Author's note: I listened to "Shivers" by Ed Sheeran on repeat when I wrote this song — for some reason it was the song I imagined when they were dancing in the common room.
Also, this chapter is dedicated to my friend Joe who took a tumble after making the misguided decision to dance on the arm of my couch (he was not injured, not even his ego).
Saturday, February 4, 1978
An icy wind buffeted the buildings of Hogsmeade and rattled the windows of the Three Broomsticks, but inside it was warm and cozy. The tables and booths were packed with customers, and Rosmerta bustled around behind the bar, pouring drinks and waving as customers came and went. Wending his way through the crowd, James set down a round of drinks on the table, then took one and raised it in the air.
"I'd like to propose a toast to the birthday girl, Miss Lily Agatha Evans—"
Lily laughed and shook her head in exasperation. "Are you ever going to bother learning my actual middle name?"
"I have no idea what you mean," James said, draping his free arm around her. "As far as I'm concerned, Agatha is your actual middle name."
"Just like Veraminta is Macdonald's actual middle name in our eyes," Sirius added.
"Ooh, did I tell you that the goat at the Hog's Head is also called Veraminta?" Mary put in, her face lighting up with enthusiasm.
Sirius shot her an odd look. "You know the name of Aberforth's goat?"
Mary frowned. "Who's Aberforth?"
"The fucking bartender at the Hog's Head! Keep up, Macdonald."
Mary stared at him, perplexed. "You know the name of the bartender at the Hog's Head?"
Sirius shrugged. "I drink a lot. Why do you know his goat's name?"
Mary grinned. "He told me."
"What?"
"I think Prongs would like our attention so he can finish his toast," Peter said, nodding at James, who still held his glass aloft.
"Yes, I would, thanks," James said, clearing his throat and looking at Sirius and Mary until they abandoned their conversation and picked up their glasses.
"Right," James continued as if there had been no interruption. "Let's toast to Lily Agatha Evans on her 18th birthday. It was exactly one year ago today, in this very same booth, that she fell in love with me after I sneaked her into Hogsmeade and impressed her with my rule-breaking abilities."
"That's hardly—" Lily began.
"May she have an excellent birthday, even though she can't let me speak more than three words without interrupting," James said, raising his voice to speak over her.
The rest of them raised their glasses then tossed back the drinks. When Seven grimaced at the burn of the fire whisky, James looked at her and shook his head in wonder.
"I can't believe you turned seventeen and you didn't mention it to anyone," he said.
"Oh. Well, I didn't want anyone to make a big thing of it," she said with a sheepish smile. "You lot tend to do birthdays big."
James grinned, watching Lily adjust the red sequined fedora he had insisted she wear for the occasion.
"You do have a point. Still, I feel like we missed an opportunity. I think we need to get you drunk tonight. I don't think we've ever seen you proper drunk, have we?"
"I haven't," Remus said. "And you've seen me drunk on multiple occasions, each of them embarrassing."
"Rubbish." She reached for his hand and scooted closer to him. "You're adorable when you're drunk."
"You say that until you have to carry him all the way back from Hogsmeade," Sirius said, giving Remus's shoulder a gentle shove. "He's surprisingly heavy for such a lanky person."
"I was fine to walk by myself," Remus assured Seven. "I just wanted to teach Padfoot a lesson."
Sirius threw his head back and roared with laughter. "No you weren't, you bloody liar. She knows — she saw you almost fall on your face climbing through the portrait hole. She must really like you to still be attracted to you after that graceful maneuver." He leaned across the table and raised his eyebrows at Seven. "It's the cardigan that does it for you, isn't it? He does look cute with those elbow patches." Grinning at Remus's scowl, he pushed back from the table and strode up to the bar to get another round of drinks.
Several rounds later, Lily's eyes had a soft, slightly unfocused look and her fedora tilted to one side as she leaned over to murmur in James's ear.
"I think we should dance, don't you?"
Her breath was warm against his neck and raised goosebumps on his skin as she rested a hand on his knee.
"It's not exactly the sort of place for dancing," he said, chuckling as he watched her fish an ice cube from her drink and aim it at Mary's cleavage.
