𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗹𝘆, james potter

-ˋ 39

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
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-: seventh year :-

── IN WHICH THEY'RE HEADING HOME

. . .

The next day was a rush of making sure that everyone had handed out their Christmas preesents to their friends and making sure they had everything packed if they were planning on going home for the holiday.

Which Tiger was, of course. When she had come to Hogwarts a year before, she had expected she would be spending the Easter and Christmas holidays at the school, but given certin situations, she hadn't ended up doing so.

The previous Christmas had been a mixture of emotions. She had been at Remus's for the beginning of it, the Lupin-Howell family congregating together at his house. And then the latter had returned to their own residence, which Tiger left not long after, having gotten on the Knight bus and gone to James's house.

Which was where she then spent the Easter holidays, and become a permanent inhabitant over the summer following her family falling apart. And the Potter house was her destination for the day, along with Sirius, Peter and of course, James.

Considering how Sirius and Tiger were almost always there when they could be, Peter was a rare addition to the group. But his mum and dad had gone to visit family once again, and his father had some business to deal with that would last longer than just the holidays. So rather than just leaving the Pettigrew boy alone at Hogwarts, James had practically jumped at the opportunity to have another one of the group at his house - also considering that Peter was the one who was usually least likely to join them there.

Remus was also going back to his family home, planning on spending some time alone with his mother and father. Tiger had suggested the idea of them joining them at the Potter house in the second week, so she could see her aunt as well, but Remus hadn't wanted to give a definite answer until it was confirmed to be alright by Euphemia and Fleamont. 

As for Tiger's other friends, Lily and Lydia were remaining back at school, neither of them exactly wanting to go back to their homes. Marlene wasn't really given a choice in the matter of her own - she knew her parents wanted her back for the holidays.

"Hey, Tiger." The McKinnon girl appeared by her friend as they waited for another carriage to arrive by the front door. They were surrounding by a thick cloud of snow, which was only adding to the current setting of what had been growing steadily over the course of the previous month. "If it's alright.. Dorcas has invited me to sit with her on the train."

"Oh - of course it's fine." Tiger nodded. "You probably wouldn't want to sit with these lot anyway. They get particularily rowdy on the journey back."

"Noted - I think Lily's mentioned that before as well." Marlene replied, head twisting as she heard her name amongst the crowd. "I think that's her, I'll see you when we get back?" 

"Of course." Tiger promptly let go of her trunk - which very almost fell over if it wasn't for James and Peter hurrying to catch it, the girl having no idea of what was going on - and wrapped Marlene in a hug. "Have a good holiday alright?" 

"This time I'll try my hardest to not get with any of your supposedly dead exes. I don't even know whether he'll be there when we go back.." Marlene trailed off. "I've talked to him a few times, and I think he might be staying."

"Unless I have any I'm not aware of, I think you're safe in that zone. And I'll ask Lydia or Lily if they've seen him when I get back." Tiger replied. "Now go - have fun. Dorcas is waiting for you." 

Waving Marlene off, the Howell girl turned back to the group of boys, taking her trunk off of the two boys. "I really hope you can come, Rem." She smiled as they began to pull their cases over to the approaching carriage. "It could be nice for Auntie Hope to be around more people?"

"If it's alright with Prong's parents, then I'll let them know it's available." Remus's attitude were slightly subdued as he thought about his parents. They climbed up into the carriage, Sirius quickly slamming the door shut and locking out the cold. "If they don't want to come, I'll let you know as well."

"If they don't - then ask if it would okay with me coming to visit? In her last letter Auntie Hope seemed a little worried about me and I wanted to put her mind at ease." Tiger said, settling into James's shoulder as the carriage set off. 

"Of course." Remus nodded, worry transpiring between the cousins that would hopeful dissolve into happiness when it came to getting home. There was just so much to worry about, and with the lessons happening weekly now it was a constant worry of what to come for them.

The holidays could hopefully be their dafe haven, a chance for them to forget their problem and just live their lives as teenagers, without a worry in the world.

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