"Remus! James! Pete!" Sirius elatedly threw the curtains open, eliciting a number of groans from his dormmates. "Oh, don't be like that. Cheer up, it's snowing!"

Another round of groans. Remus in particular buried his head further into his pillow. Sirius frowned at the general lack of enthusiasm. "You guys are wankers," he muttered.

"It's early, Padfoot," James complained. "I was up late last night planning the rounds schedule with Lily."

"'Lily'? She's Lily now?"

James lit up. "Yeah, she — it's not like that, shut it," he said, cheeks cherry red and scowling at Sirius's smirk.

"Is it too early for breakfast?" Peter asked from the next bed. "I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," said Sirius dismissively. "But how can you be thinking about food when it's snowing outside? You know what we always do during the first snow!"

"But —"

"No buts!" Sirius interrupted Remus cheerfully. "You'd all better meet me outside in fifteen minutes, or…you know the rules."

After much grumbling and hasty dressings, the four of them marched outside — but not before obliging Peter's request for food. On their way out, Sirius noticed something.

"Oh how convenient, it's mistletoe," he said, pointing at the sprig of mistletoe hanging at the entrance of the Great Hall, a broad grin erupting on his face. He turned Remus. "You know what that means."

Remus rolled his eyes but kissed him anyway, a chaste kiss that lasted for about three seconds before he pulled away. Smirking at the dumbfounded look on Sirius's face, he grabbed his hand and tugged him ahead. "I thought we were supposed to be going outside."

"We are." Sirius snapped out of his Remus-induced daze.

Lily was planning to have a peaceful morning, trudging through her Transfiguration essay, when she heard shouts coming from outside. Her heart sped up in her chest with alarm but returned to normal when she heard the glee in the shouts. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw snowflakes cascading from the sky.

It was the first snow of the year, and she knew what that meant. Hell, she'd participated at one point — mostly to release her feelings of frustration and anger towards James.

"It's that time of year again, isn't it?" Marlene approached Lily with something like wariness.

"Yes…" Lily tapped her chin with the end of her quill, essay forgotten. Her eyes gleamed. "I think I know how we can make things more…interesting. We can get revenge for last year."

"I'm listening."

Sirius flung a snowball at James, who dodged with a snort. "You're forgetting who you're playing against, mate," said the messy-haired Marauder, grinning. "Remember last year?"

Sirius frowned because he did remember an incident in which James had (accidentally) shoved him into the Black Lake, and neither Sirius nor McGonagall had found it amusing.

"Oh, I'll be getting payback," he began ominously but stopped as he saw a group of sixth-year Gryffindors hovering at the entrance to the castle. "Oi, you lot! Quit dithering and join in!"

Bolstered by Sirius's encouragement, they joined in, and so did many others — hordes of others, and the grounds quickly descended into chaos.

"You were meant to be watching him!" Sirius shouted to Peter, who'd gotten distracted by a pretty Hufflepuff seventh-year and had neglected his duties of shadowing Remus. Remus now had Sirius flat on his back and stalking towards him with a snowball. Sirius gulped as his boyfriend came closer…and closer…

"Aha!"

There was a blur of motion and suddenly Remus was on his arse, with Lily Evans standing above him and whooping. "That's for last year!" she cried, and with malicious intent, she rounded on Sirius, who swallowed.

"Now it's your turn."

"Don't you dare!" he cried, but it was futile - Lily's snowball smashed into his face and he spluttered as icy cold drops hit his skin.

"I'll get you back for that," he growled.

649 words

12 days of Shipmas - Your ship is playing in the snow