Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and events from J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of readers. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 76: Snow and Mistletoe
After Remus returned from 'visiting his mother,' the Marauders kept a watchful eye on Snape, who occasionally cast a suspicious eye upon Remus. They continued to intimidate the Slytherin in the hopes of scaring him off. Sirius and James found it very entertaining to find ways of humiliating Snape in front of his peers. Remus was wary of their tactics, however James insisted that this was the best way of discrediting Snape should he ever come forward with any accusations toward Remus.
Snape didn't take their taunting lying down. He had always found ways in the past to antagonize or even curse James and Sirius, especially James, but now he was more determined than ever to take them off their pedestals. He spent hours with his nose buried in suspicious looking books, and whenever he felt he had the opportunity he drew his wand and cursed the Marauders. Madam Pomfrey was exhausted, complaining that she should have placed a revolving door at the front of the hospital wing since all five boys continued to find their way there with various animal parts or colors hexed onto them.
At the beginning of December the first snow came, blanketing the grounds with a brilliant white. The holidays were approaching and the students suffered from an acute bout of laziness. Not that the professors had lightened their load, but the students didn't feel like working with the promise of Christmas so near.
Frank and Alice were studying one Saturday in the library, trying to finish the work that had been piled upon them. While Alice still coached Frank on DADA, and Frank in return helped Alice with Potions, they found that they studied well together and most of the time finished their other subjects together as well.
They had been working together for over two months, and Alice had been relieved that Frank had not asked her out or fawned over her during that time. In fact, other than being his sweet self, he had not shown any indication of having a crush on her anymore.
Frank noticed Alice staring out the window by their table and laughed, saying, "Aha, I caught you!"
Alice broke her gaze and turned to Frank, asking, "What do you mean?"
Frank smiled and said, "I caught you staring outside when we're supposed to be studying."
Alice gave him a sheepish smile and said, "I couldn't help it. With all the new snow on the ground it's beautiful outside."
Frank watched her for a moment before closing his book and saying, "It's settled, then."
"What is?" she asked.
"We're skiving studying and going outside," he replied.
Alice opened her mouth to protest but Frank was already halfway to the door. He paused and turned back to her with a mischievous glance as if to challenge her to have fun. Alice glanced at her books which lay there, looking more boring than ever, before she slammed them shut and raced out after Frank. They made the trek up to Gryffindor tower where they promptly dropped off their things and bundled up before meeting back outside the portrait hole.
"Ready?" asked Frank.
Alice gave him a sly smile before taking off and shouting behind her, "I'll race you outside!" She heard him give a disbelieving laugh before starting his pursuit.
It didn't take him long to pass her due to her small size, however the match became even when the staircase they were on decided to change landings. It gave them a few seconds to catch their breath before they were able to restart the race. As the doors to the outside came into view it looked as if Frank would prevail. At the last moment, Alice feigned an injury leading a solicitous Frank to her side, at which point she gave him a shove and raced onward to the finish line, laughing as she sprinted out onto the grounds.
Frank caught up with her and gave her a stern grin. "That was cheating, Miss Lyons." He wagged his finger at her in reprimand.
Alice shrugged and laughed, retorting, "If you want to be an auror, you have to be prepared for dirty tricks."
"I'll keep that in mind," he dryly replied.
They started walking toward the lake and Alice took a deep breath, the icy air feeling refreshing after the musty air of the library. She let out a contented sigh and said, "I love the winter."
Frank looked surprised and said, "You do? Most people hate the cold weather."
Alice shrugged and said, "I like summer, too, but winter is definitely my favorite. I love the snow and getting bundled up and seeing my breath on the cold air, and-"
"And seeing a crazy snowman chasing after Snape," interrupted Frank.
Alice paused and said, "Huh?"
"Look," replied Frank, pointing to their left about fifty feet away where Severus Snape was running away from a snowman, charmed to chase after him while pelting snowballs at the Slytherin. Snape tried to fire a melting charm at the snowman at which point the snowman ducked out of the way and gave Snape a rude gesture with one of its stick-like arms.
