A/N: Sorry that took so long, I had to finish AUR so I could concentrate more on this story...thanks to everyone who reviewed, your support is wonderful! :)

Off topic: I just watched the latest HBP trailer and nearly died with excitement...I recommend you go and watch it ASAP! Okay, okay, onto the story...

"Curious little girl, aren't you?"

Lily's eyes widened upon seeing none other than Lucius. He released her at once, but she didn't run; she was too paralyzed with fear to even move an inch. Her heart was pounding so ferociously that she wondered silently if Lucius could hear it.

"Come. I'll escort you back to your room."

Lucius relit the lamps in the hallway and beckoned Lily to follow him. The voices behind them were out of earshot by now, not that it mattered, since Lily found that she cared more about returning to the comfort of her warm sleeping bag than finding out who the voices were.

Lucius didn't glance back at her on their walk back to Laika's room; he knew she would follow no matter what.

"Here we are."

He paused at Laika's door and motioned for Lily to go inside.

"Can I trust you will not go on any more midnight walks?"

Lily nodded immediately, and breathed a tremendous sigh of relief once Lucius closed the door. Laika and Narcissa hadn't budged; hopefully Lucius wouldn't tell them about what had happened…

xXxXxXxXx

"Happy Christmas Severus."

Sev groaned and turned over in bed. It was much too early to wake up!

"Go away," he mumbled tiredly with his face buried in his pillow.

"Don't be a git Sev, it's Christmas! We have presents!" said another voice that Sev recognized at once but couldn't believe he actually said his name rather than the usual "Snivellus."

"I don't have presents," Sev said, sitting up in his bed and blinking sleepily. Once his vision had cleared, he saw Remus smiling cheerfully at him from his bed, and Sirius was boisterously jumping up and down on his own bed. James, however, was missing.

Sev had never gotten a Christmas present in his life, except for last year, when Lily had knit him a scarf without magic. He still cherished the gift, and decided he would wear it for today's special occasion.

He looked down by his feet in disbelief: there actually were presents lying at the end of his bed this year. Truly shocked, he looked up at Remus, though he merely smiled serenely back at him.

"Go on, open them!" Sirius prodded him excitedly. "We've already opened all ours."

Sev felt the heat rising to his cheeks as he reached over and picked up a beautifully-wrapped maroon and gold box. He felt a mixture of embarrassment and excitement come over him as he tore away at the paper; beneath the wrapping, there was a shiny new book labelled A Beginner's Guide to Vanquishing Boggarts. On it was a neatly-handwritten note:

Thought it might be useful. Happy Christmas.

-Remus

He looked up at Remus, feeling both ashamed of the fact that he found out what had had happened that night back in September and awed because someone whom he didn't exactly consider to be a close friend had gotten him something so wonderful. He was speechless.

"I hope its okay."

"Oh…it's…great! It's one of the best gifts I've ever received," he mumbled awkwardly, well-aware that Sirius could also hear everything he said.

"Open mine next!" Sirius shouted obnoxiously, though Sev knew this was his subtle attempt at easing the uneasiness of the situation.

"But I didn't get you anything," he muttered regretfully as he started unwrapping the massive package where it was because it was too heavy for him to move it any closer to him.

"We don't need anything, mate," Sirius replied honestly, coming over and sitting next to Remus to get a better look at Sev's reaction to his present. Sev knew the Potters and the Blacks were filthy rich, but still, he felt bad that he couldn't at least get them something.

The package was crudely wrapped and nearly the size of his trunk. He darted a suspicious glance at Sirius, who was desperately trying to keep a straight face yet failing miserably. Remus looked as though he had no idea, though judging by Sirius' expression, it wasn't good.

In fact, there was absolutely nothing inside.

"Um…thanks?"

There was a tiny scuffling noise in the box. Sev hesitantly reached inside and felt something solid.

"Is it invisible?"

"That's right!"

Sev yelled and jumped backwards— toppling off the end of his bed— as James suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Sirius and Remus roared with laughter as Sev tried to pull himself to his feet, but he had been so surprised by James' prank that he found it difficult to keep his balance.

"How'd you do that?" Sev demanded furiously once he managed to steady himself, with the help of James.

He grinned widely and held up a long, silvery cloak.

