Thanks for reviewing. So-- I'll try to meet some suggestions. They were good ones-- thanks. Things will be happening, I promise-- eventually. (smiles) ---Anyway. I know they don't do much beside classes, studying, and homework, but that's mainly because it's school, and that's what you do in school, so I was trying to be realistic. But I know that gets boring, and old, so don't worry- the ball and Christmas holidays are coming up soon. And Hogsmeade in this chapter!

What You Don't Know

Sirius Black woke up earlier than he usually did. Sirius didn't like being up early- it was unnatural, in his opinion. But when he glanced at the clock, it read 7:00. Remus and Peter's hanging were still drawn closed, but James' were open. Sirius smirked to himself.
James wasn't usually an early riser either.
Sirius dragged himself out of bed. He didn't bother to thrown on robes; Sirius could care less who saw him in a t-shirt and boxer shorts. He wouldn't get in trouble for it either- he was far too charming.
As he walked down the dormitory stairs, he wondered idly where Prongs had run off to. It wasn't likely to be the kitchen- breakfast was in an hour, after all. Although- the thought of the kitchens made his stomach growl. It wasn't a bad idea.
He paused as he reached the bottom of the staircase, and saw, to his amazement, the fire blazing- and Lily sitting in one armchair, with-- Prongs across from her? Sirius grinned with a rather wicked boyish delight.
'GOOOOD morning!!' he announced cheerfully, bounding over to the fire. Prongs jumped, and Lily came close to falling out of her chair.
'Padfoot!' James muttered, glaring at him. 'You idiot.'
Lily was half-glaring at him. 'You almost gave me a heart attack,'
Sirius flashed her a charming smile. 'My utmost apologies, Lillian darling. You too just looked too comfortable,'
Lily and James, Sirius noted with satisfaction, both turned red.
'You take pleasure in killing other peoples comfort, don't you?' Lily asked, rolling her eyes.
There was a slight pause. 'Is that-- wrong?'
Lily smiled. Sirius grinned back at her, then turned to James. 'Sooo. Just what were the two of you doing, down here, early in the morning, alone, a fire blazing romantically in front of you--'
'Talking,' James said, at the same moment that Lily replied with:
'Nothing,'
The two of them glared at each other.
A grin spread farther across Sirius' face. 'Well, well, well. The first rule, Prongs, and Lily, my love- is to always agree on an excuse beforehand. It's no use if your stories don't hold up under interrogation,'
Lily rolled her eyes again. It was an expression that Sirius tended to put on people's faces. 'The first rule of what, exactly?' she asked, raising her eyebrows.
James looked pained.
'The first rule of sneaking out to snog--'
'Whoa!' James interrupted. 'We weren't snogging,'
'Yeah!' Lily agreed, with an almost devilish smile. 'And we didn't sneak out,'
'That's because the Common Room was conveniently empty,' Sirius added. Lily almost groaned.
'You're such a pain, Padfoot,'
Sirius loved hearing that. Somehow, it always made him proud. 'I know, my dear fellows,' he cried, throwing his arms out. 'Now what do the two of you say to accompanying me to the kitchens for some food?'
'Sirius! It's almost breakfast!'
Lily was greeted with another pause.
'And so... ? We shouldn't eat? We should STARVE ourselves?'
'Sirius, my dear, I hardly doubt that you are anywhere close to starving, in any sort of way,'
Sirius fell down on the floor, clutching his stomach, and groaning. 'Empty,' he managed to gasp out. Lily started to roll her eyes, caught herself, and stopped. Sirius frowned. He liked to attract a reaction. That in mind, he grabbed at Lily's ankles. 'My love- Lily-- Please... I need... Food...'
Lily, never one to pass of on dramatics, bent down to wrap her arms around his head. 'No! Live! Live!'
'Then get me food,' Sirius told her, faking annoyance. Lily smiled, then patted him on the head.
'Then stand up, kiddo,'
'Kiddo?' James echoed.
'I'm older than you!' Sirius whined.
'No!'
'I was born in October,'
'So? I was born in April,'
'I'm 17!'
Another pause. 'You are older than me,'
'Hah!' Sirius jumped up and danced in a circle. 'I'm older than you are! I'm older than you are!' he sang. Lily eyed him warily.
