Back to where we were before our flashback to a few hours prior…
Olaf had slid next to them as Remus carried James and Lily as fast as he could back to Gryffindor. Lily had still been fading in an out of consciousness, and James had been holding onto Lily tightly, rubbing her shoulder with his free hand to keep her warm, but it did no good: her hair had turned pure white before his very eyes. Suddenly he noticed up ahead with relief (and sadness) that they were approaching Gryffindor. Olaf said "I'll meet you guys at the castle!" as he started sliding out of control, and was headed for the village. James said "Alright! Try not to-" but he didn't finish his sentence: Olaf had run right into a woman and said "Oh I'm sorry, hi! I'm Olaf and I like warm-" and the woman screeched "AHHH! IT'S ALIVE!" James shook his head and chuckled softly, and Remus slowed down as they reached the palace gates. James saw the guards and yelled to them "The princess needs help!" The guards rushed to open the gates, and a few rushed inside to tell the staff. James got off of Remus's back, and Remus followed in his wolf form as James carried Lily bridal-style to the front doors of the castle. Lily asked "Are y-you two g-gonna be okay?" James offered her a small smile, and was touched that she cared about them even though she was the one who needed to be worried about. He said quietly "Don't worry about us, Princess." The doors burst open and Mrs. Pomfrey and Mrs. McGonagall exclaimed "Princess Lily!" and rushed over to her as James set her down, and the two older women helped her to walk inside. "What happened? I knew you shouldn't have gone out there, especially on your own!" "Child, you're shivering!" both women fussed over her, and just before the doors closed, Lily looked back at James and Remus, and mouthed to them "thanks, guys" with a small smile. James watched her go, his hazel eyes looking sadly after her as the doors closed in front of him. Remus, still in his wolf form, whimpered sadly, and James sighed as he said "Let's go, Moony." The two walked away slowly, already missing the spunky red-head they had met only three days ago.
In the dungeons of Gryffindor castle…
Sirius awoke with a small bump on the back of his head, and as he rubbed it and winced, he realized how dark it was. 'Where am I?' he thought to himself as he stood up, but as he went to look out the window, he realized that his hands and legs were shackled! "Bugger!" he muttered to himself, then he looked out the window, and what he saw made his heart stop for a moment. Lily was right: Gryffindor was indeed in the midst of an eternal winter! A few seconds later Prince Severus walked in, looking very smug as he approached Sirius. He said "Well well well, I see that you're admiring your handiwork. You did a good job of changing the season; however your time…is up." Severus paced around the room, and Sirius said "I don't know how to change it back. I didn't change it intentionally in the first place you greasy-haired twat. How my sister could love you-"Severus cut him off as he said "Your sister has a kind heart, perhaps too kind for her own good. She will continue to love me because after your unfortunate and untimely death, I will be there to comfort her. She will have no idea that I was the one who killed you." Sirius lunged at Severus, but couldn't quite reach him due to the shackles, and said "Why you sick, twisted-" Severus interrupted him, saying "Ah ah ah, name calling will get you nowhere." Suddenly, there was a knock on the door "Prince Severus?" a guard asked, sounding slightly out of breath; Severus said curtly "What is it?" the guard said "It's Princess Lily, she's returned. She doesn't look well-" Severus interrupted and said irritably "That's enough. I will be there shortly." Sirius gasped and said softly "Lily," Severus said "It appears I have other matters to attend to, but I will be back soon to finish what I started." He left, leaving Sirius feeling beside himself with dismay: knowing that he could have gravely hurt his sister, and he would never even get the chance to apologize and be the brother he always wanted to be. But part of him tried to think about how he could escape and set things right with Gryffindor, as well as his sister.
