103– Soirée
Lily Evans returned to the bustling, chattering common room Monday evening after spending the worst time with Severus in recent history.
It started out well enough. They were sitting by the lake that afternoon, chit chatting about odd potion ingredients and how people discovered their properties ("someone really looked at a mandrake and thought to themselves—'ah, yes. This screaming plant shall do nicely in my cure for conjunctivitis.'") and things were lovely. Almost like they were at their favorite park back home.
Then Avery and his goons showed up.
It wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Normal run of the mill teasing (though Mulciber did seemed extra creepy). Yet, it left her asking the question she'd been asking for ages —how could Severus hang round with Avery and his gang when they were so obviously bad news?
It was mild teasing and leering looks that day, yes. But then again, Severus was with her. How would they have treated her if she was alone?
"Sev, I just don't understand," she had told him as Avery stalked back to the castle, no doubt to prank some Hufflepuffs or something equally despicable. "They're just dreadful..."
Severus pursed his lips, watching them as they walked off as well. "Funny you find them so terrible when you'll hang about with Potter and his pathetic gang."
Lily repressed an eye roll. "Potter has absolutely nothing to do with this conversation, Sev."
"You're judging my friends—seems only fair that I judge yours as well."
"Your friends are bigoted toerags, Sev. And—and I'm not friends with-with Potter." She sounded more like a bratty toddler than she was aiming for. "Not like you are with Avery anyways!" she added.
Why had she said that? Why couldn't she just say she wasn't friends with Potter and left it at that?
Severus leapt on her words, scowling. "Potter is a swine—strutting through the castle like he owns it—"
"Oh, like Avery's any better—"
"—You shouldn't be friends with him at all!"
She stared at him for a beat then turned on her heel, stalking toward the castle, fuming.
"Lily—Lils, Wait!"
A hand clasped around her wrist and Lily whipped around to face him. "Don't touch me! And don't tell me what to do!"
He released her wrist immediately. "I—I wasn't—I didn't—"
"Yes you did! You always do this!" she said through her teeth, fists balled up. So many repressed feelings were bubbling up to the surface, burning her throat like acid. "You think you know everything that's best for me, tell me what to do, who I should be friends with—but anytime I try to talk to you about your friends you won't even listen—you turn it all on me and how I'm a horrible person for being friends with James when I hardly even see him! I'm sick of it, Sev! I'm not the bad guy here!"
"And I am?!"
"No, of course not! But Avery is! Reggie says that all he and his friends talk about is Dark Magic! They're all obsessed with it, Sev!" she said shrilly, gesturing at the direction Avery and his gang had stalked off. "Not to mention how they treat anyone who isn't pureblood—The names they call them! How can you be friends and not have it rub off on you!?"
"Because I'm not like them, Lily," he said, words cold and slicing. "I thought you of all people would know I'm swayed by the thoughts and opinions of those around me."
"Clearly."
Severus narrowed his eyes but his face paled.
Lily tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Clearly, nothing I say—none of my opinions are going to sway you—so how about we call it a day."
It was childish and immature, but she didn't wait for him to reply.
She simply stomped back up to the castle, ignoring his calls for her to stop.
Which was how she ended up standing in the bustling common room ready to do some aggressive cleaning in the girls dormitory. She learned after her fight with Petunia before Christmas that she needed healthy outlets for her anger, and it wouldn't hurt to scrub down the dormitory before summer; it seemed like a perfect plan.
Only thing standing in her way was James Potter.
Literally.
Instead of lounging by the fire with his friends, James had somehow appeared directly in Lily's path. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he ruffled the back of his hair with that infuriating crooked grin of his and said, "Hullo, Evans! How're you doing this fine—!"
"Move, Potter."
His face fell for a fraction of a second, then returned to his crooked grin. He took a minuscule step backwards.
"I said move."
He smirked then did what she guessed was a wiggling dance move (though it looked more like he had a billywig fly up his shirt), pushing his glasses up his nose.
She frowned with purpose. She refused to let him know that he looked the least bit adorable and goofy.
"Not a fan of that move, eh? Shall I try another?" he laughed, taking on a disco jig.
He looked absolutely ridiculous and it was getting harder to not smile.
Across the room, Finley Bell giggled at him. He flashed her a wink.
Finley blushed.
Lily suddenly found it much easier to scowl again.
James wasn't even paying attention when Lily shoved past him... but Adelaide was, and gave Lily an odd look from where she sat cuddled up at Sirius's side reading upon the loveseat. Naturally, this didn't improve Lily's mood.
She really needed to dust some banisters.
"Evans! Wait!" James had stopped flirting with Finley long enough to realize Lily was making headway toward the dormitory and clambered to stop her. Just a few more steps and she would have made it to the stairs and been in the clear, but he blocked her path. "You're not headed to bed already, are you?"
