A/N So, the sad thing is that my co-author and I have been sitting on this for about a year or more, but kept forgetting to post it. As always, apologies for the long delay, but at least we haven't (and won't) given up!

Chapter 8: The Fight

James POV

I chuckled to myself as Lily tripped coming down the carriage. She stuck her chin high up in the air, her face turning redder than her hair, pretending to ignore everyone as she and Anna walked haughtily away.

"Clumsy Evans." Sirius shook his head, then glanced at me. "What do you say? Zonko's run?"

"You bet!" Peter squealed with girlish delight.

Sirius howled with laughter. "Wormy, I swear. Your voice gets higher every year. Pretty soon you're going to be a rat full time, if you continue to squeak like that."

"I am not!" Peter said, outraged, trying to make his voice deeper and failing miserably. We all laughed some more.

"Race you!" I challenged, and we all took off as fast as we could, kicking snow up behind us. Sirius and I pulled ahead, naturally. Peter, with all his rat-like charm, dodged fellow students with an ease you had to admire. Even Remus was keeping up well, despite his daily weakening state. It was only a half moon, but soon he'd have to make his monthly excuses and retreat to the Hospital Wing. But for now, he was still normal Remus, if a bit pale.

I was leading as we reached the final stretch, but Sirius pulled ahead out of nowhere and touched the door to the joke shop first. I slid to a stop and bent over to catch my breath. The cold, dry air was murder on my throat, but I felt so alive.

"Not fair!" Peter cried as he stumbled beside us. "You have longer legs than I do."

"It's your stubby rat legs," Remus said, calmly jogging up behind us. "If you had been a larger mammal..."

"I wish I was the stag," Peter whined, pouting.

"Be grateful you're not a turtle," Sirius said.

"I actually like turtles," I said fairly. "They're sort of majestic, when you see them. They hold their heads high, carry their homes on their back, stubbornly stand their ground... Much better than rats," I added with a smile.

The snowball hit me before I even realized Peter had one.

It all escalated rapidly from there, progressing into a full-blown fight before passersby had the chance to run away. Snowballs flew left and right, as we ducked behind snow banks, store displays, random people and each other. Before long we had already amassed enough bruises to last us the rest of holiday, and the fight wasn't over yet.

In short, it was a blast.

It was a completely fair fight, in that we each ganged up on each other, the alliances shifting after every good shot. We'd been practicing these fights since first year; there was no one here better. And no one had more fun.

We had spread out a good deal, a few of the braver students stepping in to test their mettle, getting in the way of our formations, like an elephant blundering into a ballet. Needless to say, they got their share of target time, and most walked out within a minute, dripping wet but with bright smiles plastered on their faces.

Oh, the Marauders. We know how to have fun. Everyone else knows it too.

Including Lily. Otherwise why would she and Anna be walking directly into the fray? Most people knew to avoid a Marauder melee unless they knew what they were getting themselves into. They were still halfway down the road, but they walked right down the center of it, straight towards us. My heart swelled, and my toss at Sirius went way off. Lily had to know that I was her partner. I'd hinted about it so heavily, there couldn't be a doubt in her mind that she knew I knew. But surely she knew it was me. I mean, I called her Flower! My LilyFlower...

Wham! I reeled backwards from the hit, unable to keep from laughing. "Good one guys," I said, rubbing the snow out of my eyes. "Taking advantage of a man while he's distracted."

"I can't see that as anything but your own fault," Remus shrugged, lobbing another snowball at me. I easily dodged it, still getting the last of the ice off my face.

Sirius balanced on one foot, juggling three snowballs in front of his face. "Moony's got a point. You didn't have to look." He tossed the snow higher and higher up.

"What's a bloke supposed to do? Look away?"

"No distractions, Prongs!" Peter shouted, throwing snowballs rapid-fire at each of us, never slowing down. The kid had great aim, but he pulled this trick out every fight. We were ready for him.

Sirius pegged Peter in the head in quick succession with his three snowballs, then tackled him bodily. Remus slipped on some ice in his haste to pile on top, and staggered back to his feet, laughing raggedly before he half-leapt, half-fell on Sirius. I took out my wand and levitated the stockpile of snowballs sitting at my feet, and when all three of them extracted themselves from the bundle, I swished down, and the snowballs fell on top of each of them, each snowball finding a target. I bounced in place, pleased with this display. "Revenge!" I shouted at my weary friends, well aware that Lily was within listening distance. I wonder what she thought about my very impressive display of magic. I looked over at her. She stood with Anna, arms crossed over her chest. But she had a small smile on her face as she watched Peter and Remus emerge comically from a mound of snow while Sirius, who had somehow managed to escape the worst of it, dumped more snow on top of them. She was smiling. Lily smiled about something I had done!

