CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The first snow came in the first week of December. Lily was bundled up in a large black coat and snow boots. James was walking beside her in a similar black coat with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Both watched as Sirius and Lilac skipped through the snow with their arms linked. They were singing Christmas carols on the top of their lungs.

Sirius had on his leather jacket and some palm gloves while Lilac wore a bright red coat. A Gryffindor scarf was wrapped around her neck and they kept playfully bumping into each other. Hogsmeade was covered in a foot of snow and the snow hadn't stopped.

"If they sing 'Deck the Halls' one more time I'm going to transfigured them into snowmen," mumbled James in annoyance. Lily giggled and looked at the foot prints that were being left by her sister.

"They seem overly-enthusiastic about Christmas," she commented.

"That's because it's going to be the first break that Sirius actually goes home for. Usually he stays at Hogwarts or goes to the Potter Manor," explained James gazing at his best friend, "now he finally gets to say he's going home for once."

"Sirius ran away after fifth year, right?" Lily asked curiously. It had been a huge rumor last year and no one knew if it was true or not. None of the Marauders would speak up or address it.

"He did," confirmed James with a nod, "we don't talk about it. He stayed with me for a year and moved out this summer."

"His apartment is nice," said Lily quietly. She admired how James's parents took Sirius in and gave him a safe place whenever they could. It was a well know fact that the Black family would go to drastic extents to keep their family pure.

"It only looks that way because Vix won't let him pick the decorations," chuckled James. Lily laughed and glanced at Sirius and Lilac who were arguing about something. "What about you? What do you do for Christmas?"

"We have a small family gathering in the morning and do some presents but Lilac's usually with you and Petunia spends it with Vernon. My mum and dad usually go have dinner with the neighbors," she answered with a shrug. James's eyebrows furrowed and he suddenly felt a bit guilty. If Lilac was spending her Christmas with him, then Lily must've been lonely.

"You should spend Christmas with us this year," he offered.

"I'm not sure. I don't want to intrude at all," said Lily shaking her head. She had just become friends with them after all. She wasn't as close to them as they were with each other. It felt strange being the odd one out.

"You won't," reassured James, "I'll talk to Sirius about it."

"But—"

"Hurry up, Prongs and Prongsie!" Sirius yelled as they opened the door to Gladrags. Lily looked up at James in confusion and he seemed to turn red at the nicknames before running towards his best friend. They spoke in hushed whispers but it was obvious that James was embarrassed about something.

"Lily, come here!" called Lilac from the upper floor of the shop. Lily quickly walked up to her sister and they looked around at all the dresses on display. They didn't want anything that looked too much like witch wear. It was kind of difficult as they were in a wizarding shop.

"Po— er, James invited me to spend Christmas with you all," mentioned Lily as she watched her sister's expression carefully. She was pleasantly surprised when Lilac's face lit up in excitement.

"Really? That's great!"

"I wouldn't be intruding?" Lily asked confused. Lilac gave her a confused look and Lily sighed, realizing that she'd have to asked her about it someday. Now would be the best time. "I just thought that it'd be strange to have me there. After all we didn't really become friends until recently. I don't even know why you didn't like me for so long."

"If I'm being honest, I was jealous. It's childish but it's true. You were the favorite daughter for the longest time. When we started our first year I made friends for the first time but you didn't like my friends," said Lilac pursing her lips and frowning. "You thought they were bullies and you can't expect me to be alright with that."

"I… I didn't know you were jealous," said Lily guiltily, "if I did I—"

"Lily, it's my fault for being jealous. Our parents aren't the most fair, either," interrupted Lilac with a shrug. "What matters is that we're trying to fix this and I'm going to really try to be a better sister to you."

"What about Petunia?" Lily asked curiously. It was obvious that Petunia hated her but liked Lilac. That was what had hurt the most.

"Both her sisters were born magical. All she hears about is this magical world that she will never be able to experience. I'd be upset if I was her too," said Lilac shrugging. Lily bit the inside of her cheek and remembered the amount of times she had used magic at home without really thinking about how Petunia felt about it. Then again, her older sister had called her a 'freak' and yelled at her many times.

