Saturday, October 22, 1977
"It's perfect flying weather," James announced, turning to gaze out the window at the crisp, breezy October sunshine.
"Is it?" Lily said without looking up from her book. "Go ahead if you like. I don't mind. Or I can come sit out there and try to read while you distract me with your impressive Quidditch skills."
She sat with her legs curled up under her and her hair falling into her face, and James watched her for a moment, smiling at the way she dogeared her pages and used bits of parchment to mark her favorite parts. Sometimes he caught himself staring at her this way and had to tear his gaze away before she noticed, because he wasn't sure he could explain how much he enjoyed observing her habits, watching her do simple, everyday things, without sounding like a complete lunatic. So instead he pretended that he wasn't enthralled by the way she held a quill or the almost tangible force of her glare as she read The Daily Prophet or the involuntary exclamation of glee she made when she found a grass flavored Bertie Botts after a long search, that these small details did not make him fall even more in love with her.
"I was thinking I could take you for a ride, actually," he said, disentangling his arm from around her shoulders so he could stand up. "So you can experience my impressive Quidditch skills instead of just observing, you know?"
She looked up from her book and frowned. "I'm not sure I like that idea. It was scary enough riding Sirius's motorbike."
"Don't lie, Evans, you loved my motorbike," Sirius said, lifting his head to peer at her from his position on the floor. "You said so yourself. Unless that was only because it gave you an excuse to get handsy with me."
Lily rolled her eyes. "You wish, Black." She folded the corner of her page and set her book on the arm of the chair, then fixed James with a dubious stare. "Will you go slow?"
James grinned and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll start slow, but you can't really get the full experience if I go slow the whole time. Don't worry, you'll be perfectly safe." He held out a hand and raised his eyebrows. "Come on, Evans, I think you'll really like it. Don't you trust me?"
"All right, fine." She sighed and allowed him to pull her to her feet. "But if I fall off and die, you have to break the news to my parents and tell them my tragic demise was entirely your fault."
"Oh, relax, I'm not going to let you fall off," James said, lacing his fingers through hers. "Give me some credit, will you?" He turned to the rest of the group. "Any of you want to come down and watch Evans have the time of her life?"
"I'm going to stay here and finish the game, but good luck, Lily," Remus said. "You're in good hands." He studied the chess board in front of him and moved one of his pawns before adding, "I think I might actually have a chance to beat Wormtail for once."
Peter laughed as he watched Remus make his move. "That's what you think," he said as his mouth turned up into that infuriating smirk he always wore before checkmating one of them.
"I don't want to move," Sirius said. "I'm far too comfortable."
"Strange what you consider to be comfortable," Mary remarked, gesturing at Sirius's legs resting against the side of the chair while the rest of his body lay sprawled across the floor. "I think I'll stay here, too. Give you two some time alone." She glanced at Sirius and smirked before returning to the magazine spread open on the arm of her chair.
"If you're suggesting we're going to shag while on broomstick, I have to say that even I'm not skilled enough for that," James said, grinning and waving as he led Lily out of the common room and towards the Quidditch pitch.
Once they had retrieved his broom, James noticed Lily's smile falter as a tiny crease appeared between her brows.
"You don't need to be nervous," he said, leaning in to kiss her. "I won't let anything happen to you." Despite the bright sunshine and the distinct lack of real danger, his words had weight to them, and he knew as soon as he'd spoken that the sentiment was not just a trivial, throwaway comment, but a promise he would keep no matter what the cost. He thought Lily sensed this too, because the hesitation left her eyes and the smile returned to her face.
"All right," she said, squeezing his hand. "I trust you. I'm sure this won't be a complete disaster, even though I haven't flown a broom since those flying lessons during first year."
"It's going to be great." He mounted his broom then indicated for her to sit behind him. "Just hang onto me."
She climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You've imagined this about a hundred times, haven't you?"
He laughed, because he had, in fact, pictured this exact moment countless times: the expression of nervous hesitation on her face, the warmth of her fingers resting on his waist, the familiar feel of the broomstick under them. Nothing gave him that rush of pure, unbridled joy quite like flying, and he had always longed to share this with Lily (and her body pressed so close to his was a nice bonus).
"Maybe," he admitted, turning around to grin at her before facing front again and kicking off from the ground.
His spirits soared as his stomach gave that familiar leap, and he couldn't help but smile when he heard Lily give a little gasp. As promised, he took it slow for the first few minutes, steering them in a slow circle around the pitch and pausing to glance back at Lily to ensure she wasn't in a state of complete panic. When she was brave enough to remove her hand from his waist to give him a thumbs up, he took this as a good sign and increased their speed, then brought them into an incline before diving down and pulling up straight again.
"James!" Lily shrieked, tightening her grip on his waist, but when he turned around he saw she was smiling despite her protests. "At least warn me before you do stuff like that!"
"But that would ruin the fun," he said before flying up into the air again and going into an even steeper dive.
After a few more dives and squeals of fear and exhilaration from Lily, James steered them away from the Quidditch pitch and towards the castle. They swooped past the library window, making faces at the students inside, then hovered outside Flitwick's office and tapped on the glass, flying away laughing before he could see who had disturbed him. James headed for Gryffindor Tower and pulled up outside the common room, then pressed his face against the window and made faces until Lily stopped laughing long enough to scold him. After that they flew away from the castle and circled the lake, dropping low until their feet almost skimmed the water, then darting back up again to head for the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He stopped for a moment in midair and turned around to see if Lily looked nervous or bored, but her face was lit with joy, so he turned them around and went towards Hogsmeade. They soared over the little village, dipping low to spin the hippogriff-shaped weathervane on one of the cottages, then leaving the village behind to fly to the top of the mountain that overlooked Hogsmeade. As the wind tugged at their hair and the sun warmed their faces, James felt Lily's arms wrapped around him and experienced a moment of pure contentment and joy. He slowed down and hovered in midair, then turned around to face Lily, grinning.
"What are you doing?" she asked. The wind had tousled her hair, and her voice had lost the tense, nervous quality.
"This," he murmured, leaning in to kiss her. After so many years of Quidditch training, he could control his broom without holding on, and this left his hands free for other purposes. His touch must have made Lily bolder, because she relaxed her grip on his waist and let her hands trail lower. Neither of them noticed the broom moving until they lurched to one side and James had to jerk it upright and grab Lily's hand to steady her.
"Merlin, James!" Lily said, pressing herself even tighter against him. "Did you mean to do that?"
James laughed and began to head back towards the castle. "No, I was just a bit distracted, that's all. You were making it hard to concentrate on flying," he said, glancing back at her with a smirk.
She grinned back. "I suppose that's what we get for trying to snog in midair."
"It's still better than that time we went sledding and Sirius and Mary crashed into a tree because they were too busy snogging to pay attention," James said, laughing at the memory. "Bloody hell, I laughed so hard."
"Me too." She fell silent for a moment before leaning close to his ear and adding, "I was a bit jealous, though. I wouldn't admit it, even to myself, but I may have wanted to snog you."
James grinned. "Nothing stopping you now."
"Except the fear of crashing to our deaths," she said, laughing. "I'll wait until we're back on solid ground."
