Chapter Fourteen:

I'm a very cautious person. By that, I suppose I mean I think things through very, very carefully before I act on them. I am definitely not impulsive. But if I were, my impulse would be telling me to surround Marely's pretty white neck with my hands and strangle her until she screamed.

Because right now she was kind of half-sitting on James' lap feeding him strawberries. MY strawberries, The strawberries which I had bought with MY money. If I were in kindergarten, I might very well have snatched them right back and told her she couldn't take any.

But I am a grown, mature woman, so I gritted my teeth and tried to make conversation…

Only to find the only person available for conversation was Peter. Remus and Jenny were talking about something related to the construction work going on lately at the Library of Wizarding Congress. Sirius had long stopped his argument with Evelyn and the two were now splayed out on my couch, moaning about the misfortunes of their exes.

"My God, he forgot my birthday. And it wasn't even the first time! We dated for two years. TWO YEARS! I circled and highlighted the date, but that idiot was still too stupid to notice."

"Poor you. I had a girlfriend once that kept owling me. I would be working, right? And this flock of bloody birds would fly through the window, bombarding me with letters and notes and 'I love yous'. It was a nightmare."

"Was she psychologically unbalanced?"

"No idea what that means."

"Was she crazy?"

"What? Oh, yes! Definitely! I mean, she was like some stalker or something. I actually feared for my life. It was a little scary breaking up with her. I thought she might stab me."

They were getting a little drunk and I couldn't help noticing that between them and Peter's incessant drinking, my large crate of alcohol was steadily diminishing.

Maybe I should have invited more people. But, truth be told, I don't actually know that many people. These were probably the closest friends I had, and the others I barely knew or kept in touch with. All in all, it made for a pretty boring party. Well, for me at least. Sirius had Evelyn, Remus had Jenny, James had (ugh) Marley, Peter had his firewhiskey.

And me? I had the CD player and some really awful disco music. Oh well, nobody seemed to notice anyway.

Finally feeling a little fed up (it was my house, after all), I switched off the music and stood up. "Everyone! Let's play a game?"

Conversation ceased and they all looked at me.

"Er… anyone know any good games?" I asked.

"Strip poker!" yelled Sirius. Then he dissolved into a fit of hysteria with Evelyn. I think at this point they were more than a little drunk. Strange what a bunch of sad past partner stories could do to you.

"What about Truth or Dare?" suggested Jenny. Marley snorted. "What are we, five?"

Jenny blinked. I suddenly felt very angry and quite protective. "Well, Marley, if you don't have a little bit of a five year old in you, your existence must be very bleak. I think that's a great game. Come on, let's be immature again for one night!" Remus and Jenny agreed and drew their chairs closer. Sirius and Evelyn managed to sit straight, and Marley reluctantly climbed off James.

"Peter? Peter, we're going to play Truth or Dare now. Do you want to come closer?"

But Peter, it seemed, had passed out.

"Oh, well, he'll be fine." We decided to carry on without him. "Who'll start?"

We looked at each other (James carefully avoiding my gaze, of course). Finally, Jenny stretched out a tentative hand. Evelyn cheered and clapped her hands. "Good for you, Jens!" Right, I'm going to watch how much alcohol she consumes from now on.

Jenny scanned the room, before asking James, "Truth or Dare?"

"Why me? I don't feel like playing, actually."

"Oh, come now, Jamesie-boy!" cried Sirius, hiccupping like crazy. "Don't be such a spoilsport." I'll have to watch how much alcohol he consumes too.

James said nothing, but sat back and pursed his lips. "Truth."

"Okay… Name five items you would take to a deserted island."

He considered it for a while, scratching his chin. God, how I've missed that. He always scratches his chin when he's thinking. It had a little stubble, not a lot, but he wasn't extremely clean-shaven today. I looked away quickly, the nostalgia overwhelming me. "I'd take 'The Catcher in the Rye'…"

"The book?" interrupted Jenny. "I didn't know you read that!"

"That's my favorite book."

I knew that. He was always telling me about it in our Hogwarts days. He'd tell me his character analysis about Holden Caulfield and every scene depiction and who should be the main character if a movie came out. I knew that he'd say 'The Catcher in the Rye' when Jenny asked him that question.

"Um… I'd take my broomstick, my family photo album, a years' supply of chocolate frogs and fireworks."

"Why the fireworks?"

"So someone might see them and come rescue me."

Clever James. He thought of everything. I laughed silently when he said the chocolate frogs. They were his favorite. I always asked him why he especially liked them - he had everything from the card collection three times over. He told me it was the capture of the frogs, the quick snatch that enclosed the wriggling sweet in your palm. I didn't see how appealing that was, but I suppose it had something to do with him being a seeker.

"Right, my turn. Sirius!" James addressed his friend, now drunkenly lolling his head around Evelyn's shoulder. She was sleeping. "Truth or Dare?"

"What?" he asked groggily, opening one eye and attempting to sweep away his fringe. "Wazzamatter?"

"Truth or Dare! Come on! Your turn!"

"Ah… okay, dare."

James cracked a smile (and what a smile. It was something I hadn't seen in so long. I think my stomach melted into a warm puddle) and leaned forwards. "I dare you to owl your boss and tell him you got his daughter pregnant."

In his intoxicated state, Sirius sleepily nodded his head and plodded off in search of some parchment and ink. I sighed. "James, that's a bit mean, isn't it? He's quite drunk, he might lose his job!" Still not making eye contact with me, he said, "Relax. His boss doesn't even have a daughter."

Having scrawled a very ungainly note and attached it to some stray pigeon (I have no idea how he caught one in the first place), Sirius plodded back and threw himself on the couch. "Lily!" he exclaimed, "truth or dare?"

I looked up, startled. "Well, truth, I suppose."

"Sweetheart, this is boring, let's go," said Marley to James. Well, she was pretending to whisper into his ear, but it wasn't very discreet and everybody heard her. I shot her a glare. Really, this woman was very rude! He shook his head at her and she sat back down, pouting a little.

"Lily, Lily, Lily. Out of all the Marauders here, who would you kiss?" Very satisfied with his question, he snuggled further into Evelyn's neck. It was a good thing for him that she was in a semi-coma. Evelyn didn't like being touched very much.

But now I had bigger things to worry about. "Er… here?"

James finally looked at me, his warm hazel eyes eclipsing me, drowning me. I felt my heart give a jump. "Uh… uh… Peter!"

Peter was a safe bet. He was near dead anyway, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Thankfully, no one called me out on my (so apparent) lie. James looked away again. Marley, not really understanding the situation, tugged on James' arm. "Darling, what's wrong?"

There was an uncomfortable silence before he stood up. Marley tried to keep up in her three-inch heels. "I'd better go. It's getting late." He marched out, leaving his girlfriend to scramble for her coat and follow him. I was still sitting there, a little dumbfounded when Evelyn spoke, quite tipsily.

"Well, I don't like her. What was her name? Marley Ottoms? Her last name sounds like Bottoms." And with that, she fell back asleep.

AN: Wow! Look at this! I updated again! I think the more I work on this story, the more I like it. This was the first story I ever wrote, but I somehow still feel that connection and spark of creativity. My writing style has grown and the story has expanded incredibly. I'm having a lot of fun with it. I hope you are too.