The morning came much too quickly for Lily. Once she had made her way to the kitchen, she noticed that she was, in fact, the last to wake up. That wasn't surprising though, last night was very eventful.
Lily grabbed a bagel and started picking at it. She squished the bread and stuck some in her mouth before glancing up and seeing her friends giving her strange looks. Cassie quickly turned away when Lily met her eye.
"Guys?" Lily asked.
They all looked up at her and eyed her like she was an particularly ugly piece of clothing.
"So," said Jill, finally, "how was your night? You were out late...."
Oh, Merlin, Lily thought as she realized her friend's suspicions.
"Guy's I know what you might think," she said, "but that's not what happened!"
"Lily, you left with James and Sirius and then you never came back! What do you think we'd think?" asked Cassie.
"Nothing happened. I dropped them off and then I felt a bit overwhelmed, so I hung out in the hallway for a while."
"Until close to two in the morning?" piped up Bess who, until now, hadn't said a word.
"How did you... you were... how do you know what time I got back?" asked Lily with arched eyebrows.
"I was getting a glass of water when you came in."
Lily sighed. She was a bit upset her friends wouldn't believe her.
She took one more look at all of them. "Guys, I didn't."
Cassie was the first to break. "Fine. I believe you. But I do want to know what you were doing all that time."
"If you have to know, fine," said Lily and she told them about her run-in with Jim... well, most of it.
"Did Danny mention me at all?" asked Jill from a corner and Lily gulped.
"Er, I don't remember...."
"Oh," Jill said, looking a bit defeated.
Lily decided to change the topic. "Wow, look at the time! We better get ready for skiing or we'll never make it to the mountains."
The others agreed, so they quickly got their gear on and prepared for a day of skiing. It was then that a thought crossed Lily's mind. Maybe James wont want to go skiing today since his aunt and uncle and cousin were just murdered by Death Eaters last night. I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to just lock himself in his room all day... Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the front door.
"Let us in Evans! If you guys take any longer, the snow will be melted by the time we get there!" yelled the voice of James Potter from the opposite side of the heavy wooden door.
Lily quickly opened the door to see an excited James and a confused looking Sirius in the hallway.
James looked awfully chipper seeing he just heard about the deaths of his family members less than twenty-four hours ago.
Sirius looked just as dumbfounded as Lily felt.
"What's wrong with him? I thought he'd be a bit more upset than this," she said once she had pulled SIrius into the kitchen.
"Don't know. I'm just as concerned as you are." They looked over to see James greeting the girls enthusiastically and with a big cheesy smile. "I have an idea, though."
What is it, do you reckon?" asked Lily.
"From what I know, James hasn't dealt with a death in his family ever. His grandparents were dead before he could properly crawl and he's only got his aunt and uncle on his dad's side. This is probably how he deals with this sort of thing."
Sirius Black was being reasonable.
Lily thought about what he had said. When her gram died, Lily had shut herself in her bedroom for almost a week. That was when she was six. When she was ten, and her grandfather had passed, she had just been quiet for a while and avoided people at school. That was her way of coping, James' was just... different.
"Lillian!" said James as he jumped into the kitchen. "Are you ready for some skiing? We should go through that forest run again! That was fun..."
"James," said Lily, cutting him off, "what about the Death Eater? It's not safe in there, especially not with my Muggle friends."
"What's a Death Eater gunna want with some Muggles?"
Lily frowned.
"James, are you drunk?" she asked at last.
"Am I... what? Of course not! Merlin, Lily, I'm not that irresponsible!" said James, defensively.
"Sorry," she mumbled back, "I had to ask." Lily watched James as he went to sit down at the kitchen bar.
"It was just a rough night. Trying to stay positive, you know?"
Lily nodded at him and smiled.
"Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I want to ski," announced Cassie and she headed out the door with Bess and Jill at her heals.
"I'm off," said Sirius as he followed the parade.
"We should-"
"Go with them," finished Lily and she grabbed James' arm and pulled him out the door.
***
The group found themselves on top of the biggest mountain in the resort that morning. They had decided to avoid the forrest, and what might be lurking in the trees, by picking a particularly crowded run. Vacationers were everywhere. Poor Sirius almost went tumbling off the side of the hill, trying to avoid a little girl and her brother.
"Those little prats are covering the whole bloody mountain," complained Sirius after a boy jabbed him with a pole. It seemed like the ski school had also picked this run.
