The Gryffindor boys dormitory was cosy despite the sleet pelting the windows. The marauders had huddled themselves around Peter’s bed playing exploding snap enjoying the bliss that came with knowing the winter break was fast approaching. Yet it was an unwelcome arrival entering the dorm that spooked them all, rather than the pile of cards they’d been stacking. Marlene McKinnon had raced into the dorm like a bat out of hell, practically slamming into Sirius, who almost toppled off the bed if Remus hadn’t had the sense to catch him.
“Oi. You lot down to go home for the holidays?” she asked quickly.
“Not this year, no. Why?” Peter huffed, collecting the disarray of cards.
“Change your plans. Sign up with McGonagall first thing. Christmas at Evans’. She’s got an empty house.” Marlene replied gleefully.
James wasn’t quite sure why Marlene sounded so happy about that fact. Lily Evans had lost both her parents in a car crash over the summer break. He imagined her first Christmas without them didn’t bring about happy thoughts for her. As far as he’d been aware based on conversations they’d had organising the holiday prefect duties, Lily had intended to stay in the castle over Christmas break. It was part of the reason he’d told his own parents he wouldn’t be coming home for Christmas that year like he usually would. He didn’t want her spending Christmas alone.
“I thought Lily was staying here for Christmas?”
“Yeah, ‘til we found out her bitch of a sister is moving out. Petunia’s moving in with darling Dursley which means we can get the whole place to ourselves. Christmas break with zero parental or teacher supervision!” she exclaimed. “Besides. We need to make sure she doesn’t work herself into a funk. First Christmas and all..”
“And Lily’s agreed to this has she?” Remus remained sceptical. “Or did you badger her ‘til she gave in?”
“No badgering required, thank you very much. Mild scheming maybe.”
James hesitated “I don’t know about this Marls… I don’t think it’s such a good idea.”
“It’s better than us all trying to sink firewhisky shots up here without McGonagall catching us. I would have thought you of all people would be down for this James. Haven’t you ever fantasised about Lily’s bedroom?” teased Marlene
James felt himself flush with embarrassment, the little hairs on the back of his neck sticking up and the tips of his ears tinged red. Of course he’d thought about it. But he wasn’t about to go admitting it. Besides, he and Lily weren’t like that. They were just friends and co-heads. No drama. No complicated feelings. Definitely no late night daydreams staring up at the ceiling and willing certain body parts to cooperate. Thankfully he was spared from answering Marlene’s taunt by Lily entering the dorm. Unlike Marlene, she knocked rapidly on the open door before she did so to alert them all to her presence. How much she’d manage to overhear James didn’t know, but he was grateful for the interruption.
“This lot coming then?” Lily asked Marlene, though James could have sworn the question was more directed at him than her.
“Only if you’re alright with it.” Sirius replied. Sirius would have gone home to the Potter’s with James had they been following their usual plans, yet he too had agreed to stay behind in the castle when James had first suggested the idea.
“Wouldn’t have invited you otherwise. I just want to know numbers. Mary and Dorcas aren’t coming as they’d already planned to go skiing. So it’s just us if you aren’t coming. There’s not enough beds so we’re gonna have to sort out our sleeping arrangements. Probably transfigure some furniture if Petunia hasn’t nicked it by the time we get there.” Lily shrugged nonchalantly.
“There’s still the guest, master and your bed. That’s still three even after your sister’s taken hers. Surely you lot don’t mind sharing?” Marlene argued.
“The guest is only a single. It’d be a tight squeeze to share.” Lily added.
“I can take a couch.” Sirius suggested.
“Pads you’re the tallest of all of us. There’s no way you’re taking the couch. Besides I can’t make it sorry Lily. I’ll be home for the holidays.” Remus cut in.
It was a lie, but Lily nodded knowingly. The full moon would fall on Christmas day so either Remus would have to use the safety provisions here at Hogwarts or go home to his parents for the holiday. Sirius looked guiltily at Remus, realising his faux pas in forgetting that crucial detail.
“Can we let you know in the morning?”
Lily nodded leaving the dormitory and taking Marlene with her. Shutting the door behind them as they went. The boys waited until they could no longer hear footsteps on stone.