"What's that?"

"I dunno, why don't you see for yourself?" James smirked mischievously as he threw the cloak over Sev's head.

"I don't get it," Sev said; he could still see the three boys and didn't feel much of a difference.

"Look down."

"What is this?!" he shouted once he had looked down and saw that his body had disappeared completely.

James tentatively reached out to where he thought Sev was standing and managed to pull it off of him. "It's an Invisibility Cloak, stupid. Sorry, but that wasn't your Christmas present…I'm rather fond of this," he said, shoving the cloak back into his pocket. "Here's your real gift."

After what had come from the first present, Sev was slightly nervous to open the next one.

"No surprises in this one," Sirius told him exasperatedly.

Nope, Sev wasn't surprised at all: James and Sirius had given him a monstrous box of joke shop items. So typical of them.

"It's from Zonko's mail-order, since we can't go to Hogsmeade 'til our third year," James explained as he and Sirius excitedly dug into the box as though it had been their present.

"Thanks…I just…"

"Don't mention it," James said, putting on a pair of glasses that transformed his entire head into that of a ghoul.

A couple hours later, the four boys went outside to play in the snow. After being cooped up all month, it was great to finally get out and race around in the bitingly cold weather.

Sev brushed the snow off of a small boulder and sat back to read the book Lily had gotten him for Christmas: Great Gryffindors in History (there had been a long letter attached and a postscript, "You're the next one!").

Meanwhile, his three friends had started an impromptu snowball fight.

"Come on, Sev!" Sirius called out to him from behind his and James bunker. "We can't have a fair battle without equal teams!"

Sev felt bad that Remus was alone, but he hated participating in anything competitive, especially Quidditch and snowball fights. He shook his head and went back to his reading. Within seconds, two snowballs pummelled him right in the face. Angrily wiping the snow away and brushing it off his book, he glared up at them.

"What was that for?"

"We won't stop until you join us!" James taunted him while Sirius launched another snowy mass at him.

"Quit it!" Sev snarled as the snowball landed onto the crisp new pages of his book. He pulled out his wand to siphon the melting ice away, but James and Sirius kept the attacks coming.

"Fine!" Sev yelled once the intensity of snowball attacks had become too much for him to handle. He set the book down on the boulder and immediately flicked his wand at the snow near James and Sirius. A giant ball of snow the size of a centaur rose up into the air at once. It levitated over them for a moment, before Sev released it on top of their heads. It was like being trapped at the bottom of an avalanche.

He smirked as Sirius tried manually shovelling his way out; James had the sense to use his wand at least.

"Cheater!" James roared. "This means WAR Snape!"

"Very well Potter," he replied teasingly as he joined Remus behind their bunker and the war began.

xXxXxXxXx

"Oh, thank you Narcissa! I'll start reading it tonight," Lily smiled at her friend. Narcissa had bought her a book on Love Potions, which she initially had thought to be too old for her, but figured it was a nice gift nonetheless.

"Who are you planning on giving one to? Your little Gryffindor boyfriend?" Laika teased, though there was a hint of spite in her voice when she mentioned Severus.

Lily laughed. "No way. Sev's my bes— er, friend," she hastily amended, wanting Laika and Narcissa to think they were her best friends instead. Then again, one could have three best friends, right?

"You may not need a Love Potion for him anyways," Narcissa noted quietly, looking at the brand new book Sev had sent her for Christmas. Lily knew he had been saving for months for that book, and she felt bad that he had spent so much on her.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Ugh, Sev's my friend, okay? We're too young for boys now, anyways."

"You think so?" Laika's eyebrows rose and she darted a furtive glance at Narcissa, who was watching Lucius walking down the hallway with two of his friends; both of them a year older than him but also in Slytherin.

"Lily's right," Narcissa snapped, though she blushed when she turned around and realized Laika and Lily had been watching her. "We're only eleven."

"Right," Laika scoffed, but didn't push the issue further.

"Hello Laika," a weary voice came from behind the three girls.

"Mother!" Laika squealed excitedly and jumped up to hug her. Lily smiled softly; clearly Laika was very attached to her parents. For some strange reason, they didn't exactly return the affection; instead they seemed indifferent to their daughter's company.

