WELCOME TO MY NEW MARAUDERS FIC! I'm so excited to finally share Chapter 1 with you all and I really hope you like this. Please leave me a review, add this story to your alerts, and read on! My goal is to update once a week, sometimes twice a week if a given chapter is on the short side. I hope you enjoy!

London

New Year's Eve, 1980

"Are you sure this is what Muggles wear?" said James Potter uncertainly, twisting his hips so he could properly see his bum in the mirror. "I mean, are you absolutely sure?"

Lily nodded enthusiastically and swatted a bit of lint off of the neon orange parachute pants James was wearing. The movement made the fabric swish loudly and Lily could hardly contain her laughter; James looked utterly ridiculous.

"Would I lie to you?" she asked sweetly.

"If it resulted in my public embarrassment? Probably," James chuckled. "Oi, Moony! Is she fucking with me or is this actually what Muggles are wearing now?"

Remus sauntered out from the bathroom, his hair wet and half-combed. Somehow he kept a straight face as he took in James's outfit—Lily had given him the orange pants, a tight black turtleneck, and several strands of gaudy New Year's beads to wear around his neck, assuring James that this was the height of Muggle fashion.

"Of course it is," Remus played along. "Don't you trust your own wife?"

"Yeah, don't you trust me?" Lily mimicked, making doe eyes at James, who squinted suspiciously and turned back to the mirror. Remus and Lily exchanged a look of silent mirth and Remus ducked back into the loo, worried he'd let out a snort of laughter and blow the whole ruse.

"Fine, I'll wear it, but I swear to Merlin if I look like a git when we get there—"

"Oh, shut it, you know she'll still snog you at midnight," Peter pointed out from his perch on the armrest of the sofa. Lily gestured toward Peter approvingly and nodded.

"Yeah, but it remains to be see whether I snog her back," James replied, but he was smiling and pulled Lily in for a quick kiss. "That reminds me—where the hell's Sirius? Oi, Padfoot, will you quit preening and get your arse out here?" James called down the hallway towards Sirius's room.

Sirius emerged a moment later with a huge smirk on his face that only widened once he saw James's getup.

"Have I heard wrong, or did you say the thought of snogging reminded you of me?" Sirius chided.

"Always does, love," James said with an over-exaggerated wink. "How do I look?"

"Dashing," Sirius said without missing a beat. "Really choice outfit, mate. Can I borrow those sometime?" he joked, pointing his wand casually towards the garish glow coming off James's trousers.

"That's it. I'm changing," James said, which was met with a chorus of NO! from the whole group. Lily grabbed James by the arm and started pulling him towards the kitchen.

"You are not; we're already behind schedule!" she said. "Remus, c'mon out here, the Portkey's set for ten-thirty and we've still got drinks to go!"

Remus joined the group in the living room and James frowned at his friend's sharp, much more Muggle-looking sweater and corduroy combination. Peter's outfits were always questionable, but both Remus and Sirius looked normal. Before James could say anything, though, Lily flicked her wand towards the liquor cabinet and out flew five small crystal goblets and a decanter of what looked like firewhiskey.

"To a new year," Lily said as she poured everyone a goblet. "And to forgetting everything that's happened in this last god-awful one."

Remus laughed.

"I guess if you've ever wondered if she regrets marrying you, Prongs, there's your answer."

James feigned hurt and clutched a hand to his chest; he knew Lily was just joking around, but her declaration that it had been a shit year wasn't far off the mark. James and Lily's wedding had been one of only a couple much-needed days of lightness in an otherwise dark year, and the Marauders couldn't wait to see 1979 come to an end.

The whispers of war that swirled when the Marauders left Hogwarts in 1978 had quickly grown in volume to a growl, and the past year had brought on a dull roar. Voldemort's steadily growing army made its first major attack almost a year ago to the day when they'd killed the Auror Abacus Smythe's Muggle parents as they lay sleeping. Leading up to the murders, Abacus had actually been hunting down the same two Death Eaters who did it, and he would never forgive himself for failing to accomplish his mission sooner.

