*Chapter 10*
Sitting on the front steps of Hogwarts, looking over the snow covered land, lily was sitting thinking. And smoking. Lily didn't make it a habit to smoke, in fact, it revolted her. So why was she sitting on the front stoop of Hogwarts smoking? It was Christmas eve, Ryan had gone home, Remus, James, and Sirius had stayed, but they were off doing some Maurders thing, and Lily had received a letter from Petunia. The letter had stated that petunia was getting married, and that lily was to stay far away from the wedding because it was her fault their parents would not be there. How Petunia had convinced herself Lily was the cause of a car accident when she was in another country, she didn't know. But Lily was sitting there, on the front step of Hogwarts, smoking, contemplating about why her sister hated her, and about how this was going to be her first Christmas without her parents. Her first Christmas at Hogwarts too. How depressing.
"You know, smoking can kill you." Lily turned as she herd the voice, and a hand grabbed the cigarette from her. But instead of throwing it down like she thought he would he simply took a drag before passing it back to her. They sat quietly for a few minutes passing the cigarette back and forth, before Lily asked "So James, what brings you out to mope and smoke with me on Christmas eve?"
He stared at her for a minute before replying "you tell me why your out here first."
"Petunia sent a letter she's getting married." She took a shaky breath before continuing. "she blames me for their death." They were silent for a coupe more minutes before she added "This is my first Christmas without them." A single tear rolled down her cheek. Turning to him she said "your turn."
"My parents died 2 years ago tomorrow."
"They died on Christmas?"
"Yeah"
"Oh James, I'm sorry, I knew they died over break, but."
"It's alright Lils, you didn't know, I don't think I told anyone, well Sirius knew, but he was there. We had gone out for some eggnog. and when we came back. they were dead. Voldemort. Damn that bastard." He had been molding a snow ball, and at the word bastard he threw it.
They sat in silence for awhile, just looking out at Hogwarts, passing the cigarette. It began to snow, not hard, just a little, and the snow started to cling to their hair. Finally Lily stood up, throwing the cigarette away she said "look at us, moping on Christmas eve, they wouldn't want us to be like this." She didn't have to say who they meant; James knew she meant their parents. She scooped up a handful of snow from the railing and dumping it on James's head she jumped of the stairs at a run calling over her shoulder "Catch Me If You Can!"
"Why you little.."
She swirled around where she was standing a good twenty feet away and stuck her tongue out at him. And upon seeing him rise and start toward her, she took off again at a run. They spent the rest of the afternoon like that, Lily running away from James after hitting him with snow, James chasing her around trying to get her back, Which he couldn't seem to do. That was until, he hid behind a tree and jumped on top of her as she passed. And smearing snow in her face.
"awww Jaaaaammmmmeeesssss"
"Yes lily?"
She giggled as she wiped the snow out of her eyes. She open her eyes to see his smiling face, as he laid on top of her pushing her into the snow. Their gazes locked for a moment, and Lily's breath caught in her throat, as she realized how gorgeous his eyes were. And they stayed like that, James laying on top of Lily pushing her into the snow just looking into each others eyes, until a yell from somewhere ruined the moment. The both turned their heads towards the sound to see the start of a snowball fight break out between some third and fourth year students, before James rolled off Lily and lay in the snow next to her.
"Thanks Lils."
"For what?" she asked him confused.
"Being there"
"No problem, I needed it just as much as you did."
And with that the started on their way back up to the school, where they parted for their separate houses to get ready for dinner.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*!!!*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*!!!*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*!!!*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *!!!
Lily collapsed on her bed with a sigh, in her still wet clothes.
"What's up Lily?" She sat up startled before lying back down again when she saw who it was.
"Hey Charlie, you scared me."
"Sorry."
"It's alright. How's you day been?"
"Not too bad, pretty boring with Sarah and Cate (Kate) gone. How was yours? You look like you were in a snow fight."
