Hi everybody! Sadly, my play is over at my local theater company! On the upside, I'll have much more time for you guys to post and answer reviews—but I'm upset! Two of my good friends are graduating this year and won't be coming back to the theater ever, and I'm going to miss 'em! sniffs We used to have cheesecake eating parties together… I'm not joking, either!

Anyway, I think that I understand your synopsis of Yu-Gi-Oh so far, AnimeAngel90. Hehehe! Maybe the only reason that I didn't get it was because I didn't understand the spirit thing. But thanks! LOL!

Yay! Starborn likes cheesecake too! Hooray! You know what's really, really tasty? Cheescake with chocolate crust and caramel drizzled all over the top in all its lusciousness…God, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! AH! And Lion King is my favorite Disney movie ever! That, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast.

I'm sorry, Virginia, but I really don't want to give out my email address! L Sorry! But I would love to read your stuff when and if you post in on fanfiction! I'll review you all the time!! I pinky-promise!

Anywho—Enjoy the new chapter!! I'll probably post another tomorrow… or after dinner… LOL!

  

Chapter 14

Christmas

It was a Christmas Break like Lily had never experienced. Every day was filled with non-stop laughter and fun. Because her room was still drenched, Lily slept in the empty bed in the marauder's dormitory.

Peter didn't appreciate her presence in the room, and made this well known. But nobody else cared, and so Lily stayed.

Each night, Lily and the marauders played wizard chess, roasted marshmallows, or just hung out and talked.

On Christmas Eve, everyone was very excited. The castle was decorated with hundreds of Christmas trees sprinkled everywhere, and sometimes the suits of armor would sing if you asked them to. So, James and Sirius had fun running down the corridors commanding the armor to sing the twelve days of Christmas over and over in rounds. Lily had to admit it was funny, and she even joined in for a while.

When the Christmas feast ended, Lily and the marauders headed back up to the dormitories, yawning, and rubbing their full stomachs.

"Geeze! That feast keeps getting better and better. I dunno how those elves out-do themselves each year." Sirius said, flopping down on the couch in front of the fire.

"Anyone up for some Exploding Snap?" James asked, picking the deck of cards off the table and shuffling them a few times.

"Only if it's Strip-Snap!" Sirius said.

"Sure. For you." James groaned. "Deal you in, Remus?"

Remus considered this for a moment, "Why not? I'll show you all how the master plays Snap." And he joined Sirius and James at the table.

"Peter? Lily?" James asked. "You all know you want to…"

"I'll pass, thanks." Lily replied, grabbing her book off the table and sinking into one of the fluffy chairs.

"Me too." Peter said sharply. He sat roughly into a chair, and scowled over the Daily Prophet's front page.

"Dokey-okey." James said. "Remus, you're first…"

Snap was a lot like Muggle War and Poker combined. Remus placed down a card with a royal and ravishing king on it, and chuckled.

"Beat that." He taunted.

"Don't think I can…" James laughed, glancing over his hand, and tossing down a six. Sirius played even worse, and laughed maliciously.

"You know what that means." Remus said. "King beats 6… and 6 beats 4. Sirius?"

"Oh God…" James moaned, shielding his eyes, as Sirius unbuttoned his cloak and whipped it around his head like a helicopter.

"Bam!" He hollered happily, flinging his cape at Lily. "It's about to get hot in herre!" Sirius took his seat back at the table.     

"Oh yay. I've got Sirius's cloak." Lily cheered unenthusiastically, her sarcasm painfully obvious.

"I know you want it." Sirius said. "Brace yourselves: The Black Magic is at work." He said cockily as he laid down a 7.

"Hm…" James said, throwing a 9 onto the tabletop. "Beat that one, Remus."

"Like this?" Remus sniggered, placing down a 10. "Sirius? Your shirt, please?"

By the time a half hour had passed, Sirius was in nothing but his boxers, James was without a shirt, sox, or belt, and Remus was fully clothed, with only his shoe on the table.

