Shout out to EG and Sakurapetals0192 ! Thanks for reviewing. I just want to thank everyone for reading my story so far I know it's not the best story out there so thank you all for sticking around.

Chapter 11

Hello parents, it is I.

Winnie. Your daughter, in case you forgot about me. I wasn't going to actually send you a letter but then I realized that if I didn't you would assume that I was either dead or dying. But no, I'm alive and well. I think. I could very well be in a coma right now and all this could be just a dream. Anyway! Christmas is in one month so happy early Christmas.

Also my birthday is coming up. Just in case you forgot and needed a reminder so don't forget to send me presents. I don't have anything special that I want so don't bother getting me something extravagant, I honestly would love a pair of warm fuzzy socks.

Anyway! I hope you are both alive and well, send my love to Greg. Or don't.

All my love,

Winnie

"That's the weirdest letter I have ever read in my life." A voice said behind me making me jump and drop my quill.

I turn my head to see James lazily leaning on the desk next to me, "Ever heard of privacy, Potter?" I said, swiftly grabbing my quill in one swift motion like the pro I was.

He scrunched up his nose and pretended to ponder what I had just said,"You know what? I don't think I have." He said, with a playful smile.

"Ah, that explains it." I said, resting my hand on my chin.

"Anyway, I was looking for you in Hogsmeade - had no idea you left. Why didn't you tell me?" he said, frowning slightly.

I gave him an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I was hanging out with Sirius."

He gave me a surprised look, "And he's still alive?"

I laughed, "Yeah, enough about me though. What about you! How did that date thing go?" I said, turning my body to him and giving him my full attention.

"Well," he said scratching the back of his head, "It didn't go badly but it didn't go very well, either. She kept talking to Remus. I kept talking to Marlene, Mary and Peter but she didn't seem like she hated my existence or seemed annoyed by me - so, I think that's good. Right?" He asked, uncertainly tilting his head to the side.

I bit my lip and thought about it, I was kind of annoyed at Lily for ignoring James even though James has definitely calmed down a bit and he was being a lot less James like than he was before. But she still didn't give him a chance! But, maybe it would take some time for her to grow used to the fact that James was and is not a 'arrogant toe rag' as she liked to put it.

"Um, It's good but it's not great. But don't worry about it. Baby steps, Potter. At least she doesn't resent your presence." I said, shrugging slightly. I knew that my words were of no comfort if I didn't lie to him and tell him that this was the way to get Lily Evans.

He nodded sadly but then he looked up as if he had just remembered something, "Oh hey, I was jus going to go to the Owlery. Got a letter to drop of to my mum, want to come with me?" James asked, with a small smile.

"Sure, lets go." I said and jumped up. "How is your mum anyway?"

He shrugged, "She's really good, she asked about you - again. Don't be surprised if you get a christmas present from her she really loves you." He said, amusedly.

I smiled happily, "I love her too! she's the sweetest lady ever. Probably love her more than my actual mum..just don't tell my mum that." I laughed.

"Duly noted. Are you going home for Christmas?" He said as we walked to the owlery. The owlery was quite empty once we reached, only one or two other students were there besides us. Christmas was in one month exactly and it was something I was definitely looking forward to. Presents, not having to wake up early and the fact that I would do nothing all day? Sign me up!

I nodded eagerly, "Yeah, I am. I'm just looking forward to sleeping all day."

"You should stop by then," He then paused, "You know, we should all meet up at my house. It'll be fun."

"I would but I have to sleep." I said and then called my owl and gave her my letter.

He rolled his eyes, "Come on, Winnie."

I sighed and gave in, I knew I eventually would anyway. "Okay, okay. Why not?"

A light bulb turned on in his head and he snapped his fingers and turned to me with an excited grin, "Hey, isn't your birthday coming up soon?"

"No." I shook my head. "It's not."

It was. My birthday was coming up very soon but I didn't want him to remember because I knew exactly what was going to happen. Something crazy that's for sure, the boys had a reputation for their pranks but what they should actually have a reputation for? Turning things into disasters. The last five years my birthday's have been absolutely crazy - hilarious of course but insane. Last year, the boys threw me a party and we all ended up in the quidditch pitch with no memory of what had happened, half-naked. We all laughed about it for ages afterwards but even after one year none of us can remember what happened that night. Also, it didn't only get crazy on my birthday - it was like that for all of us. The marauders simply did not know how to throw a generic birthday.

So the idea of celebrating my birthday was not on my to-do list. Honestly, I would be fine with just getting some cake and taking a twelve hour nap but I knew that idea was almost as unlikely as a unicorn cross-breeding with a dragon.

I could almost see the wheels turning in James's head, "Yes it is, Winnie Powers! You know what, this year we'll make it special. So special that you'll never see it coming. This year will be the best birthday ever, for you."

I didn't know whether to laugh because of the fact that he was referring to the promise I had made to myself or if I was supposed to be scared of what he was planning. It was definitely a mix of both.

The door slammed open, startling me and making me grab my wand from under my pillow and pointing it at the door. Marlene walked in and rolled her eyes when she saw my wand being pointed at her. She laughed and proceeded to sit on the edge of my bed. During the past weeks, the girls and I had become a lot closer but I was surprisingly getting closer to Marlene than Lily or Mary. She reminded me of the boys in a more feminine, girly way and I liked that.

"You're not even holding the wand right, silly. It's the other way around." She said, laughing.

I put my wand away, sheepishly. "Whatever, at least I would be able to defend myself if a burglar decided to come up here and steal our things."

She gave me a confused look, "Why would a burgular- you know what, that doesn't matter" she laughed, "I need to talk to you about two things! First, why didn't you tell me your birthday was next week! The second thing is I heard a couple of girls say they saw you and Sirius looking quite relationship-y. What do you have to say for yourself?" She said, amused.

