Summary: Over Christmas break, the Gryffindor Common Room is rather empty, leaving only a handful for the month long span. What are these select few to do? What began as a simple game to take their minds off of boredom became something that their break revolved around, and made it something to remember.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter. I wish I did, oh, how I wish I did. Hotties galore.

DISCLAIMER 2: This story comes partly from a story in progress by my dear friend Sami, or as you know her, Fallen Mystery. She has given me permission to use her character Sinch and other allusions I have made to her story. In return, she has permission to use certain events mentioned in here to use in her original Fanfiction masterpiece called I'm Up to No Good. Do not report either story because there is permission, both written and verbal. Thank you. She also partially owns Brigit, Brandi, and Dove. Jackson and Damian, however, are completely mine! 

Sorry for the long Disclaimers, I just wanted to make it clear that Fallen Mystery did in fact give me permission to use portions from her story, because this is becoming my baby. Also, any new chapters from her were posted by me…she will explain in her stories….but not that you care, so here we go with my new baby!

Chapter 1: The Beginning to the Fun

As Lily Evans walked into the nearly deserted Common Room, only nine of her fellow Gryffindors remained for this Christmas Holiday. She looked over by the fire and found four of the five Gryffindor guys in her year, the Marauders, who were probably planning some back-to-term prank for the unfortunate Slytherins. Lily almost pitied the poor things, the Slytherins that is. In the corner nearest the stair cases, sat the other four girls left, Hestia Jones, Brandi Wiskie, Dove White, and Brigit Riddle. Brigit swears on her life that there is no relation between her and that murderous prick who calls himself "Lord Voldemort", but she has a rather, oh, sadistic, almost Slytherin-like quality to her. Dove White, younger distant cousin to Sinch White, was a year younger than Lily, Hestia a year older, while Brigit and Brandi were two of Lily's closest friends. Sinch, the fifth boy in her year, who was currently busying himself by writing a letter rather fervently, more then likely to his twin sister, who was currently in intensive care at St. Mungo's due to a rather "fiery" accident, sat at a table nearest the portrait, where Lily was currently standing.

"Well, isn't this a lively bunch of people?" Lily muttered sarcastically to herself. Turning her attention to Sinch, who was wrestling with a jet black owl whom he affectionately called "Voldey" because, as Sinch put it "that bird is pure evil, dammit! EVIL!" though the bird perfectly pleasant to everyone else…Anyway, turning her attention to Sinch, Lily said "Hey, Sinch, whaddaya say to a game?" Seeing him nod with interest, she continued. "You see, we get everyone in the Common Room, right now" She raised her voice slightly to get everyone's attention, "and we with one person telling a story. Every few lines, the person will select another person to continue. Rather simple, rather amusing, and it sure as hell beats whatever you were doing!"

Sinch was oddly excited about this idea. "Well, any game sounds like fun at this point…"

"Yeah, um, sure" was the muttered consensus from six of the remaining eight, as the bolder two Marauders had mischievous grins on their faces.

"Okay, if we're going to do this right, we need food!" James and Sirius said simultaneously, and dashed out of the Common Room, nearly knocking Lily over in the process.

"Right," Lily said, regaining her balance and composure, "Hestia, can you charm a quill to accurately take down every word that is said for the story? I don't know about you guys, but I think this could turn out to be rather interesting…and possibly used as blackmail later." Seeing the shocked looks on all the remaining Gryffindors', excluding Brigit, faces, she quickly added, "I was only kidding!" and gave a slight chuckle as Brigit's face fell.

With a wave of her wand, Lily stacked all the tables and chairs in a corner, leaving a vast expanse for their "game" with room to lie out or whatever they wanted, so long as they were all in a circle that is. Surveying the space, she waved her wand another time, filling the area with pillows, getting her an odd look from Sinch. "What?" she asked innocently, "We could be here a while…and it's more comfy…" That got her a laugh.

About five minutes later, James and Sirius were back with more food than 10 normal people could possibly eat, along with a substantial amount of Butterbeer, and even a bottle of Firewhiskey, everyone plopped down in a circle, charmed quill in the center with five feet of parchment under it, Lily started.

"Well, as in all good stories, it shall be fantasy. You must try to keep quiet! You will have a completely random amount of time to tell you're part of the story, and it must go off of what has already been said. My wand will be the timer, and the turn indicator. When it points to you, start, and when it moves, stop. I'd say it's rather simple! So, who wants to start? Hestia? Okay. Whenever you're ready, turn on the quill, and we'll start. Oh, and the quill will only write what is said by the person the wand is pointing to, clever trick, no?"

"Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away – " Hestia began, only to be cut off by James.

"You call that the beginning of a story! Why, that's a right terrible way to start off a story!"

"Shut up, Jamie boy," Brigit snapped at him, laughing as he cringed at the name, "It's Hessie's turn!" Turning to Hestia, "Please continue."

"Once upon a time in a far away kingdom there once, oh drat!" She cried as the wand pointed to the person on her left.

