This chapter is dedicated to CSI Gil Grissom, for making me think about what things really mean. And, okay, yeah, 'cause I ran out of people to dedicate chapters to at the moment, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is on.

Disclaimer: I own only the plot and wedding bells. Can you spot the AVPS reference? ;)

"It is not."

"It is too."

"It is not."

"It is too."

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

James sighed, frowning over at his friends, "What are you two arguing about this time?"

"Isn't that usually Remus' line?" Lily asked, her eyes focused on a book.

"Too bad he's the one arguing then," George grinned as Hermione and Fred played Exploding Snap.

"Thanksgiving is an American holiday, Padfoot," Remus frowned at his friend.

"Is not," Sirius said, adjusting his pilgrim hat, "Pilgrims came from England, so we're involved too."

"No we're not!" he argued, "Pilgrims left England because they couldn't practice their religion – they went to America and got help from Native Americans and that's it. We have nothing to do with Thanksgiving, so drop the hat."

"I dunno," Hermione hummed, "It'd be a great excuse to get pie."

"Mmm, pie," George grinned, "Let's celebrate Thanksgiving, yeah?"

"Agreed!" everybody seemed to chorus, except Remus who groaned at the sky.

"Oi, Hermione, don't look now, but Terry Magellan is walking this way," Peter whispered to her, making her sit up and look around worriedly before squeaking and diving under a bench in the Quidditch stands, crawling away from them.

Remus arched an eyebrow, "What's wrong with Terry?"

"Ooh – you don't know do you?" Lily winced, "He's been practically stalking Hermione for weeks now."

"Where have you been?" Peter asked him, "I know that. Me. The one who never knows anything."

"Oh, Peter, that's not true," Lily chided, "You just know things we don't."

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like…ummm," she bit her lip, looking over at James.

"Like how you know how many different types of cheese there are!" James provided, "And which are the smelliest."

"Yeah, mate – you're great for making our own dungbombs," Sirius grinned.

"Oh joy," he deadpanned, "I feel so loved."

"Hey guys!" a strangely accented voice said, grinning from ear to ear. Terry Magellan was tall, about as tall as Sirius if not taller, with fair blonde hair and bright blue eyes, his skin nearly paper white.

"Hi Terry," everybody smiled at him, including Remus, although he looked wary.

"Have you seen Hermione?" he asked, rocking back and forth on his feet.

"Oh yeah – over there," Sirius grinned, pointing to where Hermione was seated. Seeing him point, she squeaked again and ducked back down underneath a bench.

"She's really shy today, Terry," George grinned, "Tread lightly!" Terry grinned back before dashing off after her.

"Now why did you do that?" Remus asked Sirius as he and George chuckled to themselves, "She was obviously hiding from him."

"I know," he grinned devilishly at him, "It's no fun if he just wanders around looking for her, now is it?"

"Sirius, if you don't quit picking on her – " Lily began.

"Oh come on, now, Evans," Sirius snorted, "It's all in good fun."

"Not for Hermione, you git," she huffed, "She doesn't even want a boyfriend and you're off forcing people on her."

"Metaphorically speaking of course," he grinned, waggling his eyebrows at her as James frowned.

"Hey, Lily – do all of you girls share secrets?" he asked.

"Yeah…why?"

"Why?" the boys all seemed to ask.

"Well…it's nice to know that somebody's got your back on something," she shrugged, "Sometimes you wouldn't have the courage to do things otherwise. If your friends know, they'll more likely push you to get what you want or need."

They were silent as they looked at her, Fred and George sharing glances as the Marauders did as well. This was broken by a loud scream, making them look over onto the Quidditch field to see Marlene dancing with Hermione for no apparent reason, Terry standing back on the sidelines and watching with amusement.

"Oh Merlin," Lily said as she stood up and walked over to the stairs, heading down to the field to her friends.

"Marlene," she frowned, "Why are you forcing Hermione to salsa?"

"Shows how much you know," she grinned, "This is the tango."

"Still – why?"

"Hermione got invited to Slughorn's Ball too!" Marlene grinned, jumping up and down happily with Hermione's arms, "I won't be alone! Oh, and I asked Terry to come with me!"

"I never said I was going!" Hermione reminded her, prying herself away from her.

"But Hermione!" the three gaped at her.

