Yes, it is now Christmastime and yes, the title sucks.

Ch. 19 "Drunk Alert!"

Silence followed Simon Good's departure. Lily was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't even hear what Sirius had said, let alone if he was saying it to her. After Lily didn't answer, Sirius, like the rest of the small group, stood in silence. He was looking at Sara, who was looking at the spot where Simon had just stood. The expression on her face was of complete and utter disgust.

"Yeah," Sirius said finally in a slightly bored tone, breaking what seemed like the never-ending silence that filled the room. "Well, I'm off to bed. Night."

James smirked at his best friend. "And I thought you were interested in Lily's new predicament."

"Well, now I'm not. No offense, Lils."

"Right right, you wouldn't want to keep Lizzie waiting," James added with a slight roll of his dark hazel eyes.

"Right," Sirius answered with a wink.

Sara's raised eyebrows were very noticeable on her tan face. She watched him go up the stairs and quickly snapped her head towards James. "That was sarcasm, right?"

James shrugged. "I don't know, I was joking. But then again you never do know with Sirius. All I know is that if he doesn't keep it down, I'll be pretty grumpy in the morning. Well, I'm off to bed, too. Night Sara, Lily."

"Good night," Lily mumbled as she sank into an armchair by the fire; her back was now facing her friend. "Sara?" she called over her shoulder. "What do you think? Of him? And me? Lily. Your best friend. And him?"

Sara walked smoothly over to where Lily was seated and plopped suddenly right on her lap. "Well," Sara began with a small grunt as she slightly struggled to get properly seated.

"Ouch, you're on my leg!" Lily exclaimed and pushed Sara into a neighboring love seat. She rubbed her knee soothingly and gave Sara what she hoped for was an angry glare.

Sara laughed placidly and crossed her legs. Her pant leg crept up her left calf and revealed a yellow and neon orange striped toe-sock. Lily raised an eyebrow but continued on their conversation without comment. "Tell me what you think," she demanded in a thoughtful and curious manner.

"He's a weenie!" Sara said bluntly with another laugh. "He is the mayor of Weenieland; the king of the kingdom of weenies. If there was another weenie that was even weenier than him, their combined weenieness would blow up the earth. And that, Lillian Evans, is precisely what I think." She said the last part with an air of mock importance, and sniffed the air disapprovingly. "I smell a weenie with mustard," she commented dryly in that same voice.

"Sara, please," Lily interrupted loudly, but even she couldn't stifle her giggles.

"Fine, fine, fine." She waved a hand in the air, further dismissing the topic and rested her head on her fist. She had an expectant look on her face and a hidden smile threatened to reveal itself on her pink lips. "So?" she asked impatiently. "What are you going to do?"

"I have no idea," Lily moaned to the ceiling. She rolled her head in Sara's direction and moaned again.

"Drama queen," Sara remarked as she gave Lily a playful slap on her arm. "I'm going to bed, and you're coming with me. You'll get a pair of hideously unattractive bags under your eyes if you stay awake any longer."

"But I thought I had to think about it," Lily called from her seat next to the fireplace.

"You can think about it as you sleep," Sara called back as she began to ascent the staircase leading to the dormitories. "You can bug me all you want about it tomor –" A large yawn cut her off mid-sentence. "row." She turned around and began to further climb the stairs.

Lily stood up and followed Sara up the staircase, her mind racing with nothing, then Simon's head randomly popping up every ten seconds. She closed her eyes and pounded on her head as she prayed with all might for a less crowded mind. Sara paused and turned around mid-stair, grinning slightly as she slowly walked back down to where Lily stood. "The things that go on in your mind scare even me," she commented dryly as she grabbed Lily's arm and urged her to their room.

Sara freed Lily once she opened their dormitory door, then she walked over to her bed and got under the covers with her robes still on.

"That must be terribly uncomfortable," Lily commented as she began to change into her nightdress.