"I didn't expect to be a bridesmaid but why aren't you one?" Lily asked questioningly.

"Petunia said she wanted a normal wedding. You can't have a witch for a bridesmaid in a normal wedding."

"But you're her sister!" Lily exclaimed shocked. Lilac bit her lip before giving her sister a small smile.

"It's her wedding, Lily."

They then stopped talking about it and looked at the dresses in silence. Lily regretted asking but she felt relieved that she had a bit of closure. She felt stupid for not being more observant as a child but knew there was nothing she could do about it. Now she just had to hope that Petunia would forgive her.

"This is pretty," said Lily taking out a pale pink dress. It wasn't exactly something you'd wear for a wedding though so she put it back. There was a flurry of blue and she looked down to see a long midnight blue dressed pressed against her. It was gorgeous and had silver sequins on it. Lilac grinned at her and pushed it into her arms.

"You should try it on," she suggested. Lily quickly went to do so and fell in love with it immediately. When she got out of the dressing room she noticed that Lilac already found herself a dress. It surprised her how fast Lilac had picked one out. It was a beautiful silver color with a lacy design. Unlike the other dresses Lilac usually wore, this one was floor length.

"It's beautiful," said Lily staring at the silver. It seemed like liquid moonlight in her arms and it matched Lilac's purple hair.

"I know. I picked it out because the blue looked good with your hair," said Lilac smiling. Lily shook her head.

"No, I mean your dress," she said with a laugh.

"Oh, thank you," said Lilac slightly embarrassed by her mistake. They then went down to see what the boys were up to. Sirius had on a faux mustache while James had on a white Santa beard. Neither of them had picked out dress robes or a suit.

"Oh for Godric's sake," sighed Lily as she watched James dance with a mannequin. This was the boy she had asked to be her plus one? Lilac had on an identical look of incredulousness on her face and she ripped off Sirius's mustache.

"Ow!" Sirius whined, touching the top of his lip.

"You know if you really wanted a fake mustache I could always chop off your hair and use that," offered Lilac smirking. Sirius immediately stopped fooling around and gave her a sheepish look. "I'm sure we could use some of your hair to give James a beard too."

"Wicked," said James grinning before he was whacked on the head by the purple-haired girl. Lily tried to stifle her laughter but failed.

"Have you two found anything for the wedding?" Lily asked after Lilac gave her an unhappy look.

"No," answered James sheepishly, "we were going to asked you two for help but you both took bloody forever."

"We took half an hour. It wasn't forever," said Lily frowning.

"Considering the amount of patience they have I'd say they nearly died of boredom," drawled Lilac giving the both of them unimpressed looks. They then spend a good half an hour helping the boys. It wasn't easy considering how Sirius was picky about what he liked and didn't like. Afterwards they went to the Three Broomsticks.

"It's so empty now," said Lily looking around. Usually there'd be a lot of kids talking and laughing over butterbeer but now many of the tables were empty. It gave off a sort of hollow feeling and dampened the mood a bit.

"I didn't expect a lot of parents to allow kids to go to Hogsmeade after last year," said Lilac with a shrug.

"It was horrible, there was so much damage," agreed Lily with a nod. The boys shared looks, knowing that Lily didn't know Lilac had been there during the attack. None of them wanted to tell her either, or else it'd raise a lot of questions they weren't willing to answer.

"Well isn't this different? Lily Evans willingly sitting with James Potter and Sirius Black," said Rosmerta walking over with a tray. She placed a bottle of firewhiskey in front of Sirius, a glass of something in front of James, and a mug of butterbeer in front of Lilac.

"Thanks Rosie," said Sirius popping the cap of the bottle.

"You better be glad I have a soft spot for you or else you wouldn't be getting that," said Rosmerta eyeing the firewhiskey, "anyways, what can I get you, Miss Lily Evans?"

"A butterbeer please," said Lily with a smile. Rosmerta nodded and left. Lily then eyed the glass James was drinking from suspiciously. "What's that?"

