(A/N) Hey! Again! Thanks for the reviews. This story is probably going to be in-between 17 and 30 chapters. Hopefully. Yeah. I hope. Well on with the story!
As I go on with my story, the chapters will probably get longer. So yeah…hope you're happy!
# of Words- 2885
Disclaimer- I don't own HP and I don't own the song 'Winter Wonderland'.
Chapter 9- Winter WonderlandDecember 23rd. Lily had gotten over Meghann's death. She didn't starve herself to death, luckily. Her grades were improving rapidly. Over half the people in Hogwarts didn't even know who Meghann was. They had all forgotten.
It was two days till Christmas, and Lily didn't have any presents to give out. She wasn't going home for Christmas because her mom and sister were staying in a refugee home. It turned out that the insurance company just stole their money. Lily's mom was planning to sue, but she didn't even have enough money for that. All they could afford was food and a place to stay.
The Great Hall was beautiful. It had twelve huge trees in it, and every single one was decorated with candles, jewels, ornaments, and lights. Lily's favorite tree was a simple fur tree with strings of ivy here and there on it. It had candles and a star on top. It reminded her of home.
It was a Wednesday, about 9:40 in the morning. Everyone didn't have classes because a week ago, Professor Dumbledore announced that classes were cancelled until January 17th. Everyone had stood up on the table and clapped and whistled as loud as they could. Lily smiled as she remembered that.
"Hey, Lily, want to learn how to handle a broom?" asked Katie, looking into the dorm.
"Sure," said Lily as she got off her bed. She stood up too fast, because after a few seconds, she started feeling dizzy. She shook the feeling away and followed Katie out of the dorm.
Lily stared at the wonderfully decorated halls as they walked towards the pitch.
"And you got to be careful, or else you'll slide off the end…" Katie was saying. Lily wasn't listening. She just kept on walking towards the Entrance Hall.
As soon as they stepped outside, Lily was hit with a blast of cold air. She could see her breath puffing out in front of her, and she was shivering. Lily's eyes started watering up from the cold. Lily had never felt this cold before.
"Here…" said Katie, and she pointed her wand at Lily.
"Hey, don't point that thing at me…" said Lily seriously.
"Ferneo," said Katie. After she said it, Lily felt really warm inside. Katie said the charm to herself and they started walking.
"Where did you get that spell? I've never heard of it," said Lily.
"I snuck into McGonagall's office a few weeks ago. It was just laying on her desk, so I swiped it." She shrugged. "I've been using ever since. It's really good when its cold out like today."
Lily nodded. She noticed a few people on the Quidditch Pitch as they approached it. They seemed to be having a snowball fight. So childish, Lily thought. They snuck around the stands to where the school kept the brooms. Katie used alorhomora to unlock it. They grabbed the sturdiest looking brooms they could find and walked towards the pitch.
Lily suddenly felt something cold and wet hit her cheek. She gasped and touched her face. Someone had been crazy enough to hit Lily Evans with a snowball. By reflexes, Lily scooped up some snow, rolled it into a messy ball and whipped it at the first person she saw. Satisfied, Lily turned to Katie.
"How do you mount this thing?" she asked.
"Wow, you can sure throw a snowball hard," said Katie, amazed. Lily turned around because she heard someone running towards them.
"Hey, where are you going?" asked Elle with a broom in her hand. Rebecca came running up to them too.
"Hi, Katie, my friend, can you teach us to fly?" asked Rebecca.
"Oh boy, I've got my work cut out for me," sighed Katie. She shrugged. "Oh well."
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Even though the heating spell was on, Lily's eyes still stung from the cold as she was rushing through the air. Lily looked behind her, Elle was going very slowly and she was wobbling. Lily turned around and looked ahead again. Her eyes went wide, the 50 foot tall goalpost was only about 5 feet away from her.
Lily swerved to the right. Her broom went flying, and she fell 15 feet into a pile of snow. When Lily hit, snow went down her back and the warmth spell wore off. Lily sat up and went rigid. If there was one thing in this world that she hated the most, was having snow go down her back.
Lily tumbled down the small hill and landed face first. She quickly jumped up and started jumping around, attempting to get the snow out from under her wet and cold robes. What was that spell again? Lily thought.
"Lily, are you okay?" asked Katie as she came running up to her.
"Need…heating…spell," said Lily, who was still jumping around.
"Oh, right…what was it again?" Katie had an evil look on her face.
"Just say the goddamn spell!" said Lily through clenched teeth.
"Fine, fine! You don't have to be bitchy about it!" Katie said as she shrugged. She said the spell, finally.
"Thank you!" Lily snapped. She was really pissed at Katie right now.
"Uh, I'm gonna go now…" said Rebecca and Elle in unison, and they took off. Lily glared at Katie momentarily, and then followed Elle and Rebecca.
