Chapter Eleven: Happy Slugmas
Lily woke up with a splitting headache. Her throat felt like it was on fire it was so dry. A faint dawn glow was streaming through the window. Lily rolled over, this wasn't right. Her bed wasn't on this side of the room. She groaned as she tried to sit up. The room around her spun a little and she laid back down. She rolled over on to her side and closed her eyes again. Marlene was snoring really loud this morning. Lily muttered something about Marlene really needing to try an anti-snore potion. She rolled the other way only to have light in her face. She grumbled and cracked one eye open, someone was sitting in a chair next to her bed.
James Potter was snoring lightly with his head propped against the bed post. His arms were crossed across his bare chest. A blanket lay on the floor at his feet. Lily covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. What was James Potter doing in the girls' dormitory? How did he get up the stairs? And why did her head hurt so much? Lily sat up very slowly. She looked down at herself. A thin blanket with the English Quidditch symbol was draped over her body. She was still fully clothed in her uniform that she never changed out of yesterday. Lily realized she wasn't in her dormitory, she was in the Marauders dormitory. Remus was in the bed next to her, Peter was across the room, Sirius was snoring like a dragon by the window, and an empty bed was next to his. That one must have been James's.
"Stay calm, Lily. There has to be a logical reason for this." Lily slowly extracted herself from the bed. The room was freezing so she wrapped herself in the Quidditch blanket. She was careful not to trip over any of the items that littered the dormitory floor. She found one shoe but couldn't find the other. Lily went to summon it with her wand but couldn't find that either. She stubbed her toe on the foot of the bed and swore loudly.
James woke up and reached for the glasses on the table next to him. He looked at Lily and scratched his head. She was holding one shoe in her hand and looked very disheveled. Her other shoe was lying next to his foot. He stooped down and picked it up. He stood up and walked over to her to hand it to her.
Lily's eyes raked over James's body. She had never noticed how muscular James was. Her face blushed bright red and she turned her head quickly away when she saw the bulge in his boxers. "James, your – uh – you…"
Sirius had also woken up when Lily stubbed her toe. He was watching the two of them from his bed. "Oy! Prongs! Might want to cover up, mate. Evans, doesn't want to see your wand."
The boy looked down and blushed as red as Lily. He snatched his blanket up off the floor and wrapped it around himself. James stuttered an apology to Lily. Both teens stood there frozen until Sirius climbed out of bed. He was also clad only in boxers but was not in the same situation as James. Sirius opened the door to the stairs and popped his head out. The coast was clear and it was probably too early for anyone to be down in the Common Room. Sirius nodded to Lily that she could go. With the blanket wrapped around her she scrambled out the door and down the stairs.
"You should take care of that, mate." Sirius grinned devilishly and made his way to the loo.
James fell backwards on to the bed Lily had slept in. He was never going to live this down. Remus rolled over and snorted. James tilted his head back so it was half hanging off the bed. "This is your fault, Remus."
"I'm flattered, mate, but I don't swing that way."
Lily was on edge at breakfast that morning. It hadn't taken long for word to travel that Lily and Colin had broken up. Rumors flew wildly down the corridors and through the Great Hall that morning. Marlene and Alice had waited for Beatrice and Mary to leave the dormitory for breakfast before they grilled Lily about the night before. Where did she run off to? Why didn't she come back? Where had she slept?
"Merlin, Lily! Your breath reeks," Alice muttered pushing Lily away. "Were you drinking last night?"
Marlene laughed at the exceptionally guilty look Lily had on her face. She opened her trunk and rummaged around for a bit. "Did you finish the bottle, Lily? Do you remember anything from last night at all?"
Lily winced. Marlene was talking really loudly and her head was throbbing. "I'm sorry, Mar. I didn't know what to do. The last thing I can remember is sitting up on the Astronomy tower."
"Next time, we'll drink with you." Marlene hugged Lily and laughed at the disproving look Alice gave her. "Okay, I'll drink with you and Alice can make sure we don't get too silly."
"Where did that blanket come from?" Alice was looking at the Quidditch symbol. She knew Lily enjoyed Quidditch but the girl didn't have any paraphernalia. Anyways her team was Ireland, not England.
Marlene's eyebrows shot up. Lily had been blackout drunk last night, there was no doubt in her mind about that. She had found her way up to the Astronomy tower. And now she was wrapped in James Potter's most cherished blanket. "Did you?" Marlene looked at Lily shocked.
Lily looked down at the blanket and then at her friends. "No!" She wasn't as convincing as she wanted to be. Truthfully, she didn't know what had happened. One moment she was watching the stars atop the Astronomy tower and the next she was waking up in Marauders' dormitory.
"Why don't you go brush your teeth and get changed," Alice's sweet disposition was clear in the lack of judgement in her voice. "Then we can all go get some breakfast and you can drink a gallon of coffee because I'm sure you need it."
Lily dumped the blanket on her unslept in bed and went into the loo to brush her teeth. When she emerged, Marlene had a huge grin across her face and Alice was smiling too. Lily looked at them suspiciously but her growling stomach stopped her from questioning them. The trio made their way down to the Great Hall. Lily did her best to ignore the whispers that followed them down the corridors. Marlene scowled at students who stared at them. Alice looped her arm through Lily's and smiled.