At the time, such violence had caused outrage across the whole of the Wizarding world, but now, it was common and barely made the front page of the Daily Prophet. Since then, the Order hadn't gone a day without hearing of another family gone missing, or more dead Muggles, or another branch of the Ministry that had been placed under the Imperius Curse for a week before anyone caught on. It was an endless cycle.

The Minister of Magic, Millicent Bagnold, was doing all she could to, in her words, "control the Dark offensive," but from where Sirius and the Marauders stood, it was clear that the only people doing anything to combat Voldemort's regime were the wizards and witches on the streets. However, even a good many of them were still too hesitant, too scared, to take direct action.

Who could blame them, really? Defying Voldemort left one with a target on his back—and the Order of the Phoenix bore the biggest red X of all. They'd been taking one step forward and two steps for months; no matter how many Death Eaters the Order apprehended or how much intel they were able to gather on missions, it seemed as though Voldemort was always ahead of them, just lying in wait.

James, Lily, Sirius, Remus and Peter were exhausted from it all, so for New Year's Eve this year, the Marauders had decided that it would do them all some good to get away from the tumultuous world of magic for a night. After all, Muggles did know how to properly celebrate the end of the year, and Merlin, did they need to see that end come.

"Well, cheers!" said Lily, and the group all clinked glasses; however, while the boys all downed their glasses, Lily faked drinking hers and instead used a nonverbal spell and a subtle twist of her wand to empty the glass just as she tipped it against her lips. No one seemed to notice.

"Anyone want more?" Remus asked as he poured himself another glass. James and Peter raised their hands and Remus levitated the decanter over to the two of them, but Lily declined and Sirius shook his head and covered his goblet with his hand.

"I'm trying to make it to midnight this year," he explained with a sheepish grin. "But I'll take some for the road." He withdrew a small flask from his jacket pocket and Remus directed the decanter over to him. As it tipped to fill Sirius's flask, though, Remus 'accidentally' made it spill a bit onto Sirius's shirt.

"Watch it, you!" Sirius laughed, and Remus caught his eye and winked. "Scourgify," said Sirius as he pointed his wand at the stain, and in an instant it was gone. He screwed the top back onto the flask and tucked it away inside his jacket this time, where no security guard would notice it when they tried to get into the bar.

"Two minutes!" Lily announced, looking at her wristwatch. A wedding gift from Sirius, the watch was a delicate thing with hands that looked as fragile as the spines of a snowflake, but which ticked to the rhythm of time with the utmost precision. Sirius knew how punctual Lily liked to be, and had the watch custom-made with an enchantment that could sense when its wearer was getting close to running late. The watch would start to heat up whenever Lily had less than ten minutes to do something.

Peter and James raced to finish the last of their firewhiskey and both were still coughing as the five friends gathered around one of Sirius's socks that had lost its twin ("It's clean, I swear!" Sirius insisted.). Lily had fashioned it into a Portkey that would take them right from Sirius's flat to a discreet alleyway behind the bar, and since the sock was small, she could just stuff it in her bag until it was time to go home. After all, Apparating under the influence was strictly illegal, and no one wanted to start 1980 in a bind with the law.

"Everyone got their wands?" asked Sirius.

"You can always have my wand," James replied suggestively, and Lily elbowed him, which wasn't hard to do since they were packed in so tightly around the Portkey.

"You flatter me, Jamie," said Sirius, laying a finger on the toe of the sock and checking with his other hand to make sure his wand was stowed securely in the secret pocket behind his jacket zipper. Muggle bar or not, it was dangerous to go anywhere without a wand, especially when there was no telling who could be an undercover Death Eater.

"Thirty," Lily said, indicating how many seconds they had to go. Soon after, the Portkey began to glow and shake on the countertop and Sirius felt as though his finger had been glued to it; he couldn't let go now even if he wanted to. Then came a sudden, sharp jerk behind his navel, and then they were careening through the air towards the intended alleyway, where their feet slammed hard onto the pavement.

"I'll never get used to that," Peter grumbled as he got to his feet, having been knocked down from the impact. James held out a hand and helped Peter to his feet, then looked around for his glasses, which had fallen off.

