Monday, 25 October 1976
"For he's a jolly good felloooooow, and so say all of us!" Peter's friends sang as Peter blew out his candles.
His sister hugged him and said with laughter in her voice, "Happy Birthday, Petey!"
Peter began to cut his lemon blueberry drizzle cake and pass out the slices to his friends, who sat in a circle. Lena sat to his left and Remus sat next to her. Beside Remus sat James, who somehow managed to get Lily to sit next him. Marlene sat next to Lily and Alice and Frank cuddled next to Marlene. Dorcas sat next to Frank. Sirius on Peter's right and Mary Macdonald sat between Dorcas and Sirius.
"Alright," James exclaimed, clapping his hands together, "Time for presents!"
Soon, Peter was surrounded by gifts. All of his friends have gifted him with sweets in addition to other, more personalized presents. Marlene and Dorcas had pooled together some of their money and got him tapes of some of his comedy series like Fawlty Towers and Monty Python's Flying Circus. Peter received several records from Lily by Muggle artists like Bob Dylan. Peter was delighted by the rare Magical Creature playing cards that Mary gifted. Dorcas, who was Muggle-born, was not all that amazed until it was explained to her that if two people start a game of Magical Creature, the creatures on the playing cards animate to miniature two-inch versions of themselves and battle each other. James had presented Peter with a brand new wizarding camera with some film to go with it. Remus gifted Peter with some broom cleaning kit supplies and a series of little trinkets that represented their inside jokes. Sirius gave Peter a bottle of Firewhiskey that was seventeen years old just like Peter. Sirius grinned as Peter opened it, gleefully admitting that had stolen it from his parents' house before he left. He also gave Peter a Tutshill Tornados rugby shirt. Lena gave her brother three framed sketches she had done. One was a solo portrait of him, another was of him, her, and their parents, and the final was of him and the Marauders. Lena was pleased that her brother liked her gift but she was even more pleased when Remus commented to her that she was talented and he would love to see more of her drawings some time.
"Alright," Peter announced, "Let's open this bottle of Firewhiskey up and play a game!"
"Ooh! Let's do Paranoia," Mary cried and Marlene nodded in agreement.
"How do you play?" Lily asked.
"So you whisper a question to someone and that person has to answer with someone playing the game. If you want to know the question, you have to take a shot," Mary supplied.
"I'll go first!" Sirius offered.
His grey eyes circled the room, looking for a target. His eyes landed on Alice and came over to her and whispered something into her ear. Alice pursed her lips and looked up at the ceiling. "Dorcas."
"Would you like to know the question, Dorcas?" Sirius raised his eyebrow.
"No, I don't really care what others think of me."
Sirius groaned. He wanted everyone to get pissed.
Alice went to Peter and he grinned at what she whispered to him. "Lily," he declared.
Everyone looked at Lily, waiting to see if she would ask what the question was. She remained silent.
Peter looked at Lily and whispered into her ear. Lily gave a small smile. "James."
James' eyes bulged out of his head and he immediately took a shot. "What did you ask her?!"
Peter shot him an apologetic look. "Most likely to commit a crime."
Dramatically, James fell onto his back. Lily rolled her eyes and approached Mary and whispered something in her ear. "Marlene."
"Ooooh! What am I most likely to do?" Marlene asked after she downed two shots.
"Most likely to elope with a stranger while drunk," Mary grinned.
"Are you kidding me? What about Sirius?"
"No, he'd elope on purpose."
"No! I'm gonna be a bachelor for life!"
"Famous last words." Dorcas smirked.
"Alright, my turn!" Mary cried.
She approached James and whispered something into his ear. "Frank."
Frank debated whether to take a shot or not. He shrugged. "Oh, what the hell? Tell me the question," Frank said before downing a shot.
"Most likely to end up in St. Mungo's."
"Why me?"
"Not for anything bad. Just for something dumb, Frank. I mean, you fall off your bed at least twice a week."
"Fine." Frank crossed his arms and pouted.