Once they landed on the Quidditch pitch, James tucked his broom under his arm and took Lily's hand as they walked to the locker rooms to put his broom away. After stowing his broom in his locker, he turned to Lily and pulled her closer.
"You mentioned something earlier about wanting to snog me?" he said.
"I did, didn't I?" She smiled, and he noticed her flushed cheeks and disarranged hair that still lingered after their ride.
"It's rather convenient that we have this whole locker room to ourselves," he said. "And don't worry about anyone giving us a hard time about using it. I have an in with the Quidditch captain."
He ran his hand through her hair, tousling it even more than it already was, and twined his other hand around her waist. Sometimes during moments like these he felt such a breathtaking, dazzling sense of happiness that he had to pause and take it all in. He always kept these thoughts to himself, because he knew Sirius would tease him for being so sentimental, but he drank in every detail of the scent of her hair and the feel of her hands against his skin and the soft sound of her breathing, hoping to store away these perfect moments to look back on later.
"I was thinking maybe we could go to your dormitory instead?" Her smile was shy, almost bashful, but her eyes held a glint that he had come to recognize and appreciate.
"You sure?" Thus far they had avoided the dormitory, sticking to broom cupboards and the Head office and other abandoned corners of the castle, so her suggestion carried a certain implication that made James's heart speed up.
She leaned in and kissed him, and James wasn't sure if he could trust his own judgement at this point, as his mind was already up in the dormitory playing out the possibilities, but he thought he sensed a desire more desperate and hungry than anything he had felt from her before. When she pulled away, her eyes were bright and her breathing was elevated.
"I'm sure. I dunno why, but after going flying with you today, it just feels right." She reached for his hand and tugged him towards the door. "Come on."
He stumbled after her, hardly aware of what he was doing. The feverish excitement on Lily's face made his breath catch in his throat, and he opened his mouth to speak but shut it again, afraid he would say the wrong thing and cause Lily's fragile resolve to falter. They were almost to the castle with Lily still pulling him along when she stopped and turned to him, her face hesitant.
"They're all going to know, aren't they? If we go up to the dormitory, they'll know exactly what we're doing, and then the second we come back down they'll all be giving us that look and making suggestive little comments." The conversation made her cheeks flush, but she met his gaze, her eyes pleading. "I'm pretty sure I'd die of embarrassment if Sirius asks me what bloody position we did or something."
James chuckled and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'll handle them. I bet we can get them to clear out for a while, so they're not just sitting in the common room speculating about us the whole time. Would that make you feel better?" He ran a hand through his hair, convinced she was about to call the whole thing off but desperately hoping he was wrong. "Obviously if you're not comfortable with it we don't have to, but..."
"That would make me feel a lot better, actually." She smiled and began heading for the castle again, giving his hand a little tug. "But what are you going to say to get them to leave without making it obvious?"
"Just leave it to me, Evans," James said, grinning. "I think I know exactly what to say."
"But Sirius is going to take one look at you and know what we're up to," she said, laughing as she took in his expression. "You sort of have that dazed, stupid happy look."
James tried to arrange his face into a more casual expression, but gave up after he was unable to repress his grin. "I can't help it. You sort of have that effect on me. But don't worry, I promise I won't make it obvious to everyone." He squeezed her hand again. "Don't you trust me? I did manage to keep you alive for our entire broom ride, didn't I?"
"That's true. All right, I trust you." She glanced sideways at him, and James noticed the excited glint in her eyes had intensified as her pace quickened. James hurried along beside her, tripping over steps and bumping into a disgruntled Ravenclaw and several walls in his distracted, eager state. By the time they reached the common room they had broken into a jog and had to slow down to avoid looking too suspicious. They approached their usual spot in front of the fire and found Remus and Peter still absorbed in the chess board in front of them.
"Is that the same game?" James asked, leaning against the back of Remus's chair and peering at the board.
"No, that one didn't go very well," Remus said with a wry smile. "But I have a good feeling about this one."
"You had a good feeling about the last one," Peter pointed out. "And we know how that ended."
"Padfoot and Mary are up in the dormitory, if you were wondering," Remus said, frowning down at the board. "But it's been ages, so it's probably safe to go up there."
"Cheers, Moony. I'll be back," he said, grinning at Lily before bounding up the stairs.
He gave a courtesy knock on the door before bursting into the room and sitting down on his bed across from Sirius and Mary, who were stretched out on Sirius's bed. The blankets were draped over Mary's body, but Sirius had kicked off the covers and lay there without a stitch of clothing, looking relaxed and unconcerned.
"Hi, Prongs," Sirius said, lifting his head to flash him a lazy grin. "How did Evans like flying?"
"Merlin, Black," Mary said, chuckling and tossing a pillow over Sirius to cover him.
"What? He knows not to look directly at me when he just bursts in here like this," Sirius said. "They all do, or they should by now."
"It's true," James said, grinning and keeping his eyes fixed on the motorbike poster behind Sirius's bed. "If you come in here unexpectedly and don't avert your eyes, it's your own bloody fault if you see more than you wanted to see." He ran a hand through his hair and met Sirius's gaze, raising his eyebrows. "Evans enjoyed flying, by the way. She, er, really liked it, actually."
Sirius's eyes widened. "Did she? Does this mean..." He glanced at Mary, but she was occupied with trying to reach her shirt without emerging from underneath the blanket. "Sauce?" he mouthed, his eyes fixed on James, and he broke into a wide grin when James nodded and looked around the room meaningfully. "Right, we're getting up, Macdonald," he said, hopping out of bed and sending the pillow toppling to the floor so James had to jerk his gaze up to the ceiling.
"I thought the plan was to be extremely lazy all day," Mary said from underneath the covers. She had succeeded in retrieving her shirt and was now attempting to put it on without making James uncomfortable.
"I've had a change of heart," Sirius said as he pulled on his clothes and tossed Mary her pants and trousers that she had abandoned near the door. "We're going to get day drunk at The Three Broomsticks."
Once they had finished getting dressed and Sirius had placed his cowboy hat on his head, the three of them headed down to the common room to share the plan with the rest of the group. Remus and Peter put away the chess board while Mary ran up to her dormitory to get a jacket.
"Do you fancy getting drunk, Evans?" Sirius asked, his tone casual and his face revealing nothing out of the ordinary.
"Oh, er, no, I think I'll stay here and do some reading," she said, blushing. "But have fun."
"Guess I better stay too," James said, sitting down beside her. "I have a bit of homework to do, and it wouldn't be very nice to leave Evans all by herself."
Remus glanced up at James and eyed him with mild curiosity for a moment before turning back to Sirius.
"Suit yourself," Sirius said, shrugging, then giving James a quick wink when nobody else was looking.
"Ready?" Mary asked, joining them and linking her arm through Sirius's.
"Prongs and Evans aren't coming," Sirius said with a roll of his eyes. "Too much reading to do."
"Oh well, more drinks for us," Mary said. "Remus, I'm not sure why, but I've decided it's my personal mission to get you drunk today."
"All right," Remus said, a bemused smile spreading across his face. "Probably won't take much today. Just don't let me end up wearing that ridiculous cowboy hat."