"No," she ground out, trying and failing to lunge past him.
"So you're coming tonight?"
"What?"
"Tonight? You're coming, right? Addy got these sweets that made your face turn into different animals—Peter ate two at once wound up—"
"What are you talking about?"
"The sweets? Addy had pugface send them in all the way from Bulgaria for the soirée—They're technically banned here but that's only because—"
Lily threw her head back in frustration.
The party.
The stupid end of term party he and his friends were throwing. How could she have forgotten? It's all anyone had been taking about for days.
"I'm not going to your stupid party, Potter."
"Soirée," he corrected.
She tried once again to shove past him, but he put his hands on either shoulder to stop her. "Let me go!"
"Wait... something's wrong..." He wasn't smiling anymore.
"Yes! You won't let me go!" She tried to get out of his grip but he wouldn't budge.
"No... something's actually wrong... did something happen?"
She stared him down. Angry at his powers of perception. Angry that he wouldn't let her go. Angry that he was prying into her life. Angry that his stupid eyelashes were so pretty. Angry that he had the audacity to be so concerned. "Don't you have a party to prepare for?" she spat.
"Soirée," James corrected once again. "And Remus has it covered—Lily, did something happen when you were with Snivellus?"
That horrible name was what gave her the strength she needed to free herself from his clutches. "Just leave me alone!" she demanded, stomping up the stairs.
"Reg, you have to go."
Regulus lazily lowered the book he was reading to peer over the top at his intruder. "No, I don't."
Evan's eyes were more green than blue in the hazy light of Slytherin dormitory, steps purposeful as he approached the bed. "But I need you there—"
"You're a big boy, Rosier," said Regulus, raising the book to its original state. "I'm sure you'll manage well enough on your own—"
Evan yanked the book out of his hands, snapping it shut without marking his page.
"Hey!"
"Addy invited both of us!" Evan said, raising the book up in the air.
Regulus leaned back against the headboard to sulk. "Yeah... well we both know you're just going to run off to try to snog Mary first chance you get... which leaves me where? Alone to deal with a bunch of nosey, obnoxious Gryffindors? No, thank you."
Of course, that was only part of the truth. What Regulus didn't say—what Evan didn't need to know—was that he was afraid he would run into Marlene... No. Not afraid. Excited. But that was even worse.
Fortunately, the 'snogging Mary' comment did its job and left Evan a sputtering, incoherent mess. "I won't—I haven't—she isn't—I—Ugh! Black, go to the bloody party with me!"
"No can do, cousin. Ask Madge."
"Already did," Evan grumbled. "Said she'd only go to the party if you did—"
"Party?" sneered a voice from the door. "What party?"
Michael Avery walked in flanked by Ugly One and Ugly Two (Aka Mulciber and Wilkes), fresh from jinxing some Hufflepuff first years.
Regulus clenched his jaw. "Need something, Avery?"
Avery smiled unpleasantly, glaring down his pointed nose at their empty dormitory while his friends lurked beside him (Mulciber did his best to avoid eye contact with Evan). "Looking for Charles, seen him around anywhere?"
"No... Probably caught one whiff of you lot and ran off," Regulus said cooly. "Smart lad."
"You better watch your tongue, Black," Avery said, eyes flashing.
If Avery wanted to fight, so be it. Regulus would have loved an excuse to hex his nose into a carrot. "Or what? You'll sic your stupid friends after me? Tattle-tale to the Dark Lord that I was mean to you—?"
"You insolent little—"
"Alright, mates. That's enough," Evan said, standing between them.
Avery's lip curled, breaths heavy as he looked between Regulus and Evan.
Avery acted tough, but at the end of the day, no one messed with Evan. Why? Regulus didn't know for sure, but he suspected Evan possessed some highly incriminating blackmail on Avery and his goons. After a few moments, Avery swung the door open and stomped out, muttering curses under his breath with a rattled Wilkes close behind.
Mulciber hung back, leering at Evan. "Have fun with your slag girlfriend tonight, Rosier—"
"Ten points from Slytherin," Evan said without missing a beat, face stone cold like cut marble—if marble could have a tan, that was.
Mulciber's eyebrows shot up and he opened his mouth. "You can't—"
"I can, actually. Do you want to make it twenty?" Evan challenged.
Mulciber wanted Slytherin to win the cup as much as anyone and stormed out of the dormitory, even more upset than Avery.
When they were gone, Regulus snatched his book out of Evan's hands when he wasn't looking. "You should've hexed him for talking about Mary like that."
"Yeah, and make her even more of a target?" Evan said, taking a seat on the bed. "Bad enough everyone thinks we're dating."
