Author's Note: Yeah, I know it's probably the wrong season for a story about snow, but here's a last tribute to winter! Also, this takes place in the winter of the Marauder's second year.

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"Moony. Moony! Moony!"

Remus awoke to see a pair of sparkling gray eyes watching him intently. He groaned and pulled the blanket up over his head to shield his eyes from the harsh winter light that filled the dormitory. He heard a rustling sound as the other boy struggled with something, and then silence. The next thing he knew was an icy rush as a flood of cold air enveloped his body. He scrambled into an upright position only to see his friend standing at the foot of his four-poster bed, Remus' blankets in his hands and a lopsided grin on his face.

"Sirius…" moaned Remus exasperatedly, even though he was not particularly upset.

"Guess what, Moony, guess what?" Sirius seemed much more excited than the situation called for.

"It's bloody early and bloody freezing, that's what!" Remus replied as he stifled a yawn.

"I know it's freezing, because it's snowing!" The cheerful boy talked as though he had never seen snow before. Remus rolled his eyes and got out of bed.

"Its winter, in Scotland, and you're surprised?" he commented dryly as he rummaged through the wardrobe for clean robes. "And anyway, snow is overrated." Sirius glared at Remus with an expression of intensely fake hurt on his face.

"Snow is not overrated."

"You get wet and soggy and cold. You know how I feel about the cold."

"Stop being so logical, Moony." Sirius made it sound like an insult. "And hurry up, James and Peter are already at breakfast, the pigs, so there'll be nothing left to eat!" He flashed his typical careless grin, and headed towards the stairs.

Remus found himself laughing as well as he followed his friend down the spiral staircase. He called ahead, "Just so you know, I took the logical thing as a compliment!"

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Sirius's prediction had proved correct. They arrived at the Gryffindor table only to see Peter shoveling bacon into his mouth and James buttering his sixth piece of toast. Remus rolled his eyes for the second time that morning. Sirius glanced at him and mouthed the words "told you so" before greeting his friends, bounding into an empty chair, and reaching over James to grab the plate of toast. Remus smiled to himself as he sat down, a tad more gracefully than Sirius had, and then made a point of asking James to pass the sausages. As the messy-haired boy obliged, he turned and asked Sirius teasingly, "How long did it take to get this sod to wake up?"

"Not too long, once you learn the trick!" replied Sirius as he gave Remus a seductive wink. James looked to Remus, who looked faintly embarrassed, for clarification.

"He stole my blankets! And all he wanted to tell me was that it was snowing. And I don't even like snow," he added, almost as an afterthought. The others laughed, and Sirius stared at him innocently.

"You will forgive me, won't you Moony!" whimpered Sirius. When this tactic only caused Remus to raise his eyebrows, Sirius became much more matter of fact. "If you don't forgive me, then I'll pummel you with snowballs as soon as we get outside! Actually, I probably will anyway… But still!"

Remus burst out laughing at this, and asked a question that he already knew the answer to. "What makes you think I'm going to even go outside at all?"

Sirius blinked, confused. "Because I asked you to!"

Remus smiled, and wondered vaguely, as he frequently did, what it was that inspired Sirius to act so flamboyantly. But a voice in the back of his head told him the answer. Because this was Sirius. Then he asked himself why he always did whatever Sirius wanted. He knew the answer to this question, too, even if he wasn't going to admit it.

Peter, who had been listening to but not participating in the discussion, looked up thoughtfully.

"What are we going to do today, anyway?" he asked off-handedly. He usually looked to James, the unofficial leader of the group, before sounding too enthusiastic about anything.

"I still fancy trying that idea with the cursed snowballs," said James. The snowballs had been his idea, and they all were quite keen to try them out.

"Yes, Peter, my dear boy, and so much more! I have several ideas for today's escapades!" replied Sirius, his gray eyes glinting mischievously. Remus stared pointedly at his plate.

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Much to Sirius's glee, Remus had grudgingly agreed to take part in "Operation Cursed Snowballs" as it had been named. Remus knew that the reason he had agreed was mostly because he didn't like the idea of staying inside all day while Sirius went out. It would be very boring indeed.

Now they were all sitting near the lake in a thicket of trees, preparing a battle plan and readying the munitions. Flurries of snow were swirling through the air, and a harsh wind was blowing fiercely. Remus shivered, and hoped that whatever happened would happen quickly. Snow, he decided, was definitely overrated.

Then he surveyed the task at hand. A large pile of perfectly round snowballs lay gleaming in the silvery light. He glanced at the other three marauders, who nodded. He murmured a spell under his breath, and a second later a jet of white light surrounded the snowballs.

"Done!" he announced. James surveyed the work.

"You sure it worked?"

"Positive," replied Remus confidently. "All we have to do is load them with a particular spell and launch them at our, ah, victims and… All I can is I am not a Slytherin."

