(EDIT: there's now a poll on my profile, just because I hadn't put one up in years and fancied having a go. It's not very deep, just a bit of fun.)
A/N: So, so nice to hear from you all on the last chapter. Cheryl's mother and James getting on like a house on fire, who knew?!
This chapter comes (a lot) later than I would've hoped. Sorry for making you wait, I had major writer's block and ended up rewriting pretty much all of it. BUT it's finally here. Let me know what you think x
Cabin in the Woods
It was high. We were so high.
I felt like I was about to pass out.
"That way!" James shouted over the roar of the wind and the bike engine.
Sirius manoeuvred the handlebars and adjusted his weight until we swerved to the left.
I held onto him tighter, clinging to his back.
Unable to resist the urge, I opened my eyes momentarily and peeked downward.
My vision swam as I took in the tiny toy cars and dots of light coming from the streetlamps below. Feeling like I was about to slide right off, I buried my face into Sirius's back again, too terrified to contemplate being embarrassed.
With no physical way of seeing where we were going, the only clue I got that we were nearing our destination was the way my ears started to pop due to our drop in altitude.
When the wheels hit the ground and we rolled to a stop, I heard the engine turn off and the shuffling noise of James pulling himself out from next to us. Despite all of that, I still couldn't seem to convince my limbs that it was okay for them to move.
With me showing no signs of moving, Sirius's hand closed over the top of both of mine, which were locked around his stomach like a seat belt.
"We're here, it's safe to let go now," he said, his voice rumbling through his back into my ear.
Raising my head tentatively from between his shoulder blades, I looked around us. It was very dark, but I could tell we were surrounded by the endless black trunks of forest trees.
Easing my arms back from him, I shuffled backwards, releasing his hips from the squeeze of my inner thighs.
Thanks to the fact I was blocking him from getting up, I was forced to clamber off first, my legs feeling like they were made of jelly. As I staggered my way off his bike like a newborn deer, Sirius sat watching me struggle for a moment, seeming to find the sight of it funny.
"Here," he said eventually, extending a hand out to steady me.
"I think I'm going to be sick," I muttered, letting him hold onto my forearm while I found my feet.
"Well can you be a peach and aim it over that way?" James asked, looking up at us mid-hair ruffle, as if the blasting of the wind hadn't done enough damage to all of us already.
I glared up at him through watering eyes, unable to give him a comeback without opening the floodgates to my stomach.
"You're here!"
Lily's voice seemed to come from nowhere, and I turned my head in time to see her rushing over to meet us.
Nestled in the woodland behind her, I was finally able to see the outline of the cabin they'd all talked so much about for myself, a warm glow coming from both of the small windows at the front.
It looked more like a cottage to me. Like something from a cartoon, with a tall stone chimney and a quaint thatched roof.
I still couldn't believe Peter's parents were letting us all use it unsupervised like that.
"I'm so glad you decided to come," Lily said, approaching me with a smile.
"Well I didn't really have much choice considering they just turned up at my house," I replied, casting an eye at the two of them now checking the bike over.
She looked at me, confused. "But James said you wanted to come...?" Trailing off, she blew a sharp gust of air through her nose. "I'm going to kill him," she promised.
Putting her hands on her hips, she rounded on them both.
"So she 'couldn't wait' to get here, eh boys? She was 'counting the seconds' before she could join us? Hmm?"
James stopped what he was doing and looked across at her guiltily.
"Okay, maybe it was a slight exaggeration," he conceded, "But I bet you're glad now you're here, right Chez?"
He looked at me appealingly, but I didn't answer, preferring to watch him sweat in the way that only Lily could make him do.
Her gaze moved to Sirius's bike and her eyes narrowed further, "You didn't...you didn't fly her here too, did you?" she asked, as if she hadn't been privy to that particular decision either.
"Yeah. They did," I said, feeling amazed by what a good bit of revenge could do to calm the nerves.
"The trees were too narrow for us to drive through, Lil," James defended himself, looking appalled at my underhandedness. "Plus it would've taken us hours longer to do the journey on land. I wanted to get back to you quicker."