"Padfoot makes it look so easy," she complained when the ice cube missed its mark and instead hit Peter in the forehead. "Sorry, Peter." She took a sip of her drink and turned back to James. "Anyway, I don't see why it can't be the sort of place for dancing. Rosmerta plays music at Christmas, so she has the capability to play music, and there's that spot over there where we could dance if we shift that table over a bit."
"I mean, you're not wrong," James began, but she was already climbing over Remus and Seven and making her way up to the bar.
James looked on in amusement as she sidled up beside Hagrid and gave him a friendly wave before standing on tiptoe to lean across the bar. Rosmerta inclined toward her, wearing a puzzled frown, but then her face broke into a smile and she nodded. Holding up a hand, she poured several drinks and delivered them before disappearing into the back room. A moment later there was a screech of feedback before the unmistakable glissando of "Dancing Queen" cut through the din. People looked around in confusion as Lily threw back the drink Rosmerta had set in front of her, then sashayed over to the empty floor between two tables and began swaying to the music.
"Prongs, Evans is embarrassing herself out there," Sirius said, nodding in Lily's direction and laughing as she beckoned for James to join her.
"Nah, she's not," James said. He took a sip of his drink, then slid past Remus and Seven to join Lily on the makeshift dance floor.
"Having fun?"
He took her hands and spun her around. The sound of her startled laughter rang out over the music and chatter.
"I am, although I think Padfoot's laughing at us."
James glanced back at the booth and spotted Sirius and Mary leaning against each other and laughing. Grinning, he gave them the two finger salute and leaned in to kiss Lily. When he pulled away, her eyes were bright and her smile lit up her whole face.
"We've spent a lot of time laughing at Padfoot," he said, reaching over to straighten her fedora before it fell onto the floor. "I suppose it's only fair."
She threw her hands into the air and spun in circles so fast it made James dizzy. He watched her hair become a red blur as her hat flew off and landed beside his feet. Laughing, Lily bent to pick it up and placed it on his head, then surveyed him and gave a satisfied nod.
"It suits you. It goes nicely with your hair," she said, tucking a strand of hair under his hat.
"Well, that's not a surprise. My hair's excellent. Most things go nicely with it."
She laughed and shook her head. "There's that James Potter modesty I know and love."
He pulled her close and kissed her as the last notes of ABBA faded away, leaving only the sound of Hagrid's voice and Sirius's laughter. As her hands tangled in his hair and Sirius whistled, James drank in every detail so he could fix the moment in his brain. He wanted to remember this feeling of ineffable happiness forever.
"I know I've said this before, but they're so bloody adorable."
Mary finished her drink and nudged Sirius, then watched James dip Lily backward and kiss her as she laughed.
"They are somewhat adorable," Sirius conceded. "Although I'm not sure Prongs can pull off that hat."
"Not everybody looks as good in silly hats as you do." Mary nodded at the red cowboy hat Sirius had donned for the occasion.
"I'm going to pretend you didn't call my hat silly and focus only on the part where you said I look good." He tugged on one of her curls until she slapped his hand away. "Now, I think we should go join them so they don't scare all of Rosie's other customers away, because unlike them we're actually good dancers, and this is a good song."
"We are good dancers, aren't we?" Mary reached across the table and waved at Peter, who had been staring down into his drink. "Want to come?"
Sirius laughed and shot Peter a dubious look. "I said we're trying not to scare the people away, Macdonald. Have you ever seen Pete dance?"
"Oh, sod you, it can't be worse than that." She gestured at whatever James and Lily were trying to pass off as dancing, then glanced at Remus and Seven and frowned. "Remus, I assume you're not drunk enough to dance yet?"
"That is correct." He smiled as Seven sipped her drink before leaning close to murmur something in his ear. "Buy me another round or two and then we'll see."
Mary shrugged and stood up, pulling Sirius up beside her and leading him out to the dance floor. Her hair bounced as she moved, and he could smell the combination of cigarettes and Sleekeazy's that he would recognize anywhere.