"No one saw?" Remus asked a bit nervously as he looked around the alley.

"No one saw," Lily affirmed. The narrow alley was indeed empty, and Muggles tended to be a bit oblivious to things such a Portkeys and Apparition anyway, which to the Muggle ear sounded much like a car backfiring, or maybe a single firecracker.

Sirius opened his flask and took a large gulp of firewhiskey as the five of them started making their way towards the Handy Sip. It was one of Lily's favorite pubs, and happened to be just a block or so away from the hidden entrance to the Leaky Cauldron. Until the Death Eater attacks became more frequent, the Order used to meet at the Leaky Cauldron, and the Marauders and Lily would often stop by the Handy Sip after the meeting to mull over what they'd heard. Now, though, the Order was forced to meet in secret; even the members themselves sometimes weren't told where a meeting would be held until right before it was to start.

As the five friends rounded the corner onto the bustling London street, they were hit by a wall of cheerful New Year's sound—Muggles of all ages were dancing along the sidewalks, stumbling in and out of pubs, and even blowing their paper horns at cars that honked right back. James led the way towards the pub, and his pants provided a rather convenient beacon to follow.

"I still want to know who named this place," Remus mused as he looked up at the yellow sign for the pub. "Handy Sip, what, am I going to get a little extra service if I tip well?" he asked, making a rather crude hand gesture.

Sirius laughed at Remus's joke, which seemed to have gone over Peter's head. James turned around to make sure they were still following him, then held the door of the pub open for Lily and followed her inside. Even through the puckered glass windows, they could see James's pants clear as day.

"We won't lose him, that's for sure," Remus murmured to Sirius and Peter as they nudged their way through the throngs of people. By the time they got inside, Sirius had five or six beaded necklaces around his neck and had no idea where he'd gotten them, and both Remus and James had acquired New Year's hats somewhere along the way.

For all the fanfare outside, inside the Handy Sip it was rather calm. Sirius supposed the real crowds would come closer to midnight, but he couldn't complain.

James and Lily immediately headed to the jukebox to queue up some songs, while Peter made a stop at the men's room. Sirius and Remus saved him a stool at the bar and then sat down themselves just to the right of all the beer taps, where they had unbridled access to drinks and a perfect view of the countdown on the telly.

"Gin and tonic," Remus ordered, then nudged Sirius to prompt him to order something as well.

"Erm…just a beer," he said. "What's that one I liked last time?" Sirius whispered to Remus.

"St. Austell," Remus told the bartender, and Sirius nodded. That was the one! A moment later, the bartender placed their drinks in front of them and Remus tossed a 10-pound note onto the counter.

"So," said Remus, turning to Sirius after a moment, "Who are you snogging tonight? Not me again, I hope," he joked.

"This bottle," Sirius answered, taking a sip to prove his point. It was a fair question, though. This time last year, he and Remus had been…not dating, but doing just about everything but. When the war picked up, James and Lily had gotten married, but Sirius and Remus had "knocked off the hanky-panky," as James put it, and chose to put their efforts in the war ahead of a relationship. The transition back to friends without the benefits had gone much smoother than Sirius was sure anyone expected, himself included.

"That's no answer," Remus urged. "I know who I'm snogging," he added with the air of someone who's dying to be asked to elaborate.

"Do you?" asked Sirius with mild interest, taking the bait. "Let's hear it, then."

"That bloke over there," said Remus decisively, nodding towards a young man on the other end of the bar. He was astonishingly handsome, Sirius had to admit.

"And does 'that bloke' know you're going to snog him?" Sirius teased.

"Not yet," said Remus confidently. "Don't worry, I'll ask him first."

"More of a courtesy than you did me," Sirius said with a smirk as he took another sip. Remus chuckled; it was true. His and Sirius's kiss last New Year's wasn't so much a kiss as it was Remus drunkenly launching himself into Sirius's mouth, spilling both their champagne in the process. Memorable and oddly charming, nonetheless.

