A Cold Christmas - A Fan Fiction Story

I have been writing HP fan fiction for some time and it is mainly for me because I love to dive into this world and I have been mainly concentrating on Lily Evans's time at Hogwarts and James Potter, mainly because they are my favourite couple. 
For this Christmas, I will give you an excerpt of my novella long Lily Chronicles FF, which follows Lily on her first year at Hogwarts during Christmas and how chilly the air is at home with her jealous sister around. I hope you enjoy and stay tuned for the soon-to-come Christmas At Hogwarts Special. 

A COLD CHRISTMAS  
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Christmas was soon approaching and Lily couldn’t believe how happy she was here at Hogwarts. Still, she was looking forward to seeing her parents and Petunia again. It was the last day before they would drive home and she and Sev were wandering the grounds. Sev and she had got used to the fact that they had been sorted into different houses, and Lily didn’t mind him being in Slytherin. She didn’t think much of the house rivalry, anyway.
“I am going to stay”, Sev said into the silence and Lily looked aghast. Although Hogwarts was truly wonderfully decorated for Christmas, Lily would never reject the possibility to go home.
“Why, Sev?”
He shrugged. “Mum’s busy anyway and I don’t want to leave.”
Lily was silent for a moment. She didn’t know what to say. On the one hand, she thought it unbearable that he would stay here; on the other hand, if she had his family, she would probably stay at Hogwarts, too.
“Mum’s going to send me my present”, he continued and smiled bravely so that his best friend wouldn’t feel bad anymore. “I am so happy to stay here, the food is going to be better, for sure.”
Lily pondered about this a second and then had to agree with him. The food in Hogwarts was a bummer.
“Are other children staying here as well?”, Lily wondered and Sev nodded eagerly.
“Sure, some either don’t have parents or don’t want to go home, like me.”
Lily nodded slowly. “Well, see you then after the holiday in the new year, I guess”, she said and hugged him. “But I have to go now, I haven’t yet packed.”
 
In the dormitory, Lily met Angelina who was packing her trunk as well.
“Any plans for Christmas?”, she asked but Lily shook her head.
“No, simply Christmas, I reckon.”
Angelina nodded. “We’re flying to Switzerland to ski”, she blurted out and blushed a little.
“Sounds great”, Lily smiled and put her pyjamas in her trunk. “Do you ski?”
Angelina pulled a face. “Er, no, I don’t like the cold, remember?”
Lily laughed. Angelina and she had a shared secret passion, which was dance. Well, it was quite obviously that Lily liked dancing as her mother was a ballet teacher but she hadn’t guessed she would meet a girl in Hogwarts who’d share her passion. All the other girls were either into hockey or into the most popular sport of the magical world – Quidditch. Lily had seen one game so far and had decided to never attend one again as it had been blankly brutal and dangerous. She still shuddered at the thought.
“Are you going to dance this holiday?”, Angelina put Lily out of her daydreaming.
Lily nodded slightly. “I think so, Mum will take me to the studio.”
“Well, seems your holidays are going to be way better than mine”, Angelina sighed and closed her trunk.
 
Lily’s holidays were not as good as anticipated. She had thought Petunia would have forgiven her departure by then and they would be on friendly terms again. However, Petunia had greeted her icily and called her a freak on various further occasions. Whenever Lily told her parents about the school, Petunia would leave the room or roll the eyes at every word Lily uttered.
It culminated on the 25 December in the morning, when Lily realised that her sister had not given her anything for Christmas. Last year, Petunia had been so proud about the sweet teddy she had bought her sister for Christmas. She had been saving money since the summer and then had invested it in Lily’s gift.
This year, however, there was nothing and Lily had to weep. She told her mother nothing because she didn’t want her to be upset. Petunia, too, didn’t thank her for the book, Lily had bought her for Christmas and one day later, Lily found it in the bin.
The evening before her last, she knocked gently on Petunia’s door who mumbled something which Lily took as an invitation. She entered the door and Petunia turned around. When she saw her little sister entering, she rolled her eyes and turned towards her desk again.
“Go away, this is a non-magic zone”, she said coldly.
“I-I just wanted to talk”, Lily retorted browbeaten and sat cautiously down on the edge of Petunia’s bed.
“There’s nothing we can talk about”, Petunia mumbled and chewed on the end of her pen. “I told you everything I had to.”
“Tuney”, Lily broke into tears. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, I can’t be blamed for my skill, can I?”
At this Petunia turned around and eyed up her sister carefully. Her gaze was cold and condescending. “It’s not a skill”, she then said harshly. “Being a weirdo is not a skill. You are mad and abnormal.”
Lily sobbed heavily at this. “No, Tuney, please, I am no freak, I am a witch.”
“Pah”, Petunia spat at her. “A couple of centuries you would have been burnt for this. Sadly, it’s not like that anymore.” Her voice was trembling of hatred and disapproval and at her harsh, unforgiving words, Lily ran out of the room, her sight blinded by tears.
 
Lily wouldn’t have thought that Petunia would ever wish her dead, but she soon learnt that whatever she had done to Petunia would not be easily solved. Their mother tried to communicate between them but Petunia remained stubborn and shut herself into her room. So Lily’s mother took Lily to the ballet studio and they danced the whole afternoon. When they had finished their training, Lily sat down on the floor and kneaded her feet.
“What have I done wrong to upset Petunia?”, she asked weakly.
Her mother hesitated and bit her lip. “You’ve done nothing wrong, dear. It’s just that-“ she was wrestling for the right words. “Petunia would like to be like you and she is frustrated that she can’t”, her mother blurted out eventually.
Lily frowned at this. “That may be the case, but what is my fault in all this?”
Her mother shrugged. “Nothing, dear, but she is angry with you because you can go to Hogwarts and she can’t.”
Lily thought about this all day and was frustrated that as she was not doing something actively to upset her sister, she couldn’t help the problem.
This evening, her last at home, she talked to her mother and proposed to leave Hogwarts to which her mother reacted shocked.
“Why, honey, would you do that?”, she exclaimed, ironing her father’s shirts.
Lily shrugged. “If Petunia’s not angry with me anymore then, it’s worth it, isn’t it?”
Her mother stopped ironing and knelt down to Lily.
“Listen closely. You are not going to waste your talent because your sister is jealous, you hear me? I will settle that, dear. You go and enjoy the next semester, alright?”
Lily nodded shyly and went to pack her trunk. The next morning, however, Petunia was still as cold as ice to her and when she had to leave, she didn’t even come downstairs to hug her.