It was all Sirius's fault.
At least that's what Lily had decided on. After all, it had been the dark haired trouble maker who set the firewhiskey out, proposing a bit of celebration for the end of exams. It may have been Marlene who suggested a drinking game and it may have been Peter who suggested "Never Have I Ever"; but still, it was all Sirius's fault.
"Never have I ever?" James Potter had quipped from his chair across from the fire. "We're not fourth year, Wormtail."
"I think it's a rather nice idea." Lily remarked, glaring at the messy haired boy. She was perched on the window seat, a book in her lap. She could feel James's eyes on her as she shot Peter a small smile. James really shouldn't tease he poor boy, she'd thought.
"It's settled then!" Sirius had cheered, lifting the bottle in victory. His expression grew brighter as Marlene joined him in his cheering. Lily grinned, finding the excitement contagious.
James eyed the dark haired boy bitterly. "Oh?" He lifted one eyebrow, making Lily jealous (she'd always wanted to be able to do that).
"Well, you're not going to go against Lily." Sirius shrugged.
"He's got a point." Peter had chimed in. The small round boy scooted his chair up to the table that Sirius had set the bottle on, eyeing it greedily.
"It's not like that." Lily and James stated at the same time. Startled and embarrassed, she glanced over at him. The boy stared back at her, looking just as sheepish.
"James doesn't care about me anymore." Lily had clarified. She thought that it had been obvious since he had stated dating Angela Bones the week before. Apparently she was the only one who thought that. She looked from the blank faces of her friends to the blank face of the boy in question.
"Lily doesn't make my choices." James said, looking away. "But I'll play your stupid game anyway." He stood and, with an unreadable look in Lily's direction, made his way to the table. Lily placed her book to the side and followed suit, selecting the seat between Peter and Marlene. James waited until she sat down to take the seat at Peter's left.
"I'm going to run up and fetch Moony." Sirius said. The longhaired boy rose from his seat, gave James a look, and headed downstairs to the boys' dormitory. The silence in the empty common room reached uncomfortable heights; Marlene tapped her fingers on the table top. Each time her nails made contact with the wood surface James had flinched.
"Will you stop fidgeting?" Peter whined.
"Just a bad day, mate." James explained, placing his elbows on the table.
"What happened?" Lily asked, curious. "Nothing too bad, I hope."
James looked at her for a moment and then gave a weak smile, "No, nothing that bad Evans."
"Good." the red head smiled. She was glad that he didn't brush her off. Their new found friendship had been strained ever since he started dating Angela.
Marlene looked between the two head students, a knowing look on her face. "I wonder what's taking Sirius and Remus so long" was all she said, however.
"It's getting close to Remus's time of the month." James said, causing Marlene to giggle. Peter and Lily exchanged meaningful glances – the full moon was coming up soon.
After five more minutes of struggled conversation Sirius returned with the prefect at his side, talking low amongst their selves. They sat down side by side between James and Marlene, making the circle complete. "Hello Lily." Remus smiled.
"Hello Remus." She grinned back. It was the first time she's seen him all day. He was looking pretty rough around the edges but otherwise seemed fit. "You look well."
"As do you." He nodded, a knowing look in his eyes.
She remembered the day before when she'd sat in an empty transfiguration classroom telling him how much she hated Angela Bones. Lily blushed at the memory, turning away from the prefect. She cleared her throat, "Anyway, are we going to play this or not?"
Sirius's eyebrows went up at this, "A little excited there aren't you, Evans?"
"You have no idea." Merlin's beard, she needed a drink.
Sirius summoned six shot glasses and filled them all with firewhiskey. Lily placed hers in front of her and waited for someone to start. After a few seconds of silence James had rolled his eyes saying "For Agrippa's sake, I'll start." He picked up his shot glass and said "Never have I ever gotten detention" and took the shot. He poured himself another while everyone else took theirs.
The firewhiskey burned Lily's throat, making her gag. She really hated the taste of alcohol but the after effects were worth it.
Peter was next, squeaking out "Never have I ever ridden a broomstick" before taking his shot.
"Very wild choice there, Wormtail." Sirius sneered as he refilled his glass. "The point of the game I to say something that you think everyone hasn't done."
It was Lily's turn next. She looked down at the liquid in her glass, thinking of something to say. Finally she settled on "Never have I ever driven a car." She and Remus were the only ones who took their shots.
"See, that's how you play." Sirius informed the Peter. The smaller boy mumbled something about how he couldn't think well under pressure.
"Never have I ever gotten lost in Hogwarts." Marlene said, taking her shot. The only ones who didn't drink then were James and Sirius. Of course they've never been lost, Lily thought to herself, whenever they didn't know the way they just claimed they were exploring.