Alice let out a disbelieving laugh and said, "What the…?"
"I think I see the source of Snape's troubles," said Frank.
Alice followed his line of sight and saw the laughing forms of James and Sirius, hiding behind some nearby bushes. James waved his wand and the snowman successfully pelted Snape in the face with a large ball of snow. While the boys laughed at their ingenuity, Alice said, "I see they decked the snowman in Gryffindor colors," noting the scarlet and gold scarf draped around him.
Snape finally cut his losses and ran for the protective barriers of the castle. Sirius and James were rather disappointed to lose the source of their fun, but James soon perked up at the sight of a familiar redhead walking nearby with Marlene. Thinking quickly, James refocused his magic on the charmed snowman, causing it to approach Lily.
Marlene noticed its approach first and nudged Lily, who turned and stared in shock as the snowman stopped in front of her and took off its hat, bowing in greeting.
Sirius saw what James was trying to do, and still feeling mischievous from his taunting of Snape, waved his wand, causing the snowman to run its stick-like hand over the top of its head in a manner similar to James' hair tousling habit.
Lily, not missing the gesture, rolled her eyes and looked around for the source of the magic. The snowman waved its hand in front of her to catch her attention. It gave her a charcoal-filled smile and leaned over to write in the snow, 'Go out with me, Evans?'
Lily let out a disbelieving laugh, once again faced with the same invitation she had received numerous times since the infamous 'affection-bear' incident. The words were like a broken record player, repeating themselves over and over when she wanted to rid herself of the embarrassing incident in Herbology that morning several weeks earlier. Lily exchanged a tired look with Marlene before facing the snowman once again and, with a falsely sad face, shaking her head.
The snowman frowned for a moment before snapping its twiggy fingers and writing in the snow, 'Go to Hogsmeade
with me next weekend?' It sidled next to her and threw its stick-like arm around her shoulders, forcing a
shiver out of her due to her proximity to the icy creature.
Lily could hear Marlene let out a snort-like laugh next to her. Trying to fight down a laugh, Lily let out a dramatic sigh and looked up at the snowman, replying, "I'm sorry, but I don't date guys who will be melted by the time the summer holiday arrives." She shrugged out of the snowman's grasp and walked away with Marlene.
James, getting the usual response, was more amused than disappointed at Lily's reaction. Sirius, seeing that
James' attention was no longer on the snowman, opted to take the reigns. He waved his wand and sent the snowman up
to the girls, causing it to drop some snow down the back of Marlene's cloak. A few minutes later, the boys were
staring down at a pile of snowman paraphernalia as it lay in a puddle of melted snow, the result of a well-aimed
melting charm performed by Marlene.
James chuckled and said to Sirius, "Better him than you, mate."
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A few mornings later, Sirius woke up with a case of the chills. He groggily pulled his blanket tighter around him, realizing then that it felt a lot heavier than normal. Opening his eyes a bit, he was stunned to find an isolated snowstorm centered over his bed, with three inches having accumulated. Brushing the snow that had stuck to his face, he had to remove a small icicle that was starting to form on the tip of his nose.
He quickly extricated himself from his bed and threw on a jumper, trying to warm up while looking around the rest of the room. His mates were still sleeping, except for Peter, who was warily looking at him from the doorway to their bathroom.
"Do you know who did this?" asked Sirius.
Peter shifted nervously and shrugged his shoulders.
Sirius, seeing Peter's reaction to the question, probed, "Who did this, Wormtail?"
Peter, seeing Sirius' temper starting to build, responded, "She said if I told you she'd have me walking funny for weeks, if you know what I mean…"
"She?" asked Sirius, realizing who Peter meant. Without waiting for a response, Sirius stormed out of the room and down the stairs into the common room. He walked to the entrance to the girls' dormitory and shouted, "McKinnon!"
It took a few shouts before Marlene finally appeared on the stairway, amusedly looking down at Sirius, who still had some snow in his hair. The shouts had caused a few other girls to poke their heads outside their doors, wondering what brought on the early morning noise. Once they saw it was another brewing argument between Gryffindor's infamous rivals, they opted to return to the warmth of their beds.