"Aren't you though?" Regulus smirked.
Evan's face colored a bit. "I told you we're just friends."
"Friends who want to snog each-other."
"And you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"
Regulus's stomach flipped. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Evan studied the bed hangings. "I know I'm an idiot and all... but you're my best mate—you really think I haven't noticed?"
Regulus's was mildly worried that his heart had skipped a beat, but he kept his cool. "Noticed what?"
"You keep disappearing all hours of the night... get all moony eyed every time you look at the Gryffindor table... and now you're avoiding this party like you're afraid you'll get dragon pox or something."
He knew nothing. There was no way he could know. But when in doubt, deny everything. "Listen, I don't know what you think is going on, Ev, but I promise it's not what you think."
Evan finally turned to face him, frowning. "So, there's nothing going on between you and a certain off-limits Gryffindor?"
Regulus shook his head, trying to keep his face impassive. "Nope."
Evan didn't believe him. "Then there's no real reason why you can't come to the party tonight."
"Other than the fact that I don't want to?"
"That one doesn't count."
Regulus rolled his eyes. "You're sure Madge is going?"
"As long as you do."
Regulus had a feeling he was going to regret his next words. "Fine—if Madge is there I'll go—but you owe me, Rosier!"
"This—was supposed to be—a Soirée! A small—formal—gathering!" James cried out later that evening over the booming music. "Who even are these people?!"
Mary popped a fudge fly in her mouth and surveyed the crowd of people.
Apparently, word of the game night soirée had reached far beyond the original guest list—which was large to begin with. Students from most of the upper years and nearly every house had somehow snuck in through an open window and were all going absolutely bananas in the Marauders Dormitory. Though, by first glance, you might not have known it was the boys' dormitory.
Some mad genius had cast an illegal extension charm on the room (probably Sirius) and all around there were 'refreshments' some older kids brought in and muggle board games. The walls and ceiling were decorated with twinkling fairy lights, disco balls, streamers, balloons, piñatas filled with contraband candy, and great billowing scarlet drapes that Mary was sure were actually bed hangings. It was festive, sure, but it had the uncoordinated, chaotic aesthetic which screamed that it had been decorated by boys. A girl, especially one with Adelaide's artistic eye, would have stuck to a single theme, and perhaps added some flowers.
Actually, flowers might have been a nice touch—maybe it would have covered the stench of body odor and firewhiskey.
Mary stood on her tiptoes to get a better view. "Mmm... Well Peter's over there eating brownies with Davey and Jack—and there's Blair with Benji... snogging, of course—and I think that's Amelia with Remus dancing in the conga line—pretty sure she came with her brother and that annoying girl, Annabelle..."
"See Lily anywhere?" he asked, squinting around the room. He was a little taller than her, and thus had a better view, but the disco ball caused a glare in his glasses.
"No..." she said, eating another fudge fly. "But she might be waiting for Marlene."
James frowned, side stepping a cocker spaniel sized elephant wearing a Greek helmet with blue plumage. It came trumpeting between their legs, galloping toward the fondu fountain.
"Anyone else we know?" he asked, stealing one of her fudge flies.
Mary smirked. "Well... of course there's Gaspard Shingleton."
James sighed dramatically then stole some more fudge flies and shoved them in his mouth. "You invited him, didn't you?"
Mary laughed. "Last night of the bet, Potter, can you blame me? I invited Finley too, just for good measure."
James's eyes brightened, looking around the room. "Finley's here?"
Something about his enthusiasm for the Gryffindor seeker annoyed Mary, but she didn't have time to dwell on why. Her eye caught on a group of people across the room. "Well shite on a stick... how'd they get in?"
"Who—" James followed her gaze. "Oh boy..."
Toward the back of the magically gigantifide dormitory, between the monopoly table and butterbeer tree, were a few of the most unwelcome guests: Lydia Green and Michael Avery, with Wilkes and Mulciber lurking behind.
"Think they came together?" James asked.
"Ick! As if! Lydia's probably stalking Sirius!"
James's head swiveled in every direction, brows furrowed. "Where is Sirius?"
"Last I saw, he and Addy were cuddled up in the corner reading those muggle jewelry books ," she said quickly.
James looked as if he had been slapped.
"What?" Mary bristled.
"I cannot believe you just called 'Lord of the Rings' 'Those Muggle Jewelry Books'...it's... it's blasphemy."
"You're such a nerd." Mary rolled her eyes. "Look, we need get Avery and them out of here before—"
"Potts!" squealed a girl behind them. Mary turned and saw a slender third year girl, not much taller than Adelaide. She had dirty blonde hair, wide set brown eyes, and an upturned nose running towards them, plastic cup sloshing something amber and sticky onto the floor. She was wearing a short, red tartan dress and teetered in platform heels.