"James Potter!" she scolded, "You said you'd find a way around it. I specifically told you she was scared of heights."
"I know, I'm sorry," he said, not wanting to argue with her. "But honestly, she was fine. She was holding on to Padfoot."
He looked at Sirius for help, but Sirius held his hands up.
"Hey don't get me involved in your domestic disputes," he replied easily, leaning against his bike, "I told you it was a bad idea to just turn up at her house like that."
James's face dropped. "Oh so that's how it is, is it? Well cheers very much, Syrus."
So he hadn't been the one responsible for the impromptu home visit after all.
By the time we all got over to the cabin we didn't even get the chance to try the door handle before it burst open and an extremely exuberant Marlene appeared in its place.
"Da-DA-dada-DA-da-da-da… da-DA-dada-DA-da-DA… TEQUILA!"
She was still singing as she threw her hands out to us, five shot glasses pinched in her fingers and countless multi-coloured lei garlands strung around her neck.
We all just stared at her, too shocked to say anything.
"Take one!" she urged us, brandishing the drinks closer to our faces.
Looking around at the four of us in turn, her eyes continued to search behind us, peering around our shoulders.
"Where's Jesse?" she asked, still scanning the area.
Giving one another a knowing look, Sirius and James took one of her little glasses each before carrying on inside.
"He's not coming," I said when they were gone, seeing Lily's eyes flit up at me.
"Oh," Marlene replied, looking disappointed by it. "Why not?"
"We broke up."
My three words seemed to hang in the air before anyone said anything, an uncomfortable silence passing between us.
Marlene lowered her hand slowly, the three leftover drinks still clutched in it.
"But you were only together yesterday," Lily said, trying to process when it had happened moreso than actually addressing me. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked tentatively.
"'Course she doesn't," Marlene interjected before I could answer, "Who wants to talk about getting their heart stamped on? He was a real scorcher too."
I thought back to the way Sirius had dumped her in the library. Marlene knew a thing or two about getting her heart broken.
"Marlene's right," I said, surprising both of them, "I just want to try and forget about it."
Lily nodded sagely as the smile gradually returned to Marlene's face.
"Well you know what's really good for helping you to forget?" she asked, raising the glasses back up and swinging them temptingly.
I took one from her and examined the honey coloured liquid inside.
"This is tequila?" I asked doubtfully.
"Firewhiskey," she confessed. "Tequila just sounded better."
Keeping the one that had been intended for Jesse for herself, she passed the last one to Lily, "You too, Lil," she said, "don't think you're escaping."
Lily took it just as begrudgingly as I had.
"On three?" Marlene asked, holding it up in the air.
Sharing a look of resignation, Lily and I tilted them to our mouths at the same time, both of us taking a measured sip while Marlene tipped it back and drank it all at once.
"Oof," she shuddered, "That hit the spot. Tonight is going to be fun, I can already tell."
Taking two of the garlands from around her neck, she swung one over each of our heads before leading us into the building.
The place itself was similar to an apartment in its layout, in so much as the kitchen, dining room and living room all abutted onto one another with no walls to separate them.
The decor on the other hand was very rustic log cabin; dark wood, brown and burgundy furnishings, stone floors covered in fur rugs, garish assorted animal skulls mounted on the walls.
I had an inkling someone must've cast some sort of charm on the inside, because despite everything's overall compactness it still looked a whole lot bigger than it did from the outside. And I hadn't seen the bedrooms yet.
When I looked, I noticed that Sirius and James had gone to sit on a sofa next to where Peter had taken pride of place in an antlered armchair beside the fireplace.
Giving Pettigrew a brief smile as a means of thanking him for letting me stay -something that he returned just as reluctantly - Lily and I went over to the dining/kitchen area where Sally and Remus were seated at a table.
"She got you too then?" I asked gesturing at the bright floral decorations around their necks.
"Funny you should say that," Sally replied, "Because I've been trying to convince Remus here that he doesn't look like a... what was it you called it, Rem? A 'garish, overdone Christmas tree'?"