James and Sirius laughed, and Peter smiled appreciatively, if not a little evilly. They each grabbed an armload of snowballs and began casting various enchantments. Remus smiled and started to put up defense wards around the edge of the trees.

"Oy, Remus, come and look at this one!" Sirius beckoned to his small pile of not-yet enchanted snowballs. Remus wandered over cautiously, because Sirius was rolling up his sleeves and clearing his throat. "Master Moony is not the only one capable of casting impressive spells. Pay close attention!" He cleared his throat again, as if trying to get the trees to observe him too. Remus watched in amusement as Sirius uttered an unfamiliar enchantment. A wall of pink light exploded from the end of his wand and was quickly absorbed by the snowballs.

"Sirius. What the bloody hell did that—" Remus was cut off by James who was making shushing noises and pointing to a lanky, dark-haired teen who appeared to be strolling aimlessly along the edge of the lake. Several bulky adolescents were accompanying him. Remus knew those people were not Severus's friends, but his bodyguards.

"How much gold d'you think had to change hands to get that lot to follow him 'round?" asked Sirius viciously. "Ah, well, its no matter," he continued in a low whisper. He waited until the targets were mere meters away, before raising his voice suddenly. "Oy! Snivellus!" And at that same moment he lobbed a freezing missile towards the boy. Severus turned too quickly, causing the snowball impact another boy, who sprouted antlers.

Sirius nearly fell over laughing at the startled students, who had taken out their wands and were walking aggressively towards where he was standing. He then also seemed to notice their enemies' approach, and excitedly took command. "On my count then! One! Two! Thr-" at which point a large snowball hit him in the head. James, Peter, and Remus, however, needed no further encouragement. The war had begun.

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Ten minutes later, Remus collapsed onto the snowy ground, winded by a large amount of snow that had been charmed to fly at his back. As he sat trying to catch his breath, he realized that while the Marauders had originally held the element of surprise, the enraged Slytherins had the advantage of larger numbers and more affinity to nasty magic. Sirius, James, Peter, and his spelled snowballs had mostly involved hair color changes, unfortunate transformations, and other physical abnormalities. The Slytherins, however, had been intent on bodily harm, and had attacked with various curses intending to cause injury. Remus was glad that his protective charms were still holding up.

Sirius flopped down beside him, his cheeks flushed and his eyes glittering. "All right, mate? Slytherins haven't murdered you, have they?" Snowflakes landed in his hair and melted on his shoulders. Remus blinked and looked away before replying.

"Nah, but I think they might be winning." At that moment Peter was hit by a well-aimed stunning spell, confirming the statement. "Might be time to whip out your "secret weapon", yeah?" Remus heaved himself up to go revive Peter and provide backup.

Sirius just laughed and winked. Then he picked up the special snowball and shouted, "This will be one for the history books!" and threw the large snowball at the tiring Slytherins. It was a perfect throw, and a pink cloud quickly engulfed the target. For a second Remus panicked. "What did that do, Sirius!" However, an enraged and oddly high-pitched scream interrupted his anxious tirade. Severus Snape stood alive, furious, and definitely female.

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"You sod, Sirius, that was bloody brilliant!" Peter exclaimed.

"Definitely, one for the history books, that's for sure!" added James, echoing Sirius's earlier statement.

"Shame that the Professor doesn't agree with you," teased Remus. "Honestly, though, its not as if it was permanent or anything. I'm still curious as to how you found that spell, Sirius."

Sirius smiled. "I can be very resourceful when its not for homework, if that's what you're insinuating. Probably what ticked old McGoogly most, that is."

The four boys were seated in the Common Room after a visit with a most unhappy Professor McGonagall. After what was quickly becoming a habitual lecture concerning responsibility, house loyalty, and self-control, she had subtracted 30 house points, assigned detentions, and ordered them back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Still though," enthused James, "we're back here drinking Butterbeer and Snivellus is in the hospital wing all night until the sex-switch spell wears off! And to top it off, him and his lot have all got detentions, too! I declare this a job well done! Mission accomplished, Marauders! I'm off to bed." And with that he left.

Peter looked around, unsure, and then followed James towards the stairs. Sirius flopped out across the space that Peter had vacated, hung his feet over the side of his chair, and sighed contentedly. "Sorry about the detentions, Moony, but it comes with being a Marauder."

Remus laughed, unconcerned. "I would do a dozen detentions, just to see the look on Severus's face when he realized he was a girl. Wish I could've saved a picture of that."

"Just as well this way, his ugly mug would've broken any camera, Muggle or magical," Sirius yawned, and flung an arm around Remus's shoulders. "Yeah, I love the snow."

Remus smiled to himself and relaxed into his friend's embrace. "I think that I could get used to days like today. Perhaps snow isn't so overrated after all."