These Days
Chapter 3
The Morning After
I kissed a drunk girl
I kissed a drunk girl yes I did
Kissed a drunk girl on the lips
I let my guard down
How could I have been so dumb?
Her eyes were open
I know I am not the one…
(A/N: Ok, to make less confusion, I will do a brief recap of the last chapter in front of every chapter from now one, but if you kno it, feel free to skip right over it and move on to the story.)
Last timeIn the last chapter, the friends all went to a Quidditch game. Before the game, Denna was talking up Dylan (another gryff 5th) to Vanessa. Ok, so Gryffindor won, and they all went to the ILLEGAL after party. Sirius, Remus and Vanessa went to get 'merchandise,' Maleah went off with her new boy (Tyson, gryff 6th), Denna hung out with her crush (Matt, gryff 7th), Lily went off with Jackson (another gryff 5th) and left Caydence and Cam (another gryff 5th), to watch the drunks and make sure everything was ok. Sirius, Remus and Vanessa show up to the party, totally trashed with two bottles missing… and Sirius and Vanessa go off and spend the night together. James gets talked into drinking by Remus. The problem is, James is an alcoholic and CANNOT drink, but the person who was supposed to watch him (Lily!!) was MIA. Ok, James gets drunk, and pushes Denna (not intentionally to hurt her) but he pushes her into a table and she gets all cut up. That is where I left off, so on with the show…
"Well look who finally gets in." Maleah said shaking her head, as Vanessa staggered in shortly before breakfast later that morning.
"I don't even want to hear it," she answered back, holding her hands up to the girls. "I think I'm going to be sick." She ran into the bathroom and shut the door.
Caydence laughed as she undid the bandages on Denna's arm. Her face contorted into an uncomfortable expression as she saw the mangled arm. Her arm was unusually large, and the blood had soaked through two layers of bandages. It was bruised badly, and just looked like a mess.
"Oh wow," Maleah said leaning towards her, "is there any glass in it still?"
"I cleaned it as best I could last night, but I had to do it quickly because she was bleeding so bad." Caydence said as her and Maleah checked it over for any shards that might have slipped their attention the night before.
"Will it stop bleeding?" Denna asked.
"What if you are one of those, hemophibias?" Maleah thought aloud, her eyes narrowing at the blood trickling down.
"Hemophiliac." Caydence stated.
"Yeah, that's what I said. What if you are one of those? And you don't stop bleeding, and you die?" Maleah said, as Denna's eyes became enlarged.
"Oh my God, I don't want to die!"
"Don't worry, you're not a hemophiliac." Caydence said, cleaning up one of the worse cuts.
"How can you be so sure?" Maleah questioned, while handing her another cloth.
"Because hemophilia only affects guys. Girls don't have it. Well, they can have it, but they are just carriers."
"How are you such an expert on hemophilia?" Denna asked, relieved that she wasn't infected with the disease.
"My cousin has it."
"Oh…" Maleah nodded as she heard the door open. She turned around to see Lily walk in, looking down at the ground. As she looked up and saw them, she smiled slightly and then gasped at what she saw.
"Oh, oh my God, Denna, what happened?" She said running towards the bed.
"Oh, nothing I just, lost my balance, and tripped! Ha, yeah, I'm so dumb sometimes." She said, faultering a little at the glare Maleah was giving her. Caydence just stayed silent, pretending it took her complete attention to wrap Denna's arm.
"Don't even play, Denna." Maleah said, standing up to go get her calendar off the wall.
"Lily," she said, beckoning Lily to her bed. Lily walked over and looked at her nervously.
"Ok, Lily, now tell me, what does this stuff in red mean?"
"Its to let us know whose not aloud to drink on any given occasion." She answered robotically, as Maleah nodded.
"Yes, now, refresh my memory, what does the underlined red mean?"
"James duty."
"Right! Well, what does it say here, in last nights square?"
"Umm," Lily said glancing over the calendar. "Oh, it says I have James duty."
Maleah just stared at her as the thought dawned on her.
"Oh, oh my!! I'm so sorry! I totally forgot!" Lily said, clapping her hand to her forehead.
"Yeah Lily." Maleah said pointing at Denna. "Thanks for forgetting."
"What?" Lily asked, not understanding what was going on.
"While you were off forgetting, James was getting drunk."