She looked at him fondly as he held up his wrists to reveal an additional pair of identical bracelets, as well as the huge red flower shaped like the end of a trumpet that was slotted in the side of his hair.
"Marlene doesn't seem to recognise the meaning of 'no'," he said, taking the red trumpet out from behind his ear and tossing it across the room towards the bin.
"Where's Dorcas?" I asked, trying not to laugh.
Sally rolled her eyes, "Her dad wouldn't let her come. Said she's too young to spend the night with boys. Speaking of which, is Jesse not coming?"
In the corner of my eye, I saw Lily slice a hand at her neck as a signal to drop it and Sally went immediately quiet.
I was grateful when James chose that precise moment to come over to grab some glasses from one of the cupboards, going over to an aged-looking barrel that was sat on its side on the kitchen floor.
It was embossed with white text that read 'Ogden's Old Firewhiskey' and had a metal tap secured to the front. Holding the glasses underneath it, he started to fill each one with the same bronze coloured liquid.
"So this is what counts as 'good wholesome entertainment' to you then?" I asked him, looking from the barrel to the substantial collection of assorted liquors laid out on the units behind him and remembering the hogwash he'd spouted to my mum about us having nothing more than non-alcoholic mulled wine.
He could've started his own pub with the amount he'd brought. How much was he really expecting 8 people to drink over the course of a few days?
"Like I said, what our parents don't know can't hurt them," he replied. "Besides, what else is pocket money for except having fun?"
"Merlin, James, how much money do you actually have?" Sally marvelled.
"And what is there to drink if we don't want to succumb to liver failure?" Remus enquired mildly, craning his neck around to look at him.
"Oh one night of drinking never hurt anyone, Loopy," Marlene said, moving to perch her backside on the table top next to him.
Remus lifted a finger, "Technically untrue."
"Besides, you'll have to loosen up at some point tonight if you want to join in with all the amazing and fun games I've got planned for us," she continued anyway.
"Games?" Lily asked.
"Of course," Marlene replied, "Did you really think we were just going to spend the time wrapped in blankets and drinking hot cocoa?"
"Hmm, that does sound too good to be true," Remus said wryly.
"No," she said, ignoring his comment, "Because that's what boring old grannies would do. Instead I'm bringing you classic entertainment masterpieces like Truth or Dare, Seven Minutes in Heaven, Never Have I Ever..."
"Yeah, they all sound like something you've just made up," James observed.
"Well they're not," Marlene replied, folding her arms. "They're ideas my cousin gave me."
"What's Seven Minutes in Heaven?" Sally asked, looking moderately intrigued.
Marlene stood up, pleased that someone was showing real interest in her suggestions.
"We all take it in turns to spin a bottle, and then whoever your bottle points to has to spend the next seven minutes with you in a different room. Alone."
"And the purpose to that is?" Sirius asked, strolling over with Peter.
"Well it depends on the couple," she replied. "Some pairs might go off and do nothing for seven minutes. And some of us might find other ways to occupy the time..." she let her sentence hang, her eyes still on Sirius.
"I don't like the sound of that one," Peter said, his eyes skimming nervously over the girls he'd have to share the seven minutes with.
"Are any of them actually drinking games or have I bought all this for nothing?" James asked.
"Never Have I Ever is-" she started to say.
"Then Never Have I Ever it is," he interjected.
As the others started to question her about the rules and what exactly it involved, Lily side stepped towards me, "Come on, let's leave them to it. I'll show you your room."
.o.
Following her down the corridor that led out of the living area, I hauled my bag along with me, astounded by the number of doors spread out in front of us.
"Sirius and James are in that one," she said as she went past the first room, "Remus and Peter," she gestured to the second one, "Sally and Marlene are in there," she pointed to the third door, "That's the bathroom," she said of the one opposite, "And last but not least, this one's ours."
"How many bedrooms are there?" I said, gobsmacked at the sheer scope of the layout.
"We had to do a bit of a rejig," she confirmed. "It only had two when we got here. The joys of magic, eh? We just have to make sure we put it all back when we leave."