"You're going to make Rosmerta regret her decision to play your music, Evans," he said, removing his hat and placing it atop her hair, tousled from her enthusiastic dancing. "Here, at least now you'll look nice doing it."
She laughed and opened her mouth to reply, but her words were lost as Mary threw her arms around Sirius and they moved together, swept away by the music and the alcohol and the relief of a night out with friends after so many long, draining days.
"Black," Mary whispered later, her breath laced with firewhisky as she clung to his arm.
They had slipped outside for some air and were huddled together against the building, smoking and shivering as a light snow coated their jackets. Sirius turned sideways to look at her, noticing that particular drunken glint in Mary's eye she only achieved after the optimal amount of firewhisky.
"What?"
He ran his fingers through her curls to dispel the layer of snow that had settled there, chuckling as a drop of icy water rolled down her neck and made her gasp.
She giggled, then exhaled a long stream of smoke into the night air and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"I'm drunk."
She snaked an arm around his waist and tucked her hand into his pocket. He grinned and dropped his cigarette butt on the ground, grinding it under his boot against the icy ground, then pushed a snow-covered curl out of her face.
"Yeah, I've noticed. Is Pete going to have to help you walk home again?"
She turned and wrapped her other arm around him, then stood on tiptoe to kiss him. Her lips were cold against his and tasted of cigarettes and booze and underneath, a hint of mint chewing gum.
"I'd rather you help me walk home," she murmured against his lips. "No offense to Peter or anything. You're just…" She twirled a strand of hair around her finger as she searched for the right word. "Sexier."
"I fucking hope so," he said, laughing.
"You're such an arsehole," she said, resting her forehead against his chest. Her shoulders shook with laughter, and the sound mingled with the faint music and voices drifting out from the pub. Sirius was considering going back inside when Mary looked up at him, a relaxed smile on her face.
"I love you, Black," she said.
She slid her hands under his t-shirt, and her icy fingers against his warm skin made him shiver.
"Macdonald…"
He wasn't drunk enough for this, not even close to drunk enough. Bloody hell, they had talked about this, agreed not to just throw those words around when he had barely managed to choke them out that first time. They had said it once — she knew how he felt, and he knew how she felt, and that should be enough. Yet here she was, shoving her cold hands up his shirt and speaking those words aloud when she knew perfectly well how hard it was for him to say them back.
"I know, I know." She grinned and pressed her lips to his again, then relaxed against him and sighed. "You don't have to say it back. I know we agreed not to say it again, but I'm drunk and having a really good time with you, and you look so good in that stupid cowboy hat and, I dunno, I just wanted to say it again."
She fell silent, tracing the scar on his chest with her thumb as her other hand toyed with his waistband, the light touch making him emit a soft moan in spite of himself.
"Macdonald," he said again. "Getting handsy isn't going to make me forget that you've just spewed a bunch of sentimental bullshit. Although you're right, I do look good in the cowboy hat."
He leaned into her touch, enjoying the insistent motion of her roving hands as her words echoed in his head. Snowflakes gathered in their hair as he gathered his courage, swallowing back the dull sense of panic and focusing instead on the gentle, reassuring pressure of her fingers.
"I love you too," he whispered into her hair. She turned her face up to look at him, her cheeks red from the cold and her eyes shining with unabashed joy. "Even if you are a sentimental sod once in a while. Now, are you going to keep teasing me, or do you want to nip into that little alley so you can finish what you started?"
"Are you drunk?"
Remus finished his drink and looked over at Seven, raising his voice to be heard over the music that Lily had begged Rosmerta to turn up. A slow smile spread across Seven's face as she set down her drink and nodded.
"I think so. Are you?"
Remus's long fingers circled the rim of his empty glass as he considered her question.
He's definitely drunk, Peter thought, watching Remus stroke the end of Seven's braid without bothering to fix the sleeve of his jumper that had ridden up to reveal the raised edge of a scar.
"Are you asking if I'm drunk enough to dance?" Remus asked. "Because if so, I think I am, but only if you are, too."
"I'll dance, but you should know that I'm about as good at dancing as you are at playing Quidditch." She giggled, then clapped a hand over her mouth. "Sorry, that was a bit mean, wasn't it?"