"It's pumpkin juice, firewhiskey, and a small splash of tea," said James before laughing at Lily's expression. She stared at the glass slightly disgusted by the interesting combinations of drinks it contained.

"Of course there's firewhisky in it," sighed Lily shaking her head.

"I'm not the only one. Vix's butterbeer has ginger and some Quintin Black in it," defended James as Lilac glared at him. Quintin Black was a type of alcohol sold by the Quintin family that was much stronger than butterbeer but less intense than firewhiskey. It had a pleasant taste, too. Lilac wasn't a fan of firewhiskey but she was more than eager for a little bit of Quintin Black.

"Oh for Godric's sake," muttered Lily giving Lilac a disapproving look. Her younger sister just shrugged and drank from her mug. Rosmerta then came back with Lily's butterbeer and James tossed her some sickles.

"Now you lot stay out of trouble. I don't want to have to kick you out like Prewett," warned Rosmerta eyeing Sirius and James.

"Please, you love us too much to do that," scoffed Sirius with a smirk.

"Then again, she likes Gideon and kicked him out anyways," muttered Lilac with her lips to the edge of the mug. She was then pinched painfully on the arm and yelped. "Sorry Rosie, we'll stay out of trouble."

"Good," said Rosmerta patting her head. She then walked off to serve some other customers.

"Do you three usually cause trouble here?" Lily asked curiously.

"Depends. We like to plan our pranks here and we tend to get a bit rowdy," answered Lilac smirking.

"A bit?" James asked incredulously. "In our fifth year we made a huge castle out of empty bottles. Then Peter accidentally knocked it over and chaos exploded."

"Fine, we do get rowdy," admitted Lilac with a sigh, "but this year's different."

"Yeah, it's our last year," mumbled Sirius leaning back in his seat, his his arm lazily thrown around Lilac. It was a casual and friendly gesture but it didn't stop Lily from sharing a look with James.

"So, this is a double date, right?" James asked learning forwards. Lilac's eyebrows furrowed and she glanced at Sirius who just shrugged. A smile spread of James's face and he winked at Lily. "I've held up my part of the bargain. I've taken Lily on a date so now you have to help with the prank."

"What?" Lily asked confused. "What prank?"

"Don't ask," sighed Lilac giving James an unhappy expression, "but you've still got to help with the prank too."

After awhile they went back to Hogwarts. Since many of the students didn't go to Hogsmeade, they were all outside playing in the snow and making snowmen. They found Peter rolling a snowball while Remus worked on homework. Marlene was also there helping Peter by collecting stones for the eyes and mouth. Lilac went to help Remus with homework while the others worked on the snowman.

"Have you all seen the Daily Prophet?" Marlene asked as she transfigured a quill into a carrot.

"No," answered Lily, "we were too busy getting ready to go to Hogsmeade this morning."

"There's been a couple muggleborns found," said Remus putting his essay down. His lips were pressed together and he gave Marlene a slightly pained expression. "They were found dead in Diagon Alley."

"That's horrible!" Lilac gasped glancing at Lily. They were both muggleborns which puts them at risk.

"That's not all," sighed Marlene sticking the carrot in the snowman harshly. "They were all found with carvings on them. Two letters. M and B."

"Mudblood," deadpanned Lilac. Lily gasped and blanched while Sirius's expression darkened. He marched up to her and grabbed her wrist.

"Don't say that. It's not true," he hissed angrily. Lilac yanked her arm away.

"I know it's not true. It's what they think though, and you know there's nothing we can do to change their minds," she said standing up so she could be face to face with him. He was taller but she made sure her presence was large. "I've already had it said to my face a million times, Sirius."

"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. It might not hurt you anymore but it still hurts me. It hurts Lily!" Sirius exclaimed. His tone was angry and sad but there was a hint of worry in it. Lilac glanced behind him to see Lily who looked like she was going to be sick. James was rubbing her arms and comforting her softly. Lilac stuffed her hands in her coat before walking towards the Black Lake. It had frozen over now that it was snowing.

