Author Note: A little over a month between updates… am I good or what? XD Life has been pretty hectic around here, hence my inactivity on this site, but as I've said before, I'm still going to complete every story I've started here. I'm not totally disappearing; I'm just laying low for a while. But I will be sure to update. I hope you enjoy Chapter 10, even though this chapter isn't quite as good as I hoped it would be.
Chapter Ten
Sitting cross-legged on the floor, Lily gathered the carefully-wrapped gifts that surrounded her, and checked to ensure that everything was perfect. She had finally arranged her Christmas gifts to give to her friends the next day.
For Jerrica, she had bought a box of Fizzing Whizbees, as well as a sweater she knew her friend had been eyeing for a while. Selena's gift would include a set of lip glosses that expertly applied themselves, and a scarf that changed color to match the wearer's outfit. Against her better judgment, Lily chose Sirius's gift from Zonko's Joke Shop, but knowing him well, she realized it would be appreciated (and hopefully not used on herself). She knew Remus loved to read, but was unsure of his knowledge of Muggle literature, so for him she secured a collection of Shakespeare's greatest works, along with a box of chocolate frogs. And for James…
James does not deserve a gift, thought Lily begrudgingly, setting the wrapped gift for James to the side. I don't know why I bothered with one; he'll be getting enough from Greta tonight.
Lily was not sure whether or not James had officially agreed to attend the party Greta invited him to the night before, but she doubted he would decline the Ravenclaw's request. He clearly wanted to spend his night with a girl who actually wanted him, right?
Which was fine, considering Lily did not want him. At all.
Besides, James had been acting strange around her ever since last night. They had returned from dinner and gone to bed without a word exchanged between them, which was usually next to impossible. A part of Lily missed the cheeky comments that always kept her on her toes.
No, I don't, she thought to herself miserably, trying to fight off that sentiment. I don't miss it.
Begrudgingly she kicked James's gift under her bed and headed downstairs to the Head Commons, where James sat on the couch reading a Quidditch magazine.
Lily picked up a book of her own from the small table and sat down in a chair.
"Hey," she greeted him awkwardly.
James looked up from his magazine for the first time since Lily appeared in the room. "Hey," he responded. His tone, while perfectly polite, was missing something. "Look… if you're here to ask me about the feast tomorrow, I've already talked to the elves in the kitchen and…"
"I'm not here to ask you for anything," Lily replied, her voice for once perkier than his. "I'm just here to read."
She opened her book, but could not concentrate on the sentences that lay before her. The silence in the room was too palpable to ignore; something had changed between herself and James.
"So, Christmas is tomorrow," Lily said suddenly, wanting to break the stillness of their setting.
James set his magazine down next to him. "I thought you were just here to read."
What is his problem? Lily wondered to herself. Then again, what did James's words matter to her? In a perfect world, Lily would kill for James to ignore her presence, which seemed to be exactly what he was doing.
"I am." Lily sighed. "I was just trying to be friendly."
James did not acknowledge this. He started to pick up his magazine again, before Lily interrupted him.
"What are you doing tonight, James?" she asked. "Are you…?"
"I think I'm going to the party that Greta invited me to," James told her. "You know, last night?"
Even though this was no surprise to Lily, it did give her the strangest feeling inside. What do I care? She asked herself. What does it matter that he's not going to be here tonight?
She smiled bitterly. Suddenly, a thought came to mind, explaining why she felt so sour toward Greta Catchlove in the first place. I'm supposed to be keeping James away from her, Lily remembered. I promised Jerrica. It made Lily feel better to know that her feelings were directed toward her loyalty to her best friend, rather than… well… toward James. So, when she bothered him about coming to the small party that she would be attending, Lily would know that this was only to stick to The Plan to keep James away from Greta.
"You're certain you don't want to go to our party?" Lily inquired, trying to give James a charming look.
The look had no effect on James. "I was invited to the other one first," he explained simply. "I would hate to bail- that would be rude."
"But you bailed on your date with Greta," Lily blurted out suddenly. "You had planned your date with Greta first, but still bailed on it to…"
"… To be with you?" James finished for her. "Lily, I wasn't going to chase you forever."
"But why?" Lily asked. "Why have you stopped chasing me?"
James laughed sullenly. "You're something, you know that? You slap me when I want to kiss you, and then wonder why I've grown sick of these games? Lily, I want a girl who genuinely fancies me. You clearly don't. I've realized that."
"But…" Lily trailed off, her voice breaking.
"But what?" James stood up, and crossed his arms. "If there's something you want to say to me, say it now."
Lily sighed. What was there to say? James's words stung.
"There's nothing," she told him after a moment of thought. "Except that I hope you come to our party tonight."