Lily's face changed from confused, to overwhelmingly sick.
"And while you were off forgetting, James was getting REALLY drunk. And so when Denna knew you forgot, she tried to get James to stop. But when you were out forgetting, James didn't want to stop. James didn't want Denna to TELL him to stop. So while you were out FORGETTING, James pushed Denna into a table, causing THIS!" She yelled the last sentence while pointing at Denna, who was sitting numbly next to Caydence, the both of them watching the drama unfold.
"Oh my God." Lily said quietly her head dropping. She went over next to Denna and threw her arms (gently) around her.
"I'm so sorry Den, I really am! I can't believe I forgot! I'm so sorry." Lily said faster and faster, starting to cry.
"It's ok Lily, I'm fine!" Denna said, lying thru her teeth. Lily looked at her skeptically, but she just shrugged. Lily shot up from the bed.
"Where is he." She said, not as a question, but more as a demand.
"Your not gonna go yell at him, are you?" Maleah asked, as Lily shook her head.
"No, no, its just as much my fault as his." She said, her hands shaking as she paced back and forth.
"Well then what are you gonna do?" Caydence said, speaking for the first time.
"Well, I don't know." She said honestly, falling onto the floor, and putting her head in her hands. The girls looked at each other and then back at her.
"I'm so sorry Den, really, I am, I mean, is there anything that I can do for you? Anything at all?"
Denna opened her mouth to assure Lily that everything is fine and that she didn't need to do anything, but then a thought hit her.
"Actually," she began and Lily leaned towards her listening intently. "There is something…"
"Anything Den," Lily said as Denna smiled brightly.
"In that case," she said, "do you think I could maybe have your star necklace?"
Maleah laughed as Lily smiled and nodded.
"Sure Den, you can have my star necklace."
"And matching bracelet?"
"And matching bracelet."
"Great! Now I have the perfect accessories for my date tonight!"
"Date?" The three other girls asked in unison, Lily getting up to go get the jewelry.
"Oh, yes, I must have forgotten to tell you all…" Denna stated smugly, "it seems that Matt Jensen really MUST have me accompany him to the Quidditch Banquet tonight?" The girls gasped.
"Oh, so I assume you've heard of it? Yes well, it seems that I will be attending this year." Denna's smile got bigger as she saw the envious stares of her best friends.
"Congratulations Den. The first one of us to ever go to the Quidditch Banquet!!!! What are you going to wear?" Lily asked.
"That's the problem." Denna said flatly. "How am I gonna hide this?" She whimpered holding up her pathetic arm.
Caydence cringed and Maleah just shrugged, but Lily smiled.
"What are you grinning about?" Denna snapped.
"Do you remember, when last year the DADA teacher had this obsession with me?"
"Yes." Maleah said, and the other two girls nodded.
"Well, as a 'parting' gift," Lily cringed, "he gave me this." She held up this metallic body spray that had always sat on top of her jewelry box.
"Well one time my mother got me a tricycle. Why do I care what gifts you have received?? Honestly, I'm trying to mask this mangled mess of an arm for what could be the most IMPORTANT date of my life, and you are going on about…"
"Denna, it will only hurt for a minute, trust me." Lily saturated Denna's arm with the spray.
"It doesn't huuuuOOO OH MY GOD!!" She screamed as Maleah dropped the calendar she was still holding and ran to her side.
"Lily! You bitch! You are SEARING the skin away from my bloody arm! IM DYING! YOU ARE KILLING ME YOU WHORE!" She screamed as Caydence covered her mouth and the other girls laughed at the sudden display of emotions emitting from Denna.
"Denna shut up and look at your arm." Denna looked down and saw that her arm was in perfect condition. It was even missing the scar from her cat when she was 7.
"Awesome! How long will this last?" She said jumping up and hugging Lily.
"Your welcome, and just 24 hours." Lily laughed, as Maleah grabbed her hand and Denna ran into the closet to find a suitable dress.
"You, my dear, need to go talk to James." Lily nodded.
"Wish me luck." Lily spoke as she headed to the door and down to the common room.
When she walked into the common room, she was surprised to see that the place was relatively clean, seeing as though the after-quidditch parties tend to get a bit rambunctious. After scanning the tables for sight of James, she decided he must be in his dorm, fretting about the ordeal with Denna.