Dark circles rounded under their eyes, Lily noticed, as though they hadn't gotten much sleep lately. Mr. Malfoy was a splitting image of his son, though Lucius possessed a youthful aura that appeared to have abandoned the elder Malfoy years ago.

Poor Mrs. Malfoy was paler than a ghost and looked to be nothing but skin and bones. She and her husband wore long black robes; they would have looked out of place at the Evans' home during Christmastime, though here at Malfoy Manor, they fit right in with the gloominess of the place.

They don't even have a Christmas tree, Lily thought sadly, though she was enjoying herself so much that she found it easy to dismiss this small detail.

"Lily, I'd like you to meet my parents," Laika introduced them— apparently Narcissa had already met the two Malfoys on a separate occasion. Their hands were startlingly cold when Lily politely shook each of their hands; remembering Lucius' grip on her shoulders when he had caught her a few nights ago, she figured this must be a family trait.

"Mother…Father," Lucius greeted them, though his tone was icy and his eyes were glittering towards the two suspiciously as he entered the room.

"Lucius," Mrs. Malfoy replied in an equally cold voice, sounding more like a distant acquaintance than a mother.

While Narcissa and Laika hardly noticed what was going on, Lily felt quite uncomfortable seeing how poorly Lucius and his parents got along.

"Are you going to stay for dinner?" Laika asked her parents hopefully, ignoring the scowl on her brother's face.

The couple glanced at each other nervously and Mr. Malfoy shook his head, much to Lucius' relief.

"We can't Laika, I'm sorry," her mother said, absentmindedly rubbing her left forearm as she spoke. "We ought to be back before morning though."

Laika blinked back tears, wanting to shout at them for never being home…for never wanting to be with her…for never caring about her…but instead she remained respectfully silent. It was Christmas, after all, and she just wanted to spend time with them. But no…there was a more important person that needed them…there was no way she would hold them back from the honour of serving him…

There was an awkward silence throughout the room: Lily was forcing herself to read the book Sev had bought her to distract her from the scene between Laika and her parents, while Narcissa continued watching worriedly between the two siblings as though she was waiting for them to explode at each other. Lucius looked highly disgusted with his younger sister for her emotional weakness, and their exhausted parents were fiddling with their cloaks, wanting to leave as soon as possible.

"Well, we'd better be off, then," Mr. Malfoy said at last, gritting his teeth and jerking his arm as though he were in pain. Lily was astonished by their departure: not so much the Disapparating, but the fact that they hadn't even said goodbye to Laika, who obviously loved them very much. She felt terrible for her friend, but she remained surprisingly emotionless in front of Lily and Narcissa.

"So," she said weakly, turning back to her friends once Lucius had stomped off. "Wizard's chess, anyone?"

xXxXxXxXx

"It's gone!"

Lily awoke with a start. Here it was, the last night before she returned to Hogwarts, and the mysterious voices were back. However, this time she was pretty sure she could identify the wailing woman as Laika's mother.

What's gone? Lily wondered silently, barely tilting her head away from her pillow so that she could eavesdrop. The voices remained unfairly muffled and she half considered getting up. Then again, she had managed to stay out of trouble for the rest of her visit at Malfoy Manor; she couldn't risk leaving the room and possibly getting caught again.

Still…maybe just this once…

"No," Lily whispered firmly to herself. Stay in here where it's safe.

"I told you we should have left it at Gringotts!" a man hissed furiously, though there was a distinctive hint of fear in his voice as well.

"We're doomed…done for!" the woman moaned quietly; it sounded as though she was crying.

"Pull yourself together, Lilu!" the man whispered harshly. "We just need to find out who took it and they'll pay the price for their thievery…"

Lily gulped, wondering what the punishment lie in store for the thief of the unknown item. What could have possibly gotten them all in a panic? Did they lose a valuable family heirloom? A portrait of a cherished ancestor? Lily didn't know and she wasn't so sure she wanted to find out.

Suddenly, she heard a crack and Mrs. Malfoy muffled a shriek of surprise.

Unable to simply lay there and ignore the fierce whispering outside any longer, Lily foolishly crawled out of her sleeping bag and hustled to the door. Her wand was shaking in her hand, but she promised herself she wouldn't get too close this time. Just enough to hear what was going on…

"Well?" Mr. Malfoy snarled at the visitor in their room down the hallway.