Anger coursed through her as she internally screamed at whoever decided to make her a muggle born witch. It wasn't as if she had asked to be born one and then be threatened for something she couldn't control. She glared at the ice as she heard snow crunching behind her. The smell of smoke reached her nose and she made a face.

"Go away," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry for getting mad at you," said Sirius quietly. He held the cigarette in his right hand and reached for her hand. Lilac watched as he pulled her hand out of her pocket and put both their hands in his pocket.

"You're right anyways," she sighed, "I hate this. What the hell did I do to tell to make them try and target me? I'm a muggleborn. Brilliant. Did I ask to be one? No!"

"Lilac," he murmured as he turned to face her.

"I'm terrified, Sirius. I'm a fucking Gryffindor but I'm so scared that I'm going to die."

"You're not going to die," he said firmly, "you have me, James, Remus, Peter, Lily, and Marlene. Plus, you're the brightest witch I know."

"What's so great about being a witch?" Lilac exclaimed louder than she had intended. Sirius's eyes widened in surprise but her anger didn't die down. "I'm being hunted by a group of racist blood-supremacists who want to kill me and my twin, I'm shut off from the muggle world - which was the only thing I used to know, I have to struggle and work twice as hard to prove myself as a muggleborn, I've lost my older sister, and everything continuously goes downhill!"

She felt something on her cheek and brushed it off with her hand, realizing that she was crying. That made her feel even more pathetic and she let out a strangled sound, throwing her arms around Sirius's neck. He dropped his cigarette and hugged her tightly.

"What happened with you and Petunia?" Sirius asked quietly.

"She said that she didn't want anything to do with the wizarding world after she got married. That she didn't want her new family to grow up around abnormals."

"Abnormals?" Sirius asked scrunching up his face.

"Freaks, Sirius," explained Lilac bitterly, "she didn't say it but I know she meant it. She called me and Lily freaks."

Sirius stiffened and his hold on her tightened even more. He knew how she must've been feeling. Petunia was her older sister who she looked up to. Now she'd been betrayed and he couldn't help but contemplate his and Regulus's relationship. It would never be fully mended, Sirius was too hurt for that, but he didn't want to live and die hating his little brother.

"You're not a freak. You're special and you're a person. Muggles and wizards might be different but they all are just humans. We're all people. No one's the same either, so it doesn't matter that you're a bit different than the muggles. Each muggle is different anyways," comforted Sirius, rubbing her back gently. A soft sigh escaped her and she turned her head to tuck her face in the crook of his neck. A shiver went down his spine when she kissed his skin softly.

"When did you get so philosophical and smart?"

"Ever since I read that one page over the summer," joked Sirius making her laugh softly. She felt better after getting all her pent up emotions out. It was nice to know she had someone to lean on who wouldn't judge her no matter what. The other boys and Lily would never judge her, but it was so easy to talk to Sirius and he understood her well.

"I love you," she said softly. His heartbeat sped up and he grinned. Even if she didn't mean it romantically the three words meant so much to him.

"I love you too," he said not even bothering to hide his giddiness. She raised an eyebrow and he laughed, brightening up the mood.

Alastor Moody was merciless in his attacks, not even giving Lilac enough time to catch her breath. He was very paranoid, always telling her things she should tell others and things that she shouldn't. What she hated the most was when he'd shout 'constant vigilance'. Lilac swore that she could hear it even in her sleep. It haunted her.

"Alright now lass, what spell do you desire to learn now?" Moody asked as he stopped firing hexes. Lilac sat down on the ground, her chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath.

"A spell in which I'll be able to catch my breath!" she exclaimed through pants. Moody's mouth turned into a scowl and he looked at her distastefully.

"That'll be a shielding spell. You've got to work on your endurance and your dueling. Your attacks were weak and you've been focusing too much on your defense," he said circling around her.

"Well I can't attack if I'm dead," she huffed, frustrated that she still hadn't been able to get the upper-hand once.

"You'll be dead anyways if you can't defeat your opponent," he shot back, "now get up. I'm not here to hold your hand and guide you through every spell. You're supposed to be smart. Use your head and attack."

