Happy Thanksgiving my dear readers! Even if you aren't American, I am still thankful for all of you and your support! Hope you like the chapter!

November blew in with a gradual bite of winter clinging to the castle. They had already seen a few snowflakes falling, though nothing had stuck yet. A multitude of leaves blew across the grounds, and students could be seen hurrying to the greenhouses with mufflers wrapped around their necks, some even wore knitted hats to try to beat the chill.

If one paid attention to such things, they would notice that the seventh year Gryffindor's seemed to have gotten unusually close over the last couple weeks. People they never assumed would ever be seen together could be found sitting at lunch together, or next to each other in classes. The head boy and girl seemed to get along a little better; at least they hadn't been found fighting as often. Everyone could tell that Evans still refused to go out with Potter, but at least she could talk to him normally.

Raea and Sirius also seemed to become really good friends overnight. Nobody knew what happened after the Halloween party, but the two appeared to have formed some sort of bond, like they had finally found something in common. They both definitely smiled more often.

Near the end of the month the Marauders started to get oddly excited, and told the girls and Frank to keep Thursday evening completely free. They were all curious about this odd request, but the boys refused to say anything.

Thursday rolled around, and they all attended classes like normal, though the boys were having a hard time focusing, especially Sirius and James.

"What is going on guys?" Amelia asked, not able to hold it in any longer. They were walking in the corridors to Transfigurations, the Marauders with huge grins on each of their faces.

"You'll see," Remus responded soothingly, squeezing her hand in his, "This is the first time we've done this with anyone else, so we're just a little excited."

"Yeah," Sirius chimed in, barely holding himself back from jumping up and down next to Raea, "It's going to be fun having more people to share it with now."

"But what is it?" Lily asked, turning to James with pleading eyes.

"That's not going to work this time Lily," James smirked, "It's a surprise, and it's going to stay that way. It's just too much fun."

The girls all huffed in exasperation as Professor McGonagall stood in front of the class, waiting for everyone to arrive and take their seats. To the confusion of the girls and Frank, Sirius and James immediately dashed up to McGonagall and gave her a deep bow.

"Thank you Professor for all that you have taught us all these years," they both said in sync, having said it every year previously.

To the surprise of the whole class, McGonagall gave a small smile to the two boys in front of her. "You're very welcome," she responded, almost blushing a little. The two boys looked up at her and gave her identical grins before skipping off to their seats.

"What was that about?" Raea asked Sirius when he got back to his seat by her.

"We'll explain later," Sirius grinned at her.

Through the whole rest of class Professor McGonagall seemed to be in a really good mood. She smiled a lot more often, and wasn't nearly as harsh as she usually was. Bye the time class ended, the good mood had pretty much spread to the whole class. Everyone was smiling and laughing with each other.

Before they left, Professor McGonagall called out to them. "Have a good day this year," she smiled at them, the Marauders grinning back at her, "Thanks for being good students."

The girls and Frank all stood in shock as the four boys grinned back saying, "You're welcome Professor!"

"Okay, seriously," Raea said, glaring at Sirius before he could make a comment, "What was all that about?"

"We'll explain at dinner," James responded, refusing to say more.

They continued through their day, anxiously waiting for dinner time to arrive, though each for their own reason. The Marauders couldn't wait for their annual event, and the girls couldn't wait for this mystery to be finally solved. Frank had an inkling of what might be going on, though he wasn't entirely sure. Having lived with the four other Gryffindor boys for seven years he tended to pick these things up. He recalled that they always seemed to get excited for some reason near the end of November, and that it somehow involved elves. He hadn't really paid them much mind before now though, so he wasn't sure how it all fit together. He was definitely curious to see what was going on.

Finally dinner time rolled around. The group had been sitting in the common room waiting for the time to come. As they started seeing people heading out of the portrait hole, Amelia jumped up and turned to the boys. "Now can we know?" she exclaimed, her hands on her hips.

"The time is almost here," Remus reassured her, standing in front of her and taking her hands in his, "But first you girls need to go change out of your robes and into some casual dresses, okay?"

"But why?" Lily questioned, exasperation in her voice.

"Because today is special," James smiled, "And you will enjoy it, don't worry."

"Fine," Raea said, standing up and heading toward the dormitories, "This better be worth it."

"It will," Sirius grinned, bouncing up and bounding to the boys staircase, "See you in a bit!"

ooo

"What do you guys think is going on?" Alice asked when the girls got to their dormitory.

"I have no idea," Lily replied, searching through her trunk for a suitable dress to wear, "I'm pretty sure it isn't anyone's birthday."

"Yeah," Raea said, pulling out her dark pink sweater dress, "I think you have the next birthday Lily."

"Well I just want to know!" Amelia huffed, pulling on her pink dress, "So let's hurry!"

