Their Seventh Year

To answer some questions:

Yes, Voldemort will make an appearance, but the story is mostly about Lily and James.

Yes, the story is already written, you’ve discovered my dirty little secret.  That’s how I manage to update almost every day.

Arianna is one of my pet OC’s, I admit to liking her a lot, and I see a long and dysfunctional relationship between her and Sirius, but that’s another fanfic, and for this one, she’s not going to be very well-developed as a character.

And in this chapter: The Marauders make a plan and Lily (finally) gets a clue.

Chapter 22- All I Want for Christmas

Possible Christmas Gifts for Lily

-Jewelry? Too expensive?  But if it’s platonic jewelry?  Is there such a thing as “platonic jewelry?”

-A Book?  Safe, but kind of boring.  Suggested this idea to Padfoot and he suggested Sutra.  Won’t ask Padfoot for help any more.

-Candy?  You’d think that would be safe, but girls are weird about sweets, it’s related to the “am I fat” thing, which I still don’t get.

-Clothing?  Am not going to buy her robes of course, because would probably buy the wrong size and inadvertently imply she’s fat.  But scarf or something?  Would probably pick wrong color.  Could ask Mum?

“All right, I’m throwing myself upon your mercy.  You have to help me decide what to get her!”

It was the second day of holidays, and James had met his friends in Diagon Alley to do their Christmas shopping.

“Jewelry.”  Sirius replied promptly.  “That’s what you always get girls.  They love it.”

“No, James you absolutely cannot get her jewelry.”  Remus disagreed immediately.  “That’s a “boyfriend” thing, and Lily will definitely be annoyed if you get her something that seems like a boyfriend thing, since, no matter how much you’d like to be, you’re not her boyfriend.”

“Well, what am I supposed to get her?  Dungbombs?”

“You’re a smart wizard James, you’ll figure it out.”

And so he gave them the slip at Quality Quidditch Supplies and wandered through Diagon Alley, hoping something would inspire him.  Despite himself, he found himself stopping in front of Sparkel and Glints Fine Jewelry.  And there, in the window, he saw the very thing that he had been looking for.  He knew he wasn’t supposed to buy her jewelry, but the delicate gold bracelet was exactly the kind of thing she’d like.  It wasn’t big or loud or showy, but quiet and understated and elegant, which was how he thought of Lily.

He stood at the window for almost ten full minutes, trying to decide.  He could hear Remus’s voice in his head “no matter how much you’d like to be, you’re not her boyfriend”.  He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, and then decided, and walked into the shop.

======

"Lily's going to get mad at you James. She's going to think you're trying to buy her. She's too smart to fall for that." Remus sounded dangerously close to scolding as they sat around with butterbeers at Fortescue's.

"Then Lily needs to lighten up." Proclaimed Sirius. "I think it’s very pretty and it's a nice gesture James."

"Thank you Padfoot."

Remus still looked uneasily at the bracelet James had bought her, but decided he had given up on talking James out of it. He knew as well as anything that when James Potter set his mind on something it was pretty much useless trying to change it.

"How are you going to get it to her?"

"Owl her, she said I could."

"Nah, you should give it to her in person, you know, so she can thank you properly."

"Padfoot, how do you manage to make almost anything you say sound dirty?" Peter inquired.

"It's a gift, my friend, maybe someday I'll teach you."

"Anyway, I can't give it to her in person, I won't see her until we're back at school." James insisted, ignoring the innuendo.

"Are you sure of that James?" Sirius pressed, with a look that they all dreaded, it meant he wasplanning something.

"You're thinking." He accused.

"Not a new thing, you realize? You all know the McKinnons have a huge party for the holidays, usually on the day after Christmas, right?"

They nodded, plainly not sure where this was going.

"And Lily is staying with them..."He continued, still to blank looks.

"Sirius, we're not invited. It's her parents' party, Flora doesn't invite people."

"But she'll be there, as will Lily." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh no...Padfoot, we can't gatecrash the McKinnons' party." Remus said firmly, but James jumped up.

"That is a brilliant idea!"

======

Spending Christmas with her family was not the nightmare that Lily had anticipated. Petunia had apparently decided that her best course of action was to pretend that Lily didn't exist, and tobe out with her fiancé as much as possible. While it was not the ideal sort of sisterly relationship, it was much better than having her sitting there with a pained look and muttering nasty things under her breath. It gave Lily a chance to spend some time with her parents, which was something she had missed perhaps more than she realized. Her parents had never expected anything more than a normal, happy, suburban childhood for their daughters, and the revelation that Lily was a witch had shaken them, to say the least. Still, they tried to stay involved, tried to understand her life, and were proud of her despite the fact they might not have really understood what it meant to get a lot of OWLS, or be in NEWT classes.

It meant a lot to her that they made an effort, and even more so when she realized they must have made a special trip to Diagon Alley to get most of her Christmas presents.  Christmas Day was always quiet at the Evans’ house and this year was no exception.  Lily spent most of the day visiting with various family friends who dropped by to wish them a Merry Christmas or helping her Mum in the kitchen.  Still, she felt a vague anticipation all day, as if she was waiting for something.  Something was bothering her, in the back of her mind, and she couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.  It was halfway through dinner that she realized it.  She had not expected Christmas gifts from her roommates to arrive by owl, because they would see each other the next day, and would surely exchange gifts then.  But she had wondered if- actually she had expected- that James would send her something.  As she finished dinner in silence, she wasn’t sure what bothered her more, the fact that he had not gotten her a present, or the fact that she was upset that he hadn’t gotten her a present.

