After the events of the previous night, Lily had quickly left the social and went back to her room. For hours she simply laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about what James had done. Before she had drifted off to sleep, she came to the conclusion that James had only kissed her to shut her up. Why else would he do such a thing?
What am I thinking? Lily asked herself after hours of contemplating the issue. This was James Potter. He had been making moves on her since the third year. Sure, he had tried to kiss her before, but the difference between now and then is the fact that she let him. Why didn't I slap him? I've had no problem hitting Potter in the past!
Lily smelled bacon seeping under her door and decided to get up to have some breakfast. Throwing her hair into a messy bun, Lily shuffled into the kitchen and plopped herself down in the nearest whicker chair. "What's cooking?" she asked Bess, who was hovering over a simmering pan.
"Oh, I'm making omelets," she responded. "You want one?"
Lily nodded happily and went to retrieve a plate and a fork. She glanced over to the window expecting to see the familiar bright blue skies, but instead she let out a moan as she saw dark clouds hanging in the dreary sky.
"Ugh is right," said Jill from behind Lily.
"So, when are we meeting Sirius and James?" asked a sleepy Cassie who had just joined the others. Like Lily, her hair was in a messy bun and she had yet to change out of her PJs.
The events from last night that Lily had tried so hard to push out of her thoughts rushed back to her after hearing Potter's name. She would have to face James today. It would be awkward and weird and she hadn't the slightest clue what to say. Should she ignore him? Should she confront him? Oh, it was all so confusing and Lily found herself trying desperately to just concentrate on the eggs before her.
"Is something wrong, Lily? You seem awfully quite this morning," said Jill.
"Nothing happened!" she said back and made her way back to her room to change. When she looked at her reflection in the mirror, she was horrified to see that she was blushing. For the millionth time that morning, Lily's thoughts strayed to James and that bloody kiss.
She violently shook her head in a desperate attempt to rid her mind of the poisones thoughts. It didn't work. Instead she quickly changed into her ski clothes and headed back to her friends.
When she got to the kitchen, she found the girls circled around a bit of paper. As she got closer, Lily noticed it was a phone number.
"Should I call him? Would that seem too desperate?" squealed Jill. Lily's eyes widened as she looked at the number. Could this possibly be Jim's? Terror rushed through Lily as she thought of Jill calling Jim up and having him come along with them. The embarrassment! The humility!
"Hey," said Lily, trying her best to stay cool, "whose number is this?"
"Its Danny's!" said Jill. "He's one of Jim's friends... and he's French!"
Okay, it wasn't Jim. But one of his friends wasn't much better....
"Call him up, already!" said Cassie. She was now bouncing up and down with excitement for her friend.
Lily quickly snuck away, making the excuse that she had to brush her teeth for the second time. No one paid her much attention as she slipped away.
Back in the bathroom, Lily picked up her toothbrush. It couldn't hurt to brush her teeth again, right? Lily's aunt was a dentist, so she knew the importance of teeth care and got to work. Lily was having a fine time as she brushed her teeth with one hand and played with her hair with the other. Then, she felt a tickling sensation on her arm. She let out a screech as she spotted a hairy spider crawling up her forearm. In her mad attempt to get it off her, she sent her toothbrush flying across the bathroom and into the toilet.
Lily groaned as she stared down at her poor toothbrush. It was now floating in the water in a disgusting manner. Grudgingly, she stuck her hand in the toilet and pulled it out. Trying not to let it drip all over the tile, she tossed it in the bin.
"I dropped my toothbrush in the toilet and I'm going to go to the gift shop to get a new one," she informed her friends before heading out the door. She doubted that any of them had heard her. They were all circled up around the phone and most likely talking to Danny.
The elevator doors opened up to show the Lobby and Lily made her way to the gift shop. She stopped abruptly when she heard two familiar voices from just up ahead. Except they weren't quite right. Would that be considered German? Lily wondered as she continued walking.
"I vas just vondering if zee room service served schnitzel!" Potter was shouting at a poor man behind the Guest Services desk.
Sirius was next to him, snickering uncontrollably.
"Immature," Lily said to herself as she rolled her eyes.
"Come on and stop terrorizing this poor man, Potter," she scolded as she pulled him away from the desk by his sleeve. Sirius followed them, still laughing to himself.
"Well, hey Evans," said James as his hand shot to his hair and he gave her a flirtatious wink.
Her stomach did a flip-flop, but she quickly put aside the feeling.
"Why must you be so juvenile?" she asked him.
"Oh, that was just, you know... I was just trying out a German accent," he said, cheerily.
He seems so unfazed by what happened last night, Lily thought. I would have expected him to at least mention it!
"It's not all that great or anything, but I think that guy fell for it...," James trailed off. Lily wasn't even paying attention to what he was saying.
"That's not important. Could I speak to you for a moment? Privately?" she added, noticing Sirius catching up.
