A few days had gone by. Snow was falling gracefully over the castle, and it was now three feet thick on the grounds. When James passed Lily in the halls, he greeted her with a polite, "hello," while Lily said nothing in response, only looking down at her shoes, blushing, concentrating on hating James with passion. As much as she did not want to, she realized that she was slowly starting to hate him a little bit less. Not that I don't still hate him, she thought. I do. Really? She questioned herself. Or do you just want to believe that so you don't fall for him? Every time she passed him in the halls, a strange sensation swept over her, no matter how hard she tried to shake it away. Once, without realizing she had done it, she smiled at him. Lily could not help but notice that James had changed. He hadn't pranked anyone in quite a while, and he wasn't cocky anymore. Instead, he was humble, and shy around her. It must be part of his plan, she thought. He'll pretend to be normal and down to earth for a change, and then, when I like him, BAM! He'll turn into a jerk again.

…

Things were going well between Emma and Sirius. To the surprise of Hogwarts' sixth year population, this relationship of Sirius' had actually lasted more than one week. AND they did more than just snogging. As Emma and Sirius got closer, Emma and the marauders became friends. James greatly appreciated Emma acting as spy for him on information about Lily.

It now seemed obvious to Sirius that he needed to get Emma more than a new set of robes for Christmas. He kept racking his brain on what he should get her. Nothing seemed good enough for her. Not candy, not dungbombs, not perfume. One night, after he had racked his brain particularly hard, he had a pained expression on his face (then again, he always had a pained expression on his face when he was thinking).

"What's wrong, Padfoot?" asked James.

"Nothing!" Sirius snapped. "I'm just thinking about what I should give Emma for Christmas."

"Don't bite my head off!" Exclaimed James. "What's wrong with a new set of robes, like I thought you were going to give her?"

"Robes? ROBES? Robes aren't special enough for Emma!"

"Oooh! Do you looooove Emma, Padfoot?" Sang James maliciously.

"Shut up, Prongs. I'll bet your gift for Evans won't be much better."

"Oh it will. Trust me…So, Padfoot, have you set a date for the wedding yet? Am I invited? Can I be the best man?"

"PRONGS! SHOVE OFF THIS INSTANT!"

And with that, Sirius flipped James upside down, to the entertainment of the few Gryffindors still in the common room that late at night.

"What are you getting Black for Christmas, Emma?" Lily seemed to be in a much better mood, as long as they never talked about James.

"Er…I dunno…I was thinking a broom treatment kit? I wanted to get him something more intimate, but I dunno what that intimate thing is yet…"

"What about loads of Zonko's stuff?" asked Lily. "He seems like the kind of guy who would enjoy that."

"Not personal enough…perhaps I could get him…a…scrapbook? Of…er…memories from our relationship?"

"I think that is a bit too…profound for Black…he may not understand it."

"Shut up, Lils. Of course he will. You know, he's smarter than most people give him credit for. Same with Pot-"

"Do not say POTTER!" Lily said angrily.

"Right. Sorry…I-er-must have forgotten," Emma said slyly.

Lily sighed. Sometimes it seemed her best friend was on Potter's side, not hers.

"Are you going to…er…get Jam-I mean, Potter anything, Lily?"

"I truly do not know yet…maybe something impersonal…or maybe nothing at all!" she added, seeing the look of pleasure that had appeared on Emma's face.