Peter snorted with laughter. "No it wasn't. It's true. It's all right though, because I'm worse. Go dance, and I'll judge just how awful you are." Remus frowned, opening his mouth to protest, but Peter plowed ahead. "Go on, I'm looking forward to laughing at you."
Remus and Seven looked at each other, then slid out of their seats and walked hand-in-hand to join Lily and James on the dance floor. Seven hadn't been lying: her movements were awkward and she had no concept of rhythm, but Remus didn't seem to mind. A new song began, and Peter watched the two couples dancing and laughing until the sight gave him a vague sense of emptiness and he had to look away.
Heaving a sigh, he gazed down at the melted ice cubes in his glass and tried to push the melancholy aside. He drained the last of his watery drink, fruitlessly reminding himself that he didn't have any actual reason to be sad. Yes, his friends were all paired up, spinning around the dance floor or snogging in the falling snow while Peter sat here finishing the dregs of a firewhisky, but soon enough the moment would pass. They would all stumble back to the castle together, laughing and leaning on each other and recounting the best parts of the night. James would tease him about falling asleep at the pub and Sirius would make some joke about his pajamas and Peter would be glad because it meant he belonged. So he stared down at a sticky spot on the table and willed the time to pass quickly so he could make it to that sleepy, drunken happiness at the end of the night.
"You look thirsty." A full drink appeared in front of him, and he looked up to see Mary taking the seat across from him, a drink of her own clutched in her hand. "You didn't want to dance?"
He laughed, then took a sip, grateful for Mary's unassuming presence and the burn of the alcohol.
"You heard Padfoot. I don't think I'm a dance in public sort of person. I don't want to embarrass myself."
Mary rolled her eyes and pointed at the dance floor where Sirius and James were doing some sort of disco dance move and singing at the top of their lungs.
"Right, because that's not embarrassing?"
She shook her head and sipped her drink, but Peter didn't miss the affectionate smile that lingered on her lips.
"Where have you been?" he asked.
She smirked. "It was getting hot in here so we went outside for a cigarette. And then…" She laughed and rested her head in her hands. "Fuck, I'm drunk."
Peter chuckled and pointed at her glass. "Your hair is in your drink."
She groaned and picked up her head, wringing firewhisky from the end of her curls.
"Told you I'm drunk." She picked up her drink and peered at its contents, then shrugged and took a sip. "I, er, may have given Black a handjob in that alley outside."
Peter choked on his mouthful of firewhisky. "I don't know why I'm surprised."
"Shut up." She grinned and sneaked another glance at Sirius. "That's not even the most shocking part. I may have also said I love you."
"I like that that's the most shocking part of your evening, and not, you know, the other bit," he said, stifling another cough.
She shrugged. "My hands were cold," she said primly. "What else was I supposed to do?"
"I mean, when my hands are cold I put on gloves. But everyone has different ways of doing things, I suppose." He took a sip of his drink and watched Sirius throw the fedora across the dance floor, trying to land it on Lily's head. "Did he say it back?"
Mary blinked and tore her gaze away from the dance floor. "What?"
"Padfoot. Did he say 'I love you' back?"
"Oh." A brilliant smile lit up her face, and in her inebriated state she didn't even bother trying to hide her happiness. "He did, actually. He wasn't happy about it at first, but he changed his mind in the end. Although that might've been because I had my hand down his trousers."
Peter laughed and felt the last vestiges of his sadness evaporating.
"You two are the strangest couple, you know that?"
"I'm aware." She sniffed a strand of her hair, then wrinkled her nose and let it drop from her fingers. "I think it suits us, though." She rested her elbow on the table and propped her head in her hand, tilting her head sideways to look at him. "Are you sad?"
Peter sat there, puzzling over her question. He supposed he was sad, or at least had brief bouts of sadness, but it seemed silly to admit to this out loud when he couldn't pinpoint a valid reason for the emotion.
"Why do you say that?" he asked, buying himself a bit more time.
Her eyes didn't leave his. "I dunno. You just look sad. Or maybe I'm just drunk."