Sirius grinned and slung his free arm around Remus's shoulders. "We can't promise anything. Come on, everyone."
They set off for the portrait hole, waving to James and Lily as they went. There was a moment of tense silence after they left, then Lily giggled and looked at James.
"I dunno what you did, but it worked," she said, her cheeks flushing even darker.
James shrugged and grinned. "I didn't have to do much. It's not exactly hard to convince Sirius to go to the pub." He glanced at the staircase then looked back at Lily. "Should we, er…?" His voice was tentative and he ran a hand through his hair, hesitant to be too bold.
"I think we should," Lily said, and she sounded as nervous as James felt, but the desire in her eyes outweighed the uncertainty in her tone.
She stood up and reached for James's hand before leading him across the room and up the stairs. The short climb seemed to take much longer than usual, even though they were both running by the time they reached the door. Lily drew to a stop and looked at James, hesitating for a moment before grinning and reaching for the doorknob.
"Hang on," James said, putting his hand on hers. "Wait out here for a minute, all right?"
"If you're going to clean up Sirius's dirty clothes or something, you don't have to do that on my account," she said.
James shook his head. "It's not that. It'll only take a second." He pulled open the door and stepped through, then shut it behind him before she could protest further. Scanning the room, he shoved a pair of Sirius's pants and a discarded chocolate bar wrapper under the bed, then performed a few charms and stood back to survey his work.
Sirius would take the piss if he saw this, James thought, but he found he didn't care in the slightest. Trying not to look too pleased with himself, he opened the door and beckoned to Lily. When she entered the room her eyes lit up as she took in the flickering candles lining every available surface and the rose petals scattered across the floor and on James's bed.
"This is lovely," she said, turning to face him and lacing her fingers through his. "But you didn't have to do all this for me."
"I know I didn't have to," James said, kicking the door shut. "But I always imagined it like this." He made a sweeping gesture with his hand, then chuckled. "Not that, you know, I imagined it or anything."
"Liar," she said, leading him toward the bed. "I'd be offended if you hadn't."
"Hey." James stopped beside the bed and cupped her face with his hand. "Are you sure about this? You should be sure you're really ready." It was a struggle to force the words out of his mouth when all he wanted to do was let her drag him into the bed, but he knew before he could truly enjoy the experience he had to be sure.
"Don't tell me what to do, James Potter," she murmured before leaning in to kiss him.
The pressure of her lips and the soft sigh she emitted as she trailed her fingers down his back erased the last traces of doubt from James's mind. As she guided him down onto the bed, knocking aside rose petals in the process, James drank in every detail, not wanting to miss anything. Everything mingled together and flooded his senses; the tug of her fingers against his waistband and the glow of the candlelight on her pale skin and the rustle of their clothing as he fumbled with her buttons. He reveled in it, marveling that it was somehow even better than he had anticipated, but then a jolt of panic ran through him, because sooner or later this would all be over. Scrambling to slow things down somehow, he fixed his attention on Sirius's motorbike poster and began to recount the steps of one of the defensive strategies he planned to use against Slytherin.
"James," Lily said, her hands pausing halfway through unbuttoning his trousers. "Are you running Quidditch plays in your head?"
The smile on her face and the teasing tone of her voice told him she already knew the answer, and he realized she must have seen the dazed, vacant expression this tactic often caused.
"I was, yeah," he said with a sheepish grin. "I was trying to slow things down a bit. I just want this to be perfect for you."
"It is perfect." She ran her hand through his hair and adjusted his crooked glasses. "You don't have to slow it down. I just want us to experience this together." She kissed him then pressed her lips close to his ear. "So focus on me and not the bloody Wronski Feint, all right?"
Her breath was warm on his neck and her hands had returned to their previous task, making it difficult to concentrate on anything else, but he managed to murmur his agreement before giving in to simply enjoying the experience with her.
"So is there a reason we're going to The Three Broomsticks, or are you going to say 'You don't need a good reason to get drunk?'" Peter asked over his shoulder as the four of them walked single file down the narrow passageway that led to Hogsmeade.
"Prongs wanted the dormitory," Sirius said, smirking.
Mary's eyes widened. "Ooh, does that mean they're-"
"I bloody well hope so," Sirius said. "And I figured Evans would be all awkward if they came down to the common room and you tossers looked at them funny and made little comments, so I thought we might as well go get drunk."
"Right, we would be the ones giving them looks and making comments," Remus said, rolling his eyes. "It definitely wouldn't be you, Padfoot."
"I would never dream of it," Sirius said, looking affronted. "I would, however, get drunk in their honor, and drag you lot along to get drunk with me."
"I heard the plan is to get Moony drunk?" Peter said, glancing at Mary. "I am very much in favor of that plan."
"Isn't the plan to get all of us drunk?" Remus asked, climbing the stairs at the end of the passageway and stepping through into the afternoon sunlight.
"Well, obviously, but we're going to pay special attention to getting you drunk," Sirius said. "That's the idea, right Macdonald?" He followed Remus out into the courtyard area behind The Three Broomsticks and placed the cowboy hat on his head.
"That's the idea," Mary agreed as she and Peter joined them and began to walk to the front door of the pub. "I think you're my favorite drunk person, Remus."
"Hang on, it's not me?" Sirius demanded. "Drunk Sirius is lovely. Nothing but a delight."
"I do love Drunk Sirius," Mary agreed. "But he's also bloody obnoxious. Drunk Remus is just adorable and hilarious."
"Well, thanks," Remus said, chuckling. "I'm game to get drunk if you lot are so keen. But I need to get drunk before I wear this, because right now I'm far too sober to look this silly." He pulled off the cowboy hat and jammed it back onto Sirius's head. "It's bad enough that you insist on wearing it in the common room, never mind out in public."
"The public needs to see this hat, Moony." Sirius opened the door to The Three Broomsticks and led the way to their usual booth in the back.
"I'll get the first round," Mary said, heading up to the bar.
"Hello, love," Rosmerta said as she cleared away an empty glass. "How many firewhiskys would you like?"
Mary hesitated for a moment, glancing to the booth at the back of the pub where Sirius was attempting to force the hat onto Remus's head, then flashed Rosmerta a mischievous smile. "I think we'll start with four tequilas, actually."
The dormitory was the same as it had always been, with clothes spilling out of Sirius's trunk and a pile of books on Remus's bedside table and the slight whiff of cigarette smoke that never quite faded, yet the world felt new and different somehow as James lay on his bed with Lily curled next to him. Her hair tumbled into her face and tickled James's arm, and her eyes had drifted shut as they lay together in contented silence, too happy and relaxed to move. James could think of nowhere he would rather be than here in this familiar room, stretched out on his bed in the middle of the afternoon with Lily nestled against his arm. Time had lost its meaning, and James couldn't be sure if they had been together like this for a few minutes or a few hours, but it didn't seem to matter. He studied her for a moment, memorizing the curl of her eyelashes, the curve of her lips, the freckles that dotted her skin. I love her, he thought, and he hovered on the edge of telling her, because he felt so connected to her after what they had just done, and he couldn't see the point of holding back. But something made him hesitate, so instead he turned his head and kissed her forehead.
