For the Marauder contest currently going on. The prompt was Christmas, Lily and Sirius, and a selection of words that I forgot and am too lazy to go fetch.

Lily inhaled the crisp winter air and exhaled slowly, watching her breath turn in a cloud of white, wispy mist. That was about the only thing she enjoyed about cold weather, breathing fog into the air and watching it take shapes, then disperse and disappear.

A stone was sticking into her leg, so she shifted and wriggled until she was comfortable again. Currently, she was sitting in the archway of one of the open corridors overlooking the courtyard, and behind her, overlooking the far mountains. Normally Lily would be looking the other way, but the only thing to see over there was snow-covered trees and a lot of white. In the courtyard, she could watch several first-years stage a inter-house snow fight, and she could pretend to be in high spirits for the holidays. It was snowing at the moment, but she just couldn't get into the Christmas cheer.

Lily sighed, and then regretted not blowing harder. Her breath was barely visible when she sighed like a melodramatic girl, which she wasn't. No, she was just having a hard time making a decision.

In her lap, she picked at the Spello-tape on a small packet. It was wrapped in common brown paper, and wasn't anything fancy, but Lily had spent ages the last Hogsmeade weekend picking out its contents and then going all the way to the Owl post, just to remember she'd spent the last of her money on the gift for Petunia.

A gift she'll probably scoff at and throw away.

Flipping the packet over so she could read the address once again, Lily contemplated the level of insanity she was bordering on even trying to get Petunia a gift. Last time she had, she'd brought back some wizarding candy during the summer. Petunia had thrown a fit and shrieked when she opened a chocolate frog, and thrown the lot out the window. It was raining, and the candy wasn't salvageable, so Lily couldn't even eat the chocolate she'd bought for her sister while being depressed about their deteriorating relationship.

No, Lily shook her head. Enough of the nonsense. 'Tunie will either like it or hate it, but it's too late to get something else for her now. Before she could change her mind again, Lily hopped off the ledge and landed nimbly on the pads of her feet, shock mostly absorbed by her winter boots. Clutching her parcel, the precious parcel that cost all her allowance from the last two months and contained the Christmas gifts for her entire family, Lily hurriedly stalked off to the nearest stairs going up in the direction of the Owlery.

The stairs were closed in some parts and then opened in others, so by the time Lily had passed the halfway point, her flaming red hair that wasn't covered by her hat was liberally speckled with white, along with her shoulders and anywhere else the snowflakes could stick. The last part of the stairs leading to the Owlery was icy and treacherous, but Lily picked her footing very carefully and managed to avoid the worst areas. The wind didn't help; this high up, it was a constant roaring in her ears, pulling and nagging at her hair and clothes, making her eyes water.

The Owlery door was hard to open – the snow and moisture must have swollen the wood, so Lily had to clamp her package between her teeth and push on the door with both hands pressed flat on the wood. Slowly, it creaked open, and the wood flaked off in form of splinters buried in her gloves.

Lily rushed into the Owlery and leaned her back against the door, shutting it firmly. The Owlery was quiet, the roaring wind now almost completely muted, and the only sounds were the shuffling and hooting of its residents, the owls. It was dark, and covered in shadows, but lighted enough for the red-head to see where she was going. Lily spat out her packet, gripping it firmly in her hands again. This was better. All she had to do now was find an owl and she'd be rid of the package and the horrible decision making forever. Well, maybe not forever, but until the next gift-giving holiday.

"What are you doing here?"

Lily shrieked and threw the first thing that came to mind, her packet, at the dark shape that was blocking the window and ohgod thought that was a bloody owl post I'm going to dieinaroomcoveredinbirdwaste-

"Ow! Bloody hell, Evans! What was that for?"

Freezing in the middle of her panic attack, Lily's eyes slowly adjust to the dark.

"Black?"

Sirius Black, friends with James "Douche" Potter, was glaring at her from the other side of the small Owlery.

