Chapter 13: The Perils of Parties

A/N at the bottom.

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize from the books.

There were five days that were awaited with bated breath by the students of Hogwarts.

All Hallow's Eve, and the Marauders' birthdays.

Especially Sirius Black's.

The Marauders always threw a rager for Sirius's birthday, mostly to make him forget his family. The fact that this was his last at Hogwarts meant that it had to be even bigger.

Those parties were legendary. You could get in, just about anyone could, but you were bound not to share the password to professors or those who would stop it. If you broke the vow, you would erupt in a fever and received a small unremovable tattoo on your heart that read, Breaking vows is a very nasty habit.

The four boys used, of course, the Room of Requirement. It unfortunately couldn't-or wouldn't-provide alcohol, but a Hufflepuff by the name of Joshua Ogden, whose uncle was the owner of Ogden's Finest Firewhiskey, was happy to oblige.

Now the boys were flitting about the room, checking every detail. They had had a small argument as they always did about Sirius helping with his own party, but in the end the grey-eyed boy had firmly stated that he would not leave, so they were forced to agree.

Currently, Remus was worrying over the binding charm ("It's a bit... cruel, don't you think?) Peter was annoyed by the banners that refused to flash "You're eighteen, damn you, you old codger" in red and gold, Sirius was persuading him to use something stronger ("Ugly, annoying git has a much better ring to it though, don't you think?") and James was, of course, obsessing over Lily.

The others simply ignored him, having had much practice after sharing a dorm for six years.

James had not seen Lily since their... encounter that morning, and couldn't help but wonder if she was coming. If the last party they had both attended served as an accurate example, probably not.

...

"Party's wild, isn't it?"

Lily smiled and nodded politely at the boy that had stumbled over to her. He was sort of cute, with curly brown hair and heterochromatic eyes, one a deep green, the other a bright blue. He was in the year below, if she remembered correctly. Collin... Collin Smith, that was it.

"Er, do you... do you want to dance?"

Lily looked at him carefully; over his shoulder she could see a group of boys sneering at him, having clearly dared him to go over. Collin shuffled awkwardly and ran a hand through his curls. He obviously expected to be rejected, perhaps rudely, and be mocked by his so-called friends.

Fuck it, Lily thought.

"Sure."

Collin's head snapped up. "R-really?"

Lily smiled and took his hand. "C'mon. It's just a dance, don't take it too seriously."

She moved across the large room, dragging the flustered boy behind her.

...

A few minutes later, Lily smiled at Colin and leaned down to kiss his cheek-he was a few inches shorter than her, standing at only about five-six. He blushed deeply and she laughed.

"Maybe we can study together or something sometime."

Collin nodded fervently. "That would be fantastic!"

Just as he turned to leave, babbling pleasantries, she called after him. "Oh, and Collin?"

He turned, eyes twinkling with excitement.

"Go for it," Lily winked. "Rachel has a crush on you, everyone knows that."

Collin reddened again and smiled back. "Thanks!"

He pulled her in a hug and she laughed again, ruffling his hair. As he made his way back to his slack-jawed friends, a new spring in his step, Lily allowed herself to feel the tiredness, stress and annoyance that she had held back for the sake of fun. N.E.W.T.S. were even harder than O.W.L.S., and avoiding James seemed more and more impossible each moment.

Lily pushed through the crowded room, its high vaulted ceiling covered with banners and other decorations, tables lining the walls with the table of honor at the spot a throne would sit in a room that contained one, with the four Marauders sitting in chairs of finely carved wood and Sirius sitting on a regal monstrosity that resembled the aforementioned throne.

She moved through the doors to the balcony, too tired to care how the hell the room had a balcony when it was near the center of the seventh floor.

She sighed in relief as she saw that it was empty, moved the curtains that separated it from the room closed, and moved toward the railing, looking up at the sprawling universe painted in stardust above her, a beauty no muggle or wizard could even hope to match.

A moment later, she heard a noise. A crunch of a boot on the gravel, a simple sound, but that was all it took for her to spin around and find none other than the boy she dreaded seeing, the one and only James Potter, leaning by the balcony entrance with a slightly cautious expression.

His hair melted into the inky black, the dark clothes he wore intertwined with the night itself, so that she could not see where he ended and the void began, or was it the other way around? He grinned at her, pearly white teeth flashing, cementing him for a moment, anchoring him to reality, and then the moment was over, and he was indistinguishable from the void again. Standing there, at one with the very thing that small children feared, he looked like the devil himself, or perhaps the most beautiful angel, he looked to be both at the same time and he knew it, he knew his place, he knew who he was, he knew. He was the source of nightmares draped in the essence of daydreams; his eyes glowed as if trapped souls were trying to escape, or maybe it was because light simply radiated from his every pore, for he was light, most decidedly so, light and good and free and happy, but he was dark, oh yes, dark and wild, untamed and impossible to catch, to pin down, no one ever truly saw him, just like the darkness he so perfectly fit into, except in that moment Lily did, Lily saw him, really saw him, and she could read him like an open book, his leaning body was really leaning against the balcony because he was so exhausted he could barely support his own weight, not for comfort, his smile was strained and worried, eyes flicking from spot to spot, but before she could really look into those eyes, into the windows of the soul as they called them, he pulled away, the instant passed, his mask fell back, and he spoke a single word.

"Hello."

A/N: Hello again! I just wanted to say this:

I know my writing has been rather poor lately, more filler content than anything. The truth is, sometimes I rush to make the deadline. But I have good news; I will try harder to make it good! Review if you can, its always nice. Hope you like it and I'll see you next week.

Adios,

~~~J, a friend. "Sanctissimi cordis, quam acerrimi animi!"