~*~ Of Late Night Snacks And Pillow Fights ~*~

~There's something I hold onto

~Smiles that help me through the bad

~Thoughts so happy and light

~Like eating icecreams in winter

~Trampling autumn leaves

~Hot spring and summer nights

~Things that outshine the bad

~That still make life great

~And childhood seem so bright

~Special cherished memories

~Of late night snacks

~And pillow fights
'Lil-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Wake up!'

'Sirius, go back to bed.'

'No. You have to get up.'

'Why?'

'Er... good question. Hang on a sec. James, why does she have to get up again?'

I sat up and flicked on the light. Sirius was standing at the foot of my bed, whilst James, Remus and Peter were hovering in the doorway of our dorm.

'What do you guys want?' I asked groggily, rubbing my eyes.

'I'm not quite sure myself, but James did mention something about wanting to make passionate love to you,' Sirius said vaguely.

'Desperate are we, Potter?'

'I think not,' James snorted.

'Don't worry, Lily. Neither James nor Sirius have reached reproductive maturity yet,' Remus laughed.

'And you have?' Sirius shot back.

'I don't really want to hear this at three in the morning,' I sighed. 'What do you want?' The four exchanged glances.

'We're hungry,' they all said together.

'And this is my problem because... ?' I asked.

'Because Sirius left my invisibility cloak in here the last time we visited,' James said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

'Well, I haven't seen it anywhere,' I said innocently.

'You know, Evans - it is possible to be too innocent,' he replied, narrowing his eyes.

'I'm sure it is,' I replied evenly.

'Where is it, Lily, god damn it? I'm not in the mood for your games. I'm hungry,' he whined.

'And I wasn't in the mood to be woken up in the middle of the night. Give me one good reason why I should give you your cloak.'

'Um, let me see - because it's mine?' James said sarcastically.

'Because we're hungry?' Peter offered.

'Because you're madly in love with James and should do what he says?' Remus invented.

'Because if you do, James will kiss you and hug you and keep you company for the night and...'

'Sirius!'

My mouth dropped open and I immediately lay back down.

'Now I'm definitely not giving it to you.'

'Come off it, Lily. I'm not going to kiss you,' James groaned.

'I should hope not,' I scoffed.

'But he will hold you and whisper secrets in your ear and buy you chocolates and...'

'Sirius!' James and I said at the same time.

'Yes?'

'Would you just SHUT UP!'

'OK.'

'Lily, give me the cloak,' James demanded.

'Or he will molest you,' Sirius added.

'SIRIUS WOULD YOU GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER?' I yelled. People began to stir.

'Shut up or you'll wake up the whole castle,' James hissed.

'Oh, so it's OK if I get woken up, but not if everyone else does?'

'Lily, you're being ridiculous.'

And maybe I was. But I was also being stubborn. And when I had my mind set on something, I wouldn't budge. It was going to take a lot before I'd hand over that cloak. Which, might I add, I didn't even have. But he didn't have to know that. It was rather amusing, watching James Potter get riled up over nothing.

'Am I really? I think you are. After all, you're the one in a girls dormitory, at three in the morning, telling me you're hungry. I think you should learn to eat at dinner time.'

'We do,' Sirius whined.

'Well I don't see the predicament then. Go back to bed.'

With incredible speed, James cross the distance between himself and my bed, jumped up and landed on the foot of my bed. He rested his palms either side of my head and leaned over me, bringing his face close to mine.

'Give us the cloak and we will leave you alone.'

I attempted to roll over and tried to ignore the fact that James Potter was practically lying on top of me.

'Stuff it, Potter.'

'Where?'

'Not this again. Get off me,' I snapped, sitting up again. He slowly crawled off my bed.

'I don't know where your stupid cloak is. I was being annoying. I think Hilary took it the other day and hid it somewhere. You'll have to ask her.'

The boys gaped at me.

'You never knew?' James said disbelievingly. 'No.'

'Why you...' he said mischievously. He grabbed a pillow from the foot of my bed and threw it at me.

'Hey!' I immediately threw it back. Followed by another. And another.

Sirius grabbed one and threw it at me. James and Remus took the other two. They both hit me at the same time.

'That's it...' I said, hopping out of bed. I picked one up and began smacking any part of their male anatomy I could find.

