A/N: This was for the awesome Jily Secret Santa project on tumblr, written for the lovely silverandcrimson :) Hope you enjoy some winter Jily! - Sie

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter yadayada

James Potter had never been in a snowball fight before. He had no siblings and most of his cousins were past that age gap where at a time when he was a child and should have been playing in the snow, they were much wiser and wanted to stay inside. It never really bothered James. Physical violence didn't suit him and he never got past the fact that you could just enchant snowballs to throw themselves – and where's the fun in that?

So when he was sixteen and Lily Evans threw a snowball at him, it was a complete shock for more reasons than she had anticipated.

It was the last Hogsmeade trip before Christmas. Sirius was currently attempting to win over a fifth year Ravenclaw, Remus was out of commission due to a poorly timed lunar cycle, and Peter was off buying a Christmas present for his mother.

"Are you sure you don't want to stick around, Prongs? I reckon her friends will be showing up soon and if they're anything like she is, they'll be easy to impress." Sirius' eyes lit up as he leaned out of the doorway of The Three Broomsticks. "All you'll have to do is talk about Quidditch and you could probably have your pick. After I choose my second and third, that is." He winked and nudged James with his elbow.

"I think I'm alright, mate," James said.

"You sure?"

"I think I'll take a walk for a bit. Maybe head over to the Shrieking Shack and check out the damage, yeah?"

"In that case, be careful. I hear that place is haunted," Sirius joked.

An angry female voice erupted from inside the tavern, causing the birds, who had been asleep just above the doorframe, to awaken with fright and fly off, screeching back at the voice almost just as loudly.

"Oi! I'm not keeping this fire to warm the outside! In or out, but shut the damn door!" Madam Rosmerta called from inside.

Sirius looked over his shoulder, then back at James. "Right, then. See you at dinner later."

The heavy wooden door closed between them.

James glanced toward town. He supposed that he could, theoretically, finish his Christmas shopping. He had bought a nice scarf, hand-knitted by house elves, for his mother a few weeks prior, but was still stuck on a gift for his father. But there would be time for Christmas shopping still and this was his last Hogsmeade trip before leaving for vacation. Surely he should spend it having fun, especially if that last meager bit of shopping could be put off for later. With that as his last thought, he turned away from Hogsmeade and headed up the long path toward the Shrieking Shack.

The snow crunched beneath his feet. It had been a fairly warm winter and this early December snow was fresh. James didn't drag his feet; he lifted each foot just enough that it barely brushed over the snow before crashing down into a distinct boot print. The wind rushed past him, the only other sound ringing in his ears. He pulled his hat down lower over his head and the sound stopped.

He barely heard the shout from behind him. He turned his head and was met with a face full of snow. A flurry of red hair flew out from behind a group of trees lining the path.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Lily Evans stumbled (whether over the slick snow or her own feet was to be anyone's guess) toward him, her scarf trailing behind her, and a hand clasped firmly on the top of her head to hold her hat in place. She was talking as fast as she was moving. "Did I hurt you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," James said. He wiped his face with his gloves, and ran them quickly over the rest of his face. Everything seemed to be in order. "I'm fine," he repeated. "Just a little shocked, is all. Shocked and a little wet, maybe."

"Are you sure?" she asked breathlessly.

"I'm sure. I'm good, really."

"Oh, well, okay." Lily tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'm really sorry, I thought you were someone else."

"Do you have a habit of chucking snow at people you know?" James asked playfully.

"Mary and I were having a snowball fight and I was hiding and…"

"…and I look so much like Mary Macdonald."

"No, it wasn't that!"

"You sure? I've been trying to get my hair to do that wave thing that hers does, but I can never make it part in the middle correctly."

Lily bit her lip."To be fair, I don't think your hair would behave enough to do much of anything."

James lifted the corner of his mouth into a grin. "You've been thinking about my hair, Evans?"

"No!" Lily's green eyes met his and her cheeks turned rosy. She shoved him and the unexpected contact caused James to lose his footing and he slipped for a second. In that same moment, a snowball flew in between the two, where James' head had been moments before.

"What in the name of Merlin–" said James, looking toward the source of the snowball and finding nothing. The next thing he knew, Lily tackled him and the two were on the ground.

"Duck!" Lily yelled at him, as more snowballs started flying at the two of them.

"What's going on?" James asked. "Where are these coming from?"

"Mary, probably. And she's got an excellent hiding spot behind that embankment." Lily searched James' face. "And what do you mean 'What's going on?' It's a snowball fight!"

James' face remained blank. Lily gathered up some snow and packed it into a tight ball, about the size of a bludger, and pressed it into James' open palm.

"Here."

James held it with one hand curiously, waiting for the next instruction.

"Wait," Lily whispered, packing her own snowball. "Just wait."

A second passed, and then James saw a small mound of brown hair over the embankment.

"There," he whispered back to Lily.

Mary stopped moving. Lily didn't waste any time. "Fire!" she yelled back to James.

He threw the snowball as hard as he could and it made contact with the top of Mary Macdonald's head, crashing down mere second after and exactly on top of Lily's.

"Yes!" Lily shouted, and she looked at James. He raised his snow-covered glove and the two high-fived. "Nice one, James!"

"First one ever, actually," he admitted, running a hand through his dark hair. Lily met him with wide eyes and an expression of pure astonishment. Her cheeks were still rosy, probably from the excitement of the snowball fight, rather than the embarrassment of earlier. James thought the color suited her. Her pink cheeks against her pale skin and her red hair with bit of white snow mixed into it – winter suited Lily Evans. Without thinking, James leaned his face in toward hers.

A snowball crashed into Lily's face and then James'. A fresh round was coming at them, and quickly. Lily grabbed James' hand and pulled him toward the trees.

"Well, I hope you're a fast learner, Potter!"