"Yeah, it was alright, yeah I did, James came out."
"No Sirius? I thought they were attached at the hip."
"Ha-ha, no he was alone. He has Gorgeous eyes."
"Sirius? Yeah.. I know"
"Well I was talking about James. But Sirius has pretty cool eyes too. Wait a minute" Lily sat up. "YOU LIKE HIM!"
Charlie blushed. "well. maybe just a little."
Lily gave her a look
"Alright alright I confess, I think he's the cutest and sexiest man alive."
"You too would make such a cute couple!"
"oh.. I dunno."
"You WOULD!"
"you should get changed its almost time for dinner, I'll wait for you."
"you just want to change the subject."
"Yes.. I do."
"fine, ill drop it" Lily replied pulling off her wet clothes and slipping on dry ones.
And the two girls headed down to the great hall, talking about random nonsense. When they got to the great hall, they sat down at a table with the three boys, peter had gone home, and the great hall tables had been transfigured into circular smaller tables for the holidays, so houses could mingle easier. Lily sat in-between Remus and James, while Charlie sat between Remus and Sirius.
"hey boys." Lily greeted them as she slid into her chair. "up for a card tournament tonight?"
"what game?" "where? and "always." Where the answers she got.
"Sweet. Well. teams or single? Although we'll be one short if we do teams."
"We'll get Frank to play" Remus answered
"so teams I'm guessing. well we could do carry" Lily replied
"Sounds good. We can use our dorm, we'll smuggle you girls in." Sirius said with a wink at Charlie, who blushed.
"Wait. What is carry?" Charlie asked speaking up.
"Oh its fun, you have pairs, and you sit across from your partner in a circle. Two teams play at once by the way. So one team will have to sit out each round. Anyway. Each player has four cards, and there are four cards in the middle face up, and basically you try to get four of a kind, then signal your partner to say that you have four of a kind. Your partner has to call carry. And if they do you win. But if the other team calls you on it, they win. So your signal has to be discrete. Get it? Kind of?"
"yeah I think so, ill catch on, I'll sit out the first round. Watch."
By this time they had finished dinner and were started on their way to the Gryffindor tower. "Ok now the question is, should we just waltz in there with you guys, or should I go get the IC." James questioned.
"Get the cloak James the head girls in your house this year, and she stayed over break." Lily answered.
"Ok, I'll be right back." And the boys left for the dorm while the girls waited in a close corridor for James to come back.
"IC?" Charlie questioned.
"Oh James has an invisibility cloak, IC for short."
And before they knew it they were in the sixth year Gryffindor boy's dormitory, setting the guidelines for the tournament. Frank Longbottom, the fifth sixth year boy, who was more often than not found in the company of Alice White, originally his best friend now bordering on more than friends, had been recruited, and partnered with Remus, and James and Sirius had been dead set on breaking apart Remus and Lily the unbeatable pair, they had been playing since they could hold cards, they had gotten winning down to a science. James and Lily, and Sirius and Charlie, had paired off. And at the moment the two teams, James and Lily, and Remus and Frank, were discussing signals, while Sirius and Charlie were sitting drinking butter beers waiting for the games to begin.
"Ok. how about. the word fairy. say it and you have carry. Sound good?" Lily asked.
"Sure. Fairy. Sweet. Lets play."
And so. The competition began. They had decided that each pair would play three games against each other pair, (resulting in everyone playing six games), and after that, whoever had the least amount of wins after the first round was the loser, then the remaining two teams would play seven games, and whoever one the most was the winner, and got to pick the fates of the losers.
"Alright, let the games begin!" Lily said and they began to play. "So Remus. how are things going with Ry?" she continued. And she picked cards up and watched for what other people were doing.
"Oh. its good, I miss her, and she's only been gone four days."
"Awwwwww."
"shut up Lils."
"I will when Purple elephants roam the earth carrying a bag of pink toads on their backs."
"you're a crazy one lil" Charlie added.