It was a start. I could work with that.

I picked up some snow and packed it lightly together. "Wotcher, Lily!" I shouted, and as she turned my way the snowball hit her square in the chest.

She squealed as the snowball soaked into her robe. All action suspended in this weird silence as everyone stopped to watch Lily's reaction. I could feel my heart beating up somewhere near my throat, wondering if I'd overstepped things too much...

"Oh," she said scornfully, brushing the snow off her chest. I couldn't help watching her do so, and I felt proud of my aim. I waited with bated breath as she batted the snow away, and then bent down to create a snowball of her own. "It's on, Potter."

"Yes! Go Lily!" Sirius whooped. I would have cheered too, but Lily's snowball fell into my open mouth.

What can I say? The girl's good.

The fight only intensified from here. Anna joined in as well, and we had a right old time, dashing and jumping out of the way of flying frozen projectiles, and laughing whenever they made contact. A few other brave souls stood around to watch, most of them hit with a wayward toss every now and again. Remus dumped what felt like an avalanche down my robes.

"Hoo!" I swallowed the rest of the noises I was prepared to make, most of them girly enough to rival Peter's, and ran after Remus to get him back.

"Oh no you don't, Potter!" Lily slammed me twice in the back of my head, and when I turned around she pegged me on my shoulder. I immediately returned fire, and we began a furious fight of our own. As we circled and dove around each other, trying our hardest to knock each other to the ground, I noticed the space between us shrinking. I was also vaguely aware that the action around us had slowed down, as though everyone were watching us. We were bantering back and forth, being creatively witty and charming and, dare I say it? having a lot of fun. It was odd to think about, but highly uplifting, that Lily and I were actually connecting.

Ah, what bliss!

I cornered Lily next to the giant mound of snow where Sirius, Remus, and Peter had previously been half buried by my fantastic spell. She grabbed an armful of the snow and managed to compact it down to something the size of my head.

"Think before you throw, Evans." My words confused her, and she paused, the giant snowchunk raised over her head. "That's a fine piece of snow you've got there. It would be quite a shame to waste it, wouldn't you agree? I'm thinking it would be a nice topper to a snow statue, namely of me."

"It looks like Potter's head!" someone in the crowd shouted. The Marauders burst into laughter.

"Like looking into a mirror," I agreed.

Lily lowered the snow and studied it for a moment. "This looks nothing like you, Potter," she said at last. "In fact, I'd say it's more handsome."

The onlookers reacted with a loud "oh!" at the insult. My friends laughed even louder. I gave Lily my devilish grin, the one I know girls swoon to. She didn't react to it at all, merely stuck her tongue out and tried to lob the snow blob at me. It fell short by a few feet, and I just shrugged.

"Is that really the best you've got, Evans?" I packed some snow tightly together, and threw. She slid sideways to avoid it but didn't move fast enough, and I got her hard in the chest. She stumbled backwards, then slipped on a patch of ice and fell before I could run over and catch her.

I started to laugh, but stopped when I realized she wasn't getting up. "Lily? Are you okay?"

Oh no. What did I do?

~*~Lily's PoV~*~

Cold. So cold.

I used to think that snow was beautiful and inspiring. False. Snow is cold. And wet. But mostly cold which makes the wet part worse.

My fall had landed me in a snowbank that must have been about thirty feet deep, and let me tell you, I was severely regretting my decision to wear jeans. Thus far in the fight I'd managed to stay relatively dry, but even the most well-cast impervius charm would be no match for a snowbank of this colossal size.

Ok, so the snowdrift was probably closer to three feet deep, but that didn't change much.

I started to try to pull myself out of the monstrosity when my foot slipped on the same patch of ice and I ended up right when I started. Before I could make another attempt, my cozy snowbank suddenly became rather dark as a figure had situated himself in front of me, blocking my view of the rest of the world.

I blinked a few times to allow my eyes to adjust to the change in illumination and when I did I saw, as luck would have it, Potter.