"You have to come!" Lily gasped, "Marlene's going to be off doing who-knows-what, and Alice and Frank are going to be all lovey-dovey, and if you're not there then all I'll have for company is the Marauders!"

"I don't want to!"

"Why not?" Lily and Marlene prodded as Terry found somebody else to talk to.

"Because…" she winced, "I don't…really…."

It suddenly dawned on Lily, "Oh, Hermione, you don't need a date. That's only if you want one."

"But still – I hate dressing up," she rubbed her forearm, "I'm rubbish at it."

"That's what gal pals are for," Marlene smiled as Lily and Hermione arched eyebrows at each other. "We'll dress you up and make you all nice and pretty and we'll all have wonderful times."

Hermione bit her lip for a moment before relenting, earning grins from the two as they reached over to hug her.

"We love you, Mione!" they said in harmony, making her frown a little.

"You girls need to stop lying," she muttered, but smiled a little anyway.

"It's snowing!" Fred and George cheered as they crowded at the window, watching the little white flakes float down to cover the ground in a dazzling landscape.

"It's December," Hermione told them, an amused smirk on her face, "It tends to do that."

"But it's a Hogsmeade trip and its snowing!" Fred pounced on her, "Be prepared for war, little sister!"

"I can't," she whined unhappily, earning frowns from the two.

"Why not?" they asked as George joined them on the couch.

"I have to go dress shopping," she stuck her tongue out and made a face.

"Oooooh!" the twins made girlish squeals, shocking Hermione since she didn't know they could even get their voices to such a pitch.

"Who're you going with?" Fred asked, smirking as he squished his face to her shoulder so only his eyes could be seen by her.

"Do we know him?" George grinned, putting his hands on her other shoulder and resting his chin on them, batting his eyes at her.

Hermione glanced behind her upon hearing footsteps and pointed over her shoulder, "That is my date."

The twins looked over and blinked, "What?"

Lily laughed, "What she means is, we don't have dates, so we're going together."

"I love having single friends," Hermione said as she stood up, stretching out her back and looking for her boots, "Now, who are you two going with?"

"Nobody," they shrugged.

"Nobody?" she echoed, "Now I can hardly believe that."

"Why not?"

"Because you two got dates so easily last time."

"Last time, we were with people our own age," Fred reminded her, "This time, we're surrounded by youngsters."

"We're still gonna go, but without dates," George shrugged before adding, "And we're going as single, manly men."

"I heard your girlish squeal up there," Lily grinned at them.

"Oi, watch it, Red," Fred glared jokingly at her.

"Who're you calling 'Red', Red?" she smirked, pointing at his own red locks.

"Hey, that'd be a cool band name," George grinned, "Hermione and the Reds!"

Hermione snorted at that, stuffing her jeans into her boots and tying up the laces, "Of all the stupid…."

"C'MON!" Marlene yelped, Alice on her heels as they hooked their arms through Hermione's, knocking her off her feet and dragging her, "We need to go NOW!"

"But I don't have a jacket and it's freezing out!" Hermione complained, trying to get her footing and succeeding horribly.

"I've got it!" Lily called before she was dragged out the room. She sighed, grabbing the coat and shaking her head at the boys. "Sometimes I wonder if all teenagers are equipped to freak out their friends. I think 'there's no way, somebody has to be normal.' But then I look at my friends and everybody and I realize 'no, they're all nuts.'"

They chuckled as she walked out, calling out a goodbye before she was out of hearing range. Once the portrait was closed for a few minutes, James trotted down the stairs, smiling pleasantly at them.

"Morning," he said, "Where's Mione?"

"Oh sure," George frowned at him, "Ignore us."

He blinked, "I was just wo – "

Fred cut him off, "We're just Hermione's big brothers, don't mind us."

"Guys," he sighed, "I'm just saying, Hermione's usually waiting down here for hours on end until somebody goes down with her."

"Oh yeah," they said before George continued, "Alice and Marlene dragged her out – Lily went down too."

"That's absurd!" somebody said as they trotted down the stairs.

"You're absurd!" Remus answered, following Sirius down the staircase.

"What?" he whirled around suddenly, "Say that again to my face!"

Remus did as was asked, "You're absurd!"

"That's absurd!"

George sighed, "What is it now?"

"Nothing," they answered with grins before going out the portrait hole, now being incredibly nice to each other.

"Was that a stupid moment or was that actually something?" Fred wondered after a moment. James and George both shrugged in response.