"Was a wolfishly handsome man who roamed the land," Remus added, ignoring the smirks he was receiving from no less than half of the people in the circle, "looking for something. What this something was," and the wand turned again to the left.

"Was a name to call his own." Continued Dove, her mind becoming a whirlwind of fluff. "This man's name? Damian."

"You don't mean that dumbass Hufflepuff, do you? Please, Merlin, tell me you don't mean that wanker!" Cried Snitch in a way that one would be led to believe that there had been some hostility between the two. Not to say that there wasn't, but that's another story entirely.

"For your information, he is not a wanker, yes, it is that Hufflepuff, and he is gorgeous!" Dove huffed back. "Stupid over-protective cousins. Anyway, so this devilishly handsome man, Damian was not only looking to make a name for himself, but someone to share the name with. He wanted a girl who was kind of small, feisty, and could keep him grounded, but support him in everything he did, and possibly help if need be – "

"For the love of God, tell me you did not just describe yourself!" James said suddenly, looking as if he was about to lose half the food he'd already consumed.

"So what if I was?" Dove said agitatedly. How she hated to be on the defensive, but then again, she had an older cousin and multiple male friends who would prefer it if she never even looked at a guy in that way. Rolling her eyes, she continued. "The girl just happened to be named – HORSESHIT!" The wand had moved to Brigit.

"Brigit. The girl's name was Brigit. " Everyone glared at the girl, so appropriately named, " She was gorgeous on top of it all, with a fiery temper to go along with her fiery looks."

"You did not just say that!" Lily burst out, "Please tell me you didn't just say that!"

"Read it and weep Lily dear!" Sinch said sarcastically.

"Shut up!"

"It was your idea in the first place…"

"Shut up!" Lily tried once more, pouting slightly. Sinch just laughed.

"Back to me now, even though she was gorgeous, there was something that no one could, or would ever know about her."

With this, the wand turned, yet again.

"She had lesbian tendencies from time to time, even though she was completely wild in bed." That got Sirius, yes, Sirius, multiple glares, and even a well executed hit from his current "friend" Brigit. "Sorry love, but had to keep in interesting, and couldn't say anything like they were a –" This next comment was stopped by about seven different food stuffs flying towards him. Just as surprisingly, not a single food item hit the ground…

"Wha? I wahdint gua ay aying!" Sirius struggled to say, forcing the rest down his throut.

"Sorry, mate, what was that?" A laughing Sinch asked, innocently.

"Never mind. Now, Brigit, while very, very hott, and awesome in bed, sorry again love, I know, just between us, ow! But anyway, any man that wanted to have her needed to be very," He paused for a second, as if choosing his words very, very carefully. "Well endowed, and OW!"

"Knew we shouldn't have gotten our hopes up!" muttered a very sarcastic Brandi, who had been otherwise silent this whole time. "Come on Sirius! Stop talking about sex and get back to the story!"

"There's a story besides sex?" James said, coming to the 'rescue' of Sirius, only managing to get hit by Lily, and a pumpkin pasty thrown at him by Brandi.

"Yes there is a story besides sex in this story! I mean, some of us can actually get our mind away from food and sex during the regular day!" Lily said, almost amused at her boyfriends behavior.

"Guess you were just talking about you, Brandi, Hestia, Remus and Peter, huh?" joked Dove, getting a licorice wand to the face. "What is it with you people and throwing food!"

"I'm not sure, but is it really that bad?" added Sirius, in all seriousness. (A/N – I'm sorry! But I couldn't think of any other word!)

"Finally! The wand has turned!" exclaimed Lily as the wand directed itself at her. "Now, it's not that he had to be 'well endowed' in the usual understanding, but he had to almost have gay like tendencies, you know, the common, clichéd, stereotypical things that most guys feign, sensitivity, understanding, fun to be around," turning toward Sirius, "and is looking for more from her than just sex."

"Hey, Lily, not to be rude or anything, but what happened to the 'wolfishly handsome man'? Damian I think we called him." Asked Brandi simply.

"Oh, right, him. Damian Aaven Marlion."

"D.A.M. I like it." Sinch said matter o' factly.

"Daaaamn is right." A very dazed Dove said, slipping into a daydream.

"Anyway, Damian too had a secret quality to him that few new about. He was a shape shifter. No one ever knew what form they would see him in, and that made his enemies fear him all the more."

"He had enemies?" squeaked Peter, as if getting afraid at the thought.

"Oh my poor baby!" Wailed Dove.

"Yes, he had enemies, again, more than sex to this story people! Anyway, his enemies were ever suspicious of how and when they'd next meet up with him, and his allies, though few and far between, could do little to match his stealth."

"There were only three known shape shifters in the history of the world. He was the only living one now. The other two had been his mother, and his sister. His story was a sad one really, and this is why he travels. His father, sadly enough, was one of the people he was out to destroy. " James continued, surprisingly smoothly, and without interruption, much to the delight of many. As the wand turned, James was rewarded by a kiss from his dear Lily, as she moved even closer, as if that were possible, to her love.