"I'm serious, Sirius," Remus joked, and Sirius rolled his eyes at the overused pun. "I'm sure you can find someone in this bar…unless you'd rather kiss Wormtail," he added, just as Peter sidled up to them at the bar and slid into his stool.

"What'd I miss?" he asked breathlessly.

"Padfoot needs somebody to loooove," Remus half-spoke, half-sang. "And I've nominated you."

"Merlin, what'd I do to deserve that?" Peter made a face like he'd just sniffed a potion gone wrong.

"That's proof, Pads," Remus laughed as he sipped his gin and tonic. "Not as much of a looker as you were back at Hogwarts!"

"Yeah, well, Hogwarts was a different time entirely," Sirius said lightly, but the more somber implication of good times gone by wasn't lost on Remus and Peter, and the three young men fell into silence. In the absence of conversation, Sirius noticed that ironically, John Lennon's "War Is Over" Christmas song was playing in the bar—he'd always loved Lennon, and liked that this song in particular was seasonal, but was also an anthem of peace anyone could listen to year round.

"We probably shouldn't talk about that stuff here, lads," Remus then reminded them as Lennon crooned about conflict's end. Was there ever an end to war, though? Sirius wondered.

"Yeah, we'll save the Hogwarts chatter for later, yeah?" Peter said, and he was right; it was dangerous to mention anything about magic in the company of Muggles lest something slip out, but the bar was crowded and everyone was too wrapped up in their own already failed resolutions to listen in.

"No one's going to hear," Sirius assured Peter, but he was soon proven wrong.

"What's Hogwarts? Some new strain I haven't heard of?"

The voice came from Sirius's left; he hadn't even noticed that the stool there was no longer vacant until he heard a voice pipe up near his shoulder. He, Remus, and Peter all turned to face the speaker.

"Yeah, it gives you a really nice high," Sirius replied smoothly. "You could almost say it's…magical," he finished with a smirk back at Remus, who sighed, and Peter, who choked on his drink.

"I'll have to try it out sometime," came the reply. The young woman speaking was without a doubt one of the loveliest looking girls Sirius had ever seen in his life. She had long, dark brown hair that held the slight wave of collapsing Farrah Fawcett-style curls that fell to just below her shoulders. Her blue eyes sparkled with the excitement of meeting someone new and she held out her hand to shake Sirius's.

"I'm Devin," she introduced herself, then she swatted the man next to her. "This gorgeous one right here is Etienne."

Etienne rolled his eyes with a smile as he held out his hand; clearly it wasn't the first time Devin had introduced him this way. Sirius shook with Etienne as well—Remus, on the other hand, turned visibly pink even in the dim bar light, and a second later Sirius realized why with a start. Etienne was the same bloke he'd pointed out earlier as being the one he wanted to snog!

"I'm Sirius," Sirius said, shaking Etienne's hand. He was extremely handsome, even more so now that he was close and not on the other side of the bar. Sirius was keeping his cool on the outside, but inwardly shaking; where had these two gorgeous people fucking come from?

"You are serious? About what?" asked Etienne; he had a thick French accent and even though Sirius had his back to Remus, he could practically feel Remus getting more and more flustered with each passing second.

"Sorry, my name's Sirius," he clarified. "I know, it's a weird one, but if you knew my parents…anyway, this is Peter, and the one blushing back there is Remus," Sirius teased, and Remus promptly excused himself, nearly knocking his barstool over in the process.

"Is he alright?" Devin asked, looking after Remus with concern.

"Oh, he's fine," Sirius replied nonchalantly. Then, on second thought, he added, "Pete, maybe go check on him, yeah?" Peter nodded, taking the hint, and followed Remus into the crowd.

Devin watched Peter go, then turned her attention back to Sirius. "So, besides blushing friends and weak beer," she said, nodding at Sirius's bottle, "what brings you out tonight?"

"The end of an era," said Sirius melodramatically, gesturing around at all the silver and gold streamers dangling from the ceiling. "Just ringing in the new year with some of my oldest friends, as one does. And this beer's excellent, I'll have you know."

Devin made a face like she didn't believe Sirius, but she refrained from comment and then gestured to Etienne and herself. "We're here with our organization. We all needed a bit of a break from…what did the Sun call it, Etti?"