James shook his head and headed toward the portrait hole, ready to leave. "You're truly something," he muttered. And before he exited the room, he said to her, "Happy Christmas, Lily."
"What could possibly be taking that boy so long?" Lily asked, tapping her foot impatiently.
Dinner was over, and Lily, Jerrica, Selena, and Remus had been standing in the corridor near the Head Commons for nearly fifteen minutes now, waiting for Sirius. Despite the fact that Jerrica concocted the party plan merely to keep James away from Greta, the others (with the exception of Lily) had actually been looking forward to it.
They had decided to hold this "party" in the Head Commons instead of the Gryffindor Tower to keep things exclusive; they did not want to be bothered by the few first and second years who had stayed for the holidays. They wanted to start after dinner, but Sirius had insisted on going back to his dormitory first to retrieve something.
"Why don't we all just go with you?" Jerrica had suggested over dinner.
"No, it's quite all right," Sirius responded impishly. "I'll meet you in the corridor."
Now, they could see their friend heading toward them, not holding anything out of the ordinary.
"What did you make us wait for?" Remus asked.
"Oh, you'll see." Sirius grinned. "Lily, darling, are you going to keep us waiting all night?"
"Demiguise disguise," Lily told the chubby man in the painting that stood before them. He tipped his hat and wished them a happy Christmas, as he granted entrance.
The five friends took seats on the common room couches.
"I can't believe our friend Jamesy isn't here," Sirius commented out of the blue. "Usually he'd give anything to spend extra time with Miss Head Girl."
"He had prior commitments," Lily replied through gritted teeth. She had been thinking about their earlier conversation all day.
"With the school slut," Jerrica countered. "What does anyone see in her?"
"Yeah," Selena added. "She picks her nose in public. I saw once."
"What does it matter?" Lily tried to shoo the topic away. "We're here to have fun, not talk about that wretch!" She had to force the enthusiasm, but it did come out in her voice.
"That's the spirit!" Sirius exclaimed, and reached into his robe pocket, pulling out a pair of tall bottles of…
"Firewhisky?" Jerrica grabbed a bottle to examine it, but sure enough, her answer was correct. "Sirius, how the bloody hell did you smuggle these into Hogwarts?"
"I have my ways." He wiggled his eyebrows. "I figured since it's our last year, we should make it a party to remember."
Lily was still too focused on the earlier events of the day to nag Sirius about how much trouble they could get into if they were caught. Instead, she flicked her wand slightly, and music from The Jolly Jobberknolls began to play.
"Er… what does everyone want to do?" she asked awkwardly.
The last time they had been to a party, it was hosted for their entire House, so things were allowed to get completely out of hand. However, now it was just the five of them, unsure of what to do.
"Strip Poker," Sirius answered with a straight face.
"No, thank you," Lily responded, rolling her eyes.
Remus spoke up. "What about Truth or Dare?" he suggested.
"That could be fun," Selena said with a grin.
Remus grinned back.
What's going on between those two? Lily thought to herself enviously. I hope I'm just overreacting.
Jerrica opened the bottle of Firewhisky she held in her hands and took the first swig. "Lily," she said to her friend softly, in the midst of the conversation. "You seem stressed… have a sip and just don't worry about whatever is bothering you, all right?" She seemed genuinely concerned.
Lily sighed and looked at the bottle that had been thrust over to her. Dare she take a sip? She had never tried Firewhisky before and therefore did not know what to expect.
You only live once, she thought to herself grimly, deciding to follow Jerrica's advice and try a bit. It couldn't hurt, could it? Of course, the taste on her lips was unlike what she expected, and it burned down her throat, but Lily was sure this was only because she had never drunk it before. She took another sip, which was a little easier to swallow.
The five friends sat on the floor in a circle.
Sirius took a swig of the other bottle of Firewhisky and set it down. "Let's start with some of the easier questions, so we can leave the best for last." He smiled. "Who wants to begin?"
"I will," Selena volunteered.
"Okay, 'Lena." Sirius cracked his knuckles. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"All right." Sirius stopped to think of a good question. "We've asked you this before, but… why don't you ever date any of the blokes from Gryffindor?"
"Well…" Selena said, thinking for a moment. She knew why she hadn't pursued one of those Gryffindors, but as for the others…? "Actually, I really don't know." She laughed.
Sirius yawned. "My dear 'Lena… you're such a liar."
"Am not!" Selena argued. Before Sirius could come up with a rejoinder, she turned to Lily.
"Truth or dare, Lils?"
Lily thought for a moment. Did she want to reveal something incredibly stupid about herself, or did she want to do something incredibly stupid?
"Truth," she finally said, realizing she had done enough stupid things lately.
"What's the worst thing you've ever had to do?"
Lily, not wanting to give away any true answer, replied with a laugh, "Share a living area with James." Truly, though, she did not consider it all that bad anymore.