“Don’t not go on my account,” Remus argued. “I can manage one night without.”
“I can stay here with you. James and Pete can go to Lily’s.” Sirius suggested.
“Except I can’t go either. I have detention with Slughorn over the exploding cauldron, remember?” Peter grumbled. “I thought that’s why we were all staying…”
“Okay so Moony, Wormtail and I stay in the castle and Prongs goes with the girls. Sorted.”
“I don’t think that’s exactly what Evans had in mind when she opened the invitation,” said James.
“Prongs she wouldn’t have invited you if she didn’t want you to go.”
“Sirius is right James. But Padfoot you’ve got to go with him. A so he doesn’t embarrass himself and B because it’ll look suspicious if he signs up to go home for Christmas and you don’t. We can manage by ourselves can’t we Peter?” Peter answered Remus’ question with a noncommittal grunt as he redealt the cards..
The four of them rode in the same compartment on the Hogwarts express to Kingscross station, and Lily led her friend’s through the barrier to the muggle side where they would need to catch their next train to Cokeworth where she lived. She fleetingly saw Severus as he boarded the same train several carriages down, but tactfully didn’t mention it to the others in the group. Last thing she wanted was a potential duel on a muggle train if the boys failed to keep their wands in their pockets. As far as she was aware Snape hadn’t managed to see them.
Lily wasn’t sure why she was so hesitant about her friends seeing where she’d grown up. Perhaps it was the idea of taking three wizards into an entirely muggle town. Though she admitted if only to herself it was probably more likely taking three pureblood wizards who’d grown up in grand manor houses to her little working class town and tiny by comparison house. But she also couldn’t imagine not taking them with her, she didn’t want to be there alone. Not at Christmas. She’s stayed alone in the house plenty since her parents had died, as Petunia made no hesitation in returning to her typing course in Surrey following the funeral.
The train ride took only a couple of hours from Kings cross and Snape was the only person also getting off at their exit. She saw him through the window of the carriage as he hopped off the train, bag slung over his shoulder and stalked in the direction of the river and toward Spinner’s end. Thankfully, while the Evans house was within walking distance of Spinners end they would be travelling in the opposite direction. Lily led the way away from the abandoned mill and down her own street, illuminated every so often by unbroken street lights. A siren wailed somewhere in the distance. Nervous about what her friends thought of the place. Though if that had any misgivings they didn’t mention them. They passed houses coated in christmas lights and gardens stuffed with inflatable objects and festive gnomes.
“Is that really what muggles think they look like?” Sirius asked.
“Muggles don’t know they exist,” Marlene reminded him.
The Evans’ house was the only one in the street not lit or littered with ornaments. It looked the same as it felt, empty. Lily pulled her house keys from her pocket and inserted them into the stiff lock. She wondered when Petunia had last been to remove belongings, knowing that she would be putting the house up on the market come New Year as Lily was now back at school. This whole trip was about Lily collecting sentimental items and deciding what of her things was going into storage really. The door creaked open and she invited her friends inside. The walls were mostly bare, Petunia had already taken down all the old photographs. Those she hadn’t taken Lily found stacked haphazardly on the kitchen table. It came as no surprise that the photographs Petunia declined to take were ones of her. Lilt turned on the lights and flicked the kettle on, as she was accustomed to doing whenever she returned home.
James, Sirius and Marlene left their bags in the entryway corridor and followed Lily into the kitchen. Marlene searched cupboards looking for mugs and found most of them to be empty. She found one lone one in a drawer along with a set of cutlery.
“I see Petunia’s already been in here then.” She huffed, placing the drawer's contents onto the kitchen bench somewhat violently.
“She said in her letter she was taking mum’s china,” Lily replied, trying to keep her tone even. Thinking about it she wondered if Petunia had done as she’d asked and at least left milk in the fridge. She checked. Nope. At least it was clean. Petunia had managed that much.
“I’m gonna have to pop into town. There’s no milk.” Lily sighed. She knew they were going to have to go in anyway for food over the next few days but she had hoped she could have at least managed a cup of tea first.
