Chapter 6

(A/N) Thanks for the reviews! This is a rather long chapter, but you'll enjoy it, I promise!

Disclaimer: I own the plot.

*~*~*~*~*

"They're up to something," Lily said, peering out the curtains of the Girls' Dormitories.

Evelyn sighed and rolled off her bed, from her magazine. "Why do you care? Probably some guy thing."

"Hmm. They do this every month. Every single month! I mean, Remus, yeah, understandable, but them?"

"What about Remus?" Evelyn asked sharply.

"Nothing," Lily shrugged. "But they're up to something, Evelyn! I just know it!"

She glanced out the window into the forest again, as if seeing into its depths would somehow reveal the secret of where the Marauders were.

*~*~*~*~*

The crisp, December, air was refreshing, and a few second years were frolicking in the snow, inbetween classes. A few seventh years were joining them, in fact. However, though many students took to the outside atmosphere…

"Theme? Theme? Why would we need a theme, anyway?"

…Two students were not enjoying the winter air. By now, it hardly surprised anyone to see the Head Girl and Boy working while everyone else was having fun.

"Why do we need a theme? I'll tell you why we need a theme. Because it's required!"

"But your themes are so boring!" James sighed, as the two continued to work on the plans.

"My themes are not boring," Lily argued. "My themes are…"

"Traditional. Obvious. Predictable. In a nutshell, boring," James cut her off.

"Your themes are just too… They aren't…"

"Not very articulate today, are you?" James asked, as he watched Sirius throw a handful of snow at Peter.

"Shut up!" Lily said. "That is it. We are going to finish this list, and we are going to finish this list today. I don't care if it takes the next…" she glanced at the clock, "Eleven hours and fourteen minutes. I refuse to use up anymore of my time discussing a Ball with you, let alone decorate the place. Now… I ask again. What's our theme, some sort of color?"

"Red and green," James said immediately.

"White," she said.

"Red and green," he persisted.

"White," Lily repeated.

"Green-"

"Forget it!" Lily sighed. "We are going in circles! Red, green, and white. Got that?"

"Do I even have a choice?" James crossed his arms stubbornly.

"No," she said. "You're acting like a six-year old, you know."

"When I was six, I had no idea who Lily Evans was," James replied.

*~*~*~*~*

Lily added another ornament to the tree.

"Where am I supposed to put these empty boxes?" James asked.

Absent mindedly, she waved her wand, and the boxes that had been used disappeared.

"Oh. Right. I knew that," James said.

Lily rolled her eyes as she conjured up a stepladder to reach a high bough. "Sure you did," she said, as she reached for the glass ball that James handed her.

"I did. It just escaped my mind at the time," he insisted, handing her a brass bell ornament.

"Right. How much longer do we have?" Lily asked, taking a clear, glass ornament, with a fairy inside of it from James.

"Today? Just a few more hours," James said, checking his watch before handing her another fairy.

"I meant before the ball," she said, as she took another ornament.

"Oh. Right. I knew that," he said, handing her a large, glittering, snowflake. "It's… Five… Six days away."

"Right," Lily said, as James handed her another ornament. "Potter! A little help over here!"

James looked up to see Lily with an arm full of ornaments, about to fall off. It was rather comical, actually, but she obviously didn't think so. She appeared to have two dozen in her arms, and was about to drop every single one.

"Just one more…" he grinned, and tossed a glass ornament in the air.

*~*~*~*~*

"… your problem, James Potter?!?"

It was, of course, Lily Evans' voice who had shrieked it on the way to the Common Room, causing a large number of portraits to cover their ears.

"Oh, come on! Can't take a joke, can you?" James' voice responded, as the two climbed through the portrait hole.

"It wasn't funny," Lily sniffed indignantly.

Sirius chuckled behind them.

Spinning around, she demanded, "And what is it that you find so hilarious, Sirius Black?"

"You have tinsel in your hair," he said.

Frowning, Lily removed it. "Not funny, Potter, to let a girl topple off a stepladder with an armload of fragile ornaments."