"Oh, Black, how can you be mad at them," said Lily as she helped a little girl in a bright pink jumper up from the ground. "They're so adorable!"
"And don't forget," cut in James, "this was you just a couple of days ago. Hey, wasn't that four-year-old in your group?" James pointed a tubby boy with his finger shoved up his little nose, sitting on his rear-end.
"Prick," muttered Sirius and he threw a snowball in James' direction.
As a result, James lost his balance and ended up with a mouthful of slush and a snowboard half-way across the mountain.
"Nice throw, Sirius!" cheered Jill, and Cassie gave him a hi-five. Lily just shook her head and smiled to herself as she watched James try to dodge the other skiers and boarders in his mad attempt to retrieve his board.
"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm hungry," announced Sirius once the group had finished the run.
"You're always hungry, Padfoot," said James.
Sirius punched his friend's arm and turned to the others. "Lunch, anyone?"
"I'll go," said Cassie.
Jill and Bess agreed with her and quickly started listing off every restaurant within five miles of the resort.
"The Diner."
"How 'bout that cute little cafe on the main road?"
"We could go to the warming hut!"
"Nah, what about Allegros?"
Lily and James exchanged glances before finally giving in.
"Fine, I'll go."
"If she goes, I'll go," said James with a smirk. Lily just rolled her eyes and tried to cover up the smile that was twitching at her lips.
Lily, Cassie, Jill, Bess, James, and Sirius finally made the decision to go to Allegros. It was a small buffet diner with plenty of food and a spectacular view that sat in the middle of lift four's run, making it the perfect place to stop for something to eat. The group decided to eat inside; the winds were picking up and the frost was starting to nibble at their reddening noses.
Sirius was the first inside and in line. By the time the others had placed their orders, Sirius had already found a table and started to inhale his food.
Lily decided to get some chips and ketchup because she wasn't as hungry as Sirius, who was now up from the table to buy another bag of crisps. However, as she was heading towards the checkout line, she spotted a hot coco machine that was simply too tempting to be passed up. There was already somebody at the counter, so Lily waited as the others bought their food.
"I'll save you a seat," called James.
The man in front of Lily seemed to be have a difficult time with his cup, so Lily stood behind him, impatiently, tapping her foot.
At last, she had waited long enough, so Lily reached out her arm and tapped the man's shoulder. "Excuse me, but do you need some help with that?"
Lily's insides flipped, and she gasped at the man who turned around to face her. It was Markus Selwyn.
She was numb with fear as she stared into the cold, grey eyes of the former Slytherin. He had been a seventh year during Lily's third year and he had had a nasty sense of humor. Lily remembered hearing stories of Selwyn killing the owls of kids who got on his bad side.
And now he was right in front of her.
She wished that she had her wand. She silently begged for James or Sirius to come and save her, to get her out of this mess. But as Selwyn continued to stare at Lily, she wondered if he didn't recognize her. There was a chance that she could quickly leave without him making the connection. Maybe if she just apologized and backed away everything would be--
"Evans," snarled Selwyn. Lily could see his yellow teeth.
So much for that.
She didn't respond, she couldn't even move. Her insides were shaking and Lily feared that her knees were going to give way. She glanced over to the table where her friends were eating and caught James' eye.
"Is the little Mudblood brat afraid of little 'ol me?" growled Selwyn and he took a step closer to Lily. Again, Lily tried to move, but her feet felt as thought they were glued to the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see James and Sirius excusing themselves from the others and making their way over to where she was.
"How, bout you come with me, honey. We've been meaning to have a chat with your mate, Potter."
Selwyn grabbed Lily's wrist and started to pull her away from the line and towards the door. She tried to shake him off, but he just tightened his grip, crushing her arm. Lily silenced a whimper as she was forcefully dragged from the restaurant. Before she was pushed out the door, Lily looked behind her shoulder to see James and Sirius trying to shove through the crowd of people getting their food and she begged that they would reach her in time.
As Selwyn pulled her out into the sun and cold, Lily considered hitting or kicking him. Maybe it would give me enough time to run back to my friends, Lily thought, but her plans were quickly smothered as she noticed the Death Eater grab for his wand to hold to her throat. He was now taking her behind the building, that bordered the forest, where another man, dressed in black and wearing a mask, was waiting.
There was the sound of a slamming door and Lily begged that it was the boys coming to find her. Would they be able to fight these men off, though?
