"Oh, hello there," said Jill as she stumbled into the hotel room with Bess and Cassie stomping down the hallway behind her. "And you are...?"
"I'm Remus," said Remus, holding out his hand. Jill took it and smiled at him. "You must be one of Lily's friends."
"I am! Are you one of James and Sirius'?" she asked while trying to fix her hair.
"Yeah, I go to school with them and Lily."
"Hogwarts?" said Jill. "What do you study?"
Remus whipped his head around, eyes wide and confused. "They know about Hogwarts?" he mouthed at Lily.
Lily just giggled to herself. "Remus works with pottery. You should see the beautiful bowls he's made... just brilliant."
"He uses the most vivid colours," added Sirius.
"Fine craftsmanship," said James and he looked off into the distance, as if he could see one of Remus' imaginary pots just outside the window.
The three let out an almost perfectly in-sync sigh before proceeding to the kitchen to make themselves a snack. Remus just stared at them dumbly, wondering when exactly Lily had put aside her hatred for James and Sirius and signed up to become the first Marauderess.
"Yeah, I like pots," he said and followed the others into the kitchen.
"So how was skiing?" Lily asked.
"It was fine," said Cassie. "It was a bit colder, but that was-"
"So, do you make anything other than pots?" cut in Jill.
"Wha-?" Remus spun around. "Oh. Sure. A few... figurines. I've made figurines."
"That's really cool!" said Jill and she let out a little giggle.
Lily almost laughed, herself, as she watched Jill shamelessly flirting with the slightly dazed Remus.
"So what's for dinner?" asked Sirius.
They decided to order pizza from a little shop next to the hotel. It was alright, but Lily thought the cheese was a bit too stringy, and her suspicion was confirmed when James suddenly broke out in a violent fit of coughing.
"Gack! Ah! Cah!" sputtered James.
"Bluck, shmuck, tack!" responded Sirius energetically, not taking his eyes off his own slice of pizza.
"Sirius! Can't you see he's choking?" Lily shouted. She jumped out of her chair and rushed over to James' aid. But when she got to him, she realized that she wasn't exactly sure what to do. There weren't First Aid classes at Hogwarts.... After a few moments of pondering, Lily decided to simply pat James on the back until his gagging stopped.
"Uh, thanks," he said awkwardly. "And no thanks to you mate!" he directed at Sirius who seemed to be trying very hard to keep a straight face.
"Seriously, Prongs, you should have seen your face," said Sirius. He scrunched up his eyes and stuck out his tongue, surprisingly accurate to James' expression. James just rolled his eyes at him.
"You looked like Wormtail that time in fourth year when Snivellus charmed his face into a fish," added Remus thoughtfully. "Oh, sorry Lily... sore subject."
"No, no," said Lily, "it's fine. Severus and I aren't friends anymore, so it doesn't matter."
Remus just stared blankly at her. What had happened over these few weeks?
"Plus," Lily added, "Sev was the one hurting Peter... that time. It's not like you were the ones hoisting him up by his ankle... that time."
There was the fiery Lily Remus was used to.
"Wait, back up," said Cassie. The others had almost forgotten that Lily's friends were there. "Who's Wormtail and how was his face charmed?"
A pit of fear welled up inside of Lily. Remus had clearly just said that Peter had been charmed by Sev. She tried to think of a reasonable excuse, but she couldn't grasp at any strings.
"Oh, did he say charmed? Well, that's just... lingo at Hogwarts. What happened was... um... Severus Snape, you know him, Cassie," Lily stuttered.
"Was that the pale one you introduced me to last summer? The greasy one?" asked Cassie.
"He wasn't--" Lily started, but she decided to leave it alone. "Anyway, like I was saying, Severus pulled a prank on James, Sirius, and Rumus' other friend named Peter, or Wormtail. You see, Sev sorta... painted Peter's face while Peter was sleeping. Sev's an art major." Lily quickly looked around, begging that one of the boys would help her out. No takers. "And then, Sev painted a fish on Peter. So Peter looked like a fish."
The others just looked at her; the girls wish confused expressions and the boys with amused ones.