Mine and Lily's was just a bit smaller than my own room at home, but there was something cosy about it; the same chintzy floral fabric adorning the two single beds, the lampshade and the curtains of the window at the back, as though someone had decided the soft furnishings didn't need to be tasteful as long as they matched.
Taking a seat on the bed furthest away from the door, Lily tucked her knees up underneath her chin, "So do you really not want to talk about what happened between you and Jesse, or did you just not want to tell everyone about it?"
"Bit of both," I replied, sitting on the leftover bed.
I crossed my legs and she waited patiently while I built up the courage to tell her everything that had happened between us.
It was difficult to start with, but soon I found I couldn't stop, telling her every last detail of what had happened, right down to the way he had looked at me when he'd made his last request. I doubted I would ever be able to forget it.
"But then, I don't understand," she said, "If all you had to do was tell him you didn't have feelings for Sirius, why did you split up?"
She examined me for a second, before comprehension appeared on her face.
"You couldn't say it, could you?" she realised, staring at me like she couldn't believe what I was telling her.
A sensation similar to panic had started to take hold inside my chest; admitting it to Lily made it real. Un-ignorable.
I had let Jesse go because I liked Sirius. I liked Sirius.
"How long have you felt like this?" she asked. "Does he feel the same about you?"
I shook my head. "No," I replied in answer to her last question. That was the only thing I knew for definite. He'd told me so himself. The Owlery had been a mistake.
"Oh God, what am I doing?" I asked, the gravity of it all settling in.
"Coming to play a game?" a voice suggested.
Lily and I both jumped as the door hinges squeaked open and James poked his head around it.
"Come on, ladies. Marlene's getting antsy."
.o.
When I re-entered the living space, it was disorientating to find Peter and Sirius had started shifting all of the seating and furniture against the walls using a Locomotion charm.
"About time," Marlene chastised us as she shepherded everyone onto the cleared area on the floor. "Thought you'd all gone back home."
"You know I'm starting to think Dorcas had the right idea by not coming," Remus said in an undertone as we settled down next to the fire and she handed us each a shot glass, "Perhaps I should've said my father didn't want me spending the night with boys."
"What's in these?" I asked, peering down at the mystery liquid billowing with purple steam.
"Something called Bin Juice, apparently," he answered, visibly unimpressed.
"But considering Marl 'invented' it, who really knows?" Sally said from next to him.
"Right then," Marlene said once we were all arranged in a circle around her, "We know the rules by now. Someone makes a statement; if you've done it, you drink. If you haven't, you don't. Simple."
"How about if we've done something and don't want to admit it?" Sirius suggested, lounging against one of the armchair fronts with his legs extended in front of him.
"Well you'd have no choice," she replied, "because James's charmed the glasses."
"They can tell if we're lying?" Peter asked her worriedly.
"Yep."
His small eyes grew wider. "Then I don't think I like the sound of this game either."
"Don't worry, Wormy," James consoled him, "It's only a bit of fun. Not like it's life or death."
"Exactly," Marlene said. Holding up her shot glass, she waited for us all to do the same, "So are you ready?"
We all mumbled that we were, some more enthusiastically than others.
"Okay then, never have I ever..." she looked around the room as if for ideas, "Ooh, stole something," she finished in a flash of inspiration.
It wasn't really a shock that all four of the Marauders drank from their glasses. But when the normally straitlaced Lily brought hers to her lips we all took notice.
"What?" she said coyly as we looked at her in awe. "I may or may not have 'borrowed' a dress from Tuney when I packed my stuff for school this year."
"Wow Evans, stealing from your own sister?" Sirius said reproachfully. "I'm not sure if that's better or worse than a complete stranger. What do you think, Prongs? Can you stand to be with a common thief?"
When she sent him a glare, he grinned mischievously.
"Be quiet," she said, her expression softening minutely.
With each new question came a fresh apprehension that it would be something I wouldn't want to share.
Never have I ever cheated on a test.
Never have I ever skipped a class.
Never have I ever weed myself laughing. We could thank Sally for that one.
