My breath fogged in front of my face as I quickened my pace towards the castle. My boots crunched easily through the light snow, which was compacted into the pathways. It was very bitterly cold today, and I seriously wanted to get inside and have a cup of hot chocolate.

It was the Christmas holidays, and Hogwarts seemed abandoned, but it also seemed more peaceful in a weird melancholy way. I decided to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas this year, because I figured I only had two more chances to see the castle at Christmas time, and the empty school reminded me of my early days of learning. Lily and Sirius also stayed, but Remus, James, and Peter all went home to their families, along with almost everyone in Gryffindor. I had also noticed that Severus had stayed at school during our break, and it made me wonder even more about him and his history.

I hadn't spoken to him at all since that October night, unless you count the occasional nod, or maybe even a "Hello" in the hallway. However, I wasn't finished with this boy, and had made a vow that before the end of the year, I would have figured out some of that intricate puzzle that is Severus Snape.

My relationship with Remus had grown deeper, and I knew we were going to have to do something about it at some point. I knew I liked him, and I was definitely getting those same sorts of vibes from him to me as well. Yet I wanted to be absolutely and positively sure before I decided to do anything drastic. Which, I know, isn't exactly me, but I just seriously wanted to deal with as little drama in that aspect of my life as possible. Hmm… this actually may be the one element of my life that I'm cautious in.

As I was about to step into the Great Hall, Lily came running down the stairs. "Juliet, are you going to get hot chocolate?" Before I even nodded, Lily had a hold of my arm and was dragging me up the stairs. It seemed as if this was always happening to me.

"Lily, what are you doing? I must. Get. Hot. Chocolate!" I was still freezing from my walk outside, and my ears had already started to get that scratchy feeling from when you step into a warm place from a very cold place. I knew they were probably at some varying stage of red.

Lily just kept tugging at my arm, all the way to the common room. As she pushed me inside, I started to turn around, until my awesome sense of smell kicked in, and I got a wiff of some delicious smelling cookies and hot chocolate. I bolted towards the smell.

And stopped in my tracks.

There was Sirius, in the frilliest, laciest, pinkest apron I'd ever seen in my life.

And what's even more amazing is the fact that he didn't even look sullen in the least, which would be understandable, as I can imagine this as some sort of bet he'd lost or something. But no. There he was, smiling hugely in his apron, looking absolutely radiant.

I had many things I could say, but I couldn't even seem to form the words. All that came out was, "Uhhhhh…" Lily walked up behind me, laughing hysterically, clutching her stomach. She managed to say, "That-was-exactly-my-reaction!" And then she continued her guffaws. I waited as patiently as I could. And we all know me and patience. It lasted about three seconds.

"So, is anyone going to tell me what exactly is going on here?" I looked between Lily and Sirius. Lily finally calmed down enough, and took a deep breath before speaking.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure at this point, all I know is that I came into the common room, and there Sirius was, apron and all, taking a batch of cookies out of the oven, and a pot of hot chocolate was cooking on the stove." I looked at her in confusion. It was then that I noticed an actual oven behind Sirius, with a pot of hot chocolate and a plate of cookies on the stove.

I looked at Sirius, who was still beaming. "…Uh, Sirius, darling? Are you feeling alright? Should we be concerned? I can go get Madame Pomfrey if you'd like…" Sirius shook his head, or should I say wagged it. I never get tired of the dog jokes.

Then, he skipped toward Lily and I. "I'm feeling absolutely chipper. I just loveeeee the holiday season! It's my absolute favorite time of the year." His smile, if possible, widened further.

I contemplated this for a moment, shrugged, and said, "Well… Okay! Pour me a mug of cocoa!" The smells coming from the pot were tantalizing.

Sirius saluted me, and turned around to pour me some hot chocolate, and as I tasted it, I realized it was actually the best hot chocolate I had ever tasted. Which was surprising, you know, for Sirius.

"Wow, this is actually delicious!" I said in a shocked tone.

Sirius puffed his chest up proudly. "It's an old family recipe, one of the only good things about my family. I perfected it when I was ten."