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"So…" Sirius said as he lounged across his bed, hanging upside down and watching as Remus brushed his teeth, "Slughorn's party…girls are going dress shopping today."

Remus made a noncommittal sound, seeing as his mouth was otherwise occupied with tooth paste and spit.

"You going to go?" he asked, picking at a piece of imaginary lint on his shirt.

Remus spit in the sink, again wiping the left over residue across his mouth on his sleeve, "I'm sorry, Pads, but I'm going to have to decline your offer. You see, I'm straight and – "

He was cut off with a shoe coming at him, making him dodge it and grin at his friend.

"No," Sirius frowned at him, "Are you going to go to the party?"

"Yeah, I mean," he pulled another jumper over his head, "I should at least go once, right?"

"Alright," Sirius said after a moment before practically pouncing on him, "Now will you finally do something with Hermione?"

Remus looked at him, confused, "What are you talking about?"

He stood there and stared at him for several moments, the expression on his face much like one might use in regards to a mentally slow person, waiting for them to understand a simple question, gripping his arms. Once he looked like he still had no clue on what he was talking about, Sirius sighed, placing his hands on his forehead, "You're worse than Evans."

"What does that mean?" he asked innocently as Sirius finally made to move downstairs.

"Oh nothing," he shrugged, "Except for the fact that you totally like Hermione – more than a friend – and are in denial."

"What? Oh come on, Padfoot, there's nothing even remotely like that between us," he snorted as they walked down the staircase.

"That's absurd!"

"You're absurd!"

They reached the ground level and Sirius whirled around on him, "What? Say that again to my face!"

Remus stepped closer and glared at him, although it was marred a little by the grin he was trying to fight off, "You're absurd!"

"That's absurd!"

George sighed, "What is it now?"

"Nothing," they answered with grins before going out the portrait hole.

Once it closed behind them, Remus sighed and dropped his head, running his hands through his hair and thoroughly mussing it up, "What if I did?"

Sirius grinned and perched an arm around his shoulders, "Leave it to me."

"Part of me is thinking this is a bad idea, but the other part just has to know why," he admitted as they walked.

Hermione and Lily sat, back to back on a bench outside the dressing room as Marlene and Alice darted around the store and hunted for dresses. They had been banished to the bench because they kept picking fun at ridiculous dresses, such as a line green one with an obscenely large poof. Marlene was looking for a dress for both her and Lily, and Alice had volunteered to search for one for Hermione.

"So, if you can't dance you're basically screwed," Hermione summed up, examining a piece of her hair with fascination.

"Basically it," Lily said before turning and looking at her out of the corner of her eye, "It's a week before Christmas holidays this time. You going home?"

"No," she shook her head, "Mum and Dad think we'd be better off here."

Lily hummed and nodded, "Consider yourself lucky then. Well, if you were in my shoes."

Hermione was silent for a moment before leaning around Lily and frowning at her boots, "I don't think I can wear them."

She chuckled, "No, I mean – if you had to go home to my family."

"Oh…is your sister really as horrible as you say she is?"

"I'm afraid so," she sighed, "And she just married this horrid whale of a husband – Vernon Dursley. Ugh. I pray that when I get married to someone, he's going to have a normal last name."

"Potter is relatively normal," Hermione gave a very sly grin.

Lily only smiled back at that, "Lupin could be, in some areas of the world…."

She arched an eyebrow at her, "Huh?"

Lily snorted, "Oh please! You two get along famously together and you've only known each other for – what? About four months?"

"So? I get along great with you and I'm not hearing wedding bells."

"So you hear wedding bells…."

Hermione gave a very loud growl, causing the redhead to giggle as Marlene and Alice both strode up to them, beaming with bags in their hands.

"Ready to go?" Marlene asked, "Lily, you and I need to go get that thing."

"Oh!" Lily jumped up immediately with a grin, "Yeah!"

"I'm going to go meet Frank at the Three Broomsticks," Alice smiled as she shrunk the bags and put them in Marlene's purse, "Hermione, you want to come with?"

"No thanks – I think I'll go hunt down Fred and George and start a massive snowball fight," she grinned as they walked out the door before waving at each other and going their separate ways.

Hermione walked down the walkway, watching as the stores and houses were transformed to something out of a fairytale, the snow drifting around and fitting in her hair, melting when they touched her skin. As she was watching the sky, she didn't notice a particularly large patch of ice, so she slipped and fell.

