AN: Big thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! That includes:
QueenKittieKat, Nikki Ride, ForTheGloryOfSparta, macaroni-art, EyeBright, Orange-Coyote, pixies114, Sidno, and HarryPotter4Evar.

Your feedback means so much to me & makes my day, so thank you, thank you! On with the story now? Enjoy :)


"Well." James started, "It is now 6:30 and we still have not gone down to eat dinner. So, shall we?" He extended his arm for Lily to take, but she ran past him. "Hey! Where are you going?" He called after her desperately.

"I don't know!" She called back, running out of the common room. James looked at his friends who shrugged in response. James ran/walked out of the common room, and looked around. "Lily?" He called. No answer. "Oi, Lily!" He called, louder now. Still no answer came.

He decided to turn left, figuring she was just running down to the Great Hall. He kept on walking, looking right and left, occasionally calling her name out when...

"BOO!" She jumped out of nowhere.

James cursed loudly, whipping out his wand and jumping 5 feet in the air. Lily roared with laughter, leaning on the wall for support. James' heart beat madly in his chest, as he let out a relieved but exasperated sigh, sticking his wand back in his pocket.

"Don't ever do that again." He scolded her.

"Sorry Mum." She said cheekily.

"I mean, here I am, searching the whole bloody school for you...!"

"'Whole bloody school' my arse. More like: you walked down a couple of corridors." She rolled her eyes.

"Alright. We'll see next time if you think I'm in trouble, how you react."

"Yeah. We'll see." She repeated, chuckling.

They walked in silence to the Great Hall. It wasn't akward in the least though. A comfortable silence.

"Can you believe we've only been dating six months?" She asked.

"Half a year." He answered, sighing. "Feels like longer doesn't it?"

"In some ways... But in other ways, it feels too short. I don't want to leave Hogwarts, ever. Right now the teachers are stressing about NEWTs, and everyone seems to be forgetting—"

"That we're graduating in June." James finished painfully. "I know."

"What's going to happen to me? What's going to happen to us?" She wondered.

"We'll stay together." He put his arm around her waist.

She smiled. "You mean that?"

He frowned. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know. I just feel so confused all the sudden about my life. What am I without Hogwarts?"

"You're my girlfriend." He answered on cue. "And soon, hopefully, my fiancée."

"Well see, there's another thing." She said. "When will we get married? I want to, of course, but how? When? Where?" She fretted.

James chuckled. "I thought brides weren't supposed to get stressed until they actually started planning the wedding."

"Oh don't be silly James, a girl starts planning her wedding the second she knows what a wedding is."

James laughed. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of." He said. "Alright, what's your wedding day look like then?"

"I don't know, that's the problem!" She laughed. "But it involves a handsome man by the name of Potter, that's one thing I'm certain of."

"You know, I think I've heard of this 'Potter' guy before." He joked. "And we've got loads of time to figure it all out." He reassured her.

"But what if we don't James? We only have four months left of school for God's sake. We've got to stop thinking we've got so much time, when in reality, we don't. That's how people screw up, big time." She stopped walking, looking him in the eyes. "I don't want to be one of those people." She was on the verge of crying for some reason.

"Lil, calm down." James said calmly, sweeping her into a hug. "We've got so much time. We're not going to die tomorrow after all." He chuckled, and she giggled into his chest. "And I'll always love you." He finished. "We've got all the time in the world."

"You mean it?" She said, arms wrapped tightly around him.

"Of course." He kissed the top of her head gently.

"Oh, and James?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, by the way."


"Okay, so who declared war against the goblins and in what year?"

"Remus Lupin in 1989." Jane replied tartly.

"Wow. Perfect answer Ms. Elizabeth." Remus said sarcastically.

"Thank you, I studied very hard." She play-bickered, sticking out her tongue at him.

"You do know you're going to fail the NEWTs right?" Remus asked her.

"You're kind of a pessimist today, aren't you?" She teased him, reaching over to ruffle his already messy hair.

He tried and failed to swat her hand away, chuckling. "I prefer the word realist."

"You know what I think I am?" She asked him. He waited. "An opportunistic." She paused. "And I see an opportunity to spend this beautifully chilly day with my boyfriend." She took his chin in her hand and turned his head so he could look out the window with her. "You see that opportunity?" She pointed at the white flakes that fell ever so gently to cover the grounds of Hogwarts.

"Oh yeah." He laughed. "It's right beside the failed NEWT test."

She had to laugh at that. "Oh c'mon Remus. We've got ages until June."

"Famous last words." He told her seriously. Her hand still holding his chin, she leaned forward and kissed him passionately. He was taken aback by this, but responded with just as much enthusiasm.

"What was that for?" He grinned as she pulled back.

She shrugged. "I just felt like it."

"Well by all means, feel like it more!" He said. They both grinned like little kids at each other, then Jane glanced out the window. She sighed dramatically.

"Alright, fine." Remus said suddenly, slamming his book shut. "But you'll have this on your conscience once I fail all my exams."