"I think we'd better stop playing before Sirius winds up with no clothes." Remus said, eyeing Sirius nervously.

"Good idea." James chuckled, pulling his shirt back over his head.

"Aw! But it was just getting good!" Sirius moaned. "I actually thought I would win that hand!"

"We're sparing ourselves while we have the chance." James laughed. "Well, I'm off to bed." He said, walking up the stairs, skipping two at a time.

Lily hung around in the common room a little longer talking with Remus, before also heading up to bed.

The next morning, Lily awoke, rubbing her eyes. She sat up in bed, pulled back her curtains, and saw a small pile of presents on the foot of her four-poster.

"Happy Christmas, everyone!" She shouted. Sirius's head popped out from between his curtains.

"Happy Christmas…" Remus slurred.

Lily didn't wait for the others to wake up, but instead ripped open some of her packages. A book from Madison… a bracelet from Belle… and a lifetime supply of candy from the marauders.

"Thanks, guys." Lily said, biting into a Honeyduke's chocolate bar.

She watched the boys open their gifts, and then headed down to breakfast.

There weren't many people still at Hogwarts, but it didn't matter so much. Lily couldn't help but notice that a few of the Hufflepuff seventh year girls were watching James and Sirius intently, and giggling occasionally. They flipped their golden-blonde hair, and batted their eyelashes, trying to get their attention.

"Watch out for those two." Lily warned them in a whisper. "They've been pointing over here for the past twenty minutes."

"Really? Where?" James asked, scanning the hall.

"Them…" Lily replied, pointing the girls out. "Patricia… and Janna, is it?" James watched them carefully, and then leaned over to Sirius.

"Hey Si, what do you think about those girls?" He asked. "They look pretty good to me…" For some reason, this comment made Lily uneasy.

Sirius glanced over his shoulder nonchalantly, and answered, "Sure. Why not?"

Lily turned to watch as James and Sirius excused themselves from the table and made their way over to the girls. She surveyed the scene as the girls laughed hysterically, and placed their hands on James's shoulder.

"What are you looking at?" Remus asked, though he knew full well what she was observing.

"Them." Lily said, nodding towards the Hufflepuff table. "Those girls are so… stupid." She said, watching them flip their hair again.

Remus shrugged and answered, "Well, what can you do?"

"Sirius and James deserve better than them."

"I'd certainly like to think so." Remus said. "But, then again, that's never stopped them before…" He paused, and glanced at Lily. "But I don't think they realize yet that there's more to romance than a pretty face."

"They're immature and thick." Lily hooted. "Everyone knows that."

"Could be." Remus said, shaking his head.

Lily paused for a moment. "I wish they'd grow up, sometimes."

"Why?"

"Because… they always act like nothing's a big deal… when it is."

"You mean James being the Heir of Gryffindor and Sirius almost murdering Snape?" Remus nodded. "Honestly, they are grown up… they just let go a lot of the time."

"Like when were they grown up?" Lily asked in disbelief.

"When James brought you out of the forest? What about when the Death Eaters stopped the train? What about--?"

"Okay, okay." Lily sighed. "I guess they are more mature than I give them credit for." She said, scrunching up her mouth. "But then why do they always act so childish?"

"I don't know." Remus said.

"Maybe they're insecure?"

"Maybe."

At this moment, Lily noticed that Peter was inspecting her. Their eyes met for a moment, then he glanced down at his half-eaten breakfast. An expression of guilt flashed across his face. James and Sirius returned to the table looking pleased with themselves.

"Well?" Lily prompted.

"We are officially dating." Sirius replied smugly.

"Well-- not each other." James corrected.

"We're not?" Sirius asked him, his lip trembling. "But James… I thought we had something special…"

"Sirius!" James silenced him. "Not in front of Peter! Remember the last time…"

"Oh! Right. He got jealous last time…" Sirius said, eyeing him. Lily smiled, and shook her head.

"Freaks." She muttered.

"Who? Us?"

"Shhh! You don't have to advertise it!" Sirius said, putting a finger to his lips.