Remus, Sirius, and James entered the Great Hall for breakfast. Snowflakes were falling from the magical ceiling, and Dumbledore had bewitched the food so that when they suddenly popped up on the table, they were wrapped in packages and bows. Dumbledore had exchanged his usual hat for a set of antlers from a wizard cracker.

The marauders sat down, Sirius next to Emma, Remus next to Ella, and James next to Lily (who, surprisingly, did not protest).

"Er…Happy Christmas, Lily," said James, noticing that she had the emerald necklace on.

"Happy Christmas, James," responded Lily, merrily. "I trust you got my gift?"

"Oh, yeah. It's wonderful, thanks."

Lily blushed and looked down at her plate.

"Did you like the scrapbook, Sirius?" asked Emma.

"Oh, yeah. It was amazing. Did you do that all yourself?" asked Sirius.

"Er…yes. The snowy owl you gave me was beautiful! I have always wanted my own owl. How did you know?"

Sirius took a long drink from his goblet. "I just had a hunch," he said.

The marauders quickly finished off their breakfast, and headed outside.

"Hey, Lily! Want to have a snowball fight with us?" asked James, a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Er…I suppose. I'm not very good at throwing things, though," she replied, smiling.

"That's alright. I'll help you."

They set off to the grounds, all six (Ella was coming, too) laughing merrily, playing around.

"Alright. How about three teams, me and Emma, Ella and Moony, and Prongs and Evans?" Sirius asked, with a malicious smile on his face while he looked at James and Lily.

James and Lily looked at each other, grinning. "Sure," they said in unison.

The game started off modestly, each team making their forts by hand. Then, as the game progressed, use of magic became more evident. Lupin and Ella had created a snowball making machine, so they did not have to waste time. Emma and Sirius had created a sign on their fort that kept flashing, "YOU SUCK!" repeatedly. Lily and James (actually, it was Lily who thought of it) enchanted their snowballs so they went faster in the air.

"Oh, goodness! I'm absolutely horrid at this," laughed Lily, after her snowball flew apart in the air before it could reach its destined target, Sirius.

"Aw, no you're not," said James, smiling at her. "You just need some help from the expert."

"I assume that the expert is you, James?" Lily asked.

"Well, of course. Who else would it be?" said James, joking.

"That's just like you, James. Thinking you're the best at everything," Lily said.

James looked at her, afraid that they would have to start all over again.

Lily grinned. "Kidding," she said. "Honestly, James. You're not the only one who can make jokes."

James laughed. "Here," he said, demonstrating how to pack down a snowball. "You just have to pack it down really tight. Then, just aim and throw."

James gave Lily the snowball. Lily aimed at Emma, and threw the snowball. She missed by quite a few feet.

Lily groaned. "I'm never going to get this. I think you've picked the wrong girl for your team, James."

"No, I did not. Here," he said, standing behind Lily, positioning her correctly. "Now throw."

She threw perfectly, hitting Emma square in the back.

Lily glanced back at James. "Thanks," she whispered.

"No problem," said James, looking into her eyes.

Lily broke their trance. "Now what do we do?"

"Well…I say, we surprise attack Moony and Ella," James said. "Grab all the snowballs we've made, and when I say three, we run out and throw all our snowballs at them, alright?"

Lily eagerly grabbed all the snowballs they had, waiting for James' cue.

"One…two…THREE!"

They ran out from behind their fort, pelting snowballs at anything that came in their path, laughing hysterically the entire time. Remus and Ella must have charmed their snowballs so that they knocked over anything that they were thrown at, because as soon as James and Lily were hit with them, they fell over into the snow, Lily on top of James.

"Sorry, James," she said, hardly able to talk because she was laughing so much.

"Erm…that's alright, Lily," said James in a muffled and squished voice. "Er…could you please get off of me now, though?"

"Oh gosh! So sorry!" exclaimed Lily, getting off James, turning red.

"That's quite alright," said James, grinning, gazing into Lily's deep green eyes. "Er…Lily?"

"Yes, James?"

"Would you…er…I mean…Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?" James asked in a rushed tone, looking at Lily nervously and hopefully.

"sure," Lily smiled at him, completely surprised with herself.

James smiled the biggest smile ever then, and they were immediately knocked down again by one of Emma's snowballs.