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Lily was flying about 30 feet off the ground, flying very slowly. Rebecca and Elle were speeding around the pitch, obviously having a race. Katie was flying some 20 feet higher than Lily, but at about the same speed. Lily was still pissed at her…Katie obviously saw that she hated getting snow down her back, and she just took even longer!
Lily slowly went into a leisurely dive. She didn't get enough time to pull up though, because something hard hit her right side. Lily and the thing tumbled to the ground and landed in a pile.
Lily groaned and slowly opened her eyes. Why does everything bad happen to me? Lily wondered to herself. Truthfully, Lily didn't know why everything seemed to happen to her. It was some sort of curse or something. Before Hogwarts, Lily didn't believe in ghosts and curses and all that. But now…well, she did.
"Are you okay?" said someone above her. Lily squinted against the falling snow to see who it was. Okay, I really do have a curse. EVERYTHING bad happens to me! Lily thought.
"I'm fine, Potter. Get off of me," she snapped at him.
"Fine…" James said as he got up and brushed himself off. Lily stood up too and swept the snow off her robes.
"I really shouldn't be out here…I still have to get everyones present…" Lily mumbled to herself.
"You still have presents to get? Do you know where you're going to get them at?" asked James.
"No, James, if I knew where I was getting them, wouldn't I have gotten them already?"
"Uh…if you want…I'll take you to Hogsmeade?" asked James. Oh God, he's asking me on dates now…oh well, better amuse him… thought Lily.
"Sure, James, I'll go with you!" said Lily sarcastically.
"Really? Okay, meet me after dinner and we'll…" James was cut off.
"Hold up! You obviously are stupid, couldn't you tell I was being sarcastic? And besides, I wouldn't want to go on a date with…you!" said Lily.
James looked confused. "Huh? Lily, what are you talking about? I'm not asking you on a date, I just want you to have your Christmas shopping done!"
"Oh…okay where do we meet again?" asked Lily, who had gone completely red.
"Okay, after dinner just meet in the Entrance Hall…" James started.
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5 minutes later, James was still going on about what they would do that night. Lily's legs were getting sore from standing there listening to him.
"The we can go to…"
"C'mon James, you're so slow! I'll meet you after dinner in the Entrance Hall, okay? Bye!" said Lily as she ran inside, leaving a very confused James standing in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch.
When Lily stepped inside the Entrance Hall, she shivered and then gradually got warmer. The heating spell had worn off about 10 minutes ago, and Katie went in 15 minutes ago. Lily freezed her ass off to half listen to James! I've gone mad! Lily told herself.
Lily slowly, but steadily, climbed the stairs up to Gryffindor Tower. As she climbed, she got warmer, and soon, she could feel her hands again. When she got to the Fat Lady, she said the password and walked inside.
The first thing that Lily did was sit right in front of the fire and warm up. She melted all the frozen ice off of her hair, then went and took a hot shower.
When Lily came out of the bathroom, Elle was sitting on her bed and Katie and Rebecca were having an arm wrestle. Lily shook her head and smiled when Katie slammed Rebecca's arm down on the table with a thud. Katie stood up and took a couple of victory laps around the dorm room. When Katie sat down again, Rebecca was nursing her arm.
"Play again?" asked Katie with a smirk.
"NO!" shouted Rebecca with wide eyes and she dived into her bed. Katie looked at Elle and Lily with a questioning look. They both shook their heads with wide eyes.
"Aw, you guys are no fun!" said Katie. She put on her puppy dog look. "Please?"
"NO!" shouted Elle and Lily in unison. Katie shrugged.
"Whatever. See you guys at dinner." She walked out of the dorm and into the common room. Elle, Lily and Rebecca burst out laughing when they heard almost everyone downstairs scream 'NO!'.
Lily ran into the bathroom.
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At dinner that night, someone ACTUALLY challenged Katie at an arm wrestle. Lily thought it was a 4th year or something, but he was losing. Wow, Katie is really strong! Thought Lily as Katie slammed his arm down.
As the boy walked away with a bruised arm, the food appeared. Lily only grabbed a little bit…she very extremely nervous about tonight. Being alone with James? How bad could it get?
Lily also didn't want to get caught. She knew James's record…he had had so many detentions so far. Lily on the other hand…she had a clean record, and if they got caught, then her record wouldn't be perfect anymore. Oh well, no one is perfect! Lily reminded herself very nervously.
When Lily finished her food, she slowly got up and walked into the Entrance Hall, and leaned against the wall casually. She was one of the last people out.
Lily didn't know where James was…he was probably getting money or something. Lily was smart enough to bring money along with her, so James wouldn't have to wait for her. But now she was waiting for him. Something about that didn't sound right.
Finally, James came running down the stairs, cheeks red and something clasped in his hand, and something draped over his shoulder.