"I'm warm," Sara retorted and flashed Lily a wide and content smile to further prove her point. Lily rolled her eyes and climbed into her four-poster. She drew the curtains and buried her face into the scarlet comforter that covered her large, heated queen-sized bed.

Just as Lily was starting to drift off to sleep, their bedroom door slammed open, smacking against the wall with a loud crack. Her body snapped up and she quickly parted the heavy scarlet curtains that surrounded her bed. And what she saw really was a sight for sore eyes.

A very loud, intoxicated Tanya Huggins entered the room; her gait uneven and wobbly and she held a limp hand to her forehead. Lily's eyebrows made a tremendous arch and her eyes scanned the room for any sight of another awakened person. Only Sara and another girl in their dorm by the name of Jenny Blitz were awakened, both of which were looking at Tanya with different expressions; Jenny with a face full of alarm and Sara with amusement. She giggled slightly and covered her mouth with a petite hand. She caught Lily's eye and mouthed, "She's drunk," to her.

"I know," Lily mouthed back and shifted her attention once again to the drunken girl in front of her, who was looking at her hand in awe, turning it to the side and examining it at all angles. Lily's raised eyebrows were so high they were disappearing into her fiery hairline. Sara's fit of giggles had now gotten stronger and she let out a loud, uncontrollable snort. Tanya failed to notice. Jenny, who was till eyeing Tanya warily, protectively drew her curtains and went to sleep.

"How much do you think she had to drink?" Sara whispered as she scampered across the room to Lily's bed.

"More than one," Lily murmured in response. "Merlin, what does she think her hand is, a diamond?"

"Her home planet?" Sara suggested sarcastically. That caused her to erupt in yet another heap of giggles, this time so hard she was forced to clamp her mouth shut with both hands in fear of waking up the other girls.

"Calm down, Sara, it wasn't that funny," Lily whispered.

"I know," she squealed and continued to laugh. "But I can't help it."

Sara had now placed a pillow to her mouth in a failed attempt to muffle the sound. Lily was eyeing her with great amusement, completely forgetting about Tanya. That was, however, until she staggered over and threw herself on Lily's bed. As she did that, some drool escaped her mouth and fell on Lily's pillow. Lily's face switched instantly from laughter to disgust. Sara only laughed harder.

"Why you laugh'n," Tanya slurred in Sara's direction.

Sara was able to control herself for a moment. "I just love you so much," she responded with the most counterfeit serenity Lily had ever heard, and even put a put her clasped hands to her heart.

Tanya gave a lopsided grin. "Oo doesn'."

"Oo doesn'," Sara repeated loudly. "You are so right, Tanya."

Before Lily could tell her to be quiet, Tanya's head rolled her head in her direction. "Yoo o what?" she asked Lily.

"What did she say? 'You know what'?" Sara asked Lily over Tanya's head. "Man, is she drunk."

"No, what," Lily asked Tanya, ignoring Sara's comment.

"Ah love 'im," Tanya replied.

"Yep, she's drunk, alright."

"Mm hmm," Lily said, still ignoring Sara.

"Ee's gon' be mah 'usb (hic) 'usban'."

"Can you even understand her? Man, is she drunk!"

"Mm hmm. . ."

"Ah was jus' wi' 'im."

"If we threw her out the window, so you think she'd notice?"

"Quiet, Sara, I need to listen."

"But it's a secret!" Tanya whispered very loudly and put a finger to her lips. "Sshh!" and then she began to laugh. Lily was now sure Tanya didn't even know Sara was there. Lily looked at Sara over Tanya's head. Sara's grin was so wide Lily was actually waiting for her cheeks to pop.

"It's a secret," Tanya whispered again once she stopped laughing.

Sara got up and wandered over to the nearest window. "How high up are we?" she mused to herself as she examined the distance from the window to the ground.

"He's not 'pose tuh know," Tanya continued.

"About what?" Lily asked confusedly.

