Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and events from J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of readers. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 17: Winter Cheer
December blanketed the Hogwarts grounds with snow. The students, though busy studying for exams, found time to enjoy the outdoors with snowball fights. When the lake froze over Lily and Emm introduced their friends to ice skating. Professor Flitwick had been kind enough to conjure up ice skates for them.
For boys who were good at just about everything, Sirius and James' talents did not extend to ice skating. Marlene and Alice picked it up alright although they were still a bit wobbly. Sirius thought he would be funny and charge at Marlene and knock her over. He went at her full force but before he could reach her she saw him coming and moved out of the way. Not being able to stop, Sirius stumbled forward and fell face first into a pile of snow.
Marlene almost fell over from laughing as Sirius sat up, his face and hair covered in snow. She turned to see if the others had witnessed this when suddenly something cold and wet slammed into the side of her head, followed by Sirius' barking laugh. She reached up and brushed the wet snow off her ear as she turned to Sirius and stuck out her tongue.
Emm was trying to demonstrate a figure eight to Remus, Peter, Alice, and Frank since they had learned how to stay upright on their skates. Lily was trying to teach James the basics, who was having difficulty.
"C'mon, Potter! It's not that difficult. No, your feet are all wrong," said Lily.
James sighed in frustration as he almost slipped again. "I honestly don't understand the draw Muggles have to putting metal blades on their boots and risking their ne-WHOA!" His foot started to slide out to the side. Lily glided over and grabbed his hands to keep him from falling.
"Look, why don't you just hold onto my hands so you can keep your balance?" she asked. A far-off look came about James' face as he nodded. "Okay, why don't you try skating forward a few steps? Just try not to lean too far forward or you'll lose your bal-."
Her warning came too late. James' skates slipped out behind him. He tried to right his feet as Lily attempted to pull him upward. The toe pick on James' skate caught on the ice and vaulted him forward, making him and Lily fall. He had fallen on top of her and when Lily looked up she saw James' face right above hers. Lily's eyes locked with James', and she felt warmth coming from them. James couldn't help but feel that maybe ice skating wasn't so bad after all.
"Oy, James! You really swept her off her feet, didn't you mate?" called a laughing voice. Both Lily and James turned to see Sirius and the rest of their friends looking at them. Alice and Emm skated over and helped James and Lily to their feet, all the while James shooting glares toward Sirius.
"You okay, Evans?" James asked. "I didn't hurt you when we fell, did I?"
"I'm fine, Potter. I don't understand how you can stay on a broom high up in the air but cannot simply stand on a pair of ice skates," she replied. He grinned sheepishly and she couldn't help but grin back.
On the way into the dorm room to change for dinner Alice and Marlene decided to tease Lily. "That was some fall you had there with James," Marlene said with a smirk.
"What do you mean?" Lily asked.
"Well, you turned about 10 shades of red after you fell. If I didn't know you any better I would say that you have a crush on him," Alice said with a smile.
Lily glanced at the two girls and with a blush said, "Oh, I was just embarrassed about the fall, that's all." She turned to walk into their room as Marlene and Alice smiled at each other knowingly.
************************************************
Lily continued her tutoring with Professor Riddle, and her grades improved little by little. She felt that DADA was by far the most difficult subject because she always felt drained after her tutoring sessions. No one had yet found out that she was going to them. The Monday after ice skating Professor Riddle seemed especially pleased when he locked eyes with Lily, like she had finally accomplished something great. An hour later, Lily walked into the common room and fell onto one of the overstuffed couches.
The next morning she awoke to a hand shaking her shoulder. She wearily opened her eyes and saw hazel ones staring back at her. They belonged to Potter, who was grinning at her. "Hey, Evans. Better get up or you'll be late for class."
"What are you talking about? There's no astronomy tonight," Lily wearily replied. She could barely keep her eyes open. Was she still in the common room?
"Uh…Evans, it's morning and you have 15 minutes until class starts," he said.
"What?!" Lily sat up with a start. Her head started to spin and she grabbed it and fell back onto the couch.
