#while rowling is Nothing and has No Footprint | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

my--inspiration--page · 7 years ago

Text

Christmas at Hogwarts

**I don't own Harry Potter or the characters. That's JK Rowling. Maybe I'll own it someday, but probably not. I do own Ginger and the spells and prank ideas. That's all though. Enjoy!** Christmas Sixth Year "I give up!" Marlene gave an exasperated shout, and Lily looked up to see her throw her hands dramatically in the air. On her desk lay a scroll filled with the cramped, tiny handwriting of her other best friend Alice. They were both sitting in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy place with a fire roaring in the grate and squashy, mismatched chairs scattered at intervals around the room. A quick glance out the frosted window showed snow falling fast in heavy flakes, which was where most people's attention was directed. Nobody seemed able to focus on their various pieces of homework with Christmas just around the corner. "What is it this time?" Lily drawled, slamming her book shut with a rather loud thud. She stood up and stretched, walking over to Marlene's side. Her bright red hair bounced merrily, and her freckled nose crinkled as she yawned. "Alice has given me another dreadful essay to copy from and it is just... too complicated to copy from!" Marlene exclaimed, gesturing frantically at Alice's essay and the blank piece of paper that Lily guessed was supposed to be her's. "Well, why don't you just write it yourself?" Lily pointed out in what she hoped wasn't a sarcastic tone. Marlene gaped at her as if she had grown a second head, "You're kidding, right? How in the name of Merlin am I supposed to write a transfiguration essay?" Lily turned around, shaking her head exhaustedly. She sat down again in her chair, determined to finish reading the required passage for History of Magic when what seemed like a tornado burst in through the portrait hole. Everybody in the room looked up, either jarred from daydreaming or school work, to stare at the clump of four laughing boys that were currently in a heap on the floor. They sorted themselves out, straightening robes, polishing glasses, and brushing off dust, and looking up to see that they had an audience. James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew stared back at the crowd, offering up bashful smiles. "Nothing to see here, folks, nothing at all. Please just return to your business," announced Sirius, causing many annoyed grumbles and more than a few eye roles. Lily herself couldn't help but smile just a little bit at their antics. They hadn't changed a bit since they first arrived at Hogwarts so many years before. Looking back, Lily felt as if she had just been announced a Gryffindor yesterday. Time had flown. Even from the start, the four boys had acted like brothers, and sometime in the second year they had begun calling themselves the Marauders. They even gave each other nicknames, which Lily thought was mostly geeky, but kind of cute. Not that she thought any of the boys themselves were actually cute. That would be weird. Marlene snorted aloud, gaining Lily's attention yet again. "Ridiculous, that lot. How they never get caught is beyond me. One day they'll get what they deserve, don't you think?" Lily muttered a vague agreement before plunging back into her book yet again. *** Lily's first day of break dawned cold and crisp, with Marlene, who always woke up early opening the curtains wide. She was flipping open the window lock as well before Alice ran over to stop her. Outside, a deep blanket of snow stood undisturbed, except for where four sets of footprints marred it. Lily thought she knew exactly who those prints belonged to, and Marlene seemed to as well. "What in the world are they up to this time? I hope it's not like the fiasco of last Halloween," she broke off her rant as they all shuddered in horror, not keen to remember the unspoken-of events of that particular holiday, "Not to mention I hope that the professors can actually catch them for once. We all know it's them causing all those pranks, so why don't they just give them detention already?" By the time she was finished she was gasping for breath. Lily knew not to take her too seriously though, because Marlene was a drama queen through and through. But Lily couldn't help feeling slightly excited at the prospect of what mischief the Marauders might cause this time. After all, who didn't like a good laugh? She slipped into the bathroom to get ready for the day and by the time she emerged Marlene and Alice were also ready to go to breakfast. Down in the Great Hall, Christmas trees lined the walls, and strands of garland and lights adorned even the grumpiest portraits' frames. Dumbledore had switched out his wizard hat in favor of a red and white cap, reminisce of Santa Clause and Professor Flitwick was busy handing out carol sheet music to what seemed to be invisible musicians and their hovering instruments. Breakfast itself was a lively affair, with most of the school gone, the houses were combined into two tables, and friends that normally didn't sit with each other had a grand time. Lily couldn't help but notice that the Marauders were all there, and laughing heartily every time she stole a glance their way. She also noticed that her friend-turned-enemy Severus Snape was not there, though when she noticed