Submitted for The Houses Competition Forum - Round 5

House: Ravenclaw

Subject: Transfiguration

Category: Standard

Prompt: 12. [Speech] "For the third and final time, yes"; 13. [Speech] "I'm mildly enjoying it."

Word count: 2,363

Warnings: Muggle AU

Very well accompanied

"Please, Sirius, you have to help me! You're my best friend. It's practically your contractual obligation to do something nice for me; it's written in the best friend's contract." Lily was actually begging, trying not to embarrass herself so much that she ended up crying nervously.

"As far as I know, we don't have a best friend contract because you vetoed that idea. And I've already done something nice for you this month. I brought you ice cream and pain medicine for your PMS," Sirius replied, unfazed by Lily's dramatics. "And besides, I don't like Petunia, so don't even try."

Lily Evans and Sirius Black had been friends since before they could remember. As Sirius lived next door to Lily, the two went through all the awkward stages of adolescence together. Sirius always had a special affection for Lily, which had never extended to her sister. Petunia and Sirius had hated each other from before the moment they understood what the word meant. Even as adults with promising careers—Lily as a designer and Sirius as an architect—they still acted like children when they wanted something from each other.

"I know you and Petunia don't like each other, but I can't go to her wedding alone. You know how nosy my relatives can be." Lily was pouting, which usually broke all of Sirius' defenses. Too bad this time it wasn't working. "I can't go stag at my own sister's wedding, Sirius! Please, you have to help me!"

"I know what your relatives are like. I still haven't forgotten the time your aunt Amelia tried to kiss me under the mistletoe at that Christmas party a few years ago," Sirius said, shuddering at the memory. "Even though I pity you for having to deal with your crazy relatives, my answer is still no."

"Sirius! What kind of best friend are you?" Lily asked, throwing a pillow at him, which he easily dodged.

"The kind who loves life and won't torture himself for one night, even if it's washed down with expensive champagne," Sirius replied, smirking at Lily, who just snorted. "Why don't you hire someone to be your date? I bet it's going to be way more believable than you taking your best friend."

"I don't want to take a stranger to my sister's wedding!" Lily said through gritted teeth. The redhead was about to yank out her hair, having forgotten how stubborn Sirius could be when he wanted to. "And of course, us showing up together as a couple would be way more believable than me showing up with someone my family has never even heard of."

"Oh, really? And how would a relationship between us be more believable, oh-wise best friend?" Sirius asked with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Haven't you ever heard of friends falling in love? Come on, Sirius, please! It's just for one night, and you can drink all the champagne you want, and I'll bring home several pieces of cake for you to enjoy later," Lily said, giving him her best pleading look… Too bad Sirius had already gained immunity from that look.

"Tempting, but my answer is still no," Sirius said, getting up from the couch he was sitting on. "And while I love our little tête-á-tête's, I need to go. I have a project meeting for tomorrow, and I need my beauty sleep… Not that I do, but it's always nice, isn't it?"

Placing a kiss on Lily's forehead, Sirius left the redhead's apartment, leaving the girl on the couch thinking about all the options she had for a date, which were basically none. Sighing, she got up and headed for the fridge, thinking about grabbing a bowl of ice cream to help her figure out how to handle this whole situation, but instead, she found a surprise bottle of wine that was nearly full. Without thinking twice, Lily took the bottle and went to sit on her couch thinking about what she could do to change her luck.

After leaving Lily's apartment, Sirius stopped by his office to pick up some papers he would need to study for the next day's meeting. When he arrived at his apartment, he was surprised to find five messages on his answering machine. After hearing the first two—from his mother reminding him that he had arranged to have dinner with his parents the next day and from Regulus reminding him of dinner—Sirius was surprised to find three messages from Lily, who was clearly drunk.

"Sirius… it's Lily. I know you already said you weren't going to the wedding, but please don't make me go alone. I know I'll end up at the kids' table, and they never serve alcohol there, and I know I'm going to need all the alcohol in the world to put up with Petunia and that fianc-lame of hers."

"Hey, Sirius, it's Lily again. I know you said that no one would believe we were a couple, but everyone would believe because they've always thought we were going to end up together one day… Bunch of gossips who don't know how to mind their own business. But I bet we'd be the gossip of the night, overshadowing Tuney, so think about it."

"I think I drank more than I should have, but that wine was so sweet… will they serve this wine at the party? I hope so, because it's become my favorite, and maybe that way, I can forget that I'm going to be alone at my sister's wedding party. Hope they have cake too. By the way, this is Lily."

Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing loudly and knowing he was probably going to regret what he was about to do, but he also knew that if your best friend leaves messages on your answering machine while drunk, you have to be a decent person and do everything to prevent this from happening again.

"I'll still end up regretting this, won't I? Why did I have to introduce myself to my redhead neighbor all those years ago? This is all my mum's fault," Sirius said to himself, walking into his room and starting to look for his tux. Lily had better be serious about the amount of champagne and cake, or she was going to end up regretting having promised Sirius food.

"Thanks for doing this, Sirius," Lily whispered into Sirius' ear, watching the bride enter the church. "You don't know how important this is to me."

"Just try to avoid going into an alcoholic coma today, and it'll be perfect," Sirius whispered back, winking at her, and she smiled.

Lily ended up regretting having had an entire bottle of wine alone, but she was surprised to find a message from Sirius on her mobile phone the next morning saying that he already had a tuxedo and would be accompanying her to Petunia's wedding.

