(A/N I hope you don't mind that it's a little shorter than my usual ones.)
Requested by: TheYodelingMelon
Christmas Morning and everyone woke up in a hurry. They either stumbled out of bed in a tired stupor or leapt from bed, trying not to trip on their sheets as they fell on the floor. Either way, no one looked good on Christmas morning. No one, save for the flawless James Potter. Or at least, that's how he liked to think of himself. Allison couldn't help but agree, not that she'd ever tell him that.
When they first met, Allison saw many flaws in him. Far too arrogant, not enough guyliner and horrible taste in music. Sirius Black was more her typical type of guy, but the universe had a funny way of organizing things and it was James Potter she fell in love with. The snorts-while-laughing James Potter. The red-is-the-best-color-because-it's-the-color-of-lily's-hair James Potter. Rather long descriptions in her mind, but she thought they fit him perfectly. The flawless James Potter also had a nice ring to it, but the only way to hear the tune of a song was to hear it's melody and she never planned on saying those words aloud.
On this Christmas Morning, years after their first meeting, she could find no flaws in him. He sat beneath the large Christmas tree, the only one awake at such an hour. Allison's body worked on an odd clock and she either got up at four in the morning or was in a comatose state until noon. James knew this and woke an hour earlier, just to get his hair and clothes all right. But it was totally worth it, his ironed clothing had no lint on them and his hair wasn't even disturbed by the bow on his head.
"Oh good, you're finally awake," James said.
In the moment, Allison could only think of what a mess she looked like. No makeup, hair frizzy and likely defying gravity, and black pajamas missing buttons and exposing parts of her skin she didn't want James to see. But he didn't see to be looking at her pajamas, or even the belly button piercing he had never seen before. He was looking straight at her face and smiled a genuine smile when she frantically tried to smoothen her hair with her hands.
"No, your hair looks great." He laughed and didn't move from her perfect posture on the floor.
She stuttered a couple words, and when James asked what she was saying she was too anxious to say anything more than a quick, 'Nevermind'.
James licked his lips nervously and shifted, the bow falling off of his perfect head of hair. He frantically tried to place it back on and only ended up with his usual mess of hair. He sighed, slightly disappointed in himself. Remus would scold him for having so little patience.
"I like your pajamas." Was all he could say in the awkward and silent moment.
She cracked a light smile, to which his face copied and doubled. He stood up, throwing his clothes out of place and tossing the bow somewhere within all the presents under the tree. A variety of gifts set out for the kids in Gryffindor house, but there were a few she could see with her name on them. James led her to the gifts and they talked for the long morning hours without even opening a gift, because the mystery seemed so much better. Allison was drawn to mystery, but James wasn't mysterious at all. He was an open book, loud and without a filter. She could already guess what he had gotten her. Merchandise from rock bands he wouldn't have ever known of without Sirius's help, or a black shirt that looked the exact same as one she owned but he didn't know that they were slightly different blacks. Different enough they wouldn't match her black jeans, but she'd wear it anyway. And, tossed in just as a joke, a bright pink ribbon meant for bows and tying hair. She wore it for the rest of the day, must to the joy of James, but never wore it again with people around. But whenever they were alone together, she'd pull her sleeves slightly up casually to reveal the pink ribbon wrapped thickly around her wrist.