"No, I'm an overgrown owl, would you like me to deliver your packet to…" Black picked up the package form the ground, where it had fallen after striking him in the face, and flipped it over. "Little Whinging? Where the hell is that, anyway?"

With the last bit of panic subsiding, Lily felt the familiar rush of another feeling build up. Anger.

"That is where my family lives, for your information!" She snapped. "And what are you doing lurking in the shadows?"

"I asked what you were doing here first." Black responded, crossing his arms and still holding on to her package.

"Well what do you think I'm doing here, Black?" Lily asked sarcastically. "Something to send to my family hundreds of kilometers away, why should I be in the Owlery? I should be heading to the Forbidden Forest to see if I could find some horribly dangerous beast that should deliver it for me! What was I thinking coming up here!"
"For your information," Black muttered. "That was one time. And I wanted my family to be poisoned by that giant bat."

Before Lily could spit out anything else, the Black heir tossed her the packet and turned his back, resuming whatever it was he was doing before she had come in.

No, no! Lily told herself firmly, walking over to a nearby owl. No being curious! Curiosity killed the cat remember?

Fumbling with the straps to attach the post on to the owl's leg – the owl that apparently was being very grumpy and uncooperative – Lily did remember something. The second part of that saying: but, satisfaction brought it back.

When she finally tied the knot a sufficient amount of times and was sure it wouldn't come undone and drop her Christmas gifts into a random countryside, Lily offered her arm to the owl. It hooted at her, eyes staring reproachfully, but hopped obediently onto her arm anyways.

Very carefully balancing it on her arm (she could never get used to this part), Lily carried it over the window, which happened to be the same one Black was leaning on.

She prepared herself to say something to him, a simple "Excuse me," or "If you don't mind," something polite like that to prove she was the better 'man', but as soon as she was close enough to warrant it, Black drew back and allowed her access to the window.

Lily swallowed and moved forward, eyes glued to the window ledge. Black's gaze was fixed on her, and she could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She leaned out the window slightly, but not enough for the wind to catch her, and shakily extended her arm so the owl could take flight. With another discontent hoot, it shuffled down her arm and surged upwards, snapping its wings open at just the right moment to avoid getting slammed against the castle wall.

"Staying at Hogwarts for the holidays, then?" Came Black's voice from behind her, sounding uncharacteristically… hesitant. She was about to say that it was obvious wasn't it, if she was here and not elsewhere, but stopped herself at the last minute when she caught on. Sirius Black was making small talk.

"Yes. My sister is… uncomfortable around magic, so I decided I'd let her enjoy the holidays with my parents without making her uneasy." Lily admitted, trying not to make her speech sound forced. "You're staying as well?"

Black nodded glumly and scuffed his shoe against the ground.
"I thought you'd be going with Potter for vacation." Lily said, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Yeah, well. The Potters had some important events and it would've been too difficult for them to have me stay at the same time…" He muttered, shaking his head so his hair fell into his eyes a little. The gesture just drew Lily's attention to his eyes – she'd never noticed they were a clear grey before. She'd always thought they were some sort of light blue, but was never really bothered with finding out.

"That's not a very good sport of Potter then, leaving you alone for Christmas." Lily remarked, leaning against the windowsill on her elbows.

"You wouldn't understand!" Black lashed out suddenly, eyes glaring sullenly. "He's the heir of an old pureblood family, he has to make appearances for events like this!"

Lily was taken back. Other than the offensive but subtle slight against her heritage, she could practically feel the hurt radiating off of her fellow Gryffindor.

"So you decided to stay at Hogwarts instead of going home?" She asked hesitantly.

"Going home was never an option." Black snorted, digging his hands into his pockets. "Even if I wanted to."

Lily wasn't going to say anything, but it did seem like he wanted to go home.

"I wouldn't be welcome anyway. It's not really my 'home' anymore." He told her, staring at the ground. Lily couldn't make out his expression, but she was starting to feel uncomfortable. Why did she have to ask? Why was Black even going into this much detail?

