Christmas was a subdued affair at the Potter household. Lily had awoken in James's bed- an event that she swore would never happen since she'd known of the existence of hormones. Luckily, she was the first to wake, and managed to slip off the bed and escape to her room before James could notice. She was, however, surprised to see Alex and Alice chatting on her bed.
"Where HAVE you been?" demanded Alice at the sight of her flustered friend.
Grasping for an excuse, Lily found her mind strangely void of anything to sate her friend's curiosity, except for the truth. "I was, ah, in James's room…"
Both Alice and Alex's eyebrows shot up in such a way that Lily would have found comical, had she not been feeling so awkward.
"Look, it wasn't like we were… I mean, we didn't… we were just talking, and then we fell asleep. It was a long day, you know?" The girls looked considerably more downcast at the reminder of the previous day's tragedy. Lily felt a little guilty about this, and so leaned forward conspiratorially and whispered, "But we WERE in the same bed," knowing that her friends' excited giggles would last for quite some time.
~~
Mr. Potter was able to enjoy a hasty but elegant breakfast with the clan before having to rush off to the Ministry to interrogate some of the captured Death Eaters. The teens who weren't originally staying with the Potters soon followed suit and left to be with their own families. As the students were disappearing one by one into the fireplace, Sirius leaned over to Remus and whispered, "Oy, who's that?"
Emily was just reciting her address as Remus took a second look at her. "I don't know for sure- Edith? No, Emily. Emily Jule. She's a year younger than us, in Ravenclaw. I guess I just didn't notice her last night, in all the confusion. I-well then! Would you look at that!"
Before she had disappeared, Emily waved a shy goodbye to Peter, who was standing awkwardly next to the fireplace and immediately started blushing. Sirius and Remus laughed in the corner of the room, surprised but still pleased that their more socially-disinclined friend had some kind of a connection with the mysterious new girl.
Remus was the last to leave, and soon only James, Lily, and Sirius remained. Mrs. Potter had Flooed over to St. Mungo's, with assurances of being back by supper mixed in with threats should she return to find the house burned to the ground.
James and Lily were both pleased to find that there was no uneasiness between them, despite the deeply intimate conversation from the night before. The three of them traded of playing each other in Wizard's Chess, until a restless Sirius decided to lead the House Elves on a parade around the house whilst belting out sappy Celestina Warbeck songs and serenading the portraits. Lily found this endlessly amusing; childish though it may be.
Mr. Potter was the first to arrive back at the Manor, looking slightly haggard around the eyes. Nonetheless, he joined Sirius in his endeavors to open the portraits up to love. Lily was treated to a first-rate explanation as to where James acquired his easy-going nature, even if he didn't display it as frequently. Mr. Potter drew the line, however, when Sirius started informing the portrait of the previous Mrs. Potter that in order to seduce more men, she needed to dress more provocatively.
The rest of the Christmas Day was a bit more traditional. Mrs. Potter came home, the feast was served, the fire was lit, and Sirius only tried twice to Transfigure the Christmas Tree into a broomstick that dispensed presents ("Don't you see! It would be a present that keeps giving you MORE presents!")
Lily received several antique Charms books from the elder Potters, and was perhaps overly profuse in thanking them. After bestowing their other gifts upon the boys, the parents left the room to go spend some time alone.
Lily gave Sirius a book entitled Tips and Tricks to Win the Witch, which Sirius then claimed to have practically written himself. He and James exchanged various Quidditch paraphernalia, which came at no huge surprise.
James was slightly shocked when he opened his present from Lily. "I don't… understand…" he whispered as he gazed in awe at the package. He let the rest of the wrappings fall to the floor to reveal a box filled to the brim with colorful, gaudy Zonkos products.
"James, I still don't totally approve of you pranking the rest of the school, but with things being the way they are in the rest of the world… I figured we could all use a few laughs." Lily looked slightly abashed as she said this, feeling as though she was betraying the prefect code of conduct or something similar.
James just gave her a light hearted smirk. "You could just say you like my pranks, Lily. Honest. I won't hold it against you."
"Oh, bugger off Potter," Lily retorted with a small smile as she reached for a smaller package, which just happened to be from James himself.
It took her some time to undo the overly-fastidious ties that held the package together. Her curiosity only grew as she saw that inside the wrappings was a small box. And inside the box… Lily felt her heart quicken as she lifted out the delicate silver bracelet. From the bracelet dangled four tiny silver bulbs.
"It's a Charms bracelet." James informed her. "I think the Muggles have something similar- here, let me show you how it works." He gently lifted the bracelet out of her hands and set it on the table. Lily gasped as he poked the first bulb with his wand. The bulb detached from the bracelet, rolled a few inches away, and then slowly, beautifully, transformed into a tiny seed that grew and blossomed into a lily before her eyes.
"You are aware of how cheesy giving me a lily charm is, right?" Lily asked.
"Yes, I am, but I'm alright with being cheesy every now and then."
Lily was entranced by the flower as it began to sway and ruffle in an invisible breeze. She made herself look away and poke the next one with her wand. Again, the bulb distanced itself from the bracelet, then changed into a fierce lion no bigger than half her thumb. It stalked around the lily, dignified and intimidating, then began to play with unseen prey. The next two revealed a star the rose into the air and pulsed out a warm, comforting golden light, and, for some reason, a proud stag that Lily found herself grow attached to as it pranced around the table, carefree and elegant.
When she was done, the four figures folded themselves back into their bulbs, rolled back, and reattached themselves to the bracelet. "Thank you," Lily breathed out faintly as James attached it to her wrist. "It's beautiful."
"I know," said James. "It suits you."
Lily blushed; Sirius, however, off reading in the corner, made gagging motions behind his new favorite book.