"Him," Tanya simply replied. Her eyes suddenly became clouded and she started to drool again. "Pass the mushrooms," she muttered absently before she passed out on Lily's bed, her legs dangling freely over the edge of the mattress.

Sara turned around and her eyes widened. "Quick, Lily, before anyone sees!" She hurried over to Tanya's limp body and attempted to lift it up and carry it over to the wide-open window.

"Sara!" Lily cried out once she processed what Sara was trying to do. "No, Sara, don't!" She hurriedly grabbed one of Tanya's arms and pulled her out of Sara's grasp. "We are not throwing her out the window," she scolded sternly.

"At least not today," Sara added with a wicked grin. It quickly vanished at the sight of Lily's grim face. "I was only joking!" Sara defended. "Really, I was only joking! Really! Lily, really. I was! Stop looking at me like that. Lily, I was just joking. Stop it!"

Lily gave Sara one last glare, then headed for Tanya's bed, as her unconscious body was still in her arms. Lily took one step, then stumbled and dropped Tanya with a loud thump. It was a wonder no one else was awake.

Sara snorted. "And you call me abusive," she said sarcastically.

Lily narrowed her eyes at Sara. "It was an accident," she calmly explained. "Will you help me pick her up? She's heavier than she looks."

"No," Sara stubbornly replied. "I'm going to bed. And you're right: robes are uncomfortable." She easily slipped out of her school uniform and into her pajamas. "Night, Lils."

Lily looked down at where Tanya's body lay. "So we're just going to leave her here?"

"Looks like it," Sara responded as she slipped under her blankets.

Lily took one last look at Tanya, then walked over to her bed. Before she reached it, Sara turned off the light, and Lily tripped over a pile of clothes on the floor that she couldn't see in the darkness. She stumbled slightly then caught herself before tumbling to the floor. "Sara!" she scolded.

"Sorry!" was her reply.

"What did you get for number one?" Sara asked as she peered over Lily's paper.

"Kappa," Lily answered.

"Good, good, that's what I got. Excellent. What did you get for number two?"

"Uh . . . the Imperius Curse, I believe."

"I got that one, too!" The faint scratching of a quill on parchment was heard. "Man, Lily, we are on a roll today. What about number three?"

"You'll never get anywhere with cheating, Sara," Lily told her. The two were sitting in the common room after dinner doing their homework for Defense Against the Dark Arts. The room was buzzing with happy chatter, and there was a large fire in the fireplace, creating an extra sense of comfort to the room.

"Sara leaned back in her chair and stretched. "We need to get more Care of Magical Creatures homework," she said to Lily. "That is the only class that you need to ask me if you can see what I got for number one."

"Let's just say that animals aren't my strongpoint," Lily replied, her head bent over her textbook looking for the answer to number eighty-one.

"Right, and anything that requires taking three hundred notes is," Sara joked.

"Well, I am the note-taking queen," Lily joked back.

Sara just grinned back, then continued to do her homework. It was the day after the "window incident", as Lily secretly called it, and Tanya hadn't come up in any conversations between the two. She was currently resided to the girls' toilet, doubled-over with a massive hangover and retching every time someone mentioned anything that made her think of food. Even the thought of Hagrid's rock cakes made her gag. And Sara was enjoying every minute of it.

Simon Good was also defected from Lily's view. He stood out of her way, patiently waiting for her answer. She still had no idea what to tell him, and was afraid he would think ill of her if she waited too long. And yes, his sandy brown hair and light green eyes did cast an attractive look onto him, but with Lily it was all about personality.

A light tap on the table made Lily's head snap up. Standing in front of her was James Potter, complete with heart-melting grin and lopsided glasses. "Dumbledore wants to see us," he said. "In the Great Hall."

"Okay," Lily answered. She looked over at Sara, who was distracted by the drawing she had formed in the corner of her assignment. It was a small, intricate sketch of a girl with her head stuck in a toilet. That girl was also labeled Huggins with a big arrow pointing to her body. She looked up at Lily and grinned sheepishly.