Sirius duplicated the number of mugs with a flick of his wand. “You’re also out of biscuits.”
“Take James. I’m sure Sirius and I can manage here to find some plates and shit,” Marlene said, continuing her through search of the cabinetry.
“Come on then,” She called to James and led him back through the entryway and outside.
Knowing Petunia, Lily half expected to find the family car not in the garage when she opened the door. So she was pleasantly surprised to find that it was it still parked in there but it also still had half a tank of fuel when she turned the keys in the ignition. This beat up old blue volkswagen had once been her mother’s, mostly used for trips to the shops or visiting friends when her dad had his car at work. It was also the car she’d learnt to drive in. The pedals and the slightly sticky steering wheel felt oh so familiar. Yet they also felt strange, a big bulky reminder of the fact she had a life that existed outside of the wizarding world where broomsticks and the floo network were the norm.
James however did not at all seem apprehensive about getting into the passenger seat beside her and clicking on his seat belt. He had taken muggle studies for the past six going on seven years, so at least he seemed familiar with the concept if nothing else. If anything he seemed excited at the chance to ride in a car.
“I’ve always wanted to drive a car,” he admitted. “Do you think I could have a go at some point?”
Lily considered his question for a moment. “So long as you don’t crash it.”
James recoiled at the statement. In his excitement he’d forgotten crashing in one of these metal objects had been what had caused the Evans’ deaths. “Sorry. I didn’t think.”
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply-” she signed. “- I didn’t think about it either. I can take you guys down the industrial estate tomorrow. There’ll be no one around and nothing to hit in the car park there. You can all have a go if you want.”
He nodded his head in acceptance of the offer and they took the rest of the trip into town in silence apart from the singing voices on the radio. Lily let James push around the shopping trolley as she filled in with various items; bread, milk, butter, an assortment of vegetables and a small ham. By the time they’d been up and down each isle they had enough meals and snack foods to last them the length of their stay and have a small christmas spread.
“I refuse to spend a Christmas without roast potatoes” she’d told James as she’d loaded the large sack onto the checkout lane.
“Hiya Lils! I didn’t think you’d be here for Christmas,” greeted the checkout operator, Claire, a girl who Lily had gone through primary school with. “Wey aye, who’s this then? The boyfriend?”
“James. School friend,” he introduced himself, continuing to stack items on the lane as Claire scanned them.
“Ah, it’s so nice of you to come home for the holidays. Just you and Petunia is it?”
“No, just me and a few friends from school actually. Petunia’s spending the holiday with her fiance.”
“Oh I had heard. Congratulations to her from me, yeah?”
“I’ll be sure to pass it on,” Lily lied with a smile. Hoping more than anything she could get through this as quick as possible without having to make polite small talk.
“The Evans’ were ever so proud you know,” Claire told James. “We always knew she was a smart one. Ever so proud she was invited to some fancy boarding school in Scotland.”
“Very smart, she’s head girl this year.” James agreed.
“Are you really? Oh well done you Pet.”
“Thanks Claire.”
Lily couldn’t really be bothered to put on a proper spread for tea. But changed her mind when she saw that Sirius and Marlene had cleared off the kitchen table and laid it out nicely with proper plates and cutlery in their absence. The boys took to stocking the fridge and cupboards while Marlene and Lily worked on throwing together a quick spaghetti bolognese. It had been ages since she’d last cooked a meal for four, and it surprised her how happy it actually made her to do so.
“So do you know everyone in town then?” James asked over tea.
“Kinda. Cokeworth is pretty small, so it’s an everybody-knows-somebody-who-knows- someone-else kinda deal.”
“Did you see Snape?” Marlene asked.
“Why would we see Snape?” Sirius questioned.
“He lives further down river,” Lily replied, looking down at her pasta.
“I forgot you two grew up together.”
She was thankful when James changed the subject. “You don’t have a tree.”
“How very astute of you. No Potter, I do not have a tree.”
“Why not?”
“Because Petunia claimed the tree when she moved out a while ago.”
“You keep a tree all year round? That’s one way of doing it I suppose.”
“It’s plastic James of course it keeps. Put the tree up December 1st. Take it down December 27th and chuck it back up in the loft.” Lily laughed.
