The Marauders Begin (I)

Christmas at Gryffindor Tower

December 24, 1971

It is late Christmas Eve, and the Gryffindors who have remained at Hogwarts for the holidays are gathered in the common room, decorating the room magically.

FRANK: Alice, help me conjure some baubles.

ALICE: Where are we gonna put them? We don't have a tree yet, doofus.

FRANK: We can just levitate them. Come on, it'll be fun.

ALICE: (points her wand and conjures a large, green ornament) Oh, look. It's almost as big and empty as your head.

FRANK playfully shoves ALICE, who throws the ornament at him, laughing.

ALICE: Who's in charge of the tree?

FRANK: I dunno. Hey, Gideon! Are you doing the tree?

GIDEON: (descending from the boys' dormitory) Yeah, hold on. Fabian, come help me.

GIDEON and FABIAN head over to near the window, and point their wands toward the ground. Together, the two brothers slowly produce a magnificent pine tree from thin air, starting with the base and slowly building it up so that it almost it reaches the ceiling.

MARLENE: (nudging MARY) Ooo, isn't that beautiful?

MARY: Come on, let's put some decorations on it.

By the fire, JAMES and SIRIUS sit playing with the Golden Snitch, letting fly around the room before one of the catches it.

JAMES: Can't believe Peter didn't stay for the holidays.

SIRIUS: His mum wanted him to come home. So did mine, but I said no way.

JAMES: (grinning) Excellent. Where's Remus?

SIRIUS: Passed out asleep in the room.

Soon, LILY descends from the girls' dormitory, looking as if she had just woken up.

JAMES: Hey, Evans! Merry Christmas!

LILY: (walking over to them) What are you two doing?

JAMES: Practicing for Quidditch tryouts next year. Wanna join?

LILY: More like showing off with that stupid Snitch. And no, I don't want to join, thank you very much.

SIRIUS: C'mon, Lily. Try enjoying something for once. (He lets the Snitch fly to her, but she knocks it out of the way).

MARY: Hey, Lily! Don't bother with those two. Come help us with the tree.

LILY sticks her tongue out at the boys and goes over to help her roommates.

LILY: Those two are so annoying.

MARLENE: I don't know. That Sirius Black is cute!

MARY: (whacking MARLENE on the back of the head) Marlene! That's gross.

LILY: (smiling) Whatever. This tree is enormous!

From across the room, GIDEON and FABIAN join FRANK and ALICE in conjuring the decorations around the room, producing several strings of fairy lights, which place themselves randomly across the room.

ALICE: So how come you two stayed here for the holidays?

GIDEON: Well, they wanted some of the Prefects to stay over at the school. Anyway, our parents left for America on a business trip for the Ministry, and our sister wanted a quiet Christmas at home.

ALICE: How is she doing?

GIDEON: Really well. Did we show you the pictures she sent of our nephew yet?

ALICE: Ooo, no! Let me see!

GIDEON reaches in his robes and pulls out a small bundle of moving photographs. ALICE gazes over them, which depict MOLLY, ARTHUR, and an infant BILL WEASLEY at the Burrow, surrounded by Christmas decorations, similar to the ones they are putting up.

ALICE: What a cute baby!

FRANK: What's his name?

FABIAN: William. They call him Bill.

ALICE: (smiling) Oh, I can't wait to have kids!

GIDEON: Oh, damn, I forgot about the food! We had better go down and get some.

FRANK: Alice and I can go get it.

FABIAN: You sure?

FRANK: It's no problem. You tickle the pear on the portrait of the fruit, right?

FABIAN: Yeah. The house-elves will give you loads of stuff.

FRANK: Awesome. C'mon, Alice.

FRANK and ALICE leave for the kitchens, while the other students continue decorating until the whole of the common room is sparkling with fairy lights and Christmas baubles. Soon enough, the portrait hole opens and MINERVA enters.

MINERVA: My, my, my. I've never seen the common room looking this festive before.

GIDEON: Evening, Professor. How are you?

MINERVA: Very well. Exams are all finished, so I figured I'd see how this party is coming along. Anyway, how are you two feeling about the summer term? Well-prepared for your exams? Fabian, you've got the O.W.L.s, and Gideon, you've got N.E.W.T.s.

GIDEON: We'll ace them for sure, Professor, don't worry.

MINERVA: Well, I expect nothing less than Outstandings from the both of you in Transfiguration.

Around the tree, the first-year girls' are finishing decorating the tree.

MARLENE: Mary, where's your wireless? We need some music.

MARY: Already ahead of you. (She pulls out her wireless from her bag and breaks through to a Wizarding station, which begins playing a festive Christmas jingle).

LILY: I love this song!

JAMES: (calling over to her) Care for a dance, Evans?

LILY: In your dreams, Potter! Why don't you go dance with the giant squid?

SIRIUS breaks down laughing, while MARY gives LILY a sideways smile.

LILY: (defensively) What?

MARY: Oh, nothing.

Soon, FRANK and ALICE return through the portrait hole, their arms filled with Christmas cakes and cookies.

ALICE: How much time do we have?

FABIAN: Only a few minutes to midnight!

The door to the upstairs dormitory can be heard opening once again, and REMUS walks down the stairs, looking rather haggard.

JAMES: Hey, mate! You're just in time!

REMUS: Wow. This place looks great!

SIRIUS: (grinning) Wish we could say the same about you.

JAMES: Oh, shut it, Sirius. Come on, let's grab some of those cookies.

FABIAN: And let the countdown... begin! Ten! Nine! Eight!...

Together, the entirety of Gryffindor Tower begins to countdown until midnight, at which point they let out a cheer. LILY, MARY, and MARLENE hug each other, JAMES lets the Snitch fly on its own, and FRANK kisses ALICE. The music becomes louder, and the party commences for much longer until MINERVA finally orders them to bed.