"Aww, poor baby," Alice cooed and kissed his cheek. His pout turned into a smile.
James and Sirius shared a discrete look and grinned. James turned to Remus and whispered something in his ear. Remus opened his mouth and said Lena's name. Lena could not decide if she should ask what the question was. If the question was flattering, Lena would be beyond delighted. On the other hand, Remus could have been responding to a question along the lines of Most likely to betray their friends? and Lena's heart would shatter into pieces if Remus viewed her in such low regard. And that was something she could not bear.
Saturday, 30 October 1976
"Come on Lena!" Maggie cried. "Put on your costume!"
"I told you both already that I only have one costume, which I will be wearing tomorrow," Lena huffed.
"Borrow one of mine! I've got five! I couldn't decide what I was gonna wear until now!" Ava encouraged.
"I really appreciate it, but I need to study for Binns."
"Merlin, Lee! You're always studying. It's Halloween weekend! Just take the night off!" Maggie urged, growing annoyed.
Lena kept her eyes on the page and tried to focus on the characters swimming across the page. She already planned to skip studying the next night, she could not afford to lose a second night of studying. Time was something she could not waste. Her dyslexia was always taking time away from her. Her dyslexia made her spend more time completing simple tasks like reading.
"I just want to make sure I know the information. I'll go out tomorrow night."
"Fine," Ava conceded. "We'll be at the Ravenclaw party until around half past ten and then hit the Hufflepuff party."
Lena could feel the disappointed looks that Maggie and Ava gave her as they finished getting ready and walked away.
Sunday, 31 October 1976
Sirius and James had been staring at Lena in disbelief for what seemed like hours, when it was in fact only a minute at most. "Lena, did you dress up as Dumbledore?" James asked hesitantly.
"No, I'm Gandalf!"
James and Sirius stared at her blankly.
"From The Hobbit," Lena continued waving her hands.
Lena and her friends were currently in the Gryffindor common room for the Halloween party that was being thrown. Maggie and Alex were chatting away with Raj in one corner. Maggie and Alex had dressed up as Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Raj had opted to dress up as the comic book character Batman. Ava was currently standing very close to Marlene and were touching each other subtly and affectionately. Ava dressed up as Aretha Franklin while Marlene wore Stevie Nicks costume. Lena had decided to go as Gandalf had put on a set of grey robes with a pointy grey hat. She held a wooden staff in her hand and wore an absurdly long beard in addition to an equally long wig.
"No one is gonna get that. Everyone is gonna think you're Dumbledore," Sirius shook his head.
"Whatever. At least I'm not dressed as a yellow kitten," Lena dismissed.
"We are lions!" Sirius said in an offended tone.
"And ferocious ones at that!" James added indignantly.
Lena threw her hands up. "My bad!"
As soon as Lena saw Remus, she immediately regretted picking Gandalf as her costume. She should have picked something more flattering like Ava suggested. Her brother and Remus were currently approaching her, James, and Sirius. Peter was dressed as King Arthur from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Remus was wearing a safari costume.
"'Dr. Livingstone, I presume?'" Lena grinned as Remus stood in front of her.
Remus smiled down at her. "'Yes, I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you.'"
Sirius put his face in his hands and groaned. Remus laughed. "He didn't think anyone would know what my costume was. I really like your Gandalf costume by the way."
Lena laughed as James buried his face in his hands and groaned with Sirius. "They thought the same with my costume. They thought I was Dumbledore."
"Great minds, eh?" Remus said happily.
Lena was thankful that her beard and wig hid her burning cheeks.
Here are the questions asked in Paranoia in case anyone wants to know:
Sirius to Alice: Most likely to have a tattoo?
Alice: Dorcas.
Alice to Peter: Most likely to have a secret double life?
Peter: Lily.
Peter to Lily: Most likely to commit a crime?
Lily: James.
Lily to Mary: Most likely to elope with a stranger while drunk?
Mary: Marlene.
Mary to James: Most likely to end up in St. Mungo's?
James: Frank.
James to Remus: Most likely to be the most caring?
Remus: Lena.