Disclaimer: Y'know what? If you haven't yet figured out that this really brilliant author named J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books, then you must have been living under a rock all these years… wait, no, I take that back… even people who live under rocks know that. I do own Alyssa and Lauren, though.

It was an especially snowy winter at Hogwarts this year. The snow was so deep that if an unwary student happened to wander into the courtyard while it was snowing, it was unlikely that you would see them again for a very long time. Unfortunately (or fortunately…), this is what happened to Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black and James Potter were unlikely let him forget it for a very long time….

"So tell us, Wormtail, how much food should we pack for our journey to Charms? Should we bring a tent and blanket, too?" said Sirius, grinning.

"Yeah, Pete, you can lead the way to Care of Magical Creatures next time since you've already braved the great wilderness of the courtyard," added James, who was standing under a tree outside near the frozen lake with the rest of the Marauders, namely, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. All four of them were enjoying the Christmas holiday break; Sirius and James were busy pranking people and trying to impress the girls, Remus currently had his nose in a book, and Peter was trying his best to laugh off his latest stupid mistake.

"Hey, check it out, Prongs, your girlfriend is coming this way," muttered Sirius, who had his eyes on a group of girls walking out of the castle. James turned around.

"She's not his girlfriend, Sirius… in case you both haven't noticed, she pretty much hates him," said Remus, eyes still glued to his book.

Sirius grinned and clapped Remus on the shoulder, spraying him with snow. "Don't be such a wet blanket, Moony; you should be supportive of your mate's endeavors!" Remus shook the snow out of his sandy hair and continued reading, until…

"OY!" Remus had caught Sirius off guard with a handful of snow to the face; the two started wrestling, Remus's book forgotten at the base of the tree.

James, who had been staring at a certain red headed beauty the whole time and was too out of it to notice anything else, came to life and said, "She's not my girlfriend… yet. You three just wait."

Sirius paused, preparing to stuff another snowball into Remus's face. "We've been waiting for the past six years, mate." He was promptly pummeled by two snowballs, one from Remus, and one from James.

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Lily Evans loved winter. But it was with the same intensity that Lily loved winter that she hated James Potter. So when she spotted him hanging out with the Marauders under their usual tree, she turned around and began to head inside again. Unfortunately for her, her friends wouldn't allow it.

"Lily, no! You get back out here! You're coming with us!" shouted Lauren, grabbing Lily's arm and yanking her backwards. Lauren was a fellow Gryffindor 6th year and one of Lily's good friends.

"C'mon, look Lily, there's snow on the ground! Go get it!" said another girl, as if bribing a little child to eat his vegetables. A short scuffle occurred, and in the end, after all three had been bopped in the face with scarves and mittens a great deal, they ended up lying in the snow, laughing.

The first girl, Lauren, popped up first and dusted herself off, shaking snow out of her long, blonde hair. She offered her hand to the second girl, who sported a dark, pixie-style haircut, who took it and pulled herself up. They both proceeded to walk towards the lake, leaving Lily in the snow.

"Hey, what about me? Lauren! Alyssa! Get your butts back here!" Lauren and Alyssa turned around and stuck out their tongues jokingly at Lily, but stopped walking to wait for her. Within a few seconds all three of them were headed to the lake, Lily steering the group well away from the Marauder's tree. It was going to be a great holiday…

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James watched the trio of girls all the way until they sat under a tree some fifteen or twenty feet away. Then he had an idea.

"Hey, you three, I've got an idea. Stop throwing snow for a minute! And I saw that, Padfoot!" He added after spotting Sirius, who was making faces at him and preparing another snowball. "Save that snowball, Sirius, you'll need it." And the Marauders huddled together, James explaining his plan, occasionally sneaking glances at Lily while he talked…

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Lily had led her friends to a tree near the shore of the lake, making sure it was far enough away from Potter, of course. Alyssa sat with her back against the tree, while Lauren stood and kicked at a piece of ice on the frozen lake. Before sitting, Lily took the smallest of half glances towards Potter. Good, he wasn't staring at her, for once. She then sat down with her back to them, hoping it would discourage Potter from asking her out for the thousandth time.

"Why d'you think they're so bad, Lily?" asked Alyssa, who had been watching Lily the whole time.

"What're you talking about?" Lily said casually, hitching up an innocent look.

"I saw you just now, you were checking to make sure he wasn't staring at you." said Alyssa, "I can read you so well sometimes," she added. "They're really not that bad. Maybe they're a bit different, and they like to goof around, but they aren't bad, they really aren't." Alyssa was the only one out the group that really hung out with the Marauders. Lauren was too shy around new people to ever talk to them.

"SO… are you looking forward to the Christmas feast? I know I am… I hope that Dumbledore puts frost on the walls like he did last year," said Lily loudly, hoping to change the subject.

With a last pointed look at Lily, Alyssa replied, "Yeah, and the ball as well! I think tha-"

"What? A ball! When were we supposed to hear about that?" cried Lily.