So far I'd managed to get away with only drinking for a few of the questions, and even then I'd been covertly limiting my intake by pursing my lips, which I had a sneaking suspicion Lily and Remus were also doing considering they were both still on their first shot.
It was on James's turn, however, that the innocent game really took a turn.
"Alright, I've got a good one," he said after we'd all recovered from Lily's 'Never Have I Ever gone to the bathroom and not washed my hands', "Never have I ever..." he paused for dramatic effect, "...fancied someone in this room."
Looking incredibly pleased with himself, he drank casually from his glass and sat back to watch the rest of us to suffer with a smug grin, a stunned hush coming over the room.
Only Lily was able to join him without attracting interest, and she sipped her shot slightly guiltily as she caught my eye. She knew as well as I did that this was not going to end well for me.
"Don't forget if you try to lie the glasses will know," James reminded us, needlessly rubbing it in. "And then it'll just get messy."
Squaring his jaw defiantly, Sirius was the first of us to yield, bringing the shot carelessly to his mouth before dropping it back down, devoid of its contents.
At first I wondered which one of us he could possibly be drinking for, but then I remembered his short-lived relationship with Marlene. Of course he must've fancied her; why else would they have done all they did together. It made me feel sick just thinking about it.
Following his lead in a similarly undaunted way, Marlene flicked her hair back and did the same, as if they both refused to be embarrassed by it.
"Four down, four to go," James said.
"How about we just go on to the next question?" Lily tried. "If they're not drinking then it obviously doesn't apply to them."
But when my fingertips started to quiver because of the vibrations rippling out from the glass, James grin grew fiendish.
"Gotta love a lying charm," he said, looking smugger than ever when Sally and Remus's began to do the same, and even Peter's arms began jiggling around as he tried to repress the tremors.
"That can't be right," Marlene stated, looking at Peter oddly, "They can't all have fancied someone here."
"The glasses don't lie," James replied. "Only our friends do by the looks of it."
Sally looked mutinously at him, her upper body trembling at the force of the spell. "You are such a toerag, Potter."
Catching Remus's eye bashfully, both of their cheeks flared a tomato red as she brought the glass to her mouth and it instantly stopped its shimmying.
With his own glass showing no signs of slowing, Remus put a final stop to it by taking the quickest drink he possibly could.
James gave a laugh, "Just Petey and Chez left now...and I'd hurry it up if I were you two, the charm won't wait forever."
Having no other choice we both drank the smoking liquid at the same time.
"Think we can move on now?" Lily asked as Marlene's glassy eyes looked at me like it confirmed something she already knew.
"Of course," James replied. "All that's left for them to do is to tell everyone who they've been having naughty thoughts about."
"W-what?" Peter squeaked, and James gave a short laugh.
"I'm just messing with you," he said. "We all know Chezza only has eyes for you. Right Chez?" he asked, giving me a wink.
.o.
Once the game had finished, more than a few of our group found it a challenge to stand up and stagger to the bedrooms, having drank enough of the Bin Juice to fill a small well.
Even I moved slower than usual, but it wasn't because I was drunk. It was because I knew trying to sleep would inevitably bring unwelcome flashbacks of the train station and Jesse, just as it'd done the night before.
Draping an arm around Lily's shoulders, James went to follow Peter through to bed.
"Hold on," Sirius called after them, "Where are you going? The night's still young."
"Sorry mate," James said, "I'm done. My bed awaits."
"Don't want to overdo it, eh Padfoot?" Remus agreed, giving Sally a shy smile as he beckoned for her to go ahead of him.
"Overdo it?" Sirius replied, "We've barely begun. What about that other game, Hide and Find or whatever it's called?"
"Hide and Seek?" Marlene said, getting up off the floor and brushing herself off. "I'm up for it."
Hearing that Marlene was going to stay up, I stopped en route, a thought occurring to me like a bolt of lightning.
Perhaps I didn't have to go to bed afterall. Perhaps going to play with Sirius and Marlene was just what I needed.
It wasn't like I would be on my own with him, and it would give me a chance to escape from my overthinking, if just temporarily.