She was surprised by Sirius' sudden change in attitude but tried not to be too suspicious of it... Of course, this only lasted a few hours. As soon as she left work, Lily went straight to Sirius' apartment to ask the reason for his change of heart. Sirius was already expecting that and showed Lily the messages she had left on his answering machine, which made Lily almost die of embarrassment, but she was secretly happy to have Sirius by her side during the wedding.

"And don't forget you promised me lots of champagne and cake to take home so we can eat later," Sirius whispered to Lily as Petunia and Vernon exchanged vows. "They are going to have cake, right?"

"For the third and final time, yes. I knew you weren't doing this just out of the goodness of your heart, but that it had to do with your stomach as well," Lily whispered, smelling Sirius' intoxicating cologne.

Something inside her shifted. She didn't know why she was so shaken by the scent; after all, Sirius had always worn that same scent since they were teenagers. Maybe it was seeing Sirius in a tuxedo, smiling at her that was messing with her head.

Soon after the happy couple were declared husband and wife and all the guests were directed to the reception area, Lily began to notice some details about Sirius that she had never noticed before, like the way he smiled or the way he paid full attention to whomever he was talking to; it was messing with her head even more.

Trying to put that aside — after all, a crush on her best friend was never something that was going to work out very well — Lily tried to drown all these feelings that were arising with several glasses of champagne. She noticed that Sirius was doing the same thing, drinking champagne and… eating cake?

"Sirius, how can you be eating cake if they haven't even finished serving dinner?" Lily asked, seeing that Sirius had finished his main course and had a nice slice of chocolate cake in front of him.

"Ted brought it to me not two minutes ago," Sirius said, getting ready to eat the cake.

"Who is Ted?" Lily asked, confused.

"Ted is our waiter, Lily… Didn't you pay attention when he came? No wonder you didn't get any cake," Sirius said, smiling and devouring the cake, not caring about anything. Lily just laughed, shaking her head.

Lily saw that Petunia and Vernon, her husband, were coming near their table, and she readied herself for the confrontation that was sure to come her way. Once upon a time, Lily and Petunia had been good friends, but somewhere along the way, that had changed — probably when she befriended Sirius.

"Lily! There you are!" Petunia's voice came near Lily's voice and she had to stop a shudder for how sickly sweet her sister's voice was. "What do you think about the party?"

"It's a very nice party, Tuney. Everything is so beautiful." Lily smiled at her sister, even if it was a little strained.

"I'm so glad to hear this!" Petunia replied, smiling wider, until she looked at who Lily had come with. "Sirius, how… nice of you to accompany my sister."

"You know I'll do anything for Lily," Sirius said while he kissed Lily's forehead. "Congratulations on the nuptials."

"Thank you," Petunia replied with a strained face. "What did you think about the party?"

"I'm mildly enjoying it." Sirius never was a fan of Petunia, and Lily knew that it was a risk to have the two of them together, but she never expected that answer from him. "A little over the top for me, but that's my opinion."

"Yeah… well… oh, look, it's Aunt Amelia! I should go talk to her!" Petunia practically dragged her husband away, leaving Sirius and Lily laughing.

"Why are you like this?" Lily asked, laughing at the expression on Petunia's face.

"Because you love me like this." Sirius shrugged, and Lily felt her cheeks reddening. "Here, try some of the cake. It's to die for."

Lily didn't say anything. She just accepted the piece of cake Sirius was offering her, her mind already on other things.

As the hours passed, Lily and Sirius were having fun and loosening up a bit — due to the many glasses of champagne the two of them had drunk and lost count after glass number 17 — until the DJ began playing a slow song and the two decided that they should dance at least one slow song together.

"Thank you for not making me come alone, Sirius. It means a lot to me," Lily said, sighing contentedly, her head on Sirius' shoulder as the two slowly danced.

"No need to thank me, love. You know I would do anything for you," Sirius said, smelling Lily's hair and smiling without realizing it.

"Anything?" Lily asked, lifting her head and looking into Sirius' eyes, forgetting for a moment how drunk she was.

"Anything, Lils," Sirius said, looking at her in the same drunken state as she was.

"This song is so romantic…and today was so romantic… it's just missing a kiss." Lily sighed, looking deeply at Sirius, who only edged closer to the redhead.

Sirius and Lily knew that they were both more than a little drunk, but the atmosphere of the place was getting to them, making both of them realize that perhaps they had been attracted to each other for a long time.

As soon as Sirius' lips touched Lily's, they knew they were in big trouble: they weren't going to be able to resist each other any longer. Their tongues met without haste, as if they wanted to take advantage of this moment that they didn't know if it would repeat itself or not. The kiss didn't last long, but it was a kiss neither of them would forget for a long time.

After the kiss, Lily and Sirius couldn't look at each other properly anymore, and they awkwardly decided it was time to go home. Sirius made sure to take Lily back home, being the perfect gentleman his mother had raised him to be, but before he could walk away, Lily grabbed his sleeve.

"Thanks for today, Sirius, I had so much fun. I know maybe I'm a little bit more drunk than I expected, but before you go…" Lily trailed off, nibbling on her lip looking at Sirius. "Do you want to do something? It's a way for me to say thanks for what you've done for me today."

"Well, since you brought it up… how about we go out to dinner in two days? Since I imagine that tomorrow you will be dealing with a hangover," Sirius said with a mischievous grin, which caused butterflies to appear in Lily's stomach.

"It's a date! Goodnight, Sirius," Lily said, kissing Sirius' cheek and closing the door to her apartment, afraid of what a drunk version of her might do.

She couldn't resist doing a happy dance, not knowing that on the other side of her door, Sirius was doing the same thing she was. They both knew this could end their friendship, but they were willing to try. Maybe it could turn into something new.