He grinned. "Well, you did just dunk your hair in firewhisky." He took another sip of his drink, washing away any lingering self-pity. "I'm fine. How could I be sad when I get to laugh at those idiots?" He pointed at the dance floor, where James and Sirius were now dancing in a circle around a less-than-pleased Remus.
"If you say so." Mary's eyes lit up as a new song began. "Ooh, this is a really good one. Do you want to–"
"Absolutely not," he said, shaking his head. "But don't let me stop you. You go, and I'll stay here and save our table."
"If you say so," she repeated. "Should I finish my drink so I don't spill it while I'm dancing?"
"I don't think–" he began, but she was already gulping down the contents of her glass. "I'm not sure that was wise. Padfoot isn't going to be pleased if he has to carry you back to the castle."
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and tossed back her hair. "He won't have to. And even if he does, he can't complain. He, er, owes me a favor." She raised her eyebrows and smirked, then bounded off to join the others on the dance floor.
Peter sat sipping his drink and watching the increasingly wild dance moves. He was contemplating ordering another drink when he spotted a group entering the pub. Well, this is less than ideal, he thought as McGonagall, Flitwick, and Dumbledore strode up to the bar and began chatting with Rosmerta. He waved at his friends, trying to catch someone's eye, but they were all too engrossed in Lily's erratic hand waving and hip thrusting to notice anything else. Sighing in irritation, he slunk across the room to the dance floor, keeping his back to the bar and trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.
"Petey!" Remus cried, throwing an arm around him. "Did you change your mind about dancing? He frowned. "Where's your drink?"
Sirius appeared on his other side and leaned against his shoulder. He had removed his leather jacket and now wore Lily's sequined fedora which clashed spectacularly with his Chudley Cannons t-shirt. "And why are you walking like that?"
"Walking like what?" Peter asked, before he remembered he had more pressing matters to discuss.
Sirius demonstrated walking with an exaggerated, slinky tiptoe motion.
"Why are you doing the sneaky Pete walk?" James asked, moving closer to them and leaving Lily to spin around, clutching Mary's hands while Seven cheered them on.
"What's the sneaky Pete walk?" Remus asked.
James repeated Sirius's movement, adding in more hip swinging than was necessary.
"No, you're doing it wrong," Sirius said, laughing. "Why're you making it all seductive?"
"We have a Code Meow," Peter said, raising his voice to be heard over the music and the sound of Sirius's laughter. "They're at the bar, but we've got to go now if we have any chance of sneaking out."
Sirius peeked over his shoulder, then whipped his head back around, sending his hat tumbling to the floor. "Wormtail, why didn't you tell us sooner instead of just standing there letting Prongs prance around like an idiot?"
"We might need to consider a different exit point," James said, running a hand through his hair. "What about climbing out the window in the loo?"
Without waiting for a response, he began heading for the bathroom at the back of the pub, and the others followed after him.
"Lily is going to fall on her arse," Remus said, grinning. "But I suppose you could go first and stand underneath to catch her."
"What's happening?" Mary asked, coming over to investigate. Lily and Seven followed close behind her, still giggling.
"We're climbing out a window to escape from Minnie and friends, apparently," Sirius said, draping an arm around her. "But I dunno, Prongs, those windows are tiny." He gave Peter an appraising look, then shook his head. "Wormtail will get stuck for sure."
Mary turned to look at Sirius, eyes widening in indignation. "Bloody hell, Black, that was mean."
"No, he's just being practical," Peter said with a shrug. "I can use a charm to widen it a bit, though."
"Minnie's here?" Lily asked, apparently just catching on to this piece of information.
Mary glanced over her shoulder, then leaned towards Lily and said, "Yeah, along with Dumbles and…" She turned to Sirius, frowning. "What's your nickname for Flitwick?"
"Clitlick," Remus said automatically.
"I'm sorry, what?" Seven said, doubling over with laughter. "Can you repeat that?"
"I didn't come up with it," Remus said, reaching out to steady her as she wobbled and started to fall forward. "Although we do agree that Flitwick himself would probably find it amusing, even if he had to pretend otherwise."
