This is a Secret Santa gift - Merry Christmas, Auden! I hope you enjoy :D

- Summer

"...and I told her that she didn't have to get me that hair conditioner we once saw in Hogsmeade, but she said she knew how much I wanted it, and so now I've got to get her something nice too," Lily prattles to no one as the Potter family makes their way home in a muggle car.

"We'll go Christmas shopping tomorrow," says Ginny, the only one really listening.

At least, the only who seems like she's listening.

What Lily doesn't notice is the panicked looks on her brothers' faces as she blabbers on about cute scarves and flowery perfumes, other items that her friends are purchasing for her for Christmas. If she does notice it, she assumes they're simply being their usual odd selves.

But James and Albus are taking in every word with growing panic because they haven't been planning to get their little sister scarves or hair conditioner or boots or anything; they've been planning to get more Wizarding Wheezes and a bucket of ice cream, the standard gift they've given her since she was two.

It appears, however, she's grown up from that sort of stuff and has moved on to the unexplored territory of clothes and makeup and all the other things girls Lily's age likes, except Lily's never been into that kind of stuff, and Lily's never hinted at being concerned about her hair, and Lily's never minded getting chocolate ice cream all over her clothes, but it appears that she is now and it seems like she may not appreciate the glories of ice cream and pranks as much as she used to.

"James," Albus whispers as Lily starts to talk about dresses. "What are we going to give her now?"

"We'll just have to see," says James uncertainly. "Ask Mum, maybe."

"What if Mum doesn't know?"

"She's got to know more about girl things than we do."

Both are very quiet on the way home, and when Lily finally stops to take a breather, she inquires, "What's up with you two?"

They shrug.

"I know what I'm getting both of you already," she informs them happily.

"You do?"

"Yes. You're going to love them."

"Are we?" says Albus weakly.

"Definitely." She smiles mischievously.

Lily doesn't notice the desperate glance her two brothers exchange as she says this.

"So here's the plan," says James the instant all of them enter Diagon Alley. "You guys can shop in this half of the alley, and Al and I will go down this side."

Lily frowns. "Hey! I want to go with you."

"You can't," says Al. "We're looking for your present."

This throws her off. "Looking for mine…?" Lily furrows her red eyebrows. "But your half of Diagon Alley doesn't have…" She faintly gestures to the top of the building down the alley, the one that has a flashing sign that reads "Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes".

James shrugs. "We chose our side. See you, Lils, Dad, Mum."

"Wait!" says Ginny, catching James's arm. "You'll be okay down there? It's pretty close to Knockturn Alley-"

"Mum," says James, rolling his eyes. "I'm overage, I can do magic if anyone tries to do something to me or to defenseless little Al - ow! - so don't worry."

"Be back here at four," calls Harry, but it's unclear whether the boys hear because they are already halfway down their side of the alley.

"Strange," says Harry as he watches them turn into a shop. "Wheezes is over there."

"Yes," says Lily slowly. "It's weird."

Ginny nods, but there's a knowing twinkle in her eye as she ushers the two towards Flourish & Blotts.

In the store they just entered, James and Albus begin their search for Girlish Gifts, as the former dubs it.

"What is this?" James asks in half-disgust as he gingerly holds up a length of fabric that looks neither like a shirt or pants.

Albus circles the article of clothing, prodding it with his finger. "I think," he says, "it's supposed to wrap around your waist?"

The shopkeeper shoots them a nasty look and says prissily, "It is a very fashionable shirt. For ladies, might I add."

"We're shopping for our sister," James says loudly, irked by the supercilious tone in the owner's voice.

The lady sniffs and turns to speak to another customer.

"What does it look like, we're looking for clothes for ourselves?" James scoffs.

"Focus!" Albus says. "So Mum said that she's fairly certain Lily wants a skirt-"

"She already has her Hogwarts one, I don't know why she wants another."

"Me neither, but I don't know, girls like variety, right?"

"How am I supposed to know, do I look like a girl to you?"

"You mean you're not a g- Ouch, that hurt!"

James grins as Al rubs his wrist and he reaches into his pocket. "So Lils wants a skirt? Good thing I can do magic." He lets out a low cackle that causes a lady shopping nearby to give them an alarmed glance. "Accio skirts!"

What he expects is for a few skirts on their hangers to zip over and save them the trouble of searching through the department store. What neither him nor Al expect is for three entire racks' worth of skirts lift from the other side of the shop and make their way to the two boys.

"Oh sh-" James swears, waving his wand wildly to coax the racks back to their rightful spot as he cranes his neck over the large displays. "I'm not tall enough-"

"Young man, what do you think you are doing?" shouts the shopkeeper, swooping in towards James and whipping out her wand.