It only took around fifteen minutes for them to get ready. Finally they made their way down the stairs to meet the boys. They found them standing by the portrait hole, each of them dressed in button down shirts and slacks.

"You boys clean up nice," Amelia giggled, running up to grab Remus' hand and give him a short kiss.

"So do you," Remus responded, smiling down at her.

"Come on! Let's go!" Sirius exclaimed, opening the portrait hole and leading the way out.

The group walked down the corridors, which were surprisingly empty. Everyone was at dinner in the Great Hall, so there wasn't much movement anywhere else. The boys led the way down the grand staircase to the entrance hall, but instead of going in the Great Hall, they walked right past it, heading down another staircase off to the side.

"Are we going to the kitchens?" Raea asked suspiciously as they continued down the deserted basement corridor.

"Maybe," Sirius smirked at her.

They stopped in front of a painting of a bowl of fruit, James reaching up and tickling the pear. A little giggle sounded before the painting swung out and opened to a large room with four long tables filling up the space. Little house elves ran around placing a multitude of desserts on each of the tables in preparation to send them up to the corresponding tables above in the Great Hall.

When the house elves noticed the group walk in, one of them ran up to them excitedly. "Sirs and Missus," the elf squeaked, first bowing low before beaming up at them, "Yours dinner is served! Follow Nipsy."

They followed the little house elf past the long tables to a small alcove they had never noticed off to the side of the kitchen. A normal sized dining table set for nine was sitting there, tall candles lighting it up. Each of the boys save Peter walked ahead and pulled out the chairs for the girls in their group. Once they were seated the boys took their seats next to them. James took his at the head of the table and stretched his hands to his friends with a big smile and said, "Happy Thanksgiving my friends!"

The Marauders each grinned hugely at each other, while the girls looked a little confused. Frank simply gave a small smile, already having heard a bit over the years about this odd celebration.

"Thanksgiving?" Amelia questioned, never having heard of it before.

"Isn't it that American holiday?" Lily asked, still confused about what they were doing.

"That is true," James responded, still smiling, "It's an American holiday that we learned about in our second year."

"That I learned about," Remus corrected, smirking, "I found it while reading some of my mothers' muggle books written by American authors."

"We all liked the idea that Remus told us, so we decided to celebrate it!" Sirius added.

"And we always want an excuse to party and eat food!" Peter exclaimed.

"So what is it?" Alice asked.

"Traditionally it was a celebration for giving thanks for the harvest," Remus began, going into Professor Moony mode, "But in more recent times it was used to simply give thanks for things from the past year."

"I think I like this holiday," Lily said smiling, "It sounds really nice."

"Yeah, we decided that we liked that idea as well," James responded with a smile back at her.

"Well come on guys!" Sirius grinned, "Let's get his show on the road!"

A group of house elves hurried up at that exclamation laden with dishes of all sorts, some that the girls didn't recognize. There was a large turkey set right in front of James at the head of the table, a gravy boat full to the brim and a hearty stuffing in a bowl next to it. A large bowl of rolls was placed down next to some glazed carrots. There was a bowl of cranberry sauce and a dish of green bean casserole. Potato casserole full of onions was off to the side, which Sirius was immediately eyeing. Candied yams and a bowl of corn were the last things placed on the table as the elves scurried away.

"Now, before we begin to eat, I think we need to go around the table and each say a few things we are thankful for," James began, "I'll go first."

He stood up and smiled at his group of friends. "I am thankful for my parents and the wonderful support they give to me. And I am thankful for all of you guys for always being there for me," he smiled again as he sat down and turned to Lily on his left, "Your turn."

Lily stood up nervously, "I am thankful for my family, even if my sister and I don't get along very well, I still love her. And I'm thankful for my friends, who are always there to help me when I need it," she paused and glanced shyly at James, "And surprisingly I am thankful for James, because I don't think I could handle the heads duties without him." James grinned at her, completely thrilled at her compliment.

Remus went next, standing up almost uncertainly, "I am thankful for my parents and their constant support through all of my life, even when things get hard. And I am so thankful for my best friends and their continued friendship with me, even with knowing what they do. They have gone above and beyond friendship for me, and I will never be able to repay it," he paused for a moment as Amelia grabbed his hand in hers and smiled warmly at him. He squeezed her hand softly with a small smile, "And I'm thankful for Amelia and her acceptance of me and her seemingly never ending kindness."

Amelia stood up next, still holding on to Remus' hand. "I'm thankful for my family, my parents and my brother, and all the support they give to me. And I'm thankful for this year at Hogwarts, even though we have had to deal with a lot of troubles already, we've made new friends, and I've never felt more close to everyone. This really is the best year so far." She smiled down at Remus again, "I'm thankful for my friends."

Peter went next from the other side of Amelia. "I'm thankful for my friends and family, and all they do for me," he said very shortly with a small smile before he sat down again.