"Get a room you two!" cried Sinch, moving slightly closer to Brandi, and began his portion of the story. "His 'father' had raped his mother in an attempt to get a shape shifting child who would be completely under his control. Oh what beauty the gods would bestow upon his kingdom if he controlled the only three shape shifters of the known world? Upon his and his sister's birth, the father, King of Aliepia (pronounced like Olympia, only the 'y' carries more of a heavy 'e' sound)"

"Is she doing okay?"

"Yeah, she should be back by the start of term, if not within a few days." Pausing for just a second, to give a Marauder's respect to a fellow Marauder, the wand, yet again turned.

"When the mother gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, believed to be the worst luck possible, the king killed the girl child once he was sure that one, or both had the shape shifting ability, which doesn't appear until age seven. Three days after their seventh birthday, the king ordered the mother, who had given birth to such an evil omen, and the sister because what better to have then a shape shifting male, to be killed. Damian had no choice but to run. What child could bear to be in the care of a man that had the only family that cared about who he was instead of what he was?"

"At age seven, Damian ran away from Aliepia to find someone, anyone who didn't know about him, or care that he was special, to hide out with." With the end of Peter's turn, the wand dropped.

Lily looked outside to see that the snow crested grounds glistening with the setting sun, and the new fallen powder. "Anyone up to a snowball fight?" Lily asked the rest, with a brilliant gleam in her eye.

"What about the story?" Dove, Hestia, and Remus chorused.

"Well, it's only the third day of break, and I'd say that gives us another three weeks before term. I think we can take this up tomorrow. I mean, how many days like this can you have?"

"Not many, so why stop?" Brandi said.

"That's not what I meant. Look outside. Ever seen better weather for a snowball fight?" Seeing the consensus of nods, she continued. "I say we work on our, er, masterpiece more tomorrow and take now to go enjoy the perfect weather!"

"Alright, let's start teams!" Said Brigit, jumping up, nearly smacking Sirius in a very tender spot.

"If it's all the same to you guys, I'd like to go write to Jackson, I haven't written since he left." Hestia said softly.

"Okay, Hessie, go write your beloved Ravenclaw, the rest of us will go outside!"

Leaving the Common Room as-is seeing as they were the only Griffies living in it, the remaining nine bundled up, grabbing forgotten cloaks and shoes, and running down to the tree by the lake to set up their fight.

"Wait! Now there're only nine of us! That's not fair!" Dove said pouting. She always ended up on the raw end of these uneven teams.

"Oh, good point." Muttered Brandi. "Okay, I've got it! Sirius and James are on opposite teams, yeah, go stand on opposite ends of the tree, Brigit, you go with Sirius, Lily, you with James." Pausing to think for a minute, she had the remaining four line up. "Okay, so we have Remus, Peter, Dove, Sinch, and myself. Hmm. The extra one will be Peter, sorry Pete, because even then people are evenly matched. Sinch, baby, I'm sorry, but choose Sirius or James, I'll go to the other team." Watching Sinch walk over to James's team ("Sorry Sirius!") Brandi walked over to Sirius's team.

"Hey! What about us?" Cried Dove, "What about the three of us?" Getting nothing but an apologetic look from Brandi, Sinch continued for her.

"Well, Dove, you and Remus are pretty good, so where do you want to go?"

"I sure as hell don't want to be on the receiving end of Bridge's aim, so I'll go over there."

"Okay, Remus, looks like you're over here, and, er, Peter? Pick a team." Sinch watched as Peter walked over to the side with his cousin and girlfriend, the teams were set.

Ten minutes later, forts and bunkers were built, stocks set up for emergency ambush, the two teams met in the center…aka, the tree.

It was James's turn to take over. "I assume we all know the rules? Well, just incase, here they are. Very similar to the muggle pastime of paintball, the two opposing teams, scarlet and gold, fire at each other using nothing but snowballs. That means no rocks, no frozen rocks in the snow balls no spells etc. When you're hit, the opposing colour teams' sparks will fly over your head, and you will have to come back to this spot. When another person from your team comes back to this spot, because they were hit, you may go back; only two at a time, no more. You may go anywhere between the lake and the school, the Pitch and the Forest. Wands may not be used to block, only to conjure shelter. Clear? Good, at the sound of a whistle, in about three more minutes, have at it!"

James's team, gold, went back to their side, the side closet to the Forest, adding a few more bunkers here and there, and a few more stocks of snow balls as they waited for the whistle to blow. Everything was quiet as a combat like attitude swept the four.

Sirius's team, though very much the same, had a more arrogant air to them. Sirius and Brigit, both on the House Team as Chasers, had quite an arm on them. Even though James and Sinch were too, James was a Seeker, not a Chaser, so he didn't have as good of an arm. The only true threat on the other team was Sinch, the better Chaser of the three. Brandi too had a good arm, and Dove had grown up around these snowball fights, so she could hold her own. No one really paid much attention to Peter, so he wouldn't be too much of a worry to either side.

Putting the final touches on the forts and bunkers, each side froze for a second as the whistle sounded. Friendships aside now, the fight was about to begin. What a great night it would be.