When she was supposed to hit the cold hard ground, she hit something that was warm and soft and smelled amazing.

"Hey Remus," she muttered into his shirt, lifting her head up to see that he was looking at her dully – although the smile was so small that only she could see it - as Fred, George, Sirius, James and Peter all chuckled and grinned at them.

"Not that I'm not glad that you keep falling for me, Hermione," he said as he slid over to a bench and helped himself up, turning back to her to do the same, "I'd appreciate it if you quit falling on me."

She smiled as soon as she was upright, smacking him lightly in the arm to make him grin.

"Hermione!" Fred said happily, arms out wide and grinning at her, "You have returned to us!"

"Could've sworn that dress junk would've taken longer though," George mused.

"It probably would've if Lily and I hadn't just let Marlene and Alice pick them out for us," she shrugged, reaching an arm out for the twins to slide her over to safety. Remus, however, was stuck on the island of ice, hugging a bench.

"Help?" he asked, trying to find a safe place to walk on.

"Meh," James shrugged as Sirius scratched his chin, thinking, "I dunno…you seem pretty stable right now."

"Try this," Fred said before pointing his wand at the ice, "Incendio!" A flame erupted from the tip and Remus jumped up on the bench, watching suspiciously as it melted the ice away. Remus tested it carefully before jumping down.

"Now why didn't either of you do that before you hit the ice?" James asked, grinning at them.

"I didn't see it!" Hermione glared at him.

"Shut up, Prongs," Remus frowned at him.

They continued walking for a while, and this time Hermione was watching the road as she did, jumping over or around patches of ice as the boys watched her in amusement. She suddenly stopped with a gasp.

"I forgot why I was looking for you earlier!" she said before running off the road and diving behind a snow bank.

"You were looking for us?" the twins asked as they stepped closer. Hearing nothing but silence, they glanced between each other before icy cold slush met their faces.

"HERMIONE!" they yelled, wiping the snow from their eyes as she laughed, Sirius jumping behind with her and quickly making a snowball to end all snowballs.

"WAR!" he said happily, throwing it and making it sail over onto James' head.

"Padfoot!" he complained before running to the snow bank across the road and diving behind it, making a snowball and throwing it at him. Fred and George went to join him, and Peter began making snowballs for Hermione and Sirius. Remus stood underneath their snowy arches, watching with a slightly amused expression.

He chuckled, "You're all so immatu – "

SPLAT!

"Who threw that?" he asked, shaking the snow out of his hair and off his face.

"Love you too, Remus!" Sirius and Hermione chorused, laughing as he glared at them.

"Hey, what's going on?" Lily asked, stepping up next to Remus and looking between the two groups.

"Lily!" Hermione cheered, "Come and help me!"

"No, Lily!" James grinned, "Come and help me!"

She laughed and looked between the two, "Now, Miss Granger, why should I help you when you brought up that topic at the dress shop?"

Hermione snorted, "Oh come on, you brought up that topic with me too, and I'm not turning you away."

"Because you want me to help," she grinned.

"Details."

"Lily," James sang, grinned as he leaned a little on the snow bank, praying he wouldn't fall through. "Come on and help me and Fred and George."

Lily stood there, musing between the two groups with a smile on her face before walking over to James, making Hermione yell out an "I hate you!"

Remus walked over to help Peter with the snowballs, muttering to him, "Who threw the one that hit me?"

"I can't tell you," Peter frowned before nodding his head towards Hermione with a smile. Remus' own smile took to being mischievous and he scooped up an armful of snow and dumping it over her head.

She screamed, "Remus!"

"Payback!" he laughed as she began pelting him with snowballs, completely ignoring the group on the other side of the road.

And that's how they all ended up going back to the castle soaking wet and cold, but laughing all the same, with James' arm around Lily's shoulders as if it belonged there and Sirius being abnormally quiet as he watched Hermione and Remus tease each other.

This is just…yeah, I want to go ahead and get it to Christmas, so sue me. So next chapter is the Slugclub Party or whatever it's called, and then maybe I'll add the Christmas one too.

Reviews would be loved! I don't mind spending every day, out on their corner in the pouring rain. Look for the girl with the broken smile, ask her if she wants to stay a while and they will be loved, and they will be loved. Maroon 5 anyone? ;D