James shrugged, and walked off to a corner where Remus and Peter were playing a game of chess.

"Lily-bean," Sirius said, draping an arm across her shoulder (much to her disgust), "You need to relax. Christmas is a time and season of joy, peace, and relaxation, and you, my dear, are not participating in any of the three."

"That's rather hard when you have no one but Potter for company," Lily retorted hotly. "Brings the worst out of me, he does."

Sirius chuckled again.

*~*~*~*~*

The next day, Christmas Break began, yet the majority of students remained at Hogwarts. A large group of giggling girls was following James around wherever he went, much to the distress of the Marauders. They were constantly interrupting their conversations with their whispering and chatters. Though the group consisted mostly of Hufflepuffs, there were a few Ravenclaws and Gryffindors trailing behind him occasionally.

Lily had her own group of suitors also. There were dozens of owls arriving with flowers and candy for her, day after day. Though she had broken out of the habit of injuring whoever asked her out, she hadn't stopped throwing the flowers into the fire (Sirius ate the candy). She did, instead, turn them all down politely, with an "I'm sorry," a "No, but thanks," a "Sorry, but I really can't," or a "Gilderoy! Stop sending me flowers!" Well, maybe not the last one… but it was the most frequently heard.

If any boy happened to catch her off guard, she wouldn't tell them off for another five seconds, at most. Still, the most persistent of all, Gilderoy Lockhart, had come across a strategy through watching her closely for three straight days.

"Hi, Lily," Gilderoy greeted her at the table.

"Yes, yes, that's nice," she replied, as she turned the page of her History of Magic notes.

"So, have you got a date to the Ball yet?" he prompted.

"Yes, yes, that's lovely," she answered, as she highlighted "1766".

Gilderoy began to receive the vague idea that she wasn't listening. Still, he continued, "Well, neither have I. Would you like to go with me?"

"Yes, yes, whatever. Now go away, I'm studying," she said, highlighting something else on the page.

*~*~*~*~*

"Lily, I can't believe you agreed to go to the ball with Gilderoy Lockhart!" Evelyn said, as she glanced at her friend.

"Oh, please don't remind me," she said, opening the oven, to put in a batch of cookies, and taking out the pie.

Evelyn sniffed the air. "Smells good, Lils," she said.

Lily's eyes narrowed. "Call me that again, and you won't get a single bite of the pie, cookies, or the cake."

"Sorry," she said apologetically. "Anyway, it smells good. It was a great idea to bake… it almost seems to be perfect, with the snow outside, and a toasty oven filled with Christmas delicacies in it-"

"I cooked, Evie, dear," Lily said, brushing back a stray strand of hair as she closed the oven door. "You just watched and ate the leftovers of the frosting."

"Well, they won't go to waste now, will they?" Evelyn sniffed. "Besides, I hear they're fattening. I saved your perfect figure by eating that frosting."

"How kind of you," Lily said skeptically. "Now do me a favor, and conjure up a fire in that fireplace. Wait- don't. Just go out and get logs. It's better and more realistic the muggle way."

Evelyn laughed. "If you say so, ma'am," she saluted, and pushed open the door to the outside cold. Almost as soon as Evelyn left, the other door opened, and in burst- you guessed it- the Marauders.

"I smell food!" Sirius said in a singsong voice.

"Out! Out, out, out, out, out! Get out!" Lily said, trying to push them back.

"Pie!" Peter suddenly cried out.

"It's cooling, Peter," Lily sniffed. "Now, out, the whole lot of you."

"Nah," James said, making himself at home in a chair. "Where'd you find this? I thought the only kitchens in Hogwarts were in the house-elf headquarters."

"Dumbledore said that if I promised not to make a mess of it, I'd be allowed to use this room. And, of course, if I let him have a few of the cookies and a slice of the pie. He said that no one really knows about this room," Lily explained. "Speaking of which, how'd you all find it?"

"Evans, I'm shocked," James said, pretending to be hurt. "Don't you remember who you're talking to? Did you actually think that the little setback of the limited knowledge of this room among fellow pupils would stop us from finding us?"