"Hey, everyone has impulses," she said. "Maybe I could blow it up, paint it and give it to her for her birthday."

Lily just smirked as she collected her things and placed them in her bag. "I'll be back later, Sara," she said to her and followed James out of the common room.

As the portrait swung shut, James gestured to Lily's satchel and said, "You know, you really don't have to carry that around with you all the time."

Lily looked up at him and frowned slightly. "I wouldn't say I take it everywhere; almost everywhere would be a little more accurate." She grinned at him.

"I'm surprised you're not a hunchback yet," he kidded as he gave her a light poke.

"I'd be expecting it if I were you; I plan on being a Healer. Do you realize how many books I'll have to read? And it takes years of studying before I can actually do anything."

"We'll paint a face on it and call it your Siamese twin."

Lily broke out in a heap of laughter and when she entered the Great Hall people thought she was crazy.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Evans," Dumbledore greeted from across the hall where he was helping Professor Flitwick put a star on top of a twenty-foot tree. It wasn't even half of the hall's height. The hall was getting ready for Christmas, and all of the old decorations were being put up. The trees, the banners, the wreaths, and the icicles were all being set up in their rightful places by staff workers and voluntary students. He said something to the tiny professor and with a smile on his face, walked over to where the two students stood. "I hope it wasn't an inconvenience for you to come down here," he said.

"No, professor," the two said in unison.

"Good," he said in a jolly voice. His bright blue eyes never failed to twinkle. "As you can see," he gestured to the half-decorated room, "the Great Hall is being decorated for the Christmas Ball. And, as you might know, it is requested that the two head students start the ball off with a dance. You are familiar with this, are you not?"

"We are," James reassured him. Lily held her clenched hands behind her back.

"Does a nice waltz sound appealing to you?" he asked cheerfully.

"Of course," James answered, apparently very calm about the whole ordeal. Lily, however . . .

"I would prefer it if you two would practice a few times before the ball, just in case there are any difficulties." His sharp eyes darted in Lily's direction for a millisecond; even she barely caught it. "Well," he continued, "that is all I have to say for now. You two, along with help from the prefects and the staff if you need it, will plan the ball. If you seek additional help in anyway, you know where to find me."

"Yes, Professor, we will," James said. With a nod of the head, their headmaster had turned around and was now helping Hagrid set up a fifty-footer. (A/N: The Christmas stuff might be a little off, but I forget how it actually works. Besides, going by the book is boring.)

James turned around to face Lily. "Do you want to practice now?" he asked her.

"Sure, she replied nervously. She allowed him to take her by the arm and lead her to the Room of Requirements.

Do I have a thing for cliffhangers or what?

Hi!! So sorry about the wait! Blame it on the writers block. If you want to piss and moan to me about how I don't update fast enough, be my guest.

Okay: This chapter was really rushed and I don't think it's that good, so if you have any thoughts or whatever, tell me. But that is NOT an excuse for rudeness, people. Remember that.

If you are wondering where the shipow Remus and Peter went, don't worry. I was worrying about that, too. Don't worry, they'll come back. They did it in the third book and they can do it again!

If you had noticed (maybe you did, maybe you didn't, I dunno) I left some hidden clues in Tanya's drunken rampage. (who knows what that girl was drinking) There are some clues in it about where I'm going with this story. If you have an idea, won't tell it to me, cuz that pretty much ruins the fun for me if you guess it. And I have made another decision! I am going to redo Seventh Year!! It has a good plot but I still have alot of work to do. Look forward to that in the future.

PS I GOT AN A ON MY PHYSICS TEST!!! YEAH!!!!!!
PPS If you have no idea what Tanya is saying, tell me and I'll help you out.

DOJ: WOW are you great at giving compliments. You really made my day. Shanka for the reviews!