As she entered the room, she was blasted by the stereo and the site of two half naked boys jumping around to the beat.
"Sirius! Remus! What on earth are you doing?" She screamed over the music, the boys continuing jumping with huge grins on there faces.
"Curing our hangovers!!" They yelled in tandem.
"Weird ass way to go about it if you ask me…" Jackson said as he got up to give Lily a hug. As she wriggled out of his embrace, she asked him where James was.
"I don't know." He said flatly, looking rather taken aback from her actions.
"He was on the quidditch pitch last time I saw him." Cam said, the anger hidden well beneath his words, as Lily nodded her thanks and hurried out the door.
"Hey stranger." Lily said quietly, startling James when she sat beside him on the lakes edge.
"Hey." He said back, his eyes concentrating on the rippling waves disappear into the smooth glassy lake center.
"Why'd you do it." She asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.
"Do what." His hands fidgeted as he looked out into the water, as if he was searching for something that could never be found.
"Why did you drink." Lily said, looking into his face as his gaze was cast to the ground.
"Because I had nothing else to do." He said earnestly.
"James that is the most pathetic thing I have ever heard." His eyes widened as she continued. "We all have worked so hard to keep you sober, and the one time that one of us doesn't fulfill our 'James Duty' you go off and get drunk! What the hell is that about James! You're not stupid! You know you can't handle alcohol!"
"What do you mean by James Duty." He asked, looking at her for the first time, as Lily panicked at her slip up. James wasn't ever supposed to find out about James Duty, but too late now…
"Ever since last year, on every occasion that there may be alcohol involved, one of the friends has been sober to make sure that you don't get drunk."
His eyes narrowed.
"And it's worked, until now that is…" She trailed off and looked into the water.
James stood up abruptly and thrust his hands into his pockets.
"So what you are saying is that you all have this secret little club, that watches my every move to see that I don't so much as even smell a drop of alcohol!?"
"I guess."
He started to walk away, but stopped and turned to face Lily once again.
"I don't need a fucking babysitter Lily! I'm not a goddamned child! I can handle my own fucking life, I don't need you all to look down on me and slap me on the wrist when I make a wrong turn!"
"Obviously you cannot handle yourself, James! Because if you could, you would handle alcohol with responsibility, not with the carelessness of an experimenting 12 year old, or worse, Sirius!!! You know that you have a disease James, and you should have figured that out before you tip back a few and end up hurting the people you care for most!" Her cheeks were flaming with red as James opened his mouth with a rebuttal.
"Who, have I hurt?!" He yelled back, as Lily rolled her eyes at his forgetfulness.
"Do you go into a damned COMATOSE when you drink, James?! Do you or do you not remember pushing Denna last night into a table, the glass punch bowl shattering and the pieces being EMBEDED in her arm!?"
James took in a sharp breath of air as he tried to remember the night before. He stood there for what seemed like hours until he remembered the actions that caused Denna such pain.
"Oh my God." He whispered to himself. How could he have done that?
"Oh, so now you remember." Lily said snottily, her arms crossed in an 'I told you so,' manner.
"Can I ask you a question?" James said to Lily, as she nodded in response.
"You say that this James Duty thing has worked up until last night, correct?"
Another nod.
"Well then what was it that caused it to mess up in such an extreme way? Did the person who was suppose to be watching me forget that I'm not supposed to be drinking." James looked at her as if he was actually asking the question, not trying to prove that she was less than reliable herself sometimes. After all, James didn't know that it was Lily's job to watch him last night.
"The schedule got mixed up." Lily said flatly. "I had forgotten that I was suppose to watch you."
"Hmm." James nodded as he turned and walked back to the castle, without another word to Lily.
Up in the girl's dorm, Denna was running around frantically trying to figure out exactly what to wear to the banquet. Caydence, Maleah and Vanessa had all emptied their closets of their prettiest dresses, but Denna was still stressing out to the point of hysterics.
"If I don't look cute tonight, this little fling with Matt will never work out! We will never date, we will never kiss, we'll never get further than a "hullo" in the hallways!" She raved as Caydence suppressed laughter.
There was a knock on the door causing Denna's eyes to widen.
"Oh that better well not be him." She gritted her teeth and ran into the adjacent bathroom as Maleah opened the door. In the doorway stood a rather disheveled looking James, his eyes wide with regret.