herself looking for him, the old knife that twisted in her stomach when she thought of him gave a mighty jerk. When she headed back to the dorms with Marlene and Alice, she was preoccupied with her thoughts, which swirled in areas she normally didn't let them go, like how James Potter looked when he laughed and her old contentment after a long talk with Sev. Alice noticed her dazed looked and waved a hand in front of her face quickly, causing her to blink and look up. "Hey Lil, you okay?" she asked in her normal sweet way. "Yeah I'm fine, just feeling odd," Lily muttered, before shaking her head and offering Alice a weak smile. "Well, cheer up! It's almost Christmas!" Marlene exclaimed and twirled in a circle, causing her robes to flutter. Suddenly, a loud explosion rocked the corridor behind them, and the trio was engulfed in a swarm of multicolored butterflies. The girls screamed and swatted at the horde, but whenever they hit a butterfly it stuck to them. Marlene began to gasp and pant as she shook her arm frantically. "Get... off... ugh! Terrible... stupid, bloody... Marauders!" She turned a glare at the hallway behind them which was empty. Lily, on the other hand, thought the effect was quite pretty. She hadn't gotten nearly as many butterflies stuck to her as Marlene, and looked elegant with a rainbow of fluttering wings patterning her hair, arms, and casual Christmas dress. "Come on Marles, it isn't that bad, really," she laughed as another sky blue butterfly came to rest on her shoulder. "Well it isn't my fault that you actually look... ugh, dumb thing... quite pretty covered in insects!" Marlene was now picking at a pink bug that was stuck to her arm, and having no success. *** "Well, now we have to go track down the boys so they tell us how to get rid of them," Alice murmured as she admired herself in their bathroom mirror. She, like Lily, had come to like the butterflies and the way they fluttered their brightly patterned wings. Marlene in the other room rolled her eyes in disgust at Alice's fascination. She had already changed out of her insect-covered dress into a plain black ensemble. Lily, meanwhile, was twirling happily around the room, which she had found caused the butterflies in her hair to take flight, still stuck to the bright red strands. The effect was a brilliant red halo which floated in the air behind her. "So let's go then. Right now please." Her tone caused both Alice and Lily to frown, but they both chose to ignore it as they all filed down the stairs. They didn't have to look for long, as the four boys were crowding around the mantel in the common room. "Oi, Potter!" Marlene stormed across the room with Lily and Alice following tentatively behind her, "Get these bloody bugs off of me!" The Marauders all smiled at each other before turning to look again at the trio. "We won't do anything until you say please," James said, smiling cheekily. Lily couldn't help herself, accidentally letting a small laugh through her pressed lips. This earned a fiery glare from Marlene and a knowing smile from James. "No. This is your fault," Marlene was almost growling. James just rolled his eyes and waited, which caused Lily to press her lips tighter together to avoid another outburst. His posse of friends sat silently behind him, all of them smiling in some way. "Could you please get these infernal bugs off me, Potter, or I swear I will use an Unforgivable on you, distantly related or not!" Lily and Alice blinked surprisedly at the related bit, while James pulled out his wand and pointed it at the butterflies on Marlene's arms. "Veniet evanscet!" he whirled his wand and the butterflies fluttered gracefully off of Marlene, disappearing into the tip of his wand. Alice sighed in disappointment as the insects coating her flew away as well. Lily was last, and as each delicate bug winged away, her arms tingled, as if she was filled with bubbles. Marlene ran off immediately, but Alice and Lily shuffled awkwardly in front of James. Lily was debating whether to thank him when he sneezed and six butterflies, all green, shot out of his wand. They whirled through the air before settling on Lily's head in the shape of a crown. "Ooh!" Alice squealed and reached up to touch them, "So pretty!" Lily laughed happily and with her eyes sparkling thanked James before Alice dragged her away, pulling her arm so hard she thought it might fall off. Once the girls had left Remus turned to James and raised his eyebrows. "You're fighting a losing battle with that one mate," Sirius mumbled, patting James on the shoulder before he trekked up the stairs to the boys' dormitory. *** The next day, Lily found the butterflies had disappeared and a head band that shimmered green had replaced them. She'd had a hard time falling asleep last night, due to the fact she didn't want to crush their frail bodies and wings. Marlene had laughed at her when she showed up at the dorm with Alice, but her merriment didn't last long when Alice immediately began prodding her about how James Potter was related to her. "I never told you that? Huh, must've slipped my mind. We are, unfortunately, cousins," her tone was flat and betrayed no emotion. Lily decided to wear the headband to breakfast, along with a matching green holiday dress. While everyone else chattered excitedly about Christmas Eve tomorrow, Alice ruminated over the gift all during breakfast, how he