"I'm just going to go say hello," Lily said, slipping past Peter and heading back toward the bar. Peter waited for James – or someone, anyone – to stop her, but nobody else seemed to have heard.
"Oi!" he shouted, tapping James on the shoulder.
"What?" James said, and then he dissolved into laughter as he peered past Peter at Lily's retreating back. "Oh, shit. Evans has gone rogue."
He hurried after her, but she had already reached the bar and was tapping Flitwick on the shoulder. He turned, clutching a bright pink drink adorned with a paper umbrella, and narrowed his eyes in confusion. Undeterred, Lily grinned and leaned in to speak to him, waving her hands around animatedly. Just as James reached her she had thrown her arms around a startled, blushing Flitwick. Upon releasing him she placed Sirius's cowboy hat on his head and gave him a thumbs up, then waved as James pried her away and led her toward the door. He gestured for the rest of them to join him; they all exchanged looks, then sprinted across the pub and stumbled out the door. As the door swung shut behind them, Peter heard McGonagall call, "Happy birthday, Miss Evans. That'll be ten points from Gryffindor for each of you."
They didn't stop running until they reached the safety of the secret passage, and then they collapsed against each other, gasping for breath and shaking with laughter.
"Lily, did you really just hug Flitwick?" Remus asked, wiping away tears of laughter as Seven leaned against him, trying to reign in her mirth.
"Well, I wanted to call him Professor Clitlick, but then I realized I wasn't actually drunk enough to do something that bold. And then I was telling him it was my birthday, and, I dunno, he just looked adorable with his umbrella drink, so before I knew it I was hugging him." She shoved James's shoulder. "You weren't at all helpful! 'Please excuse Evans, Professor, she gets handsy when she drinks.'"
James put an arm around her. "Am I wrong, though? Last year you hugged Rosmerta —and me, actually. You do get handsy when you drink."
"Not as handsy as Mary," Peter said, before clapping his hands over his mouth and shooting Mary an apologetic look.
"You told him?" Sirius asked, smirking. "Yeah, well, it was cold out there. I was doing her a favor, really, letting her warm her hands up in my trousers."
"You two are perfect for each other," Peter said, rolling his eyes.
"Hang on." Sirius's eyes scanned the group as a frown clouded his face. "Where's my cowboy hat?"
Lily grimaced. "Um, I may have given it to Flitwick," she said, resting a hand on Sirius's arm. "It felt like the right move, but judging by your face it clearly was not. I'll get it back, don't worry."
"We should get going," James said, flashing Lily a reassuring grin. "Moony and Seven look like they're either about to freeze or fall over."
He put one arm around Lily and the other around Sirius, and together they set off down the stone passageway. Mary glanced at Peter, then linked her arm through his and beckoned for Remus to join them.
"I told you how to keep your hands warm, Moony," Sirius called over his shoulder. "It works both ways, you know?"
"Let's sing a song or something," Remus said quickly. "In honor of Lily's birthday."
Before he could second guess himself or talk himself out of it, before he had time to feel self-conscious or silly, Peter opened his mouth and let the opening lines of a song tumble out.
"The mama pajama rolled out of bed and ran to the police station…"
"Why is it always this song?" Sirius complained, looking back at them over his shoulder.
"It just is," Mary said. "We don't make the rules. Also, it's Lily's favorite."
She joined in singing, and before long they were all shouting the words at the top of their lungs, their voices echoing in the stone passageway as they made their way back to the castle. As Peter grabbed the back of Remus's jumper to keep him from tripping over an uneven section of the passage, he smiled to himself, savoring the feeling of belonging he had been looking forward to all evening.
When they reached the common room, their usual spots by the fire were occupied by several first years, but they scattered when Sirius cleared his throat and glared at them.
"I know I keep saying this tonight, but you're a real arsehole, Black," Mary said, settling on his lap and draping her legs over the arm of the chair.
"No I'm not. We're seventh years. We've earned these chairs." He waved at Kath, who stuck her tongue out at him from her new seat across the room. "Besides, they should be in bed by now anyway."
"Fuck off, Black. You don't make the rules," Kath called.