"Alright, sweethart," murmured Selwyn in Lily's ear, "you better not move a muscle, or you know what'll happen." He waved his wand and green sparks flew out the end of it, dangerously close to Lily's face. She was so scared now, that it felt hard to even breath. Tears were welling up in her eyes and she was trying as hard as she could to hold them back.
"I'm sure Potter will be here in a second to come and save his filthy Mudblood," said Selwyn to the other man looming by the trees.
It suddenly dawned on Lily that this was a trap, and she was the bait. I'm going to get him hurt she thought. She sniffed, partially due to the tears welling in her eyes and partially from the cold.
"Are you crying? Where's your knight in shining armor, now?"
"He's right here," came a voice from behind Lily.
She whipped around to see James and, although she knew she was responsible for bringing him and Sirius into this trap, she felt relieved by his presence. And as James Potter came strutting towards her and the Death Eaters, she couldn't help but smile at the fact that James had probably waited for the perfect moment to swoop in and save the day.
"You're going to let her go now," said James calmly. Lily was amazed how he could keep his cool in such a frightening situation.
"What makes you so sure about that?" asked the Death Eater who hadn't, until now, said anything.
"Because there's no way in Hell that I would let you harm a hair on her head."
He still managed to send a wink in her direction. Remarkable.
"Now, do James and I have to fight you brainless twats, or will you give us back our friend?" chimed in Sirius as he raised his wand, menacingly.
"Oh, you can have your Mudblood back..."
"Don't call her that," sneered James.
"As I was saying," continued Seleyn, "you can have it back. We just have a request for you, Potter."
"And what might that be?" James asked, although Lily was quite sure he didn't want to know.
"Join us."
James laughed a cold, almost maniacal, laugh. "Is that a joke?"
"You know it's not. You know who you are. The Potters have power, status, and Merlin knows you lot have the brains. I'm sure you aren't surprised by our offer?" Selwyn stared him down, not breaking eye-contact.
"I'm sure you're not surprised that I'd rather die."
"So be it."
"James!" screamed Lily as Selwyn raised his wand and aimed it at him and Sirius.
She should have realized, though, that these Death Eaters hardly stood a chance against the two best duelers (not to mention Marauders) at Hogwarts.
"Stupefy! shouted Sirius before Selwyn could even say whatever Unforgivable he was planning on using. He was out cold before you could say "Quidditch."
"You Bloody traitor!" yelled the other Death Eater, to Sirius, before running to his unconscious partner. Before James could disarm him, the man grabbed Selwyn and raised his wand in the air. "We'll be back," he threatened. He and Selwyn were gone, leaving behind a mass of black smoke.
Lily was still frozen.
"Are you all right?" asked James as he rushed towards her.
"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a bit spooked, I guess." She looked at Sirius who was now examining the smoke.
"Weird...," he said as he tried swiping his hand through the blackness. "I guess this is how they got away, but I don't think it was apparation. It couldn't be apparation...." He trailed off.
"This place isn't safe," Lily told James, "I think we need to get out of here."
"But in that letter, the one my parents sent, they said we should stay at the resort."
"But they didn't know there were Death Eaters here. It changes everything completely!"
"Lily, please listen." James had a sad expression, mirroring the one he wore the night before. "It's no safer out there then it is here. My aunt, uncle, and cousin were murdered in their own home. Trust me, nowhere is safe."
"Hogwarts is safe," Lily said, and for the first time in what seemed like ages, she missed magic. She missed her friends, her classes, Dumbledore. She missed Sev. This was the first Summer vacation that they hadn't spent together and she missed their adventures at the river and pranks they would play on Petunia's boyfriends. She could always depend of Sev, talk to him when she was upset or play tag when she was bored. But not anymore.
"Well we aren't at Hogwarts anymore," announced Sirius. "Think of it as a test. It's a challenge! Get a little taste of the real world, baby!" He had a mischievous look about him, like he was about to pull a nasty trick. Lily assumed he was just enjoying the thrill that came with danger.
"I still don't like the idea of crazy Voldemort followers tracking us down with my unsuspecting Muggle friends stuck in the middle of all this. Could we tell them that we want to stop skiing for the day? I would feel better if we were at the Christophe Brazier."
"Come on, Evans! What's the fun in that?" whined James.
"And put all our lives in danger, Potter? I think not," she responded, coldly. She was starting to remember why she had hated the boy in front of her so much. "But thank you for saving me," she added after a moments pause.