'Sometimes I worry,' she said, then stopped herself with a shake of her head. Sirius loved being the center of attention.
'Woof,' he exclaimed happily.
James and Lily just stared.

Lily was eating breakfast later that morning, sitting with Hestia and Alice. She had declined Sirius adamant invitation to the kitchens, and had instead returned upstairs to her dormitory, where she had joined her friends, not mentioning the amusing episode with Sirius. Nor, for that matter, James' apology.
Watching Sirius shovel food into his mouth, she wondered if he had indeed made a trip to the kitchens. If he had, she was absolutely disgusted. She watched him for another moment. No, take that back- she was absolutely disgusted as was.
'Hey! Earth to the Lily! Helloooo!' Alice waved a hand in front of Lily's eyes. Lily jumped.
'Whoa. What was that for?'
'Hello! You weren't listening to me obsess about the urgency of finding dress robes at Hogsmeade tomorrow!' Alice put on a fake girly voice.
'Ah. Too bad they were on the list thing so we already have them,' Lily rolled her eyes.
'Duh. The important thing is: why on earth were you staring at your boyfriend?'
Lily looked confused. 'I don't have a boyfriend. And if I did, wouldn't I be allowed to stare at him?'
Hestia grinned at Alice. 'She just won that one, sweetheart,'
Alice frowned. 'Fine. Then why were you staring at James Potter, Quidditch Star, and top of our classes?'
'He isn't. I beat him in charms and astronomy, and Snape beats us both in potions,'
'You dork. You're ignoring my question.'
Lily smirked. 'I am the master!'
'Just answer the question. I swear you were looking at Potter,'
Lily rolled her eyes. It was a habit she hated, but something that was impossible to break. 'I wasn't.'
'You were,'
'I was looking at Sirius,'
'Well, that's no good. He's not your soul mate,'
'What?'
'That's Potter,' Hestia explained.
'You guys are on drugs,'
'Say what?' Alice questioned.
'Were you two drinking Fire Whiskey last night?'
'Lily, the one time I've EVER been drunk was in fourth year, when you wanted to get back at Potter, and bought a lot of fire whiskey, and made him drink it, and then when he didn't care, you were upset, and then when I told a Professor, you were even more upset, and poured some in my goblet, and I had to go to the hospital wing and didn't find out what you had done until two months later when you had a sudden guilt trip and confessed,'
Lily frowned. 'I never confessed,'
'She's right,' Alice put in. 'I told you, that one time I was upset at Lily,'
Lily continued to frown. 'Why were you upset with me?'
Alice blushed. 'You talked to Frank a lot,'
'Oh. That's because he held a grudge against Potter for the time he- well, never mind- and so he was helping me plan revenge,'
'So, basically, Lily, all the times we've ever been upset with you, were because of Potter,'
'See why I don't like him?'
The three girls laughed, and made their way out of the Great Hall for breakfast, but Lily was still thinking something over. Thinking about when she had met, James, and how their problems had started...

The next morning, the three girls were eager to get to Hogsmeade. Christmas was coming fast, and this was their last chance to get some Christmas shopping done. Plus, there was the ball coming up, and they had high hopes of perhaps finding something to accompany the dress robes they had.
Lily was in fine spirits. She had gotten a transfiguration exam back the day before, and had earned full marks. Potions had passed without incident, and she hadn't had a fight with James at all. Things were looking up.
In fact, only two things troubled her: the ball, and the upcoming Christmas holidays.
Lily loved her parents. They got along pretty well, most of the time. It was her sister that was the problem. Growing up, the three-years-older Petunia had been jealous of a little sister who had seemingly gotten away with everything. But that, Lily reasoned, was normal. After all, most older siblings harbored at least some jealously for younger ones. But as the years past, the conflict has escalated past normal sibling rivalry. The two girls were as different as night and day, and this merely became more and more apparent as time passed.
Lily had red hair, Petunia had blonde. Lily was short, Petunia was tall. Lily was funny, Petunia hated being embarrassed. Lily didn't care what she wore, Petunia desperately fit in.
Petunia had taken ballet and gymnastics; Lily had ridden horses and read books. Petunia went to concerts and went out with her first boyfriend at eleven. Lily had still never been to a date, and had only gone to one concert; the previous summer, with a group of old friends.