"I think I fell asleep for a minute there," she said, her eyelids fluttering open as she pressed herself even closer against him.
"I'm not surprised." James reached down and tugged at the blanket so it covered both of them. "You look very relaxed."
"I am," she said, heaving a sigh of contentment. "I feel like I could lay here all day."
"That's fine by me," James said, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "Although we might get interrupted at some point. Even Sirius is bound to get tired of the pub and come back here eventually."
"That's true. And I suppose they'll know what we did and want to hear all about it." She sighed again and draped her arm across his chest. "Which is fine, I just wanted a bit of time to enjoy this first, you know?"
He reached for her hand and laced their fingers together. "So you, er, you did enjoy it, then?" He tried to make the question sound offhand, but Lily's knowing smile told him she wasn't fooled.
"It was excellent." She paused for a moment, then smirked as she added, "Sirius was right."
"Right about what?"
She trailed her free hand down his stomach and for a moment it made James lose track of what she was saying. "Sorry, what?" he asked when he noticed she seemed to be waiting for a response.
"I said he was right when he said you look great naked," she said, laughing.
"Oh, thanks," he said. "Er, so do you." He ran his free hand up and down her arm, then let his fingers linger on her collarbone before trailing down to her waist. "Really, really great."
"Thanks."
His light touch made her close her eyes and emit a soft sound of pleasure, and James felt a sense of satisfaction that he was the one to make her sigh like that. He wanted nothing more than to continue the motion of his fingers so he could keep watching her respond.
"You know, since it was, as you said, 'excellent,' do you think you might want to…" His voice trailed off as his hand dipped even lower, and her fingers tightened on his stomach.
"Do it again?" she asked, her voice low. "I'd say so, otherwise what you're doing right now is a huge bloody tease."
"Well I'd never want to tease you," he said, leaning in to kiss her and wondering if the second time could be even close to as good as the first time.
"Moony, are you drunk enough to wear the cowboy hat yet?" Sirius asked after draining the last of his drink and adding it to the collection of empty glasses that littered their table.
"You know, I think I am," Remus replied. "It's going to look bloody stupid with my jumper, though."
He had spent the past minute laughing at something Peter had said, and he had almost spilled his drink ten minutes earlier when he had stood up to get them all another round. Now he sat gazing down into his half-empty glass, an unfocused, contented smile lighting up his features despite his pallor in the dim light of the pub. The long sleeves of his jumper had been rolled up, and a thin scar on his left wrist was just visible.
"Take my jacket, then," Sirius urged, slipping out of his leather jacket and handing it across to Remus. "Actually, you know what? Give me your jumper and we'll swap. It'll be hilarious."
"Are you mad? I'm not taking off my jumper in here," Remus protested, widening his eyes.
"Well, go into the loo, then," Sirius said, shrugging. "Come on. I want to see you in my best drinking outfit, and I want to see if I can pull off elbow patches."
Remus shook his head and sighed, then took the jacket from Sirius and headed off to the bathroom, bumping into a vacant table on the way past and muttering a hurried, "Sorry" before he pushed open the bathroom door and disappeared from view.
"You know, you could've saved him the trouble," Mary said, grinning at Sirius. "There's no chance you're going to pull off elbow patches."
"Don't ruin it, Macdonald," Peter said. "I could use a good laugh." He glanced at Sirius and raised his eyebrows. "Think Evans and Prongs are shagging yet?"
Sirius glanced at his watch and chuckled. "I bet they've already done it twice and are sitting around the common room, both pretending they're not hoping we'll come back soon so they can tell us all about it. Merlin, I'm happy for them." He reached for his glass to take a sip in their honor, but, finding it empty, settled for a sip from Remus's glass instead. "I'll buy him another one," he said when Mary gave him a pointed look.
"Isn't it funny that we're just as excited about their relationship as they are?" Mary mused. "Oh, you know what I'd completely forgotten about? We were going to try to see if we could get Remus and Seven to give it another go."
Sirius took another sip of Remus's drink and nodded. "We were, weren't we? I guess we got a bit sidetracked when James and Evans got together, but it's not a bad idea at all."
"Right?" Mary drained the last drops from her drink, then reached for Remus's glass and helped herself to a sip. "I just, I dunno, I've been thinking a lot about what you told me," she continued, glancing around and lowering her voice. "I know it's none of my bloody business, but I feel like some snogging, or even shagging, would really help relieve some of the stress, you know?"
"Are you speaking from experience, Macdonald?" Sirius asked, thinking of all the times he had led Mary up to the dormitory after she had slammed down her textbook in frustration. He loved the little furrow that formed between her eyebrows when she was overwhelmed, and he obviously enjoyed the actual act of relieving her stress, but his favorite aspect of these interactions was the relaxed, contented smile on her face when she settled back into her homework afterwards.
"Well, yeah," Mary said, grinning. "But I happen to know it's also one of your preferred methods of stress relief, so you can back me up on this." She turned to Peter. "What do you think?"
Peter took a sip of his drink and slopped some onto the table, then attempted to vanish the spilled liquid before answering. "Er, yeah, I think it's a good idea, although I'm not sure Moony will go for it. He's a bit stubborn about that whole business, isn't he?"
There was something evasive in his tone and the determined casualness of his smile, but it hurt Sirius's alcohol-dulled brain to think about it, so instead he finished Remus's drink and quit trying to analyze Peter's drunk mannerisms. "We'll figure it out. Let's make this a side project, because I think you're right, Macdonald. He needs this." He stood up as he saw Remus approaching the table and placed the cowboy hat on his head. "Moony, you look lovely! Before I put on that jumper I'm going to get us another round, and I'm getting you two drinks, because someone drank yours while you were in the loo, can you believe that?"
After another couple of rounds, the pub was starting to fill up, and the four had to raise their voices to hear each other over the chatter and clink of glasses against tables. Sirius was trying to convince Mary and Peter to switch shirts when he heard the jangle of a bell and spotted two people entering the pub.
"Don't everyone look," he muttered, leaning across the table so they could all hear, "but we have a Code Meow."
Remus's eyes widened, and Peter craned his neck to look at the door despite Sirius's warning, but Mary met his announcement with a blanket expression.
"The fuck is a Code Meow, Black?" she asked, rolling her eyes. "I swear you make half of this stuff up on the spot."
"No, it's an actual thing," Remus said as he tipped the hat down over his eyes to hide his face. "It means McGonagall's just walked in."
"Flitwick, too," Peter said, sliding down in his seat to make himself less noticeable. "What's the plan, Padfoot?"
Sirius shrugged and looked across at Remus. "Don't ask me. I'm just some bloke in a jumper. Ask Moony, he has the cowboy hat. Wearing the cowboy hat makes you in charge of escape plans."
"Since when?" Remus demanded.
"Since always. This is just the first time we've needed an escape plan since I bought the cowboy hat." When Remus continued to look at him in amused silence, Sirius grinned. "All right, I'll give you a nudge in the right direction. I'd suggest the first step in this plan is to finish our drinks, since failing to do so would just be wasteful. And I'll also mention that I did happen to bring the Invisibility Cloak. Other than that, the rest of the plan is up to you." He took a surreptitious glance over his shoulder, then turned back to the group. "I'd make that plan sooner rather than later, though."
