps, Lily thought again, the road looked perfectly normal to her family.

The drive to the Potter's actual house took another fifteen minutes. When the mansion first came into view, Lily's heart leapt into her throat, and by the time they reached the front door, there was a circus of butterflies dancing in her stomach. She was back! She was back at the most amazing house in the world, back with people who understood magic, and back with James. Lily nearly fell out of the car, she was so eager to see the house again, and was the first one at the door, where she waited impatiently for the rest of her family to collect themselves. Dean came next, followed by Mrs. Evans, then Daisy, then Mr. Evans, carrying a large shopping bag full of Christmas presents.

Petunia took as long as possible to get out of the car, purposely to annoy Lily, and took her sweet, precious time walking to the door. It didn't matter, however; Mrs. Potter had already come to the door to greet them, and Petunia had to jog to catch up with her family. Lily smirked at her sister as Mrs. Potter escorted them all to the living room, where a group of adults Lily didn't recognize were seated. She did, however, recognize Remus, Sirius, and James, who were all sitting on a couch together, hunched over a piece of rather suspicious-looking parchment.

Also in the room was a very large, very decorated Christmas tree, sparkling with tinsel and ornaments and what seemed to be lights, but couldn't possibly be, because of course wizards don't use electricity. Wreaths, garlands, and sprigs of holly and mistletoe decorated the rest of the room, as well as a dozen glittering fairies.

Mrs. Potter introduced Lily's parents to the other adults, who turned out to be Sirius and Remus's parents. Then she turned to Sirius, Remus, and James, and cleared her throat. The boys looked up from the parchment, which James hastily shoved into his pocket, and noted Lily's presence with equal looks of mischievousness on their faces.

"Boys, I believe you know Li--" Mrs. Potter began, but Sirius didn't give her the chance to finish.

"Lily-bean!" he cried, jumping up and wrapping her in one of his highly embarrassing hugs. Lily's face turned red, and she hastily extricated herself from the embrace, patting Sirius awkwardly on the shoulder. Sirius's parents were looking at their son with equal expressions of disapproval on their faces, Mrs. Potter, playing the gracious host, was pretending nothing had happened, and ushering the Evans's toward a couch, and the Lupins looked as though they thought the spectacle was highly amusing. Petunia, Lily noted, looked rather alarmed.

Sirius, ignoring everyone, as usual, dragged Lily over to the couch where James and Remus were still seated, and sat her down between himself and Remus. Lily missed the obvious look of disappointment on James's face, and was rather confused when Remus and Sirius started laughing.

"I'm sorry my husband isn't here yet," Mrs. Potter apologized, taking a seat, "but he had some Ministry business to take care of. Emergency, you know."

Mr. Evans, completely oblivious to the significance of this statement, began asking questions about the Ministry. He and Mr. Black, who was as interested in Muggles as Lily's dad was in wizards, were soon firing questions at each other like nobody's business. The rest of the adults quickly engaged themselves in conversation, and Dean, who got bored if he wasn't in the center of attention, quickly chimed in his two cents and was soon having a fine conversation with Mr. Lupin. Petunia and Daisy had removed themselves to a corner of the room and were whispering unhappily.

Lily turned to Sirius, Remus, and James.

"What's with the parchment?" she asked curiously.

"What parchment?" They replied in unison. Lily rolled her eyes. (A/N: Light bulb? What light bulb?)

"Fine, then where's Peter?"

"Peter who?" Sirius asked.

"What kind of a question is that?" Remus asked suspiciously.

"Who sent you?" James demanded.

"Never MIND," Lily moaned, putting her head in her hands. The Marauders all looked very pleased with themselves.

Just then a door banged open, and all the guests turned their heads toward the sound. Mrs. Potter got up and hurried away in the direction of the kitchens (A/N: Apparently there's more than one...*scratches head*), and a moment later she returned with James's father. All the adults sat up straighter, and James tensed, quite perceptibly, two seats away from Lily. James's father, who looked winded and slightly frazzled under his outward composed appearance, collected himself, and let his eyes sweep the room for a moment before speaking.

"I'm terribly sorry for my tardiness," he said finally, although his gaze had not been long in lingering. "Please excuse me."

"Oh, not at all!" Mr. Evans said, springing up and extending a hand to Mr. Potter, who allowed his somber face to break into a smile--Lily imagined he hadn't done much of that this morning. Lily's father and James's father shook hands then, and all the adults then rose, as if answering some sort of unspoken order, and followed Mr. Potter to the dining room.

