A/n: Chapter 13, wherein it is Christmas eve and some new things are tried.

Chapter 13 - Christmas Eve

The Great Hall was a glorious sight to see that night. It was Christmas Eve and the Great Hall was completely decked out in all kinds of decorations. Giant Christmas tree's were in every corner, tinsel and confetti were constantly raining down slowly from the roof and a medley of Christmas carols were coming out of somewhere and echoing across the room. Everyone in the room was at least some degree happy. Even the Slytherins were laughing, even if it was over all the ways they could crush the Gryffindors' in the coming Quidditch match.

Once everyone was settled, Albus Dumbledore rose from his seat to address the school.

"Merry Christmas to you all and I hope you have been enjoying your holidays so far. Now every year, we hold this feast on Christmas Eve, and it is always a wonderful occasion. In fact, we do seem to have a lot of feasts, but I don't hear anyone complaining, do you?" many students laughed at that comment.

"I hope everyone will take a moment during all their snowball fights, present unwrapping and feasting to remember what Christmas really stands for, and to remember all your friends and family, as they have made you the wonderful people you are today." Simone looked at Sirius to see him scowling.

"And now, without any further hesitation, let us tuck in to the wonderful food presented to us this very evening." And with that, the golden dishes that lined the tables were filled with all the food one would ever imagine eating for Christmas dinner; roast Turkey, roast chicken, roast other meats, rich soups, delicious salads, various pasta dishes and there was even a tray of cooked prawns, for Simone's benefit, right in front of her and her friends.

"What in the world is that?" asked Sirius

"Prawns." Answered Simone simply, taking a few and putting them on her plate. "Because we have Christmas in summer, back home, we mainly eat seafood and other summer foods for Christmas. Prawns are an Australian tradition."

"They look weird." Said James

"Try one, they're really tasty!"

"Wow, they are really good!" Exclaimed Lily, surprised.

And because Lily did, James also tried one of the prawns. "It's not too bad. Try one Sirius."

"I'll pass. I think I'll stick to the roast turkey." Replied Sirius

"Why? Are you, afraid?" said Remus, also eating the seafood.

"No, I'm not afraid of anything!" and just to prove Remus wrong, Sirius picked up a prawn, and took a bite out of the little pink shell-fish. "Not as good as turkey," he said, "but its ok, I guess." Sirius didn't like to be wrong.

An hour later, after the piles of food were dwindling and everyone had eaten as much of the delicacies as they could, the dishes were replaced by many bountiful desserts; Ice creams, cakes, puddings, and some desserts from other countries, like Tiramisu from Italy and Stroodle from Germany. Simone had spent some time in the kitchens teaching the house elves how to cook many of the foreign dishes, feeling that the other students might benefit from sampling cuisines from other countries. Sirius dived straight for his favourite; Chocolate Pudding.

"Pudding!" he cried, as he snatched the entire bowl away from the outstretched hands of Frank Longbottm, a second year. Sirius helped himself to half the serving bowel.

"That's a lot of pudding, Sirius, are you sure you can eat it all?" asked James, bewildered.

"Just watch me!" Sirius said as he dug in to the huge mound of chocolate heaven.

Simone looked up in amazement from her Tiramisu to stare in wonder at Sirius. Sirius ate wolfishly, practically breathing it in, unaware of the stares he was attracting. When he had finished, Sirius lent back and patted his stomach triumphantly.

"Ahh, what a great feast. What did you think?" he asked.

Some of the people around him had lost their appetite and pushed their food away from them. Others continued to eat, like Simone. It took a hell of a lot to scare her away from her food. The rest of the people just continued to stare in wonder.

It was late after dinner and most people had gone to bed. A few people remained in the Gryffindor common room. Of those people, were the newly names Marauders.

"Where is she? We can't wait much longer." Said Sirius, getting impatient.

"She'll be here soon. Just be patient." Said Remus.