James looked at her as if she’d grown three heads in the last 60 seconds. “You mean you don’t get a REAL tree?”
“No.”
“Why not?” he asked incredulously.
“Well one it’s a shame to cut down a perfectly good tree. Two, that shit’s expensive and my family never had the spare money for that. Three then you gotta water it unless you want a house fire and that seems far too much stress for an already stressful holiday. Four, allergies and general mess.” she counted off on her fingers.
“You really have very little Christmas spirit Evans.”
“No… I have practical Christmas spirit. I’m festive enough, thank you very much. Besides… I doubt YOU look after your family tree.”
James paused contemplative for a moment before saying “well… no. The elves do the general maintenance after decorating.”
“Exactly! Dunno if you’ve looked around here Potter but I don’t have help. It’s just me.”
“We’re getting you a tree. I’ll look after it.” he promised.
“You’re insane.”
“We’re still here you realise?” Sirius butted in. “But yeah we’re getting you a tree Evans. First thing tomorrow”
They set the boys up in the master bedroom, while Marlene would stay in Lily’s room with her. If anyone got irritated by anyone else there was always the spare bed in the guest room if necessary. Exhausted from the trip Marlene drifted off to sleep quickly and was snoring softly while Lily stared up at the ceiling. She wished sleep would claim her. Yet all she could think about was the fact two of her friends were sleeping in the bed where her mum and dad should be.
Lily had warned the boys over breakfast that they should lower their expectations for a live christmas tree, a mere couple of days before christmas no less. She’d driven the whole group over to the used car lot where the real christmas trees were sold, pre-cut and wrapped up in green netting. As a precaution she’d thrown some ratcheting straps in the boot of the car on the off chance they’d need them. But looking around at the few trees that were left she felt vindicated in her assumption they wouldn’t be necessary.
“See… no trees. Now unless you want to get that sorry excuse for a dead branch.”
“I told you I’d get you a tree and I’m getting you one.” James said defensively. “Padfoot? Looks like we’re going digging.”
She rolled her eyes at both of them, folding her arms across her chest. “Good luck with that. When you find your tree, Marlene and I will be at the cafe over there drinking hot chocolate.”
Marlene and Lily took a seat in the booth beside the window. Two steaming cups of hot chocolate with marshmallows between them. It had been ages since they’d spent time just the two of them together, and it was nice just to sit and enjoy one another's company. She was glad that her friend had suggested they spend the holidays together away from Hogwarts. This would probably be the last time she’d spend any great length of time in her hometown. She wouldn’t have reason to return once Petunia sold the house. Professor Flitwick had leant her all sorts of spells on charms work so she’d be able to take anything she wanted to take with her shrink and lightweight, fitting into a rucksack with an undetectable extension charm. If she had really wanted to, she could have come home earlier than Petunia and made off with the lot. There was no point though. Lily only wanted the necessities for moving out of home and the things that held sentimental value for her. Petunia had always been the one who loved material things. If she wanted her mother’s china, pots, pans and other miscellaneous furniture pieces for her new married life she was welcome to it.
“I’m glad we came,”
“Me too. It’s weird to see how the other half live.”
“The poor?”
“No Lily the muggles!” Marlene scoffed. “My parents rarely venture out into the muggle world except when getting from A to B. It seems almost slowed down somehow, without all the magic. It’s nice. Peaceful.”
“I imagine it’s getting less peaceful out there with those two prats running about trying to find a tree.” Lily laughed heartily, popping a marshmallow into her mouth.
“Trying and succeeding,” James said.
Lily yelped in surprise, she hadn’t seen him coming or heard him approach the table. “Bloody hell Potter!”
“‘That’s a thanks for finding a tree, Potter’, to you” He smirked, tapping on the glass window of the cafe. Sirius was stood outside, a grin etched on his face and a small plant pot tucked under one arm with what appeared to be a tree sampling rooted in it.
“You call that a tree,” Marlene chuckled.
“He’s a grower, not a shower. Point is we’ve got a tree. If needs must I’m sure we can cast a few charms on it between us. Not all of us dropped herbology Marlene.”