The room looked just as Lily remembered it, but the table was much longer than it had been last summer. It somehow fit into the space comfortably, and everyone had plenty of elbow room after they were seated, six adults on one side, seven children on the other, and Mr. and Mrs. Potter at the heads of the table. They sat around the table as such: Mr. Potter at the right end, James on his right, and to James's right, Sirius, followed by Remus, Lily, Dean, Petunia, and Daisy, then Mrs. Potter on the left end, and to her right, Mrs. Black, followed in succession by Mr. Black, Mr. Lupin, Mrs. Lupin, Mrs. Evans, and then Mr. Evans, on the Minister's left.

After they were all comfortably seated, and had had a moment to settle in and place napkins on their laps, a great deal of food magically appeared on the table, surprising Lily's parents, alarming Petunia and Daisy, and positively delighting Dean. Everyone else at the table took this in stride, and after a moment they were all chomping away happily, and were once against immersed in conversation. Lily, who wasn't much in the mood for talking, ate her food silently and listened to everyone else throughout the course of the meal.

"So, Mr. Potter--"

"Christopher, if you don't mind."

"Er, Christopher--what is it that you do?"

"I am the Minister of Magic," Mr. Potter replied nonchalantly, taking a bite of ham.

"Ah. And--er, that's important, is it?" Mr. Evans asked interestedly. Lily nearly blushed for her father--he was interested, and he was trying, but he was obviously very lost.

Mr. Potter chuckled. "People think so--some more than others, mind you. It's a rather--er, political position, in Muggle terms."

"Ah, politics!" Mr. Evans said, sounding slightly more confident. "So, that would be the equivalent of a..."

"A president, if you will. It's not quite as democratic as the term lends, but there you have it."

"Ah!" Mr. Evans said.

"Now, I'm unfamiliar with Muggle professions in general, but I'd be terribly interested to learn more--would you mind enlightening me about your profession, Mr. Evans?"

"Ah, yes--and please, call me Robert." The Minister nodded. "I'm an engineer," Lily's father continued carefully, and at that point Lily lost interest in their conversation-she knew enough about engineers to last her a lifetime. She turned her attentions to James, Sirius, and Remus, who were whispering conspiratorially over the piece of parchment. She spent the remainder of the meal trying to snatch the parchment away from them, in between stern glances from her parents, but to no avail.

"Stupid Quidditch players," Lily mumbled under her breath as James snatched the parchment out of her reach again. She went back to stabbing at her mashed potatoes with her fork. Lily wasn't particularly fond of potatoes, but the mashed ones were okay if you drenched them with gravy, which Lily was still waiting for-Petunia was holding the gravy boat hostage at her end of the table.

The end of dinner came quickly, and all the food disappeared from their plates-Lily never had gotten a chance at that gravy. They were then each served a piece of peach pie-except Lily, who, for some reason, got her very own piece of cheesecake. Not that she objected to the cheesecake, of course; in fact, she was quite delighted with it, especially when she caught Petunia shooting a jealous glance at it (Petunia adored cheesecake).

After that they all retired to the living room again, and Lily marveled at their beautiful Christmas tree-it looked like one of the ones at Hogwarts. Mrs. Potter then pulled out a bag of gifts she'd bought for all her guests and distributed the presents merrily. Mr. Evans, taking out his bag of presents, did the same. Each of the adults, in turn, passed out presents, and the four teenagers ripped theirs open excitedly as the adults, still making polite conversation, rather more neatly opened theirs.

From Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, Lily had gotten a very nice pin, in the shape of a lily, from Mr. and Mrs. Black, a Potions Logbook (these were very helpful; they magically kept records of all the potions you'd ever made, and, while you were making a potion, would keep track of boiling time and yell at you if you forgot to add an ingredient), and from Mr. and Mrs. Potter, "Wanda Witch's Magical Cookbook" (featuring some of the finest cheesecake recipes to ever come out of Wanda Witch's kitchen). She had also gotten presents from Remus and Sirius-a bottle of moonbeam essence (which would be the Muggle equivalent of a rabbit's foot or lucky penny), as a joke, and a bottle of wand cleaner-oddly thoughtful, Lily mused, for Sirius...but then, he really wasn't what he seemed, was he?

Lily looked up from her gifts happily, prepared to inspect all of James's presents, but she was distracted by Sirius, who was sitting on the floor surrounded by six identical boxes, one of which looked very familiar.

"Sirius, are those...?" Lily wondered.

Sirius nodded at the six identical boxes in disbelief. "Motorcycle helmets," he said incredulously. "Six! Six motorcycle helmets!"

Everyone in the room looked at everyone else. Maybe next year they would collaborate on gifts.

"Six? SIX?" Sirius repeated, sounding very upset. His mother looked at him uncertainly.

