15th November, 1971

November meant cold weather rolling in. The wind whistled round the turrets of the castle, chilling us to the bone when we were up in the astronomy tower with Zosma. I figured out how to cast a spell to create a small pile of blue flames as we peered through the telescopes, tracking various constellations and marking them on our charts. By now, the castle had been coated with snow that did not melt as easily as that first dusting had, and so we spent free periods out on the grounds playing in it.

18th December, 1971

Soon the time came to take the Hogwarts Express once more for the Christmas holidays. Remus and Peter were still sleeping, as they were the ones staying at Hogwarts, but the students going home had to be down in the Entrance Hall first thing this morning. We were packed into carriages drawn by invisible horses before breakfast had even started.

"I'm starving," complained James as the three of us waited in line to board the carriages.

Sirius poked his stomach with his wand, "Could do with a couple hours starving, couldn't you?" He joked with a smirk. James laughed just as heartily as we did.

I cleared my throat, "Never fear, you won't have to!" I opened my school bag to reveal that I'd done a bit of sneaking around the kitchens yesterday and winked, closing up the bag again before Professor McGonagall could catch sight of it.

"Brilliant!" James exclaimed.

A half an hour later, we all piled onto the train and found ourselves a compartment. I distributed the treats around and we started snacking as others loaded onto the scarlet red train. I saw a familiar head of red hair, and I called out to Bilius, waving one of the pumpkin pasties from my bag. "Hey! Come in and have some snacks!"

"Thanks!" Bilius said, taking the pumpkin pasty. He waved over to the people he was with, Derek and Alice Bell, Frank Longbottom, and Lily, and they all piled in. Lily gave an expression of disapproval at the boys before sitting next to me.

"Think anybody's staying at Hogwarts for holiday?" Frank asked, "Seems every single compartment on the train is packed!"

"Well, Remus and Peter are," Sirius said as he reached for another cake that I was holding up.

"And Severus," offered Lily.

James looked over at her. "Is he?" he asked.

"Is that the Slytherin boy you're mates with?" asked Bilius around a mouthful of cake. "How'd you meet him, anyway? It isn't often you see a Slytherin befriend a Muggleborn."

Lily shrugged, "Sev's not a typical Slytherin."

"Besides, he's half-blood himself, isn't he?" Sirius spoke up. Lily and I looked at Sirius, and I was curious what he'd say on the matter. "It'd be mighty hypocritical of him to go on judging someone by their blood status, being what he is."

Already on the defense, Lily demanded, "Being what he is? What's that supposed to mean? Exactly what do you think he is besides a brilliant wizard?" she looked at Sirius with a fire in her eyes.

Alice, Frank and Derek exchanged amused expressions.

Sirius looked surprised by the venom of her response, "Well it's just that whole blood status debate all over again, isn't it?" he asked with a shrug.

I smirked at the way Sirius seemed almost timid in reply to Lily's snap. It was rather impressive how quickly Lily had managed to put him in his place. I knew that Sirius didn't share the prejudices that the rest of his family had, otherwise I'd likely react the same way as her. She was a real live wire, I admired it.

"And what's the big deal with blood status?" Lily asked hotly. "Even Muggles are people, so why's it gotta be so black and white and separate? It doesn't matter or make any sense at all! I don't really care about who any of your families are; if I like you, or hate you," she added with a sharp glance at James, "it's based on you. As a person, on how you treat others."

Sirius shrugged. "Not all wizarding families agree with you."

"And not all of them disagree with you, either," added Bilius. "Look at my family. We're one of the oldest pureblood families in all the wizarding world and yet we don't give a damn about that blood status rubbish. The Weasley family's always been very open minded about that stuff. As long as you aren't evil, you're welcome with a Weasley."

Lily waved her hands at Bilius, "See! Now there is logic!"

"None of them are arguing with you," I pointed out calmly to Lily. "I wouldn't be friends with any of this lot if they treated us Muggleborns like that. Severus is the one who cares about all that tosh, remember?"

"Him and that lot he's been hanging round with in Slytherin," Sirius added. "I know. They're my family. Most of them are my cousins. They're into dark magic and support the Dark Lord. I've heard loads of nasty things about Lucius Malfoy. He's my cousin, you know."

Lily shook her head, "Well obviously Severus doesn't care."

"He will if he keeps hanging round those people," Sirius replied. "It's too easy to fall blindly into it. I know. My family kept me blind to it for years."

"So if your family's so awful, why aren't you like that?" Lily asked.

"I'm a rebel, aren't I?" Sirius asked, puffing up his chest proudly. "I'm only the second in the whole extended family and everything to be sorted outside of Slytherin. First in the Blacks. And to Gryffindor, no less! The ultimate disappointment." He laughed sarcastically and shook his head with a sigh, "Expect Mother will be waiting at the station with balloons to celebrate my return. I'm sure the whole family's quite proud."

Lily eased up a bit, and I leaned back in my seat, putting my feet up on Sirius' legs. Silence filled the compartment.

"So…" Derek Bell said after a few moments of awkwardness, "...it's Christmas."

"It's here again," agreed Bilius, nodding.

"Comes a bit faster each year," Derek said.

"Indeed," Bilius agreed. He glanced down at my empty bag, all the sweets I'd nicked from the kitchen gone. "Blimey, we ate all the cakes already! Sorry 'bout that, Sabrina."

I waved my hand, "What I brought 'em for, anyway."

At King's Cross station several hours later, our group shattered into parts as we met up with our families. The last to walk away, Lily, James and I watched Sirius walk dejectedly across the platform to a dismal-looking wizard down the way. "Well," I said, "That's everyone. I hope you two have a Happy Christmas."

"Thanks," Lily answered. She looked at James as well as me. "You too."

James nodded. "Yeah, same to you both. There's my folks over there," he said, pointing. "That's my mum with all the kleenex over there." I looked and saw a woman wiping her eyes with a ball of kleenex as she waved frantically to her son. James smiled. "Anyways. You ladies have a good break. See you on the way back."

"Cya, Potter!" I grinned. "Let's write to each other over the break."

"Yeah. See you," Lily replied with a smile.

She winked and turned away. I felt a funny twinge roll over my skin, like warmth from an unexpected source. I watched as Lily rushed off to join her parents, who wrapped her arms around her shoulders, pulling her tightly to her chest.

I heard my name being called behind me, and I squealed, running into the arms of my mum and dad. I was home once more.