Everything to Me

11.

Potter Manor looked more cheery than ever. With six 14-year-olds singing carols and drinking warm cocoa, Christmas Eve seemed like a happy time. Remus, Lily and Peter were busy in a conversation in front of the fireplace when James and Sirius dragged Juli upstairs.

"What are you two -"

"Shhh! Can't you be quiet for one moment." James interrupted.

"Where are we sneaking off to?" She questioned.

"We wanted to show you this" Sirius handed her an old looking parchment. Juli's jaw dropped.

"Jamie? Sirius? Is this what I think it is?" Both the boys nodded excitedly. "Wow!"

"We couldn't have done it without you." James complimented.

"I didn't do anything. It was the 4 of you."

"You found the Homonculous Charm. You helped. A lot." Sirius said happily.

She ran and got her wand. She tapped the parchment with the tip and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

The moment she said those words, writing began to appear but James snatched it away. "You can't read it now. We still have to make some some changes with the greetings."

He tapped his own wand on it and said, "Mischief Managed". The writing faded and it looked like a normal piece of parchment again.

"Right. Now, if only you could let me help a bit more -"

"NO" The boys cut her off.

"I want to do it."

"But you won't. It is too dangerous. End of discussion, Jules." James walked out of the room as Sirius just shrugged.

"Don't worry, you can capture Remus' reaction when we show him." He laughed.

"Sure, Black. It's not like I would have anything else to do."

They made their way downstairs as Lily looked at them suspiciously which both of them ignored.

"Want to play Pictionary?" She asked, standing up.

"Sure."

"Yes."

Peter and Remus agreed but James, Juli and Sirius gave her a quizzical look. "Fine, I'll teach you."

"Want to be in the same team as me, Flower?" James asked, with the voice which made all girls except Lily blush and giggle.

"Hey, Juli? How about the two of us and Sirius?" She replied, completely ignoring James.

"Works for me." Sirius said, patting James shoulder sympathetically.

The game went on for an hour in which the girls with Sirius won almost all rounds.

"How is that possible?" Peter asked Lily.

"Watch and learn, Peter. Watch and learn." Grinningly, she got up and picked up a small piece of parchment from the many.

She unrolled it happily and looked at the word. Her smile vanished as she read what was written on the paper. She looked close to tears. "You guys win.". Putting the parchment down, she turned and went back upstairs to her room.

Juli ran after her as all the boys recovered from what had just happened. Sirius picked up the parchment and read the word. He looked sad for a moment before going back to his usual, charming self and put the parchment in his pocket.

"She won't open the door." Juli came panting down. "What was the word?" Seeing as no one replied, she rummaged through the parchments. "There is nothing in here which could have possibly made her upset."

Before she could check the parchments twice, Euphemia called them all for dinner. They all sat down silently, not wanting to talk about what had happened. "Where is Lily?" Fleamont asked.

"Upstairs." Juli answered. "Maybe I will bring her dinner."

"Why don't you eat first and then you can take it for her upstairs." Euphemia told her and Juli nodded, still confused.

Sirius looked as if he wanted to say something but could not bring himself to. Juli got up as soon as they were done eating to bring food to Lily. Sirius finally found the courage to say something. "Juli, do you mind if I do it?" he asked in a small voice.

"Are you sure?"

Since when does he want to talk all soft and that too, with Lily?

"Yes. Please just trust me." He replied.

Handing him the plate, she left. He slowly made his way up the stair and knocked softly.

"Lily? It's me. Sirius. I have dinner. You must be starving. Open the door."

Lily made efforts to neither speak nor open the door.

"Lily please. You should eat something. I understand what you're going through. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." He pleaded. He heard shuffling of feet and the door was opened.

"Hey" She said sadly and sat down again.

Putting the plate of food down, he looked at her. She looked like she was crying. "I also got some chocolate frogs. Moo- Remus says chocolates help."

After a few minutes, when Lily had had her dinner, she picked up a chocolate card box and opened it. Sirius was looking out the window when he saw Lily looking at him. "So, Tuney, my sister, she hates me. She thinks I am a freak just because I can do magic." Sirius was not expecting this but intently listened. "She hates me and writes letters asking me not to come back home." She had started sobbing. Before he even realized what he was doing, he pulled Lily into a hug and let her cry into his chest. She finally pulled away and wiped her tears. "You read the word, didn't you?" She asked him.

"Yes. I, too, have a bad relationship with my sibling. He is barely 13 but my parents have filled him with all these pure blood ideas and he pretty much hates me. I understand what you're feeling. I love him even if he doesn't."

Lily smiled sadly and said to him, "Thank you for bringing me dinner, chocolate frogs and talking about this. Juli wouldn't have understood completely no matter how hard she tried."

"Of course." He returned the smile. "So, which card did you get?" He laughed.

* * * * *

The kids were waiting for Sirius and Lily in the living room. James kept glancing at the stairs while Juli kept checking the time. A few moments later, they heard laughter and saw Lily on Sirius' back coming down the stairs.

Sirius put her down and went to sit near James while she sat down beside Juli. Remus noticed that both the Potters looked angry. "What's up with you two?" He asked.

"Why is my crush talking to Sirius and not me?"

"She is my bestfriend and has no business hanging out with Sirius."

They both said at the same time. Sirius and Lily were the first to laugh followed by Remus and Peter. James and Juli glared at each other but couldn't help themselves either and gave in to laughter.

Still laughing, James got up and wiped tears from his eyes.
"Now, who wants some cocoa?"

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A/N: Happy times! :D
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