"Dobby could not find it Master!" a squeaky voice whimpered. There was a thumping sound and the person with the strange voice squealed in pain.

"Do not lie to your master, you piece of filth!"

That's no way to talk to another person, Lily thought angrily, though she stayed her distance away from the room.

There was a bang and red light illuminated from the room; followed by a petrified shriek. Lily jumped back in fright, wondering what terrors awaited her if she was caught again…

Deciding that she wasn't about to wait around and find out, Lily turned and sprinted in the opposite direction. There was only one problem now: she had forgotten to trace a path back to the correct door.

Mentally cursing herself for her foolishness, Lily tentatively reached out and opened a random door on the left. Much to her horror, a wave of seemingly-real human skulls— some with the decaying skin and tissues still peeling off— spilled out onto her feet. Stifling what would have been an ear-splitting scream; Lily slammed the door shut and darted down to another door. This didn't lead into Laika's room either, but at least nothing jumped out at her.

The third door she tried was a bedroom. She couldn't quite see too well in the darkness, but it looked somewhat like Laika's room. Leaving the door open behind her— just in case she needed a quick escape— Lily tiptoed into the room and held up her wand.

"Lumos."

Nobody was in there. Spell books lay scattered all over the floor, though they weren't for first years, but rather…fifth years?

"Out for a walk again, Lily?" a quiet voice breathed behind her.

Lily yelped and whirled around— tripping backwards over one of the heavier spell books and falling onto her backside. From the light at the tip of her wand, she saw Lucius standing in the doorway…shirtless.

EWWWW! Lily thought, feeling exceedingly uncomfortable at the sight of her friend's brother standing there, half-naked in front of her. Petunia— thanks to her greater knowledge about boys than Lily— had always reminded her that it was perfectly normal for boys to sleep without shirts, but still, hearing about it and actually seeing it were two totally different things. And with Lily's eleven year-old mindset, she felt completely repulsed.

He went forward to help her to her feet, but Lily recoiled, unwilling to get any closer to his bare chest than she had to. She shakily pulled herself to her feet, but kept her wand trained on Lucius.

"I was…lo-looking f-for my tr-trunk."

Lucius' eyebrow rose as he— much to Lily's immense relief— put on a robe. "Of course you were," he said softly though there was an unmistakable hint of sarcasm laced in his words. "Right this way."

Lily desperately wanted to just go back to Laika's room, but the trunk excuse had been the first thing that had come to mind. It was a long walk; she had forgotten that the four of them had already packed their school things and had them waiting by the front entranceway.

Thankfully, Lucius said nothing on their little midnight walk through the creepy corridors of the manor. Of course he knew Lily had been trying to listen in on his parents' conversation again, not that it mattered, as long as she didn't hear too much. She was a Slytherin; therefore he felt he could trust that she would be loyal to the Dark Lord later on. Of course, there was that infuriating little Gryffindor she still remained close to…he would deal with the greasy brat in time, and once he was out of the way…Lily would be a true Slytherin.

"Here we are," he held up his own wand, casting an eerie glow over the pile of trunks. One of them was still open…Lily recognized it as her trunk. Lucius noticed her looking at it and carelessly kicked it closed.

"I had some last minute books to pack."

Lily didn't bother mentioning that it was actually her trunk and not his.

"Okay, I just…needed to…make sure it was still here," Lily lied, though Lucius saw right through it. He didn't tell her this, figuring a bad liar was best to remain a bad liar, lest they try to trick you later on.

"Come. I'll escort you back to Laika's room…however," he casually glanced back at Lily, making her freeze in place, wondering what he was going to say next. "Can I trust you will remain where you belong? It is rather rude for guests to wander on their own free will under our hospitality…"

Lily blushed furiously, feeling terrible for what she had done. "I'm sorry…it won't happen ever again Lucius, I promise."

xXxXxXxXx

"Here you are, Narcissa."

Narcissa turned slightly pink as Lucius helped her load her trunk onto the trolley outside of King's Cross Station.

"And Lily…"

"That's not mine."

"What? Of course it is."

"No it's not. Look, mine has a Muggle sticker of a deer on it," Lily pointed it out to him.