Remus shook his head and chuckled. "Fine. Everyone, we're going to finish our drinks, then everyone kind of slide under the table and we'll throw on the Cloak and try to sneak out without causing a scene."
He picked up his glass and drained it, and everyone followed suit before slipping out of their chairs and under the table. Peter banged his head on the table on the way down, and Remus had trouble fitting without crushing the cowboy hat, but otherwise this part of the plan went off without a hitch.
"Right, here's the Cloak," Sirius said, pulling it out of his magically-Extended pocket.
"Get a bit closer, if you can," Remus said as he attempted to throw the Cloak over all of them. "Mary, you can go first, since you're closest to the edge, but be careful not to let your feet show. Then Peter can go next, and then Padfoot, and I'll go last." He glanced at Sirius and started laughing until Peter clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Keep it together, Moony," he said, trying to stifle his own laughter. "That's like the number one rule of escape plans."
"You keep it together," Remus said, laughing even harder. "Oh, shit, I think you're supposed to climb out now."
Peter followed Mary out from under the table, ducking low to avoid hitting his head again, and then Sirius joined him and beckoned to Remus. He managed to disentangle himself from the table legs, but when he tried to step out from underneath the table he found himself unable to move.
"Moony, you good?" Sirius asked, but Remus only laughed and gestured at his head. "Oh, bloody hell, if you ruin that hat I'll never speak to you again." He bent down, careful not to pull the Cloak too much, and freed the cowboy hat from where it had snagged on the table, then hauled Remus to his feet.
"Right," Remus said, pressing a hand against his mouth so his laughter would not give them away. "Head for the door, and try not to trip, everyone."
They made it to the door without incident, and they shuffled into the area behind the pub before collapsing to the ground, howling with laughter. Mary got herself under control first and stood up, then offered Sirius a hand up. As Peter got to his feet, Remus cast around on the ground until he found the cowboy hat on the ground several feet away.
"Not a bad escape plan, Moony," Sirius said, nodding in appreciation. "Especially considering how drunk you are."
"I'm not drunk, you're drunk," Remus retorted, sticking out his tongue before grabbing onto Sirius's shoulder so he wouldn't topple over.
"I mean, we're all drunk," Sirius said. "But you're definitely the drunkest."
Remus shot Sirius a defiant look. "Would a drunk person do this?" The cowboy hat fell down over one eye as he bounded over to Mary. "Can I borrow your scarf?" When she handed it over with a bemused smile, he wrapped it around his face so only his eyes showed, then headed back into the pub at an unsteady run.
"What's he doing?" Peter asked, but they all shrugged and settled down to wait for him to return.
When Remus returned a minute later, unwrapping the scarf to reveal a triumphant grin on his face, he was laughing even harder than before.
"What's so funny, you prat?" Mary asked as she wound the scarf back around her neck. "What did you do?"
"I bought McGonagall and Flitwick a drink," he gasped, still doubled over with laughter. "Except don't worry, they'll have no idea who the anonymous stranger in the leather jacket and cowboy hat is. And I told Rosmerta to tell them it was from…" He tried to continue, but peals of laughter overtook his words.
"Hugh G. Rection?" Sirius suggested. "Nah, can't be, Flitwick would know that was you. Seymour Butz? Harry P. Ness?"
"Oh, hang on, is it Ben Dover?" Peter asked, and he grinned as Remus nodded, still unable to speak through his laughter.
"Merlin, how fucking old are you three?" Mary asked, trying and failing to suppress the smirk that had spread across her face.
"Shut up, Macdonald, it's hilarious and you know it." He clapped Remus on the back and adjusted the cowboy hat, which was still tilting to one side. "I'm proud of you, Moony. That's the exact sort of fuckery we needed today."
"I blame the cowboy hat," Remus said, wiping away tears of laughter.
Sirius nodded. "Yeah, that's fair. All bets are off when that fucker goes on your head." He surveyed the other three and raised his eyebrows. "You want to go back to the castle and harass Prongs and Evans, or are you up for another adventure?"
"Do you mean what I think you mean?" Peter asked, an apprehensive frown on his face.
"I do," Sirius said, and there was a mischievous glint in his eye. "But it's up to Moony."
Mary shot Sirius a skeptical look. "Do I even want to know?"
Sirius grinned. "Nope." He draped an arm around Remus. "What do you think, Moony? Should we play it safe and go back to Hogwarts, or will you choose the path of shenanigans and fuckery?"
Remus considered this for a moment, then gave a resigned shrug. "I can't argue with the cowboy hat. Shenanigans and fuckery it is, I suppose." He wrapped his free arm around Mary, more to keep him on his feet rather than as a show of friendship, and set off, leaning against Sirius and Mary.
"We're going to The Hog's Head, aren't we?" Mary asked, wrapping an arm around Peter so he would not be left out.
"We are," he said, his expression both uncertain and excited. "I hope you brought your game face, Macdonald."
The Hog's Head was less crowded than The Three Broomsticks, and a quick scan of the room revealed no members of the Hogwarts staff besides Hagrid, seated at the bar with a large glass in front of him. Sirius gave him a quick wave, then followed the others up to the bar so they could all carry their own drinks and avoid the need for anyone to attempt to drunkenly levitate four glasses. The bartender did not seem at all surprised to see four Hogwarts students in his pub, but he eyed Remus's hat and gave him an approving nod as he poured their firewhisky.
"It's a brilliant hat, isn't it, mate?" Sirius asked, but the bartender did not return his grin. Instead he took their coins in silence and slid over their drinks.
"He likes the hat," Sirius said, clinking his glass against Remus's once they had sat down at an empty table. "Everyone likes it."
Remus grinned and shook his head but did not reply. Instead he took a long sip of his drink, then asked, "Pads, do you have a deck of cards? Because I think it's a good night to play Firecracker, don't you?"
"In here?" Peter cast a dubious glance around. "What if he doesn't like it?" He jerked his head in the direction of the bartender, who was refilling Hagrid's glass. "And, I mean, we're all pretty drunk already. If we play Firecracker there's a good chance one of us will have to carry Moony back to the castle."
"Rubbish," Sirius said as he pulled a deck of Exploding Snap cards from his pocket and pointed his wand at them to build a tower in the center of the table. "Firecracker will seem tame compared to all the dodgy stuff people usually get up to in here. And Moony is the perfect level of drunk for Firecracker. I'll bloody carry him if I have to." He flashed Remus an affectionate grin and added another row of cards to the tower.
After several failed attempts, Sirius managed to construct a semi-stable tower of cards while the rest of them gathered together the Knuts and paper triangles necessary for the game.
"Pick a teammate, Moony," Sirius said.
"Why me?" Remus asked.
"Because the cowboy hat makes you the leader of tonight's fuckery," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.
"Now do you want me, Pete, or Macdonald on your team?"
Remus considered this for a moment, fiddling with one of the paper triangles before pointing at Mary. "I pick Mary." When she raised her eyebrows in surprise, he shrugged. "You're best at paper flicking, and I'm always rubbish at that. And also you said Drunk Remus is your favorite, which was a very nice thing to say."