"Great party!" she laughed, placing a hand on James's arm for balance.
"Soirée," Mary corrected flatly.
James smiled back, looking stupider than usual. "Thanks, Finley," he chuckled, using his other hand to muss up the back of his hair and scratch his neck.
Finley kept smiling at him then must have realized Mary was there too. "Oh! Hey McDonald! Having fun?" she giggled.
Mary half-heartedly forced a smile. "Loads." It would have been more fun if Evan hadn't been taking his dear sweet time getting there... but that would have been a downer to say.
Finley turned back to James. Her hand was still on his arm. "Um... well I just wanted to say great job... with all this, you know... it's amazing."
The ego boost improved James's posture. "Thanks, but it wasn't all me... you know... the guys and... and Addy, of course..."
Finley was craning her neck up at him, hanging on to every word he said—though she might have just been having trouble hearing him over the music blasting. A new song began and she squealed, spilling her drink again. "Oh! I love this song! Bye bye baby! Baby goodbye!" She sang loudly and off key, shaking her hips with her eyes closed, really feeling the music... then she pulled James away and into the crowd. "Come on, Potts! Dance with me!"
"Oh—I—Uh—okay, yeah—" he replied intelligently.
"Wait! Jamie! What about Avery?!" Mary called, but Finley had already drug him out of ear shot into the mosh pit. She sighed, placing the bag of fudge flies on some random table. "I guess I'll just have to deal with the rodent infestation myself..."
"I thought this was supposed to be a glorified game night?" Madge yelled over the music as Regulus helped her climb off the broom and through the tower window.
"It was—Is—"
"Then why are there so many people?!"
"How should I know?!" he said just as a Ravenclaw girl in his year ran right into him, giggling and getting sticky punch all over his jacket. "Oi! Watch it!"
The girl flipped him off and ran off to her friends.
This was a mistake.
"We should find Mary," Evan said. "I told her I'd be here an hour ago."
Madge teased Evan about how all the prime snogging spots were probably taken as they made their way towards the middle for a better vantage point.
That's when Regulus saw her.
Not Mary, but another girl who practically glowed in the light of the sparkling disco chandelier.
Marlene.
She was wearing a blue dress—she always looked really good in blue—and her honey blond hair was different, fancier, and she was wearing a lot more make up than usual but it looked good. And to make everything worse, she was smiling. She was so pretty it was almost unbearable.
Then she disappeared... hand in hand with Hufflepuff, Edgar Bones...
"There's, Lupin!" Madge said loudly. "In the conga line! If we hurry we can see if he knows where she is!"
"Who?" Regulus said.
"Mary!" Madge replied as if he was an idiot. "Come on!"
This was a mistake.
Lily didn't know what she expected when she walked into the boys' dormitory that night. Perhaps she thought she'd see Adelaide and Sirius bickering/snogging over monopoly, or Mary and Peter with the faces of koalas or Turtles from Adelaide's weird foreign candies, or maybe James and Remus pigging out on butterbeer and Jack's special brownies— something sensible.
She didn't know she would be stepping into utter chaos.
There were an impossible amount of people— students from nearly every house, all dressed to the nines and bumbling around to muggle pop music imitating from where Remus's bed should have been.
And there she was. Standing in her pink nightgown and favorite deer socks holding James's patched up wool blanket.
The blanket was only an excuse. Truth be told, she felt bad about how she'd treated James earlier. He was only trying to be nice and she didn't like the idea of leaving things on a bad note between them. The plan was to apologize and return the blanket then go back to her newly spotless dorm... Okay and maybe she would stay chat with him for a little bit... maybe... and just for a little bit... out of politeness.
Unfortunately, this looked like it was going to be a lot harder than expected.
She clutched the blanket to her chest and tried to weave her way through the crowd towards the back of the room. If she could just find his bed, maybe she could shove it in his trunk and leave a note. Problem was, she couldn't find his bed or his trunk... or the back of the room for that matter.
The extension charm had her all out of sorts and the constant barrage of people ramming into her, stepping on her toes, and spilling drinks didn't help. Before long she was shoved into a mosh pit, using the blanket to bump people away from her.
"Lily? Lily!" someone called.
Lily looked around helplessly for the source, but only ended up getting stepped on.
"Ow!"
"Lily! I didn't know you were—what the hell are you wearing?!" Marlene shouted, aghast... and also hand in hand with Edgar Bones.
Odd.
Was he her mystery lad?
"I—I'm not staying!" Lily said whilst Marlene led them out of the mosh pit towards a less crowded spot near an abandoned bag of fudge flies.
Marlene's eyes scanned all over Lily in that analyzing way of hers, stopping on the blanket. "Why do you have a blanket?"
