Jily Oneshots (pt2)

Oh, Christmas Tree

by PenguinBuddy

"I think it's still leaning to the left."

James groaned in irritation and adjusted the trunk of the fir tree for what felt that the millionth time. As Lily stood holding onto the middle of the tree, he adjusted the metal pegs which held the trunk upright in the tree stand.

"That had better be the last time," he muttered, pushing himself off of the floor and into a standing position. "Who knew putting up a bleeding Christmas tree would be so much work?"

"Don't be a spoilsport, it's all part of the Muggle Christmas experience," Lily informed him, brilliant green eyes proudly surveying the tree that now stood in the corner of their sitting room.

The plan to decorate in the Muggle way had essentially been his idea. It was his and Lily's first Christmas as a married couple, and he had wanted it to be particularly special. To this end, he had decided that it would be fun if both he and Lily each combined some of their family traditions to make their very own traditions.

He and Lily had done their Christmas shopping in Diagon Alley and put up a wreath on the front door as he and his parents had always done. Then Lily had announced that she and her family always went to a place called a tree farm, cut down their own Christmas tree, and put it up in the sitting room.

Though James had never heard of a Christmas tree farm, it seemed like a fun tradition. That morning, Lily had woken him with a lovely breakfast of toast, eggs, and tea, before packing him into the car. Car travel always made James a bit queasy, but he had endured it for his wife's sake. Usually they found it easier to Apparate, but the car did have its uses.

Once at the Christmas tree farm, he and Lily wandered up and down the rows of trees mitten covered hands clasped as they debated the merits of each particular fir tree. Some trees were too tall, some were too short, some weren't green enough, and some were missing too many needles. That had been his favorite part of the morning, strolling hand in hand with Lily and laughing together. Pulling her behind a tree in order to kiss her came a very close second.

Once they had selected a tree however, things became slightly more difficult. Because they were doing it in the tradition of Lily's family and because he couldn't very well take out his wand in front of the Muggle families around them, James had been forced to cut the tree down the Muggle way with a slightly dull saw provided by the owner of the tree farm. This had proved quite the task and had caused Lily much hysterical laughter. Several none-too-flattering photographs of him now chronicled the event.

Tying the tree to the roof of the car had been another frustrating scene, and James had been worried the entire way back to Godric's Hollow that they would arrive home only to find that the tree had fallen off the roof and was lying abandoned somewhere alongside the motorway. Thankfully, the tree had survived the journey, which brought them to their current situation of attempting to set the tree straightly in the tree stand.

"Now it's time for the lights!" Lily announced happily, throwing open the lid of a box and lifting a coil of small tree lights out.

While Lily circled the tree, setting the strings of lights on branches and making sure that the distribution of lights was even, James was regulated to holding onto the end of the strand and making sure it didn't work itself into a knot. Lily began humming Christmas carols as they worked.

"Remember how Peeves used to make up his own lyrics to Christmas songs and sing them from inside suits of armor?" James smiled, fondly recalling their time at Hogwarts.

"Yes," Lily agreed with a good-natured roll of her eyes. "How could I forget such lovely carols?"

"Now bring us a stinky pudding, now bring us a stinky pudding, now throw some right here!" James laughed as he sang the silly altered lyrics that Peeves had devised.