Lily Potter's head swam as she reached for another glass of Firewhiskey, knowing even as she did so that it was a mistake, James was going to kill her, and she was going to get herself into some serious trouble.
She didn't care.
"Cheers!" she yelled, tipping the glass back and drinking it all in one gulp. A little Firewhiskey never hurt anyone, did it?
Who cared if she had just found her boyfriend snogging some Ravenclaw, or if James had told her he was a scumbag and she hadn't listened?
Right now, she couldn't even remember his name.
"Whoa there, Lils, you might want to hold off on the Firewhiskey for a little bit," Hugo said, rushing over to her and grabbing her elbow.
"No, buster, I don't. Leave me the hell alone." Lily reached for another glass, stumbling as she did so. She noted briefly that Hugo's hand had left her elbow and wondered whether he was upset.
She didn't care.
He'd tried to stop her from doing the adult thing and drinking until she was hammered. He thought of her as a little child who couldn't handle her Firewhiskey. Screw him. She was Lily Potter and she could do whatever she damn well pleased.
"Lily, give that glass to me right now!" Rose declared, rushing her way over to snatch away whatever Lily was holding in her hand right then. Oh, yeah, her drink.
"Just because you're the fucking Head Girl who's fucking the bloody Head Boy doesn't mean I have to listen to a damn thing you say!" Lily spat out, pushing her way past Rose and looking through the crowd of people. Rose stalked out of the portrait hole looking extremely concerned and upset.
She didn't care.
She found a good-looking boy in the crowd, Greg-Something, and played with his tie. "How much have you had to drink?" he asked wonderingly at the girl he had been trying to get to go out with him for weeks.
"Not enough," Lily breathed, and reached out her hand for some more. He handed it to her with a questioning look, but didn't seem to upset when she attached her lips to his like her life depended on it. She briefly asked herself if this was something she would do if she wasn't drunk, then dismissed the thought.
She didn't care.
Albus came out of nowhere and tapped Lily gently on the shoulder as she moved closer to Greg-Something. Lily paid him no heed and bit his lip, tangling her fingers into his hair. She wondered why there was something on her shoulder, on this moment of all moments, but then told herself there wasn't anything there. And even if there was, why bother?
She didn't care.
It was when she felt Greg-Something wrenched away from her and felt hands picking her up and out of the Gryffindor common room that she managed to bring up her gaze and focus on a familiar face.
"The fuck are you doing here?" she asked, then mentally shook herself. Even she couldn't understand what she had just said. "Why are you carrying me down the hallway? I don't need your help!"
James didn't even look down at her. "You do."
"Why are you even here? You don't go to school with us anymore! I don't want you here!" Lily beat her fists softly against his chest.
"You will in the morning," he said, and dumped her unceremoniously onto a lumpy couch.
Lily woke up, took one look at the scene around her, and shut her eyes again.
The Room of Requirement with James Sirius Potter on one couch, her on the other, and a massive, massive headache?
This wasn't something she wanted to be around.
She thought briefly of why she was here, and then remembered everything. The Firewhiskey, Hugo, Rose, Greg. That explained why James was here, and the headache.
And why she had been drinking in the first place.
James looked up from his book and smiled. "Morning, sunshine."
"Don't you have a job to get to?" Lily asked. "If you aren't getting this, I'm attempting to slyly hint that you should leave and let me wallow in self pity for a little while." She attempted a weak smile, and failed.
"Yeah, well, when you flipped off Hugo, the chain of cousins started," James said, chuckling. "And when you get that high on the chain of command without the issue being resolved, I'm kind of obligated to stay and see if you're okay." James' eyes suddenly lost their laughter and turned serious.
"I'm fine, James. I just didn't realize I was so drunk, and Greg is a very delicious piece of man-cake-"
"Don't joke with me, Lily," James said, staring her down.
"I'm fine," Lily protested, trying to rise off the couch.
"You aren't," James said simply, "and I said you'd need me in the morning, didn't I? Now what happened?"
"What d'you mean, what happened? I went to a party and did party things," Lily said defensively.
"I'm not an idiot, Lily, and neither are you. You know the consequences of drinking as much as I do," James said, thinking to their Uncle George. He was old, and feeble, and sad. And constantly in a bottle.
"Fine. I found Jackson snogging some other girl and I just didn't want to care, okay?" Lily flopped back down on the couch. "I didn't want to care about anything."
"Well, Lils, I did tell you Jackson was a- well, some words you've heard when Dad drops a pot while he's cooking."
"Not helping," Lily groaned, putting her hand over her eyes.
"And even if I didn't tell you anything, if he can cheat on the most wonderful girl I know, he's got serious issues." James gave Lily a small smile.
"James, you have a girlfriend. Isn't she the most wonderful girl you know?"
"Hey, Tiger, you know what I say," James prompted with a smile.
"Girlfriends come and go, but sisters are forever," Lily said flatly, unable to resist letting out a giggle. "You can leave now, James. You're probably late to work."
"Jobs also come and go," James said grandly with a bow. "Unless, of course, it's the professional Quidditch world. In which case, I bid you adieu, good sister."
"Bye, James," Lily said softly as he exited.
She left the Room of Requirement some time later, after taking a short nap. She heard the whispers and let them wash over her, because she didn't care one bit. But you know what?
He cared.
AN: Wow, I'm on a roll! Second oneshot in a day, guys. It's a beautiful thing. Well, this is for the Popular Song competition on the HPFC forum, and I enjoyed writing it, so I hope you do the same thing while reading. This is inspired by Ke$ha's song Die Young… because Lily will do nothing of the sort.