Summary: And I bet right now you're thinking that it's crazy I remember every detail, but I do. That night was just like you…
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A Night to Remember
We were dancin', we were buzzin'
Takin' shots like it was nothin'
Did the running man, you loved it
Yeah, you laughed out loud
You brushed away your [red] hair
And you kissed me out of nowhere
I can still show you the spot
Where everything went down
~Unforgettable, Thomas Rhett
He was absolutely mesmerized. The flickering light of the nearby fire caught the hues of her bright red hair and made it seem as if her hair was on fire itself. James couldn't look away; his work lay completely forgotten. And for once, Lily didn't seem bothered by his staring. Either that, or she didn't notice. No matter what, James was just happy to state.
The pair of them were curled up in the head's dormitory. The seventh years had just been buried under a mountain of homework, to the point where James had to put off both pranking and Quidditch practice to make even the tiniest dent in it all. Lily had talked James into working just the two of them so that he would stay focused and she could happily boss him around if he didn't.
"James, I don't think my hair has anything to do with the brewing of Felix Felicis," Lily spoke, her voice playfully sing-songy. She didn't look up from her work and, despite the fascinating draw she presented, James dutifully returned to his positions homework.
They worked in near silence for another half an hour. In that time, James finished both his potions and Defence Against the Dar Arts essay, mastered his charms spell, and made a dent at transforming himself into a wing chair. It was the most he'd ever gotten done in an afternoon's work period and he was quite proud of himself.
"I should do my work with you all the time, Evans. The boys and I always get distracted like ten minutes into our work and we take ten times as long to get through the work." James spoke with a slight airy bouncy quality to his words. He quickly began packing up his work, hoping that he could find Sirius and fit in some much needed havoc wreaking.
"I don't know about that," Lily said apprehensively, clutching a textbook tightly to her chest as sort of safety blanket. "I think this is the only time we've been able to be alone together for more than five minutes without one of us trying to kill the other. We shouldn't push our luck." Lily then turned on her heel, ready to climb into bed and read, when the sound of James clearing his throat stopped her.
"Well, and I hate to be one of those people who always needs to be right," Lily snorted as his words, but James continued on as if she hadn't made a sound, "but there is another time when we spent several hours together and didn't kill each other."
Lily gave James an incredulous look. "Your dreams don't count, James."
"I'm not talking about that, Lil. I'm talking about the night in sixth year when we all snuck out to that new club in Hogsmeade."
Lily continued to stare at James questioningly, not recalling or believing what he was saying. She remembered sneaking out with her friends and the boys from Gryffindor, but she was pretty sure she would have remembered something as rare and shocking as getting along with James and her mind was absolutely blank in regards to that.
Then, slowly, the memories began washing back over her and clarity and understanding crossed her face.
The news had spread through the castle like wild fire. There was a brand new nightclub opening up in Hogsmeade and instantly the entire student body wanted to be there. Of course, the fact that no student would be able to attend while at school without breaking some serious rules made it all the more enticing. Its off-limitness meant that every student desperately wanted to go.
For the Marauders it wasn't even a question. Sneaking off of the grounds was no big deal. They'd broken more important rules in their time. What was raising questions in James' mind was the fact that Marlene, Lily, and the other sixth-year Gryffindor girls approached them and asked the boys' assistance in sneaking out to attend said club.
James readily agreed, happy for any chance to spend time with the stunning Lily Evans. He'd fancied her since second year and, what had originally been a fun game of cat and mouse had begun to have more meaning and importance to the messy haired boy as he grew older and his feelings grew more and more real.
On the club's opening night, the ten sixth-year Gryffindors snuck across the grounds and out towards Hogsmeade.
"So, Evans, what will you do to repay me for sneaking you and your friends out?" James asked slyly once they were on the main road between the castle and the wizarding village. He casually sidled up to Lily and draped his arm around her shoulders. Lily shot James a deadly stare and he removed his arm quickly as if a stinging jinx had hit him.
"Don't even think about it Potter. The way I see it, this is payback for the years of aggravation you've given me. I owe you absolutely nothing." Lily then sauntered away from James, further up the path.
"Cheer up, Prongs. We'll drink. We'll dance. Lily will have some firewhiskey and loosen up. This night will turn around for sure!" Sirius spoke, putting his arm playfully around the other boy's shoulders. James rolled his eyes, but lightly punched Sirius in the shoulder.
In a generally jovial mood, the group of sixth years made their way to Hogsmeade, up the high street, and into the packed Hunter's Moon club. The strong sent of sweat and alcohol quickly assaulted the groups' noses. The girls, with only a look to each other, quickly separated from the boys and moved towards a less busy corner of the club were a sole empty table stood cluttered with empty glasses and bottles.
"First round is on me!" Sirius cheered before he lead the boys over to the crowded bar. James was a little unsure of how the longhaired boy was going to buy drinks when he was underaged, but Sirius always managed to pull of even the most unlikely of feats. James had confidence in his friend's abilities.
Sirius used the busyness of the bar to his advantage and asked for the shots right after another person had ordered a lot of specific and complicated drinks. The bartender was so focused on remembering the order that he didn't question Sirius for identification. He simply placed for glasses in front of the sixteen year old and filled them with firewhiskey before turning to fill the far more complicated order.