"Oh man." Sirius chuckled. "That was rough. But I bet one day you'll start to like him."
Lily shook her head. "Keep dreaming." She turned to Remus. "Truth or dare?"
"Er… I'll go with truth."
"Truth," Lily repeated. What should she ask Remus… something completely meaningless or something that she truly wanted to know?
"Who do you fancy?" she blurted out. Her cheeks reddened to the color of her hair, but she had to know.
Remus blushed as well. He did not want to answer this.
"Come on, Moony- I mean, Remus- we're waiting for an answer!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Fine… I like Selena," Remus revealed, "and she knows it."
All eyes turned to Selena, who merely looked down at the ground and asked "Whose turn is it?"
Lily's face fell at the thought of Remus fancying one of her best friends. Surely that was against the rules of humankind; if he liked any girl other than herself, it should be someone she was not so close with, right?
She took another swig of the Firewhisky, noting that it was beginning to calm her nerves, and remained silent.
"Jerrica, truth or dare?" Remus asked finally.
"I'm going to be the bold one in the group and pick dare." Jerrica grinned. "Bring it on, Remus!"
Remus smiled to himself. "All right, Jer, if the person you fancy is in this room… I dare you to kiss him." He knew perfectly well that Jerrica harbored feelings for Sirius, and figured this game may as well cause some good for somebody.
Jerrica drew in a deep sigh. "Ready or not," she muttered to herself, and she leaned in next to her to kiss Sirius softly on the lips. She pulled away after a few seconds, not wanting to be too forward, and smiled shyly.
"Whoa," Sirius said quietly, beaming. "You're not going anywhere, love." And this time, he leaned in and kissed her much more passionately. The two became completely oblivious to the rest of the room.
"Looks as though we've lost two players," Remus observed.
Having downed more of the Firewhisky, Lily was already becoming a little dizzy. "Selena…" she trailed off. "Your turn to ask."
"That's right," Selena realized. "Truth or dare, Lily?"
"Truth." Lily smiled, realizing that the thought of Remus fancying Selena was not as bad as she thought. It wasn't bad at all; the Firewhisky helped corroborate that.
"What is your biggest regret?"
"Being such a coldhearted bitch!" Lily laughed, unable to control herself. Maybe the Firewhisky was doing some of the talking. "I mean, I'm terrible. I can see why James hates me now!" She laughed again.
Selena and Remus exchanged looks, wondering what could have sent Lily into hysterics like this. Perhaps she had been under a lot of stress lately? Neither noticed the less than half-filled bottle in her hands.
"All righty, Remus, truth or dare?" Lily asked, after her laughter died down.
"Truth." Remus could not trust himself with the dares.
"Why don' you fancy me?" she asked, her words slurring. "Is it 'cause I'm awful?"
"No!" Remus reassured Lily awkwardly, patting her on the back. "You're not awful. But wait… did you fancy me?"
Lily giggled. "You don' get to ask me questions!"
Remus sighed. "Right. Selena?"
"Truth."
"Did Lily fancy me?"
"Remus!" Selena exclaimed. "I can't answer that! Lily, truth or dare?"
"No more dares!" Lily shook her head. "Truth."
Remus looked at Selena as though he wanted her to ask the same question he had just asked, but being a good friend, Selena ignored this. "Hmm… what's the craziest thing you've ever done?"
Normally Lily would have kept this a secret, as she had for the past few days, but who was she kidding? "Well…" She smiled. "James 'n I snuck out of the school the other night 'n went to Hogsmeade."
"Really?" Remus seemed impressed. "That doesn't sound like you at all."
"Oh, but tha's not all," Lily revealed with a chuckle. "We snogged 'n everything! Guess what the crazy part is?"
"What?" Remus and Selena asked at the same time, completely wide-eyed.
"I don' regret any of it!"
Remus and Selena were completely speechless.
"Truth or dare, Remus?" Lily asked, taking another sip.
"Er..." Remus thought for a moment. Suddenly, he noticed the bottle. "Lily, how much of that have you drank?"
"Not so much." Lily held out the bottle. "Want some?"
"There's none left!" Selena exclaimed. "Lily, did you drink all that?"
"No," Lily responded. "Jer had a sip, too."
Remus and Selena looked at each other. Suddenly, they saw the portrait hole open.
"James!" Lily exclaimed, recognizing the Head Boy as he entered the commons. But before she could say anything else, the room went black.
Acknowledgments: I would like to thank Yuki Asao, Rubber-duckiesofdoom, CurryCurran, maraudersminuspeterarehot, Because I Need More Space, BlackCat69, embracing, sweetblonde14, Auriela, and catgoddessfreak. Hope you enjoy this chapter!