James' grin faded. "You okay?"
Lily rubbed her eyes and nodded, although deep down she felt uneasy. "I, um, just sat up too quickly, that's all." Before he could say anything else she got up and slowly made her way toward the stairway to the girl's dormitory. As she reached the stairway she could feel his eyes on her so she called back over her shoulder, "Thanks for waking me up, Potter. I'll see you in class."
Although Lily had a dull throbbing in her head, she was able to change quickly and jog into Herbology right as class was starting. She sat with Alice and Marlene and began to measure out some soil that would used for the morning's assignment. Alice and Marlene looked at Lily with concern. They hadn't seen her on their way down to breakfast that morning. Now Lily was almost late to class looking pale with dark circles forming around her eyes. Lily noticed their staring and smiled at them trying to show that she was alright.
Lily's headache gradually faded and by the end of classes that day she was actually feeling great. It was like a switch had turned and she felt an energy coursing through her. She did not feel like returning to the common room after the last class of the day. She saw Potter lingering behind in the potions classroom getting assigned yet another detention from Professor Pilon. She giggled as he came out of the classroom.
"I can't believe you spilled that sneezing potion on Snape," she said.
He grinned and shrugged. "Just a bit clumsy, I guess. Were you waiting for me?" he asked hopefully.
She smiled back and nodded. "I don't feel like going back to the common room just yet. Alice and Marlene had to catch up on homework so they couldn't do anything."
"You wanna go outside for a bit?" he asked.
"Sure," she replied.
They already had their cloaks with them since the dungeons were typically drafty. They bundled up and walked outside into the crisp late afternoon. They strolled around the lake and chatted.
"You know, Potter? I just realized that I don't know a whole lot about you," Lily said. "Usually when I see you you're getting into mischief with your friends."
"What do you want to know?" he asked, happy that she was taking an interest in him.
Lily paused for a moment and asked the first question that popped into her mind. "Tell me about your family. They're wizards, right?"
"Yes. My mum and dad both are," he replied.
Another question popped into Lily's head. "How far back does your wizard ancestry go?"
James thought for a second before replying, "I'm not sure. My mum's side goes back several generations although there are some Muggleborn ancestors here and there. Dad's side goes back pretty far, from what he's told me, although he didn't get much more specific than that."
"Were your parents in Gryffindor as well?" she asked.
"My mum was in Ravenclaw. Dad was in Gryffindor," he said.
"So you take after your father. Was he just as mischievous?" she asked with a smirk.
He grinned, "My mum won't let him tell me everything but I get the impression that he spent his fair share of time in detention."
Her smile widened, "Like father, like son." Another question came to her mind. "I noticed during the sorting that the hat barely touched your head before you were put into Gryffindor. Were your dad's ancestors mostly Gryffindor?"
"Yeah. Sort of a family tradition, on my dad's side. So, what are you going to do with all this information- make my family tree?" he asked smiling at her.
She simply replied, "I was just curious, that's all."
Lily seemed quiet for the next few minutes so James decided to ask her, "What about your family? They're Muggles, right?"
Lily laughed as she said, "Yes. They were rather surprised when I got my Hogwarts letter. So was I, for that matter. You should have seen the look on my sister's face when the owl flew into the room."
James looked confused. "Why?"
It took Lily a moment to realize his confusion. "Muggles don't use owls to send mail. We have people who deliver mail."
"People?! That's such a waste of time!" he exclaimed.
She nodded, "Yes, but that is normal for them. I'm only just getting used to using the owls. My parents think it's a treat to send my letters with Lancelot - he's my owl. My sister, on the other hand, refuses to go near him. I think she's afraid of him. My parents tell her they're sending her letters to me via the Muggle post, however they just stuff her letters in with theirs and send them with Lancelot. Actually, lately I haven't gotten many letters from her. I guess she's pretty busy," Lily said wistfully. She missed her family and felt hurt that she hadn't heard from Petunia in a few weeks. Her last letter had been very short.