'Die, Potter!' I laughed.

'Would you guys shut up?' Hilary moaned.

'No!' James laughed, pummeling me on the back with a pillow.

'What am I missing out on?' Bella demanded.

'A pillow fight!' Sirius exclaimed gleefully, pulling back her curtains to steal one of her pillows.

'Hey! Give that back!' she giggled, grabbing another to hit him with. It wasn't long before the whole dorm was up, Hilary grumbling along the way but joining in anyhow.

After ten minutes of a full-on pillow war, I was tiring out. Going for one last attack, I ambushed James and pushed him to the ground, falling with him.

'Pinned ya,' I grinned, flopping onto his stomach. He narrowed his eyes and rolled us over, so that he was on top.

'You were saying?'

Will great effort, I rolled us over a second time and immediately sat astride his stomach before he could roll a third time.

'Pinned ya again,' I teased.

'OK, OK! I surrender! You can get off now.'

Smirking triumphantly, I hopped off and sat down next to him.

'Why am I always the first person to get woken up?' I asked out of curiosity.

'Because Hilary would attack me, and Bella is too far away. You're closer to the door.'

'Lazy,' I snorted. 'No, just practical. And intelligent. Our dorm is set out as such: Sirius near the door, then me, Remus, then Peter, followed by the other Gryffindor guy. Marc or something. Who would you wake first?' 'You or Remus.'

'Why?'

'Because Sirius is too hyper, and I don't really know Peter. Remus seems the cool-headed type, so he'd probably be peaceable when woken. I don't know,' I shrugged. 'And I know you better than the others.'

'Right. Same as me. With the exclusion of Hilary, I know you better. And Hilary would kill me if I woke her up. I have a logical explanation behind my actions,' he said smartly.

'What are you two up to in the corner?' Bella asked breathlessly after sitting down and resting her head on Sirius's shoulder. I poked my tongue out at her.

'Lily can't keep away from me. She finds me too impossibly attractive,' James answered smoothly.

'Impossible; yes. Attractive; no,' I laughed. He trembled his lip and gave me puppy eyes.

'Awww, but Lily! Aren't I just the tiniest bit cute?'

'Nope, not really.'

'I know that deep down, you think I am the most attractive guy on this earth.'

'Not at all.'

'Who do you think is the most attractive guy on this earth?'

'Ozzy Osbourne.'

'You have got to be kidding.'

'I'm not.'

'You have to be.'

'OK, so I am. But I don't find you in any way attractive.'

'You're a liar.'

'Am not.'

'You have to be. You told me on the first day that I was pretty handsome. So either you were lying then, or you're lying now.'

I poked my tongue out at him.

'Geez, you guys act like you're married already,' Remus said with a laugh. 'We are,' James replied sweetly. Sirius, Hilary and Bella snorted. Peter gave a squeak that I supposed resembled a laugh.

I raised an eyebrow.

'We are?'

'Oh, yeah. Not yet. Um, Lily? Would you marry me?' he asked, dramatically pulling his ring off his finger.

'Get a room!' Sirius cried, covering his eyes with his hands.

James grinned and I took his ring off him and placed it back in his palm, closing his fingers over it.

'I'm sorry James, but I feel that I am not quite ready to take that big a step in our relationship.'

'We should wait-'

'Like ten years -'

'And maybe-'

'We might be ready-'

'Around then-'

'But not before,' I grinned, making it clear the topic was closed. Everyone was watching us with raised eyebrows. Bella especially.

'Do I have something that's yours?' I asked her pointedly.

James returned Hilary's look.

'See anything you like?' he added.

'Oh yeah, baby. I'm in love with my brother,' Hilary said dryly, rolling her eyes. 'James, would you just hurry up and ask her out?'

'Why?'

'Because you like her,' Sirius quipped. 'Duh.'

'I do? Lily, according to my sister and best friend, I like you. I don't dislike you, so I suppose this is true. Will you go out with me?'

'No,' I said calmly.

'That's lucky, because no offense, I don't exactly have those kind of feelings towards you,' he replied, eyes twinkling.

'Me neither,' I laughed. 'So it's very lucky. No hard feelings?'

'No hard feelings.'

We shook hands.

'You guys are one clown short of a circus,' Remus laughed.

'I thought they were funny,' Sirius said.