"I don't want to sit anywhere near the boys!" Lily whispered to her friends. Alice guided Lily along the wall on the outside of the Gryffindor table. They sat near the doors, far enough in where people needed to crane their heads to catch a glimpse of Lily but not so far that Lily had to walk past the majority of the Gryffindor students. They caught snippets of rumours throughout the meal. Everything centered on Colin breaking up with Lily but the stories about why were making Lily cringe. Marlene told Lily to just ignore them and pushed the coffee across the table to her.
"I heard he broke up with her because she snogged Potter." The voice belonged to a seventh-year Ravenclaw girl who was sitting not far away from them.
Alice glared at the girl and Marlene nudged Lily's foot. Lily kept her head down to prevent people from seeing the blush that was rapidly creeping up her neck. Colin had suggested to her to snog Potter and Lily couldn't remember what had happened the night before. Maybe she had snogged James to get back at Colin for suggesting it. She was getting more and more frustrated at the fact that she couldn't remember what the hell had happened.
A new wave of whispers flew through the hall as the Marauders sauntered through the doors. Remus saw Marlene and the girls and made his friends sit at the very end of the table. This meant that Lily didn't have to face James or Sirius but it also meant she was going sit at the table until the four boys finished their meals. Lily murmured quietly to herself that she just had to make it through the week and then she could go home for the holidays. Two blissful weeks that she could shut herself in her room without listening to whispers. She couldn't remember if she'd ever been happier to leave Hogwarts. Especially in the past few years when Petunia had grown increasingly nastier to her.
Lily didn't think that a bolder group of boys than the Marauders existed but she was proven wrong that morning. Colin, Aiden, and Andrew entered the Great Hall, sending a third rush of whispers. Mostly from girls in the upper years. He was too good for her. She shouldn't have given him up for Potter. At least he was single again, finally. Lily looked across the table at Marlene who looked almost as annoyed as Lily. The three seventh-year boys stared down James and Sirius as the approached the Gryffindor table. Sirius muttered something as they passed by. Colin clenched his fist but didn't dignify Sirius with a response. Lily held her head up proudly as Colin approached them. She wasn't going to let him see her undone. She was a Gryffindor and Gryffindors didn't cower in the corner.
Colin snorted as he walked by the three girls and murmured something to Aiden that none of them caught. Marlene pulled her wand out of sleeve and pointed it his back as he passed. Lily kicked her under the table and told her not to start something. The last thing Lily wanted was to get in trouble in the Great Hall. On top of that Lily wasn't sure that Sirius would keep his nose out of it if Marlene hexed Colin.
"Have they left yet?" Lily asked as she pulled herself a third cup of coffee. The coffee was really helping with the wretched hangover Lily had this morning.
"No." Alice had looked down the table. "Wait, James is leaving. Are you okay walking past the other three?"
Lily nodded. She hoped Sirius didn't make an ass of her. But she reminded herself that she was a lion and that she would hold her head high. The trio of girls pushed their plates back, Lily picked up her coffee and brought it with her. A small buzz of whispers circulated but none like the ones earlier in the meal. Remus nodded encouragingly at Lily as she and her friends approached. Marlene stopped to give Remus a quick kiss on the cheek. Sirius pretended to make vomiting noises. The blonde rolled her eyes and followed her friends out.
The last week of term flew by despite the amount of work the teachers gave to the sixth-year students. Slughorn held his annual Christmas party on the last night of the term. Lily sat on her bed in her dormitory looking rather grumpy. Alice was putting her last finishing touches on her make-up. Marlene was glaring across the room at Lily. The two girls told her that she couldn't sit on her bed and mope all night. Marlene had physically forced Lily into her charcoal-coloured dress robes. Alice had reminded her that she had RSVP'd to the party weeks ago and it would be rude of her to not show up. Lily knew she couldn't skive off Slughorn's party even though she desperately wanted to.
Remus and Frank met them down in the Common Room. Lily was itching at the sight of Remus. If he had waited that meant James and Sirius couldn't be too far away. She had done a masterful job of avoiding both of those boys even though all but two of her classes were with them. Marlene's date noticed her unease and informed her that James and Sirius had already set off for the party. Frank gave Lily a friendly smile as he took Alice's hand. Alice had told him to just let sleeping dogs lie when he'd suggested he apologize for Colin's behaviour. Lily knew that he had no control over Colin and that he was a decent bloke.
Alice and Frank took the lead hand in hand. Lily hung back with Marlene and Remus as they were much less lovey dovey in their affection at present. As they neared the party Marlene looped her arm through Remus's. Lily slowed her pace so she was a half-step behind the couple. Remus reached back and looped his other arm through Lily's.
"I'm just the luckiest man at Hogwarts," Remus beamed at the two of them. "A blonde on one arm and a redhead on the other. I'm sure going to make all the boys at the party jealous."