Lily, who had been watching the situation unfold, was just sitting with a bemused look on her face. Then, she shrugged as well, and poured herself some of the drink.

I learned more and more about my friends each day.

A couple days later, I decided to go to the library and find a good book and a quiet nook to read for a few hours alone. As I was strolling slowly down the aisles and aisles of books, I didn't notice that someone else was in the same section as me. And me, being totally immersed in the book titles, bumped right into them like a loser.

"Oomph! Oh, I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention." I looked up through my hair, which had fallen in front of my face. As I pushed it away, I noticed the student I had strolled right into was none other than Severus Snape.

Severus looked shocked for a second, but then regained his composure. "Do watch where you're going, Bell. You might hurt someone." My eyes narrowed, but then I saw his smirk.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. It's not my fault I can be really clumsy at times. And besides, when I'm looking for a good book- and when I'm reading, for that matter, I always zone everything else around me out."

Severus nodded and said softly, "For me as well. It's when I escape." My brow furrowed.

"Severus-do you mind if I call you that?" He shrugged, but I took that as a yes. "Severus, do you want to sit with me while we read?"

His eyes pored into mine in that way that he does. "You would want to sit with me, an enemy of your House, and friends?" He sneered at the last part, but I let it go this time.

"Hey, I don't have anything against you, and all this House rivalry is really obnoxious to be honest. Just come sit with me." I smiled, and grabbed his arm, and dragged him to the nearest table. I noticed happily that he didn't put up a fight. As I plopped myself down into the chair, Severus slowly sat down stiffly, his posture straight and poised. He looked around him, even though we both knew the place was deserted. I sighed.

"No one's here, you know. Not that it should matter, but whatever…" I trailed off indignantly.

Suddenly, Severus' eyes filled with life, and he leaned forward towards me, his elbows on the table.

"This is dangerous, you know. We shouldn't be friends, or acquaintances, or anything. You should hate me, but for some reason you don't. I should hate you, but for some reason I can't. I feel drawn to you. I feel like… like you know something about me, and yet, you don't care. Like, you see goodness in me or something. And no one has ever looked at me that way. At least, not for a very long time." He drew in a deep breath.

I was shocked at this sudden information, and the way he just let it all out, in a breath, as if he were about to burst. Then, I spoke. "Severus, you know things don't have to be the way they are. I have no reason to hate you, and until you give me a reason, I won't. I just hope to god you don't give me a reason." I paused, and we looked at each other for a moment.

"You don't have to choose to be bad. In fact, I know you are good. I see it in you. I just know. And I want you to know, I can help you." At this point, I was also leaning toward this odd boy, and my elbows were also propped up onto the table.

Severus looked at me with pleading in his eyes. "How?"

"Any way that I can. And if those wannabees bother you, I can take care of it." we both knew who I was referencing. I don't know why, but I felt a great sense of protection over this Slytherin boy, and the thought of him being used by the extreme bullies made my blood boil.

Severus scoffed, but there was hope in his eyes. Without the sneer, or the coldness in his eyes, his features were softened, and he looked almost handsome. Maybe after I protected him from the bad guys, I could give him a makeover. It had definite possibilities, but I shook the thought from my head for now and brought myself back to the conversation.

I continued. "But you have to help yourself, as well. If you can do that, then I can do the rest. I'll start with James and Sirius. They'll leave you alone, if they know what's good for them. I smiled at Severus then, and he smiled tentatively back.

Then he said, "Well, good luck with that. They've disliked me from the start, and I guess I just don't like how loved they are." He looked at me.

"They just need to be taken down a few pegs on the ego thing, but you have to know, they aren't malicious people. And neither are you, and we both know it." We looked at each other for a moment, before I continued.

"So we have to discuss how we are going to go about things. We sure as hell can't just say, 'hey everyone, Severus is one of us now!' and expect everyone to be okay with it. No, that would not work at all. Perhaps we should discuss this with Dumbledore… he could definitely think of some suggestions. But one thing is for sure. Your enemies can not know that you are against them, or they will… eliminate you."

And thus Severus Snape's spying career began.

The rest of the Christmas holidays went without incident. I loved the break from school, but I would be glad when everyone was back and classes resumed… All right, I'll admit, I'll be especially glad when Remus is back. I had missed my… friend.