"Oh, that's nice. You should show a bit more respect when the Head Boy and Girl are right here."
Kath laughed and gestured at Lily and James. "The Head Girl is drunk, and the Head Boy has his hand up her shirt. What a shining example they're setting for us impressionable firsties." She rolled her eyes and returned to her game of Exploding Snap.
"Mouthy, that one, but she does have a point." He peered around Mary's head at Peter and added, "Bring down that cake, will you, before those two start shagging right in front of everyone." He stretched out his leg and poked James's foot. "Oi! You're making the first years uncomfortable. Moony would be uncomfortable too, except he's asleep."
"You're really going to lecture me about indecent common room behavior?" James retorted, pulling his hand from under Lily's shirt to shoot Sirius a rude hand gesture. "How many times have you been down here without trousers on?"
Their voices faded as Peter hurried up to the dormitory to retrieve the cake, smiling to himself. When he returned with the cake clutched in his hands, Remus was seated on the floor with Seven, awake but looking very sleepy. James and Lily were still cozied up together, but James had removed his hand from her shirt and was now tickling her face with the ends of her hair.
"Evans, your cake has arrived," Sirius announced. "Are you going to need a plate, or will you just be licking it off Prongs's fingers?"
"Sod off," Lily muttered. She leaned forward in her seat to peer at the cake, and her face split into a grin. "That's a brilliant cake."
"Thanks," Peter said, beaming.
Lily tilted her head slightly and stared at him, her brows knitting as her alcohol-befuddled brain puzzled over what he had just said.
"Wait…" She looked down at the cake, then back up at him. "Did you make it?"
"I—" he began, but Lily spoke over him, her face lit with delight.
"You did make this! It's perfect. Are these grass Bertie Botts you've used for the grass?"
"Er, yeah." He blushed, staring down at the cake. It really was some of his best work. He had recreated one of his favorite memories with Lily, a misguided, drunken piggyback attempt that had ended with both Lily and Remus sprawled on the grass laughing.
"You've even given Remus elbow patches," she said, pointing at the cake. "Why didn't any of you tell me Peter is an amazing baker?"
"What are you on about?" Sirius asked. He had dug out his flask and was holding it above his head while Mary attempted to snatch it. "Pete doesn't know how to bake. He's good at eating baked goods, but that's not the same thing."
"Did you make this?" James studied the cake, then ran a hand through his hair as he looked at Peter. "You did, didn't you? I'll bet you made Padfoot's birthday cake, too, right? With the bacon?"
Peter nodded, his eyes glued to Sirius as he anticipated the snort of derisive laughter or teasing comment that was sure to come any moment now.
"What? How did we not know about this? All the biscuits your mum made for us to eat on the train — that was you, then?" He shook his head in amazement. "My whole bloody life has been a lie."
"That's a bit dramatic," Mary said, dipping a finger into the frosting on the side of the cake.
"Get your fingers out of there," Lily said, slapping her hand away. "We know where they've been."
"Why didn't you tell us?" James asked. He looked genuinely offended at being left out, and Peter felt absurdly guilty. "I didn't think you had any secrets."
"I dunno. I reckoned you might laugh… It wasn't a complete secret. Moony knew, and Mary."
"He told you?" Sirius demanded, gaping at Mary. "Why?"
She shrugged. "We're close." Blowing a lock of hair out of her face, she glanced sideways at Peter and flashed him a wide, drunken smile. "You're sort of my best friend, after Lil and this idiot." She jerked her head in Sirius's direction.
Her words warmed Peter from the inside out like a sip of firewhisky.
"Really?"
He tried to disguise the emotion in his voice, tried to pretend it was just an unimportant detail, a throwaway comment, when really it was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to him.
"Yeah." She made another grab for Sirius's flask, then gave up and relaxed against him. "You've met my mum and still want to be friends with me, so I figure that brought us to another level of friendship."
"Don't mind Macdonald," Sirius said, handing her the flask with a grudging smile. "She's a bit sentimental tonight. Now, are we going to eat that cake, or just talk about it all night?"