Mary grinned. "Cheers. Drunk Remus is my favorite. You may as well go first, since I assume Black is going to insist on it one way or another."
Remus drew a ten and grinned across at Peter. "Staring contest, Wormtail. Ready? Go."
They stared at each other with wide eyes while Mary and Sirius looked on.
"D'you reckon Minnie liked the drink from Ben Dover?" Remus asked after a moment, bursting into laughter and blinking before the words were out of his mouth.
Peter laughed and shook his head. "First card and you're already making yourself laugh with your own joke? Merlin, that was too easy."
"Sorry," Remus said, taking a sip of his drink and flashing Mary an apologetic smile. "I might be a shit teammate at this point."
"That's all right," she said, shrugging. "Black's agreed to carry you back to the castle. Maybe he'll be nice and carry me too, since it seems like we're going to be drinking an irresponsible amount."
"I think you're overestimating my carrying abilities," Sirius said as he drew a jack from the tower, grimacing as the cards beneath it wobbled but didn't fall. "And my drunken levitating abilities." He held up the card in his hand and grinned. "Password is jumper."
"That's a silly password," Remus said, rolling his eyes. "If you think you're going to get me with that one, you're going to be disappointed."
Five minutes later Sirius reached for a card and brushed the top of the tower with the sleeve of his cardigan.
"Watch your sleeve," Remus said, frowning as Sirius almost knocked over the entire tower. "That jumper is not ideal for Firecracker."
"What's not ideal for Firecracker?" Sirius said, eying Remus's glass. "Drink, Moony!"
"That's what you get for trying to be nice," Mary said, scowling at Sirius. "You should have let him knock over the whole bloody tower."
"Oh, relax, Macdonald, it's what he gets for being cocky." Sirius reached for his drink and raised it in the air. "Here, I'll have a drink, too, if it makes you feel better."
Another few rounds passed before Sirius got bored waiting for Peter to choose a rule and began trying to flick the parchment triangles to land down Mary's shirt.
"That's improper use of your weapons," Mary protested, reaching across the table to confiscate the parchment triangle and knocking down several cards in the process. "Oh, bloody hell!" She removed several cards from her team's tower and replaced the ones she had knocked over, then held her glass in the air and waited for Remus to join her for the waterfall.
"Here, come help me get new drinks," Sirius said, grabbing Mary's hand and leading her to the bar. Her unsteady gait and look of determined concentration revealed just how much firewhisky she had consumed since the game began, and Sirius grinned as he had to tug her away from a table she was about to run into.
"I think Hagrid's noticed our game," Mary whispered, leaning her head against Sirius's shoulders as they waited for their drinks. "I dare you to invite him to play."
"All right," Sirius said, shrugging as he strode down to the other end of the bar where Hagrid sat, craning his neck to observe the game of Firecracker.
"Wait, I was only joking!" Mary called, but Sirius ignored her as he was already tapping Hagrid on the shoulder and gesturing across the room at the tower of cards.
"Nice hat," Hagrid said to Remus after following Sirius and Mary back to the table and forcing himself into a chair with some difficulty.
"You have excellent taste, Hagrid," Sirius said, taking a sip of his drink and gesturing for him to take a card.
Hagrid, it turned out, was a Firecracker natural. He was particularly good at spinning a Knut to knock over the opposing team's tower, so that Mary and Remus had to start from scratch twice and replenish their drinks all in the same ten minute span. When Remus pulled the trivia card and Sirius asked him what Mary's favorite sex position was, Hagrid let out such a raucous laugh that the bartender shot them a disapproving look.
"Floor!" Peter shouted after he drew the next card and held up a four, and they all lunged forward to reach the floor. In his haste and enthusiasm, Remus sent his drink flying, and it landed in the middle of the center tower and sent all the cards cascading to the floor.
"Fuck," he muttered, but then his eyes widened in horror as one of the cards exploded and a nearby parchment triangle caught fire. "Fuck me in the fuck hole."
"What was that?" Sirius asked, laughing, but he fell silent when he saw the flames.
Remus stared down at the fire as his hand flew to the cowboy hat, but Sirius knocked his hand aside and scowled at him.
"Were you really about to put the fire out with my hat, Moony? What in the name of Merlin were you thinking? Do an Aguamenti, for fuck's sake."
"I'd love to if I wasn't too drunk to hold my bloody wand properly," Remus shot back, watching the flames devour the parchment. "You do an Aguamenti."
"Well, someone do it," Peter muttered, checking his pocket for his own wand but frowning when he realized his pocket was empty. As he searched the floor, Mary took out her own wand and attempted to extinguish the fire, but in her intoxicated state she only produced a few droplets of water that sizzled on top of the flames before evaporating.
In the minute or so that this conversation took, the fire had spread to the other parchment triangles and had caught the attention of the bartender.
"Oi!" he shouted, shooting a jet of water in their direction, but he aimed too high and the water hit Peter rather than the fire.
Laughing at the chaos around him, Hagrid removed his enormous coat and threw it on top of the fire, smothering the flames and leaving a whiff of burnt fabric in the air. As the bartender and Sirius shouted at each other while everyone else stood staring in shocked silence, Hagrid bent to retrieve the cowboy hat, which had fallen off in all the commotion, then placed it back onto Remus's head before taking a large swig of his drink.
"Get out!" The bartender's face was creased with anger as he pointed at the door. "This is what I get for allowing bloody students in here. I mind my own business and pour the drinks, but I draw the line at setting things on fire. Almost burnt the whole pub down, and not a single one of you can manage a simple spell to put out the fire?"
"Calm down, mate!" Sirius shouted back. "Obviously we weren't trying to burn the pub down. We're just a bit too drunk for quick action. And look - the fire's out." He gestured at the table, where Hagrid's jacket still lay, smoking faintly. Next to the jacket was Remus, asleep with his head on the table despite the noisy argument taking place beside him, and the ridiculous situation made Sirius laugh.
"I don't see what's so bloody funny," the bartender snapped, his frown deepening as his eyes fell on Remus. "Wake up your friend and get the fuck out." His tone became more friendly as he turned his gaze to Hagrid. "Not you, Hagrid, you're welcome to stay. You're the only one of this bunch with any bloody sense." He cast one last disdainful look at the group, his eyes lingering on Peter, searching under the table for his wand on his hands and knees, and on the spilled firewhisky that had somehow splashed onto Mary's hair and now dripped slowly onto the floor. Then he pointed his wand at the empty glasses that littered the table and sent them soaring through the air towards the bar and followed after them, muttering under his breath.
"That's quite a game you've come up with," Hagrid said, chuckling. "Do you want help getting him back to the castle?" He gestured at Remus, but Sirius shook his head.
"That's all right, I think we'll manage."
Hagrid nodded and flashed them a sympathetic grin before picking up his singed coat and making his way back to the bar.
"Right, Moony, get your arse up, I'm not actually carrying you," Sirius said as he shoved Remus's shoulder, but he only mumbled something unintelligible and waved Sirius away. Sirius scowled and tugged on Remus's arm, but this seemed to make Remus even more tired somehow. "Ugh, Macdonald, can you help me?"