She spent the rest of the evening in a sort of haze, brooding about this, annoyed that even when he wasn’t around James could manage to upset her.  She hadn’t realized how obvious her distraction was to the rest of her family until her mother joined her in the living room much later, as she was staring unseeingly into the fire, and handed her a cup of tea.

“Oh, thanks.”  She had been so distracted she had not even heard anyone come in.  She glanced at the clock and saw it was nine.  Petunia had not returned yet, which was just as well.

Her Mum sat down next to her on the couch.  “Do you want to talk about it?”

She almost said “no” but then reconsidered.  Her Mum might not be a witch, but she had always given Lily good advice, and there had been a time when they were very close.  Besides, not being a part of the wizarding world might give her an objectivity that Lily’s friends could never have.  She began hesitantly.

“You remember James?  That boy from the train station?”

Her mother smiled patiently.  “Yes Dear, I remember him.”

“Well, I just thought he might send me a Christmas present, is all.”

“And you wanted him to?”

“No, not really…”

“Really?  Because you seem pretty unhappy about it.  I’m only telling you this because I love you, you need to sort out what your real feelings about this boy are.”

“I already know that!  I can’t stand him!  He makes me so mad.  He’s arrogant and spoiled and pompous and rude and presumptuous and conceited…and…and…”

“Incidentally, “arrogant” and “conceited” mean the same thing, so you’re being rather redundant.”

“Not helping Mum.”

“What are his good qualities?”

“Huh?”

“Well, he’s head boy, isn’t he?  So the teachers must see some redeeming qualities in him.  And he’s quite popular, isn’t he?”  Lily nodded reluctantly.  “So I doubt all the other students at Hogwart’s like someone who has absolutely no likeable qualities.”

Something Flora had said at the beginning of the year floated back to her- “he's cute, he's smart, he's rich, and he’s a decent dancer.”

“Well, he is fairly smart I guess.  He’s good at classes anyway.”  Her mother nodded encouragingly.  “He can be kind of funny.  He used to be kind of a bully, but he doesn’t do that anymore, so now his jokes are more funny than being at someone else’s expense.  And when he actually stops talking about himself he can be interesting.  He’s really incredibly loyal, I mean, to his friends, to his family.  He’s braver than he realizes, whenever something happens, whenever there is something in the newspaper about someone else dying, or another attack, he takes charge.  It’s subtle, it’s unconscious I think, but there this underlying sense of…compassion.  He…”  She realized her Mum was grinning at her, and she realized how long she had gone on.

“All that, and he’s good looking.”  Her Mum took one of her hands.  “You set high standards for yourself Lily, and I’m proud of you for that, but it means you have high standards for everyone else as well.  James isn’t perfect, neither are you, but maybe you’re perfect for each other.”  Her Mum stood and kissed her forehead.  “Don’t stay up too late Sweetie.”  She paused in the doorway.  “Oh, Lily…did you get James a Christmas present?”

“Er…yes…”

“Did you send it to him?”

“Um…no…”

“Why not?”

“Well, I didn’t want to…if he didn’t get me one.”

“Have you thought that maybe James is thinking the same thing?  Maybe you should go ahead and send it.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

======

Flora’s family picked her up the next morning, and it didn’t take Flora, and Alice who arrived right after her, very long to notice that she was unusually quiet and seemed agitated.

“Lily, is something wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Hm, is it family nothing or some other kind of nothing?”

Lily picked at a lace cover on one of the pillows on Flora’s bed.  The room was beautiful, as was the rest of the house.  Lily had known Flora’s family was well-off, but she had not been prepared for the size of their house.  She had only felt uncomfortable for a few moments though, the McKinnons had been so pleasant and welcoming and the house had a warm, lived-in feel to it.  Flora’s Mum had packed them off to her room to unpack and get ready for the party that night.

“I said it’s nothing.”

“And you actually expected us to believe that?”  asked incredulously.  “Don’t you know us at all?”

Lily sighed and didn’t meet either of their looks.

“IthinkImightlikeJamesalittletinybit.”

“What?”

She gritted her teeth.  “I think I might like James.”  She heaved a great sigh and then added “stupid mother” under her breath.

Their reactions were not exactly what she had expected.  Certainly, Flora spat butterbeer all over her desk and Alice had a look like she had just accidentally swallowed too many hopping peppermint toads, but then they both grinned at her, looking far too pleased with this development.

“Well, what are you going to do about it?”  pressed.

“I’m just going to stop liking him, that’s all.  I started, I can stop.”

“Lily, I never thought I’d say this to you, but you are remarkably stupid.  That’s not how it works Lily.  You can’t just turn off feelings.”

“You don’t actually expect me to act on it, do you?”

“Of course we do!”  Exclaimed Flora.  “Snog him senseless girl!”

“Don’t be ridiculous.  You both know what James is like.  He likes the chase.  I let myself fall for him and he’ll get bored in a few months and then where will I be?”

“Lily, that isn’t what he’s like.  Not anymore.  Maybe two years ago I would have believed that, but I think he’s grown up.  He’s liked you for three years Lily, that doesn’t seem like casual entertainment.”

“No, I’m going to do the logical thing.  I’m just going to stop liking him.”

rolled her eyes.  Flora smirked.  “Good luck with that Lily.”

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