Five minutes later…

It was Remus's turn to put on the reins, so he was now in his wolf-form while James and Lily sat in the sled, which was made of pine wood and had a nice, shiny finish. Lily had just put her feet up on it to get comfortable, when James snapped at her, saying "Hey! Don't do that! You'll ruin the shine of it, and we just finished off the payment for it last week!" Lily said sheepishly "Oh! Sorry, it's a bit of a habit," James said "Were you raised on a farm or something?" Lily looked at him irritably and said "No! I was raised in a castle, actually" James looked surprised, and asked "A castle? You're royalty?" Lily said with a slight glare "Don't look so surprised! Yes I'm the Princess of Gryffindor." Remus looked back for a moment, and James said "So that would make your brother the King?" Lily nodded and said "Yes, that's part of the reason why I've got to find him." James nodded, and asked "So why did your brother run away in the first place?" Lily sighed as she said "Well, it's all my fault. I wanted his blessing for my marriage to Severus of the Slytherin Isles, and I just met him that morning, which I guess shocked him, so Siri wouldn't bless it-" James interrupted her and looked at her questioningly as he asked "Wait: You wanted to marry someone you JUST MET THAT DAY? Are you mad?" Lily frowned and said "That's what he said too, and I know it sounds crazy, but haven't you heard of 'love at first sight'? I believe in it, as does Severus. But anyways-" James interrupted again, saying loudly "How can you love him? You barely even know him!" Lily said "Oh shut up! I love him, and he loves me, and that's the end of it. Anyways, Siri and I got into a fight, and I asked him why he shut me, as well as our parents, out for so many years, and he accidentally revealed his powers after I accidentally took his glove off. Now the people are frightened, and I want to set things right." She finished and looked sad as she said "I sure hope he's okay." James looked at her, and his face softened a bit as he said "You still care about him. Even though he shut you out for so long?" Lily nodded and said "Of course! Wouldn't you do the same if Remus shut you out? Although I couldn't imagine him doing that: He's too sweet," James was about to answer when suddenly Remus slowed to a stop, and James asked "Moony, what-" but then he heard it too, and Lily was about to ask "Wha-" but James put his gloved hand over her mouth. She glared at him for a moment, but then realized that something must be wrong, and James shouted after looking behind them "RUN MOONY!"

"What's wrong?" Lily asked, and James said "Mountain Lions!" Lily said "And I take it they aren't friends of yours?" James said "Do they look like our friends to you?" as he was kicking one off the sled, and Lily said "I suppose not, but a pig like you might smell good to them!" James glared at her, but then he got bitten on the pants leg and pulled off the sled! Lily gasped, and said "Remus! Don't go too fast, James is in trouble!" Remus nodded, and Lily dug through the back of the sled until she found a copper kettle, which she used to wallop the lion on the head until it let go of James. As she pulled James back on the sled, James said "Er, thanks," as he readjusted his glasses, and Lily said "No problem." She gasped as she tugged on James's shirt sleeve and pointed ahead: There was a cliff up ahead, and they were about to fall off it. James said "Moony! Keep going, I'm throwing Lily on your back!" Lily said "Wait, what?" as James picked her up and threw her onto Remus's back. Lily said as she gripped on to Remus's thick fur for dear life, "Wait, James what about you?" James said "Don't worry, I've got a plan." Lily threw her arms around Remus's neck as she prepared herself for the jump. Remus leaped across to the other side gracefully, and Lily said "Good job, are you okay?" Remus nodded and they both watched as James turned into his deer form and leaped to where they were, not as gracefully however and almost fell off the cliff. Lily and Remus (now in his human form) ran over to help him up before he fell, and he turned into his human form as well once he was safe. He quickly peered over the edge in horror as the sled smashed into bits, and Remus and Lily winced.

Lily stood there quietly for a moment as she said "I'm really sorry, guys. I can understand if you don't want to help me anymore, I can continue from here. Thank you for all that you've done, I will never forget it. Your kindness shall be repaid: I will get you a new sled once I get back." She walked away into the forest, and Remus said "Are you done pouting yet?" James said "We just paid it off, too! I knew we never should have agreed to help her. She's nothing but trouble." Remus said "James, in the whole scheme of things, is a large piece of wood really that important? That girl- The PRINCESS I might add- helped us, the least we can do is repay her, and she said she would get you a new one, with or without our help." James sighed as he said "Let's go find her; she won't be able to repay us if she's dead, which she will be without us." Remus shook his head as he smiled and followed James into the woods. "Lily!" he called as he saw her red cloaked-form ahead of them. She turned around and said "I thought you wouldn't want to help me anymore!" James said "Well who knows when you'll repay us if you continue on your own!" Lily rolled her eyes, but smiled as she said "Well, thanks." Remus smiled and said "It's the least we can do, you did pretty much save us from starving, and you got us the climbing supplies we needed, so thanks yourself!" Lily grinned, and they continued walking.

They walked well into the afternoon, and when they reached a clearing, they all stopped to gaze upon the beautiful wintery wonderland. There was a sparkling coat of snow on the ground, and there was a small waterfall there that had been frozen solid, and all the trees had crystalized branches. They walked slowly through the area, and Lily said "It's gorgeous here," as Remus nodded and James looked at her, and said "Yeah." He stared at her and for the first time since they had met, he realized that she was beautiful: Her fiery red hair flowed down to her mid-back, and her stunning emerald eyes glittered as she looked around. Once he realized he was staring, he quickly looked away, not knowing that Remus had seen it, and smiled as he knew what was going on. Lily was just about to say more, but then they heard a voice saying "Yeah, it is beautiful here isn't it? But it could use some color…"