Back to Lily…
"W-where is Prince S-severus?" Lily said as she shivered as Mrs. Pomfrey ushered her to her bedroom. "He's on his way, Princess Lily. Don't worry; let's just get you warm again!" She said "You should take a hot bath and go to bed-" but Lily interrupted "N-no, n-not until I see Severus. I-it's really important." Mrs. Pomfrey nodded hesitantly and helped Lily to sit down on the comfy chair next to her fireplace, where she started a fire. "I will bring you some hot cocoa in a short while so you have time to talk to Prince Severus, milady." Lily offered her a small smile, saying "T-thank you." Mrs. Pomfrey smiled back, and went out of the room. Lily put her hands towards the fire to warm herself, which helped a little.. After a couple of minutes, there was a knock on her door, and Lily said "Come in." Severus entered, and said "Lily! I'm relieved that you have come back, but what happened to you? Your hair is as white as the snow that covers your country! Are you alright?" Lily said "W-well, Severus, my brother accidentally struck me with his p-powers when I got to his ice palace to talk to him, a-and a couple of my new friends b-brought me back h-here. I need an act of true love to s-s-save me." Severus said "And I take it that I need to perform the act of true love: a true love's kiss perhaps?" Lily nodded, and Severus said "In that case," and Lily and Severus kissed, a short yet tender kiss. As they parted, Severus looked at Lily and she hadn't changed at all: Her hair was still pure white, and eyes still a dark shade of blue. Lily gasped and said "I-it didn't w-work!" Severus looked slightly hurt as he asked "Have you fallen in love with someone else?" Lily said "N-no, I mean I met these two guys who helped me on my journey, b-but-" then she stopped as she realized that she had fallen in love: with James. He was handsome, and though a bit of an arse at times, he was sweet: he worried about her, and took care of her. "James," she whispered "James?" Severus repeated, and Lily looked to Severus, and said "Severus, I'm s-sorry, but I am in love with someone else." Severus's heart turned colder, and chuckled as he said "Oh Lily, if only I were in the position to let you go." Lily looked at him questioningly and asked "W-what do you mean?" Severus said as he sighed "Lily it seems that you have no choice: we shall be married this evening." Lily looked at him angrily, and said "Severus, you c-can't tell me what to do." Severus grinned cruelly and said "Oh but I can: You see, I have your brother trapped in the dungeons as we speak." Lily gasped "N-n-no! Let him go!" Severus continued "Oh but I can't do that, you see, later today I have arranged to kill him." Lily gasped once again, and lunged at Severus, but fell to the floor, and said "Y-you can't!" Severus said "Yes I can, and I will, unless you go through with the marriage. If you decide to marry me, than I will spare his life. If you decide not to, he will be killed tonight." Lily didn't speak for a minute, and then said softly, "I won't be able to marry you, Severus: I will be dead by the time we are to be wed." Severus said "Well in that case we will have to marry soon, won't we? My offer still stands: Marry me, and his life is spared. Don't marry me, and you both shall die." Lily looked at him furiously and said "Fine: I will marry you. After we are wed, I will see my brother one last time, and then you will let him go back to his ice palace; he never wanted to leave it in the first place." Severus grinned smugly, and said "As you wish, we shall be married in two hours' time. That should give you plenty of time to prepare." He walked out of the room, with Lily glaring at him as he left. She sat up, and pulled her crimson cape closer around her as she cried herself to sleep on the carpeted floor.
James and Remus, who had just turned back into his human form, walked slowly and silently through the snow, leaving the village. As they reached a hilltop overlooking the town, Remus looked at the castle, and then back at James. He realized he can't just let James leave the best thing that's ever happened to him. He knew how James felt about Lily, but he wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even himself. He sighed and ran after James, and when he caught up with him, he said firmly "James." James looked to Remus, who noticed the pain of leaving Lily behind still in his hazel eyes. James asked testily "What is it Moony?" Remus asked him "Are you just going to leave and forget what happened over the past three days?" James snapped "Yeah, so what? We helped the princess, now she's with her Prince Charming. We're not needed anymore." Remus said to him simply, "You love her." James looked surprised for a moment, and didn't say anything as he tried to walk past Remus, but Remus put his hand in front of James, asking him "If you love her, you should go tell her how you feel. I've seen the way you look at her, James." James said "She doesn't love me." Remus asked "How do you know?" James was about to reply, but suddenly, a wind from behind them caught them by surprise, forcing them to look where it came from: It was from Gryffindor, where a huge cloud was forming over the castle. James said worriedly "Lily! She's in trouble!" and the two young men headed back to the village.
In the dungeons…
Sirius decided to make a run for it: If he could just get back to his ice palace, he could figure out a way to end this winter, and eventually a way to send Prince Severus back to the Slytherin Isles. He tried pulling on the shackles for a while to no avail, but then he got an idea: Maybe if he were to concentrate his ice powers into the shackles, they would snap apart! He focused only on the shackles, and froze them solid and with two yanks he was able to snap the ones over his hands off! He then used his ice magic once again to freeze off the shackles on his legs. He suddenly heard Severus talking to some guards a short distance from his door, and panicked, but figured out that he could use his fire magic combined with his ice magic to blow a hole in the prison wall, which he did quickly and jumped into the snow below. Severus walked in with the guards, and realized that Sirius had escaped. He snapped at the guards "Seal off all the entrances quickly, before the monster gets away!" Sirius had unintentionally caused a powerful snowstorm all across Gryffindor, which made him panic even more.
In Lily's room…
Lily had awoken abruptly as she heard the knob on the door being twisted and clicked. She was unable to get up, and asked faintly "W-who is it?" The door opened finally, and in came Olaf.