But just as I opened my mouth to agree, Lily came scurrying over to link my arm, using her momentum to pull me along to the side of the room.
"What's up?" I asked her, preoccupied by Sirius still looking around for any other takers on his offer.
"James has asked me to stay in his bed tonight."
Momentarily distracted from my cunning plan, my eyes darted to her anxious face.
"What did you tell him?" I asked.
"I told him I'd think about it," she shrugged helplessly, "I had no idea what to say. I need your help."
Considering I'd only had one proper boyfriend in the entirety of my seventeen years, and the most we'd ever done was kiss, topics like sharing beds were completely out of my remit.
"I don't know if I'm the right person to ask about this," I said honestly.
But Lily wasn't having it, "You're my best friend, Cheryl, who else am I supposed to ask?"
I stood there for a moment, emotionally unprepared for the feeling it gave me to hear her say she considered me her best friend.
"Marlene and Sally would probably tell me it's not a big deal," she said, unaware of how her off-hand comment had made me feel. "But it is, isn't it?"
I nodded. It was. At least to me.
"It's not like I want anything to happen like that," she said. "It's just... it actually would be nice to get to wake up with him. We've never had the chance to spend any time like that together before. Only I'm worried he'll get the wrong idea if I say yes."
"I think as long as he knows where he stands and you really want to, you should do it," I replied reluctantly.
As much as her relationship progressing to the next level made me feel like I was being left further behind, I knew somehow it was what I needed to say. It was the same thing I would've hoped to hear from her if the roles were reversed.
The kind of advice a best friend would give.
"You're right," she said, getting back some of her usual assurance. "And I know he'll be fine with it, he will. He's more sensitive than people give him credit for."
When I pulled a doubtful face, she gave an offended laugh. "He is!"
"But what about Sirius?" I remembered. "Isn't he in with James?"
"Oh he'll still be staying in with us," she assured me, "so you don't have to worry about that. There's no way I would ever agree to it if I thought it meant you'd have to share a room with him. Especially after what you told me earlier," she said in a lower voice. "I think the more you can stay away from him the better."
Giving her my tepid agreement, I reflected on what she had said about keeping away from Sirius as she left to share her news with James.
It turned out it didn't matter anyway, because by the time I returned my attention to the room he and Marlene were already gone.
Trudging alone towards my empty bedroom, I said an obligatory good night to everyone before I closed the door.
Despite knowing Lily was probably right about keeping my distance until I could build a bridge and get over him, the idea of Sirius and Marlene having drunken fun together did not exactly fill me with joy.
It wasn't like I expected, or even wanted, anything to happen between me and him. I just didn't want anything to happen between him and anyone else either. Especially not Marlene.
Merlin, maybe I really was more like her than I originally thought.
Pulling my top up, I was just about to start changing into my vest and pyjama shorts when the lamp flickered on in front of me.
When I saw there was someone already laid out on my bed, I yanked my shirt back down quickly.
"Shh," Sirius said, putting a swift finger to his lips in response to my noise of alarm. "She'll know I'm here."
Pushing himself into a sitting position, he looked hastily to the door. For some reason he was shirtless, as though half dressed for bed.
"This is your hiding place?" I questioned, my jumbled thoughts taking a minute to register what was going on.
"In a manner of speaking," he replied. "I told Marlene I didn't want to play anymore and she wouldn't take no for an answer. Think of me as your fugitive," he offered. "Besides, Prongs has Lily in with him and I don't fancy being the third wheel."
"You're not staying in here overnight," I said immediately. That had definitely not been part of the plan.
He looked like he couldn't see the problem. "Why not? You have a spare bed."
"For a start you're on my bed," I pointed out. "Also...you just can't, alright?"
"If you're worried about your bed, I'll just swap," he said. "And here, look, I've brought something for you in return."
Leaning over to the bedside table, I saw that it had a large decanter plus two goblets sitting on top that I hadn't noticed before, and he grabbed one of them, holding it out towards me.
"So how about it," he asked, "the gift for the bed?"