"What do you want, Black?" asked Marlene, bundled up in her warmest pajamas and dressing gown.
Sirius glared up at her and asked, "Would you care to tell me why I woke up in the middle of a blizzard, McKinnon?"
Marlene smiled sweetly and replied, "The weather is fickle these days, isn't it?"
As Sirius was about to reply, a barrage of sneezes overcame him, the aftereffect of the early morning storm. Marlene let out a laugh and Sirius, more irritated at her than ever, proceeded up the stairs to confront her face-to-face. Before he reached the first landing, the stairs disappeared and were replaced by a slide. Sirius cursed as he slipped his way down to his starting point. His mind barely registered a screech coming from above seconds before something landed on top of him.
Realizing that 'something' was McKinnon, Sirius attempted to get up only to realize their limbs were tangled. As they struggled to separate themselves, Lily appeared at the base of the stairway, which had returned to normal. Trying not to laugh at the two as they finally separated themselves, she cleared her throat to announce her presence.
Marlene stood up and glared down at Sirius, before turning and heading back upstairs, her face flushed. Lily looked at Sirius and couldn't help but laugh at the sight of him, with his nose bright pink. By this point the snow in his hair had completely melted.
"Good morning, Rudolph," she chirped.
Sirius looked at her as if she had sprouted a third eye and muttered, "What are you on about, Evans?"
Lily shook her head and replied, "It's a Muggle thing - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
Sirius huffed and said, "Some deer is famous for a red nose?"
Lily smiled and explained, "There's a story about how his bright red nose led the way through a storm so that Santa could deliver his gifts."
"Who's Santa?" asked Sirius.
"You've never heard of Santa Claus?" asked Lily.
"Santa Claws? I don't remember Kettleburn going over anything like that," mused Sirius.
Lily sighed and said, "That's because he's not a creature, he's someone who delivers Christmas gifts. He comes down the chimney and leaves the gifts in stockings."
Sirius shook his head and asked, "Why doesn't he just owl the gifts like any normal person, rather than having some weird looking deer with a strange name dragging him around? It'd more efficient than the Floo system. And what's with his fetish for socks?"
Lily rubbed her temples and said, "Forget it. It'll take all day to explain properly." Hearing him let out a loud sneeze, she said, "You look like you need some Pepperup Potion. Go to Madam Pomfrey. I'm sure she's up by now."
Sirius nodded and made his way toward the hospital wing, thinking that he should ask James about Rudolph, since James was rather obsessed with deer. Maybe he could shed some light on the subject.
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After Sirius left, Lily ran back up to her room and saw Marlene climbing back into bed. Eyeing her friend suspiciously, Lily asked, "What'd you do this time?"
Marlene laughed and replied, "Just a slight snowstorm above his bed."
Lily shook her head and, with a slight smile, said, "That explains his sniffles." She grabbed a set of clothes and her bathroom gear, saying, "I'm in the mood for a hot bath in the prefect's bathroom. See you later."
As Lily walked toward the prefect's bathroom, she admired the transformation the castle was making to indicate the Christmas season. Garland was strung up around the windows and Christmas trees were strategically placed, bringing a warmth to the stony castle.
The suits of armor hummed different Christmas carols as she passed by, except for one that wolf-whistled at her. Realizing that was probably James' work, Lily smirked and made her way to the statue of Boris the Bewildered, who looked quite confused about the holly that had been charmed onto his suit.
"Good morning, Boris," said Lily. "Anybody inside?" Boris shook his head and Lily whispered the password, "Static cling," allowing the door to magically open.
Lily filled the tub with hot water and foamy purple suds, allowing the scent of lilacs to fill the room. She climbed inside, swimming a few laps before finding a spot at the edge to lay back and enjoy the warmth of the water.
With the décor changing around the castle, Lily realized that she would soon be heading home for Christmas. She felt a pang of homesickness and could hardly wait to see her family. She knew her mum would spoil her a bit and at least once would make her famous bread pudding, Lily's favorite breakfast. Her dad would probably try to act casual while asking about Lily's life at Hogwarts, all the while hoping no mention of boyfriends would come up.
