Swaying slightly in her seat, Lily laughed for the umpteenth time, face fuzzy and cheeks flushed. Marlene had been recounting all her favorite Hogwarts rendezvous, much to Sirius' dismay, and ranking them with a system Lily could hardly keep track of. She could barely even tell the time—not that she was so keen on knowing either— she was much too giddy from the firewhisky they had snuck into the common room to celebrate the quidditch championship. Some lousy head girl she was, she thought.
As she drained her bottle, she felt an arm drop onto her shoulders, swaying her more than she already was. The smell of musk suddenly engulfed her and somehow, she managed to feel even more light-headed than the alcohol had made her feel the entire night.
"Evans."
Feeling an uncontrollable smirk spreading steadily across her face, she turned to face her welcome (not that she'd ever admit) intruder.
"Potter."
"Firewhisky in the common room," James taunted. "What would Professor McGonagall say?"
Lily rolled her eyes, but couldn't—not for the life of her— bring herself to stop grinning. "Nothing, considering she couldn't possibly find out. Not as though we're head boy and girl or anything." She teased as she brought her face closer to his. James found that it was much harder to breathe with Lily's lips a mere breath away. Much more breathless than any quidditch match had made him feel all these years.
"You must fancy me a lot if you're willing to lie on my account." He suggested with a grin as he leaned back onto the couch.
"Don't flatter yourself." Lily was quick to reply, leaning into his chest all the same. "Though I must admit—good game earlier, Potter. That was some stunt you pulled back there, scared me half to death if I'm being completely honest."
"Now you've done it, Evans. We won't hear anything but Prongs swooning over this compliment for a week!" Peter groaned as Sirius roared with laughter. Remus watched Lily at complete ease in James' arms, glad that his friends were finally honest with themselves. "Watch it, yeah? Careful not to inflate his head! Merlin knows you've done enough the past two years, and we're the ones that have to suffer." Remus agreed good-naturedly.
"That right, Potter, you brag about me?" Lily asked, laughing, looking up at him to find that a blush was creeping onto his cheeks."Shove it, you lot!" James started, knowing his friends would do no such thing.
Summoning another bottle of firewhisky, he sat with his friends around the fire, Lily nestled against his chest, celebrating their last ever Hogwarts quidditch match. Intertwining his hand with Lily's, he inched closer to her ear. "Go out with me"
"I'd rather date the giant squid," she teased. "Ask me again some other time, Potter."
Tweaking her nose, he pulled her toward him and she leaned against him without protest. "You wound me, Evans."
"Oh shut up, James. We've been together for a year." Lily quickly countered, her retort lost in the yawn that had escaped her. She pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, and with the dizzying influence of firewhisky and the intoxicating effect of James Potter, she succumbed to her body's relentless plea for rest, letting the soothing feeling of James stroking her hair put her to sleep.