"Maybe she was—" Edgar began.
Marlene cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Shut up, Ed. Lils, what's up with the blanket? You realize this isn't a slumber party right—Edgar, shut up."
"I didn't even say anything!"
"You were thinking it. And it was gross."
Edgar looked equal parts abashed and impressed. "Maybe I should go grab us a drink?"
Marlene hardly looked at him, waving him off with a "yeah, yeah... sure," still trying to solve the puzzle of Lily's odd party attire.
Surely this couldn't be the same boy who wrote her sweet notes and made her blush...
"What are you doing with Edgar?" Lily asked.
Marlene's eyes flickered away, the way they sometimes did when she was hiding something... "I—he—I was—" she stammered then stopped abruptly. Her eyes narrowed on something behind Lily. "Better question is... what the hell is Potter doing with her?"
Confused, Lily turned.
Then her stomach sank.
James.
She finally found James.
Only... he was with Finley Bell.
Dancing.
They were dancing.
Dancing closely.
He and Finley were so close together they almost looked like they were...
No.
Not almost.
They were.
They were snogging.
Snogging and dancing.
James and Finley.
The blanket fell to the floor.
And Lily ran.
"Stupid effing boys..." Marlene muttered savagely, elbowing her way through the crowded party with practiced efficiency. She approached the two people she'd been searching for. "Oi! Love birds!"
They both turned, eyes glossed over and lost and trying to piece together what was going on outside of their little worlds.
Sirius was the first to speak, not even bothering to close his book. "Need something Marls?"
Adelaide re-adjusted from where she was tucked cozily against his side. How and why those two could possibly be calmly reading their stupid books in the midst of the wildest party of the school year was a mystery to her.
"I need you to talk some sense to your idiot of a best mate," Marlene began, jabbing an accusatorial finger at Sirius before turning on Adelaide. "And I need you to talk to Lily."
Adelaide sat up, neatly placing a bookmark between her pages. Sirius sat up as well, sloppily dog-earring his own. His utter disrespect towards books made Marlene nauseated.
"What's he done this time?" Sirius sighed, tossing both their books over to his bed.
Marlene opened her mouth, drew breath, and was about to relate Potter's idiocy in graphic detail when another, out of breath voice interrupted her.
"Addy! There you are—been looking—everywhere!" the person wheezed.
Marlene's head whipped towards them at the same time Adelaide spoke, "Reggie? You alright?"
"Looks like someone should be doing more sprints during Quidditch practice," Sirius sniggered under his breath.
Regulus shot him a rather rude hand gesture, his other hand rested on his knees as he caught his breath. "I know it must be difficult, but could you please stop being an arsehole for two seconds and—" His words faltered when he noticed who was standing beside him.
At first he seemed pleasantly bemused, then a thought flashed in his eyes and he stood up straight, holding himself too rigidly. Face impassive. "McKinnon."
Marlene straighten her posture as well, remembering to when she saw him arrive—with Madge freaking Farley, of all people. "Black."
He didn't reply.
He didn't look away.
And never one to be beaten, neither did Marlene.
This silent staring match went on for an embarrassing about of time.
"Okaaayyyy... so this is totally not awkward at all..." Sirius said gulping down some drink out of a cup. Probably alcoholic, judging by the weird face he made afterwords. Funny... Marlene never saw him as the drinking type.
Adelaide frowned, first at him, taking the cup away and putting it on the floor (he didn't seem all that disappointed), then at Marlene and Regulus. She looked like a tiny disappointed parent. "What do you need, Reggie?"
"Help finding Mary."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Shes probably off with Evan—"
Regulus shook his head. "She's not. Evan can't find her and now he's convinced something's happened to her."
"Maybe she went to bed?" said Adelaide.
"This early?" Sirius said. "Have you talked to James? They were hanging out earlier maybe he—"
"I know for a fact she isn't with Potter," Marlene said, words sharp.
Regulus, for the briefest moment seemed concerned, but then turned back to Adelaide and Sirius. "She's right. He wasn't with her—I tried to talk to him but he was... well..."
"Preoccupied?" Marlene supplied.
"Drunk," Regulus corrected.
Adelaide's eyes just about popped out of her head. Marlene thought it might have been a trick of the light, but she swore the cup Sirius had been drinking before disappeared from the floor with a flex of her little hand.
Sirius seemed only slightly more composed. "Sorry? He's what?"
"Pissed drunk," Regulus explained matter-of-factly. "Kept laughing like a nutter—could hardly have a conversation at all."
Sirius ran a hand through his hair. "Shit..."
"Well that would explain why he had his tongue down Finley Bell's throat earlier," Marlene added airily. Just like Potter to get himself plastered and turn into a total slut...
