Chapter Five: Christmas Eve
James had not replied to Sirius's owl by the next morning. This worried Lily a bit, but she refused to believe it did. She had imagined that James would have sent an owl back immediately after he received Sirius's letter, but he had not. Sirius's owl had returned but without a response.
It was Christmas Eve and the Evans house was alive with festiveness. Yet, everybody could sense a sort of sadness in the air even though everyone donned smiles and cheerful attitudes. Sirius attributed this to Petunia's absence during the Christmas Eve festivities.
Mr. Evans decorated the tree in a slow monotonous manner and every now and then he would begin to hum softly. As soon as the tune had started, it would die off, and he would be silent once more. The whole time, his smile never vanished completely, though it would flicker slightly every so often.
Mrs. Evans spent all day in the kitchen. She baked continuously. The result of which was an array of pies and other deserts more plentiful and various than the deserts at the Halloween feast at Hogwarts. She too, would be caught sniffling into the dough when her back was turned, but when she was facing the room she managed to keep up her cheerful façade.
Lily was the only member of the household who seemed genuinely happy about the holiday. She skipped from here to there carrying various decorations and gifts to place under the tree, humming a cheerful tune all the while. The only time her happiness never seemed to slip away ever so slightly was when she happened to catch the eye of either of her parents. They would give her a smile she could obviously see through as well as Sirius could, and her humming and skipping would stop. She would then stand in the middle of the room and frown until someone drew her attention to something else and she quite forgot what she had been thinking about.
Sirius took all this in while helping the family decorate the house. He had never been a huge fan of Christmas. It wasn't something celebrated very much in his house. His parents would instruct Kreacher to go out and find a Christmas tree. The incapable house elf would then go out and find something that slightly resembled a tree after it had been plucked of all the green on it and the shoved through one of those things Muggles use to grind up their extra food. But of course, this was a good enough Christmas tree for his mother. She would then instruct Sirius to decorate it. Decorating a tree that looked like it wasn't even fit to be a tree at all didn't exactly help to lighten the mood and make Christmas any more enjoyable. He would often hang a few ornaments, wonder why he was wasting his time there, then hand the bag of decorations to either Regulus or Kreacher and order them to finish while he went to read his Quidditch magazines.
Christmas in the Black house was like Christmas on a deserted island in the middle of July. It was boring, dull, and virtually non-existent. And now that he was around people who seemed to actually enjoy the holiday, Sirius still couldn't get used to it. He went through all the motions of doing what he was told and pretending to be having a good time, but it was only because he didn't want to be a bad guest. It was the least he could do in exchange for the Evans' hospitality.
Then, much to Lily's dismay, who should show up on the front doorstep just before supper but James Potter. He smiled warmly and greeted everyone, most of whom seemed extremely happy to see him.
"Did you get my letter?" Sirius asked excitedly once Mr. and Mrs. Evans had moved on, inviting James to make himself at home.
"Yes," James replied, watching Lily out of the corner of his eye.
"Oh, good!" Sirius exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "Because Lily and I were quite afraid you hadn't."
Lily rolled her eyes and turned away from the two boys to continue her decorating, a small gesture that did not go unnoticed by James.
"Erm, Lily," he said softly. "May I speak with you in private?"
Lily ignored him and held out several sprigs of mistletoe.
"Here," she said sharply. "Make yourself useful and help with the decorations. No, never mind. You'd better find some other decorations to put up. I don't quite trust you with these."
He smirked, but persisted in asking to speak with her. Finally, she gave in.
"Oh, all right," she said, sighing dramatically. "But this had better be a short conversation. Come on, we can talk in my room."
She led him upstairs to her room at the end of the hall.
He looked around at the light green walls, the emerald green bedspread, and the plush green rug at the foot of her bed.
"I like green," she mumbled.
"It suits you," he mumbled back.
Growing frustrated, Lily grabbed his attention once again.
"Look, Potter," she said. "If this is about that stupid letter Black sent you yesterday, I-"
"Was it true?" he asked quietly.
"What?"
"Did Sirius tell the truth in that letter?"
Lily turned her head, looking anywhere but his penetrating eyes.
"Yes," she said finally. "I made sure of that."
"Lily," he said softly, as though he actually cared about her. "Please look at me." She did. "You don't really want to go on that date with me, do you?"
"No," she replied. "But it's okay. A deal's a deal. Black didn't pass out in that barber shop, so I have to go out with you."
James shook his head. "No, it wasn't right for Sirius to decide that for you. Either you say you won't go on that date or I will because I don't want to force you into anything."
Lily smiled. "Thank you."
He smiled back and walked out of the room. He had just blown the one chance he would probably ever have with the girl of his dreams, but at least she had smiled at him.
James went downstairs with Lily not far behind him to meet quite a scene at the bottom of the stairs. Mrs. Evans was sobbing uncontrollably in a chair by the fire while Mr. Evans was trying to comfort her. Sirius was standing nearby looking confused and uncomfortable.
"Oh dear," Lily muttered, brushing past James to get to her mother.
"I just wish the whole family could be together and happy for Christmas," Mrs. Evans sobbed. She looked up when Lily approached and her tears momentarily subsided. "Lily, do you think you could talk to Petunia. You two used to get along so well. I don't know what happened. Everybody else has failed, but maybe you can talk her into coming home."