James smiled at his friend before grabbing his drink. "Cheers to a fun-filled night away from the watchful gaze of Professor McGonagall!" James exclaimed, holding up his amber filled glass.
"Cheers," the other three chimed in, grabbing up their own glasses and clinking them together before quickly downing the drinks. This time, James took up the mantle of ordering the next round and, following Sirius' lead, waited until the bartender was otherwise distracted before making his request.
In that fashion, the four Gryffindor sixth years spent nearly three quarters of an hour slyly ordering drinks and quickly downing them. James, having never really drunk alcohol beforehand, began feeling the affects after only a few drinks and could tell that his friends were likewise affected. Finally, after their fifth drink, James suggested that they take a momentarily break, move away from the bar and see what the girls had gotten up to.
Part of this decision was the fact that James' mind was starting to feel fuzzy and he didn't want to get totally rat faced this early into the night. The other part was that James was feeling even more confident than he normally was, which seemed impossible, and he wanted to use his increased confidence on the gorgeous Lily Evans.
The others agreed and the boys took their drinks and began to weave through the crowd to the spot where the girls had been sitting when they had separated earlier that night. However, when they reached the table, the found Lily sitting by herself, surround by empty glasses and bottles, though James was pretty sure that these were not the same ones that were on the table when the girls arrived.
For her part, Lily's cheeks were flushed and her eyes, normally a shimmering vibrant green were a little duller. She, like the boys, had spent her first hour at the club imbibing.
"Where are the others?" Sirius asked, his words slurring slightly. Lily, slightly clumsily, motioned out to the dance floor. Her friends were in the middle of a large crowd, dancing and singing and laughing, both with each other and with the men who had greedily clamoured around them. Sirius, pulling Peter with him, quickly went to join the girls.
Earlier that night, Peter had asked the far more confident Sirius for help in talking to Marlene and getting her to dance with the mousy boy. Sirius took his role as matchmaker very seriously and was determined to get Peter and Marlene together.
At the same time, Remus seemed to melt into the crowd. James thought it seemed like the sandy haired boy was headed towards the bathroom, but he couldn't be sure. That left James alone with Lily. Both of them were drunk and James hoped that it would work in his favour.
"Where'd you get all the drinks?" James asked, trying to break the mounting tension he felt. Lily once again clumsily motioned out into the crowd, indicating that the men of the club had bought the girls' their drinks.
"How come you aren't out there?" James tried again, hoping to entice Lily into conversation.
"Every single guy in here is a pig and I'm not quite drunk enough to want to dance with any of them," Lily responded, giving James a pointed look that he interpreted as her including him in that categorization.
"They can't all be that bad," James responded, turning to look out at the crowd. "How about that bloke there with the blue hair?" He wasn't sure why he was pointing out other guys to Lily; his mind wasn't exactly as sharp as it normally was.
Lily laughed, a light tinkling sound that sent shivers of pleasure up James' spine. "Given up already, have you Potter? Trying to pawn me off on some other bloke? Well, that one won't do. He's got far too many tattoos for my liking." James smiled mischievously down at Lily and, enjoying this strange game they had started, began pointing out other men who he was sure Lily would never go for.
With each more ridiculous suggestion, Lily began to laugh louder and more deeply. At one point, she placed her hand on James' arm to brace herself as peels of laughter racked her small frame. James was enjoying every moment of it. That was, until the blue haired bloke suddenly appeared at the side of their table.
"Hey pretty lady, wanna dance?" he asked, his words slurring together in a clear example of how drunk he was. Lily, doing her best not to gag at his utter repulsiveness, turned to James, a dreamy look on her face. He knew it was all an act, but seeing Lily look at him that way made him feel a little lightheaded.
"Do you want to dance, baby? I love this song," Lily giggled, completely ignoring the words of the blue haired man, before grabbing James' hand and dragging him out onto the dance floor. The other man slunk off back into the crowd.
"That was close!" Lily giggled, collapsing into James' warm chest as the small adrenaline rush that escaping from a disgusting guy had created in her. When she finally looked up at James something in her expression had changed. It was soft, apprehensive almost; not the joy-filled it had been only moments before. James, unsure of what was going on in her mind just stood still.
Then, in a move that James had dreamed about countless times before, Lily raised herself onto her toes so she was closer to James' level, lightly closed her eyes, and slowly closed the distance between them. Before James could even really process what was going on, Lily's lips had touched his in a sweet, chaste kiss.
"Of course, almost as soon as you'd kissed me you fainted from the heat or the alcohol or whatever and your friends were on us in a second. We left the club with me carrying you and headed back to the castle. So, I don't exactly expect you to believe me, you must have been pretty drunk, but it definitely happened.
"I remember every minute of that night Lil. It was a completely unforgettable night," James finished his tale. When he'd gotten to the part where a drunken Lily had kissed him on the crowded dance floor, the red haired girl had looked away from him. Now, the pair sat in silence as James' waited for Lily's response.
He'd wanted to bring the events of that night up with her a million times since it had happened but had stopped ever time because the moment hadn't felt right. If he brought it up at the wrong time, Lily could pretend it was just another one of his crazy attempts to get her to go out with him and never believe him. Now that he had, in a rare moment of cordiality, he was worried that she would react that way anyway.
Finally, Lily looked up at him, her face that same hesitant look it had been in the club and James knew.
It was definitely a night to remember.