Wow, I cannot believe this story has gotten 200 followers and nearly 100 favorites... You have no idea how grateful I am to you all. Thank you.
Special thank yous to StormWitch19851, Raven that flies at night, Jily71102, and xXMizz Alec VolturiXx . You are all so wonderful for taking a few moments to just let me know that you're still enjoying the tale.
ps. Raven: I actually kind of enjoyed writing that argument last chapter, is that bad? lol.
pps. watheverest: Enjoy the Prongs antics!
'You're an idiot," James chuckled as he threw the red quaffle to Sirius. The two boys were alone in the dorm room, ignoring a particularly long essay that needed to be completed for potions class.
"Thanks, Prongs…" Sirius answered in a somber tone as he returned the quaffle. He realized that he didn't handle the situation with Hermione well, but he wasn't going to apologize for the acceptable level of anxiety that the wolf attack had brought about in him.
"It's a bit unfair that you're cross with Evans you know. She just wanted to squelch the screaming," James tossed the red ball back again. "I thought her spell use was quite brilliant actually."
"You would," Sirius added flatly. He caught the quaffle and held onto it, "Does that mean Evans has finally replaced me in your heart, Prongs?" Sirius restrained his smirk as best he could.
"Finally? You were kicked out ages ago, Padfoot." James sat up and returned a joyful chuckle. Sirius tossed the quaffle over to James' bed.
"Maybe if I turned my hair red…" Sirius had to duck out of his chair as James chucked the red ball at his head. They both couldn't contain their amusement at where the conversation had taken them. "Well, joking aside; is she it, mate? Is Evans the one who's going to have to put up with you the rest of your life?"
James wore a side smile as he contemplated the future, "Well, if I get my way… yea. Lily's it; i think she always has been. Now I just have to convince her to marry me, I guess."
Sirius smirked to himself, "Guess Blondie was right…"
"What's that?" James sent the quaffle over to Sirius, but he fumbled the ball as he quickly covered his statement.
"Oh, she… Mia, thought you and Evans… should get together. She saw it coming, I suppose," Sirius stood and retrieved the fallen ball.
"Is she the one who talked Lily into asking me to Hogsmeade?" James raised an eyebrow at his friend.
"I think so," Sirius desperately hoped that the questioning would end there.
"Well, I really need to thank her then. Maybe I'll get her a nice Christmas gift," James mused to himself. "Or maybe I can convince her dunderhead of a boyfriend to apologize for being an overprotective wanker…"
Sirius was the one to chuck the quaffle this time, nearly hitting James' chest at full force. But the chaser was too quick and caught the ball easily.
"Really Pads... go apologize. It would be a stupid argument to leave her over. And I quite like her; I think you should keep this one around as long as you can," James laughed at himself.
Sirius turned and signed heavily. If only you knew how much I wanted to keep her here.
Lily and Hermione sat at the opposite end of the Gryffindor table, far from the four Marauders. Sirius was still quite irritated with the girls, and James suggested that they give Sirius time to let go of the situation.
Hermione glanced down the long table; Sirius was laughing at something Peter had said, his eyes met Hermione's for a second before she looked away and continued her conversation with Lily.
"When are you two going to get over this?" Lily smiled at her blonde friend, "Because I'm fairly certain that Sirius won't speak a word to me until you two have made up."
A sigh escaped Hermione as she propped her head up on a bent arm, "No idea, Lil. I will let you know when I figure that out though."
"SNOW! It's snowing!" A little first year Hufflepuff yelped as he came sprinting into the Great Hall.
There was a mad rush of students gulping down juice and shoveling eggs and bacon into their mouths. Every single person had the same thought; Inter-House snowball fight.
Lily and Hermione giggled as people pushed their way out of the hall and into the frozen grounds. The snow wouldn't accumulate enough for at least an hour or two, so some of the upperclassmen took their leisurely time finishing their breakfast. Apparently no one had reminded the Marauders of this though.
James plopped down next to Lily as the other Marauders hurriedly joined the other students as they filed out of the hall. "You'll come outside, won't you? It's the last first snow of our Hogwarts careers!" His smile was blinding; he was like a kid at Honeydukes.
"I'm not sure. I wanted to finish that essay for Slughorn today," Lily teased as James pushed out his lower lip as far as it would go.
"Please, please, please?" James pulled Lily's hands toward himself, "I will even promise to finish my potions easy with you tonight if you come outside now."
"Really?" Lily's skepticism coated her every word, "You'll finish an essay that's not due until Monday?"
"Yes, I swear to it!" James's desperate voice made Hermione smirk; she hid her mouth behind her fingers.
"Well, then… who am I to argue with such an interesting bargain?" Lily laughed lightheartedly and stood from the table, "Mia and I need to get some warmer clothes if we're venturing out in the snow though, so we'll meet you outside."
James suddenly grabbed her in a bear hug and lifted her off of the floor, "Perfect, see you both out there." Then he disappeared from the hall.
Lily and Hermione half ran half jogged back up to the tower. They quickly found gloves, scarves and a woolen hat for each of them; but Hermione was missing one critical piece of clothing.