"Okay..." said Jill, though it didn't look like she believed Lily's story. "But you mentioned something about Severus being hoisted up by his ankle? How could they do that?"
"Yeah, that kid wasn't light, as I recall," said Cassie.
Lily's head was spinning. Her friends were throwing so many questions at her and she couldn't answer them all at once. And she definitely couldn't answer them truthfully.
"Wait," said Bess, "I've forgotten who Severus is."
"It's Lily's friend," said Cassie.
"Was my friend. Not anymore."
"And Peter?"
"He was James' and Sirius' and Remus' friend."
"Is our friend. He still is," pointed out James.
"But Lily, why aren't you friends with Severus anymore?"
"Because--" Lily started.
"Because he's a slimy prick," finished Sirius.
"He is not!" shouted Lily. She stood up abruptly, bumping the table they were eating at and jumbling the plates and glasses. A bit of water poured onto the tablecloth and a fork fell onto the floor.
"Lily," said James softly, "you don't have to defend him anymore." He also stood up and reached out to put his hand on her shoulder. She didn't protest, but Lily still wasn't sure where her loyalties lay. Severus had been her best friend for years and she was used to standing up for him. Her enemy had always been the Marauders, but now the tables were turned and everything felt so strange all of a sudden.
"Sorry," said Lily quietly and she sat back down. "It's just that I keep forgetting..."
"That's okay," said Remus with a faint smile. Lily noticed that he was even more pale than before, when they had met him in the woods. She wondered how many more nights until the full moon.
"Hey, Lily," said Sirius suddenly, "I actually have a question about the summer reading assignment. You brought your copy of Romeo and Jenny- I mean Juliet- with you, right?"
Lily paused.
"Oh yeah, I had some questions, as well," piped in James.
Lily looked at Remus, who shrugged.
"Yes," said Lily cautiously, "I brought it." She noticed James pointing towards the hallway. "It's in my room," she added.
"Are you just all getting up and leaving?" asked Cassie, looking suspicious.
"We'll only be a minute," promised Lily. "You coming, Remus?"
Remus nodded and quickly got up to follow his friends to Lily's room. She wished she had tidied up a little.
"So Moony," started James as he brushed off a pair of Lily's panties from the bed in order to make room, "we needed to get you away from Lily's Muggle friends to tell you something. There's a bit of an issue."
Lily's cheeks turned as red as her hair as she watched her undergarments being gently tossed onto the floor panels.
"Might it be the fact that you brought me, under false pretenses, to a crowded Muggle ski resort to transform into a werewolf?"
"Interestingly enough, that isn't it," said Sirius.
"Typical," moaned Remus. He moved a pair of worn socks off Lily's pillow so he could stuff his face in it.
"There are Death Eaters here."
Lily was surprised to see that Remus could actually turn a lighter shade of white.
"Death Eaters? Voldemort's guys?" stuttered Remus.
"Yeah, they wanted me to join up, or something," said James.
"You? Why?" Remus looked extremely worried.
"Something about Purebloods and all that rubbish."
"This is serious," said Remus.
"You don't think I don't know that? Like I told you when I wrote you, the Death Eaters killed my uncle and aunt and my cousin. And that's not all, they tried kidnapping Lily! They almost hurt her," said James with a scowl. Lily looked up upon hearing her name. She had been in the middle of trying to tidy up her room by pushing a pile of clothes into a corner.
"They didn't hurt me," she said.
"But they could have. It wont happen again," said James reassuringly. Lily smiled at him softly.
"Okay," butted in Lupin, "this might be a bit irrelevant, but when did you two and Lily become best mates? If I'm not mistaken, the last time I checked, Lily hated you both."
The room suddenly became quiet.
"I'm not quite sure," said Lily, at last, breaking the silence.
"We ran into Lily and her friends in the elevator," said James.
"And then we just started... hanging out with them," finished Sirius.
"That's it?" asked Remus. "I'm not upset, I'm actually glad you all are friendly now, it's just... different seeing you two," he pointed at James and Lily, "not fighting. It's nice."