"Never have I ever snogged a girl." Sirius smirked, taking a drink. The only person who didn't drink then was Lily.
They all looked at Marlene surprised. "I was curious at one point." The smaller girl explained. "…I'm still a bit curious, actually."
"You should snog Lily then." Sirius suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.
Lily and Marlene glared at him. "That school boy fantasy isn't going to happen, Sirius." Lily said.
"We'll see if you say that after a few more shots." Sirius grinned.
"Padfoot." James warned, glaring at his best friend. "Don't push it."
"You're only saying that because you fancy-"
"I believe it's my turn!" Moony interrupted, lifting his glass and taking a drink.
"Mate, you're supposed to say something first." Sirius reminded him.
"Oh right…um…Never have I ever snuck around after hours." He poured himself another shot as everyone else took theirs.
The game continued on like that until words became slurred and vision was blurred. Marlene, it turned out, had done the most of anyone and took a shot almost every turn. Sirius was a close second, though, with Lily and James being tied for third. Peter, it seemed, hadn't done much of anything.
"Never have I ever pissed outside!" Sirius exclaimed, taking his shot. The rest of the Marauders followed suit causing the girls to giggle.
"Was there a big Marauders only camping trip I missed?" Marlene asked, giggling before they could answer.
"Oh, it was the biggest party." James played along, his face red. "We sang muggle songs and ate smores."
Lily, even in her hazy drunk state, found it hard to picture the group sitting around a camp fire singing. She laughed, even though her head was spinning. Her eyes flickered to James's smiling face and a blush rose to her cheeks. James caught her eye and winked, making her heart speed up.
"Never have I ever streaked around campus!" Remus howled, taking another shot. Everyone but Lily joined him. Again, questioning glances were shot and Marlene and she just shrugged as if to say "What can you do?"
"Never have I ever been in love." James said after a moment, taking a drink. No one else drank on it. Lily paused, wondering if she could drink on this one or not. On one hand she hadn't loved either of her two past boyfriends but on the other hand she got a fluttery feeling whenever she looked at James Potter. She had been considering for the past few month since school started that she could be falling for him – but had she? She looked over at the head boy- sitting back in his chair, his arm thrown over the back of it, his feet on the table. The answer was so clear to Lily in her boozy delusional fog –yes, yes she had. She threw her shot back triumphantly, much to the shock of everyone else at the table.
"Care to elaborate on that one, Evans?" James challenged, raising one eyebrow. He knows, Lily thought, he has to know.
"Nope." She answered defiantly.
"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Sirius exclaimed, looking between the two. He grabbed the bottle from the middle of the table and took a swig, "I dare you two to just snog already!"
"That's not the game we're playing." Lily pointed out, turning her glare onto the longhaired boy.
"Fine," Sirius rolled his eyes, setting the bottle back down. "Never have I ever kissed James Potter." No one took a drink, not even Marlene. Sirius looked around the table expectantly, before turning his gaze back to Lily. "No one's done it. You know what that means? Someone here has to in order for this to be a successful drinking game. I nominate Lily."
"That's not how the game works." Lily pointed out, panicking.
"It is when I play it." He shot back.
"I second that nomination." Marlene chimed in, snatching the bottle up and taking a swig of her own.
"Sure, what the hell." Peter added, taking the bottle from Marlene.
"I don't care." Remus admitted, pushing his glass away from him. "I'm done playing."
Lily risked a look at James and found him string at her. "What do you say, Evans, want to try it out?"
Yes. "But you're dating Angela." She remembered. She could never be drunk enough to forget that piece of information.
"But he loves you." Marlene insisted, pushing Lily from her chair. "Besides, what could one little kiss hurt?"
Lily found her feet carrying her over to James side of the table. Marlene had a point, what could it hurt? James looked up at her, his hazel eyes clouded. She reached out, her finger gripping at his shirt, and pulled him up. He stood, looking down at her, his expression confused. "I'm going to kiss you, James Potter. I've heard lots of good thing about this and I don't want to be disappointed." She slurred, pulling his face down to hers.
Their lips met and electricity shot down her spine, sobering her up almost immediately. She reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her heart beat frantically in her chest, threatening to give out at any moment. There was no way this kiss was harmless. There was no way that this kiss meant nothing. He kissed her back forcefully, wrapping his arms around her waist. His tongue explored her mouth as his hands made their way up her back.
"Whoa." She heard Peter mutter beside her, the voice breaking the spell.
Lily jerked back quickly, pulling out of James's arms. "I have to go to bed." She said, panicked. Before anyone could stop her she rushed upstairs to the girls' dormitory and threw herself back on her bed, her fingers touching her tingling lips. She replayed the night's events again and again until morning and spent the next few days avoiding both James and Angela.
Yes, it was all Sirius's fault.