"Lily, I'm so sorry. Are you ok?" he asked, acting genuinely concerned as he extended a hand to help me out.

I batted it aside. It was starting to hit me that the last couple of minutes must have looked rather friendly to an outside observer. After all of that, the absolute last thing I needed was for Anna to see me accept an extended hand from Potter. The hand-holding jokes would last until I was eighty-years-old.

"I'm fine, Potter," I said, more icily than I meant to. I wasn't mad, not really. Loathe though I may have been to admit it, the snowball fight had actually been one of the most exciting parts of the day and was only slightly marred by my predicament. Plus, it was obviously not his fault that my foot happened to be magnetically attracted to ice patches, but at the moment all I could think of was Anna's taunts.

"No, really, you keep slipping. Let me help." He extended his arm a second time, and for a second I actually considered grabbing it and accepting the offer.

It was a second too long, however, and before I knew what was happening I felt a sudden weight bear down on me as my snowdrift suddenly became way too crowded.

Snowdrifts were really not meant to hold two people. Although, I had to admit that I wasn't complaining about the increased warmth.

I heard Sirius letting out a whoop of delight and I realized what had happened. Sirius had decided to push James into my snowdrift.

On top of me. As in, fully in-contact, horizontal bodies. Oh Merlin.

And I was worried that Anna would taunt me for holding his hand.

As my new predicament set in, my mind was instantly in freak-out mode.

"What are you doing? Get off me!" I yelled, placing my hands forcefully on his chest and making a meager attempt to push him off of me. This had less than the desired effect, however, as I had managed nothing more than pushing Potter directly onto the patch of ice that started this dilemma in the first place.

As his weight covered me for a second time I found myself trying desperately not to realize that he smelled fantastic. All manly but not too cologne-y...

Luckily, or perhaps not, I was distracted from this thought by raucous laughter.

Funny? He found this funny?!

Oh. Wait, this is Potter. Of course he found this funny.

I fixed him with my best glare as he shifted slightly so as to lean on his elbow to look at me, laughter present in his eyes.

"Find this funny, do you?" I asked.

"Hmm. Yeah, a bit," he replied cheekily. I would have hexed him, but my wand was trapped in my robe, and I wasn't too keen on the manner in which I would need to move in order to reach it. Anyway, if I hadn't been too busy worrying about what everyone else must be thinking, I might have been able to find the humour in the situation as well.

"I see. And, uh, would you mind getting up?" I asked, knowing the answer before he gives it.

"Actually, I would mind that quite a lot," he replied seriously. "I'm quite comfortable, you see." And in fact, he did look perfectly content and at ease with the situation. As if he often found himself sharing a snowbank with another human in extraordinarily close proximity.

Bugger.

I noticed that he had chosen khakis over jeans, so Anna wasn't the only one who got the memo that snow and jeans don't mix well. I contemplated this as I attempted to inch to the side of the drift that didn't contain a Potter-sized being, but found that my leg was trapped under Potter's legs and the movement caused a minor avalanche of snow to fall on top of my person.

Bugger-and-a-half.

"Um. Please?" I asked meekly. It had not escaped my knowledge that the others were getting just about as much amusement out of my dilemma as Potter was. Sirius was high-fiving Peter while Anna and Remus smiled knowingly to themselves, occasionally speaking to one another and laughing. I had a distinct feeling that I wouldn't want to know what they were saying.

"What's in it for me?" He was getting way too much enjoyment out of this.

"If you get up, you get to walk away from here with your manly bits still intact."

"Thinking about my manly bits, Evans? I never knew you felt that way." I smacked his shoulder with my one free hand. My attempt did nothing to damper the delight in his eyes, however. I decided silence was the best tactic. He's bound to get bored eventually. Right? Or cold?

My plan worked better than expected. Within 30 seconds, I heard him let out a loud sigh.

"Fine, Evans, I'll let you up..." His pause at the end stifled my excitement. He also had not made any movement towards getting up. There was clearly more to that sentence.

"If...you kiss me."

"Potter, I hope you like frostbite."

"Lily, my dear, you are in contact with more snow than I am. Surely, you're the one in the more desperate situation here." Huh. He had a point. Damn him. I tried shifting away from him again, but he purposely bore his weight down further, and I realized that I truly was completely and utterly stuck.

Worst. Hogsmeade. Trip. Ever.