But then, there was the biggest spit of all: Lily was a witch, Petunia was a muggle. And what was more, Lily's parents were brimming with pride for their youngest daughter, a clever young witch, who was their connection to a world that they had never dreamed of.
And Petunia despised her now.
Lily's thoughts were wandering as she and her friends got into a carriage that would bring them to Hogsmeade. She thought of the upcoming ball with a slight feeling of dread in the bottom of her stomach.
She knew that Alice had a date in Frank Longbottom, the boy she'd had a crush on since third year. Hestia hadn't mentioned a date, but Lily wasn't sure--
That left Lily alone. Lily hated to be alone. And yet, she hated the idea of going to the ball with anyone but James. And furthermore, it wasn't as if anyone had asked her. There wasn't any option other than to go alone. But that wasn't the worst thing. Lily might still enjoy herself, despite being a terrible dancer.
No, the worst thing would be to see James on a date with someone else, enjoying himself with some other girl. Lily thought of the girl he had described to her. Maybe he would ask her out. And of course she would say yes. Who wouldn't?
'Lily, are you sure you're okay? You keep zoning out on us,'
'What? Oh, I'm fine, fine, fine-- Just thinking about the upcoming break,' Lily grimaced.
Alice smiled sympathetically. 'You should come visit me. My parent's wouldn't mind a bit. They think you're the most charming witch in the world.'
Lily laughed. 'Doesn't everyone?'
'Everyone who hasn't shared a dorm with you for six years,' Hestia giggled.
'Are you saying I'm hard to live with?' Lily mocked.
Alice smiled fondly at her friend. 'Not at all, Lily, not at all,' There was a slight pause, and then: 'So, dates for the ball, anyone?'
'Of course not,' Lily said absently. 'And didn't we already discuss this?'
'Of course,' Alice said. 'But we're girls. We discuss the same things a lot.'
They looked at Hestia. 'Well-' she began. Lily looked at her critically. 'Yes. But I still won't tell you who,' she added in a rush.
Alice looked hurt. 'Why not?'
Lily almost opened her mouth, then stopped herself. There was a near awkward pause. 'Is it still the mysterious date you had last trip to Hogsmeade?' she queried.
Hestia shifted uncomfortably. 'Yes,' she said, and Lily felt her stomach drop.
'So, Alice- did you see Hestia and her mystery man anywhere while you were out with Frank?' she joked.
Alice thought about it. 'Nope. But Hestia, we'll see you the night of the ball.... Then you're secret will be out!'
Hestia and Lily both laughed uneasily. 'Well, then. I just want him to be a surprise.'
Alice grinned. 'Will we like him?'
'I do,' Hestia said, and then blushed. Lily frowned.
'Why?' she asked, trying to make her tone light.
Hestia thought for a minute. 'He's nice. You might not think it, but he goes out of his way to be nice to me, I think. And He's cute. Very cute. And... I just... Like him?'
For a moment, Lily wondered if everything would be okay. Maybe Hestia got along with HIM, and maybe HE was nice to her, and maybe it would all be okay. But Lily couldn't quite shake the feeling that it was still dreadfully wrong.
But then again, she'd had bad experiences with HIM. Maybe that was clouding her judgement.
Alice sighed. 'He sounds perfect,'
'Well, what about Frank? Hestia countered.
Alice smiled happily. 'He's great.'
There was a silence, but no longer an awkward one, as the carriages pulled into the entrance to Hogsmeade. Students tumbled out, faces red from the cold, shouting eagerly to one another as they flooded the streets.
Hestia, Alice, and Lily linked arms so they wouldn't lose each other, and made their way to a small bookstore. It was tradition: they always went there first, browsed the old books, and then made their way elsewhere.
As they pushed the creaky door open, Lily turned to Hestia. 'We'll need to split up, later, guys, because I need to buy you guys presents,'
Hestia and Alice nodded.
'And I'm meeting Frank for a butterbeer at 12,'
Crossing her fingers inside of red mittens, Lily glanced at Hestia. 'And you? Meeting Mystery Man today?'
'Nope,' Hestia smiled.
'Great. Then we can grab a butterbeer while the lovers meet, and then move on to search for things, and meet back at 13:00,'
Alice rolled her eyes. 'Okay, dork,'
'I like things planned,'
The three girls knelt down, searching for books. Lily was actually looking for one for Remus. Though she didn't know him too well, she needed to talk with him, and the knowledge that he enjoyed reading would make things easier.
