On the fifth day of Christmas, my best friends gave to me

Five Chocolate Frogs,

four Butterbeers,

three broomsticks

two phoenixes

and a box of Bertie Bott's Beans.


Lily decided to wander the corridors again the next day. James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were up in the Common Room still. James was determined to beat Remus at chess, which, if he started trying now, should happen sometime around the year 2067. Sirius and Peter were in their dorm wrapping the remaining presents they had. And Lily, having nothing else to do, had gone to wander the school again. She retraced her steps from the previous day, though she wasn't sure why. She hadn't found anything of interest anyway.


She could hear it again. Someone was crying. Making sure no one was around to interrupt her this time, Lily followed the sounds to the same room as before. She took a deep breath and silently opened the door. It was much more dimly lit inside the room than in the corridor, but her eyes only needed a few seconds to adjust. It was full of old bookshelves, probably from the library. Whoever was crying was definitely in this room.


"Hello?" she whispered. The crying abruptly stopped. "Is anyone in here?"


"Go away." a voice called out.


"Is that you Snape?" Lily asked, surprised.


"I said go away Evans." Came the angry reply.


"Are you okay?" she asked, sitting down next to him. He didn't reply. "How come you're crying?"


"None of your business Mudblood."


"Don't yell at me, I just wanted to know if something is wrong." she snapped.


"Nothings wrong. Not as if you care anyway." he muttered. They were silent for what felt like a long time. Lily didn't know why she didn't leave. Something kept telling her to stay there.


"So, why aren't you home for Christmas?" Lily asked.


"Because I'm not wanted there."


"Not wanted? What do you mean?"


"I mean, I'm not wanted at home. My...stepfather doesn't like me. So unless I want to be beaten senseless, I stay here."


"He...he beats you?" she asked softly.


"I hate him. I've hated him since the moment I saw him. But I bring it on myself." he replied, hanging his head.


"Don't say that. Nothing you could have done gives him the right to beat you."


"I know what to say to set him off. Sometimes...sometimes I'll provoke him into beating me."


"Why would you do that?" she gasped.


"So he can't beat my mother. If he hits me at least he won't hit her. Not that it matters anymore."


"What do you mean?" she asked, touching his shoulder gently. He pulled away, standing up angrily.


"I don't want or need you to feel sorry for me, Mudblood!"


"Excuse me for trying to help!"


"I don't need help from a Gryffindor. Just leave me the Hell alone Evans!" he yelled, storming out of the room.


"See if I ever listen to him again." she muttered.

*******

"Its perfect. Nothing can go wrong." Sirius was saying as Lily walked into the Common Room. She'd just come down from her dorm from studying the Merry Christmas Charm, though she'd told the Marauders that she was wrapping their presents.


"Famous last words?" Lily asked, sitting down next to James.


"Precisely." Remus replied.


"You say that as though this were doomed to failure." Sirius protested.


"Because normally when you say nothing can go wrong, something goes wrong." James pointed out.


"What are you plotting this time?" Lily asked.


"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." James said innocently. Lily knew better than to be fooled.


"Peter, Remus, what are they plotting?" she asked.


"Nothing, just like they said." Remus replied.


"You aren't fooling me you know. I know you're up to something."


"What makes you say that Lily dear?" James asked.


"Its fairly obvious. Besides, you are all lousy liars."


"We are planning anything, honest." Peter spoke up.


"Tell me Peter." Lily said. "Tell me what they're plotting."


"Th-there's nothing to tell."


"Peter." she said, her eyes narrowing. There was a note of warning in her voice that said one more strike and you're out. "Tell me."


"Sirius wants to hex the Christmas tree in the Slytherin House to explode." he squeaked.


"Peter!" James and Sirius cried.


"What? I'm not going to make her mad. She's scarier than you two when she's mad."


"He has a point guys." Remus pointed out.


"I'd have gotten it out of you somehow." Lily told them. "It was just easier to ask Peter."


"Only because he's afraid of you. The rest of us are more resistant to you." Sirius said.


"You're one to talk. If anyone ever wants to get anything out of you, all they have to do is scratch you behind the ears, human or not."


"Why, what happens?" Remus asked.


"His foot wiggles like a dog and he'll tell you anything."


"I will not!"


"How exactly do you know that?" James asked.


"One of his ex-girlfriends told me."


"Which one? There's only about a thousand." Peter pointed out.


"Tamika." James was laughing harder than anyone. "And you are even easier for me to get information out of."


"You have an unfair advantage though." he pointed out.


"And what's that?"


"I love you and I'd do anything for you." James replied, kissing her.


"Oh gag me." Sirius said, acting as though he were going to throw up.


"Gladly." Remus grinned, holding a pillow over his face.


"So, are we going to hex the Slytherin tree or what?" Sirius asked after Remus stopped trying to suffocate him.


"Making a Christmas tree explode? Oh that's really in the Christmas spirit." Lily said sarcastically.


"It belongs to the Slytherins. I'm just putting it out of its misery."


"You're awful, you know that?"


"Is that a 'yes go ahead and hex it' I just heard?" James asked hopefully.


"No. Its a 'you four better behave yourselves if you don't want McGonnagall to give you a detention on Christmas'."


"But it will be fun." Sirius protested.


"Sirius, every time you call something fun, we get a detention." Remus spoke up.


"Not every...well, okay, every time." Sirius conceded. "But who says detention isn't fun."


"I do." James, Remus, and Peter said in unison, all raising their hands.


"You're all conspiring against me." Sirius moped.


"Sirius, would you want Snape to hex our Christmas tree? Besides, McGonnagall is going to know perfectly well who hexed it if you do anything." Lily pointed out.


"Its not always us." Sirius protested. Then he seemed to realize what he'd just said. "Okay, yeah, it is always us."

***********

Lily lay awake long into the night that night. She couldn't help it, she just kept thinking of Snape. There had to be something more, she told herself. Not being able to go home for Christmas wasn't enough to make someone as proud as him cry like that. Certainly not more than once. Try as she might, she couldn't push him out of her mind. What is wrong with you Lily? Why do you keep thinking about him? Its not natural. Trying to take her mind off him, she began thinking about the Merry Christmas Charm. She had to find a way to put it on them without them knowing, as she wanted it to be a surprise. She'd already tested it on herself. Perhaps at dinner tomorrow. They usually didn't notice much of what was going on when they had food in front of them. If not then, she could always sneak into their dorm that night. Lily sighed and finally began to fall asleep. But before she did, she silently promised herself to try and find out just what was wrong with Snape. Maybe Remus was right, she thought. Maybe she was too nice for her own good.