"I ran away." Black said suddenly, after a silence that made Lily think the conversation was over.

"R-really?" Lily choked out. She didn't know how to handle this – she wasn't Black's friend, she shouldn't be doing this, she didn't know how to handle men feelings. Where was Lupin or Pettigrew when you needed them?

…Oh. They went home for vacation too.

"I got fed up. They're messed up. Besides, they won't even miss me. They have Reg, perfect little Regulus. He'll never disappoint him."

"Hmm…" Lily hummed, mind racing as she tried to piece together something to say. She had millions of comforting phrases stocked up for girls, when they got dumped, when they got rejected, when they failed a test, but nothing, nothing, qualified for this moment.

"So basically, you're homesick?" Lily blurted out, mind stuffed with too many inappropriate responses. It was only after it left her mouth that she realized it was the most inappropriate thing of ALL and WHY did she just say that?

"I AM NOT!" Black shouted, face screwing up.

Lily couldn't help but mentally list a number of points reasoning against him, but this time was able to keep quiet.

"Alright, alright," She said soothingly. "Not homesick. Probably just… hungry."

Black gave her the 'I wouldn't be surprised if you were getting a Troll in common sense look'. That look existed; Lily had invented the look, so she would know.

"Most hungry people get angry and grouchy," She reasoned, nodding her head as if she knew what she was talking about. Black looked like he was suddenly uncomfortable in her presence and doubting her mental health, but seemed to recognize she was trying to change the subject in his favor.

"Right… hungry." He said slowly.

In that moment, Lily had a flash of inspiration. She actually got these quite often. It was like a little speck of light floating around in her head, until a certain moment woke it up and it exploded, expanding and filling her mind with a brightly colored light – or in other words, an idea. But this idea involved her spending a considerable amount of time with Black, and while she was slowly softening up to the trouble-some Gryffindor pranking group, she still had a hard time getting along with them. Well, other than Remus of course, because he was just sweet no matter the situation. On the other hand, this idea would sweep away the dark look on Black's face, as well as the shadows lurking in his eyes. And at the moment, although she would never admit to it later, she felt delighted at being able to do something like that. For once, she would be making Black laugh and not the other way around.

"Well, then." She said, smiling confidently. "There is only one solution for hunger."

"Yeah, eating." Black muttered, narrowing his eyes at her suspicious change in behavior.
"It's not polite to keep a lady waiting," Lily held out her arm in an obvious manner.
"…What?" The other Gryffindor asked dumbly.

"Of for Merlin's sake, Black." The redhead rolled her eyes. "You're taking me to the Christmas dinner. As a date." She specified, not wanting to take her chances.

"Since when?"

"Since now." Lily replied firmly. She was starting to feel a little dumb with her arm stuck out uselessly.
"You… don't even like sitting next to me in class." Sirius said hesitantly, as if testing to make sure it wasn't a trap.

"That's because things tend to explode around you in class, Black. Besides, this will cheer you u- I mean, make you… not hungry."

Black stared at her for a bit more, and then suddenly burst into a smile. Lily was almost taken back at how wide and bright it was, and couldn't help but silently, helplessly promise herself she would do whatever it took to keep that look on his face for as long as possible.

"As smooth as your proposition was, Madam Lily," Black's voice was suddenly smooth and held the aristocratic marbles-in-mouth accent. Lily couldn't help but feel a slight thrill when he said her first name. "It would be smashing if you would use my first name."

"So in other words, call you Sirius?" She grinned back, letting her arm subtly fall back against her side. If he wasn't going to take it and make this more… romantic or something, who was she to make a fool of herself? In any case, she certainly wasn't going to stay still and wonder if this counted as flirting or not.