"Egregious acts of protest," Etienne said after a moment of thought.

"Right," said Devin fondly.

"What org?" asked Sirius, his interest piqued. Egregious acts of protest sounded right up his alley, and it was an interesting coincidence that he, too, was at the bar with members of his own organization, although he couldn't tell Devin anything about the Order.

"The CND," Devin replied. "And I say we're here with the organization, but it's really just a fraction of us. We're close to 9,000 strong now!"

For the sake of not looking like an idiot, Sirius nodded, but he had no clue what in Merlin's name Devin was on about. What the hell did CND stand for?

"I don't think I'm familiar," Sirius said after a moment. Devin and Etienne looked at each other, then back at Sirius, and he got the feeling he'd said something he shouldn't've.

"Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament," Etienne explained.

"Right," said Sirius, faking recognition, "right, I've heard a bit about that, yeah."

Devin raised an eyebrow; she saw right through Sirius's fib. She paused in thought for a moment, then turned to Etienne.

"Etti, pourrais-tu aller nous chercher à boire?" she addressed him in French.

"Qu'est que tu aimerais?" He replied, asking Devin what kind of drink she'd like. She turned to Sirius with a thoughtful look.

"Tequila?" she asked him, and Sirius nodded. He hadn't understood the question, but tequila was always the answer.

"Sounds good to me!"

"Three tequila shots," Etienne confirmed, then smiled a temporary goodbye before slinking off to try and find an open spot at the bar. Devin watched him go with a warm smile.

"He and I used to fuck, you know," she said suddenly as she turned on her stool, and it took a lot of effort on Sirius's part not to spit out the sip of beer he was in the middle of taking. "I always tell people that so they know I have high standards," she continued as casually as if she were talking about the weather. "I mean, look at him!"

"Fit, sure," Sirius agreed, quite bemused. After a moment, though, he got his wits about him and figured two could play at this game. "My friend Remus and I, we used to fuck," he said with a shrug.

"The blushing one?" Devin said, surprised but not bothered in the slightest. "Oh, he's adorable!"

Sirius nodded with a laugh; he decided he liked Devin. At the very least, he was intrigued, and flagged down the bartender for another beer.

"Make it two," Devin chirped. "Some bloke told me it's 'amazing.'"

"He sounds like a prat," Sirius played along, chuckling at her sass. "So. I didn't catch your last name."

"May," she answered. "Yours?"

"Black. Let me guess, you were born in May?" Sirius said jokingly. He knew it was a corny joke, and by the look on Devin's face, one she was no stranger to hearing. "Ah…not born in May, but definitely tired of that pun," Sirius said sheepishly, and Devin nodded.

"So, tell me about this CND," Sirius said to save the conversation. "What sort of 'egregious protest' do you get up to?"

Devin laughed, and it was a sound Sirius was sure he could hear for the rest of his life and be completely and utterly satisfied.

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"Er, I am from London, actually," Sirius said.

"Could have fooled me; the CND's been raising hell around here. I wonder how you haven't heard of us? Anyways, we're peaceful, until we're not. Marches, rallies, things like that…we're just trying to spread our cause and increase membership. Back when were were founded it was all peace, all the time…although we have been known to heckle a few of the missile transports now and again."

"Missiles?" Sirius blurted out. "That's what you're against?"

"Mhm," Devin said, clearly unfazed as she paid the bartender and started drinking. "Among other things. We want a non-nuclear Britain, and eventually worldwide abolition of weapons of mass destruction."

"Oh! Like the atomic bomb," said Sirius; his mind had suddenly clicked as he recalled one of the few Muggle Studies lessons that had really enraptured the whole class in fifth year, when they'd briefly talked about the second Muggle world war and the bombs that the United States used to end it.

"Exactly. The Cold War's been going on what, 30 years now? It's only a matter of time before one of the nuclear countries snaps, and then we're all done for. My money's on America. If they've done it before, they'll do it again, no matter what their president says," she said testily.