"So James, find any new passage ways or secret rooms?" lily questioned.
"Actually, now that you mention it" he replied picking up a card. "I was talking to this picture of a nymph the other day.. or maybe it was a fairy, and she said something about a room near her, but she wouldn't let on anything else."
"CARRY!" Lily said
"Already?" Frank questioned.
"no fair lils!" Remus stated.
"Alls fair in love and war.. and cards." Lily and James said together, before looking up started, and then laughing, while Remus shuffled the deck and dealt again. Remus and frank one the next round, and Lily and James the last. Then Remus and Frank played Sirius and Charlie, Remus and Frank winning all three rounds, Sirius and Charlie then played James and Lily, only winning the last one, when James and lily were laughing to hard, after they brought up the subject of the old lady who passed them on the night of the Ataris concert, muttering about how they had no dignity. In the end, Remus and Frank one by one games, and subjected the others to wearing Halloween colors all of Christmas, because they were in a giving mood, that was all they did. Then James snuck the girls back to the Ravenclaw tower, where they collapsed laughing on their beds, saying it had been altogether a great Christmas eve. And when they head the clock in the Ravenclaw common room, strike twelve, they shouted "HAPPY CHRISTMAS HOGWARTS!" out a window, before saying goodnight, happy Christmas, and curled up in their beds to dream of sugar plumbs, and what ever else *cough* James and Sirius *cough*.
i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i! i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i
Sorry that took so long, I had to wait for my powercord to come, I was laptopless for a whole week *tear*. Anyway.. I made it long to make up for it! Yay me! I'll write again soon. I'm still sick. I got blood drawn today, I'm waiting for the results. Eugh. anyway.. Enjoy!
Thanks to: angelzsweet90
Foolish Fish
Carmel March
Foolish Fish
Swishy Willow Wand - be patient it'll be soon!
And DANI! - yay dani! I think you're at wicked right now ( i wish I was their, but I'm here, feeling like crap. *tear* Hope you had a good time!
Sitting on the front steps of Hogwarts, looking over the snow covered land, lily was sitting thinking. And smoking. Lily didn't make it a habit to smoke, in fact, it revolted her. So why was she sitting on the front stoop of Hogwarts smoking? It was Christmas eve, Ryan had gone home, Remus, James, and Sirius had stayed, but they were off doing some Maurders thing, and Lily had received a letter from Petunia. The letter had stated that petunia was getting married, and that lily was to stay far away from the wedding because it was her fault their parents would not be there. How Petunia had convinced herself Lily was the cause of a car accident when she was in another country, she didn't know. But Lily was sitting there, on the front step of Hogwarts, smoking, contemplating about why her sister hated her, and about how this was going to be her first Christmas without her parents. Her first Christmas at Hogwarts too. How depressing.
"You know, smoking can kill you." Lily turned as she herd the voice, and a hand grabbed the cigarette from her. But instead of throwing it down like she thought he would he simply took a drag before passing it back to her. They sat quietly for a few minutes passing the cigarette back and forth, before Lily asked "So James, what brings you out to mope and smoke with me on Christmas eve?"
He stared at her for a minute before replying "you tell me why your out here first."
"Petunia sent a letter she's getting married." She took a shaky breath before continuing. "she blames me for their death." They were silent for a coupe more minutes before she added "This is my first Christmas without them." A single tear rolled down her cheek. Turning to him she said "your turn."
"My parents died 2 years ago tomorrow."
"They died on Christmas?"
"Yeah"
"Oh James, I'm sorry, I knew they died over break, but."
"It's alright Lils, you didn't know, I don't think I told anyone, well Sirius knew, but he was there. We had gone out for some eggnog. and when we came back. they were dead. Voldemort. Damn that bastard." He had been molding a snow ball, and at the word bastard he threw it.