"You miss them a lot, don't you?" James asked.
"Yeah. I can't wait to see them for the holidays, although it'll be weird going back to the Muggle world for a few weeks," said Lily.
As they headed back inside Lily asked, "Are you going home for the holidays?"
"I'll be there briefly but we're going to visit my mum's brother and his family for the rest of the holidays," he said.
Lily nodded as they made their way to the Great Hall, anxious to get something warm to drink.
**********************************************
Sirius looked up from his plate to see Lily and James sitting down at the table, bundled up in their cloaks, their cheeks rosy from being outside. Sirius looked from Lily to James, who winked at him as he sat down at the table. Sirius grinned at his friend and asked, "What have you two been up to?"
Lily replied, "We were just talking about what we're doing for the holidays. Are you going home, Sirius?"
Sirius' expression darkened as he took a bite of his roll and mumbled, "No, I think I'll just stay here."
"What?!" exclaimed James. "You didn't tell me that. You mean you'll be stuck here for Christmas?"
"Better here than with my sweet ol' mum and her prodigal son, Regulus," his voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Well, forget about staying here. You can stay with my family," James said.
"I'm not barging in on your family for Christmas," Sirius said.
"Nonsense. Once I tell Mum and Dad, they'll be glad to have you along. Besides, my cousins have been pranking me since I was in diapers. I'm in the mood for some sweet revenge. Against the two of us they won't stand a chance," said James with confidence.
The promise of mischief was enough to lighten Sirius' mood. "Alright! I'll come, but only if your folks are okay with it. They might not be thrilled having a Black join them for the holiday."
"You're nothing like your family and my parents will know that. In fact, I think they might worry that I'll be a bad influence on you," James added with one of his half-grins.
Sirius looked affronted. "Excuse me, but if anyone at this table is going to be a bad influence it will be me."
***********************************************
The last few weeks of class before the holidays brought about changes in the décor at Hogwarts. It seemed like there was a festive touch in every part of the castle, except the dungeons. Remus had done some research and one night the Marauders slipped out after curfew and placed their own touches on the festive décor.
The next morning students walked by suits of armor that sang out of key, "Jingle Bells, Slytherin Smells." The Marauders laughed as they saw Snape trying to use a silencing charm on them, with no success.
"Ah, Snivellus! Aren't you in the Christmas spirit?" Sirius chuckled. Ever since James had spilled the sneezing potion Snape had had a runny nose. His constant sniffling earned him his nickname of Snivellus, thought up by Sirius.
Snape turned and sneered at Sirius. "You did this. I know it and I'll prove it."
Malfoy appeared and glared at the Marauders before turning to Snape. "I thought I told you to shut these suits of armor up!" he spat.
James nudged Sirius before pulling out his wand and in a flash some mistletoe formed above Snape and Malfoy. "Go on, Malfoy! Kiss him! It is tradition, after all!" Sirius, Remus, Peter chuckled.
Malfoy reached for his wand when Professor Flitwick walked by. He saw the scene and asked, "What's going on, boys?"
Sirius smiled and said, "Just spreading some holiday cheer, professor."
Flitwick tried to suppress a chuckle as he saw the glares coming from the Slytherins. "Oh, well- why don't you help me spread holiday cheer in the Great Hall instead. I have got some decorations to finish putting up."
***************************************************
A/N: I've gotten many reviews that suggest a connection between what is happening to Lily to what happened to Ginny in CoS. I won't tell you yet exactly what is happening to Lily, but I will say one thing. Ginny was possessed by Riddle, who was an entity or spirit from a diary. In this story, Riddle is flesh and blood. Suffice to say there will be differences.
Thanks to itsme63 (x2), Rosali, Watermelon! (x2), and sweetie 513 for the latest reviews. Replies are in the usual spot.
What do you think about the happenings between Lily and James in this chapter?
Next chapter: Home for the holidays! Petunia and Lily see each other for the first time since Lily left for school. Sirius meets James' parents. We are introduced to James' cousins.