The store owner, one Mr. Manheim, knew the three girls well, and only appeared once, to ask them if they needed help. When they waved him away, he disappeared to the back of the store.
After a half-hour, Lily found something that looked perfect. She already had Don Quixote back in her dorm, and she figured Remus wouldn't have ever read the Muggle classic. But this was perfect as well.
'Found something!' she cried, and help out the book.
'Monsters: The Story Behind the Fur?' Hestia asked dubiously.
'Sure. Don't you think it would make a great gift for my darling sister Petty? She wouldn't feel so alone anymore!'
Lily felt some guilt over lying to her friends. But then again, it wasn't really her secret to hint at.
'Well, sure,' Hestia grinned. 'But a book about humane werewolves, and their difficulty in--' she glanced down at the cover, and quoted- ' "leading a normal life"?'
Lily merely laughed lightly and bought the book. When it was safely packaged, the three girls made their way outside. It had begun snowing, and the light wisps danced to the ground, making everything look beautiful. Lily loved the snow. Winter was her favorite time of year.
'Where to, guys?' she asked, twirling around.
Her friends laughed.
'I don't know,'
'I think Zonko's- I'll find some gift for my little brothers there,' Hestia shrugged.
Lily jumped up and down in the snow, sticking her tongue out in an attempt to catch the flaked. 'Right you are. Maybe I'll send them a love note,'
Hestia's brothers, Alden and Aidan, were eight years old, and the cutest things to walk the planet. They were, in Hestia's opinion, terrors as well, but with their brown curls and big eyes, they were absolutely adorable as they did so. In fact, Alice had once commented, after a stay at their friend's house, the twins weren't unlike the Marauders. Lily had shuddered at the thought, and Hestia pretended to be insulted, but it had been the truth.
Lily was still prancing in the snow when they finally got to Zonko's. Like all the other well-known shops, it was full almost to the brim. The girls glanced dubiously inside. 'Right,' Hestia said. 'I'll run in, find something, buy it, run out,'
'And we'll wait here,' Alice said.
'I have great friends,' Hestia grumbled, and pulled the door open.
'Let's make a snowman!'
'Lily! There's barely a foot of snow, and that's from last week's snow fall,'
'So?'
'So it's gross snow!'
'I don't care! I want to make a snowman!'
Rolling her eyes, Alice acquiesced, and Lily squealed happily as she bent down to roll the snow.

The Marauders were, of course, heading to Zonko's. They had entertained themselves with throwing snowballs at third years, but that had gotten boring, or rather, they had accidentally hit a Hogsmeade resident, an old witch with a nasty harelip, and they had decided hastily it was time to get going.
As they neared Zonko's, they saw two girls making a snowman. It was, of course, Lily and Alice. They stopped to watch for a moment.
Lily was grinning. James loved it when she grinned. Her red hair was in two braids, and she had a blue hat, pulled low over her ears. A black coat, purple scarf, red mittens- she, he thought with a smile, wasn't taking chances with the cold.
'Daft,' he heard Peter mutter. 'They're insane,'
But Sirius was already bounding towards them.
'A snowman! A snowman!' he cried. 'Can I help? Please!?'
Lily smiled. 'Fine. But you have to be good!'
'I'm ALWAYS good,'
Lily just rolled her eyes. 'Right. So you can make the head,'
'Do you have coal?'
Pause. 'No,'
'Fine. We'll transfigure something,'
'You'll transfigure something,' Lily corrected. 'That class is the bane of my existence. If I'm not studying, or in the class, I refuse to transfigure ANYTHING,'
'Wow, Lily, that attitude will get you far in life,' James shot in, echoing her words from the previous morning. Lily shot him an almost-smile from over her shoulder. She recognized them too.
'Of course it will,' she announced. 'Otherwise I'd die from transfigurationitis,'
'I like transfiguration. I think it's fun,'
'Further proof of why you're insane,' was all Lily said.
'Look! Look! I finished the head!' Sirius exclaimed.
Lily burst into laughter, and James was sorely tempted to follow his example. Sirius' head was an oddly shaped, lumpy, small ball.
'The poor snowman,' he murmured.