James winked at her again. "Sure!"
Before Lily could even begin, James spoke up.
"Is this about last night?" he asked with a crooked grin.
"In fact, it is," said Lily, hotly. "I was just wanting to confirm that you only kissed me because you wanted to shut me up." James looked amused and as though he very much wanted to interrupt her. "I also wanted to inform you that the only reason I didn't slap you into oblivion is because I was too angry."
"Let me get this straight," he said with a hint of laughter in his voice, "you think, first of all, that I kissed you for no other reason then to shut you up? Dear, dear Lily... how long have you known me? I've been wanting to do that for quite some time now!"
"But... but...," Lily stammered, but James continued.
"You can believe whatever you want, but I think we both know the truth." He winked at her again. "And secondly, you were too angry to slap me? Wow, I never thought I'd see the day. You seem quite all right with slapping me whenever you got the chance back at school... What happened? Gasp! Wait... it can't be... No!" There was a look of amazement on James' face as he stared down at her, grinning.
"What are you getting at, Potter?" she asked, icily as she glared at him, not breaking eye contact.
"You've fallen in love with me!"
"What? Of course I haven't!" Lily shrieked.
"It's all right, honey, you're just in denial," said James, cockily as he put his arm around her shoulders.
"I am NOT!" Lily yelled and she pushed him away from her. She was burning up with hatred and she was furious with Potter for even suggesting something so horrible. She was becoming hot with anger, or maybe she was blushing... he was just inches from her face, now.
She found herself staring into his hazel eyes and she could pull her gaze away.
"See," he said, "you're getting lost in my eyes. My charm has finally worked!"
"You're so full of it!" said Lily, stubbornly as she came back to reality and pushed James away from her once more.
"You love me!" said James, his smile growing bigger by the second.
"In your dreams!" Lily quickly spat back.
"Just admit it!"
"No! I have nothing to tell you!"
They had finally met up with Sirius who was lounging on a sofa.
"It's okay, darling, you'll come around," said James, giving her yet another wink.
"Do you have a twitch?" Lily said, coldly. They sat down next to Sirius on the large sofa.
"What's up, mate?" asked Sirius, who was rather confused by the current conversation.
"We're in love!" James said and he jumped up for dramatic effect.
"We are not!" Lily said and she too jumped up to face James.
"What did I miss?" asked Sirius who jumped up as well because he was feeling quite small, being the only one sitting.
"Potter here has convinced himself that I'm in love with him," said Lily.
"What would make you think that?" Sirius asked James, his eyebrow raised and questioning.
Lily quickly grabbed James and turned him around for a brief conference.
"You didn't tell Sirius about what happened last night?" she asked him, very surprised.
"I don't kiss and tell, Evans," he responded.
"Hmm," she said and told them goodbye and that she would see them on the slopes.
They seemed slightly frazzled by her sudden change in mood, but waved goodbye anyway. The look of confusion had not yet left Sirius' face, but James just shrugged his shoulders and left Sirius in the Lobby as he went to change into his snowsuit.
***
They were all waiting at the bottom of lift ten. Lily, Cassie, Jill, Bess, James, and Sirius were standing in a circle in hopes to stay warm. Due to the clouds, the sun was blocked and the rays of warmth were denied.
"What are we waiting for again?" asked Sirius as he hugged Cassie for warmth.
"We're waiting for Danny and his friends to meet us," said Jill. She craned her neck to try to find Danny in the crowd. "I see him! I can see him!"
The group turned their heads to see Danny, Jim, and a couple other boys coming their way.
"That guy?" said James with a sneer.
Oh Merlin, Lily thought. With everything that had happened that morning, she had almost forgotten Jim and James' run-in the night before. She quickly spun around so that Jim couldn't see her and began having a conversation with Bess.
"I'm gonna show him not to mess with James Potter," mumbled James, menacingly.
"Oh no you won't," said Lily and she grabbed James before he could get any closer to Jim.
"Come on! That guy's a prat," said James. He was still scowling at Jim, but it seemed like he wasn't going to do any harm.
"Jim is perfectly fine!" Lily retorted back. "If anyone's a prat, that would be you for obvious reasons."
"Just keep nagging, Evans, but you know my favorite way to shut you up," he said and his hand shot up to his head to ruffle his hair. The only problem was, that he was wearing his helmet. So, instead of messing up his hair, he just jammed his fingers on the hard outer shell of his helmet and goggles.
"Ha!" Lily laughed dryly and she turned to make her way to the ski lift, James following close behind.
The others followed suit and joined them in the line. In all of the hustle and bustle, Lily found herself in between Bess and none other than Jim.
It was the most awkward silence that Lily had ever been apart of. Bess sat in the middle and didn't say much. She was extremely guy shy and so she preferred staying quite in situations like this.