"I'm trying to put it back down - Al, what's the spell -"

James manages to set the racks down on the floor after a series of complicated and probably nonsensical wand-waving, and the shopkeeper storms over, saying, "I knew you were trouble the minute you two walked in-"

Two minutes later, they find themselves outside, the shop door slamming into their face.

"How do girls do this? It's so hard," James complains.

"Why can't we just get her what we normally get?" Albus says dejectedly.

James looks as if he's considering it for a moment, but his face hardens. "No. We've got to get exactly what she wants, or nothing at all. It's the Potter Christmas way!"

"More like the you're-an-idiot Christmas way," mutters Albus, but he follows James into the next department store in search of another skirt.

After another hour or so, they do find a nice one, but as they're leaving Diagon Alley at four o'clock, both of the brothers turn to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and think about all of the different new products they'd been planning to get for their little sister before they realized she was starting to act like a fourteen-year-old girl.

It doesn't occur to either of them that while some fourteen-year-old girls cherish clothes and makeup and hair and a variety of skirts, some fourteen-year-old girls still appreciate getting ice cream all over them. It doesn't occur to them that their sister can be both girls at the same time.

Christmas Day arrives and it's with satisfaction and pride that James and Albus set their gift for Lily under the tree.

They're in very good moods as their sister yawns and saunters into the room, one of Grandma Molly's cookies in her hands.

"Where's Mum and Dad?" she asks.

"Their room. I think Mum's trying to strangle him with the tape."

"Why?"

"Dad can't decide which wrapping paper he wants to use."

"Makes sense. Be right back." Lily darts out of the room then returns with two large boxes in her arms. She is grinning quite devilishly as she places them under the tree.

"Those our presents?" James bounds over and reaches to prod the box.

Lily slaps his hand away. "Yes. But you can't open it until Mum and Dad get down here." She suddenly spots the thin box that has a tag that reads "To our favourite sister, From your favorite brothers" on it. "Is that mine?"

She sounds very surprised and almost… disappointed.

"Yes," says Al, watching his sister carefully. "We decided to try something new this year."

Lily's entire face flickers for a moment, a movement so brief and skillfully disguised that no one but James and Albus can detect it. "Oh," she says quietly, and frowns at the two boxes she's just placed under the tree. "I see."

Her brothers share an uneasy glance.

Half an hour later comes the big moment: the Potter family sits in a circle in their living room and sorts the presents out by person.

Through some silent agreement, the siblings don't touch each other's gifts until the very end of the Christmas unwrapping.

"You first, Lil," says James eagerly.

"That's uncharacteristically nice of you," Lily says mildly, but she's staring at the box in her arms that's far too small to hold a bucket of ice cream or Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes products in it with a hint of disappointment and Albus and James are sharing another panicked glance and then Lily is tearing off the wrapping paper and opening the box -

"It's a skirt!" she says in surprise as she pulls it out.

"We know," says James, scrutinizing her face.

"Oh, it's very pretty," gushes Ginny, reaching out to touch the dark fabric.

"It is," says Lily, but the entire family can read the traces of disappointment on her face as clearly as if she had painted it on her forehead in fluorescent green.

Albus clears his throat. "You, er, like it, right? Because James and I got kicked out of two stores before we found it-"

"Yes, of course I like it, I've been telling Mum for ages that I wanted a new one -" Lily cuts herself off and bites her lip. "Well, let's open your presents, shall we?"

She sounds so determined to tear their attention away from the skirt that all of them oblige, and her brothers tear away the wrapping paper from their gifts to reveal -

"You got us ice cream?" Albus cheers as James lets out a huge whoop. "Mine's Chocolate Frog flavoured - what's yours-"

"Mint chocolate chip - ha, mine's better - but Lils-"

Lily suddenly gets up and starts to pace and ramble to no one in specific. "Well, I just thought - well, you two usually get me ice cream and Wheezes and stuff, so I decided this year I'd just give both of you some, so we could have, you know, more to share and stuff. I also got some scarves for both of you - they're at the bottom right there - but I was just thinking - I'm not really sure what I was thinking, but if you guys aren't, you know, into this stuff anymore" - she gestures towards the skirt on the ground - "I guess we could-"

Splat.

The spoonful of mint green ice cream lands on the pocket of Lily's pajama top, and she stares at it as it drips down to the floor.

"Oops," says James but he's grinning widely and doesn't look at all apologetic and all of a sudden, Lily's diving towards Al's chocolate ice cream and Al's grabbing James's bucket and all of them are feasting on ice cream and getting brown and green all over their clothes -

And Harry and Ginny sit by the side watching their kids eat ice cream the way they have for eleven years, and Harry says, smiling, "It's nice to know that some things never change."

"It is," Ginny agrees, then smirks. "But now that they're older, they're cleaning up the mess."