'Now, now, James- let's not judge on appearances,' Lily corrected him. James, Remus, and Alice all laughed. 'Now- lift up the torso, okay, Sirius?'
'Why me?'
'Because you're a big, strong, man, who likes to be the knight in shining armor for us damsels in distress,'
'Oh, okay then,' Sirius grinned. He hefted the torso up, and placed it on the snowman. And Lily was grinning at James. And he was grinning back.
'Oi! Lily!' Alice called, and James almost jumped. Lily's cheeks turned slightly pink, or so he thought- they were already bright red from the cold. But James loved that. He loved the way her red cheeks shone and her eyes glittered with happiness, and she looked happy and alive in the falling snow.
'What?'
'Why are you so happy?'
'Oh, no- the happiness nazi,' There was a pause. 'Okay, muggle thing. Anyway, I love the snow! Why shouldn't I be happy?'
'Ta da!'
They all looked over at Sirius, who was grinning proudly beside the rather odd looking snowman. The tiny head looked ridiculous perched upon the body that Alice and Lily had made.
When the group merely fell into laughter, Sirius looked disappointed. 'What?' he asked, but there was a smile playing about his features.
Lily jumped up and down, her hair bouncing. 'I'm just happy. It's SNOWING!'
Alice rolled her eyes. 'You guys should have seen her last week. It was like trying to baby-sit a five year old!'
Remus and James laughed.
Lily was twirling about dramatically, her arms widespread. As she attempted another twirl, however, her feet hit a patch of ice. She slipped and fell. Once on the ground, she continued to giggle madly.
'She's metal,' Sirius said gravely.
'Shut up, you dolt, and help me up,' Lily said, still giggling. When Sirius held out his hand, Lily grabbed it, and, to James' consternation, pulled him down next to her. Sirius let out a rather un-manly yelp, and cursed Lily.
It was then that Hestia came out of Zonko's.
'Hey! I found the perfect gift for my brothers!' she announced, and then stopped, shaking her head at her friends.
Sirius looked up at her and sent her his famous charming grin. 'Woof,'

Two hours later, Lily was browsing through Honeydukes alone. She hated the idea of getting her friends merely chocolate for Christmas, but she couldn't think of anything else.
She had looked through various stores, but nothing had leapt out at her. She had bought three humorous Christmas cards- one for her parents, one for Hestia, and one for Alice, and was still searching for presents. For her parents, she had bought a book or poetry during the summer. She was contemplating buying her friends mittens. Lily loved mittens. And scarves, and coats, and hats, and anything that had to do with winter. Wearing them always made her happy.
It was difficult to find things like that in Hogsmeade, though. Well, normal mittens in any case. And Hestia, at least, was the sort of girl who would only wear normal mittens.
Lost in her thoughts, Lily was only half-looking at the assorted chocolates, and not paying any attention at all to where she was going. In a crowded store, this was asking for trouble, so Lily was merely rueful when she walked right into someone.
'Oops. Sorry.'
She turned around. James. Double oops.
'Hey. I see you've lost your friends.'
Lily laughed. 'They abandoned me,'
'Really?'
She laughed again, this time at the expression on his face. 'No, we had to split up so we could buy each other gifts,'
Now James smiled. He had a really nice smile. 'And so you're in Honeydukes?'
'Well, at the moment, I'm shopping for my boyfriend,' Lily joked.
James frowned. 'Who is he?'
Lily almost burst out laughing. 'Oh, you don't know him. He doesn't go to Hogwarts,'
'Is he a Muggle?'
'Oh, no. He's fourty,'
There was a pause. 'Lily-'
Then she couldn't help it. She burst into laughter. Linking arms with him, she glanced up at him mock-seductively. 'James, love, you really are so gullible,'
James laughed.
'I don't think that was funny, Lily,'
She laughed anyway.
'So what puts you in such a fine mood?' he asked.
'Shopping for my boyfriend,'
This time they both laughed. 'No, really,'
'Winter! I'm serious! I honestly love everything about it!'
She had dropped his arm, and was heading towards the door. 'Where are you going? James asked, walking after her. She turned around in the doorway.
'To look in some other shop where I won't be made fun of,'
'I was kidding, Lil--'
'I know, James,' she said, smiling happily at him. And then she turned, and danced into the snowy outdoors once more.