She had forgotten her pea coat in the future.
Hermione smirked at herself. When she had been sent back it was summer, and she only had use for a few light jackets and thin sweaters during that season. And she had left her heavy jacket in Ginny's room. "Lily, do you have an extra winter coat? I have no idea where I've left mine."
The redhead took out a short, pale pink wool coat. "Here, you can even keep it. My older sister gave it to me, but I never wear it. The pink clashes horribly with my hair."
Hermione smiled weakly and pulled on the coat; she never met Harry's Aunt, but she had heard... interesting things.
"Now, let's get going," Lily smiled brightly to her friend and practically dragged Hermione from the dorm.
All four of the Hogwarts Houses were represented outside. The Hufflepuffs were huddled by the greenhouse, whispering amongst themselves. The Ravenclaws strategically placed their backs to the Black Lake; they hoped that the lake would prevent anyone from sneaking up behind them. The Slytherins were close to the edge of the castle; they were going to use the already built walls to their advantage. And the Gryffindors were in the center of the grounds, open on all sides; the Marauders egos getting the better of them.
James stood in between all the houses and pointed his wand to his throat, "Sonorus."
"All right you lot, it's the first snow of the year. And that means, Snow War! Rules are the same as always; first fifteen minutes, wands can be used for building your fortress and forming snowballs. After those fifteen minutes are up, wands away and snowballs play!"
"Quietus." James sent up some green sparks from his wand tip after he demagnified his voice.
Four snowy structures began to take shape.
Lily and Hermione walked out of the castle just as James sent up yellow sparks. "Hurry, that means there's only five minutes left." The girls ran to the Gryffindor snow fortress; it looked like the castle with added turrets and look outs. They found James and the other Marauders barking out orders and directing people into position.
"This is insanity," Hermione gazed around in awe as she took in the walls of snow around her.
"Yea, the boys go a bit overboard. But it's fun." Lily grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her over to James. "Do you want to be part of the offensive or defensive?"
"Defensive I suppose," Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "Might be safer for a first timer."
Lily nodded, "True. Let's see what our marching orders are." The girls both giggled as they approached James.
"Reporting for duty, General Potter," Lily halfheartedly saluted her boyfriend as she addressed him.
"Ah, Private Evens. Will you be running one of the scout teams again this year?"
"Private? That's the ranking you're giving me?" Lily picked up some loose snow and smashed it onto the top of James' head. "I'm at least a lieutenant after the ambush I helped plan and execute last year."
Remus and Peter could be seen doubling over with laughter from on top of the wall.
The look of embarrassment melting into a mischievous grin, "Fine Evans," James stated, "But you'll have to kiss me first."
Lily rolled her eyes. She closed the small gap between herself and her boyfriend and took his face in her hands; she stood on her toes and planted a kiss directly on his lips. James returned the kiss excitedly.
But then, as Lily began to pull away, James placed a hand at the back of her head and at the small of her back and dipped her. All the Gryffindors began cheering and catcalling.
"Break it up you two! One minute warning," Sirius yelled from the back wall of the fortress; he sent purple sparks into the air.
Lily stood back up and smiled as she shook her head at her boyfriend, "You'll pay for that later, Potter."
"I'm sure I will; but it was worth it Lieutenant." James winked as he walked away.
Hermione joined Remus and Peter on the front wall of the structure. Peter conjured her a megaphone and handed it over, "Would you like to be the Harold?"
"What exactly does that entail?" The snowball fights with the Weasley's had never grow to this magnitude, so Hermione was understandably, a little wary. The fact that snow wasn't her favorite thing in the world was another issue.
Remus chuckled at her apprehensive expression, "You are basically a look out. Shout to us if you see anyone approaching or trying to flank us. You are our eyes out here, so pay close attention." He gestured to the flag that was flapping in the middle of the fortress, "And if you see anyone getting close to the flag, pelt them and yell for backup."
Hermione nodded her head; she wasn't afraid, but she wasn't entirely sure it was a good idea.
Red sparks filled the sky.
An eerie silence covered the grounds. Hermione turned her head in all directions trying to find out where people were posted; but there was no movement anywhere.
"ATTACK!"
The snowball war raged on for three hours and forty-two minutes, and it was quite a sight to behold.
Snowballs flew in every direction at first; the mad rush to distract the other houses. It looked as if small white explosions were going off every few seconds. Soon, the mass ciaos died down and the more precision groups stepped forward to take over. The Hufflepuffs were the first flag to be captured; the Ravenclaws got it with difficulty and a few sore heads, but they returned the flag to their own stronghold. And with their flag gone, the Hufflepuffs were out of the fight.
The Slytherins were next to fall; the Gryffindors running a 'two front' ploy. There were two groups of Gryffindors drawing all the Slytherin snowballs, while Lily and James snuck around the back and stole the green flag. They returned to the Gryffindor fortress before anyone from either house noticed.