Lily hesitated, but after seeing how upset her mother obviously was, she gave in.
"Take James along with you for protection," Mrs. Evans added as Lily was putting her coat on.
"I have my wand," Lily replied.
"Take James along anyway."
"Come along, Potter," she hissed.
When they were outside, Lily glanced around to make sure there weren't any Muggles nearby.
"Erm, I'm not quite sure where we're going," she told James. "So just hold on to my arm or something so we won't get separated."
Without hesitating, James laced his fingers through hers.
"Incorrigible prat," Lily mumbled. "Let's go."
Within seconds, they were standing in front of a Muggle apartment complex. In just one glance, both Lily and James could tell that the residents were probably all people who had more money than they knew what to do with.
Lily checked with the guard at the front gate, and after telling him who they were and what their business there was, he confirmed that Vernon Dursley did live there, in which apartment he resided, and that he had a guest staying with him.
They then walked through the incredible maze of gardens until they reached the correct door. Lily knocked on it. While waiting for a reply, she turned to James and noted the smug grin on his face. Flushing a bit, she quickly released the hand she had forgotten she had been holding, causing his grin to spread even wider.
Finally, someone opened the door. Lily was immensely glad that it was not Vernon because she could not stand talking to him.
"Petunia!" she greeted cheerfully, as if they had bumped into one another at the store upon some coincidence. "I hope you're having a lovely holiday."
"What are you doing here?" her sister asked in reply. "Did Mum and Dad send you to try to get me to come home for Christmas? It's not going to work. They've both already tried, but I like it here. It's nice and normal." She emphasised the word "normal". "I'm not leaving."
Lily sighed.
"I know," she said softly. "And I don't really care. You could stay here for the rest of your life for all I care, but Mum and Dad are worried sick. Mum's a mess. I left here just a moment ago, crying all over the place, and though he doesn't show it, Dad's just as upset. Christmas isn't as happy a time as it usually is."
Petunia didn't seem to have heard a word of what Lily had said. She was unmoved, as she had been before.
"Thanks for that," she said harshly. "But next time I want an update on what's going on at home, I'll drop in for a visit."
And with that, she slammed the door in Lily's face.
Lily spluttered for a few seconds before she seemed to realise what had happened. Then, she stomped her foot in frustration and sat down on the nearby stairs. James followed her, unsure of what to do.
"I can't believe her," Lily mumbled, tugging at her own hair. "She didn't even stop to think of anyone other than herself. Mum and Dad are wrecks right now because of her and she doesn't even care!"
She dropped her head onto her knees and continued to mumble incoherently.
James watched her.
"We can't all be good people," he said. "And your sister is obviously not. I understand that you want your parents to be happy for Christmas, but you have to understand that you may not be able to do anything about it. But you can't get worked up over this, too. Your parents will never feel better if all three of you are acting like this. No, either get up and try again or go home, but with a better attitude."
Lily lifted her head and James was surprised to see that she had been crying. He reached out and touched her arm.
"You're right," she muttered. "If I can't convince Petunia, I had better give up."
James laughed. "That's not what I said. I said to try again. Pay attention when I speak, Lily Evans."
She smiled and reluctantly decided to try once more to talk Petunia into going home.
Lily knocked loudly on the door. James was right behind her.
Petunia answered it looking extremely irritable.
"Petunia," Lily said firmly before her sister could say anything. "It's Christmas and our parents are not having a good time. It's all your fault, too. You may have ruined their Christmas. I'd suggest you come home and see if you can make them feel better, and if you don't, I hope you can't stand to live with yourself and what you did for the rest of your life."
Lily finished her speech and looked at her sister for the first time. Petunia looked afraid. Lily was extremely pleased with herself.
"I'll come," Petunia said quietly. "Just give me a little while to pack, then I'll take a taxi home. I'll be there in about two hours."
"Good," Lily said. "And if you don't come, I'll come back for you, and I won't be happy."
It was then that she noticed something strange. Petunia still looked rather frightened, but she wasn't looking at Lily but rather something past Lily's shoulder. Lily turned to see what it was, but all she saw was James putting his wand in his pocket. Certainly that wasn't what had scared Petunia into coming home. Or was it?
Lily and James left the apartment building and headed for a safe place to apparate.
"You didn't do anything to her, did you?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"No, of course not. But it's amazing how much you can do without even casting a spell."
Lily shook her head at him.
"Thanks," she muttered.
"Anytime," he replied. "Your sister seemed like she deserved it anyway. I'm glad you didn't turn out like her."
She smiled, saying, "So, I made a bet with Sirius, and I lost. As it turns out, I have to go on a date with you."
"Lily, we've already decided that-"
But she quickly silenced him.
"How does the day after Christmas in Diagon Alley sound?"
He grinned.
"It sounds perfect."
- - - -
A/N: Ooh…look at that. It's Lily and James finally getting along.
Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews! They make me feel special. I am so sorry it's taking me so long to get this story up, but school keeps getting in my way.
From now on I'm going to try to make an effort to reply to every review, and we'll see how long that lasts. No, I'm really going to try, but don't get offended if I don't reply to your review because I'm a busy person. I'll try to get back to you eventually.
Thanks for reading. There's only one chapter left after this one. What could possibly happen next? I guess you'll just have to wait and find out. The final chapter will be up as soon as possible…but I can't say when. It's a mystery.