Sirius nodded slowly; it was an interesting topic, and he was eager to hear more about it. Plus, a woman fighting for a cause was a huge turn-on. Just as he was about to ask Devin why she joined the CND, though, the song playing on the jukebox changed abruptly and a tinny, synthesized beat began to fill the bar.

"Speak of the bloody devil," Devin laughed. "D'you know this song?" She pointed abstractly into the air. "God damn Enola Gay," she said with a shake of the head. "That calls for another drink."

As if on cue, Etienne reappeared holding three shots of tequila precariously in his hands. He passed them out to Sirius and Devin.

"Cheers," Etienne said, and the trio down their shots together. As he tried to hide how the liquor made him gag, Sirius focused on the song's lyrics. He had definitely heard it before, but until now he'd always thought it was some kind of love song. Now that he had some context to OMD's lyrics, though, it took on a whole new meaning. Enola gay, is mother proud of little boy today…this kiss you give, it's never ever gonna fade away…

"Do you really think that's what we're headed for?" Sirius asked over the music. "That kind of war?"

Devin and Etienne both nodded vigorously.

"If the government keeps at it the way they are it's only a matter of time," said Devin.

Sirius furrowed his brow as he pondered this. The Muggle Studies lesson had covered what Muggles called the Atomic Age—the fear that bombs that could level entire cities would be dropped any minutes, homes built with underground shelters, emergency drills—he had no idea it was still an issue, and that scared him. Even the worst curses couldn't kill more than a couple people at once, but a nuclear bomb—if he remembered the lesson correctly—had the power to kill hundreds of thousands of civilians in an instant.

"Hey! Ground control to Major Tom," Devin said teasingly, and Sirius looked up to her standing before him, her hand outstretched.

"I said let's dance," she said with a smile, and Sirius shook thoughts of nuclear war from his mind. He grinned and let Devin lead him out onto the dance floor where they found James, Lily, Peter, and Remus, who had found another, less French but still very attractive man to dance with. Etienne had headed off to rejoin the rest of the CND members that he and Devin had come with, leaving the latter with Sirius.

They danced long enough for Sirius to lose track of how long they'd danced, until finally the music stopped and all the bar-goers looked up and simultaneously noticed that the New Year's countdown was only five minutes away from midnight. The Handy Sip staff was making the rounds with plastic glasses filled with champagne and Sirius plucked two off of a passing tray.

As the crowed counted down the last ten seconds of 1979 and Auld Lang Syne started to resonate throughout the Handy Sip, Sirius looked around saw that nearly everyone was paired off—some couples were as old as time, others like James and Lily looked freshly but truly in love, and still others were clearly just enamored for the night.

"THREE…TWO…ONE…HAPPY NEW YEAR!" The cheering of the crowd damn near blew the walls off the pub, and a rain of confetti poured from various crackers and glitter guns as 1980 officially began. Sirius realized he'd subconsciously placed one hand on the small of Devin's back, and they turned to look at each other, beaming.

"Happy New Year, then," she said, and Sirius repeated the words, then, figuring it was only right, he leaned in for a kiss. At the last second, Devin turned her head to one side and Sirius's lips met her cheek instead. He wasn't all that surprised; if anything, her coyness made her even more attractive and Sirius settled for wrapping an arm around Devin instead as she held out her hand and tried to catch pieces of shiny foil confetti.

"Cheers," she said finally, and she and Sirius clinked champagne glasses and looked around at the crowd; James and Lily were still kissing, but most couples had moved on to finishing out Auld Lang Syne with a slow dance. Sirius and Devin moved off to the side and leaned against the wall perpendicular to the bar to finish off their glasses of bubbly.

"I love a good champagne, but that's not nearly strong enough," Devin said, examining her empty glass.

"Hang on," said Sirius with a sudden air of mischief. "I've got something I think you'll like. Can't tell anyone where you got it, though, alright?"

Devin nodded. She doubted there was an alcohol she hadn't heard of, but was nevertheless interested. Sirius reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the small flask he'd filled with firewhiskey earlier. Sure, he couldn't tell Devin it was a magical drink, but there was neither law nor side effects that prevented Muggles from trying the stuff—if they were offered it, of course.