"It was my pleasure," James said with his lop-sided grin. "And how did you like my entrance? 'Where's your knight in shining armor, little girl?' 'He's right over here, you lousy villian!" James reenacted the scene. Lily noticed that James' impression of his own voice was loud and booming while Selwyn's was squeaky, like a pubecent boy's. It made her giggle a little, despite his obvious arrogance.
***
In an hour, the group was back at the base of the main run. Lily's friends didn't understand why they suddenly had to leave Allegro's or where James, Sirius, and Lily had disappeared to, but the girls agreed with them anyway.
After Cassie realized she had used the last of her toothpaste, the group made a detour to the marketplace next to the Christophe Brazier. It was decided that, instead of eating out, they were going to buy a frozen pizza and watch Muggle movies that night.
"What are moovies?" asked Sirius, to Lily.
"Oh, Sirius," Lily laughed, "you'll see...."
The market proved to be more fun than expected. Usually, when Lily's parents dragged her to the store to run errands, it was boring and the fruit aisle was always far too cold. But this time, Lily found herself laughing and giddy as she ran (and sometimes danced) up and down the sections. They got a few strange looks from other shoppers, but Lily didn't care. As long as it took her mind off of the encounter with the Death Eaters, she couldn't care less what other people thought of her.
"Evans, should we buy some hot coco?" suggested James.
"Most definitely."
James tossed the package into the shopping cart that Lily was pushing and it landed right next to the soda cans.
"GOAL FOR GRYFFINDOR!" cheered Sirius as he jogged a victory lap around the aisle that ended with him pouncing on James.
"Oi, Padfoot! Gerrof of me, your causing a mess."
"Dog pile!" Sirius shouted back. Both boys started to laugh.
After Sirius finally let James get off the ground, they found Bess and Jill who were talking excitedly.
"Did you guys see that?" asked Jill.
"What, me kicking Prongs' arse?" said Sirius.
"No, and owl just flew into the store! Isn't that weird? I had never seen one before..."
Lily, James, and Sirius exchanged glances. "An owl?" asked Lily.
"Yeah, a snowy owl. I thought those were just in the Arctic or something," said Bess.
Sirius and James bolted down the aisle and Lily took off after them. Maybe it was a letter from James' parents telling them to come home. Maybe it was the Ministry of Magic expelling Sirius for using magic outside of school to stun that Death Eater. Maybe it was help.
When Lily finally caught up with the boys, she found them by the cereal. Sirius was carefully opening a window and letting the owl out and James was slipping something that looked a lot like a letter into his back pocket.
"Who's it from?" asked Lily, anxiously.
"Erm... it was just a random owl. I don't even think it had a letter or anything," said James. Lily glared at him.
"You and I both know that snowy owls don't just fly into supermarkets for no reason, Potter."
James just laughed awkwardly. "Right. Of course they don't. It was just from Remus."
"What did he have to say?"
"Nothing... important...."
"Nothing? He just wanted to say hi?" Lily asked. She could almost taste the sarcastic venom in her words. How could he not tell me what the letter says? We're stranded at a ski resort, surrounded by Death Eaters and he can't tell me what his mate wrote?
"Well, he said a little more...."
"James," said Lily as she took a step towards him, "can't I just see the letter?" She took another step.
"You... erm... don't have to. I mean- uh... you know, he's just checking... up," stuttered James as Lily took another step closer to him. They were barely a foot apart, now. Lily reached out and played with the zipper on James' jacket and looked into his eyes as she moved her other arm around his waist.
"I just want to read it... would that be so bad?" she asked and she slid her hand into his back pocket.
"Wait- um... you shouldn't- er... I wouldn't.... You're going to get mad--"
Lily snatched the parchment out of James' pocket. "Thanks, James."
She left him gawking by the cereal as she opened the letter. When she finished, she calmly looked up and said two words, "No chance."
Snowflakes by The_Dream_Team
Chapter Notes: First of all, I am so extremely sorry I haven't updated in months. Finals, school, and everything else kind of ate up all my time so I'm so, so, so sorry it's taken so long to write this chapter! I hope you all like it... even if it is a little late =]
Chapter Endnotes: Thank you so much for reading! I promise it wont take as long to write the next chapter. But I might recommend leaving a review... more reviews means more motivation and more motivation means faster updates =D Just an idea... Thanks again, guys!