"Exactly my point, fair lady." With his eyes suddenly brighter, Sirius sort of… bowed down in front of her and –

"I would be honored if you attend the Christmas dinner by my side." He took her hand gently and lightly pressed his lips to her knuckles. Lily blushed and couldn't seem to get any words from her mouth – her throat had mysteriously clogged up – so she nodded, hoping she wasn't turning red. It'd be horrible to clash with her hair at a moment like this.

Sirius grinned madly and maneuvered an arm into hers.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"You caught on quick…" Lily breathed, finally able to speak.

"I'm very adept at changing attitude, especially if there's a pretty lady to motivate me."

"I'll say." She murmured, letting Sirius lead her to the door, which he, of course, managed to get open in one swift yank.

"Ladies first." He said with a smirk, so that Lily wasn't sure if he was being sincere or if he was mocking her. As he graciously spun her out of the door and followed quickly, shutting the door behind, she decided she couldn't quite care less, especially as his admittedly impressive figure was between her and the wind, sheltering her.

Halfway down from the Owlery, Sirius threw his head back suddenly and let out a loud bark of laughter

"What?" Lily pouted, hoping he hadn't noticed her recent slip and was making fun of her.

"James is going to kill me!" The Gryffindor boy started laughing even louder. "Years now he's been trying to get you to go out with him, and here I am, on a date with you."

"Don't flatter yourself," Lily told him, hitting him lightly on the arm. "And don't think this means anything. I'm just doing this in Christmas spirit. Being generous and all."

"Ha! Yes, you're very generous with your time, dear Lily." Sirius chuckled. "Sparing an entire evening for little old me? That's a bit much. Are you sure you don't have a thing for me?"

"Absolutely." Lily responded, ignoring the little flutter of her stomach reacting to that question.

Then, without knowing how she got there, she was pressed against a stone wall. Gasping, she barely had time to catch her breath before foreign lips were pressed harshly against hers. At the same time, she could feel a hand snake its way to the small of her back, and another reaching up and tangling in her hair, nearly dislodging her hat. But throughout all of this, she could barely register what was going on, so distracted was she by the movements of her lips and his lips and then she gasped again and her lips parted and-

As sudden as it started, it stopped.

Sirius Black, her impromptu date, leaned back, releasing her from where she was pinned against the wall, but Lily couldn't find the energy to move.

Panting slightly, face slightly flushed, the young man pulled his redder than usual mouth into a grin, flashing his brilliant teeth and asked:
"How about now?"

"I'll deal with him." Was the first thing that passed through her mind.

"With who?" Sirius asked, brow furrowed, betraying his confusion. It was obviously not the reaction he was expecting.

"I'll deal with Potter," Lily huffed, and reached out, snagging Sirius' loose tie and pulling him back on top of her, barely giving him enough time for a not very masculine "Eep!" that would not be forgotten anytime soon, and more than likely used against him.

By the time they got to the Christmas dinner, they'd missed anything Dumbledore had to say and gathered quite a few looks at their disheveled states. Rumors would surely spread, and because everyone knew of James Potter's conquest to get Lily Evans, James would hear about it as soon as he got back. Luckily, Lily had promised to take care of James. Sirius felt quite reassured by that.

THE END

I'm trying to get back into the hang of writing using this contest. Not the easiest thing, considering all the exams I've had recently. But let's see... studying for exams, or day-dreaming about the Marauders...? I know which one wins. In any case, this one took a while because of the nature. I shudder at the thought of this pairing normally, but it's sort of... grown on me. Mostly because I get to imagine the epic chase around the castle once James gets back and finds out. Still. Remus will be heartbroken. XD
Sorry if there are any spelling mistakes/grammar errors. As before mentioned, have tons of studying and homework to do, so don't have time to read over it more than once. If you spot any, just let me know and I'll fix it as soon as I get the opportunity. (And yes, I know the end got a bit silly, but I can't help it. I just can't imagine Sirius and Lily as more than a crack pairing.)
Happy... something day. I don't know. I like imagining everyday is a holiday. It makes me feel better.
Until next prompt!