"Uh, James?" Sirius tapped his friend on the shoulder. "You're using too big words for us."

Lily rolled her eyes, then spotted Peter approaching the cooling pie. "Don't you dare touch that, Peter."

"Eyes in the back of her head, I swear," James muttered.

Lily turned around, but still didn't miss Sirius about to lick off the remaining icing in a bowl.

"Aw, c'mon, Lillers, Christmas is the season of joy and sharing, remember?" Sirius grinned, as Lily yanked the bowl away from him.

"Cookies!" James cried out.

"That is it! Out of the kitchen! Out! Out, out, out, out!" Lily shouted.

"You sound like my mother," Sirius commented. "'Out of the kitchen! Out, out, out!' Just like her, Lils. Makes me think of home. Besides, you wouldn't throw us out of the kitchen, would you?"

Lily smiled. "Fine. You win. Stay. But-"

"But?" Sirius pouted. "Honestly, Lillers-"

"As I was saying, if you want to stay, you have to help me. I have one batch of cookies so far, but I need more. So, in or out?" Lily asked.

"Do we get a cookie if we do?" Sirius asked.

"If you're good-"

"Yippee! Let's bake cookies!"

Lily sighed, and handed Remus a paper with the recipe. "It's my grandmother's recipe for Christmas cookies," she explained. "I used to think she added some sort of 'magic' ingredient, but she taught it to me when I was ten. Now, get to work."

*~*~*~*~*

"Done," Lily sighed, as she closed the oven. "Now, we just have to wait a few hours."

James chuckled.

Lily frowned at him. "What?"

"You have flour on your nose," he replied.

Lily rolled her eyes and wiped it away.

"Are they ready yet?" Sirius asked impatiently, as she cut Peter a slice of pie.

"The cookies? I just put them in, Sirius. Relax," Lily said.

"That's like asking a fish to breath air," James shook his head. "He was born that way."

Sirius jumped up and down. "Let's frolic in the snow!"

Lily laughed. "Frolic? Did you say frolic?"

Remus glanced at his friend, who was already halfway out the door. "Yes, he said frolic. Don't mind him, he's always like this around holidays, especially Christmas."

Evelyn stoked the fire, making it crackle. The fire was warm and soothing, and Lily felt she could sit there forever and never move.

"No thanks, you guys go, and I'll stay here with the cookies," she said, picking up a book (A Christmas Carol) and a mug of hot chocolate and sitting in front of the fireplace.

*~*~*~*~*

Lily sighed (A/N: she does that a lot in this chapter, doesn't she?) and put down the finished book. She only read it once a year, around Christmas, though she used to read it out loud to the smaller children when she was a prefect. When she had more time. A sudden tapping at the window pulled her out of her reverie.

Pulling open the window, she saw James grinning. "Hey, Evans, I've got a present for you!"

She was hit in the face with a snowball.

"James Potter! You are going to get it when I get my hands on you!" she yelled back, slamming shut the window and dashing outside.

"About time," he said, still grinning; Lily glared at him. "Now help the others with the fort."

At her blank look, he waved a hand at the Marauders, Evelyn, Bella, and a few other Gryffindors creating a large fortress.

"Um… why?" she asked.

"Why?" James gave her a look. "Why?" he repeated, this time appalled. "We're having a war! The Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs are already half done! And the Slytherins are already trying to bombard us with snow bombs!"

Lily rolled her eyes. Taking another look at the Gryffindor fortress, she commented, "Isn't our fortress a bit… elaborate?"

Indeed it was. Obviously, the fortress was magically built. It resembled an old, abandoned castle she had once seen in Ireland, though it had a warm glow (a fireplace?) inside a few rooms. There were three lookout towers and a grand entrance. There were three floors, and a few snow cannons firing gargantuan snowballs at the other fortresses.

"Take a look at everyone else's," he answered, turning her towards the other fortresses. The Ravenclaw's resembled a snow globe, with their icy dome and fortress inside. The Hufflepuff's was a simple tower, but with thick walls and small windows. The Slytherin's was a castle that seemed cold and vacant as the Slytherin Common Room, with a flicker of light from torches on the inside.