"You've really thought of everything, haven't you?" I asked, knowing it was pointless to tell him I didn't want the drink.
Giving me a grin he patted the space on my bed next to him, shifting over to make room and waiting for me to move.
I found I had to pry my eyes away from the fine trail of hair leading down from his stomach into the waistband of his trousers, as though it dared me to consider what else might be down there.
When I stayed firmly by the door, he pushed the goblet back onto the side in exasperation.
"First the bike, now this. Are you frightened to come near me, Morland?" he challenged.
"No," I replied quickly.
"Good," he said, "because friends aren't usually too afraid to come within a six foot radius of one another."
The sound of the door handle rattling made him physically recoil, and moving quickly he managed to roll to the floor just in time for Marlene to stumble into the room.
"I 'eard talking. Where is he?" she asked, her garbled words making it sound more like 'warizee?'
Going to sit on my now clear bed, I put my back against the headboard and glanced at the floor on the other side to find Sirius flat on his back looking up at me, shaking his head not to give his position away.
"Erm," I said, playing for time, "I think..."
His eyes continued to plead with me and I looked away from them wearily.
"I think he said he wasn't feeling well," I finished eventually, knowing I'd regret what I'd done, "Went to get some fresh air. Judging by the state of him he'll probably go straight to sleep when he gets in, so I wouldn't bother waiting up if I were you."
"Oh," Marlene said, looking dejected by the news.
"But if it makes you feel better, he was in a real mess," I added, starting to feel sorry for her.
"S'pose I'll go bed then," she mumbled.
"G'night," I called after her as she left the room.
Once she had gone, Sirius climbed back onto the bed next to me instead of taking Lily's as I'd thought he would.
"A 'real mess'?" he said, the warm bare skin of his tricep pressing against mine, "Why do I think you enjoyed that a bit too much?"
"It worked, didn't it?" I replied, edging my arm away. "Really don't like lying to my friend for you."
"Then don't think of it as lying," he said. "Think of it as what she doesn't know can't-"
"-Hurt her," I finished dully. "You know what, sod it," I said, leaning across him to pick up one of the goblets.
I'd been forced there against my will, I'd had a really rough couple of days, and now I was having to deal with a half-naked Sirius who seemingly refused to take his own bed.
If there was a better time to just let go and get absolutely bladdered, I honestly couldn't think of it.
With that in mind, I took a hefty mouthful, feeling the unknown concoction race down my throat. It was breath-takingly strong.
Four huge gulps later and it was gone.
Taking it from me, Sirius examined the now dry innards as if to check it was really all gone.
"Wow, Morland, you're not messing around are you?"
I let out a gust of air, already feeling it going to my head in a way that the odd sip of the godforsaken Bin Juice hadn't managed.
"Morland, Morland, Morland," I parroted, unintentionally revealing the irritation I'd felt at his constant use of my surname. "Have you forgotten I've got a first name?"
Stopping mid-reach for the decanter, Sirius looked surprised by my outburst.
"Me using your last name bothers you?" he asked.
"No," I retorted, wishing I'd given him up when I'd had the chance. "...Is it meant to?"
"No..."
"Then why do you do it?"I demanded, feeling like I had nothing to lose thanks to the Veritaserum-like effects of the alcohol.
Refilling both our goblets, he lifted a shoulder.
"Well how about this," he suggested, handing mine back to me, "I'll tell you why I use your last name, and you can tell me why you said it was Mederos's decision for you to break up. Quid pro quo."
Taking a steadying gulp of the red tangy innards, I ignored the increasing wooziness of my head.
"How did you find out?" I asked.
"Lily let it slip to James," he replied. "She didn't know you'd lied. And it is fairly strange when you think about it. Why would anyone want people to think they'd been dumped?"
Refusing to meet his interrogating gaze, I brought the goblet to my lips again; the hot, bitter taste a tolerable by-product in return for the numbing sensation it brought along with it.
"I was serious about my offer by the way," he said. "A secret for a secret. Like our own private game."
"I thought you were done with games," I replied, reminding him of what he had told Marlene.
