Jily Oneshots (pt2)

The First and Last Christmas

"Guess it's my genes coming out in him," said James. "Right, Harry?" he asked, picking Harry up.

"Dada!" Harry said, placing a sloppy kiss on his father's cheek and getting off a residue of food from James and Sirius's food fight.

"Oh, we'd better clean ourselves up," Sirius said. "We don't want the pup getting sick."

"Right. Scourgify!" James said, pointing his wand at his stained robes. In an instant, they were clean again. He had done it just in time for at that moment, Lily poked her head through the door again.

"Come on, you kids," she said. "Everything's ready."

"Ah, Lily's cooking," Sirius sighed. "Even better than what they make at Hogwarts."

"Yeah, except I don't have a hundred house-elves to help make it," said Lily somewhat harshly. "Hogwarts is a great school, don't get me wrong, but the way it employs those elves. It's slavery! Why, if it weren't for its prestige, I'd enroll Harry somewhere else."

"Lily, listen to me," James said firmly. "They . . . like . . . it. A house-elf's life is doing chores, that's what they enjoy doing!"

"Still, I really think someone should put a stop to it. I couldn't do anything as I'm not in the Ministry, but one of you three, you're training to be Aurors, aren't you?" she said hopefully.

"Lily, besides the total unpopularity we'd get by doing that, there would be a bunch of elf uprisings, they'd be angry with us for trying to stop them," Sirius said. "Now, let's eat. I am one starving man."

Lily sighed. "Fine, fine," she said.

"Everything looks delicious, Lily," Remus said, licking his chops at the ham, steak-and-kidney pie, stuffing, pumpkin soup, breads, vegetables, and butterbeer.

"Thanks, Remus," Lily said, taking small amounts of everything while the men loaded their plates.

"'S, grt, Lly, than-oo," Sirius mumbled.

"Sorry, I've only taken Mermish and Gobbledegook, not Food Garble," Lily teased.

Sirius swallowed with great difficulty and then said, "It's great Lily, thanks."

Lily beamed at him, then said, "What about you, Harry? What do you think?" to her son who was busy smearing his face with the baby food that he had been given.

"Is it yummy?" James prompted with a grin.

Harry rubbed his stomach and Sirius burped, having already finished nearly all of the food on his plate, making Harry giggle at his godfather's silliness. Lily rolled her eyes, murmuring something indistinct.

"What's that, Lily?" James asked.

"It's not about me, is it?" Sirius asked. "Like my wonderfully good looks and how did you manage to fall in love with this idiot, right here," he said, socking James jokingly on the arm, "while it is obvious that I am the one with most class at this table. Why, I can even burp the alphabet, and can your wonderful James do that?"

Lily laughed, making James look at her adoringly and said, "No. It's just that I will never again wonder why you two are best friends. You're exactly the same."

"What? We're both handsome rogues?" James asked, raising his eyebrows.

"No, you both have every lack of hygiene, but are wonderful nonetheless. Right, Harry? You love your Daddy and your Uncle Padfoot, don't you?" Harry gurgled incoherently, yet, to Lily's experienced ear in Baby Language, it was an affectionate one.

"Wow, Lily thinks I'm wonderful! I guess there's hope for me yet," said Sirius with a roguish grin.

"Oh, shut up, you," said Lily, trying to sound stern, but failing abysmally. "You guys are such sarcastic, lovable idiots. Not meaning you, Remus," she said, addressing the werewolf.