"Is Denna in here?" He asked shakily, while running his hand through his chronically untidy hair.
"Yeah, just a minute James." Maleah said as she went into the bathroom to retrieve Denna.
"You know James," Vanessa said from her seated position across from him, "Denna doesn't blame you for what you did last night or anything, I mean, you were drunk so you don't really need to feel responsible I guess…"
"Just because I have a problem with alcohol doesn't mean that I can excuse myself from being a decent human being. I'm still man enough to face what I have done, no matter what state I may have been in or what substance abuse problem I may have." He said his words filled with anger and spite.
"Well shoot me in the head James for saying anything." Vanessa answered bitterly back, Caydence trying to pretend to read her Witches Weekly and at the same time straining to hear every word.
"Well next time, just don't open your mouth."
Vanessa got up from her seat and walked past James and out the door, but not before giving her last regards.
"Fuck you James." She said, turning around. "At least I'm not the one who has to crawl back to people begging for forgiveness for the things I have done while I'm too drunk to know the difference."
She closed the door as James jaw clenched and he said under his breath, "No, you want to remember everyone you spread your herpes to, don't you, you fucking whore."
Caydence laughed and nodded at his statement, all the while still pretending to read her magazine. James smiled at her as Denna walked out of the bathroom.
"Den, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you or anything, and I just want,"
"James, James, its ok." Denna said laughing it off. "Just don't let it happen again, especially if I have a date the next day…" she said, as James smiled.
"Ooo, Den, you have a date? With who?" James said, feeling immensely happy that Denna wasn't angry with him.
"Matt Jensen!" She said, her smile spreading further across her face.
His smile turned to disgust when she said his name.
"Den, I hope you have a great time, I really do. But if that bastard takes advantage of you I swear to you that I will kill him." He spat, as Denna's eyes widened and she laughed nervously.
"Don't worry James," Maleah cut in, "Den's a big girl, and we already told Matt that if he hurts her, we will have no choice but to render him sexually useless." James face contorted as he thought about what she meant, but then he smiled at Maleah and told the girls that he best be getting ready for the banquet and exited the room.
"Hey Remus, have you seen Sirius anywhere?" Vanessa asked when she entered the boys dorm, looking for Sirius to take her mind off the little spat she just had with James.
"Start checking the closets, V. You know how Sirius is the morning after… He'll fuck anything that has a pulse."
Vanessa's heart dropped as she thought of Sirius with another girl. She knew that he isn't hers, but she couldn't help liking him. Loving him…
"Yeah, I know, he's so horny it's sort of pathetic." Vanessa said, trying to remember Sirius' favorite closet. She didn't need to think hard though, because as she turned to locate the boy, he stumbled in the portrait hole with his arm around some 4th year slut.
"Wait, no, he's right there. I forgot that they were going out!" Remus said while slapping himself in the head at his forgetfulness.
"Going out?"
"Yeah, since breakfast. I don't think it'll last long. You know Sirius, I mean, how could it?" Remus said, giving Vanessa a friendly pat on the back.
"Yeah," Vanessa said quietly, as her eyes began to water. Stop it. She said to herself. Vanessa Headon doesn't show emotion. Especially about a boy. A stupid slimy one like Sirius Black isn't worth crying over.
As she was talking to herself, she ran head on into another 5th year lost deep in his thoughts.
"V! I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, and I,"
"No, Dylan, it's ok, I wasn't really looking either," she said to him, as he looked into her eyes and saw tears starting to form.
"Vanessa are you ok?"
"Yeah, I just," she started and then thought a moment about what she was saying. "Yeah, I'm fine now. Do you maybe wanna go on a walk with me?"
"I would love to go on a walk with you Vanessa." Dylan said as Vanessa took his hand and they headed toward the portrait hole.
OMG IT'S BEEN YEARS SINCE I LAST WROTE I AM SO SORRY!! I really have no excuse and if you no longer read this story I understand, because there are so many characters and it's really hard to understand, but give it a chance!!! With summer coming up I will update tons more, so hopefully I will gain some trust back.
Next chapter… hmmm. Well, I'm not really sure. Lol, I guess I have a long term plan for the story, but not necessarily a short term. I will update ASAP, and I just wanted to let you know that I am gonna brainstorm about it in the near future. Ok. I LOVE YOU ALL and thank you if you actually are reading this!