Then they would put the Christmas tree up and decorate it. Lily laughed, remembering that they had decided to use a fake tree ever since a bird had flown out of the live one her dad had chopped down one year. She still remembered Petunia's shrieks as her parents tried to shoo the bird outside the door.
Lily was never certain any more about how Petunia would respond to her. There were times when they got along, usually when Lily left out mention of her magical life. Other times Petunia would be reminded of their differences and give her the cold shoulder. Lily cringed, remembering that her mum's latest letter had mentioned that Petunia was still seeing Vernon. Lily hoped that Vernon would be vacationing somewhere far away for the holidays, so that she wouldn't have to see him when she went home to visit.
Seeing her fingers starting to prune, Lily left the tub and dried herself off before throwing on her attire for the day. Turning back to the tub, she decided to test her transfiguration abilities and waved her wand, successfully vanishing the bathwater. Smiling, she left the bathroom with the thought that she would at least be able to perform a proper Vanishing Spell for her transfiguration O.W.L.
When she reached the portrait, before she could say the password, the portrait opened and James stood in the doorway, on his way out. He paused when he caught sight of Lily and grinned.
"Morning, Evans," he greeted. He stepped to the side of the entrance to give her room to pass by him.
Lily looked up and saw a sprig of mistletoe tacked above the entrance and looked back at James, whose grin widened. Lily, realizing that she would have to pass by James under the mistletoe to get into the common room, pulled out her wand again and vanished the mistletoe. She gave him a smug smile before walking by his surprised self, saying, "Morning, Potter."
James snorted and said, "Aw, Evans…where's your holiday spirit?"
Lily said, "Bah humbug," and continued to walk up to her dormitory.
James sighed, but then smiled as an idea popped into his head.
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Over the remaining few weeks before the holidays, James had figured out a handy transfiguration spell and managed to turn any kind of Christmas plant, be it holly or a piece of Christmas tree, into mistletoe. Having a bunch of spare mistletoe in his bag, James was able to follow Lily around in hopes of catching her under some mistletoe with him.
Lily was a spry girl, always managing to catch him in the act and get out of the way in time. Usually she managed to either vanish the mistletoe or make it shrivel, but James would casually reach into his bag and grab another sprig. A few times, Lily had to use a freezing charm to stop James so she could escape.
One of the last evenings before the students left for home, Lily was sitting in the library with Remus and Emm, trying to finish the homework the professors had assigned them for the holidays. They were in the middle of their essay for Potions when James showed up at their table. He settled into the one remaining seat at the table, next to Emm and across from Lily.
James, ignoring Remus and Emm's amused expressions, wagged his finger at Lily and said, "Now Evans, was it necessary to leave me like that in the Great Hall? It took a full five minutes before Sirius finally reversed the spell."
Lily smirked and said, "Yes, it was necessary."
James took out another sprig of mistletoe, causing a groan of frustration to escape Lily's mouth. He waved it in front of her and said, "Really, Evans. You can't ignore this. It's a holiday tradition, after all." Hearing Emm chuckle next to him, he turned to her and smiled. Holding the mistletoe above and in between them, he smiled and said, "Don't you agree, Emm?"
Emm looked up at the mistletoe and blushed, giving James a nervous smile. Glancing quickly at Lily, then at Remus, who had stopped looking amused at the situation, she turned back to James and said, "I suppose…since it is tradition."
James leaned over and Emm met him halfway, each participating in the mistletoe kiss. James, with the stupid idea of trying to make Lily jealous, let the kiss continue for several moments before coming up for air. He gave Emm a smile and turned, only to find that Lily had left. He looked at Remus, who was trying to ignore them while furiously scribbling out part of his essay.
Emm cleared her throat a bit, trying to gather her composure, before saying, "I suppose since Lily left we should call it a night." Seeing that Remus was still focused on his work, she said, "Remus?"
Remus paused and glanced up at her before saying in a controlled voice, "Yeah."