Sirius groaned as if the very thought of his best mate making a fool of himself brought him physical pain.
Adelaide looked similarly dismayed, though more disgusted. Then Marlene's previous words sunk in. "Oh no... Lily... Marls, please tell me Lily didn't—didn't see him..." She couldn't even finish the sentence.
Marlene rolled her eyes. "Okay, she didn't see him snogging Finley senseless then run away."
"Really?"
"No! Jesus! I thought you were smart! She saw the whole thing then bolted back to the dorms! That's why you need to pause book club and go talk to her!"
"Look, no disrespect to Lily, but I think she can handle herself," Regulus said impatiently. "I'm really worried about Mary. She was so excited about seeing Evan and it doesn't seem right that she'd disappear..."
Sirius frowned. "Have you talked to Remus? What about Peter?"
"Peter's been eating Jack's brownies with Davey..." Adelaide said, mostly to Sirius. "I doubt either of them could tell the difference between a unicorn from a donkey right now..."
"Do all of your friends have substance abuse problems?" Regulus's said, shaking his head.
Sirius tightened his jaw. "Have you talked to Remus?"
"Madge did," Regulus replied. Marlene crossed her arms over her chest. "He said he saw her headed towards the butterbeer tree, which we checked, of course, but she wasn't there."
"Look, Reggie... I know Evan's worried and all... but I'm sure Mary's fine," Adelaide said calmly, coming off a little patronizing. "She's got a lot of friends in other houses and she loves stuff like this. She's probably off mingling or whatever. She'll turn up eventually..." She began getting up. "But we need to deal with James before he screws up anymore."
"Sirius can deal with James. You need to talk to Lily," Marlene said.
Adelaide frowned. "You were there? Why haven't you gone and talked to her?"
Marlene hesitated and the Black brothers looked intrigued. Well, Sirius did. Regulus looked grumpy. She didn't enjoy admitting weakness... especially in front of an audience, but she was really backed into a corner here. "I—I don't do pep-talks, Ads. I'm not... I'm not good with that stuff."
"She's right. She's rubbish," Sirius said with a knowing nod, probably thinking back to all the times he'd talked to her about his crush on Adelaide.
He was right of course, but Marlene rose her chin in pride. "Yet, was I ever wrong in my advice?"
"No," he said easily. "You were just scary when you gave it. Addy, you're better with heartbreak."
"Gee thanks," she laughed awkwardly. "Okay... fine... So I'll go explain to Lily that James screwed up. Make sure she doesn't start obsessively scrubbing the ceiling again. And Sirius, you'll deal with James—"
"But what about Mary!" Regulus interrupted. "Ads, I have a bad feeling that something—"
"I know, but I'm sure she's fine," Adelaide insisted. Regulus frowned and she spoke again before he could protest. "But I'll look for her when I go after Lily, alright?"
Regulus hesitated... then begrudgingly nodded.
Sirius quickly went off in the direction Regulus had last seen James, giggling and charming herd of miniature elephants, and Adelaide to the girls' dormitory.
Leaving Regulus and Marlene alone.
There must have been a charm around that area of the room to keep the party noise from disturbing Adelaide and Sirius's reading... because it was quiet.
Eerily and awkwardly quiet.
Marlene wanted to leave... every fiber of her being screamed to get away from the uncomfortable position she'd found herself in... but she also wanted answers...
Well, mostly she wanted to know why the hell he was with Madge.
Ultimately though, Regulus was the first to speak.
"I'd ask you to help me look for Mary," he began, not meeting her eyes. "But I'm sure you have to get back to your... date."
Marlene rounded to face him fully. "My what?"
He rolled his eyes bitterly. "I saw you with Edgar."
Marlene laughed... perhaps a little too loudly... verging on hysteric. "That creep cling-on is not my date! But it shouldn't matter to you if he was—you've got Farley after all—"
"Madge?! You think—Madge?! Merlin!" He threw his hands in the air. "I told you she's my friend, Marlene. Just my friend!"
"And yet you came here with her."
"Yeah, so I'd have someone to hang out with when Evan ditched me for Mary—Which, he has thus far been unable to do since she's missing!"
Marlene ignored the latter half of his sentence. "You knew I'd be here."
"Yeah, which is why I almost didn't come."
It felt like a punch to the gut. She turned around before she made even more of an idiot out of herself.
Regulus caught her by the wrist, hand gently tugging her back, his skin burning against hers. "I—I didn't mean it like that... I just... I meant that I knew I'd see you here... and if I didn't have someone else to hang out with I'd probably end up finding you..."
"Oh, wow. That makes me feel so much better. Thanks for clarifying."