'That's what he meant, Sirius,' Bella sighed.

'Oh.'

'Sirius, why don't you just hurry up and ask Bella out?' I mimicked.

'Why?'

'Because you like her,' James grinned. 'Duh.'

'Arabella Figg, will you go out with me?'

'OK then,' Bella agreed. Sirius blinked, then jumped up and pointed at James.

'HA HA! You got turned down and I didn't!'

'Big deal, Sirius. I was joking. In your case, you actually have a relatively large crush on Bella, therefore it is lucky she said yes.'

We all sat in silence for a minute. It was interrupted by a gurgling sound. Everyone looked at Sirius.

'What? I'm hungry, OK?' he said defensively.

'Met too,' James sighed.

'Me three,' said Remus.

'Me four,' Peter added.

'Me five,' Bella piped up.

James elbowed me. I sighed.

'Me six.'

Everyone looked to Hilary.

'I'm not hungry.'

She was met by a room full of raised eyebrows.

'What? I'm not! But I'm not stopping you guys.'

'Who's going?' Sirius asked.

'Bags not me,' Remus, Bella and Hilary said together. 'Bags not me,' Peter quickly added. James and Sirius looked at me. I shrugged.

'One of you come too,' I asked Hilary and Bella. They both shook their heads.

'We don't bite, Lily,' James teased.

'I know,' I said dryly. 'But a girl's got to have back up. You know. Girl power!' I raised a fist to punch the air, the movement lacking enthusiasm.

'If you don't want to go, me and Sirius will. I think only two of us will fit under the cloak, anyway.'

'You can go with Lily. If Bella stays, I stay,' Sirius said sulkily. Bella laughed.

'Aww, can't iddle widdle Sirius stay away from Bella?' she cooed. He put his arms around her and hugged her tight.

'Back away! She's mine! Back away, and nobody gets hurt!'

'Er, Sirius? Can you let me go? You're sort of choking me,' Bella wheezed.

'Sorry,' Sirius said, releasing her.

James shook his head and stood, offering me a hand to help me up. I declined, and got up of my own accord.

'The cloak's in my trunk,' Hilary said before James could open his mouth. He gave me a mock glare before moving across the room to retrieve it. I walked towards the door, shoving James as I walked past.

'Next time, you wake your sister.'

'I will. You may not lash out like she does, but that mouth of yours is just as bad. She's also quick to cooperate so I'll leave her alone,' he said, throwing the cloak over us.

'Really?' I asked absent mindedly, peering around the door. 'It's safe.'

We walked down the stairs. Halfway, we were met by a mewing sound. Storm Shadow was blocking our way.

'How can he see us?' James whispered.

'He's smart. Sixth sense,' I whispered back. 'Move, Shadow.'

Storm Shadow flicked his tail before moving aside. We continued down, my cat padding after us.

'Does he have to come?' James whined as we slipped out of the Portrait Hole.

'No. But he wants to. Besides, it's probably not a bad idea. He can warn us when people are coming.'

'Whatever,' he sighed. 'Come on, it's this way.'

How James could possibly remember the way to the kitchen and back again was beyond me, because I'd lost all sense of direction after about five minutes. Though, I supposed, he had been at Hogwarts longer than I had. We soon arrived at a portrait of a fruit bowl. James came to a stop.

'What now?' I hissed.

'We tickle the pear,' James laughed. Storm Shadow mewed and disappeared into the shadows. Probably until we came back. James looked around before pulling off the cloak, then indeed tickled the pear in the painting. The portrait swung open.

'Come on.'

I stepped in hesitantly, James following me. I could only manage one word.

'Wow.'

In the centre of the kitchen, which was bordered by benches and sinks and stoves and such, were four large tables identical to the house tables in the Great Hall.

'The Great Hall is just above us,' James explained. 'They set out all the food, then magically swap the tables with the ones directly above them.'

'Awesome.'

When James said 'they', I figured he meant the house elves. The whole room was filled with them.

'Arla!' I exclaimed. I recognised the apron I had double-folded for her. She looked up at me and gave a toothy smile.

'Miss Lily! Arla has not seen you for many weeks! Did Miss Lily enjoy her holidays?'

'I had a great time. What about you?'