The night before classes started up again, everyone arrived. The common room was very loud, but cheerful. Students scrambled this way and that. Of course, there were the few procrastinators in the corner trying to finish their homework before morning. I was happy I had decided to do mine the first day of the break.

Suddenly, I saw a blur of black hair shoot past me and onto Sirius' back. I guess this was James' way of saying hello to his friend after so long of not seeing him. Then, seeing Remus a few feet away, he started running again. Remus sensed the attack coming, and turned around just as James pounced. They both fell backwards onto the ground. Sirius, feeling left out, jumped on to the two boys. I just laughed.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small figure edging his way into the scene. It was Peter, and I felt a wave of guilt at not really taking the time to know him as well as the other Marauders. I stepped closer to him.

"Hey Peter, how was your break?" I asked quietly, smiling in a friendly way at him.

Peter looked at me, and then quickly looked back at his feet. "It was good, thanks," he said almost indecipherably.

I pressed on. "I noticed I haven't seen you around much, where've you been?" It was a normal question, but Peter took a moment to respond.

"I've been… busy," he said in an elusive tone.

For some reason, this sent off some bells. Here's this shy kid, who, quite frankly, doesn't really have many friends, and now he's telling me he's been busy with something other than the Marauders? Now, of course, I'm not saying it's not possible, it's just… something doesn't feel right about the way he said that. I stored the information away for later use.

Right now, though, I had to think about how I was going to propose the idea to Sirius and James about leaving Severus alone. Six years of habit is hard to just break, and I knew it was going to take a lot of convincing. Fortunately, I knew Remus would side with me, and his support on the matter would definitely help.

Once the boys stopped wrestling, I pulled Remus aside. I hadn't really had a chance to talk to him privately, or, really, at all, since he had returned. We went to a small nook that was unpopulated by other Gryffindors.

"What's up," he asked, smiling. His eyes were warm, and without a trace of worry in them.

"Well," I said drawing out the word. Then I just gave him a huge hug, like a cool kid. I laughed and said, "I've missed you, bud."

Remus' arms tightened around my waist, and laughed lightly in my ear.

"Missed you too, Juliet." He responded.

We stayed there for a moment, and then pulled away. If I had my choice I would've stayed like that forever. But, other matters to discuss. For now, that is.

"So, was there an actual reason you pulled me over here, or was it just to tackle me in a hug?" He smirked.

I shoved his arm lightly. "Yes, there was a reason, actually. It's about Severus Snape." Remus tensed up.

"What about him," he asked suspiciously. Ha! I knew that tone anywhere.

"Is that…. Jealousy I hear, Remus? Tsk, tsk." Remus' face turned a bright shade of pink, and I grinned. I knew it.

"Well, I'll forgive you for now, but moving on. So. Severus Snape. He's not a bad guy. Yes, he's made some mistakes, but he and I got to talking over break, and there's a lot people don't know about him."

I could tell Remus was about to argue, and I let him say what he wanted to so he could get it out of his system.

"Juliet, look. I know you want to believe he's okay, and so do I, believe me I do. But you didn't see last year, the whole fiasco with Lily-"

I held my hands up. "I know, I know. But I just have a feeling about this, really! I sincerely believe that we can help him, and he's ready to receive that help. It's just up to us now. Well, us, and Dumbledore," I added as an afterthought.

Remus still looked skeptical, but sighed. "I can tell this isn't something you're just going to forget. So… fine. I'll stick by you, and help you with Snape."

"Severus," I corrected. Remus raised his eyebrows, and I shrugged.

"I'm sorry, I just think it's creating unnecessary walls between people when you refer to them by their last name." Remus just looked at me incredulously for a moment, and then laughed.

"You really are something, Bell." He laughed at my glare, and flung his arm around my shoulders.

"C'mon," he continued, "Let's go join the others. But let's talk to James and Sirius about it tomorrow- they're too riled up right now."

I agreed, and we walked back towards where the others were.

My smile could not have been any wider as Remus kept his arm around my shoulder as we walked back.

And for now, that's all that mattered.