They sat in silence for awhile, just looking out at Hogwarts, passing the cigarette. It began to snow, not hard, just a little, and the snow started to cling to their hair. Finally Lily stood up, throwing the cigarette away she said "look at us, moping on Christmas eve, they wouldn't want us to be like this." She didn't have to say who they meant; James knew she meant their parents. She scooped up a handful of snow from the railing and dumping it on James's head she jumped of the stairs at a run calling over her shoulder "Catch Me If You Can!"
"Why you little.."
She swirled around where she was standing a good twenty feet away and stuck her tongue out at him. And upon seeing him rise and start toward her, she took off again at a run. They spent the rest of the afternoon like that, Lily running away from James after hitting him with snow, James chasing her around trying to get her back, Which he couldn't seem to do. That was until, he hid behind a tree and jumped on top of her as she passed. And smearing snow in her face.
"awww Jaaaaammmmmeeesssss"
"Yes lily?"
She giggled as she wiped the snow out of her eyes. She open her eyes to see his smiling face, as he laid on top of her pushing her into the snow. Their gazes locked for a moment, and Lily's breath caught in her throat, as she realized how gorgeous his eyes were. And they stayed like that, James laying on top of Lily pushing her into the snow just looking into each others eyes, until a yell from somewhere ruined the moment. The both turned their heads towards the sound to see the start of a snowball fight break out between some third and fourth year students, before James rolled off Lily and lay in the snow next to her.
"Thanks Lils."
"For what?" she asked him confused.
"Being there"
"No problem, I needed it just as much as you did."
And with that the started on their way back up to the school, where they parted for their separate houses to get ready for dinner.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*!!!*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*!!!*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*!!!*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *!!!
Lily collapsed on her bed with a sigh, in her still wet clothes.
"What's up Lily?" She sat up startled before lying back down again when she saw who it was.
"Hey Charlie, you scared me."
"Sorry."
"It's alright. How's you day been?"
"Not too bad, pretty boring with Sarah and Cate (Kate) gone. How was yours? You look like you were in a snow fight."
"Yeah, it was alright, yeah I did, James came out."
"No Sirius? I thought they were attached at the hip."
"Ha-ha, no he was alone. He has Gorgeous eyes."
"Sirius? Yeah.. I know"
"Well I was talking about James. But Sirius has pretty cool eyes too. Wait a minute" Lily sat up. "YOU LIKE HIM!"
Charlie blushed. "well. maybe just a little."
Lily gave her a look
"Alright alright I confess, I think he's the cutest and sexiest man alive."
"You too would make such a cute couple!"
"oh.. I dunno."
"You WOULD!"
"you should get changed its almost time for dinner, I'll wait for you."
"you just want to change the subject."
"Yes.. I do."
"fine, ill drop it" Lily replied pulling off her wet clothes and slipping on dry ones.
And the two girls headed down to the great hall, talking about random nonsense. When they got to the great hall, they sat down at a table with the three boys, peter had gone home, and the great hall tables had been transfigured into circular smaller tables for the holidays, so houses could mingle easier. Lily sat in-between Remus and James, while Charlie sat between Remus and Sirius.
"hey boys." Lily greeted them as she slid into her chair. "up for a card tournament tonight?"
"what game?" "where? and "always." Where the answers she got.
"Sweet. Well. teams or single? Although we'll be one short if we do teams."
"We'll get Frank to play" Remus answered
"so teams I'm guessing. well we could do carry" Lily replied
"Sounds good. We can use our dorm, we'll smuggle you girls in." Sirius said with a wink at Charlie, who blushed.
"Wait. What is carry?" Charlie asked speaking up.
"Oh its fun, you have pairs, and you sit across from your partner in a circle. Two teams play at once by the way. So one team will have to sit out each round. Anyway. Each player has four cards, and there are four cards in the middle face up, and basically you try to get four of a kind, then signal your partner to say that you have four of a kind. Your partner has to call carry. And if they do you win. But if the other team calls you on it, they win. So your signal has to be discrete. Get it? Kind of?"
