Jily Oneshots (pt2)

Adore

by la plus heureuse

December, 1979

Lily Evans always loved Christmas. As a girl, Christmas was the most magical time of year. It was a time for draping lights around the Christmas tree and singing carols and thick glasses of eggnog after dinner.

And then she went to Hogwarts and Christmas became even more magical. How could it not be, with fairies flickering in trees and magical snow falling from the Great Hall? The magical world felt the most magical during Christmas, a distinction no one else understood.

No one, until James came with her to the muggle world with her over Christmas break during seventh year. He sat around the artificial tree with her and her parents and ate every Christmas cookie her mother pushed in their direction and listened to her dad's Bing Crosby Christmas album, until, her cheeks flush with embarrassment, she made excuses for his departure and escorted him outside.

"I'm sorry," she said, feeling hot and foolish. "I know it's nothing like what you grew up with."

And James had taken her face between his hands and kissed her so steadily and so gently that she felt delicate in his hands.

"No, Lils. It's spectacular. I can see why you love it so much." His voice was husky. Lily swallowed her pride and let herself say what she had wanted to for so long.

"I love you," she said, her eyes pleading. "So much."

"Well I can see that too," James said, and kissed her again, so deeply that her knees started to tremble.

"I just want you to know. You don't have to tell me too," Lily said quickly. She bit the inside of her cheek. It was all moving too quickly. They had only been dating for a few months and now she loved him and he had met her parents and he would think she was crazy.

And then James let out a broad laugh, his head falling back.

"Lils," he said, his eyes sparkling, "I've been in love with you for years. And I haven't exactly been sly about it." His long fingers found a stray lock of her hair and tucked it behind her ear. "For such a smart girl you can be remarkably dense sometimes."

"I'm not sure I get it," Lily murmured, feeling daring and bold and like she could float. "Would you like to show me again?"

Yes, Lily had always loved Christmas. Even last year, when she and James spent their Christmas watching the home of a suspected Death Eater, frustrating both sets of parents who just couldn't understand why they had to work on Christmas. But Lily had a sinking feeling that this Christmas would be very different.

James had surveillance duty today. It was easier for him to do during the day. He was in Auror training, and his schedule could vary as much as it needed to. Her cover, as an archivist at the Daily Prophet, was much more difficult to maintain. But it was important. She was able to find patterns and pass on the information to the Order. And who in their right mind would suspect a mild mannered archivist to be a spy?

When she had offered that suggestion at dinner a few nights ago Sirius snorted.

"Evans," he said, leaning back in his chair like he had never been taught table manners, "who has ever called you mild mannered?"

But at work they thought of her as quiet and meek, which was all the better for her. It was easier to work unobserved by the only other member of her department, a boisterous man named Selewyn who Lily suspected was a Death Eater. James worried about her at work. Well, she worried about James.

But today this pit in her stomach was not from her concern about James- that was a separate feeling, a knot that kept tightening every time she looked at the clock. No, it was about the letter she had received from her mother when she had gotten home to the small flat that she and James shared in Diagon Alley.