Lily focused all her attention on the passing trees and didn't dare look at Jim, in fear that they would make eye contact.
"Um, Lily?" Jim said after a few miserable minutes of dead silence. "I'm sorry, again, about last night. I didn't mean to get in the way with you and your boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend," Lily replied, bitterly.
"Then why did--" Jim started.
"I don't know." Lily went back to staring at the scenery and the other two sat quietly until they got off the lift.
"Did that Jim character give you any trouble?" asked James as he cracked his knuckles.
"Shut up, Potter," Lily said. She had no patience for James at the moment.
As the group was halfway down the run, the wind and snow started picking up. They were near the top of the mountain, so the temperature was even colder and the wind was even fiercer. Poor Sirius was having a very difficult time keeping up with the group.
He had felt like a Gryffindor that morning; he felt like he could tackle anything. Now, he wasn't quite so sure. As he saw the sharp turns up ahead, he shivered... and not from the cold.
"Hey guys," Sirius started, "does anyone want to stop for a second?"
Lily, James, Bess, and Jim were the only ones who heard, but Jim quickly pretended like he hadn't and took off down the mountain again at top speed.
"I actually have to go to the bathroom, so that sounds good," said Lily.
After hearing Lily, James decided that he was in the mood for some hot chocolate and chose to come along, too.
"I'm fine," said Bess. "I'll just go tell the others where you're going. We'll meet you at the bottom of lift ten okay?"
They nodded their heads and said goodbye before heading down the alternative path to the warming hut. Once there, Lily kicked off her skis and headed for the bathrooms and James and Sirius went inside.
Once finished with the rather disgusting bathroom, Lily met the boys inside and was delighted to see that they had bought her a hot chocolate, too. She took off her helmet and sipped her beverage slowly.
"So, is the run too hard for you, Black?" teased Lily and James laughed along. Sirius just smirked at her and went back to sipping his drink.
"I would like some back-up every once in a while, Prongs," said Sirius to his friend.
"You know I'm here for you, Padfoot," James said back.
Again with the nicknames! Lily thought. They were very odd names, too. Padfoot and Prongs? She also knew that Peter was Wormtail and Remus was Moony. But what did they mean? The first thing Lily thought of were animals. Padfoot could possibly mean wolf or dog. Prongs would be a dear or maybe a moose. Wormtail could mean worm or possibly mouse.... And Moony. This one confused her the most. Moony sounded like moon, but what would that mean?
"What do your nicknames mean?" Lily blurted out.
There was a flash of fear in Sirius' grey eyes that went unnoticed by Lily.
"They're our patronuses," James said, quickly.
"Mmm..." Lily said as she took a larger gulp of hot chocolate. And then something clicked. "Guys? I have a question about Remus."
She noticed James and Sirius exchanging nervous glances and she continued.
"You know, he is always missing school about... once a month. And his nickname is Moony, like the moon. I was just wondering, and I'm sorry if I'm making unfair assumptions, but is Remus a werewolf?"
The boys looked unsure of how to answer her and so they said nothing at all.
"That must be horrible for him," said Lily after it was clear that neither of the two were going to speak anytime soon. "It does explain a lot, though. He was always missing patrol last year and he always is getting sick or visiting relatives. When was he bitten?"
"When he was six," James finally said.
"Don't tell a soul," said Sirius, seriously.
"And don't look at him any differently. He's still the same Remus Lupin you've always known," James added in.
"I know," Lily said and she took one final gulp of hot chocolate.
***
The three were back on the mountain and going slow for Sirius' sake. They decided to go into the Enchanted Forest run because it was the fastest rout to the bottom of lift ten and it was also a favorite.
There were plenty of bumps that were fun to jump over and the trees proved to be great obstacles. Sirius had a few minor problems, but so far he had only run into a tree once.
"Hurry up Padfoot!" called James. He and Lily were far ahead and Sirius was lagging behind.
Lily was leaning on her pole as she waited for Black to catch up. Maybe it wasn't the brightest ideas to bring him down a double blue, she thought. She chuckled as she heard his curses in the distance.
"So, love, where do you want the wedding to be?" asked James.
"Shut up, Potter," she retorted and began to poke him with her pole. He pretended not to notice and continued talking.
"The Hogwarts grounds? France? We could have it in Australia!" Lily rolled her eyes and let him continue babbling on to himself.
She looked back one last time, glad to see the clumsy figure of Sirius Black making his way towards them. It was what was lurking behind him that caught her eye.
"James," she said and he quickly looked up, surprised at hearing his first name, "we need to get out of here."
Snowflakes by The_Dream_Team
Chapter Notes: Chapter six is finally here! Sorry for the long wait! Here's an extra long chapter to make up for it. I'd like to thank my Mod, Colores for helping so much and dealing with my many typos! I would absolutely love it if you would leave a review because I love hearing what you have to say! Thanks and enjoy!