The Next Great Adventure (A Marauders Fan Fic)

Chapter Sixty

“I had a feeling you might have stayed with them,” James said when she blew into the hall with a blast of freezing wind.

“It is absolutely impossible to shut those two up,” she said as she unwrapped her scarf from her neck.

“You can’t just have noticed,” he laughed. “I’m glad you’re safe though. I did think for a second that something might have gone wrong…”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it,” she shrugged as she smiled at him. “Although I did worry, for a second, that one of them might kill me when I told them about… you know.”

“Can’t imagine Sirius took it well.”

“No he took it wonderfully. It was almost terrifying how excited he was. I don’t really think it’s properly sunk in though.”

“Just wait until he realises that his position as child of our group is going to be usurped,” he grinned.

Lily strolled away from him, and, as she busied herself with hanging her coat up she said, “I thought you two were always fighting for that honour.”

“Well… maybe.”

“I can’t imagine either of you are going to become much more mature any time soon.” She emerged from the closet to find James pouting at her. “I’m mature,” he grumbled. “Or at least, I can be when I want to.”

“And when do you ever want to?” she teased.

“I will have you know that I am ever so mature. It’s just Sirius. It’s all his fault - he brings out the worst in me.”

“Oh I know.” James reached to hug her and, as she stood in his arms he kissed her nose. “Your nose is cold,” he complained.

“Yes. All of me is cold. It’s cold outside. That’s what happens in December because we call it winter and the sun goes away.” James rolled his eyes and let go of her. “I forgot how much I dislike you sometimes,” he said.

“If you’re not going to be mature, I’m perfectly happy to treat you like a child,” she called as she headed into the sitting room. “And I love you too.”

“I can’t be serious and adult all the time,” he said as he followed her. “I need to give my mind a rest every now and then. You wouldn’t want it to explode, would you?”

“I thought it exploded years ago, when you first tried to think by yourself.”

“Very witty,” he retorted. He stretched himself out along the sofa and grabbed a cup of tea which he had left on the floor. “I can be serious and mature if you want. We can talk about bills and the Ministry all day long but… we’re only young and we have a good sixty or seventy years’ worth of conversations to hold so I may as well save the boring stuff for last.”

“So really what you mean is,” she said slowly, “you’re going to spout rubbish for the next thirty years and then start acting your age.”

“Can’t promise I’ll act my age in thirty years,” he replied, “but I might act like I’m about twenty when it happens. Anyway, I can’t talk about politics for forty years!”

“You know, that almost works out as if you’re ageing backwards right now.” She giggled and dangled one hand in front of the fire.

“I’m not ageing at all,” he announced. “I will stay this age forever. I am at my peak. No point in my life will beat this period, when I am both desirable and devastatingly attractive and witty and-“

“Completely unable to count or use proper English?”

“It’s a quintessential part of my charm.”

“Speaking of your current physical… condition,” she said, “I need you to buy and help cook some of the food for Christmas.”

“Can I eat it?”

“Only if it’s been cooked. Which is quite a fundamental part of the process, since if it hasn’t, it probably doesn't exist.”

The next day they moved into the cottage in Godric’s Hollow and the days that led up to Christmas were filled with various tasks, as they sorted out their possessions and organised what was going to happen on Christmas Day. Sirius and Cassie appeared one evening for dinner and another day Peter visited them. It was the first time they had seen him in a while; they were all glad to see each other. Remus, however, was still away in some distant place somewhere, and Lily could sense that James was beginning to wonder about it.

Lily spent most of the preceding days in the kitchen, making various cakes and tarts, as well as mince pies. James, for his part, was repainting a couple of the rooms and sometimes swooping in to steal a spoonful of whatever she happened to be cooking at that moment. Or, in the case of the mince pies, a plate vanished with him and reappeared in one of the bedrooms. “I give up,” she said, when she found it. “You can go and buy some mince pies.”

“But your homemade ones are so delicious,” he protested.

“You’ve eaten most of them.”

“Well how many are left?”

“About seventeen.”

“How many were there?”

“Thirty.”

“I’ll buy some more tomorrow. Leave me a little note on the table and I’ll get them when I get the butter.”

When she returned to the kitchen the next morning, the other seventeen mince pies had also disappeared into James’ never-ending stomach. “Seventeen is too few to serve to Cassie and Sirius,” he said when she questioned him about it. “And seventeen homemade ones served alongside the bought ones would be weird and confusing.”

However, once she had finished the desserts and hidden as many as she could from his marauding, she was able to relax. On Christmas Day, James left her in bed and went down to begin cooking their lunch. Lily lay there, wrapped up in her duvet, as the house began to smell like roasting turkey and coffee. It was, she realised, the first truly magical Christmas she had ever had. Every other year she had come home from Hogwarts and spent the day with her family, talking to her parents and ignoring Petunia, just as she ignored Lily. In the years since Petunia had married Vernon, however, instead of being graced with their presence, Lily was thankfully awarded a Christmas with just her parents. She would never willingly pass a day more than she had to with Vernon, especially not Christmas. That morning, however, she almost found herself wishing that she was on speaking terms with Petunia, just so that she could invite her over, under the pretence of wanting to band together after the death of their parents, and see how she reacted to the carnage that would take place that afternoon. What little experience she had had of magical Christmases would certainly give her sister an aneurysm, and she thought it would be quite entertaining to witness. ‘Oh well,’ she thought to herself, ‘maybe next year. Or more likely never, but it would be funny.’ The thought of Vernon seated between James and Sirius, most likely not touching his food, for fear that it was poisoned - which, if he was between those two, it probably would be - made her chuckle to herself. Eventually, however, she got up and got ready, so that she was dressed and laying the table when Cassie and Sirius arrived at about two.

They announced their arrival with ceaseless banging on the front door. Or, more accurately, Sirius announced their arrival like that. James, who was singing along to a Christmas song called ‘In Floo Father Christmas’ at the top of his voice, left Lily to answer the door. As she did so, his particularly painful top note emanated from behind her and the three of them burst into laughter. Sirius shouted for James from where he stood and Lily, wincing away from the battle-cry, left room for James to burst through and all but scream, “Merry Christmas!”

Merry Christmas everybody! :) I don't know when I'll next be able to update, but here's some more to keep you going :)