Lucius froze and his face whitened like a ghost. Laika watched him suspiciously, wondering why her brother was acting so odd.

"Lucius?" she waved a hand in front of his face, though his pale eyes were transfixed on Lily. "Lucius! Just give Lily her trunk already, we're going to be late!"

"I need to see your trunk," he choked, trying to open it, but Lily shoved him away, not wanting him to see all her…girl items in there.

"Lucius that train leaves in one minute!" Laika growled at him, though he seemed to be permanently rooted to the spot. He darted a panicked glance that only Laika could see, but she didn't understand what was going on.

"Let's go," Laika grabbed Lily's real trunk and helped her haul it over to the barrier that led to Platform 9 ¾.

"Wait!" Lucius ran after the three girls, but by the time he reached them, they had already gone through the barrier, and he had to jog back through the masses of Muggles to retrieve his own trunk before he missed the train. He couldn't believe he had mixed up the trunks. Sure, it had been pitch-black, but that offered little comfort to him, considering what he had just lost…

xXxXxXxXx

"What is with your brother?" Narcissa scoffed on Lucius' third failed attempt at breaking into the girl's compartment.

Laika shrugged behind her Daily Prophet, feeling just as mystified by her brother's peculiar behaviour.

"I think he's stuck with the rest of the prefects in their compartment right now," Lily whispered. "I'm going to sneak out and change while I can."

Reaching up into her trunk on the stowaway rack, Lily grabbed her jumble of Hogwarts robes, feeling a wave of excitement wash over her. After two whole weeks, she was finally going back. She missed Sev, she missed her lessons, and as much as she enjoyed the food at Malfoy Manor, she missed the home-style cooking of the Hogwarts elves.

Underneath her assortment of robes, Lily's hand lightly brushed over something small and made of delicate metal. As far as she knew, she didn't own anything that felt like that…

Digging deeper, she saw what it was but couldn't quite believe her eyes: it was a gorgeous golden locket in the shape of a heart with an "S" inscribed in emeralds on the outer part. It was one of the most beautiful pieces of jewelry she had ever seen, though for some reason, it remained cold to the touch.

She darted a surreptitious look at her friends: neither of them had noticed her admiring the locket. Hastily smothering it in between her socks and her robes, she jumped down and quickly said goodbye to her friends. Narcissa sarcastically wished her good luck on her way out; Laika didn't even look up from her newspaper.

Lily ran all the way down to the dressing room and slammed the door shut before anyone could stop her. If other girls saw the beautiful accessory, they might want to try it on, too.

Well obviously it's mine, Lily thought, feeling unusually greedy as she held the locket close to her chest. Her heart pounded with anticipation upon this wonderful surprise…or was it the locket that was vibrating?

It doesn't matter, she thought as she undressed and slipped into her Hogwarts attire as quickly as she could. Looking at herself in the mirror, Lily held up the magnificent necklace and slipped it over her neck. It felt cold and lifeless, even on top of her robes, but its beauty more than made up for this minor discomfort.

Laika and Narcissa are going to be so jealous, Lily thought smugly as she balled up her Muggle clothing into a small pile and dashed back to her compartment.

"What took you so long?" Narcissa demanded as soon as she walked through the sliding door.

"Uh…how long was I gone?" Lily asked uncertainly, having not realized that she had been admiring her latest acquirement for so long.

Narcissa ignored her question; she was now eyeing the locket apprehensively. "What's that?"

Lily grinned broadly and held it up. The green stones dazzled in the faint sunlight that came in through the window forcing even Laika to look up to see what it was.

Once she saw it, all of the colour drained from her face and her jaw dropped. Her eyes seemed to glaze over in horror as her hand shakily rose and pointed a long pale finger at Lily's locket.

"Where did you get that?"

A/N: Well, I hope you all liked that: half filler and half plot (I couldn't resist the Gryffindor boys' bonding time fluffiness, sorry). Thing about Lily: she's pretty clueless. This weakness will get her over time, unfortunately. As for the Malfoys' family relationship: it's important. Trust me on that. Yes, I did alter some things from the timeline, but it wouldn't be a very interesting AU story if I didn't! Don't worry, you'll probably get an explanation about the locket in time. ;)

Reviews, as always, are appreciated :D