"Ok, James. You had your fun. Let Lily up so I can take her to the Three Broomsticks."

Anna was my hero. Seriously. I would let her mock me as much as she wanted. Ok, not really, but still. My gratitude was through the roof as she grabbed his elbow and pulled Potter off of me, but not before he had time to get a wink in and mouth, "Next time." I tried to ignore my body's desperate pleas as his warmth left me, telling myself to get it together.

Anna turned to me next and I eagerly accepted her helping hand, telling Potter, "Yeah, in your dreams." My words fell on deaf ears as something had caught his eye, and I saw him enter some odds-and-ends store.

Boys.

I shook my head and realized I was still holding Anna's hand, but that was ok because she was my life saver, and I was never letting her go.

"You liked that."

I dropped her hand. Hero? What hero? Traitor would fit better. Whose friend was she anyway?

I performed a quick drying spell on myself and hastily changed the subject as we picked up our parcels from where we'd dropped them and headed towards The Three Broomsticks.

"Anna, I've been thinking." I began.

"Well, there's your first mistake."

"I usually try to avoid it. But seriously, umm, so we got these presents for our partners, yeah?" We'd both found small presents for our partners that morning. Since the Falmouth Falcons were the only team my partner had ever mentioned, I'd gotten him a pin with their colors and symbols, figuring that he'd appreciate the thought at least. Anna had found a lot of difficulty picking out a gift for her partner, but in the end settled on some Honeydukes fudge, figuring it was a safe bet.

"Yeah, do you think it's not enough?"

"No, that's not it... Only, exactly how do we get these presents to them?" I'd been wondering this ever since we'd decided to find them something.

"Oh. I've been thinking about that too," Anna started, absentmindedly kicking the snow in front of her as she walked. "It's not like our owls would know how to find them, would they?"

I looked up and happened to see an eagle owl flying overhead as I considered this. The idea wasn't awful; owls were notoriously intelligent animals and could find people even when the sender didn't know where on the planet they might be. But there were several problems with that idea.

"I wondered about that too. I'm sure they could, but what if you suddenly saw your owl come into the Great Hall and deliver your parcel to Alicia or something."

"Wait, I thought out partners were male."

"Well, yeah, you know what I meant. OK, someone equally awful then. What if you saw your owl deliver your parcel to Sirius Black?" Anna pulled a face at that.

"Oh, that would be awful. I mean, the marauders are fun and everything. Yes, Lily, they are. Even you can't deny it after that snowball fight," she said quickly before my retort could come, "but can you even imagine trying to convince Black to practice anything, let alone some form of talent? He's probably doing nothing but hitting on his partner incessantly."

Hitting on...

...You're looking lovely today...

No. There was no way. I mean, it'd be really obvious if my partner was Black, right?

I hadn't realized that I'd stopped walking until Anna was in front of me waving her hand in front of my face.

"Earth to Lily..." She let out an exasperated sigh before stepping directly in front of me, and grasped my hands in that way that we always did when we were about to spill some serious logic. "Ok, breathe. Didn't you say you were doing some sort of singing thing for your talent?" I nodded slowly as she continued.

"Do you not remember the Christmas party two years ago?"

Life suddenly, blissfully, returned to my features as I understood her point. Two years ago, the Marauders had thrown a spectacular holiday party in the common room. At around 2 in the morning, Black decided that the party was dying down more quickly than he would have liked. Naturally, this needed to be fixed, so he stood on the couch and began to sing...well, he called it singing.

I was fairly certain I'd heard trolls sing more in tune than Black did. It was so bad that Professor Mcgonagall came in and told him that if she ever heard his supposed musical gifts again he would be expelled from Hogwarts before he could say 'Yule Ball.'

In other words, though he may not be the brightest wand in the drawer, there was no way Black would sing at the competition.

I blew out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. "Oh, thank Merlin! Anna, you really are the best." I opened the door to the Three Broomsticks and held it open as she walked in.

We walked to our usual table by the window and placed our robes on our chairs before walking up to the counter to place our order. The place wasn't very crowded, probably owing to the fact that we were eating later than usual.

Madam Rosmerta took our food order and handed us each a butterbeer, promising that our lunch would be out shortly. I took a sip and felt the welcome warmth spread through me as we returned to our seats. My mind was still on the present puzzle.

"Ok, well, the house elves usually distribute the gifts, right?"

