Lily twirled around in the snow that was falling in large, soft flakes. Her auburn hair was striking against the dark greens of the forest and the pale blue of the frozen lake. Marlene's tinkling laugh bit through the air as her snowball hit the back of Sirius' head. Sirius turned around with a look of mock annoyance. "Excuse you, Miss McKinnon." Mary and Alice fell to the ground laughing at his flared nostrils while he brushed the snow off of his hair. James and Remus were taking turns throwing snowballs at each other, noses slowly tinging red. Peter and Dorcas were making a snowman, their wands doing most of the work. Lily snuck right behind James and dumped a handful of frigid snow down his cloak.
Remus winked, and Lily stifled a laugh as Sirius jumped right on Remus, pushing him over straight into his own pile of snowballs. Alice leaned into Frank, watching Dorcas and Peter add a nose to their snowman. Remus groaned from under Sirius, "Can we go inside now?" Peter smiled at his creation, and walked toward the rest of the group. "I agree with Moony! Let's go back inside." Lily pulled James up and started towards the castle, Sirius close behind. When they reached the doors, they walked in through the courtyard, marveling at the landscape. Alice and Frank left them to go to the library when the Gryffindors walked back to their common room. As they made their way back up to the Gryffindor common room, snow fell from their cloaks, scattering the stone with white stars. Dorcas called the password to the Fat Lady, and the portrait swung open.
The roaring fire and plush red couches were contrasted with the view of the winter wonderland that was visible through the ancient windows. Lily, Marlene, Dorcas and Mary collapsed on the closest couch to the fire, while the boys threw their cloaks on the floor. They were the only Gryffindors staying at Hogwarts for the holidays, and the castle was empty, except for a few students from each house and the staff. Remus picked up a chess board from one of the tables, and set it up on the hearth in front of the fire. James claimed the spot of the other player, and Sirius and Lily settled down to watch. Remus won, as usual, and by the time the sun set, the rest of the girls were dozing off.