He ran a hand over his face. "I meant that I wanted to see you. I wanted to hang out with you... but I knew that it would be a bad idea... and I didn't want to embarrass you by outing that—that we—you know..."
"Snogged?"
His face turned a little pink, but he didn't break eye-contact, wordlessly conveying that it had been more than just a couple of random snogs.
They meant something.
The two of them were something.
Which was the embarrassing part.
For both of them.
"Okay, so you're saying is that you brought Madge as what? Marlene Repellent?" she said grumpily. She realized how silly she sounded the second the words left her mouth.
The corners of his mouth twitched.
Then her mouth twitched.
Then he snorted.
Then she laughed.
And within seconds they were both laughing at the pure ridiculousness that was that night.
"So, was Edgar your Regulus Repellent?" he asked, still trying to calm his guffaw.
She shrugged. "I suppose. I saw you with her and he'd been stalking me so I just rolled with it. He's a total creep though, no competition there."
Regulus raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize I was competing."
She smiled coyly. "They never do..."
He laughed and playfully nudged her shoulder. And just like that, they were back to normal. Back to how they were when they were at their best. Laughing. Joking. Comfortable.
Then he sighed, plopping himself down on the love seat where Adelaide and Sirius had been curled up. It was so out of the way of the rest of the party, probably by design, that no one took any notice.
He patted the space beside him and without so much as a backwards glance, Marlene sat, pressed cozily against his side.
They were so cliche that it normally would make her hurl, but at that moment, she couldn't find a single reason against being at his side.
A small voice in the back of her skull whispered that it was her last chance for a long time to enjoy having him alone and beside her. Might as well make the most of it.
"I'm still worried about Mary," he said quietly, hand somehow intertwining in hers.
"I gathered that. But you know Mary can handle herself—"
He sighed deeply, brows furrowing.
Marlene squeezed his hand. "Unless there's something else that you're not telling me..."
He looked uncomfortable.
Like he had a secret begging to be let out.
"There is something else," she stated. "Regulus, what happened?"
"It's—it's probably nothing..." he said quickly. "But I think Avery overheard about us going to the party... and then Mulciber said something... about Mary... and now she's missing and... I've just got a bad feeling about the whole thing."
Marlene's stomach sank. "You think they crashed the party? That they would what?—prank her?"
Regulus looked uncomfortable again. "Not Avery—he only cares about Addy... but Mulciber... he—well he's a creepy bloke. I don't trust him. I just thought after Evan yelled at him he'd—"
"Rosier yelled at him?!"
Regulus looked up. "He slammed him against the wall and called him inbred scum when he said he was going to make a move on her."
Marlene let out a breath. Who knew Rosier had it in him?
"Though, I'd probably do worse if he talked that way about you," Regulus added.
"Am I supposed to find your hypothetical violence romantic?" she scoffed, playing with his fingers.
He raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"
"Absolutely."
He laughed then he sighed.
Marlene met his eyes, cool grey in the illuminating light of the reading lamp, hovering over them. "You really think something's happened?"
He gulped. "I do."
Marlene heaved a great sigh then hoisted herself up from the loveseat, away from his warmth, and reached out a hand. "Well then let's go track her down, Snakey."
"Lils?" Adelaide said, creaking the girls' dormitory door open.
Lily was on the newly waxed floor, still wearing her pink nightgown, auburn hair up in a messy bun with tendrils falling in her face. She was furiously scrubbing Adelaide's trunk with a toothbrush. Better than the ceiling, Adelaide thought.
"Lily?" she said once more, approaching calmly and sitting down beside her on the floor.
Lily didn't look up, but she did frown, scrubbing becoming more aggressive.
"Lily, are you alright?" Adelaide asked. It was a stupid question, but what else was she supposed to say? "Lily? Are you terribly heartbroken and ready to admit you fancy James?"
Lily paused scrubbing for a moment, then continued. "I'm fine, thank you, Addy."
She sounded so eerily calm. Her voice didn't match her outward state in the least.
"So you're not... upset?" Adelaide asked, eying the toothbrush carefully.
Lily let out a humorless laugh. "Oh, I'm upset alright."
Okay... they were making some progress.
Adelaide scooted closer. "Wanna talk about it?"
"Nothing to say, really," Lily frowned. "It's the same fight we always have. I'll get over it."
Now, Adelaide couldn't be certain, but she was reasonably sure Lily and James hadn't fought about him kissing another girl before... unless they had some secret disagreement when he fake dated Marlene earlier that year.
"I know it doesn't make it any better..." Adelaide began, "but Reggie said he was drunk... I doubt it meant anything."
Now Lily looked up. She didn't seem like she was about to cry or anything... so that was good. But she did have a hardness to her eyes, a stubborn willfulness that Adelaide didn't often see. "Severus was drunk?"