"C'mon, Remus," said James. "We should meet up with the others."
Remus slammed his book shut and threw everything into his bag. He got up and swiftly walked away, barely allowing James the chance to catch up with him.
James fell into step beside Remus and ruffled his hair, saying, "I'm starting to think the mistletoe idea isn't going to work, though if she disappeared like that maybe I should go for the jealousy route."
Remus rolled his eyes and forged onward, not giving James any other response.
James once again caught up with Remus and asked, "What do you think, Moony?"
Remus stopped suddenly and turned on James, saying, "You need to decide what you want, Prongs. If you want to chase after Lily, that's one thing, but don't hurt some other girl just because you want to use her to make Lily jealous!"
James was taken aback at Remus' harsh tone. It was rare for Remus to fly off the handle at his friends. James lifted his hands up and said, "Whoa there, Moony. Emm knows how I feel about Lily. Besides, it was just a simple kiss under the mistletoe. I wasn't asking her out!"
Remus shook his head in frustration and began walking again toward Gryffindor tower.
James stared after him, a realization suddenly coming to him. He ran after Remus and when he caught up he grabbed his arm to stop him. "Do you like Emm?"
Remus' eyes widened and he said, "Like her? Well, yeah, I like her. She's a good friend."
James, seeing the red tint to Remus' ears, retorted, "You know what I mean, Moony." Seeing Remus' lack of a reply, James said, "If I'd known you like her then I never would have kissed her, Moony."
Remus shrugged and said, "It doesn't matter."
"Yes, it does," said James. "I'm sorry, mate." They continued walking for a minute before James asked, "Why don't you ask her out?"
Remus let out a dry laugh and said, "It's not that simple, Prongs, and you know it."
"You never know," said James. "She's been your friend this long, and she seems pretty nice. Maybe she would understand."
Remus sighed and said, "How, Prongs? Am I supposed to just tell her right off the bat, or do I wait to see if the relationship would go anywhere? Then, I'd be lying to her until I told her, not that I'm not already lying as it is. I can't just walk around telling people my secrets. It's dangerous enough that you know. Look what you've done for me, already. Not that I'm not grateful, but I just don't want to put anyone else in that position."
"You didn't put us in that position, Moony," said James. "We made up our own minds, and we're perfectly fine."
They entered the common room and continued up to the dormitory. Remus shook his head sadly, saying, "You'll
never understand, Prongs. Things are so much easier for you. You can lay back and enjoy life and make your own choices
without the weight of the consequences that I have to consider." Remus walked to his bed and drew the curtains,
effectively ending the conversation.
James stood there, shocked and upset to hear the sadness and hint of jealousy in Remus' voice. He hadn't really thought about Remus' situation beyond the monthly transformations. He hadn't thought about the other things that went with being a werewolf. Remus had to constantly worry who would find out and how they would react. He had to worry about their choices and if that would place them in danger. He also hadn't thought about the stigma that would stay with Remus throughout his life and how people would judge him without knowing him.
Realizing Remus wanted to be alone, James walked downstairs to find Sirius and Peter, hoping to make a trip down to the kitchens to find sustenance. Maybe he could bring back some butterbeer as a peace offering for Remus, though he knew Remus would forgive him. That was the kind of friend he was. James wondered how Remus could be so understanding when life could be so unfair to him.
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A/N: Well, we're about halfway through fifth year, chronologically. I may go a bit quicker through the second half, but I'm not sure. I really want to get to the end of fifth year and start on sixth year. Interesting things will be happening then! Ah, I shouldn' a said tha'. (lol)
Thanks to my reviewers: God'sgirl, Anu, Anonymous, Potterhead (x2), britishbabe, DreamAngel, Mani12191, AshleyM, Remus'sweetie, Incendia, Jo Bob, Calypso, andburn1, Adria, missclearwater, tigerfairy, delpheena, Golden Phoenix, SwimGirl, and RainDateChick.
Please leave a review!
Next chapter: I barely started it, but it'll probably involve the visit home for the holidays. I have an idea for another classic Marianne moment with James and Sirius (still have to figure out how to write it).