"Yeah, but we won't know who to address them to," Anna started, as she unwrapped her scarf and placed it on her chair before sitting down.

"Can't we just put the letter on it? Specify that it's the male partner, I guess. The house elves are close with Dumbledore though, right? That should work." She agreed, and we ultimately decided that Dumbledore had probably already figured the whole thing out anyway. Being all-knowing was just what Dumbledore did.

"How does he know so much about everything and everyone? He never even looks stressed. I mean, when have you ever seen Dumbledore look tired, or messy, or lazy?" Anna brought up a good point. I thought back and tried to picture Dumbledore looking anything but the picture perfect image of a typical wise, old wizard, but couldn't come up with anything.

"I think his power is in his beard. Only explanation."

"Do you think he brushes it?" Anna asked seriously, and I burst into laughter at the image of Dumbledore brushing his own beard as Rosmerta came and brought our food. I began to tuck in eagerly to my cornish pasty when I heard Anna greet someone standing behind me,

"Hey! You're just in time! We need your opinion. Dumbledore's beard: source of super omniscient powers, or merely a tool to attract the ladies?" I accidentally let out a snort of laughter at that which I immediately regretted when I heard the reply from a certain Ravenclaw behind me.

"Oh, Dumbledore is a ladies' man, for sure. I've been thinking of starting my own. Never too early to start, yeah?" I turned my head to see Preston stroking his perfectly clean-shaven chin, his eyes full of laughter.

Anna stood up to give her brother a hug. He explained that he was walking with a friend when he saw us eating and decided to join us because his friend had gift shopping to do and it had been too long since Preston had seen either of us.

Either of us. As in, me included. Fancy that.

"Actually, Preston, I'm really glad you're here," Anna began. I was glad too, but probably for a different reason. "I have to run out and buy Lily a Christmas present. I was going to awkwardly shoo her away, but now you can keep her company while I go buy it. I shouldn't be long." She beamed at him gratefully and began to remove her scarf and robes from her chair, pulling it out for Preston to sit in.

Um. wait, what?

Huh. Well, that was a change in events that I could get behind.

Preston and I watched as Anna grabbed her belongings, shot us one last wave and smile, and opened the door to leave.

The door shut with a heavy thump, and I turned back to Preston, smoothing down my hair. I didn't get a chance to look at it since I dried it, but I prayed it looked alright. Not frizzy, like it normally is when I'm lazy getting out of the shower and don't take the time to dry it. And here he was, Preston, in all his prefect glory, sitting across from me.

The two of us. All alone.

His hair looked perfect.

"So," he said, cleverly. "It's just the two of us now." I could have jumped for joy right out of my seat, if I had been willing to make a fool of myself in front of the most gorgeous boy I could remember ever seeing in my life.

I wasn't.

"Yes..." I said, wincing inwardly at how completely lame I sounded. I cleared my throat and smoothed my hair again. "How are—" I began, but Preston turned at the sound of his name, and waved at one of his friends.

"Sorry, you were saying?" he said, leaning his arms on the table and smiling at me. I couldn't help smiling back. He was so polite, so respectful, so gentlemanly!

"Er..." What was I saying again?

Preston must have taken pity on my foolishness, because he winked and started a topic instead. "I saw that snowball fight you and your friends were having. That was quite intense."

"Oh, er, yeah. It was."

"Looked like a lot of fun. I would have joined in—"

"You should have!" I blurted. I could feel my face turning red.

"—but the fight was quite full as it was. There didn't seem to be much room between you and Potter, at least."

I shrank a little in my seat. "I'd say there was plenty of room between Potter and I. Otherwise how could we throw snowballs?" Preston laughed at that. Encouraged, I sat up a little straighter. "And they're not my friends. I mean, Anna is, of course. And I guess you could call Remus my friend, and Sirius too, I suppose. And I guess you can't not help being Peter's friend, since he's so pitiful and all, but James and I aren't friends. Potter. Potter and I are definitely not friends."

Preston was laughing again, and I wanted to cover my face in my hands and sink right out of this booth. I settled for a mental groan instead, and changed the subject.

"So how's your day been so far, apart from the snowball roadblock?"

"It's been fine. Watching the snowball fight was fun, like I said. You got some really good shots in." I beamed. "But I have to say this right now is the highlight of my day."

What can I say about Preston Clearwater? Oh, only that he's absolutely perfect! I am the highlight of his day!

