"Have you got everything sorted out for later on then?" James grinned at Sirius as he poured himself a goblet of pumpkin juice.
Sirius winked; "It depends which part exactly you were referring to, Prongs. There may be one or two finer details we've yet to plan…"
"You're not smuggling Firewhisky into the Gryffindor common room." Remus said sternly.
"And what would give you that idea, Moony?" Sirius's eyes twinkled mischievously.
"But I thought you said-", Peter began but cut himself off with a small squeak as Sirius elbowed him in the ribs.
"Right, well we had better be off, hadn't we Wormtail? Can't be late to my own party and all that," Sirius said hastily, grabbing Peter and steering him out of the great hall.
Remus turned to James. "Is he actually planning on smuggling anything in?" James, however, appeared to be very interested in the day's edition of the daily prophet, and feigned deafness. Remus sighed.
The common room was packed with nearly every fifth, sixth and seventh year in Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw - Sirius had insisted no Slytherins be allowed in. The plan to sneak in Firewhisky had apparently been a roaring success, with several inebriated teenagers strewn around the room. Sitting in the comfiest armchair in the centre of the room, Sirius seemed to have consumed his body weight in Firewhisky and Butterbeer, surrounded by a gaggle of girls who seemed to find him even more attractive in his drunken state.
Lily and Remus were watching the scene from the corner, half-amused and half-appalled.
"I told them Firewhisky was a bad idea." muttered Remus.
"At least Sirius seems to be enjoying himself," laughed Lily, "Though I'm fairly sure he doesn't want to be getting that close with Emma. She gets attached easily."
Remus raised an eyebrow, "I always thought she was already rather attached to our Sirius."
Before Lily could respond, James sauntered over. "Well it looks like Sirius may not be making it back to the Dormitory in one piece, Moony. Can't say I think he's upset about that though. He seems to be having quite a bit of fun. Quite the party, eh Evans?"
Lily rolled her eyes.
"Not impressed, Evans? Perhaps you need a little Firewhisky, to help you loosen up a bit." He chuckled.
"No thanks, I'd rather have a clear head for tomorrow's Charms test. Unlike you, I actually care about my academics."
"Ooh, a bit uppity there Evans, aren't we? Besides, even with a raging hangover, I'll bet both of us will pass that test. Failing that, I'm sure Flitwick has somewhat of a soft spot for me, he'd let me off."
Lily glared at him. "Bit full of yourself there Potter, you'd better watch that ever growing ego of yours."
Remus laughed. James looked like he was trying to find a witty response when Sirius stumbled over.
"I've always heard the third person in a threesome should be someone you don't know, but whatever floats your boats." Sirius laughed, nudging James suggestively.
"Have much experience with that?" Lily smirked.
"Ah Evans, that would be telling" grinned Sirius, "but we could discuss this at a later time you know? Alone", giving her an exaggerated wink.
"I think you've had a bit too much to drink," said James uneasily. Sirius gave him a questioning look.
"Are you kidding? I've barely started! Now where was Emma with that bottle of Firewhisky?". He added seriously, "That was good Firewhisky," and he ambled off.
"I'm definitely not cleaning up after him this time." Remus murmured.
"I'll monitor him. Reckon I'll still get better than you on that test Evans" and James walked off where he started a conversation with a bunch of Hufflepuff girls, getting a thumbs up from Sirius.
Sirius groaned and rested his head on the cold table. "Whose idea was it to sneak in the Firewhisky? It was a stupid one."
"I did tell you not to," said Remus, not raising his head from his charms book. "I still can't seem to master the 'Avis' charm." He muttered. "Maybe I'll go and ask Lily…" He looked around for her but she didn't seem to have come down yet.
"Calm down Remus, you'll definitely ace that test. It's Charms, how hard can it get?" said James nonchalantly.
"Can you STOP talking?" Sirius moaned.
At this point, Remus spotted Lily coming in the hall with Mary and Emma, and waved them over.
Emma seemed to swoon at the sight of Sirius, and plonked herself next to him. "Are you alright, Sirry-Wirry?" she cooed.
The other marauders erupted in laughter at the new nickname, but quickly tried to disguise it as coughs after Sirius shot them a glowering look. Ignoring Emma, he stuffed a piece of toast into his mouth before dropping his head back onto the table.
Giving another amused glance at Sirius, Remus leaned in to speak to Lily about charms and James started up a conversation with Mary about the chances of Emma and Sirius' child inheriting his bad moods.
"So how do you think you did?" asked Lily, catching up with Remus after Charms.
"Not too bad, though I think I messed up the question on switching spells."
"Yeah, that one was hard. I was pretty happy with the entire section dedicated to Aguamenti though. One of my personal favourites."
"Are you honestly saying you have a favourite charm, Evans?" came a familiar mocking tone from behind them.
Lily turned to him, "And what of it? I expect you think you've gotten full marks then, Potter?"
"Of course. It was easy. False modesty was never my thing."
"Clearly. I'll see you later, Remus."
Lily's eyes couldn't help but stray to the empty seat next to Snape as she entered Potions. Taking her new one next to a Ravenclaw near the front, she tried to ignore the feeling that told her Snape was staring at her as she unpacked her things.
Slughorn bustled in ten minutes late, and set the class to work on a simple potion. Lily had quickly discovered the boy next to her was rather useless at Potions, and missed having Snape next to her to compare notes and talk to after she completed her draught more than fifteen minutes early.
Slughorn asked Lily and a Hufflepuff named Adrian to stay behind after class, encouraging a wolf-whistle from James to which she replied with a scowl.
"On Saturday, I'm planning a little… rendezvous" Slughorn began once the stragglers had left the classroom. "I was hoping the pair of you would be able to attend."
"Of course, Sir" Lily responded. "What time?"
"At about 7 will do. You will attend too Adrian?" Slughorn questioned.
"Yes, I think I can make it Sir" replied Adrian.
"And you know, if anyone wanted to get me anything, you know how I feel about crystallised pineapple.." he wheezed.