Six Shots

"I've always wanted to try that!" Lily Evans slams her now-empty shot glass against the table. "Three shots in a row!" The bar is crowded and noisy, which is the type of thing Lily usually hates, but tonight she's too buzzed to care. "Get me another," she calls to the bartender, waving to get his attention.

"This is a side of you I've never seen, Lily," says Alice Longbottom from the barstool next to her. The barman comes over with a new shot glass, and Lily doesn't even let it touch the counter before she gulps it down. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"I know," Marlene McKinnon says with a smirk from Lily's other side. "It's refreshing. I've been begging her for ages to let loose." She taps her long fingernails against the side of her scotch glass. "Lily, honey, it's your bachelorette night. You take all the firewhiskey shots you want."

"I will," Lily says with a giggle as the bartender comes over to refill her glass. "Because I'm getting married!" She drains her glass and raises it over her head with a loud cheer. "I'm getting married!"

"Not if you can't stand up," Alice says, taking the shot glass out of Lily's hand and returning it to the safety of the countertop. Without being asked, the bartender comes over and pours in more firewhiskey. "James is going to have to carry you down the aisle."

"James?" Lily says, looking over her shoulder at the dance floor. It's teeming with sweaty, half-naked bodies, all writhing in time to the same music. "Is he here? Who invited him?" She wrinkles her forehead. "James? James! Where are you?"

"He's not here," Alice says, leaning closer so her friend can hear her. "It's girls only tonight, remember? Honestly, how many shots did you take?"

"Five," Lily says with a grin, and then she picks up the glass in front of her and swallows it down. "Now six. Soon to be seven."

"Six shots?" Alice repeats.

"Is that too many?"

"No such thing," Marlene says before Alice can answer. She raises her scotch in a toast. "Here's to Lily and James. And to you and Frank, Alice." She tips her head back and drains her glass. "And to me and never settling down!"

"You're both going to regret this in the morning." Alice takes a delicate sip of her seltzer water and winds a strand of blonde hair around her finger. "I still say we should have gone to a coffee shop. It's much more Lily's style."

"I love coffee," Lily says. "Do they serve coffee shots here?"

Marlene rolls her eyes. "Coffee is for the everyday. This is a bachelorette party. At bachelorette parties, we drink alcohol."

Alice sighs. "I might pop outside for a breath of air," she says, wrinkling her nose as a sweaty bloke stumbles off the dance floor and nearly crashes into her on his way to the bathroom. "It's packed tonight."

"Don't go!" Marlene grabs her friend's arm.

"Why not?" Alice grunts as somebody knocks into her on his way to the bar. "I'll come back as soon as I get the scent of beer and vomit out of my nose."

"You'll get used to that," Marlene says, waving her long-nailed hand in the air as if the bad smells are unimportant. "Just drink something. We can go dance if you want."

Alice sighs again, but she sits back down. "I don't know why you picked this place, Marley," she says. "You know I hate bars. And so does Lily."

(Lily chooses that opportunity to shout, "Oi, Barman! Get me more booze!")

"So does Lily usually," Alice amends.

Marlene snorts. "Who calls it booze?" she says to Lily, who is sloppily waving her empty shot glass over her head. "Lily, have you ever had a drink before?"

"Not like this," Lily admits with a giggle. "I had some champagne three years ago, when I was fifteen. Petunia dared me." She looks around quickly. "Where's Petunia? Is she here?"

"She's not here," Alice says. "It's a wizard bar, remember? Your sister's a muggle. Another reason we shouldn't have come here," she adds, glaring at Marlene. "Petunia could have come with us if we'd gone to a coffee shop."

"Who actually wants Petunia here?" Marlene asks.

"Petunia's here?" Lily asks again. "We should find her." Lily begins to stand, but her legs fall out from under her and she lands on Marlene, laughing hysterically.

"Oof!" Marlene hoists Lily back into her barstool. "All the Pepper-Up Potion in the world is not going to cure the hangover you're going to have in the morning," she says with a grin, shaking her head. "I'm quite proud of you, Lily."

"One firewhiskey." The bartender slides a shot glass down to Lily, who knocks it over in her attempt to catch it. Without missing a beat, the bartender cleans up the spill with a flick of his wand and carefully sets a new shot on the counter in front of her.

"Thank you," Lily slurs as she knocks over the second glass.

Alice puts her face in her hands.

"Come on," Marlene says, taking Lily by the wrist and pulling her away from the counter. "It might be time to cut you off."