"Oh," said Lily. She really hadn't put much thought into her- could it be a friendship?- with James and Sirius. She had always liked Remus, he was always perfectly kind during prefect duties, and Peter was tolerable. But how come she now liked hanging out with Potter and Black? These were the same boys who snuck a miniature fire crab in her book bag in second year. These were the same boys who had copied off her Potions essay and gotten her in trouble with Slughorn. These were the same boys who constantly bullied the Slytherin who used to be her best friend.
Lily looked back on the last couple of days. James and Sirius weren't as immature or annoying as they were at school. They had been fun, easy-going, and friendly.
"Well, it seems when these two," she said, motioning at James and Sirius, "are away from magic, they become much more reasonable."
"What?" asked James, who looked like he had just been punched in the stomach. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean, you aren't hexing anyone. You used to go down the corridors jinxing Sev or some younger kids, just for a laugh."
James thought about this for a while. "Sure, we pulled some pranks, but I think you're being unfair. It's not like we cursed innocent kids! We always had reasons."
Lily began to protest, but Sirius cut her off. "I know you're about to go into some fit about Snape, but when will you realize that he deserved what he got? He isn't a good guy, Evans."
"He was though! He used to be...," she trailed off. Severus was always someone she could trust. When he told her about all of the awful things that the Marauders had done to him, she trusted him when he said that he didn't deserve it. Did he? She quickly shoved that thought out of her head. She knew Severus. He was good, at least before he started hanging around with wanna be Death Eaters.
"What did he do wrong when... when you hung him upside down by his ankle and choked him with soap bubbles?" Lily asked. She already know the answer. When she had yelled at James that day after the O.W.L.s, asked him what Severus had done to him, and his witty response was, "It's more that he exists."
James was completely silent. Lily could tell that he remembered exactly what his answer was.
"Merlin," he said as he ruffled his hair. "Lily, I'm sorry. You're right. I guess we don't always think... I just thought I was being funny, but I can see how you took it badly." Lily almost laughed at how awkward James suddenly looked. He was fidgeting with his fingers and shifting his weight back and forth between his feet.
Sirius was looking at him, seemingly repulsed by James sudden emotional turn. "It's not like we don't have our wands, though. I even stunned that Death Eater when they snatch you, Lily."
"Wait," said Lily, "you did magic! Shouldn't the Ministry have realized that you did underage magic?"
"A few summers ago, I used lumos and I got sent a warning from the Ministry. Sirius, you're not seventeen, so you've still got the trace on you," said Remus.
Lily was stumped. She hadn't a clue how Sirius got away with underage magic, but she knew that there were greater problems. "Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. We need to talk about how you will keep Remus away from the resort when he... you know, transforms."
"Don't worry about that, Lily. We have pretty good control over ol Moony when he's all wolfy," said Sirius, patting Remus on the head as he spoke.
"Gerroff me," mumbled Remus as he shoved Sirius aside.
"Yeah, you wont have to worry about that. Death Eaters are a bit more of a threat than Remus," said James.
"Fine," said Lily, "but please be careful. It's so dangerous and I don't want anyone getting hurt."
"Don't worry, Lily," said James as he patted her on the shoulder, "everything is going to be fine."
Snowflakes by The_Dream_Team
Chapter Notes: Hello everybody! (If anyone is still even here...) Sorry for the awfully long delay... school got in the way, as did NaNoWriMo. Here's chapter fourteen, though! I hope you all enjoy! *If you've forgotten what has happened, (and I don't blame you, it's been a while) then here's a quick summery! Lily, her Muggle friends, and James and Sirius are all at a Muggle Ski Resort. Since they got there, they've had a couple run-ins with Death Eaters, James' aunt, uncle, and cousin were killed, and Remus has just come to join them. Oh, and Remus is there because he doesn't want to transform into a werewolf on his own. I hope that helped!*
Chapter Endnotes: Hello! Thanks so much for reading! Sorry this isn't a very exciting chapter, I promise these next few are going to be more interesting! As always, it would be lovely if you left a review! It's always appreciated :)