From the other side of the table Frank stood up quietly, "I'm thankful for all of you here and all the help that you all gave to me to give me the courage to finally get together with the one I love," he smiled down at Alice next to him, "And I'm thankful for my mother who has always been there for me even after my father died."

Alice stood up with slight tears in her eyes, "I'm also thankful for you guys who helped me and Frank get together. And I'm thankful for my dear friends who are always there for me. I'm also thankful for my family. They mean the world to me."

Raea went next, standing up and looking around the table at her friends, "I'm thankful for my parents and the help they give to me. And I'm thankful for all of you here and love and kindness that you all have. I wouldn't give any of it up for the world."

Sirius bounced up as soon as Raea sat down again, the biggest grin yet on his face. "I am thankful for my best friends for always being there for me, and sticking up for me through all my problems. And I'm thankful for Mr. and Mrs. Potter for loving and accepting me." Here he paused and looked at Raea with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "And I'm thankful for Raea for giving me a second chance."

Raea blushed as he sat down again. James began carving the turkey and handing out pieces while everyone else started digging into the food in front of them. All this movement around her, and yet Raea hadn't moved. Her brain was trying to comprehend what had just been said. Sirius was the only person in the group who didn't say he was thankful for his parents. Instead he mentioned James's parents. What was going on? She was so confused.

"You alright Raea?" Sirius whispered next to her, concern lacing his voice.

"Um, yeah," Raea responded distractedly, "Don't worry about it." She gave him a small smile and noticed that he had already filled her plate up while she was thinking. She thanked him and began to eat with everyone, deciding to just let the matter rest until later. No need to possibly bring up unwelcome or uncomfortable thoughts or memories.

Everyone smiled and laughed through dinner, simply enjoying each other's company. After they had cleaned out the dished on the table the house elves scurried in and removed the empty plates, only to replace them with a multitude of pies. There was apple, pumpkin, cherry, chocolate mousse, pecan and blueberry. There was even a cherry chocolate cheesecake. So many flavors of pie, they didn't even know where to start.

Sirius, of course, dove right for the pumpkin pie and took a big slice, drowning it until it was completely hidden under a mountain of whipped cream. Each of them dove right in with renewed enthusiasm, ignoring the fact that they had all felt almost stuffed to the point of bursting not five minutes ago. There was always room for pie.

Once the pie tins were scraped clean the little house elves cleared the table completely, and their group finally rose from their chairs and began their sluggish journey back to their common room, ready to let their turkey-coma take over. They took the shortcut to the seventh floor again, not wanting to spend any extra time dragging themselves through the corridors.

Finally reaching Gryffindor tower, they split off to their respective dormitories, too tired to drag out any lengthy goodnight. The girls got ready for bed as quickly as their tired bodies would let them. Raea, though she changed quickly, sat staring off into nowhere on her bed, a look of deep concentration on her face. Now that dinner was over her mind had turned back to the mystery that was Sirius. Just what was going on with him and his life? She just couldn't figure it out.

"What's wrong Raea?" Lily asked from the bed next to her. Raea looked over to see Lily lying on her stomach on her bed, a pillow clutched under her head.

"Did you notice anything odd about Sirius' list of things he was thankful for?" Raea asked, looking a little concerned.

"Not really," Lily responded, yawning.

"I did notice that he mentioned his friends helping him with his problems," Amelia chimed in, coming out of the bathroom, "I wonder what that means?"

"I don't know," Raea said, "He also didn't mention his family at all, but was thankful for James'"

"You're right," Alice agreed as she slid into bed, "Maybe you should just try asking him about it sometime. We already know that asking his friends would be useless. They all guard each other's secrets like their lives depend on it."

"Yeah, that's true," Raea sighed, "I guess I'll try asking him sometime."

"Sounds good!" Amelia smiled, flopping into her bed, "Now come on, let's sleep. We still have to get up for classes in the morning."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Lily groaned, her face falling into her pillow.

"Well goodnight chicas!" Amelia called before waving her wand to shut off the lights.

So what do you think? I know this chapter was shorter, but this was really just a filler chapter before I get into the Christmas stuff. Christmas will take up about three or four chapters I'm thinking. I don't have it all spaced out yet, so we'll see. But expect a few updates in December.

I meant to get this chapter out yesterday, but I made a pie. I had never made a pie before, so it took me way longer than I had originally expected. Hopefully this 5 hour pie is worth it! We just finished stuffing ourselves with our feast, which was pretty much identical to the one you just read about. It was delicious. I figured I should get this chapter up before I slip into my turkey-coma. My food-baby is making me tired. haha

Well there are some pies calling my name! See you guys next chapter! Please leave a comment, they make my day! And by the way, I am still offering that gift from the last chapter for my long time followers, so let me know what you want!

Thanks guys!

-Yvonne