"Where are we going?" Lily asks as Marlene leads her onto the dance floor. "Wait, I never got my coffee!"

"We're dancing," Marlene yells over the music. "To burn off some of those calories you just drank."

"And then we'll get coffee?"

Marlene rolls her eyes. "Yes, Lily, if you're so hell-bent on your bloody coffee, we will get you some after."

Lily, for some reason, finds this incredibly funny. "That's a good one!" she cackles, stumbling into the boy beside her. "Oh, sorry," she adds, turning around. "I didn't mean to."

"It's fine," he says, leaning down to yell in her ear so she can hear him over the thumping music. "You want to dance?"

"I can't," Lily says, hiding her hands behind her back in case he tries to take them. "I'm getting married in three days."

"Really? Congratulations!" The boy looks genuinely excited for her. "D'you mind if I dance next to you?"

Lily considers this. "Okay," she says. "That's not cheating, I suppose."

"Not at all." The boy sways his hips in time with the music. Lily tries to mimic his movements, but every part of her feels heavy and slow, so she settles for putting her hands in the air and using momentum to swing them back and forth.

"I'm Lily," she says to the boy.

"I'm Dirk," he says, giving her a little wave.

"I was supposed to go to a coffee shop tonight, but Marlene said we should come here."

"Who's Marlene?" Dirk asks.

"My Maid of Honor. I'm getting married in three days."

"I know, you told me. Congratulations. Where's the wedding?"

"In Godric's Hollow." Lily's eyes grow wide. "You should come!"

"Come to your wedding?"

"Yes!" Lily begins to bounce up and down. "It's 557 Church Street in Godric's Hollow. At noon, in three days. You should come."

Dirk laughs. "Okay," he says. "I'll be there."

"Hooray!" Lily wraps her new friend in a hug, and the rest of the night is too much of a blur for her to remember.

The doorbell rings the next morning, and Lily decides she's going to murder whoever is at her door.

"What?" she moans from her place on the couch, where she collapsed last night after Marlene and Alice carried her home.

"It's me," says a voice that could belong to James - but Lily can't remember anything except for her pounding headache, so she can't be sure. "Can I come in?"

"Locked," she grunts, heaving herself up off the couch. "I'll get it. Hang on."

"Alohomora," says James, and her lock clicks open. "Someone looks lovely," he says when he opens the door.

Lily presses her palms against her eyes and sinks back into the couch. "Six shots," she says. "I had six shots. Maybe more."

James is smirking as he sits down next to her and gently pulls her into a lying-down position across his lap. "So the bachelorette party was a success, I take it?"

"It was so noisy," she says. "Marlene took me to a bar."

"Sounds like you enjoyed it, if you had six shots."

"I spilled two of them," she says, keeping her eyes closed.

There is a gentle pressure against her lips as James bends down to kiss her. "You taste like six shots," he says, wrinkling his nose, and Lily raises a hand to feebly slap his arm.

"I don't even remember most of the night," she says. "I know I liked the firewhiskey. I know I kept asking for a coffee, which I don't think I ever got. I know I was dancing." She groans and opens her eyes. "If a bloke called Dirk randomly shows up at our wedding, don't question it."

James raises his eyebrows and smirks. "You were inviting people to our wedding?"

"Just one person. I think." She sits up and rubs her temples. "I'm going to kill Marlene."

"We'll try to avoid bars on the honeymoon," James promises, winding his fingers through hers.

"I already drank two Pepper-Up Potions this morning, and they've barely put a dent in the headache."

"Pepper-Up Potions are no good for hangovers."

"Obviously." She moans. "If I'd picked Alice as my Maid of Honor, we would have had a nice quiet evening at a coffee shop."

"Doesn't sound like much of a party," James says.

"But I don't like parties. I just like boring old alcohol-less caffeine."

James stands and offers her his hands. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Lily asks, but she lets him pull her to her feet.

"Out."

"Where?" She scrubs at her eyes. "Why?"

"I'm throwing you a Lily Evans-approved party. And it doubles as a hangover cure." He kisses her again, in spite of the firewhiskey that lingers on her breath. "Get dressed. We're going for coffee."

Quidditch League, Semi-Finals
Position: Keeper
Word Count: 1691
Prompt: Chain Sentences - Begin with the last sentence of the team member who posted before you ["I've always wanted to try that!" from Lara's "The Beach" (Story ID: 10937378)]

[2015 New Years Resolution Competition: Humor]