"Use my head," she mumbled as she got back on her feet. They felt heavy and slow after all the running jumping and dodging she had done. Her wand arm was sore after blocking spell after spell. She'd been knocked back so much she wouldn't be surprised if she had a concussion.

"Constant vigilance!" Moody shouted, noticing her sluggishness. She jumped in surprise and her arm snapped up, holding her wand in front of her. He stopped glaring at her which meant she had done something right.

"Confringo!" Lilac exclaimed flicking her wand. Moody blocked it with ease.

"Who are you fighting, a fifth year?" Moody taunted. His eyes flashed dangerously and he wordlessly shot some spells at her. Lilac backed up and blocked as many as she could but one caught her on the arm. She winced as it went numb from the impact. There was a bit of fire starting to spread on her sleeve so she quickly put it out.

"Reducto!"

She jumped out of the way as he deflected her spell and shot another at her. Gritting her teeth, she pointed her wand at him but paused. If she used the spells made by Herpo the Foul, would she be using dark magic? Moody didn't give her any more time to think as a spell hit her and her wand flew out of her hand.

"Get up," he snapped harshly, "do you expect to be able to live if you hesitate in a battle?"

"Sorr—"

"No. That's enough for today. Tomorrow I want improvement," said Moody hobbling over to the fireplace and leaving. Lilac sighed and picked up her wand. She rushed out as she didn't want Dumbledore to walk in and start questioning her. Moody was right, she'd never survive if she couldn't use her head and think. She was overthinking however, and she needed to learn how to clear her mind and focus.

"How were lessons, Vix?" Remus asked when he saw her trudging down the hall. After telling them about the horcruxes she told them about her lessons with Moody. James and Sirius were jealous that they didn't get private lessons but Lilac told them they really weren't that great. She felt as if she was a walking dead body.

"I'm exhausted," she sighed, "it's so difficult."

"When learning with Alastor Moody I feel as if that's a given," he commented, carrying her bag for her. They had Transfiguration next, she wanted more than anything to have a free period to rest.

"At least we're going to transfiguration and not Care of Magical Creatures," she said making a face. Kettleburn always made them do some sort of exercise in that class. It might've been her least favorite class, second to DADA.

"Vix!" James yelled as he and Sirius ran over. "What did you learn today?"

"I learned that I can't beat a man who uses a cane to walk," she drawled with a grimace. Sirius gave her a reassuring look and grabbed her bag from Remus.

"He is an auror," he pointed out, "you can practice dueling with us. James and I are pretty good at it."

"It'll be like our fourth year all over again," said James snickering. When they were in their fourth year the DADA professor at the time decided it'd be a good idea to partner people up and have them duel each other. It was a normal thing in DADA but this professor didn't put up and rules. That lead to Lilac, Sirius, and James having a three-way duel all around the classroom. McGonagall nearly had a heart attack when she saw the damages done. A couple students had also ended up in the Hospital Wing.

"Peter and I will keep things from getting too out of control," said Remus wincing at the memory. He had been one of the unfortunate students who'd been accidentally hit by a spell. Luckily it was a petrifying spell and nothing too serious. "Let's get to class before McGonagall thinks we're pulling off a prank."

When they got to Transfiguration, McGonagall was perched on her desk as a cat. At the sight of another animagus, the Marauders all grinned widely. They had many close calls with the professors in their own animagus forms. When McGonagall shifted back into her human form, everyone fell silent.

"Alright class, today we'll be tutoring the third year in the Lapifors spell," said McGonagall with a small smile when everyone stared at her blankly. They were never tutored when they were third years. "Yes, Mr. Black?"

"Do we have to?" Sirius asked in a slightly whiny voice.

"Why are we doing this anyways?" James asked with a lazy sigh.

"I decided that as N.E.W.T. students, you all should learn something by teaching students less experienced," said McGonagall opening the door. A large group of third years were waiting. There were a handful of kids from each house.