The battle that raged between the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws could be described in one word; epic. The blue flag was captured almost instantaneously, but the Ravenclaws were determined to not allow the flag to leave their snow fort. Sirius and the other seventh year boys were practically thrown out of the fortress on there arses; snowballs pelting them relentlessly until their feet left the structure.
The Ravenclaws were able to get the red flag from the Gryffindors twice; twice they were able to get the flag to the middle of the ground between both remaining snow structures. But both times the Ravenclaws were thwarted by the Gryffindors and the flag was returned to their base.
Finally, with both remaining houses growing tired and hungry; the Gryffindors made a last ditch effort to remain the winners of the first snow war of the year. James sent Lily and Remus around the castle as Sirius, Peter and himself set three different groups of Gryffindors to attack different points of the Ravenclaw snow fortress.
Hermione watched in amazement as Lily and Remus gently tested the iced over the Black Lake; she realized that James had sent Remus and Lily because they weighed less than the other Marauders. The two were slow moving, but they gingerly made their way to the back of the Ravenclaw snow castle. Lily reached for the bright blue flag as Remus kept a look out; but they were spotted by a lower class-man.
Hermione yelled to James that "the moonflower has been seen!" James quickly jumped forward and coordinated cover fire for Lily and Remus to escape and run back to the Gryffindor base; where Hermione waited with impending cover fire.
Then, it was all over.
All the Gryffindors cheered and threw snow up into the air as soon as Lily sent up red sparks signaling the end of the fight. Hermione hadn't felt like she participated much, but she had taken great pleasure in witnessing the whole event unfold. She smiled to herself as she imagined telling Harry.
"Hop to it, McGonagall!" Lily called to Hermione from the flag pole. "It's lunch time and my toes have turned to icicles."
"I'll be right down," Hermione called back as she adjusted her gloves. She looked over the grounds again as she began to walk the length of the wall to get to the staircase.
Hermione walked straight into Sirius' chest.
"Ow… oh… hi," Hermione wasn't sure what to say; or even how she felt. She didn't know if she was still mad at Sirius or not.
"Hi…do you have a spare moment?" Sirius' formal words sounded foreign; Hermione realized that she hated the uncomfortable nature that their relationship had taken and decided that she didn't want to fight any longer.
"Only if we don't argue; yelling is so tiring. Yelling at you is even more tiring, and being so angry with you … that's the most tiring. I don't want to do it anymore," Hermione released an exhausted sigh.
"Yea, I think I'm a bit drained from it all as well." A smirk pulled at one corner of Sirius' mouth, "There are much more enjoyable things we could be doing to exhaust ourselves."
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I promise I'm taking the conversation completely serious," Sirius' mouth fell to a flat line; not even flinching at his intentional pun.
It was Hermione's turn to wear the half smirk; she appreciated what he was trying to do. "You know you can't protect me constantly?"
"Yes, I realize that," Sirius calmly answered. "And you realize that I'm always going to worry about you."
Hermione nodded. "You're going to have to trust that I am capable of taking care of myself. I can handle a lot; I have handled a lot."
"I know you're brilliant and tough and brave, but that doesn't mean that I'm comfortable with you not accepting help," Sirius took a step forward and placed his gloved hand on Hermione's cheek.
"You were leaning more toward all controlling dictator more than concerned boyfriend," Hermione raised her hand and began fiddling with the buttons on Sirius' coat.
"Yes, well I feel like you forget sometimes how important you are to these future plans of yours," Sirius closed the gap between them and secured his other arm around Hermione's waist. He leaned his head down to make sure that anyone still loitering around wouldn't overhear, "Your plan of rescuing everyone will become very difficult if you aren't here to execute it."
Hermione sighed in relinquishment, "That is a fair point. But I'm not one to hide while everyone else is fighting for what's right. You can understand that, can't you?"
A genuine smile spread across Sirius' lips, "I don't think I would be attracted to you if you weren't that way." His lips felt like ice on Hermione's mouth; she gasped in surprise and pulled back, "What? Too cold for you, Blondie?" Sirius attempted to bury his head into Hermione's neck and kiss the nook where it met her shoulder. She shrieked and began laughing as she playfully hit the Marauder in the arm.
Hermione attempted to twist away from her boyfriend but got tangled on one of his feet; Sirius pulled her back to try to steady her, but he overcompensated and he fell backwards into a snow pile, dragging Hermione down on top of him.
Sirius couldn't help but smile as Hermione's lyrical laughter filled his ears; he realized that he wasn't just falling for this girl, he was already long gone. Sirius pouted as Hermione heaved herself upright again and brushed off the excess snow that had swept up on them both.
"Come on Sirius, I'm freezing," Hermione hopped up and down attempting to quicken her blood flow to warm herself up.
Sirius chuckled as he stood up, "Fine, Blondie. Let's go." He wrapped an arm around Hermione's torso and leaned down to kiss to top of her head before they began the trek up to the castle.
And that's another chapter down. I just wanted to thank everyone who has read and commented on this story. I've been having a ball writing this and have even jotted down a few ideas for future companion pieces. Hope you all can still be patient and just enjoy this story for now though. =)
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Love,
Misha