"Still think ours is too elaborate?"

As James led her to the top tower, a few students saluted to him.

"What'd you do, appoint yourself captain?" Lily asked, as a first year handed him a mug of hot chocolate. Oddly enough, the mug appeared to be made of snow, packed tightly and charmed into a solid.

"Captain Potter," he said thoughtfully. "No, but it has a nice ring to it. Actually, it's lieutenant."

"Right. And do the professors approve of this… snowball fight?" Lily asked.

"Snowball war," James corrected. "And, I'm not sure."

Taking a look out of the window, she saw a new fortress, resembling the Hogwarts castle. "Well, they obviously do. Take a look outside," Lily said.

*~*~*~*~*

James and Sirius were sitting in front of the fireplace, which, like everything else in the snow fortress, was made of snow.

A third year boy suddenly dashed up to them. "The Slytherins, Captain Black, they've damaged our fourth snow canon!"

"Well, don't just stand there, fight back! What do you think this is, a little playground battle? Back to your position, man, back to your position!" Sirius replied.

"Yes, sir!" the boy saluted.

"I love it when they do that," he chuckled.

James rolled his eyes, then spotted the professor's fortress, where a solid stream of ice was shooting out at the other fortresses. "Why, captain, the professors think that they can beat us with their liquid-ice!"

"Well, lieutenant, they've got another think coming!" Sirius shouted.

There was a knock on the ice-and-snow made door.

"Enter," Sirius said with as much dignity as he could.

Lily opened the door. "Hello," she greeted. "You know, while we commoners are fighting the battle front, you two are in the lap of luxury. We're losing, by the way. One of the towers just collapsed."

"Fix it," James ordered.

Lily rolled her eyes. "You know we'll never win if we haphazardly shoot out snowballs," she said.

"We will," James said vaguely.

"No we won't," she said. "So, I came up with a battle strategy that would not only help us beat the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins, but also the professor's."

Sirius fell out of his chair.

The professor's appeared to be unbeatable, as they had a magical shield acting as an invisible barrier to anything flying at them within forty feet of their fortress. They also had top quality snowballs, along with other devices that they used in battle.

James kept his composure. "And the plan, Evans?"

Lily drew up a seat. "Now, I've been watching the others, and I've come up with their methods of battle…"

*~*~*~*~*

"That was bloody brilliant!" Sirius shouted, as the icy dome of the Ravenclaw's suddenly cracked and broke, its force sending the two towers on its side tumbling down and their tightly packed wall to have a giant hole due to the force of the snowflake. Yes- a snowflake.

Lily's plan had been to put more speed into a single snowflake, then put a melting charm on it. The Ravenclaw's dome had protected them from dozens of snowballs, but the single snowflake had just fallen gently on the top of the dome. Once it landed, the melting charm was activated, and the small snowflake melted into a small drop of water. Due to the freezing temperatures, it froze almost instantaneously. As Lily had predicted, the Ravenclaws had charmed the ice there, and had, undoubtedly, not worried about its foundation due to the magic. However, when the tiny drop of real ice landed on top, its weight was even larger that the weight of the magic ice, and the sudden clash of magic and natural ice caused the dome to break apart, despite all its anti-charm and unbreakable charms surrounding it.

Lily smiled complacently, as James nodded his approval, though he obviously wasn't happy about it.

Within seconds, there was a large white banner of truce with the Ravenclaw raven embroidered on it, flying from the Ravenclaw's remaining tower.

*~*~*~*~*

(A/N) That was long, I know. Well, I hope it was worth it. Since it was an extra-long chapter, I expect an extra lot of reviews! Please? (It's weird writing about Christmas when it's summer)

To Come: The defeat of the Hufflepuffs and the Slytherins. And, of course, we can't forget…Cookies! Cake! Pie! Frosting! Sugar cubes (you'll see)! Isn't your mouth watering at the thought of the next chapter?