The Marauders: Padfoot

"I'll Get You Evans!"

It had been a month since I had spoken to Sirius.

December had settled in and the closeness of Christmas had made everyone a little excited. The castle buzzed with chatter as we all made our way down to dinner.

Dumbledore stood at the front of the hall.

"As you all surely know, Christmas will be soon upon us..." He began.

I zoned out, glancing around the Gryffindor table, where my eyes caught the unruly mane of Sirius Black.

His hair really needed to be cut. My brain flooded with the memories of me cutting his hair, but I instantly blocked them out.

The easiest way for me to cope had been to not think about him. At all.

"Anyway, here's the part you've all been waiting for." Dumbledore boomed, his voice full of excitement as he waved his wand and the hall sprung into life and colour.

Large pine trees stood in an orderly fashion at each side of the hall, decorated with baubles and enchanted pixies. They twinkled away like the stars and I struggled to peel my eyes away.

Red and green gleamed from everywhere and I couldn't help but think that Christmas was the only time of the year that the Gryffindor and Slytherin colours looked great together.

Fire sparkled from the gargoyles lining the hall and little wreaths of holly popped out of the walls.

Above all of this, the ceiling was the most enchanting aspect. I looked up at the now white sky above us. Small flakes of enchanted snow fell, and caught in Lily's hair. She giggled and pointed to my robes, which were covered in little specks of white for a short moment before they disappeared.

"Wow." I whispered.

I tore my eyes away from the sky to glance around the hall. Even the Slytherins looked excited by the magnificent magic that had just taken place. Then my eyes caught his, Sirius's, before I dropped my gaze.

A moment later, all was forgotten when food appeared on the table. Plates full of chicken, ham and turkey, dishes of minced pies, platters of roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings and trays of gingerbread men filled the table and instantly my eyes widened at the new variety of food.

I gave Lily a huge smile before reaching for some chicken, and she did the same.

After the feast, we made our way up to the common room, which had been surprisingly decorated whilst we had been gone.

A large Christmas tree sat a few feet away from the fire, covered in twinkling lights and large red baubles in the Gryffindor style. Wreaths of holly lined the walls along with sparkling red tinsel which seemed to dance in the dim lighting. Mistletoe hung in small enchanted bunches and the carpet was covered in a soft dusting of snow, which wasn't cold to the touch.

"I'd love to learn how to do spells like this." Lily exclaimed, bunching some snow into her hand and forming a snow ball.

"You're the brightest witch in our year. I'm sure you're capable." I told her proudly.

She gave me an evil smirk before throwing her snowball, which hit James Potter in the back of the head.

"Ouch!" He shouted, rubbing the back of his head gently before turning around. His eyes swept the room and instantly caught on Lily.

"I'll get you Evans!" He shouted playfully, collecting a fist full of snow from the floor behind him.

Her eyes widened when she saw what he was doing. She darted behind the sofa to hide.

A smirk played on his lips when he noticed her auburn hair as he slowly crept over to the sofa.

"I wonder where Evans could be." He exclaimed rather loudly.

Bracing his hand, just as he was about to throw he was caught off guard.

I hadn't realised what I had done until the snowball had left my palm and his face was instantly covered in white powder.

He spat out snow and quickly wiped over the frames of his glasses before turning his glare to me.

I squealed and ran across the room. Just as I was about to run up the stairs to our dorm, a snowball hit me square in the back.

"Potter!" I shouted, turning around, only to find Remus laughing uncontrollably with his hand over his mouth.

And that is exactly how a snowball fight broke out in the Gryffindor common room that evening.

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The four of us sat up in our dorms, on our respectable beds.

Half an hour went past of us laughing, then sobering up, then someone would laugh again and the cycle would continue.

"We are going to be in so much trouble." I laughed.

It was almost Christmas, surely the teachers couldn't punish us that badly.

Having Lily on my team had really worked out well int the snowball fight. Somehow she had managed to enchant snowballs to hit the boys, while we hid and defended ourselfs. Eventually then ran up to their dorm in defeat, but they didn't know that there was a pile of snowballs ready to hit them as soon as they opened the door.

Christmas was my favourite time at Hogwarts. Especially as it meant I would be seeing my parents soon. It felt like years since I had last hugged my mother, since my dad had last ruffled my hair and messed it up.

I was looking forward to my mothers Christmas dinner, she was always an amazing cook and usually made a gingerbread house for my arrival home.

I was looking forward to watching my dad play guitar in front of the fire on Christmas eve, and watching the cold snow fall outside while I was safe and warm.

I was looking forward to going sledging with the children in my village if it snowed, and knowing that none of them knew about my magic, but they still regarded me as a friend.

I was looking forward to going home.

"What are you thinking about?" Lily asked, breaking me out of my trance.

"Nothing." I smiled, looking over at her.