"I would have to agree with you," I said, smiling back. Biggest understatement of my life. I gestured to the small bag of parcels at his side. "Christmas shopping?"

"I'm mostly finished too! Don't tell Anna," Preston confided softly, leaning in closer, "but I haven't gotten anything for her yet. I'm waiting for the perfect present to just jump out at me. Do you know what I mean?" I nodded, leaning in towards him as well. "I'm sure I'll find it before the day's over. Unless you have any ideas?"

"Er, well..." I cast around in my mind. All I could think about were the things I would get for her, but none of them seemed appropriate for Preston to give. "I got her a photograph from our summer," I offered. It had been an excellent summer. I spent it with Anna and even got to see a fair amount of Preston too, although there never seemed to be enough of it. We took a lot of pictures to document the fun, and I took the best one and framed it. In it, the two of us were hanging off a tree, our teeth bright and smiley, the rolling hills picturesque behind us. Right after that moment, when Preston took our picture, we fell on top of one another, laughing so hard we couldn't speak for ten minutes. I had said something funny, or Anna had, I can't remember, but it had been the highlight of our trip.

"Moving?" Preston asked.

I shook my head. "Muggle. I decided not to develop it in the potion, but did it the normal way. I mean, the non-Magical way."

"Anna loves Muggle things. See Lily, you're so great at this! I wish I could think of something like that for my sister."

"I mean, I could always get something from home. I could owl Mum..."

Preston patted my hand. "Thanks, but I should find something myself. It'll be more genuine that way, if you know what I mean. I'll just keep looking around. I haven't been to Honeyduke's yet; I could always just get her some chocolates."

I nodded. "She does love chocoballs."

"Lily, you're so helpful. You're the best, really. And," he said, as if that wasn't enough, "I got you something too. For Christmas."

"What?" He'd never given me anything before this year, never.

Preston must have misread my look, because his brows suddenly scrunched as he frowned. Have I mentioned before how cute he is when he looks worried? "Don't think that now you're obligated to buy something for me." Was he joking? I'd been waiting to get him a gift for years, but it had always felt too awkward. "But I saw this and thought of you, right away. In fact," he said, leaning in again, "you're actually the first person I got a gift for this season. Don't tell Anna."

I nearly died.

How insanely thoughtful was he? To buy me a present, without any instigation on my part... it must have been this summer. Anna and I have always been close, but it wasn't really until this past year that I feel like I got a chance to know Preston. When he became more than just Anna's brother to me.

Obviously he was beginning to feel the same for me!

After controlling myself from swooning, I took a sip of my forgotten drink to calm down. Preston is so thoughtful, so kind and decent. Something was nagging at the back of my head, and I looked down at my bag. The journal! It had been awhile since it had gotten warm. Either my partner was out enjoying the fine day... or he was sitting right in front of me. I realized this was the perfect time to figure out if Preston was my partner. After all, my partner knew who I was. So why not do a little snooping of my own? Read between the lines? My logic was flawless.

"You're in the competition, right?" I asked Preston, pleased at how nonchalant I sounded.

"Of course," Preston said, flashing me his cute smile. "Anyone who's anyone is in the competition."

"Right, of course," I said, giggling. "I know that." I tossed back my fringe, but some longer pieces stuck to my lips. I tried to blow them surreptitiously away, but ended up having to brush them off with my hand. I trapped the offending strands with my fingers and twirled them around, as punishment. They won't get away from me again. I shot Preston a winning smile, waning a little bit when I saw him struggling not to laugh.

My cheeks felt warm, and I cleared my throat. "So. What do you think of the competition so far? I mean, it's great, right? Do you think it's great? I mean, if you don't, that's okay too. I mean, this competition is all, you know, whatever. Don't you think? I mean… right?"

Preston outright chuckled. I scratched my forehead, using that as an excuse to partially hide behind my hand. "I think it's fun," he said. "I would say it's great."

Fun. Great. "Wonderful!" I blurted out. "Me too! The way it's allowing us to get to know each other in a way we haven't before. Truly know each other, without the prejudices and judgments we've always had from the beginning. Without the benefit of knowing each other's identity, we get a chance to see what's beneath, what's inside. You know, the parts of us we might have kept hidden because we're afraid of the people who might find out…" My voice had softened by this point, and I couldn't keep out the questioning note from my voice. "Right?"