I ran my hand through my hair, "What do I have to say?! You'll never take me alive, never!" I said standing up.

She laughed and grabbed my arm, pulling me back down onto the bed, "You're such a goofball. But seriously, we should all do something for your birthday! Also, tell me about the Sirius thing!" she said excitedly.

"No to the birthday thing." I said, pointing my finger at her."Nothing happened between Sirius and I, it just looked like there was something."

Her forehead wrinkled in confusion, "Oh, so nothing happened but it looked like it did? That makes perfect sense." she said sarcastically.

I laughed, "Yeah, the girls were probably exaggerating about that. Nothing to worry about here."

She scratched the back of her neck, "Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer but me and a lot of girls are curious.." She bit her lip. "Are you dating Sirius?"

There it was. The question that I had been expecting since the beginning, I sighed, "No. Absolutely not. I'm just friends with him. I'm not dating James or Sirius or Remus or Peter. In fact, I'm not dating anyone at all. You know who I should be dating? Myself, I am great." I said, rambling madly.

"I hope you didn't take that the wrong way or anything, because that was not my intention. Believe me." She said, looking apologetic.

"Yeah, okay. Whatever." I said, smiling awkwardly.

She frowned, "Are you angry at me?"

I was. I hated the fact that I had to reassure everyone constantly that I was not dating any of the boys. Merlin, sometimes it felt like boys and girls couldn't possibly be friends without there being romantic involvement between them. It was annoying and the exact reason I didn't like to have any friends other than the boys.

I shrugged, "No, I'm fine." I said coolly, looking at anything but her.

She didn't look convinced, "You sure? You don't look fine." She tugged at my wrist, making me look at her. "I'm really sorry, I know you don't like when people assume you're dating one of them. I guess, I kind of wanted to set the record straight."

I twirled a strand of my hair, "Surprisingly, I understand. Let's just forget about it." I said honestly.

"I'm sorry," She said, looking earnest and enveloped me into a hug. I gladly appreciated and returned the gesture, a small smile working it's way up on to my face.

"Don't worry about it." I smiled, "Hey- quick question. How did you know about my birthday? I only told James-" I couldn't finish the sentence because I realized that James the idiot probably told everyone.

"Oh! James told me, he told everyone. He's planning to-" She clamped her hand on her mouth "Oh, I can't ruin the surprise. Never mind." She laughed.

I groaned, "Nooooo! tell me! What is he planning!?" I said, exasperatedly.

She laughed, "Sorry but no I can't! I promised. But you're gonna like it, I think."

"Thanks for being so reassuring, Marlene." I said, sarcastically and then I jumped up from the bed and grabbed her arm. "I'm going to go find out." I then proceeded to pull her into the common room where James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were sitting along with everyone else. Marlene took a seat next to Peter as I approached James.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "What are you planning, Prongs?" I said, sitting down next to him.

His eyes widened and turned to look at Marlene, "You told her?!" he said, irritatedly.

She winced, "Sorry- it slipped out. But I didn't tell her about what you're planning." She said sheepishly.

"You had one job, Marlene." He said, laughing slightly. "It's fine, honestly. She would've found out one way or another."

"Listen up, Potter. If you throw a party I'm going to cry. No parties. You know what happened last year!" I said, hitting him with a pillow.

He caught the pillow and threw it across the room, "That was a one time thing! I still don't know what happened though." he muttered.

Sirius laughed, "Andrew McKerbicks told me that he saw us at Hogsmeade the same day of the party. Isn't that weird? Why would we ever go there? Does anybody remember this?"

Remus ran a hand through his hair, "I don't remember a thing." He said, half-joking and half-honest.

Marlene furrowed her brows, "Wait, you mean to say that you actually lost a day's memory?"

James ran a hand through his hair, "Exactly. Last thing we all remember is going to the party and then we all wake up in the quidditch pitch with no memory of what happened," he leaned in closer to Marlene, "half-naked."

Marlene turned to me, "What-"

"Don't ask." I laughed. "It's actually one of the least crazy things that have happened to us. There are definitely worse."

Peter nodded, "You should hear about the Tuesday incident."

James threw his head back in laughter, "The Tuesday incident! Love that story. But I can never speak of it." He said, melodramatically.

"Anyway" Sirius said, taking the attention of James and his loud laughter "We all just assumed that we had too much too drink." Sirius said lazily.

"How did you assume that?" Marlene asked, she reminded me of a reporter.

Remus laughed, "Probably the fact that we were all undeniably hung over the next day."

Marlene looked between us, "Aren't you all curious to know what happened?"

James shrugged, "We did but then we decided not to investigate because what happened could be something stupid and we don't want to ruin the cool story."

Marlene rolled her eyes, "Yeah, but isn't it strange? I mean you all remember the same thing. What if it's a clue or something? You should definitely check it out. If nothing 'cool' happens, we can just forget it. No one has to know."

Remus put his index finger to his lips, "You know, she's right. It's not normal..we could at least attempt to figure out what happened." He said.

Sirius raised a brow at him, "How do you propose we do that? It's been a year and we don't even know where to start."

I cleared my throat, making them all turn to look at me. "We have to start from the beginning. Before the party started, James you were the one who planned everything. Who else was involved? We need to talk to that person." I asked, turning to him.

James ran a hand through his hair, nervously. After a pregnant moment he said the name of a person I did not want to ever see, meet or speak to ever again. The person who I would gladly throw off a cliff if I could, the person who I would glare at from a distance. The worst person in the world.

"Kenneth." he mumbled.

Oh hell no.