Yeah the title's the name of a song. A song that doesn't really have much to do with the actual storyline, but I digress. Thanks to you guys who reviewed the last chapter! Speaking of reviews, to the person who 'corrected' me on my spelling, I do not use the American version of english. I use the English version of english because that is how it is thought where I'm from so please don't correct me without getting your facts straight first. Sorry if I sound whiny.

A Little Party Never Killed Nobody

Lily Evans wasn't shy, but neither would she consider herself a social butterfly. Sure, she talked and interacted amicably with everyone (even the Slytherins; although most of them did not reply as warmly as she began) but there were only a select few who she would allow privy into her personal life. Her dorm mates, Marlene McKinnon and Caroline O'Connor were two of whom were allowed this privilege, as well as fellow Gryffindor prefect Remus Lupin. Outside of her house, there were only a few others (Benjy Fenwick and Madison Gagmen for instance) but other than those few, not many could say that they were friends with Lily Evans.

Unfortunately, having friends that were fair and few led to her sitting in the corner of the Gryffindor Common Room on the last night of sixth year with a warm bottle of Butterbeer all by her lonesome as the party raged on alongside her.

Benjy and Madison had left the party just before ten, claiming to want to return to their respective Common Rooms before curfew set in, lest they get in trouble (Lily suspected that they would in fact be out after curfew, holed up in an empty classroom or broom closet, snogging as they tried to keep their not so secret secret relationship from she, Marlene and Caroline, all of whom had found out about it quite some time ago and found it hilarious that the pair though that they could keep a secret from them.)

Marlene had disappeared around ten with Mitchell Macadam (Lily was sure that one could get tongue tied if they were to try saying the pair's full names too fast) They had gone up to the boys' dormitory, giggling all the way and Lily certainly did not want to know what was going on there, for they had been gone for well over thirty minutes.

As for Caroline, well, she was a social butterfly and had flitted off long before the other three had disappeared to go chat with some mates of hers. Lily was sure that if she knew that she was left alone, she would run back to her, but she did not so there was no running back to anyone. Besides, Lily did not want to seem as though she needed company at all times (even though she did) so she stayed by herself, occasionally sipping her Butterbeer and turning down please to dance from third year boys with too much cologne but not enough height. She was desperate, but not that desperate.

And as for Remus, he was one fourth of the gang who organised this little fete and therefore was running around doing his co- hosting duties, which entailed making sure that no one got too drunk, lest McGonagall come in at three in the morning only to find a bunch of buffoons who were clearly head over arse drunk. That would definitely ensure that the Marauders spent every day until graduation in detention, despite the fact that McGonagall had a soft spot for the Marauders. Everyone had a soft spot for the Marauders, including Lily. Hey, it was bound to happen, considering the fact that they lived together and shared nearly all of their classes. You can't help but to grow close to them when placed in that position.

So she sat there, watching everyone talk and laugh and drink and basically just celebrate the fact that they won't have to put up with school work for at least two months. Lily downed the rest of her room temperature Butterbeer and wondered if ten thirty was an alright time to leave a party.

She had only just gotten out of her arm chair (the bottle was still clutched in her hands and she hadn't even stretched yet to bring her muscles back to life, Merlin) when one of the Marauders found her.

"Is that Evans I see sitting by herself in the corner over here, or do my eyes deceive me?" asked Sirius, smelling slightly of Firewhiskey and throwing an arm around her shoulders. He took the empty bottle from her and threw it over his shoulder, landing it in one of the bins.

"No, despite the overwhelming evidence that you've been drinking, you can still see straight, for it is in fact Evans," she droned.

"Hello there, lovely Lily," grinned Sirius foolishly.

"Don't do that."

"What?"

"Lovely Lily."

"But it rhymes!"

"Are you drunk, Black?"

"Are you drunk, Evans?"

"Now that doesn't even make sense," said Lily, rolling her eyes.

"What is sense? It's nothing more than a social construct of what it is we're supposed to do and supposed to know? If I wanted to be a dog, would that make your so called sense? It's boxing us in and turning our characteristics into a mesh of grey while creating caricatures of ourselves," jabbered Sirius.