"Right," Preston agreed. He winked at me again, and took a sip of his drink. "So you're telling me you have something to hide?"

"What?" I asked. That was not what I was saying at all.

"Lily Evans, keeping secrets! Something you're afraid the world will know?"

Only that I'm in love with you. "What? No," I snorted. "No, not at all."

"Because you know, if you did, you could tell me. We're friends, Lily."

"Friends," I repeated faintly. "Right. Of course we are."

"I want you to know, Lily Evans, that I consider us as close as family. I like Anna plenty, but she's the sister I'm stuck with. Not one I chose."

"Stuck!" I laughed, my head feeling wonderfully light. "As if! You love Anna."

"I do, don't I?" he laughed, and I laughed with him. "Tell me honestly, am I too indulgent a brother?"

"What? No," I said, brave enough to give his hand a small pat before I tucked it back on my lap. "I think you're just perfectly indulgent. As far as brother's go, I'd say you're the best. At retaining the indulgence balance, that is."

We both laughed some more, and continued to chat as I sipped more of my butterbeer. I tried prying answers from him with questions about the diary and his partner, but he kindly declined to answer all of them. "I am a rule-abiding prefect, after all," he said. I couldn't help myself. I had to laugh at everything he said. Even I was annoying myself, but Preston didn't seem to mind. In fact, I think he liked it.

The door to the Three Broomsticks jangled merrily, and Anna walked in. Preston put on his coat and gathered his parcels, throwing down enough sickles to pay for his drink and mine and then some. "Sister dear!" he called out as she approached us. Then he bent over the table to whisper in my ear, "Time to find her a present. Keep her occupied for me, will you?" He straightened up and winked, and I think I melted a little bit in that booth.

I sighed as the door closed behind Preston. Anna settled in across from me, giving me a questioning eyebrow. "What are you sighing for?" she asked, lugging her day's haul to her other side. "I'm the one who just came in from the cold. Ahhhh," she sighed happily. "It's good to be warm."

We roasted our hands over an imaginary fire as Anna decided what to order. "Preston's been kind enough to pay for our bill." And that was all I said about our conversation. A girl's got to keep some secrets to herself.

We continued to giggle and chat about our shopping and our plans and other specifically non-Marauder topics until it was time for the carriages to leave. "Thank you, Preston!" Anna said loudly as we left without having to add a knut.

"Yes," I agreed, more to myself than to her. "Thank you, Preston."

The door jangled behind us and we walked out into the crisp, white snow.

James POV

It had been a great day. I couldn't think of a better one in recent history. Except yesterday, finding out Lily was my partner and getting off scot-free with Dumbledore. That was pretty cool too. But today, having that epic snowball fight, and making a connection with Lily... perfection. Then I found the perfect gift, on top of all that. She would love it.

The gift was tucked under my arm, already wrapped. I whistled as I walked past the picturesque Hogsmeade storefronts, stopping only when I reached the Three Broomsticks. Through a window, I glimpsed a familiar glint of red hair. Lily.

I stood outside her window, leaning in to see the dim interior better. After a few seconds, outlines came into view. It was indeed Lily, sitting across from a prefect. Preston Clearwater. Anna's brother.

I was about to raise my hand to tap on the glass, but something about the way she looked at Preston stopped me. Lily was leaning in, elbows on the table, constantly fiddling with her hair. She was laughing.

When was the last time she laughed with me? Not counting the snowball fight, when did she sit with me and laugh at something I said?

More than that, she was holding his hand.

I never thought that Lily liked someone else. I mean, it made sense, but I had never really given it any serious consideration.

But here was the proof, right in front of me.

I could feel my own hands clenching of their own accord.

The present slipped from the crook of my elbow. I swore and bent down to pick it up, checking to make sure nothing felt broken. When I stood back up, Lily was still looking at Preston. But Preston was looking at me.

I nodded curtly at Preston. He nodded back, amused. Then he turned back to Lily and said something, which made her throw her head back and laugh, oblivious to the guy standing right outside her window. Oblivious to me.

I pushed away from the wall, clutching Lily's gift in my hands. Suddenly, I didn't care so much about it. I kicked at a tuft of snow, watching the powder drift upwards and away with the wind. I swore again, and then took off for the gate back to Hogwarts. I was done with Hogsmeade for the day.

Great day my arse.