"yeah I think so, ill catch on, I'll sit out the first round. Watch."
By this time they had finished dinner and were started on their way to the Gryffindor tower. "Ok now the question is, should we just waltz in there with you guys, or should I go get the IC." James questioned.
"Get the cloak James the head girls in your house this year, and she stayed over break." Lily answered.
"Ok, I'll be right back." And the boys left for the dorm while the girls waited in a close corridor for James to come back.
"IC?" Charlie questioned.
"Oh James has an invisibility cloak, IC for short."
And before they knew it they were in the sixth year Gryffindor boy's dormitory, setting the guidelines for the tournament. Frank Longbottom, the fifth sixth year boy, who was more often than not found in the company of Alice White, originally his best friend now bordering on more than friends, had been recruited, and partnered with Remus, and James and Sirius had been dead set on breaking apart Remus and Lily the unbeatable pair, they had been playing since they could hold cards, they had gotten winning down to a science. James and Lily, and Sirius and Charlie, had paired off. And at the moment the two teams, James and Lily, and Remus and Frank, were discussing signals, while Sirius and Charlie were sitting drinking butter beers waiting for the games to begin.
"Ok. how about. the word fairy. say it and you have carry. Sound good?" Lily asked.
"Sure. Fairy. Sweet. Lets play."
And so. The competition began. They had decided that each pair would play three games against each other pair, (resulting in everyone playing six games), and after that, whoever had the least amount of wins after the first round was the loser, then the remaining two teams would play seven games, and whoever one the most was the winner, and got to pick the fates of the losers.
"Alright, let the games begin!" Lily said and they began to play. "So Remus. how are things going with Ry?" she continued. And she picked cards up and watched for what other people were doing.
"Oh. its good, I miss her, and she's only been gone four days."
"Awwwwww."
"shut up Lils."
"I will when Purple elephants roam the earth carrying a bag of pink toads on their backs."
"you're a crazy one lil" Charlie added.
"So James, find any new passage ways or secret rooms?" lily questioned.
"Actually, now that you mention it" he replied picking up a card. "I was talking to this picture of a nymph the other day.. or maybe it was a fairy, and she said something about a room near her, but she wouldn't let on anything else."
"CARRY!" Lily said
"Already?" Frank questioned.
"no fair lils!" Remus stated.
"Alls fair in love and war.. and cards." Lily and James said together, before looking up started, and then laughing, while Remus shuffled the deck and dealt again. Remus and frank one the next round, and Lily and James the last. Then Remus and Frank played Sirius and Charlie, Remus and Frank winning all three rounds, Sirius and Charlie then played James and Lily, only winning the last one, when James and lily were laughing to hard, after they brought up the subject of the old lady who passed them on the night of the Ataris concert, muttering about how they had no dignity. In the end, Remus and Frank one by one games, and subjected the others to wearing Halloween colors all of Christmas, because they were in a giving mood, that was all they did. Then James snuck the girls back to the Ravenclaw tower, where they collapsed laughing on their beds, saying it had been altogether a great Christmas eve. And when they head the clock in the Ravenclaw common room, strike twelve, they shouted "HAPPY CHRISTMAS HOGWARTS!" out a window, before saying goodnight, happy Christmas, and curled up in their beds to dream of sugar plumbs, and what ever else *cough* James and Sirius *cough*.
i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i! i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i
Sorry that took so long, I had to wait for my powercord to come, I was laptopless for a whole week *tear*. Anyway.. I made it long to make up for it! Yay me! I'll write again soon. I'm still sick. I got blood drawn today, I'm waiting for the results. Eugh. anyway.. Enjoy!
Thanks to: angelzsweet90
Foolish Fish
Carmel March
Foolish Fish
Swishy Willow Wand - be patient it'll be soon!
And DANI! - yay dani! I think you're at wicked right now ( i wish I was their, but I'm here, feeling like crap. *tear* Hope you had a good time!