Lily stood there with her mouth slightly opened as she tried to take in what Sirius just said. She had to settle for looking shocked as she could not find any words to express how she felt.

"Dear god; you are drunk," she marvelled after some time.

"I most certainly am not."

"You just discussed sociological constructs while using the words character and caricature in the same sentence without getting mixed up. Only a drunk person would do that."

"I am not drunk," he insisted.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"How many bottles of Firewhiskey did you drink so far?"

"One and a half but that's neither here nor there." The moment the words left his mouth Sirius caught himself and glared at her. "You tricked me."

"I did not. I simply worked my sobriety to my advantage," Lily grinned.

"I shared most of it with Prongs and the others," he protested, trying to clear the air.

"Doesn't make you any less drunk," she quipped. "At this rate, you're going to get liver poisoning before you're thirty."

"Well I don't intend on living forever, now do I?" He rolled his eyes and, without leaving room for her to retort, said, "Come on Evans; let's dance."

"I'm not in the mood to party, Sirius," Lily objected as he led her out of her beloved corner and to the edge of the dance floor.

"Nonsense-"

"Oh god, here comes more philosophical bullshit," Lily said fearfully.

Sirius sent her a withering stare. "Ha ha. I'm pissing myself laughing. You're fucking hilarious Evans."

"Well, I do try," she said, smirking slightly. "So what were you saying?"

"What?"

"Before; what you were saying before I had to put my two cents in because I will never let you live that down."

"Oh! Right, I was going to say that you should get up and have a bit of fun. A little party isn't going to kill you, you know."

"A little party with four drunken Marauders might," she countered.

"I'll have you know Evans, I'm not drunk," chimed in a new voice. James Potter sauntered over to them, holding a bottle of Butterbeer in one hand while he grinned at them. "Unlike this one over here, I don't drink all the Firewhiskey in one go."

"Charming," she said wryly.

"Speaking of a drink, you look as though you could use one," said James, offering her the bottle.

Lily's eyebrows almost shot off her face. "And end up like Mr Caricature over here? No thank you."

James looked between the two of them confusedly. "What?"

"Sirius here apparently becomes much more articulate when it comes to topics dealing with the meta physical aspects of civilization when he's drunk," Lily explained.

"I thought we went over the fact that I am not inebriated."

"You are," both Lily and James said at the same time.

Sirius glared at them both. "I hope you walk into a tree when you lose your glasses next time," he said to James. And then to Lily, "And I hope you get hit on by more third years drenched in their grandfather's aftershave."

"You saw that?" said Lily, horrified.

"I see everything. Now if you excuse me, I'm going over by Moony who seems to appreciate me more than you two at the moment." He sniffed disdainfully and left them there by themselves.

"He tends to use big words when he gets drunk," said James once Sirius was out of earshot. "Doesn't know the meaning for half of them but he likes to use them. Thinks it makes him look less drunk."

Lily snorted. "If anything, they make him look more drunk."

They both laughed awkwardly and continued standing there, shifting their weight from one foot to the next.

James took a sip of his Butterbeer.

Lily coughed slightly and glanced around the room. Her eyes landed on the clock. It was just a bit past eleven. Most of the lowerclassmen had already left the Common Room in favour of their beds. The youngest person she's seen so far was a few fourth years and even those were slowly retiring.

"Do you want to d... do something?" James asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"What do you mean by something?"

"I was actually going to ask you to dance but then changed my mind mid sentence," he confessed.

"Ah," replied Lily, not knowing what else to say.

Finally, she mustered up the courage and said, "Well then," she began, "In the words of the not wanting to be immortal Sirius Black, a little party isn't going to kill you."

"What the hell are you talking about, Evans?"

"I'm saying that we should go make the most of what's left of this party, yeah?" She grinned and took his hand in hers. Slowly, James began to grin as well and before she knew it, he was pulling her to the middle of the makeshift dance floor and Lily realised that she quite liked the feeling of her hand in his.

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