This was written as a secret santa gift for Lily (constellationless-stars) as part of the Jily Secret Santa Exchange 2012 on Tumblr. Merry Christmas, Lily, and I hope you enjoy. :)

Transfiguration and Charms

"Shove over."

"Do I have to?" James pretended to pout from his place on the couch, looking up at the redhead that was hanging over the back of the chair.

"Well there's no where else for me to sit, so unless you can convince Sirius to move his lazy arse out of the armchair – James!" Lily cried as she was pulled over the couch and onto his lap.

"I like this option better." James smirked as he buried his face into her hair before pressing a kiss to her temple.

"Of course you do." Lily rolled her eyes, but the motion meant little when she was already snuggling into James's chest.

"If I wasn't so happy that Prongs finally got his girl, I'd really hate how mushy the two of you are, Evans" said Sirius from his place by the fire, not entirely sure what to make of the couple stretched out on the loveseat. He continued to chuck the ball he'd found in their dormitory from hand to hand.

"It's not so bad if you ignore it." Remus's voice floated out from behind the book he was reading; Legal Guidelines for the Manufacture of Magical Apparatus. "At least they aren't overly obnoxious about it, unlike that last girl you dated, Padfoot. She was a nightmare."

"Oh, shush, Moony; we broke up for a reason. Anyway, have you found anything yet?"

"On whether it's legal to make your motorbike fly? No. But I haven't found anything suggesting that turning it into a magical object is illegal either, so I dunno yet. Remind me why I'm the one doing all the research into this? I don't even support the motorbike idea." Remus dropped the book, his eyes narrowed at Sirius as he just realised he'd been used for the past half an hour.

"Woah, don't look at me! You started researching all by yourself; trying to tell me that I couldn't, that it was illegal; I'd get myself killed, blah, blah, blah. It's not my fault if you've finally come around to like the idea, even if it is subconsciously." Sirius finished with a smirk, before he noticed James and Lily out of the corner of his eye. "Okay, seriously, you two? Get a room. Nobody wants to see you play tonsil tennis in the common room. Think of the first years! Their poor, innocent minds, corrupted by the Head Boy and Girl. And to think! You're supposed to be exemplar students."

Pulling away from James with a grin, Lily poked her tongue out at Sirius. "Shut it, you."

But before she could settle her head back onto James's chest, he stood up, pulling her to her feet. "Come on. I've got something for you upstairs."

"Two secs." Lily grinned as she ducked over to where Mary was sitting, and where she'd left her bag before she'd joined James on the couch. When she returned, James was chucking a ball back and forth in his hands, while Sirius looked on, un-amused that his source of entertainment was now missing.

"Ready?" James smiled when he spotted her again. She nodded and followed him over towards the staircase.

She'd only just lost sight of the common room when she heard Sirius cry out, "Yes! Pete brought food!" which was promptly followed by a "well, where did you think I'd gone?" from what sounded like a disgruntled Peter.

"Are you sure leaving all three of them together is a good idea?" She chuckled and James squeezed her hand affectionately.

"Probably not, but I didn't want to give you your present with them all hanging around."

"Fair enough then." She smiled, but casually reached her hand into her bag, confirming that James's present was still there.

He pushed open the door and Lily strolled past him into the dormitory, immediately heading over to his bed and making herself comfortable. James however stopped in the middle of the room, looking slightly nervous.

"Do you want your present first?" Lily urged. She was nervous about the gift she'd bought for him as well, but figured she'd be brave and get it out of the way. She was fairly confident he'd like it. At least, she hoped he would.

James's demeanour changed rapidly at her question. "Lil, you didn't have to get me anything," he said softly, making his way over towards her. "I wasn't expecting you to."

"Oh, rubbish. As if I wasn't going to get you a Christmas present." Lily rolled her eyes, but there was humour to her voice as she reached into her bag and pulled out the gift. The long, flat rectangle was wrapped in glossy white paper with a red ribbon tied on top. James smiled despite himself as Lily tried to gauge his reaction as she held out the gift.

"You really shouldn't have," he murmured, staring at the present in his hands. He couldn't believe he was actually here, in this moment, sitting on his bed, in his dormitory, with Lily – his Lily – on Christmas Eve, exchanging gifts. He'd bought her a present every Christmas since fourth year, of course, and she'd written him a card every year as well – although James expected it had been mostly out of some sense of guilt as opposed to actually wishing that he had a merry Christmas – and while he'd always put thought into what he bought her, he'd never been this nervous about her reaction. Because this year, this year, she was his, and suddenly it seemed far more important.

"Just open it, James." She laughed before as she patted the bed next to her. "And get over here while you're at it." He sat down next to her and she shuffled closer, resting her head on his shoulder. "Go on; open it," she urged while managing to keep the nerves out of her voice.

After what felt like forever to Lily, he finally pulled off the ribbon and flipped the present over so he could ease his fingers under the spellotape, careful not to tear the paper.

"Oh, just rip it, won't you?"

"What? Nervous that I won't like it?" James laughed as he noticed the way she was biting her lip, with her brows furrowed.

"A little bit, yeah."

He leaned in to kiss her and he felt Lily relax as his lips met hers, effectively distracting her while he half focused on easing away the last bit of tape. Pulling away with a grin, he studied the newly unwrapped present.

"Lil…"

"I know it's not much," she said quickly, "but-"

"Lil, this is a first edition. Merlin and Morgana, where did you get this?" he asked in awe as he started to flip through Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration. "Wait, this isn't for me as well, is it?" James held up a slip of paper that had been tucked inside the cover of the book; it was confirmation of a new subscription to Transfiguration Today.

"Well, I know that your current one ran out this month, and I figure that you're in the lead to win the Transfiguration Today Most Promising Newcomer award, so having a subscription to the magazine probably wasn't a bad idea," she said, beginning to ramble.

"Lily, I –"

"It's nothing amazing, I know, but it's the thought that counts, right?" she continued, cutting him off.

"Lil, shush for a second, yeah?"

"And you already have a boom servicing kit, so I couldn't get you that, but –"

James kissed her. "Lily Evans, I love the gift you bought me. Thank you," he said earnestly before kissing her again.

"Oh." She blinked, slightly dazed as he pulled away. "I'm glad you like it."

"Very much." James chuckled before reaching over an opening the bottom draw of his nightstand. "Here," he said, handing her a tiny box wrapped in gold with a silver bow.

Lily took it, beaming up at him before snuggling closer to James. Now that her nerves were gone, she was ridiculously excited to receive her own present. Unlike James, Lily ripped off the paper and turned the small black box over in her hands until she found where it opened. She could barely bite back her grin as she lifted the tiny golden charm from the box.

"Figured you could add it to that bracelet you're always wearing…" James trailed off, and Lily felt him shift slightly next to her as he ran a hand through his hair.

Pulling her bag towards her, she rummaged through it until she found the charm bracelet that she'd taken off earlier when she'd become fed up of it catching on her jumper. James watched as she clipped the stag hoof onto the chain next to the heart her mother had given her for her birthday.

"Thank you. I love it," she said, turning back to look at him with a delighted smile on her face.

Taking the bracelet out of her hands, James clipped it together around her wrist, twisting it so the heart and the hoof were face up. "I love you," he whispered as he kissed her temple.

Lily couldn't bite back her smile as the warm feeling of content spread through her at the sight of the new charm on her wrist. It seemed very right, wearing a symbol of him next to her heart.

"I love you, too."