"I might be convinced to soldier on, with the right player. That's if you're not too afraid of what I might ask you."
"I'm not afraid," I replied insolently, taking another ill-advised mouthful.
He finished off his cup like it was fruit juice, which I knew by now it most certainly wasn't.
"In that case, I'll go first," he said, "Calling you by your surname helps us remember the boundaries. Your turn."
"That's all it is?" I asked, diverted by his arrogance. "You think I wouldn't be able to resist you if you called me Cheryl?"
"Your turn," he repeated, ignoring my question.
I took a calming breath, readying myself for what I was about to say.
"Jesse and I broke up because he thought I liked someone else," I replied, holding my goblet out for him to refill.
Sirius considered what I had said. "The same 'someone' your goblet shook for during the game?"
I shook my head. "Quid pro quo, remember?"
Using the wand from his belt loop, he restored the contents of the glass bottle, pouring us each a fresh cup with a hand that was a lot less stable than it had been the last time, some of it spilling onto the bedsheets. Once he'd done it, he sat back, waiting for me to speak again.
Thinking hard about everything I'd ever wanted him to answer to, I knew the list was probably endless, but with his bootlegged moonshine running through my veins my mind had gone blank.
In the end I settled on something that had been bothering me since the night we'd found Professor Mison in the Room of Requirement. Something that both Jesse and Marlene had both commented on.
"When you helped me save Mison...you came out of the common room at exactly the right time when I ran past," I said. "Why were you there? You were supposed to be at dinner."
Sirius looked at me with heavy lidded eyes, "Alright, you got me... I was there looking for you. Now my turn-"
"Hold on," I stopped him, not liking how fast he was skipping over his answers, denying me the chance to dissect them, "You didn't answer my question."
"I admitted I went looking for you, what more do you want?"
"I asked you why," I corrected.
To my surprise, his mouth started to twitch.
"Now you're not playing fair," he admonished, his voice slightly slurred.
When I wouldn't move on, he gave a heavy sigh. "If you really want me to spell it out... I was worried about you."
I looked at him in disbelief and he scoffed languidly.
"Cross my heart and hope to die," he said, doing the actions to go with it. "No one knew where you were, so I just got up and walked straight out of dinner to find you."
He seemed to find the memory of it funny, and the next thing I knew he had started to chuckle.
"I didn't even get to finish my steak," he added, beginning to laugh in earnest.
At first I just sat there not sure how to react, but then I felt my own lips start to lift at the edges.
Soon we were both unable to stop our snickering, and Sirius threw his head back with the hilarity of it all.
"You...you told me you didn't like me..." I said, holding onto my stomach, which had started to hurt from the violent muscle contractions. "After the Owl...ery."
"I know," he replied, as if it was the punch-line to a gag, "I lied!"
The laughter that followed his statement was uproarious now. A hollow, almost hysterical guffaw, and I had to put a palm over my mouth to stifle it.
Thrusting his hands out he pretended to wait for me to put him in handcuffs, "Everything I said in there was true," he revealed.
Sniggering breathlessly, my shoulders shook at the absurdity of it all, the contents of my head spinning.
"Well how...how about this," I said, trying to catch my breath, "You're the reason I don't have a boyfriend anymore."
I lifted my hand and prodded a clumsy finger into his chest.
Grabbing a hold of it, he yanked it and made a raspberry noise with his tongue.
"I'm the 'someone'?" he asked.
I gave a nod, closing my eyes in silent laughter and collapsing backwards.
Minutes seemed to pass before our amusement died down and when it did it was gradual, until we left just lying there together, our bodies spent.
"You just had to go... and help me find Mison, didn't you?" I said, wiping the leftover tears of merriment from my eyes.
How could Jesse ever stand a chance against someone who had literally put their life on the line for me? It'd been the most significant nail in the coffin of our relationship.
When Sirius didn't reply, I looked down to find his head leaning on my shoulder, his chest moving up and down in deep, peaceful breaths. He was asleep.
Allowing my own eyelids to drift closed I succumbed to unconsciousness, floating away on my own drunken stupor.