'Arla loves Christmas time. All the interesting food we can make!' she replied. 'Did Master James and Miss Lily want anything?' she asked suddenly.

'Anything you've got to spare, arla, would be wonderful,' James smiled.

'Of course!' Arla said, bowing. Six of the house elves immediately began scurrying around, organising a basket of food.

'Where is Masters Sirius, Remus and Peter, Master James?' squeaked another elf.

'They're back in Gryffindor Tower. We're going to take some food up to them.'

'Ragin shall get Master Sirius some licorice!' it replied.

'I'm sure he would love that, Ragin,' James laughed. 'He loves his licorice.'

'Would you like some pumpkin juice?' Arla asked, holding a goblet up to me. I bent down and accepted it.

'Thank you.'

James took a glass from Ragin and we both drank them quickly.

'Anything else, Miss Lily or Master James?'

'No thank you. But thanks for what you've given us. You're very generous,' James said.

'Yes, thanks. It looks good,' I added, looking down at the basket of goodies in my hands. The elves all bowed.

'You're welcome,' they all chattered, giving toothy smiles. I couldn't help but smile back. They were so cute!

James peered around the portrait hole.

'It's clear. Come on,' he whispered, throwing the cloak over us. We stepped out, and closed the portrait quietly.

'Shadow,' I called softly. I was answered by a quietly meow and he soon slinked into view.

'Off we go,' I said, giving James a shove.

We were just at the start of the corridor that led to Gryffindor Tower when Shadow stopped short, back arched and hairs raised. I grabbed James's arm.

'Wait,' I whispered. We stood for a moment, and, soon enough, we heard footsteps. James pulled us back against the wall.

'Come on, Mrs Norris. See if we can catch any students out of bed,' cackled a voice quietly.

'Filch,' James groaned.

Argus Filch was the school caretaker, and had been so for three years. This was his fourth. From what I had heard, throughout this period of time he had been hated by all students. The feeling seemed mutual, because he delighted in punishing students for the pettiest of crimes and confiscating items for fun. I had heard many stories about Filch. Most of them saying he had been expelled and wanted to seek revenge by annoying students. He was fairly young; about in his twenties, but looked like someone who had aged before their time. He had mangled and twisted black/grey hair and bloodshot eyes. Many a time had I been scared out of my wits when he had popped out of nowhere: he knew every single passage in the school.

Mrs Norris was Filch's new cat. He had got her at the start of the year, which made her younger than Storm Shadow, I thought, who was now not quite a kitten but not quite a cat yet, either. Mrs Norris was just about the only living thing other than the teachers that went near Filch out of free will. Where he got the name Mrs Norris for that cat, though, I don't know.

James and I both held our breaths as Filch approached, waiting for him to walk past. Then I had a horrible thought. If Storm Shadow could see us, could Mrs Norris? Filch stopped just before he reached us and had a look around. I sighed with relief when I saw that he had Mrs Norris in his arms. Better than her sneaking around in the shadows. 'Where are they, my pretty?' Mrs Norris's tail was flicking in spasms, while her lamp-like eyes slowly travelled around. James and I both stood as still as we could when her gaze moved over us. She stopped for a moment, looking directly at the place where we stood.

Suddenly, Storm Shadow padded out of the dark corner he had been hiding in right into full view of Filch. Both the caretaker's and Mrs Norris's head snapped around.

'What's a little kitty like you doing roaming the castle at night? I know you. You're Evan's cat, aren't you?'

I watched in disbelief as Filch crouched down and scratched Shadow behind the ears. I guess he just had a soft spot for cats in general. They had obviously offered him better company than humans.

After an agonising couple of minutes, Filch continued off down the corridor, Shadow slinking around his feet. James and I crossed our fingers and shared another sigh of relied when he walked past the turn to the portrait hole.

'Traitor,' James muttered good-naturedly after Shadow.

'He just saved your butt; cut him some slack,' I laughed, punching him gently.

'Let's go,' James breathed, and we walked as quick as we could back to the portrait. We pulled off the cloak.

'Draco Dormiens,' James puffed, still catching his breath. The Fat Lady eyed us disapprovingly.

'What are you young Gryffindors doing up so late?' she clucked, but swung open anyway.

We scrambled inside, then leaned our backs against the shut portrait, breathing heavy.