"Okay, it isn't done yet, but I thought we could use it. It only has a few things on it, including the entrance to Hogsmeade" James looked at the thing in horror. "Quick, under here!" He threw a cloak over her and his head. Lily looked around with wide eyes.
They weren't allowed to be out this late, and when Lily saw a teacher coming, she almost screamed. Luckily, she didn't, because James covered her mouth with his hand.
"Be quiet!" he whispered urgently to her. Lily nodded. As soon as the teacher passed and was gone, James started to climb the stairs. Lily followed obediently, not knowing where they were going.
When they got to the 3rd floor, James made his way to a statue, and said a spell. To Lily's surprise, the statue opened up to reveal a staircase leading down into the school. James started to go down the stairs, but Lily just stood at the top.
"C'mon!" James said. Lily reluctantly followed him down. It felt like they were going down forever in the dark, because the statue closed above them. Finally, they reached the bottom.
"Lumos," said James and Lily at the same time. Both of their wands lit up to reveal a dark and damp hallway. It seemed like they were a million miles under the school by now.
After about 15 minutes walking in silence, there was yet another staircase. Lily groaned, and started climbing. Couldn't they rest for just a minute? Lily wasn't as fit as James. Lily stopped and sat down on the stairs stubbornly. It took James a few moments to realize that Lily wasn't following him anymore. He turned around with a questioning look on his face.
"Why'd you stop? Are you tired?"
"Duh, if I wasn't tired I would still be climbing these stairs." Lily rolled her eyes. James sat next to her. They sat there for almost 15 minutes, and then James stood up.
"C'mon, lets go. My legs are getting cramped." He helped Lily up, and they kept on climbing. A thin strip of light appeared soon enough. James motioned to her to keep quiet, and Lily nodded. James walked up to the light and peered out.
"Get under here and don't make a noise!" he whispered urgently to her. Lily got underneath the cloak, and they stepped out the trapdoor.
Quietly, they walked slowly towards the exit. As soon as they got outside, they ducked into an empty alley and took off the cloak.
"Why didn't the guy at the counter see us?" asked Lily, looking at the bundle in James's arms.
"Its an invisibility cloak. C'mon, we better get moving before someone sees us." James motioned for her to follow her.
They sat behind a dumpster for a long time. They were waiting for everyone who worked at Hogsmeade to leave so they could get into the stores.
After the last light in the last store went out, James and Lily stood up. Lily's knees buckled from the cramp in her left knee. She landed hard on the ground and slowly started stretching her leg. James waited patiently for her to finish.
When Lily was done stretching, she experimented standing up. She stumbled a little bit, and James caught her. Lily looked into his eyes. For a split second, Lily had the sudden urge to kiss him. She quickly shook that thought away and pulled away from him.
"C'mon, lets go." Lily said quietly.
As they walked silently through the empty streets of Hogsmeade, it started to snow.
Quietly, Lily started to sing one of her favorite Christmas songs. "Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening, a beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland…"
The whole time she was singing silently to herself, she knew James was listening. The funny thing was, that Lily didn't feel the least bit nervous singing around James. Usually she got really nervous singing even in front of her family.
When Lily finished the song, James started humming it.
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"Are you absolutely sure its okay to jus take the stuff?" asked an extremely nervous Lily, carrying a few bundles full of goods from Hogsmeade. They were walking back to Hogwarts through the underground passage.
"Nah, they won't care. Seriously! Don't freak out!"
"Okay…if you're sure…"
A flood of light ahead of them meant that they were really close to the exit. When Lily stepped out of the hole, she breathed the fresh air. Lily stepped forward; at least she tried to step forward. She heard James grunting behind her, so Lily figured he was stuck too. She turned and faced him.
"Mistletoe…" James said, pointing towards the roof. Sure enough, there was mistletoe hanging innocently there.
"Damn it! Does this mean we can't move until we kiss?" said a horrified Lily.
"Yeah I guess."
"Ew! I'm not going to kiss you! EVER!" said Lily, and she tried to run. Unfortunately, she couldn't.
"Well if you want to get out of this mess, you have to kiss me!" said James. Lily looked at him. He had a grin on his face. He puckered up and Lily slapped him.
"I'm not kissing you!"
"Why?"
Lily ignored his question. "I guess we're stuck here for the rest of the night then." Calmly, Lily hid the gifts in a bag and sat down.
"You know what Lily? I've been trying so hard to be nice to you, and all you do is be bitchy back! I'm through with this. You're going to feel the full wrath of a Marauder now."
Lily could tell James was seething. She ignored him and went to sleep.
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(A/N) Ohh! James is pissed now! Okay, here is the deal. The faster and the more reviews I get, the faster I update. But don't put a review in twice please! Thanks!
-Rittzi