"Dumbledore only announced it last week, Lily," said Lauren, with wide eyes, "Honestly, I thought you, of all people, would know that…"

"No!" cried Lily, shaking her head, "No, I had absolutely no idea! And if-"

WHACK

Lily's head jerked forward as a fat snowball exploded, sprinkling snow down the back of her cloak. Lily shrieked as it trickled down the back of her neck. She could hear laughing behind her, and she didn't have to turn around to know exactly who it was coming from.

"Alyssa, I don't care what you say about them, they are freaks!" whispered Lily. Alyssa smirked and shrugged, and Lauren gasped and ducked behind Lily as four more snowballs went soaring in their direction. Each girl had their share of snow down their robes. Lily tried to ignore the second and third barrages of snowballs that came and wanted to continue normal conversation, but she was too distracted now and couldn't remember where she had left off.

"Okay. That's it. If that's how they want to play, then we're going to play it their way. You two, listen…"

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Perfect. It had gone perfectly. Almost. Lily had still not turned around, but if James knew her like he thought he did, then she was getting pretty angry right now. Now he would wait and see what she did.

"Okay you guys, give it a rest for a moment."

"It looks like they're plotting," said Sirius, eyeing the huddle of girls under the tree. He shook his long hair out of his eyes and said, "Now what're we doing?"

"Patience, young Padfoot, patience," said James wisely.

Now Lily was standing up… she was walking over! This was going to be great!

"James, you take full responsibility for my death, because that's what's coming," muttered Remus. "Or better yet, you tell her I had nothing to do with this."

"Nonsense, Moony, I saw you hit that Lauren girl with two snowballs! Just relax…"

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Lily had always been a quick thinker. Within thirty seconds her plan was complete, and Lily would have her revenge.

She got up and hooked a mysterious smile on her face and tried to walk seductively towards the group of boys (which was a bit difficult to do with so much snow on the ground). Within a few moments she had reached the tree.

"Hi James," she said playfully, leaning against the tree and looking down at him (for he was seated in the snow). She put one hand on her hip and the other arm behind the tree. Lily nearly burst out laughing when she saw James's reaction to her flirty tone.

A bit shell shocked, he replied in a deeper voice, "Hey… Lily."

Lily smiled her same mysterious smile and said, "Funny weather we're having, eh?"

James grinned, "Yeah, especially that blizzard we had just now, did you notice it? Strange how it seemed to land all on you."

Lily glanced upwards as if checking the sky, "I bet we'll be getting more snow soon."

"Really?" James asked, eyebrows raised. Switching topics before he lost his chance, he said, "Say, Lily, how about if you go with me to the b-"

WUMPH

Before he could finish his question, all the snow on the branches above the Marauders had cascaded down on top of them. Lily had hid her wand up her sleeve and blasted the branches before running away laughing. She glanced back as she neared Lauren and Alyssa, who were lying in the snow, laughing as well. All that remained was a large hill of snow where the famous pranksters once sat.

It was a full ten or twenty seconds before Lily spotted Sirus's dark head break the surface.

"You… three… this means… war," shouted the solitary head as two more popped out of the snow.

"Alright, Evans, I'll give you that. That was good," James yelled after spitting out a mouthful of snow. "Very clever. But I challenge you three," he pointed with his newly freed hand to the three girls, "to a snowball fight! We'll see who's so great then!"

Lily was about to make up an excuse somewhere along the lines of 'I don't have time for a snowball fight, especially one with you, Potter,' but before she could say anything, Alyssa jumped up and shouted, "Accepted! We'll beat you down, boys!"

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That girl is amazing, James thought. Honestly, just when he thought he had figured her out….

Sirius had already broken free of his snowy bonds and offered a hand to James. After getting up, James turned to Remus, who had dug himself out.

"I've half a mind to go and join them, Prongs," Remus said jokingly. "But I do call myself a Marauder, so… speaking of which… where's Peter?"

All three turned towards the snow pile and simultaneously stared digging furiously. Sirius found Peter first, lifted him out by his arms, and set him on his feet. He looked rather blue in the face but seemed otherwise normal.

"Alright," James said, in a tone similar to that of a coach giving a pep talk, "snowball fight. All out. We must win."

"Why?" asked Peter.

"Because if we win, Lily is going to the ball with me."

There was silence for a few moments, and then Remus asked, "Does she know that?"

More silence… "No. Not yet, anyways."

Okay, more to come if you all Review! Oh, and please see my other fanfic, Politically Incorrect. It focuses more on Alyssa and Sirius, but it has some Lily+James, too. NO ONE has read or reviewed it yet (because it's lost deep in the bowels of the Harry Potter section), so please, if even ONE person leaves a review for it, I'll be happy. Just do a search for it, you'll never find it by flipping through the pages. THANX! Remember, R&R!