Bound in Matrimony

By: Jasmine

Chapter 1

"Drunken Surprises"

James sat up in bed, slightly disoriented, reaching up to rub his eyes only to come across a smooth, hard surface. That was quite peculiar considering he never forgot to remove his glasses before going to sleep every night. He straightened them, rubbing his temples. His head was aching and he had no memory of the night before. Thinking about it just made his head throb even more painfully than it already was. He made to climb out of bed, feeling an icy chill across his chest. He bent down to see his shirt unbuttoned. This was even more peculiar, but he shrugged it off, not wanting to think anything of it. Only then did he notice his surroundings. No longer was he in the Gryffindor boys' dormitories but an odd sort of room. It had large portraits of painted sceneries on the walls, the wallpaper simple stripes.

"What the...?" He muttered, his voice fading. A soft moan behind him snapped him out of his stupor. James spun around, eyes setting on the source of the sound. As if in response, his face drained itself of all color, a sinking sensation falling to the pit of his stomach. He staggered backward, a stabbing pain coursing through his back as he hit a doorknob. "No..."

"Yep." said a deep voice from behind, making James jump. Sirius had just emerged from the bathroom, having freshened himself up. James stared, awaiting an answer to all his unasked questions. He wanted to know exactly what was going on, and he wanted to know now because he hated being uninformed of everything to do with him, whether it be good or bad. "Don't worry. You two didn't do anything." Sirius said curtly, pushing past James to a second door, this one probably leading out.

"Sirius." James halted him, giving Sirius a piercing stare, which was returned. He wanted to know exactly how in the world he had ended up waking up in the same bed as Lily Evans. He wanted to know what had happened the night before because he was fully aware that Sirius had all knowledge of it. He wanted to know everything at that moment, not later. Sirius continued gazing, making James ball his hands into fists and say through clenched teeth, "What the hell is going on?"

"Ah. You don't remember, do you?" Sirius chortled knowingly, his hands in his pockets. James decided not to respond, knowing it was no use. Sirius chuckled softly, putting a hand through his sleek ebony hair, his eyes like the ocean, vast and incomprehensible. James grunted, tapping his toe. "Fine, fine. If you must know, and obviously you must, last night we went out. You, me, Lily, and Alana. Remus had Prefect duties, and you know Peter, wetting his knickers over trouble and detention... So, er, we went out—snuck out, actually. We didn't go to Hogsmeade, though. Still have no clue where we were, just that we went into a nice little bar. Alana dear was dreadfully angry, though. Guess I ordered some drinks, and a certain two people got drunk..."

"And...?" James demanded, an eyebrow quirked. He was not sure that was the end of the story, but he was very frightened to find what the end was. "What happened next? And you still haven't told me why I woke up in the same bed as Evans."

Sirius looked as if he wished he could be anywhere but here. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, no voice coming out. When James looked as if he was ready to burst, Sirius let out, "Well, technically... you didn't wake up next to Evans." James's eyes narrowed, and he began searching through his pockets, obviously looking for his wand. "No, no! Don't get me wrong or anything, I'm not teasing you. You see.. er... You and Lily were extremely drunk last night and wanted to do something spontaneous..."

"You said we didn't do anything!" James exclaimed, pointing his wand at Sirius in the process, who flinched.

"You... didn't. Just, er, how do I put this?" He looked down, scratching his head and looking unsure of himself for the first time in his life. James prodded his chest with his wand threateningly. "Okay, okay. Well, that girl over there," He gestured to Lily, who was still sleeping soundly in the bed. "Her name's not Evans... anymore."

"What rubbish are you—" James stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes widening. He stared at Sirius, who grimaced. "I—We—We got—No way—" He stuttered gibberish, pointing at himself, Lily, and many other strange places. "We... we didn't get... married. Did we?" Sirius nodded slowly, backing away in the process. James yelped, looking as if it was the end of the world. Not one of them noticed Lily bolt upright in bed, looking around angrily, grumbling something weird under her breath. "I'm only SIXTEEN! This can't be! My parents are going to kill me! Oh, Merlin, what did I do to deserve this! Why? Why?"

"Potter...? Black...? Lily mumbled, strands of crimson hair obscuring her face, her eyes unfocused. She crawled out of bed, shakily getting to her feet, her knees rattling against each other. "What am I doing here? What's going on?" She made to walk towards them only to fall to her knees, taking old of a nearby tabletop for support.

"Lily!" James ran to her aid, helping her up. But she shoved him off, unsteadily standing again. "You—you should get back in bed. You don't look to well." He said as he himself felt a particularly painful throb across his temples, making him groan in pain. He pulled out a chair and precariously placed himself in it, blinking his eyes to focus them.

"I don't need to. I'm just fine. Now, what's going on!" Lily screeched, her ashen face glaring at James and Sirius. But before she could do anymore, she hunched over, throwing up all over the carpet. "Ugh. Gross." She whined. Looking down at herself, she jumped. She was standing in nothing but a long, button-down white shirt. She ran into the bathroom, picking up her clothes in the way.

"James. We need to get back to Hogwarts." Sirius voiced apprehensively when he heard the shower start. James nodded, slipping into his own clothes as well. "Alana's next door. We slept in there." James looked up at him, smirking, but Sirius waved him off. "Don't even think anything of it. She made me stay in here all night until you two went to sleep to be sure nothing happened. If anyone, you should be thanking her. Then, she made sure we had a two-bed room." He looked slightly disgruntled by this fact, making James laugh.

"Damn." Lily stood in the doorway of the bathroom fully clothed and newly refreshed. She was still holding her head, though, and she looked little less a wreck than before. "Will someone please tell me what happened last night?" She begged, stumbling over to the bed and sitting down.

"Nothing. We just went out and decided to stay in a hotel instead." Sirius began slowly, glancing between Lily and James nervously. He blinked his sapphire eyes, dawning comprehension overcoming them. He smiled. "No worries, though. James and I stayed in the room next door." Lily nodded, her worry level decreasing obviously.

Just then Alana poked her head into the room, her brown eyes scanning the premises. "Lily!" she cried, coming over and hugging her best friend. "Thank god you're okay!"

"Okay? What d'you mean?" Lily inquired immediately, her piercing gaze switching between Sirius, James, and Alana. "There's something going on that I don't know about. What is it?"

Alana widened her eyes, sending a questioning look toward Sirius, who returned it with a 'we-didn't-tell-her-and-neither-should-you' look. "Nothing. She's just being silly. We'd better get back to Hogwarts before classes start, though, or you'll definitely not be okay. McGonagall's going to chew you out, considering we have her first." Sirius saved, his lie coming out very smoothly and convincing. Lily was still suspicious of their behavior but was too tired to inquire anymore as to the topic.

The foursome left the hotel, Sirius paying the bill so Lily wouldn't see who'd slept in which room. They quickly made off through the fireplace, using the last of the hotel's floo powder and arrived at Hogwarts just as students were filing out of the Great Hall, whispering among themselves.

Kinda short, I know, but let me know what you think! There's way more to come up. I just thought of this story as a whim, and hopefully it'll grow to be a great story. I'll try to update next weekend because I've got to keep up with school. What's about all. Enjoy, and...

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