"Lily, make it stop!"

Lily rolled over, bringing her pillow and placing it over her head. Whoever was at the door didn't know when to stop. They kept knocking and knocking, sometimes in the tune of God Rest Your Merry Hippogriffs.

After two continuous minutes of knocking, Lily finally scrambled out of her covers and threw her pillow down on the floor.

The mystery knocker was going to get cursed if they didn't have a good reason for interrupting Lily Evans's sleep. It was two in the morning! Who was up at that time?

Running her hand through her hair, Lily flung open the door and gaped at who was standing in the door frame.

"There's a charm on the staircase," she said stupidly, pointing behind him.

He only grinned at her. "You said you wanted to join in on the festivities."

Lily blinked, once and then twice. "Now?" she emphasized. It was the middle of the night! They had school the next morning. There wasn't time for trips around the castle.

James nodded. "You might want to bring your pillow." Lily turned around, eying the pillow on the floor. The question was on the tip of her tongue, but she decided not to ask. She was just going to follow whatever they did. She was going to observe and watch all of the chaos.

They descended the staircase together. Lily couldn't help but wonder why the stairs beneath her weren't changing into a slide. Of course James Potter would find a way into the girls' dormitories. Probably learned it from Sirius.

"You look lovely," James commented, looking over at her ensemble.

Lily gave him a look. She knew he was trying to be funny, but she really didn't feel like talking about her pajama set. It wasn't anything fancy – just green flannel pant and shirt set. Her hair had to look awful though; she tried to comb through it with her fingers but failed.

When she reached the bottom step, her eyes widened at the sigh before her.

It was a fortress. And not just any regular fortress, but one made of pillows. There must have been hundreds of pillows piled up in the middle of the common room, stacked against each other to form walls.

She could tell that there wasn't any magic involved. Just numerous pillows creating the biggest pillow fort she'd ever seen.

When they were children, Lily used to make forts out of pillows with Petunia, having contests to see who could finish their side first. Lily always won and she never understood. Her pillows would stand upright even when Petunia's would fall down. Petunia would cry and call Lily a cheater and Lily would immediately feel guilty even though she didn't understand.

Lily yawned, walking around the outside of the fort, peering in the cracks to see Remus, Sirius, and Peter working in the inside.

She turned around to ask James a question and found him right behind her. Slightly startled, it took her awhile to finally say, "Whose idea was this?"

James took the pillow from her hands and walked around to the front. "Peter's. He really loves pillows, I guess." Stopping in the front entrance, James cupped his hands around his mouth and said, "Incoming!" Lily's pillow was thrown inside.

Lily ducked and walked inside, trying to count the number of pillows. Forty, sixty, eighty...it was never ending.

"Heads up!" A pillow hit her hand, and she quickly turned in the direction it came from. Sirius was staring back at her with a grin. "Hey Evans! Glad to see you this early morning! You look smashing, my dear."

Lily scoffed, trying to hide her amused smile. "Why are you building a fort at this time anyway?"

Sirius grabbed the pillow that he threw at Lily and placed it on top of a pile. "What better time is there? Nobody's down in the common room, no distractions, and it's just the Marauders – well, with the exception of you."

"Where's everyone else?"

Sirius pointed down one of the hallways. "Peter's down in the west wing. Remus was last seen traveling up the southeast wing into the east wing."

Lily shook her head. "You really went all out, didn't you?"

Sirius grinned. "Wouldn't be the Marauders if we didn't."

Lily made her way down one of the hallways which lead to the wall that was facing the boys' dormitories. She heard someone huffing and puffing and turned the corner to see Peter standing on his tiptoes and trying to place the pillow on a huge stack.

"Hey, Peter," Lily greeted him.

He turned around excitedly. "Isn't this the best idea ever?"

Lily waited to see if he was being serious before answering, "Yes, it's very creative."

Peter was practically bouncing on his toes as he turned back to the pillow stack, humming The Mandrake's Carol.

When she rounded the next corner, she saw James rushing up to her. "There you are..." He grabbed her arm and begin dragging her down the hallway.

"What are you-" Lily began.

He flashed her a grin. "We're celebrating with some hot chocolate."

Lily's interest was immediately piqued. Did he know that she had a weakness for hot chocolate? Was this some sort of elaborate prank? If the others were drinking it too, then it couldn't be a prank. They wouldn't pull a prank on her. She wasn't a Slytherin that deserved to have coal dropped on them.

Remus handed her a mug as soon as they exited the fortress. Lily eyed it cautiously, wondering if it was safe enough to drink.

"It's okay," Remus muttered. "I made it myself."

She didn't hesitate to take a sip of the chocolaty goodness. Perfect. Sitting down in front of the fire, she looked at the massive structure in front of her.

"You're all crazy," she said with a smile.

James sat next to her and gave her a friendly nudge. "You've got to admit – it's pretty amazing." Lily looked over at him and he broke out into a smile. "What?" she asked. Why would he looking at her with those amused eyes and struggling not to laugh?

James tilted his head at her and said, softly, "You have...here..." He leaned forward and she quirked an eyebrow at him. He took his thumb and gently wiped something off of her nose. "Hot chocolate," he explained, noticing the confused look on Lily's face.

He smiled, barely a couple centimeters away from her.

"Thanks," Lily said softly.

James's smile turned into a grin. "No problem."

Lily quickly turned away and looked back at the fortress. "So, how long is it going to take to take this down?"

James laughed. "Take it down? Who said anything about taking it down?"

Peter added, "Everyone has to find their way to the portrait hole tomorrow morning. It's the second part of the Pillow Fortress of Doom."

Lily made a sound of disbelief. "And this is your idea of holiday cheer?"

Remus shrugged. "It's the Marauders' way."

James nudged me again and Lily turned to look at him. He leaned forward and whispered, "A little mischief, a lot of trouble..." He laughed, his face so close that she could feel his breath and then emphasized, "...and all fun."