"Well, dear, you know-"

"No, no, no, mum!" Sirius cried, jumping to his feet, looking ready to make a passionate speech about something. "I mean, come on, six? The least you people could have done was get me seven! Then I could coordinate for days of the week! The blue-and-white one would be good for Sundays, black-and-red is great for Saturdays, Wednesdays could be this yellow-and-black one, Fridays would have to be red-and-gold, Mondays would have to be blue-and-green, and Thursdays could easily be orange-and-black, but...what about Tuesday????? There's no Tuesday! How can you live without a Tuesday?"

Lily began giggling, and the others joined her. Sirius just shook his head and them and sat back down beside his motorcycle helmets.

"Six..." he muttered.

Just then several large owls flew into the room, and dropped a pile of presents in the middle of the room. On top of the pile was a bright blue envelope, emitting little sparks of light.

"Ooh, a Sparkler!" Sirius said, bounding over his presents and grabbing the blue envelope. He ripped it open, and out of it erupted a very lifelike figure. It sparkled and shimmered and giggled at everyone.

"It's Melody!" Lily cried.

"Hi everybody!" the sparkly Melody said. "Happy Christmas! I'm having fun in the Alps, even though I'm not very good at skiing..." (more giggling) "Sirius, I wish you were here so all the food wouldn't go to waste at all these parties." (more giggling) "James, I wish you were here so somebody could ski into trees with me. Remus, I wish you were here to help me with my Astronomy homework." (wink) "Lily, I wish you were here to see my ski instructor...." (hysterical fit of giggling) "Mr. and Mrs. Black, thanks for the coat!" The shimmering Melody twirled around and modeled her fancy-looking blue coat. "Mr. and Mrs. Potter, I love the hand lotion, and Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, thanks so much for the diary! Oh-and Lily's siblings, if you're there-Happy Christmas to you too, and don't eat too many sweets! Mrs. Potter is horrible with them!" The very sparkly Melody flashed another smile at them. "Bye!"

The smiling Melody shimmered and sparkled her way into nothing.

"That was wicked!" Dean said in awe.

"That was giggly," Lily commented.

"That was expensive," Mrs. Black and Mrs. Potter said together. Everyone but the Evans's nodded in agreement. Then Sirius shrugged and began digging through the pile of presents.

"Lily-James-Remus-mum-dad-Mr. and Mrs. Potter-Mr. and Mrs. Evans-" he muttered, distributing gifts. "Mr. and Mrs. Lupin-blast, where's my-aha!" Sirius ripped off the wrapping paper to his present and smiled happily. "We have a Tuesday!" he announced, placing the seventh motorcycle helmet with the rest of them.

Lily giggled and began opening her present from Melody. It was a plain brown box, nothing special. She looked at it curiously, and then very slowly opened the lid, hoping it wasn't magical and that nothing would spring out at her. Nothing did. She frowned and pushed the tissue paper aside hurriedly, wondering what in the world Melody would feel needed to be placed inside a plain brown box. (Normally, Melody hated anything plain, let alone brown, so why she would put a Christmas present in something so boring-looking, she didn't know.)

Lily looked into the box. She blinked. She looked at the ceiling and shook her head. Then she looked into the box again and began giggling. It wasn't magical. It wasn't a joke product. It wasn't plain and boring. It wasn't a book. It wasn't jewelry. It wasn't a styling product.

It was a pair of shoes.

*    *    *

"Lily, have you seen the indoor gardens yet?" James asked conversationally, several minutes later. Everyone was sprawled comfortably around the living room, talking and playing with their presents. Outside, the wind was howling and snow was coming down in droves.

"Not yet," Lily replied, admiring her new shoes, which were high-heeled, black, and very elegant. They looked good on her.

"Come on, I'll show you," he said, getting up from the couch and pulling Lily with him.

They jogged up several flights of stairs together. On the way, Lily poked him in the shoulder.

"You haven't given me a Christmas present yet," she accused.

James flashed a cocky grin at her. "Who says I got you one?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Five sickles says it's in your pocket."

"No bets! You're starting to sound like Melody..."

Lily laughed.

"So where's my present?" James demanded, as they reached the indoor gardens.

"It's around," Lily replied casually. James shook his head and pulled open the door Lily walked in and gasped.

The most beautiful place on earth had just gotten twice as beautiful. Everything was coated in thick layers of magical snow, which looked the same as real snow, but it wasn't as cold and didn't smell quite the same. It didn't smell bad, but it didn't smell like snow, either. But it was beautiful.

Red and white roses bloomed on snow-covered bushes, fairies hovered in clumps, lines, and patterns by trees, frozen streams ran under ice-coated bridges, and sprigs of mistletoe hung innocently everywhere.