The corridor was empty. Simone wearily walked down the hallowed hall towards the Gryffindor common room. She stifled a yawn. Suddenly, something flashed in the corner of her eye. She turned, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Just to be sure, she slowly spun around, but still, everything was normal. Turning back to the direction she was facing, Simone was startled at what she saw.

A meat-cleaver was suspended in mid-air.

'Woah! Since when to kitchen utensils float in mid-air? They don't. Something is wrong.' Simone thought. It seems that not even a floating knife could faze her.

Simone blinked and her eyes changed colour from their usual emerald green to a piercing blue. But her eye colour was not the only think that had changed. Simone looked out with her new vision; one that reveals even the most cleverly hidden secrets. But unlike the knife, what she saw did, however, startle her.

A young woman stood before her. Her white dress was tattered and stained in what looked like blood. Her long brown hair was mattered and wild. And her blood-shot eyes showed only extreme anger and hate. The woman held the large knife threateningly. She was a ghost.

"Ah! - ok then…I don't know why you're angry with me, or why you seem to be trying to scare me with that big knife, Miss Ghost, but it's past midnight and I really don't have the time to deal with your problem." Simone said, deciding to try and reason with this bloody phantom.

"The witch must die!" said the spirit, in a spine-chilling voice. She quickly raised the knife above her head, in anticipation to swing it and chop down the blonde witch, but Simone was faster. Clicking her fingers, a blue bubble rapidly formed around the ghost, trapping her. She banged her fists angrily against the bubble's walls, but nothing happened. The ghost was stuck in the bubble.

"Usually I would just banish you right now, but it is past midnight and I am really tired, so I'm going to leave you here to chill until morning." Simone said, stifling a yawn. "Don't go anywhere." Simone chuckled at her own joke. The spirit banged her fists uselessly against the walls of the bubble once more. Simone yawned and turned away, continuing on her path to the common room.

In the common room…

"Remus, I'm not going to wait much longer." Said Sirius, fighting back a yawn. "It's past midnight and I need my energy for all the present un-wrapping tomorrow."

"Are presents the only think you think about at Christmas?" Asked James.

" 'Course not. I also think about the pudding." Replied Sirius.

Remus sighed. Suddenly, the portrait swung open, and entered Simone to the room.

"Are you guys still up? Do you know what time it is?" she said.

"We were waiting for you." Said Remus.

"Why?"

"Because we have news for you," Said Sirius, some of his lost energy returning in the excitement.

"Oh really. Well, what is it?" Simone asked, hoping it was better then the last time they had news for her. Sirius had revealed that he had a fear of clowns. That was certainly worth staying up to hear. Not.

"We have a name." said James.

"I know. Everyone has a name. Yours is James, his is Remus, the little one's is Peter and that dumb kid over there is Sirius." Said Simone, matter-of-factly.

"I am NOT a kid! And that's not what we meant; silly girl." Said Sirius.

"Then what did you mean?"

"We mean, that our group has a name." Said Remus.

"You're not in the group, just so you know." Said Sirius.

"Well, thanks a lot." Responded Simone, sarcastically.

"No offence or anything." Said James, "It's just – "

"That's ok. I understand. I'm too busy to be part of any group anyways. So, what's your name?"

"It's the – " James started.

"The Marauders." Interrupted Sirius, with pride.

Well that's chapter 13 done. Sorry for the long delay. School is to blame, as usual. And the teachers. Always stacking on the work. It makes the life of an amateur writer very difficult it does. I hope you like this chapter, regardless. The story may seem to be bumbling along, but some exciting stuff will happen soon, I promise.

Please leave a review on you're way out; it would be much appreciated.

A big thanks to FlutterbyPrincess and my old pal discombobulated.shoe. for the wonderful reviews. And also for reviewing every chapter. It's really appreciated. Cookies for both of you!

So, R&R and see you on chapter 14!

Tiger-Cub684