"Oh thank you Remus!" She cheered, throwing her arms around his neck. "You won't regret this!" She gasped suddenly. "We should have a snowball fight!"

He grinned. "With James, Lil, Peter and Sirius?"

"And Marlene if she wants to!" Jane smiled. "Let's go!"


The six friends joined outside, bundled up so as not to get cold. The snow had stopped falling, but it had covered the ground thickly. All around them were other students making snowmen, snowflakes, or just running around in the snow. They had chosen an area close to the Forbidden Forest, far away from anyone else, so their snowballs wouldn't hurt anyone else.

"Where's Wormtail?" Sirius asked. "Not still sick is he?"

James nodded. "Poor guy. He's been down in the Hospital Wing since the beginning of February. Hopefully he gets better soon."

While they all talked, Marlene was forming a plan. Shawn was beginning to feel sick as well, so he had politely declined in taking part of their outdoor activity. I would only make him sicker, and Marlene didn't want to risk that.

"You go." He said, smiling. "Might as well have some fun."

She had kissed him on the forehead and had gone to join her friends. But now... she saw Sirius rubbing his hands together and couldn't resist. She slowly picked up a handful of snow and formed it into a perfect ball, walking to him quietly. His back to her, he didn't see her approaching, but boy would he see her soon.

She bit her lip, trying to figure out how to do this the best way. An idea formed in her head and she grinned. Perfect.

"Guess who?" She whispered into his ear, covering his eyes with her one-gloved hand.

"Hey Mar." She could hear him smiling. "What's this all abou-OOOOH!" He cried as she shoved the snowball down his back. She covered her mouth so as not to burst out into laughter but couldn't help herself.

"Oh Merlin!" She laughed. He danced around, trying to shake the freezing cold snow from his back. She cringed as she watched him, almost feeling his cold. He dropped onto the ground and withered around like a worm. She turned from his to face her friends, who were all laughing as well.

As their eyes widened in horror and amusement, she realized what was coming next. A second too late, she realized, that is.

The scream that came from her mouth was not human as she felt the cold, cold, ice fall down her bare back. Her spine contorted and she saw from the corner of her eye Sirius rolling in the snow, laughing. She bent down, shivering, and picked up a snowball. She whipped it at him, hitting him right in the head. He stopped laughing immediately, then threw one back at her, only at her thigh. She laughed.

"Careful not to hurt me?" She teased throwing one back in his face.

"Girls are fragile." He called back, throwing one again near her legs. For some reason this comment surprised her, as she had never really realized how thoughtful Sirius was. Sure, he could be a thoughtless jerk every now and then, but for the most part, he was observant of his surroundings and was careful to treat people the way they should be treated. She was sure if that she were James right now he would've whipped one right back in her face. She grinned at him, and he grinned right back, grey-blue eyes twinkling.

And soon there were snowballs everywhere. Lily and James had teamed up against Remus and Jane, and over a silent agreement, Sirius and Marlene had soon turned into a team. The three pairs battled against each other for what seemed like minutes, but soon enough, the sun was setting, and they were all out of breath, and soaked through and through.

"H-how about a time-out?" Jane asked, breathless.

They all agreed, and went to sit by their tree. As they watched the sun set over the Black Lake, Sirius turned to see James and Lily kissing. He rolled his eyes at them, only to see that Jane and Remus were also kissing. He glanced over to Marlene, who seemed oblivious to their awkward surroundings.

"Hey." He said, scooping up some snow and tossing it into her lap. She broke out of her daze and smiled at him.

"Time's really gone by fast hasn't it?" She said softly.

"Merlin, you can say that again." Sirius sighed, leaning back against the tree. He put his hands behind his head and sighed again. She leaned back against his arm, and he subconsciously wrapped it around her shoulders. She moved closer to his body, shivering.

"We don't talk enough anymore." She said sadly.

"I know." He sighed. "I thought you didn't mind though. I mean, you've got Shawn and his friends..."

"They can never replace the Marauders though." Marlene interrupted him, grinning.

Sirius grinned back. "Glad to hear it. I was worried you were drifting."

"Me?" She said, mock-shocked. "Never."

"Good." He said, pulling her closer to him. "I thought I'd lost my Mars Bar for a second there."

"You'll never lose your Mars Bar." She told him. "It'll take You-Know-Who and his followers to take me away."

He smiled at her, and she smiled back, dark brown eyes looking deep into his.

"I missed you Sirius." She told him. "I'm glad I came to this snowball fight."

"Yeah... Me too."


AN: Soo, sort of a filler chapter, but let me know what you thought nonetheless! I mainly wrote this to show you all just how far along we are in the year. It's the end of February right now (in the story), meaning they only have FOUR MONTHS LEFT OF SCHOOL.
This chapter is kind of personal because I'll be graduating next year and going to high school and although I know it's a small transition, I'm still shocked by how fast this year's gone by. Tell me about how you guys are feeling! Are you looking forward to school ending, or are you wondering where all the time went, like me?
Thanks for reading by the way. Hope you enjoyed it!

-Taylor :)