"Please don't be Slytherin, please don't be Slytherin," James and Sirius chanted as McGonagall started assigning people their partners. Luckily for them, they got assigned two Ravenclaws. Lilac was assigned a Hufflepuff while Remus and Peter got Slytherins. The Hufflepuff seemed extremely enthusiastic about turning things into rabbits. Lilac didn't know whether or not she should be concerned.

"Godric, are you alright?" Sirius snickered when he noticed the bunny ears protruding from her head. Lilac sighed and reversed the spell.

"The little Hufflepuff boy scares me," she said with a shudder.

"You've defeated a basilisk and two death eaters yet a third year Hufflepuff scares you?" James asked with a snort.

"The guy wanted to turn literally everything into a rabbit. Think You-Know-Who but instead of trying to get blood purity he's trying to turn the world into fluffy little bunnies," warned Lilac seriously. The boys laughed at her which made her roll her eyes in exasperation. After Transfiguration they had an hour before dinner.

"We have Quidditch practice today," said James grabbing Sirius and running off. Now that it was their last year James was even more determined to win the Quidditch Cup. Even if Death Eaters were storming the castle he'd still continue with Quidditch.

"I'm tutoring a fourth year Hufflepuff in the library," said Remus before walking off. That left only Lilac and Peter.

"Can you teach me how to duel?" Peter asked after they watched Remus disappear around the corner. Out of the five Marauders Peter was the worst at dueling and spellwork. He lagged behind them in almost everything.

"Of course. Let's work in our dorm."

Peter was always not the brightest of the bunch. He was the one who followed in their footsteps and pointed the spotlight. James, Sirius, Lilac, and even Remus were the ones to create the footprints and stand under the spotlight. Peter wanted to be just as good as them. He wanted praise and popularity too.

"I'm not very good a dueling, but I'm good at spellwork," said Lilac after they cleared the room and made sure they wouldn't break anything.

"I'm sure you're better than me," mumbled Peter getting into the stance the DADA teacher had taught them. They spend a good hour shooting spells at each other and practicing. Moody's lessons made her a better dueler than Peter, but he definitely had potential.

"You hesitate too much," she commented when they stopped for a break.

"I don't want to accidentally hurt you," he admitted guiltily, "even though I know that I won't. I'm not really a fighter."

"That's fine. Not everyone can be good at something. Like gobstones. You're pretty amazing at it and I can't play for shit," she said with a laugh. Peter smiled, feeling better about himself. They put everything back and started doing their homework.

When James and Sirius came back they were covered in mud and grass. They had gotten into a brawl with the Slytherins who wanted to use the Quidditch Pitch while they were practicing. James, being the captain, fought with the Slytherin captain ending in two weeks of detention.

"Vix, we've got an idea of where the diadem could be," stated Sirius shedding his Quidditch gear and tossing it all on the ground.

"Yeah, you know how there's seven secret passageways?" James asked tripping over his feet in excitement.

"Well what if there were secret rooms?" Sirius continued, not letting Lilac speak. "Prongs and I've always thought there were secret rooms but we haven't found any. Maybe this year we'll find one and the diadem!"

It made sense. The castle was very much alive and held a bunch of secrets that not even the Marauders had uncovered. The five always knew that they hadn't mapped every inch of the school yet.

"I'll look through the library," said Lilac standing up, "I'm sure Moony will help me."

"Wormy, Padfoot, and I will search for the room," said James nudging Peter and rushing to the door. Lilac grabbed his Quidditch jumped and gave him an unimpressed look.

"Take a shower first," she instructed. Mud caked his face and turned his hair brown. Sirius was in no better shape, except for his long hair which was pulled in a manbun. Somehow he managed to keep it clean and not a hair was out of place. While the two showered Peter got the map and started picking out places that could potentially hold a secret room.

Walking down to the library, she wondered if she'd be able to find the room in time. It was their last year at Hogwarts and time seemed to be going so fast. She could barely remember her first year, nor could she remember the shy know-it-all teacher's pet she used to be. In a way it felt good, to have grown in her own person and to have become bolder and wiser. At the same time if felt as if a piece of her had gone and died.

Ack! I've managed to squeeze out another chapter a couple weeks late... T^T