"Be careful, it's got a bite to it," Sirius said warningly as Devin unscrewed the top of the flask and sniffed. She recoiled a bit.

"This smells like Fireball," she commented, then took a swig. "It is Fireball."

"Firewhiskey," Sirius corrected. "Intense, isn't it?"

Devin stared at Sirius with a look that clearly asked if he was pulling her leg. "I've had this before," she said, and Sirius furrowed his brow. How was that possible?

"No you haven't!"

"Yes, I have! Look—hey!" she called to the bartender, holding up two fingers. "Fireball."

A moment later, the bartender brought over two shot glasses filled to the rim with liquor that Sirius had to admit, looked exactly like firewhiskey. Devin raised hers in cheers and Sirius copied her, then they both took their shots. Devin couldn't help but smirk victoriously at Sirius's look of bewilderment—it was the same as firewhiskey!

"I don't know where you buy your stock, Black, but you'd better double check and make sure they aren't misprinting labels," she teased, while Sirius took another sip from his flask to compare tastes. Yep. Just the same. Shit, maybe Muggles weren't completely clueless after all.

"Alright, you win," Sirius admitted. "Last time I ever try to impress you, I guess," he added loftily, with a flirtatious smirk.

"Oh, is that what you were trying to do?" Asked Devin sarcastically, and Sirius rolled his eyes with a smile. "Try absinthe next time if you really want to sweep a woman off her feet," she said.

"Noted," Sirius laughed.

"You're really fucking strange, Sirius Black," Devin said a moment later. She shook her head in bewilderment as she surveyed the man sitting next to her, stirring the melting ice in her glass with her straw. "Want to take me home?"

Merlin's balls. Just when he thought she couldn't surprise him any more in one night.

"Yeah, I'd like that," said Sirius with a grin. He took one last swig from the flask, draining it, and took Devin's jacket from the coat hook under the bar. He held it open for her and she slid it on, and when she freed her hair from where it'd been trapped in the garment, Sirius caught a whiff of some kind of rosy shampoo.

"Well don't stand there all night!" Devin laughed, and Sirius jumped into action. They wove through the crowd until finally, Sirius spotted Lily's hair and James's equally vibrant trousers.

James's glasses were askew, his face was flushed, and he had a couple of prominent lipstick marks on his face. Sirius couldn't help but grin as he pulled his rather drunk best mate into a hug.

"Padfoot!" James shouted over the music, then grabbed Sirius's face and kissed him full on the mouth while Lily burst into laughter behind him. "Happy bloody New Year," James slurred, "I fucking love you, mate."

"Darling, not in public!" Sirius gasped dramatically, then hugged Lily as well, who he noticed seemed oddly sober. "This is Devin," Sirius told her. "She and I are, uh, going to call it a night," he said, trying and failing to be subtle.

Lily said a quick hello to Devin, then turned back to Sirius. "What about the Portk—I mean, the cab?" she corrected quickly. "I think we're going soon."

"We'll get our own," said Sirius with a wink. "You lot have a good rest of the night, alright? Get 1980 off to a good start, eh? We need it," he added softly, so only Lily and James could hear.

"You've got yourself a fan club, haven't you?" Devin teased once Sirius had said his goodbyes.

"Who, James?" Sirius laughed. "Yeah. He's mine and I'm his."

"His what?"

"Best mate," Sirius said with a smile he just couldn't help. "Brother. Right-hand man." Sirius turned and began walking backwards down the sidewalk while Devin followed, looking if possible even prettier in the glow of the streetlamps. The curb was littered with confetti and tacky New Years' knick knacks, as though everyone had forgotten the holiday as soon as the clock struck midnight. Sirius thought it seemed as though the throngs of people had simply disappeared, or had he and Devin really been dancing so long they just didn't notice the crowd thinning?

"So, where's home for you?" Devin asked, and they fell into step together. Sirius stopped in his tracks. Mother fucker.