Mary was now holding her sopping hair over her mouth to attempt to catch the remnants of firewhisky. "Help you with what?" She was leaning against the table, and this seemed to be the only thing keeping her on her feet.
Sirius shook his head and sighed, then turned to Peter. "Focus, Pete. It's your time to shine. I need your help getting these drunk idiots out of here."
"That's a bit rich coming from you. I recall Remus and I having to carry you up to bed not that long ago," Mary protested, taking a step in his direction and slipping on the discarded Exploding Snap cards.
Sirius caught her around the waist and steadied her. "I reserve the right to be a hypocrite when I'm the only thing keeping you from falling on your arse. Now hang on to Peter so I can help the sleepy cowboy."
Mary just stood there looking confused, so Peter took her arm and placed it around his waist, looking faintly embarrassed as he muttered a quick, "Sorry."
With a grunt of effort Sirius hauled Remus to his feet and draped his arm around his neck, then dragged Remus across the pub and out the door. Mary and Peter followed, turning sideways so they would fit through the door before coming to a stop outside.
"You're not going to carry me?" Mary stood, looking at Sirius with a disappointed, pleading expression on her face.
Sirius paused and turned back to look at her, filled with amusement and affection as he took in her sopping, untidy hair, her scarf trailing on the ground, and her wand stuck into her cleavage for safe keeping. She was the very definition of a drunken mess, and yet somehow she still looked beautiful. The thought startled him, because he could not remember ever thinking of her this way, as beautiful rather than sexy or attractive. The word had a sentimental connotation to Sirius, and it had always struck him as the sort of thing James would, and did, say about Lily, and yet he had let his guard down and allowed his intoxicated brain to veer into dangerous territory. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he adjusted his grip on Remus and chuckled as he began the slow trek back to the castle.
"I have to support this one," he said, gesturing at Remus, who had his eyes shut and was burrowing his head into Sirius's shoulder. "And I don't know if Peter can hold him. He's dead fucking weight right now."
"You're dead fucking weight," Remus said without opening his eyes.
Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes. "If you're awake enough to make snarky comments, you should be awake enough to support yourself a bit more." He nudged Remus, but he only leaned more heavily against him. "Anyway, Macdonald, I'll carry you up to bed once we get back to the castle."
Mary seemed to consider this for a moment as she and Peter walked along beside Sirius and Remus. "Will you carry me up to your bed or mine?"
"Whichever you prefer," Sirius said, shrugging.
"I prefer yours," she said, tilting her head sideways and grinning at him. "That's always my preference. Except I've stayed in your dormitory the past three nights and three nights is our unspoken limit, isn't it? And bloody hell, I've just spoken about the unspoken limit."
"I suppose that means it's okay to ignore the limit just this one time, then," Sirius said. "Just don't puke in my bed."
"I'm not a drunk puker," she said, looking affronted. "Remus is the drunk puker. No offense."
"It's okay," Remus said, picking up his head from Sirius's shoulder to flash her a sleepy smile. "You're not wrong." He turned to look at Sirius and continued, enunciating his words carefully, "But I am not going to puke today."
"It's all right if you do, but mind that bloody hat," Sirius said, casting a pointed glance at the cowboy hat still perched on Remus's head. "Puke on this jumper all you like, but if you puke on my hat I'll never forgive you."
"I'm not going to puke on that jumper," Remus said, appalled. "That jumper is excellent. I've been told I look adorable in it."
"Who told you that?" Mary asked, her eyes widening. "Ooh, was it Seven?" When Remus did not reply she turned to Sirius. "Poke him or something, Black, will you?"
"Oi, Moony, give us an answer," Sirius said, tapping Remus on the head. "If girls are flirting with you, we want to know about it so we can encourage it to become more than flirting."
"We're very invested in your sex life," Mary added, giggling.
"I've noticed," Remus grumbled, his head still lolling against Sirius's shoulder. "You can't see my face but I have that stubborn look that means you're wasting your breath trying to get me to talk about it. I am too drunk for this conversation."
"But this is the perfect sort of conversation to have when you're drunk," Mary insisted. "Black basically only talks about his feelings when he's drunk."
"Rude of you to suggest I have feelings," Sirius said, scowling at her, but Mary ignored him.
"Come on, Remus, why don't you ask her out? Or, I dunno, just bring her up to the dormitory for a bit of casual shagging, if she's up for that sort of thing, and if you're up for that sort of thing."
"Casual shagging?" Remus repeated. "Is that what you call this?" He lifted a hand and gestured vaguely between Mary and Sirius.
"What else would you call it?" she asked, frowning. "Actually, never mind, don't answer that. I should not feel this called out by someone who can't even keep his eyes open." She appealed to Peter. "Don't you think he should give it another try with Seven?"
Peter looked so taken aback by her question that for a moment Sirius thought he was going to lose his grip on Mary and allow her to topple over. "Oh, er, I dunno, I suppose," he stammered, casting an uncomfortable glance in Remus's direction.
"See? Peter agrees," Mary said, choosing to gloss over Peter's less-than-enthusiastic response. "What do you say?"
When her question was met with determined silence, Mary sighed. "Fine. I'll leave it alone for now." She studied Remus with a thoughtful smile on her face. "She's not wrong, by the way. You do look adorable in that jumper. Actually, you're just an adorable sort of person. And I don't mean that in an 'I want to shag you' sort of way, just in a friend way. Sort of the same way that Black said you look great naked, or how I might tell Peter that he looks adorable in those pink pajamas. Does that make sense?"
"Do I really look adorable in those pink pajamas?" Peter asked, a hopeful smile on his face.
"No, Pete, you look ridiculous," Sirius said.
"Ignore him," she said, removing her arm from around Peter's waist to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "You do look adorable. Those pajamas are my favorite of all your silly pajamas. You know what, I'm going to tell you a secret." She leaned in and whispered something in Peter's ear that made him widen his eyes and glance sideways at Sirius.
"What's the secret, then?" Sirius asked, wondering if it had to do with him or if that was just his drunken ego taking over.
"If I told you it wouldn't be a secret, you prat," Mary said, rolling her eyes at him. "But shut up and I'll tell you something else. You look really good in that jumper." She winked at him, but it took several tries to execute properly. "And I do mean that in an 'I want to shag you' sort of way."
Sirius grinned and surveyed the jumper. "Is it doing it for you, then?"
"It is," she mused. "That's a bit weird, isn't it?"
Sirius shrugged. "Maybe a bit, but I don't mind. I'll keep it on later, if you like."
"No you bloody won't," Remus snapped, picking his head up to glare at Sirius. "You leave my jumper out of your shagging escapades."
"All right, all right, I'll make sure your jumper is safely out of the way before any shagging commences," Sirius assured him. "Now pick up your feet a bit so we can get back and harass Prongs and Evans about their own shagging escapades."
"I really thought they'd be back by now," James said, glancing at his watch and then up at Lily.
"Me too," Lily said, frowning. "Should we go looking for them, do you think?"
