In the end, it was Peter's gift that James loved the most.

"This thing is brilliant," I'd overheard him chuckling to Sirius earlier that day. "Who would have thought Peter could come up with something like this?" And indeed, it was shocking, because while Sirius had given James his usual gift of boxers, and Remus had given him a book about Quidditch, it had been Peter's simple gift of a harmonica that had made James laugh with delight.

He was getting along quite well with it, actually. He'd mastered "Old MacDonald" and "Mary Had A Little Lamb" in the past hour. Now he was moving on to the hard songs, like "Ode To Joy" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." His efforts were charming, but the constant assault of sound was somewhat interfering with my reading. I'd make it only a sentence or so before the noise would shake my eardrums.

I flipped the page rather more snappily than I intended, and his eyes were on me.

"Getting tired of my musical wanderings, are you, Evans?"

I disguised the smile that was beginning to creep across my face. "Nah," I said, feigning nonchalance. "I actually enjoy listening to an unskillful teenage boy whistle on a piece of metal. It's surprisingly entertaining."

He laughed, a deep belly laugh that seemed to spread from his toes to the tips of his hair. "Well, that's good to know," he mocked me, "because I can assure you that I'll be at it for the next hour. At least."

"Will the unpleasantries ever cease?"

"Doubtful."

I shrugged and returned to my book. I could ignore the noise for a bit longer. I could probably stand… oh, about 15 more minutes or so. Then I could –

But wait. I looked up, confused. James was still staring at me, and he hadn't resumed playing.

"Um, actually, I want to say something, Lily," he said, tugging at his collar in a cute, schoolboy-ish kind of fashion. "I was sort of wondering... well… ah, you see… I wrote a song for you," he rushed. "It's stupid, I know," he said at my bewildered expression, "but… I kind of want you to hear it."

The miracles may never stop. James Potter, wrote me a song, and was then proposing to play it for me on Christmas night, in the middle of the Gryffindor Common Room, with less than adequate harmonica skills to do so.

"Eh… go ahead?" I said weakly.

"Right then," James said, sounding relived. He raised the harmonica to his mouth. "Well, here goes nothing. It's called 'For Lily', by the way."

He pressed his lips against it and began the song.

I nearly fell off the couch when the first note sang skyward. There was a drastic difference in tonal quality. It wasn't a screech, it was actually a note, and I'd go as far as to say that it was a relatively decent note. It might have even been… pretty. No, I shook my head. That was impossible.

Smirking at my reaction from around the edges of the metal, James continued breathing life into the little instrument. The rise and fall of the notes, the sad, sorrowful mood, it all blended into the symphony of sound. The song was… gorgeous, actually.

But really, the way he was getting the noise out of that harmonica was nothing but sinful.

His soft, slender lips wrapped around each air hole in a way that was almost taunting. I was transfixed by him, by the gentle way he was looking at me, by the way his eyes twinkled and shone in the dim light of the Common Room. The sweet, simple music swirled all around me, drowning me in its layered depths. James's eyes never left my face, not once.

It was perhaps the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me. Aside from the song being plain beautiful, the gesture was what meant more to me. I'd never had a boy write me a song before. Not once in my whole, tangled romantic history of love letters, assorted chocolates, and bouquet upon bouquet of flowers. This was different, but somehow, it was perfect. Exactly the thing I would suspect of James. He always knew… he always would. He could read me like a book.

The last notes of the song whispered into the air, shimmering into the room for a few moments before disappearing, leaving only the sound of the fire crackling away behind the grate. James lowered the harmonica from his lips, and the only thing left was him and I, still staring at each other, speaking the thoughts we'd always left unsaid. Blue eyes never left green, not even for a moment, but it was James who broke the silence first.

"Did you like it?"

"I – I – " I stammered, trying to find the right words. "I just loved it, James. Really. It was… everything."

James's eyes softened, and he crossed the room to the couch where I sat. I stood up, bridging the distance between us, making it so that we were chest to chest, resting right against each other.

"I'm glad you think so," he murmured, moving a strand of hair away from my face, "because you're my everything, Lils." A sheepish grin broke out over his face. "And just so you don't think I'm the next Mozart or anything, I did write the song, but I bewitched the harmonica to play itself whenever I said the words 'For Lily.'"

"No matter," I said, linking my arms behind his head and giggling. "It's all the same to me."

With a satisfied smile, he pressed his lips against my own, those wonderful, soft lips. With a happy sigh, I leaned into the kiss.

Peter was going to be getting a hearty thanks from me later.

a/n. Just a fluffy little idea that popped into my head this morning. =) If you enjoyed it or just had an "aww!" moment, feel more than welcome to leave a review!