An hour later, most of the other Gryffindors had filtered off to bed. Lily stood up and grabbed the bottle of firewhisky Sirius had brought down when his flask ran out, then put it to her lips and took a long swallow.
"I think I'd like to dance a bit more," she said, walking over to the radio and fiddling with a knob. Music blasted out, so loud it made Remus jump, but Lily laughed and hopped up onto the sofa.
"Are you going to make me dance alone at my own birthday party?" she called, losing her balance and steadying herself against the back of the sofa.
"Evans, you're adorable when you're drunk," James said as he stood up to join her. He climbed up onto the sofa beside her, his face emanating affection as he took her hand and they moved together in a sort of half-bouncing, half-swaying dance.
"Are you trying to pass that off as dancing?" Sirius said, shaking his head. "Come on, Macdonald, let's make them look bad." He grabbed Mary's hand and led her to the sofa, pulling her up next to James and Lily. Remus glanced at Seven and rolled his eyes, but there was a feverish glint in her eye that surprised him.
"Come on," she murmured, and then they were on top of the table, knocking over Sirius's empty flask and a deck of Exploding Snap cards, clinging to each other as they shouted the lyrics across the room at the others. Time moved in fits and starts, speeding up to a blur, then slowing down so moments stretched out, making Remus hyperaware of every confused, joyful second. He blinked, and somehow Peter had joined them, Lily's red fedora tilted on his head as he threw his arms around Remus. Seconds or maybe minutes later, Seven leaned close to Remus's ear as the last notes of a song faded away and a new one began.
"I love you," she whispered, brushing her lips against his. She tasted like firewhisky and chocolate cake.
"I love you too," he whispered back, his heart pounding as a wide smile split his face. He didn't think about what this would mean, or how he might feel in the morning, or any of the other implications of those three words. There was no room in his head for anything besides his blinding happiness.
"Moony! Get up here!"
Sirius waved at him from the sofa, where he was bouncing on the cushions with James and Peter. They were passing the bottle back and forth, and for some inexplicable reason, they were all shirtless. Remus looked at Seven and shrugged helplessly, then hopped down from the table and joined his friends. Seven's whispered confession buoyed him so that everything seemed funnier, and it didn't matter how foolish they all looked.
"Ooh! Remus Mortimer Lupin!" Mary called. "Look at you, you sexy man!"
He looked at her, puzzled, then started laughing and grabbed Peter's arm to keep from falling off the couch. Looking down he realized his shirt had mysteriously disappeared, although he had no memory of removing it. To his surprise he didn't feel even a hint of self-consciousness, only detached amusement. He caught Seven's eye across the room; she smirked and gave him a shot thumbs up, and this was all the encouragement he needed to keep laughing his way through the song.
He blinked and found himself sitting on the table in front of the fire with Seven. She leaned against his shoulder and licked frosting from her fingers as Peter snored on a chair beside them.
"Are you seeing this?" Lily asked, pointing at the sofa where Mary sat, howling with laughter and watching Sirius standing over her, attempting what he must consider a sexy dance. He was now wearing only pants and Lily's sequined fedora. Remus grimaced and tried to remind him of the common room trouser requirement, but his lips were clumsy and sluggish.
"Padfoot!" he began, gesturing vaguely as he searched for the right words to convey his disapproval. As he watched, Sirius stepped onto the arm of the couch, thrusting his hips around. His foot slipped backwards, losing purchase, and his arms flailed uselessly as he fell backwards, landing in a heap on the ground. There was a high pitched squeal from Lily, footsteps as James stumbled over to assess the damage, and incomprehensible words as Mary tried to speak through her hysterical laughter.
Remus looked over at Seven, his lips tugging up into an incredulous smile. "You think we're mad, don't you?"
She grinned and wrapped an arm around his waist. "A bit."
He nodded. "That's fair." He hesitated, then added, "Does it change your mind about what you said earlier?"
She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. "Definitely not."
Glowing with happiness, Remus draped his arm around her shoulder and wandered over to join the rear of the group gathered around Sirius.
"Moony, did you see that? By the way, I'm fine, in case any of you arseholes were wondering."