hadn't given a present to her or Marlene, how he was really popular, how maybe he would ask her out, how many girls would- "Okay, Alice I get it!" Lily said laughing as she deflected more questions from her overly curious friend, "You think Potter likes me, and that's nice, but I'm not sure I like him." Marlene, who had been quiet through Alice's daydreaming, muttered something unprintable about James and his friends into her soup. Alice chose to ignore her, plowing on in her LilyandJames crusade, "Are you serious Lily? Of course you like him! You're always laughing at his jokes and looking at him across the common room. You always look for him at breakfast, and I've seen your face while Marlene is ranting." Lily didn't know what to say to that, and instead chose to focus on her breakfast. Throughout the rest of the day, whenever she found herself looking for him, Alice's words flashed through her head. Of course you like him! She just wasn't so sure. *** Christmas Eve dawned unusually gray and... rainy. By afternoon, all the snow had turned to slush and most people hanging around the Gryffindor common room were definitely not in the Christmas Spirit. Well, one person especially. "'Scuse me everybody! I need your attention! Like, right now!" James drew the attention of everyone sitting by the fire, trying to ignore the dreary day. "Today is just! So terrible! No snow on Christmas!" Alice and Marlene rolled their eyes, ready to return to their books when James intruded yet again. "But I know how to fix that! I have two words for everyone! Easy. Snow. Spells." The room began to hum appreciatively, but one snarky second year called out, "That was three words!" James stuck out his tongue in the general direction of the catcall before pulling out his wand and tapping it in his palm so a few snowflakes popped out of it. "Now everybody repeat after me- Nixaystate!" The room echoed him and he clapped happily. "All right now everybody spread out through the castle, if we work hard enough we'll be sledding through the halls by this time tomorrow!" Some of the younger students stood up and cheered, but they were interrupted by a screech. "Oh no! James Potter you will not be dragging innocents into your schemes! I won't allow it! I'll owl your mother!" Marlene waved an angry finger, looking every bit the Scrooge at Christmas. The entire room groaned, but didn't sit down, causing Marlene to turn on them, "And all of you should be- hey where do you think you're going!" The room began to empty out as people clambered through the portrait hole bearing their wands. Lily and Alice glance guiltily over their shoulders near the heart of the crowd, where Marlene stood fuming in the middle of the room, her face red. Lily thought she looked as if she had taken an expired Pepper Up Potion. As she passed James on her way out, she offered him a shy smile, which he returned with his own eager one, "Just try not get caught, eh Evans?" This caused Alice to jab an elbow into her ribs as soon as he was out of sight. "Lily and James sitting in a treh- ouch!" The answering punch to her shoulder was enough the shut her up. Soon, the halls of Hogwarts were coated in three feet of snow. The only house not participating in the Christmas crazies was Slytherin, of which there weren't many people anyway, and then, of course, Marlene. After the morning snow activities, James taught the Gryffindors to summon sleds and convinced Professor McGonagall to tell him how to transfigure pillows into dogs to pull them. Even the teachers could soon be seen racing around the Great Hall, which was a newly formed ice rink, and building snowmen in the corridors. Lily decided that James Potter had turned Hogwarts into a winter wonderland, and she loved it. Not him... the castle. *** The next morning, shouts of delight could be heard throughout Gryffindor tower as people compared gifts and exchanged Christmas hugs. Marlene was in a slightly better mood when they all discovered that the snow in the halls (along with the dogs and sleds to many first year girls' disappointment) had disappeared, most likely courtesy of Dumbledore and the rest of the staff. Lily didn't mind though, as the walk down to breakfast was much easier, even if it was less fun. Piles of Christmas crackers lined the tables, ghosts howled Christmas carols in the corner, and festive hats were transfigured from everyone's normal black-brimmed headwear. Alice, to her great excitement, had a hat with miniature reindeer chasing each other in fast circles around the wide blue brim, and took it off frequently to admire it. "I think I'm going to name them Tiny and Smalls," she announced with a definitive nod, still inspecting the little creatures. "That's creative," Lily muttered, shaking her own head, which was topped with a sparkling silver and diamond crown featuring dangling green and red ornaments, with amusement. Just then, James walked by in his clump of friends, stopping to wave to Lily, "Happy Christmas Evans!" Lily waved back with another signature smile and blush combination. Alice just smiled broadly after the exchange, thinking her point was proven, when Marlene suddenly sighed rather loudly. This jerked Lily from her James-induced daydreaming rather quickly, "What?" "James Potter! Lily, you could do so much better! I honestly thought you had better taste than that," she nodded somberly as she spoke. "And