Deer Diary || Jily

Year 1 II

The next morning, Lily groggily made her way to breakfast, her stomach was excessively grumbling the whole night with thoughts of muffins and pancakes and eggs and bacon and—

"Food! Wow, James! You could feed a whole army," Peter's voice announced alerting the whole dining hall of James's treasure.

Lily, and everyone else, peered over and saw that James had received a package from home. A rather large package filled with sweets galore, probably all homemade.

James was an only child, beloved by his parents.

No wonder he's so spoiled, Lily thought to herself.

James looked excitedly at his treats and began unpacking them one by one.

Lily picked up a biscuit, smothered it with butter, and munched on it as she watched the scene unfold in front of her.

The bag his mom sent must have been touched by magic somehow because there was no other explanation for that many sweets fitting in that space. The desserts just came out, the next treat being even bigger and more glamorous than the one before it.

Out came toffee, cauldron cakes, pumpkin pasties, rock cakes, puddings galore and ooooh, her favorite... treacle tart.

Suddenly, Lily's biscuit seemed a little dry.

James finally noticed the crowd of people watching him unpack his gifts, their mouths watering in awe.

Some people just seemed to eye his food for the food, but others, they seemed saddened at the sight.

Lily understood why. The first year at Hogwarts was a big deal in a witch's or wizard's life. Sometimes muggle parents were scared of their child and wanted nothing to do with them. People feared what they didn't understand and magic was something very, very not understandable.

Lily was lucky to have muggle parents who loved her for her, regardless of her being a witch or not. They were always supportive of whatever she did.

For magical half-blood and pure-blood children, the situation could be the opposite. Especially with the sorting and being placed into houses. Sometimes, the house someone got placed into didn't match the dreams the magical parents had for their child and that created some familial distance. Kids whose parents wanted them to be Ravenclaw got into Hufflepuff, or vice-versa. Parents who wanted their kids to be Gryffindor found out they got into Ravenclaw. And the worst crime of all, committed by none other than Sirius Black: a Gryffindor in a family full of Slytherins.

So, parent-child relations were not really the best at Hogwarts. Not all parents were like that, of course, but a good number were and it was really heartbreaking to see the kids who would always feel like a disappointment to their parents, just because of where a hat told them to sit.

Seeing James being so loved by his family and surrounded by his mother's homemade showcase of affection probably hurt a lot of people who wished it was their mother or father sending them that instead of a hateful howler about how they are a "complete and utter disgrace, that they bring shame to the house crest, and that they should never step foot into their home again." And yes, those were actual words that came out of a howler sent to Sirius Black.

Even Lily felt bad for him when that happened a few weeks ago. The Slytherins weren't as sympathetic, but it was okay because all their hair was dyed pink a few hours later. Wonder who did that?

Lily understood that sadness to a certain extent. She remembered her sister, Petunia, being a great cook back home. She always made the most scrumptious violet pudding. Now, Lily couldn't imagine Petunia making one of those for her ever again.

When Lily saw James with his baked goods, she imagined it was her sister sending her that with a little note saying: Miss you Lily! Sent with lots of love.

But the baked goods and the love wasn't for her. There was no more love between the sisters anymore. Not even in the slightest.

All of the love was for stupid, spoiled James and only for him.

"Hey, Sirius," James said, casually. "My mom wrote that these snacks were for you too."

And then he proceeded to shove a whole cauldron cake in Sirius's face.

Sirius laughed and wiped the bits of his cheeks and nose. "This is so good, I'm not even mad at you for shoving it in my face," then he paused, "She really said it was for me too?"

"Yeah." James read the note again. "She said all my friends were like her children, so I had to share. Welcome to the family, I guess." James grinned.

Sirius just stared at him, unsure of what to do.

"What?" James said, picking up one of the snacks and unwrapping it. "Never had a family before?"

Lily knew he was joking, but there was an underlying question being asked: Would you like to join my family?

Sirius just laughed it off. "I suppose I do now." He grabbed a pumpkin flavored treat and bit into it.

"You too, Peter," James said. "And Remus, grab a snack. You look like you got beat up by the Whomping Willow."

"Gee thanks, James, and I thought I was having a great hair day today," Remus sarcastically commented.

But he and Peter ate the food anyway.

"Phanks, Phames," Peter said, his mouth stuffed to the brim in sweet treats.

"Hey, Potter," a student nearby, Amos Diggory, casually leaned towards them. "Can I have one of those cakes?"

"Sure." James handed the older boy one delicious looking cake. "Help yourself."

"Thanks." He bit into it. "This is amazing!"

James smiled at that reaction. "My mum's secret recipe."

"My mum used to make cakes just like these," Amos reminisced.

Amos Diggory was one of those kids whose parents wanted him to a Ravenclaw (better job opportunities, they said), but he was sorted into Hufflepuff, much to his parents' disappointment. Amos was nice to Lily, a little prideful, but generally a kind person. Amos vowed that when he had children, he would be proud of them regardless of whoever they chose to become or whatever house they were sorted into.

That was the kind of parent Lily wanted to be too.

Before she knew it, there was a whole line behind James wanting to try a bit of his mother's recipes.

James gave his treats away willingly until they were all gone.

"Mate," Sirius said, disappointed. "You didn't even have any for yourself."

James shrugged, still with a happy smile on his face when he saw how much the others enjoyed his snacks. "It's okay, my mum makes these all the time and I have it over the holidays. You can too, if you'd like to stay over with me when break starts. I know with your family—"

"I'd love to," Sirius interrupted. He grinned and joked, "But only for your mum's sweets."

"Of course."

Lily tried to hide a smile at that interaction. Even though she hated James and Sirius separately. They did have a unique and strong friendship, even after knowing each other for less than a year.

Sometimes, she felt their friendship was stronger than hers and Severus, even though she and Severus had known each other for longer. The two of them used to be closer, but after Severus was sorted into Slytherin... he seemed different. Almost like he was avoiding her. She hated to believe that he was not seeing her because Slytherins didn't interact with muggle-borns, especially Gryffindor muggle-borns. She refused to believe it, in fact, and still kept trying to reach out to her dear friend.