James honestly couldn't believe she had been joking about her boyfriend. Well, not the fact that she was dating a fourty year old wizard, but the fact that she joked about having one. Most girls considered having a boyfriend to be a life or death situation. And she was absolutely amazing. It was a miracle she didn't have a boyfriend already.
... She didn't have a boyfriend, right?
James realized that he wasn't sure. Maybe, he told himself, it was a secret relationship. Then he burst out laughing. He was pathetic. Ignoring the odd looks a group of fourth years were giving him, he decided to go grab a butterbeer and hope to meet up with his friends.
Outside, it was growing dusky. It was still snowing, and the snowflakes looked even whiter against the gray night. James realized he was looking at snow more fondly, now that he knew how Lily felt about it.
He saw two people, joking about from the looks of it. The smaller one was throwing snowballs at the taller one, and then the taller one pushed the smaller one- a girl, James could see now- into a pile of snow. He could hear faint laugher.
He took a few more steps, then realized to his surprise, that the taller form was Moony! Moony! He didn't have a girlfriend? Did he? And then, the figure in the snow emerged. Her red hair caught the remaining light, and shone dazzlingly. James was stunned. He'd recognize that figure anywhere. It was Lily.

Lily sputtered as she spit snow out of her mouth. 'Thanks, Remus. There goes your gentleman image,'
'Oh, I think I'm over it,'
'I think half the female Hogwarts population would be devastated if I let it slip that you really had an evil, malicious, ugly side to you,' Lily laughed.
Remus smiled- painfully, Lily noticed, and she regretted her words.
'Actually, Remus- I wanted, to- talk with you,'
'And what have we been doing?' he asked, grinning.
She rolled her eyes. 'No. Seriously.' She could tell that Remus had a witty retort on the tip of his tongue, but he held back. 'I don't know- Well, that is. I feel bad. I know, Remus, and that's why I wanted to talk with you. I don't want to make anything MORE painful for you- that's not why. I just wanted to know, that I've always considered you a good friend. And that's why I wanted to tell you. I still consider you one. Nothing would ever change that.'
There was a slight pause. 'Can I pretend I don't know what you're talking about?' Remus asked, looking pale.
Lily smiled at him, and then reached forward to hug him. 'As long as you promise that, deep down, you DO know what I'm talking about,'
'I do,' Remus said, and then he returned the hug. 'And thank you.'
Lily grinned.
'You're a great person, Remus. Don't let anyone ever convince you otherwise. And with that--' she stopped to pick up some snow-- 'I bid you farewell. I must go find my friends,'
She threw the snowball at him, and dashed off towards the more populated area.

James stepped in front of Lily. 'What was that?' he asked.
She looked confused. 'What was what?'
'I didn't know that you and Remus were going out?'
She was still pretending not to understand him. The jerk. 'I saw you two flirting and hugging over there,'
Lily turned white.
'We weren't flirting,'
'But you WERE hugging?'
'Yes? But it was- oh, what am I doing?' she frowned. 'Do I need to explain myself to you? Why do you care that I was hugging him? For the record, it was not a girlfriendly thing, but a comfort thing, and anyway, it's none of your business. Why are you acting so upset?'
'I AM UPSET!'
'Well, WHY?'
'You're such a jerk you don't even know!'
'Me? The jerk?'
'Yes!'
Lily looked furious now. 'You're the one who barges up on me, acting like it was a BAD thing that I was comforting your friend! You should be happy!'
'Happy? For what? Why on earth should it make me HAPPY that you're hugging my best friend?'
'Because you seemed to think that made me his girlfriend! And if you weren't such a jerk, you would know that you're supposed to be HAPPY WHEN YOU'RE FRIEND HAS A GIRLFRIEND! But I'm NOT his girlfriend! And if you WEREN'T SO SELF-OBSESSED, you'd know that REMUS FANCIES MONICA BURNS! And that they've GONE OUT A FEW TIMES! And that REMUS ISN'T THE PLAYER TYPE!'
Lily threw up her hands in disgust, and stomped off.
James watched her go.
He knew all that. About Monica, and Remus, and- it was just, when it came to Lily, he could never quite think properly.

Hah! That was a long chapter, huh? Feel grateful and review, PLEASE! I even got it up quickly! grins Now you know what to go---- go review, please!!!