"Wow," Lily whispered. "I didn't think...I didn't think this place could look more beautiful."

James shrugged and smiled at her. "Come on," he said, holding out a hand. "I have to show you something."

Lily took his hand and they walked along in silence, knowing before they even got there where they were going. The grove of evergreen trees sparkled with snow, and Lily sat down in the middle of it without even thinking. The snow was soft and cool, but not cold. It felt kind of silky, like a blanket, and slid through her fingers like sand.

"Interesting," she commented. James shrugged and sat down beside her. "So where's my present?" Lily asked, cocking her head and looking at James.

"You first," he said. Lily rolled her eyes and pulled out a small package, wrapped in red and gold paper.

"What is it?" James asked, looking at the small thing curiously. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Open it, idiot, and you'll find out!"

James laughed and opened the package, frowning at the small, liquid-filled bottle in his hands. "What is it?"

Lily rolled her eyes again. "It's cologne. It's magical. I...well, I made it myself. It changes scents when you change moods."

James smiled at her, rather lopsidedly, and sprayed some of it on. "Kind of...strong, isn't it?" he asked, coughing. Lily giggled.

"Only if you're feeling a particularly strong emotion," she said, batting her eyelashes. The scent of the cologne got stronger, and Lily laughed as James shoved a rectangular box into her hands.

"I didn't have time to wrap it," he said sheepishly.

"That's okay," Lily said, looking at it. 'If I didn't know better,' she thought, as she opened it, 'I'd say this was a very expensive...'

"Necklace," she whispered. "It's a necklace."

"Do you like it?" James asked nervously. "Because if you don't, I can-"

Lily put her fingers over his lips. "I love it," she said, not taking her eyes off of it. It was extraordinary, but at the same time very plain. Just a gold chain, with a pendant on it-a letter. "L".

It was the most beautiful thing Lily had ever seen.

"OH, LILY-BEAN!"

Lily jumped, and looked over in the direction of the doors. "And that will be Sirius," Lily said amusedly, taking the necklace out of its case and pulling it around her neck, fumbling with the clasp. She got it after a moment, and turned to James, smiling.

"Thanks, James," she said, and pecked him on the cheek, before turning and yelling out to Sirius. "OVER HERE!"

After a moment, Sirius and Remus came bounding through the trees, with Lily's younger brother in tow.

"Wow!" Dean said, looking around. "Is all of this inside?"

"Well, duh, that's why they call it the indoor gardens," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "Children," he said to Lily, trying to sound exasperated. "Honestly."

Lily burst out laughing, and Dean frowned at them both.

"Well, I want to see the rest of it!" he demanded, and the four teenagers looked at each other and shrugged, giving him a guided (and highly amusing, with Sirius there) tour of the gardens. By the time they got back to the doors again and ventured back to the living room, everyone was getting ready to leave.

The Lupins departed first, by stepping through the fireplace, and then Mr. and Mrs. Black-Sirius was going to spend the night at Potter's Cottage. The Potters then packed up their things and were escorted to the front door by Sirius and the Potters.

"Now Lily," Sirius was saying, as he helped Lily put on her coat and shoved her hat way too far down on her head. "Make sure you bundle up, because it's very cold outside-"

"And we wouldn't want you getting sick," James interjected.

"That's right, no getting sick! And don't forget to look both ways before you cross the street-"

"And no driving on the right side of the road-"

"And never talk to strangers-"

"And don't get involved with any wizards who say they can give you immortal powers-"

"Yeah, that always goes bad-"

"And no walking around alone at night-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Lily exclaimed, interrupting James. "Am I going home with my family, or am I going alone on holiday to France?"

James and Sirius exchanged a look, and then said together, decisively: "Alone on holiday to France."

Lily tried to roll her eyes and glare at them, but couldn't keep her composure and burst into giggles instead. "Happy Christmas," she said, shaking her head at them and giving them both hugs.

The Evans's all said their good-byes, and Mrs. Potter stepped up to open the door.

"Have a save jour-Never mind," she said, slamming the door closed again.

Four feet of snow had piled itself against the Potters' front door, and, Lily had seen, in the brief few seconds the door had been open, the Evans's car was buried in a snowdrift.

"Well," Mrs. Potter said, clapping her hands together. "I guess you'll be staying here tonight...anybody care for a cup of cocoa?"

The Evans's looked at each other and shrugged. Lily looked at Petunia. Her mouth was pursed so much it looked like she had just drunk an entire vat of lemon juice. Daisy looked about half as angry. Dean was jumping around like his birthday had come early. James and Sirius traded evil grins.

Well. This was going to be interesting.

*    *    *