what is that supposed to mean?" Lily snapped, her leaf green eyes flashing dangerously. "Lils, Lily, come on. You have to see what I mean here. He's rude and completely incorrigible! He's always causing trouble and, frankly, a complete mess! How could you fall for someone like him?" Even Alice looked shocked at how cold her words were. "Oh, I see. My tastes don't fit your standards. Well... I'm sorry that you don't dictate my life and my choices!" Lily jerked quickly away from a tomato-red Marlene, and stood up from the table. After one wise, considering glance at Marlene, Alice stood up and followed Lily from the room. *** Lily sat in the Gryffindor girls' dorm room reading a book but not actually seeing the words. The constellation of freckles on her nose twitched as she tried not to cry. She couldn't remember the last time she had had a fight with Marlene. If she was being honest with herself, she was the glue that held Marlene and Alice together. They were the ones always fighting with each other and she was the peacemaker. But she also realized she was tired of that tension. She felt lucky that she wasn't completely alone though, as Alice was sitting across from her, admiring a pillow her sister had embroidered and sent her for Christmas. "Do you want to play a game of chess? I got a new set of men in my cracker at breakfast," Alice asked kindly, setting her present aside. "Sure! Why not! Absolutely!" Lily nearly shouted, slamming her book shut, but then saw the look on Alice's face, "Oh Alice, I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you, I'm just mad at myself. I should have handled the situation with Marlene better." Alice gave her a small smile over her shoulder as she pulled out a chess board from under her bed, "I'm fine, it's you I'm worried about. She should be apologizing though, not you." "I know, and me apologizing will only make her worse. I guess the tension was just building up, and that was just what triggered the explosion," Lily pinched the bridge of her nose and growled at the ceiling in frustration. Suddenly, the door creaked open, and a first year girl named Ginger poked her head into the room. She had brown hair that hung down her back, which Lily thought was ironic. "I'm supposed to tell you that the Marauders are planning a giant snowball fight out on the Quidditch pitch and that you all need to be there at two o'clock." Alice smiled warmly at the nervous girl as she left, but Lily glanced out the window skeptically. "Hey Alice?" "Hm?" "How are we supposed to have a snowball fight outside when it is forty degrees and sunny?" "These are the Marauders we are talking about here Lils." Lily nodded, but still looked at the pitch outside with raised eyebrows. *** She couldn't believe her eyes. The pitch was a dome of white in a background of gray sky and brown grass that squelched under about one hundred pairs of feet. As Lily and Alice approached the pitch, they saw that the solid dome of white wasn't actually solid at all, but trillions of snowflakes that blew through the air. It was strange, because you could still see all the way across the pitch, and also because none of the flakes ever actually reached the ground. They drifted upways and sideways and diagonalways, but they never touched the ground, which was a pristine layer of snow about a foot deep. Wherever anybody stepped, the snow instantaneously filled in where there had been a hole. People gaped in awe as they approached the Marauders waiting in the middle of it all. James stepped forward and gave a cheeky wave to the crowd gathered before him, "Alright everyone? Good! Today we are going to have one of the biggest, best, and most MAGICAL snow ball fights you've ever fought in! Here's how it works- two teams, the Reindeer and the Evergreens. So, duh, red and green!" He paused to wave his wand, muttering furiously under his breath and everybody's robes turned into the festive colors. Lily admired her green robes that matched the shade of her eyes exactly. Up front, James's and Remus's robes had also turned green, with Sirius and Peter switched to red. Everyone exclaimed happily, because somehow they had all ended up with their friends while still staying even in numbers. "Now here's the magic part! If you get hit with a snowball from the other team you will be frozen, like this!" Suddenly, a snowball from his wand hurled through the air to hit Peter in the middle of his chest. "Shoot," he muttered sulkily, and a block of ice popped into existence around his feet, making him immobile. The Evergreens laughed while the Reindeer tittered sadly. Remus pulled out his wand with a smile and flicked it at the block of ice, causing it to turn into more snowflakes and scatter. "Now when I say go, we go! No not that go Gillian! No. No! Everybody freeze. Ok!Evergreens on the left of the line Reindeer in the right!" James trekked through the snow over to his side of the giant divide in the snow that had suddenly appeared. Lily, laughing slightly, along with Alice and the rest of her team followed him to their battleground. "Alright on go! One! Two! Three! Go!" James's magically magnified voice boomed over the entire pitch as everyone bent down to collect snowballs, and began to throw. Lily was busy forming her fifth snowball when James raced by, a magically enhanced icy projectile zooming after him. She turned quickly to Alice and grinned