'Well, there's our excitement for today,' I joked.

'Yeah,' James laughed.

We were just heading upstairs when the portrait swung open again. We both froze, but then laughed when Shadow slipped in.

'You scared us,' I scolded good-naturedly, scratching him behind the ears. He purred in response.

'Yes, you did good,' I praised. I reached into the basket and broke a corner of a muffin and gave it to him before continuing up the stairs after James.

'What took you so long?' Sirius asked when we walked in. 'We were getting worried,' Bella added.

'Oh, nothing much. We just got sidetracked in the kitchens, then almost got caught by Filch and that stupid cat of his,' James explained.

'What?' Remus laughed.

'Do tell,' added Hilary.

So we told them our story while eating our way through the delicious selection of muffins, biscuits and cakes. Those house elves could cook!

'Well,' Sirius said once James had finished explaining, his mouth full of food. 'Filch or no Filch, I think your excursion was very much worth it.'

Everyone readily agreed.

'So should we go to bed or what?' Peter asked once all the food was gone. Everyone stared at him.

'Nah,' we all laughed together.

'Well what then?' Remus asked. Everyone looked to Sirius who had stood and picked up a pillow.

'Anyone for another pillow fight?'

~*~AUTHOR'S NOTE~*~

How's that for a quick chapter out? I was going to post it right after the last one but thought I'd wait a bit first. *cackles evilly* and it's my longest chapter, I think.

I know that the last few chapters have pretty much been rambling about absolutely nothing and not much has progressed but the next chapter will be more plot-related, I promise.

Well, here are my thank yous.

Angelxd14: Thank you! It's not going anywhere!

Maigon Jesolite : Thank you for all of your reviews. And I know what you mean about homework and exams. They suck!

Stefanorkle: Here it is!

Celine: No offense people with white teeth, but when people have teeth that are just SOO white it looks fake it just annoys me. Oh, and that story email i sent you? It's a weird thing I thought up. You don't have to do it if you don't want to. But you just reply to it. Like I think it asked 'can i trust u?' so you reply and say 'yes u can trust me' or whatever. Yeah, all true about the English teacher. It's all sorted now. We were sort of laying off on the homework anyway though, now. But it bought me more time. I've been learning Italian for seven years, and this is my eighth. I think it's a really great language and I'd love to go to Italy one day. I love their culture. Yes - I totally agree about James and Lily being too young. And yeah - everyone else does seem to disagree. But I can't possibly imagine how kids so young could even begin to understand love. And as for the scenarios where they meet like in first year and go out forever more - it's not realistic. We all go through lots of relationships before we settle down. It's unlikely they'd meet 'the one' at such a young age. Even when they do eventually get together in my story, it'll be a lot of arguments and a few break ups and get-back-togethers before they actually realise they love each other. Oh well. Thank you for your review!

LadySiri: He-he. Mad dash: that's me! Well, not really. I'm an organisation and punctuality freak but hey. I know what it's like sometimes.

The Elfin Child: *smacks Paige and Jessica also*

Amelia Bedelia: OMG what a nice review. I started reading 'Light' after that, it's really good. I love Sirius too! Um, I'm planning to do their whole lives until their deaths, and I'm hoping not to skip any years. But I might. I would have absolutely no idea how many chapters. A lot. I might do separate postings for each year. I mean it's only been like six months and its like 12 chaps. Who knows how many there'll be for like fifteen years! It's definitely going to be a loooong story.

Lily Hawk: I have readers from all over the world! How cool!

Erin; OMG how sweet! Thank you!

Candy: That's what i put the translations in for lol. By the wya if anyone italian out there is reading this - i know its not the best italian it's only my second language so I'm not that good! Have mercy! Well tell me about ur story when u post it.

Squorpionlady: Yeah, I know. Updating does take awhile. Keep up ur story, its good.

Kat: here it is!

Kewpie: OMG someone laughed! Lol. Nevermind me, everyone's always telling me I'm not funny. Deep down, I know they all find me hilarious.

Clearbrook: Thank you for always seeming to like all of my chapters!

Well, that's everyone, I think. If not, I'm sure I mentioned you in Jessica's little ramble in the last chapter. Oh yeah except for fanficfan. Thank you fanficfan! I didn't forget you! Lols. Bye byes, everyone!

SezZie