Gardevoir-Mages: Thank you for all those reviews! Sorry about the cussing; I guess I was just in that kind of mood. Not one of my better moods. Anyway, sorry, and I'm glad you like the story! And I will definitely keep reviewing yours.

Black-nailed-vixen: Peace out might be corny, but it will NEVER die. Never. Anyway, thank you so much for the review and I'm glad you think I'm a funny person! Most people tell me that so I guess I am. Anywho........wow I lost my train of thought. Oh yeah, great pen name.

knoxjazzbabe: Awesome pen name. The story is a LJ story, his girlfriend is just in the beginning chapters. And the middle chapters, but she'll be gone soon!

The all mighty and powerfulM: Aren't all my cliffhangers evil? Yes, I think they are. Thanks for the review!

ourlittlesecret7: I'm glad you thought Simon was funny. I was aiming for a prissy jerk, and I think I did okay. Also glad you like the interactions.

blonde-brain: Sorry I took so long to update! Hope to read another one of your reviews!

freakin-person: Yes, you do tell me this story is great every time, butI don't mind, lol. Good God, you are making me write alot. Okay, uh: I don't like waking up for school, but I really like school this year. (surprise surprise) Physics is tough and I like it when there are no details involved. Yes, I am a she, don't mind the rudeness (usually), and Green Day KICKS YOUR ASS AND MINE. I LOVE THEM. Never heard of Blue, Busted okay, Good Charlotte really good, Bowling for Soup (1985), Yellowcard (Ocean Ave.), Simple Plan (that one song I forget), Maroon 5 (that other song I forget), Linkin Park (Breaking the Habit), Black Eyed Peas (Hey Mama), Evanescence (My Immortal is one of the most addictive songs I've ever heard), Dashboard Confessional and Sum 41all rock. Ashlee Simpson......I don't think she has a good voice (I love Jessica, God bless all the dumb blondes out there) and she's really whiney. But I like her. (shrug) Avril Lavigne had a nice voice but I wouldn't consider her one of my favorites, Beyonce okay, Brittany Spears....nice voice but a tad annoying, Christina Aguilera, great voice and I like her now that she's changed. Hilary Duff....I dunno. She's okay. Kelly Clarkson (Since You've Been Gone!) and Alicia Keys are both fantabalous. Jesse McCartney.....he seems okay, but I really know nothing about him. Isn't he that young one? I'm not into rap much so not really Nelly, and I really like both Ryan Cabrera and Usher. I'm from US of A.

HP Freak and SM Fanatic: Sorry for the mixup in the early chapters. I was hoping it was clear enough but I guess it wasn't. I hope you have a better idea of what's going on now. By the way, what does the SM stand for? Sailor Moon? I dunno, it just popped into my head.

Lady Cantara: Yes, Simon is cute, unfortunately. But, as I've already mentioned (I think) Lily cares about personality. And as you can see, he's a total weenie.

InLuvWitRupert: No, I am definitely not sick of you. VERY sorry for the wait, I'll try really hard to shorten it next time. You'd just better keep reviewing, lol.

WritingsOfATeenageDramaQueen: I really like the pen name .

CandyCaneLane: You pen name makes me hungry. Lol. Anyway, I'm glad you like this story and I'm looking forward to your next review.

Lady Ly: YES I WANT TO GO SCUBA DIVING! Snorkling, too. That whol eel story sounds awesome. I hope that happens to me. And the whole "I smell like a kangaroo" thing really made me laugh.

Red-Emerald: Well, I'm glad you now know Hitler was married! I think he kept her locked up or something, though. But she was crazy in love with him so yeah. Thanks for the review!

evenstar of the undyinglands: I have no idea what the heck your pen name means and yet I love it. Lol, glad you like the fic!

GinnyHarryP: Glad you like the story.

soccerchic1989: Your cat fell through a chair? Now I want a cat! Wow am I random. You like soccer, I assume?

FallenFlower: Glad you like the story and glader you think James is adorable! He rocks.

PS If I ever confuse your response with someone else's, expect it.