evilly, "Anything goes Alice." Alice returned the grin and pulled out her wand. Thirty minutes later, Lily furiously blocked snowballs that were moving too fast for a human to have thrown using hasty shield charms. During every break in the onslaught she used her wand to form more snowballs and enchant them to follow around red players and tap them gently on the back before moving on to another target. Red was going down, with most of their team struggling to pull their feet free of the blocks of ice. Sirius Black ran down along the dividing line, shouting, laughing, and pointing spells at random patches of snow, making them levitate and throw themselves at Slytherins on the other side. He was also fending off at least twenty snowballs that were furiously trying to hit him, but had yet to succeed. After three rounds of the game, McGonagall came outside and took one look at the runny noses and red cheeks and ordered everyone inside for hot chocolate. Lily and Alice hooked arms as they headed back inside, with Lily momentarily forgetting her fight with Marlene. *** During dinner that night, Lily and Alice slid into their normal seats, still chattering animatedly about the snowball fight, and laughing at Sirius as he ran into the Great Hall still trailing melting balls of ice. He stopped running warily, and was quickly hit five times in the head, causing him to be encased in ice up to his neck. A quick swish of James's wand had him back to normal. When Marlene entered the hall, she glared stonily at Lily and plopped down on a different bench with a clump of Hufflepuffs who looked extremely confused to have her sitting with them. Lily was even more surprised when somebody slid into Marlene's normal spot next to her. Her eyes widened as James Potter stared back at her and with a slightly nervous shake to his voice asked, "Can I sit here?" She nodded and turned back to Alice as Peter, Remus, and Sirius sat down next to James, and they began to laugh and talk. "Aliiice!" Lily hissed pointedly through gritted teeth, her eyes big as saucers. Her friend shrugged, seeming rather unhelpful, and turned to look at the boys who were chatting animatedly beside them. "You see, McGonagall said it was fine to have a snowball fight when I asked her!" Sirius protested, black hair still plastered to his forehead from the snow. "Ah, but did you tell her it was going to be a magic snowball fight?" Remus chimed in, as Sirius continued to shovel food into his mouth at an alarming speed. "Mm, naw," Sirius mumbled around a mouthful of roast beef and mashed potatoes. He swallowed before adding, "But that doesn't mean she had to give me detention for it! I mean, it was James's idea!" "Yes, but the difference here, Sirius, was that McGonagall actually likes me," James said proudly, before Remus and Peter began to laugh at Sirius's pretend hurt expression. Lily smiled at Alice who returned the gesture. "Hey Evans, like the snowball fight?" James asked hopefully, rotating from his plate to look at her. "Yes! How are you supposed to top that kind of Christmas Day?" she laughed and then thought her voice sounded a bit too high, so she cleared her throat nervously. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see," James whispered, giving her a smile that made her heart flutter, with one corner of his mouth pulling higher than the other. Something clicked in her chest right then, and even though she didn't feel it at the time, looking back later, she thought that was when she first began to really like James Potter. *** Christmas Seventh Year Lily jerked awake to her best friend Alice's excited squeals. She pushed her red, curly, bed-head-styled hair out of her eyes and smiled at her friend's excitement that could rival a first year Hufflepuff. Her gaze fell on the rainbow of assorted wrapped boxes at the foot of her bed. "Presents!" Alice shouted, this time waking up the tall girl in the bed next to the door. Lily averted her eyes as Marlene sat up in bed, her gaze sharp and angry as she surveyed the room. Alice, like Lily, chose to ignore her and picked up her first package, shaking it eagerly, "From you Lils!" before opening it to find a new set of quills of various birds and sizes. She dashed over to Lily's bed and wrapped her in a bear hug, "Thanks Lils, they're perfect!" Lily picked up the nearest present, and looked at the tag, smiling so big Alice had to comment, "Who's it from?" "James," she blushed and then laughed a little, "He didn't have to get me anything, though." Alice smiled slyly, "Of course he did! He's your boooyfriend! So go on, open it, open it, open it!" Lily couldn't help laughing again, "I never knew my best friend had the maturity level of a six year old." But she opened the gift anyway, and instantly gasped. Inside the green wrapping paper was a snow globe, but instead of a Christmas scene inside of it, there was a tree branch with a beautiful green butterfly on it. Enchanted snowflakes that sparkled in the light fell from the top, each one completely new and unique, their beauty dissolving as soon as they touched the base. When a snowflake landed on the butterfly's wings it fluttered them gracefully until it again continued its path toward the bottom. She looked at the globe and thought her pounding heart would overflow with love at that minute, both for the gift and the sender.

#jily #hogwarts #jily fanfiction

0 notes