He couldn't take Devin home. No way in hell could he take Devin home. His flat was loaded with magical objects—old textbooks, Gryffindor memorabilia, moving posters, potted plants of varying levels of legality...not to mention he was fairly certain he'd charmed the dishes to do themselves, and he'd most definitely left his broomstick on the sofa.

"Erm, actually, I was thinking we could go to yours?" Sirius asked sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "It's just, mine's a right mess, and I didn't expect-"

"Nope."

"Nope?"

Devin shook her head. "Sorry, it's nothing personal. I just don't bring men home; I always go home with men."

"Why?"

Devin looked as though this was the most obvious question in the world, one she never thought she'd actually have to answer for someone.

"Because then I can decide when things are over! Blokes never know when to leave," she said matter-of-factly.

Sirius mumbled something about how he would know when to leave, but Devin just smiled sympathetically and patted his arm.

"Sorry, mate. Just how messy is your place? I'm a slob myself, so I wouldn't judge."

"Oh it's bad," Sirius said emphatically. Yep, enchanted kitchenware and Venomous Tentacula bad.

"That's a shame," said Devin, and she did look genuinely disappointed. That is, until her eyes lit up and she pulled a small notepad and pen from her bag. She held up a 'wait' finger to Sirius as she scrawled something on the paper and tore it from the pad.

"Here's where I work," she explained, and Sirius looked down at the address; it wasn't too far from his flat. "I'm there whenever I'm not meeting with the CND, and I'm with the CND whenever 'm not there, but…stop by sometime? You can tell me all about that 'Hogwarts' pot of yours," she said with a twinkling smile.

Sirius took the paper and nodded. Devin started to walk away towards where several cabs were already waiting, and on second thought came back to Sirius, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him on the cheek. A moment later, she had one foot in the back of the cab, and Sirius could still feel her lips lingering on his skin as he turned to reenter the bar.

"Hey!" Devin suddenly called out. "November!"

Sirius turned; he hadn't quite caught what she'd said. "What?"

"I was born in November," Devin called again, and Sirius laughed.

"So was I," he replied.

"Then it was meant to be," Devin said playfully, then blew a kiss and ducked and disappeared in the backseat of the taxi.

Sirius watched as the cab pulled away from the curb, then looked down at the slip of paper on which Devin had written her name and the name of what Sirius took to be a hair salon. He shook his head in amusement and stuck the note into his jacket…right next to his wand.

A moment later, James, Lily, Remus and Peter came bursting out from the Handy Sip, all four of them pulling on their jackets and discarding their various festive baubles.

"Good, you haven't left," James said urgently, then realized Devin was nowhere to be seen and changed his tune. "I mean, sorry your bird's flown the coop, that's really unfortunate, mate, but—"

"Emergency Order meeting," Remus cut in, tapping his sleeve where he'd hidden his wand. Sirius's heart seized as he felt his wand vibrate in his jacket as well. It was a rather genius method Dumbledore created of letting Order members know when to meet aside from scheduled gatherings.

"Did something happen?" He asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"We're not sure," said Lily, "But we'd better go."

Sirius nodded again and the five of them headed back towards the alley where the Portkey had landed. Lily pulled a small vial out of her purse and passed it around the circle; it was a Sobriety Solution she'd brewed for the boys earlier that day, and as soon as Sirius took a sip he felt as though he hadn't had a single drink. Talk about a literal buzzkill.

"C'mon, it's better if we just Apparate," said Lily, and a second later, she'd disappeared with a pop that blended in perfectly with the city noise as if it were just another New Year's cracker. The rest of the group followed until only Sirius and James were left in the alley.

"She didn't 'fly the coop,' for the record," Sirius informed James. "Rain check."

"Then she'll still be around tomorrow, yeah? Chin up, mate," James said, lightly punching Sirius in the shoulder. "Tonight we've got to focus on Order business."

Sirius nodded, and he and James did their quick secret handshake before Apparating to the Order's meeting place for what was likely bad news, or worse.

War is over, my ass, Sirius thought.

And so begins War Of Attrition! I really hope you guys enjoyed chapter 1. Stay tuned for CHAPTER TWO: ONCE DEFIED, coming November 7!

-C