Adelaide blinked. "What?"
"You said he was drunk."
"Yeah... James..."
Lily acted as if the name had no meaning to her then went back to scrubbing. "Oh, I was talking about Severus... Your trunk is really filthy, Ads... Why is your trunk so filthy?"
Adelaide didn't think her trunk was filthy in the slightest. "Lily, I talked to Marls. I know you saw James and Finley."
"Lovely."
She didn't sound sarcastic. She sounded like she was trying to politely end the conversation.
"Lils... it's okay if you're upset."
"Why would I be upset?" Lily said evenly, though her hands seemed to grip the toothbrush a little tighter, going after a rusted metal edge of Adelaide's trunk. "Potter is a single teenage boy and at perfect liberty to kiss whomever he pleases. Finley is a sweet girl and she obviously thinks the world of him. I have no reason to be upset."
Adelaide sighed. "You have a reason, Lils... you know you have."
"I don't."
"You fancy him."
Lily froze and Adelaide briefly wondered if she'd pushed things too far. Lily wasn't the type to hex people... but everyone had their days.
"Are you worried about going back home?" Lily asked, changing the subject entirely. Adelaide noticed that she didn't deny that she fancied him.
"A little," Adelaide answered truthfully. "You?"
Lily snorted in a very un-Lily way. "No. Petunia has a new boyfriend... At least that's what mum said. She'll be gone a lot, I suppose."
Adelaide nodded and tucked her hair behind her ears, unsure of what to say. Why had Marlene made her come up here? Why did they think she was good at this stuff? She felt useless.
"I know you're worried," Lily blurted out. "But I'm really—I'm really fine with—with James, you know."
Adelaide peered up at Lily—she was finally looking at her properly.
"It's okay if you aren't," she said softly.
Lily blinked rapidly, eyes watering, but she seemed to have swallowed down the tears. "It was... unexpected... seeing them... but not, at the same time."
Adelaide didn't say anything, but she did scoot closer, listening carefully.
"I knew she fancied him... it's obvious... and I knew he liked the attention... or maybe her... and I was awful to him tonight... I'm always so awful to him... so I really shouldn't be—I shouldn't care if he— I don't don't have a right to be—to be—"
"Jealous?" Adelaide supplied.
Lily grimaced and threw the toothbrush across the room, making it ping against Mary's trunk and clatter onto the wooden floors. "He's awful! I don't want to—I didn't know I—I..."
"You didn't know how much you cared about him until now...?" Adelaide said.
Lily looked as if she was physically in pain and Adelaide really wanted to hug her. But Lily was also a tad violent at the moment. Maybe not the best time.
"He constantly pranks and belittles my best friend. What kind of sick person gets feelings for someone like that?"
Adelaide wanted to say something about how her 'best friend' was a sketchy piece of shit. But that wouldn't help matters. "People aren't all good and all bad, Lils. Yes, James is an idiot. He does stupid stuff for stupid reasons, tonight being case in point. But he's also a really sweet, kind person and a loyal friend... and I'm not just saying that because he's my honorary big brother."
Lily ran her hands through her hair, which made it look more messy than before.
Adelaide continued. "And I don't know what happened tonight... But I promise he doesn't fancy Finley..."
Lily laughed a hollow humorless laugh. "You didn't see them."
Adelaide shook her head. "I didn't have to. I know James. He's obsessed with you. It's borderline creepy. He wouldn't move on that fast."
"Finley's really nice."
"So are you," Adelaide said.
Lily frowned. "Finley's really nice and it only makes me more upset. If she was awful and snobby then I could feel justified wanting to claw her eyes out... but she's really sweet. It just makes it worse..."
"You know if you said the word, James would drop Finley in a heartbeat and be yours, right?"
That didn't seem to make Lily feel any better. The opposite really. "James doesn't know me, Addy. He likes the idea of me. He's obsessed with who he thinks I am... he wants to date the perfect version of me in his head... not me."
"That's why you have to talk to him... let him get to actually know you..."
Lily rubbed her face in her hands. "Ads... I appreciate you coming to check on me... but I'd really like to be alone now..."
"But—"
"Please?"
Adelaide glanced over at the abandoned toothbrush. "Only if you promise to stop stress cleaning."
Lily laughed, for real this time. "Deal."
Adelaide stood, reaching a hand to help Lily just as the door creaked open.
For a split second, Adelaide wondered if perhaps James had come up to apologize, but then she saw the sandy hair, amber eyes, freckled face.
"Remus?" she said, sharing a puzzled glance at Lily. How did he even get up there?
He looked highly uncomfortable, fiddling with his brown knitted jumper. "Um... Ads... you need to come back... We—we found Mary..."