As Lily shut the stagecoach door behind her, the cold air seemed to be sucked out of the small compartment with the wind. She shivered and sat down, peeling off her gloves and hat. Her long red hair tumbled down around her shoulders and she shook her head, a little frustrated, to get it out of her eyes, which were as green as the poinsetta flower leaves decorating the inside of the coach. God, it had been a long day. She gazed out the window at the dead, dry, snowless trees. She hated that -- Christmas was not long away and it hadn't snowed yet. She leaned back, and had closed her eyes for a split second when there was a slam on the window near her. Astonished, she turned to the window to see James pressing his lips against it outside, his breath steaming the glass. The next moment he was in the coach with her, squishing beside her on the seat.

"Hey, Evans! Excited as I am?"

"Yes, now that I remember you're coming with me!" she returned with a huge, fake smile, then pushed him away from her. "Get off! Sit across from me if you must ride in this coach."

"Aw, come on!" he laughed, obeying her and sitting on the bench across from her. "Why the long face? We're going to Hogsmeade, we haven't been there for two years during the school year, and it's Christmastime." That was true, Lily thought. Ever since Voldemort had begun to gain power Dumbledore had cancelled all Hogsmeade trips until further notice. While the rule was not a favourite among students, it was the kind of rule everyone obeyed without complaining, given the circumstances. Lily had a feeling, too, that most kids would do anything for Dumbledore if he asked. She and James, in fact, were going to Hogsmeade to stand in for Dumbledore in a few meetings.

"And my biggest Christmas wish," Lily muttered just loud enough for James to hear, "was to spend an entire week in a hotel with you and take notes at an education convention only to return to school to find that rumors are spreading that we slept together on our little business trip."

"Actually, I haven't started those yet," James said nonchalantly as he shifted through a bag of Bertie Botts. He offered her a dark brown bean, but Lily shook her head. "No? It's dirt, your favourite." She rolled his eyes and looked out the window as the carriage pulled off, determined not to speak to him again the rest of the trip.

But that didn't stop him from speaking. "I can't believe you're not excited about this. Sure, we have to work, but not all the time . . . do we?" When she didn't answer, he plunged on. "I sorta thought taking notes was your idea of fun anyway."

"Listen, James!" Lily said harshly, breaking her vow. Damn it. "Taking notes is not my idea of fun, but I know I'll end up doing lots of it anyway since I don't expect you to do any work, so here's the deal: You can either entertain yourself -- alone -- and leave me alone, or you can bother me all you want and earn a complaint requesting you to leave Hogsmeade as soon as an owl can carry it to Dumbledore. Got it?"

He looked at her, wide-eyed, a bean half-way to his mouth, and Lily figured she had him cornered. What Lily didn't know was that James was noticing then that her cheeks and nose and lips were red with the cold and it made her even prettier than normal.

He shrugged and popped the bean in his mouth. "You leech the fun out of everything."

Lily felt her trademark temper rising, and she stared out at the green pastures rushing past, trying to quell it. There were a few minutes of silence, and then James murmured, barely audible, "Fun-leech."

Silently, Lily turned her glaring emerald eyes at him. He stared back, his face indignant. He reminded her of a little boy pouting because he didn't get any Sugar Quills in his stocking, and despite her better judgment, she laughed, breaking her angry tension unintentionally. James laughed, too, and looked out the window smiling, and for the rest of the trip was dutifully quiet as Lily napped.