The two of them were tucked under a blanket together in James's usual armchair. James was paging through a Quidditch magazine while Lily read a book she had borrowed from Remus, but neither of them had gotten much reading done because they kept exchanging furtive, knowing smiles. The idea of leaving the cozy warmth of the armchair did not appeal to him, mostly because it meant Lily would have to stop sitting in his lap.
"I don't think that's necessary. They'll stumble back when they're ready," he said before leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek. She turned towards him and brought her lips to his, and for a minute he lost track of the crackling fire and the other Gryffindors around them as her insistent kisses reminded him of their time spent in the dormitory earlier.
"Oi! You're supposed to do that up in the dormitory, not down here where everyone can see. That's the whole reason we cleared out of here."
James and Lily broke apart to find Sirius standing in front of them, grinning while Remus leaned against him. Mary and Peter stumbled in behind them, and with a sigh of relief Peter deposited Mary into a chair, where she slumped with her hair falling into her face and a bemused smile on her face.
"Looks like you had a miserable time at the pub," Lily observed, grinning.
"We had a great time until we got kicked out of the Hog's Head," Remus said, attempting to sit down but unable to break free from Sirius's grasp. "Which I think may have been my fault."
"What?" James demanded. "How'd you manage that?"
"Never mind that, we want to hear all about your, er, afternoon," Sirius said, smirking at Lily. "Come up to the dormitory and tell us about it. And while we're gone Evans can tell Macdonald all about how great at shagging you are."
Once they had reached the dormitory and Remus had collapsed onto his bed, the rest of them sat across from him on James's bed. There was an expectant silence, and when James didn't speak Sirius raised his eyebrows and asked, "So, did you?"
James grinned and nodded as memories from earlier flooded his mind.
"Sauce?" Sirius continued.
"Sauce," James said, nodding again and grinning even wider as Peter let out a little cheer and clapped him on the back.
"Well? How was it?" Sirius asked, and James chuckled at his serious expression, because really, how could it have been anything other than brilliant?
"It was excellent," James said as he ran a hand through his hair. "We, er, did it twice." He wanted to describe the sense of joy it had given him and the feeling of deepened intimacy he and Lily now shared, but it felt too personal to speak aloud, so instead he repeated, "It was excellent."
"Fuck yeah, Prongs," Sirius said, crossing the room to retrieve a flask from his trunk and handing it to James. "I'm so bloody happy for you."
"You can't tell, but this is my happy face," Remus said, his eyes still shut as he gave James a thumbs up from his bed. "Well done, mate."
"How good does she look naked?" Peter asked, smirking before covering his mouth with his hand and looking sheepish. "Sorry, that was a bit bold to ask, wasn't it?"
"Rubbish, it's an important question, Pete," Sirius said. "How good does she look naked?"
James smiled to himself as he imagined Lily stretched out on this very bed with her dark red hair fanned out against the pillows, feeling grateful that none of them could see inside his mind.
"Really, really good," he said, the knowing smile on his face lingering.
"Nice," Sirius said, giving him an approving nod.
"So what's this about you getting kicked out of The Hog's Head?" James asked, hoping to change the subject before Sirius demanded explicit details he was not prepared to give.
"Oh, right, that was a laugh," Sirius said, stretching his legs out in front of him and lighting a cigarette before launching into a detailed account of the fiasco.
"And then Pete and I had to basically drag Moony and Macdonald back here," he finished after pausing several times for James to stop laughing. "And Macdonald basically told me she wanted to shag me with this jumper on, bloody weirdo, and then she told Pete some sort of secret. What was that, by the way?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at Peter.
"Nothing, really," Peter said with an evasive shrug. "Couldn't even really understand half of what she said. Something about Hagrid, I think?"
Sirius studied Peter's face, sensing that he was not telling the truth, but he shrugged and took the flask from James, taking a sip before saying, "All right, should we head back downstairs then and see if we can catch Evans telling Macdonald how impressive your knob is?"
"I'd better go to bed now, otherwise there's a good chance I'll fall asleep down there," Peter said as he stood up and headed for his own bed. "Tell Evans I said congrats. Or does that sound weird? Maybe just give her a thumbs up for me or something, then. I dunno, I'm not sober enough to figure out what's appropriate."
When James and Sirius returned to the common room, Lily and Mary were huddled together giggling and talking in rapid whispers. Lily's cheeks were flushed, and she broke off when she looked up to see the boys standing over them.
"Oh no, she hasn't finished telling me everything yet," Mary said, her face lit with excited interest and looking much more sober than she had earlier. "Can't you go back up for a few more minutes?"
"What? We've been up there for ages," James said, noticing the smug, knowing smile on Mary's face and feeling somehow on display. "Are you giving her a bloody play-by-play?"
"I figured it was only fair, with all the explicit stories I've made her listen to," Mary said, grinning at James. "No need to look so embarrassed. She gave you a glowing review."
"Well, of course she did," Sirius said. "Evans, I'd be offended on his behalf if you said he was anything less than excellent in bed."
"I didn't - of course I wouldn't-" Lily spluttered, blushing and glaring at Sirius.
"It's all right," James said, grinning and resting a hand on her shoulder. "Merlin, you're cute when you're all flustered like this."
"You'll have to finish describing Prongs's knob later, though," Sirius said, laughing as Lily's face turned even redder. "I'm going to bring this one up to bed." He nodded in Mary's direction and offered her a hand up.
"You promised to carry me," Mary reminded him, brushing a lock of hair out of her face and wrinkling her nose. "Ugh, my hair smells like bad decisions."
"Lucky for you those are my favorite sort of decisions," Sirius said as he bent down and scooped her into his arms, swaying on his feet before steadying himself and heading for the staircase. "Night, you two."
"Congrats on finally shagging!" Mary called brightly, waving from Sirius's arms before they disappeared up the stairs.
Lily put her hands over her flaming face and sighed while James acknowledged the cheers from Bubbles and his girlfriend and the nods of encouragement from Kath and the boy Sirius had nicknamed Ukiluki. Grinning, he squeezed in next to Lily and put his arm around her.
"She's my best friend and she's drunk and she's just happy for us," Lily said, resting her head against his shoulder. "These are all reasons I shouldn't hex her, right?"
"I'd say so," James agreed. "But don't let me tell you what to do. As I recall, you don't like that."
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Our friends aren't exactly shy about their own sex lives, so why would I expect them to keep quiet about ours?" She laced her fingers through his and glanced up at him. "I didn't tell her, you know, everything," she said, biting her lip.
"It's okay if you did," he said, his tone reassuring. "You can tell her whatever you like. But I didn't tell the boys everything, either. I didn't tell them much at all, to be honest. Although I did say…" He leaned in close and brushed his lips against her ear as he murmured, "I may have mentioned how good you look naked."
"I said something very similar," she said, and he could hear her breathing speed up as he moved down to trail light kisses across her neck. "Are you tired?"
"Nope," he whispered. "Are you?"
"Not at all."
She turned to face him, and as her lips met his he found himself wondering if they could sneak away without everyone in the common room guessing what they were up to. Lily seemed to have the same thought, because she pulled away and glanced in the direction of the portrait hole, and he noticed that familiar look in her eye. Without speaking, they stood up, hands still clasped together, and slipped out of the common room to find somewhere more private to go.