flowerpotts & mistletoe - james and lily

december 2

song of the day: Jingle Bell Rock 

James woke up the next morning to the scent of cinnamon and pine. He opened his eyes and reached for his glasses. "What smells so good?" He asked groggily.

"It's a candle I got from Hogsmeade last time I went," Remus said from Sirius's bed. He was braiding his hair mindlessly while having a conversation with Sirius and Peter.

"Oi James! Mary told me we're doing a Secret Santa with everyone in our year in our house. We're drawing names on Tuesday," Sirius said, excited. He winced. "Ouch."

"Sorry," Remus said, pressing his lips against Sirius's scalp. "Do you want me to do an actual braid? You can wear it the rest of the day," he offered. Sirius agreed.

"What time is it?" James asked his friends.

Peter looked at his watch. It was a gift from his granny who had visited over the summer. He was really proud of it because it was something nice and expensive, and his family had only recently begun to be able to afford things like that. "Quarter past seven. We should go down for breakfast soon then. Don't want to miss it." The others agreed.

James changed quickly (the others already had), and the four boys went down to the Great Hall, their dorm room still burning the scent of christmastime.

When the boys got down, the long table for Gryffindor students was nearly full, but they still squeezed in on the end, near the staff table. James piled his plate with all sorts of food; french toast, fruit, eggs, and he got an extra bowl with yogurt.

"Someone's hungry," Sirius commented, his plate even more full than James's. James bumped his elbow against Sirius's left arm, which was pouring some orange juice into a cup. Sirius dropped the jug, spilling it all over the table. The table flashed, and the spill was gone, everything that the juice had affected was dry and clean.

"Oops," James shrugged.

"S'alright," Sirius smiled.

A loud muggle-like siren sounded throughout the hall, causing everyone to jump. James knew what that meant. It had only gone off once before this during his time at Hogwarts, and it was in his first year. The siren meant there was a fire.

"Everyone remain calm!" Dumbledore's voice boomed louder than the siren. "Get into a single-file line, and exit the castle. Everything will be taken care of soon."

Everyone followed the instructions. While they were walking out onto the field, James heard Remus mutter under his breath, "Shit."

"What?" He asked.

Remus turned to him. "I forgot to blow out the candle before we left our room. That's probably the cause of the fire." The other three boys' mouths fell open.

"And this time we didn't even do it on purpose," Sirius said with a half laugh. The others didn't find that amusing.

"I hope nothing is damaged. Our whole room might be burned down," Remus said grimly.

"All our belongings are there!" Peter whimpered.

"There has to be some sort of a spell that can un-burn things, right?" James pointed out. "I mean if there's a spell to clean up a spill, there should be a spell to restore burnt things."

"I don't think there is, but there might be some advanced spell that isn't taught at Hogwarts. I'm really not an expert though," Remus shrugged.

Lily ran over to them. "Speak of the devil," James muttered under his breath, in reference to 'experts'.

"Do any of you have any idea what happened with the fire?" Lily asked. The four boys glanced at one another and didn't say a word. "Surely it can't have to do with you again." They still didn't say anything. "Oh, spit it out, will you? You're old enough to own up to your actions." Peter looked down at his shuffling feet.