Lily cracked a smile at him. Marlene leaned forward and winked at Lily from the other side of Remus. Together the three sixth-years entered the beautifully decorated parlour. A huge Christmas tree was in the corner by a crackling fire. A good number of students had been invited to the party. It wasn't as intimate as the dinner parties that the Potions master threw. Sirius was dancing with the fifth-year he had been having his fling with her, Lily thought she remembered the girl's name was Olivia. James had a drink in his hand and was chatting with Alice and Frank already. Lily noted that he had chosen to go stag.
A girl with black hair waved to Lily from over near the table of food. Lily murmured a 'see you later' to Marlene and Remus, not keen to third-wheel their date all night. She walked over to Hestia Jones, a fifth-year prefect from Hufflepuff. "How are you?" Hestia was a kind girl that was easy to be friends with.
Lily shrugged her shoulders. "This week hasn't been the easiest and I'm looking forward to going home for the holidays in the morning."
Hestia gave that warm friendly smile. "A heard about what happened. For what it's worth, Colin sounds like a pretty big arse and you deserve way better than him."
The two girls exchanged pleasantries for a while before a Ravenclaw boy came and asked Hestia if she wanted to dance with him. Lily shooed her off and smiled absently. She went and found a comfortable armchair out of the way of the party. She hadn't been sitting long when Remus and Marlene came over to keep her company. The trio chatted for a little while before Lily shooed them off too. She had been forced to come to the party but she wasn't going to let her misery ruin other people's fun. Her two friends joined Sirius and Olivia out on the dance floor. Lily had to admit that Sirius really knew how to dance.
Across the room, Snape was looking at her in a creepy longing sort of way. Lily felt shivers crawl down her spine. The group of boys he was standing with had family's that were notorious for their bloodlines and their support of Voldemort. Just looking at the Death Eaters to be made Lily sick to her stomach. It seemed like every week there was more bad news. More deaths and more torture. She couldn't figure out when her former best friend had become such a cruel person.
"Miss Evans!" Professor Slughorn had rooted her out at last. "What are you doing over here all alone? Not turning into a wallflower, are you now, Lily?" The paunchy man laughed at his own joke. He offered her a glass of what looked like champagne. It turned out to be sparkling apple juice. Lily thanked him and smiled. She informed him she was taking a quick rest before getting back out on to the dancefloor. Slughorn grinned and told her he would let her rest so that she could get out there and shine.
The clock on the wall showed that it was just past eleven. Lily decided she had spent enough time at the party and that she could go to bed without being rude at this point. She did have a long day of travelling tomorrow, at least that was her justification for it. She waved goodbye to Remus and Marlene. Alice had disappeared with Frank long ago. Lily slipped out of the brightly lit room into the dark corridor. The darkness and quiet cloaked her as she let out a deep breath.
Lily was halfway up the corridor when someone shouted. "Lily, wait!" She turned around and came face to face with James Potter. Her body froze and her mind told her to make a run for it. The frozen muscles won out. She stood there and looked at James. He shoved his hands in his pockets and was suddenly very shy.
"Did you have something you wanted to say, Potter?" Lily's tone was a little more waspish than she had intended for it to be. She sighed and shook her head. "Sorry."
Lily began walking again and James fell into step with her. "I wanted to talk to you. I've been trying to get you alone all week. No, that's not what I meant. I just…What happened last weekend?"
They climbed the stairs from the dungeon corridor into the entrance hall. There was more lighting here but it was still dim compared to the party. Lily didn't think she could look at him. How was she supposed to tell him that she had no idea what had happened? They continued climbing upwards to the second floor. Lily still hadn't said anything. Finally, James stopped her in the Transfiguration corridor. He didn't look angry or annoyed just confused. Lily looked at him and frowned. She took in a deep breath and let it out. She motioned to an empty classroom and James followed her.
Lily sat down on a desk. "I don't remember what happened."
"What?" James leaned against the door. "Anything?"
The girl shook her head. She was trying really hard to hold herself together. The embarrassment was slowly mounting and she didn't know how she could hold it off. "I don't know what you want me to tell you." She got up and walked towards the door but James was still leaning against it. Lily told him to move but he only crossed his arms in front of his chest. A tiny voice in the back her mind murmured something about how devilishly handsome James looked as he prevented her from leaving the classroom.
"What happened between you and Colin?" James was immovable. It was clear to Lily that he wasn't going to let her leave without an explanation.
She went and sat back down on the desk. "We broke up." Lily pursed her lips. Even though the only light in the room was the moonlight shining through the window, Lily could see the hint of a grin play across his face. "Is that good enough?"
"No, Lily, it's not." James saw her give a start when he called her by her first name. "Because the moment I walked into the Common Room on Saturday night Smith shouted that you should snog me. I want answers."
"God damn it, Potter!" Lily shouted at him. "Stop calling me Lily! And stop mentioning that prat! Somehow you managed to ruin the one relationship I've been able to have at this bloody school and you didn't even do one sodding thing!" Lily slammed her arms across her chest and gave a big 'hmph' while she glared at him.
"I'm glad you realize I had nothing to with it." James's tone was flirting dangerously with gloating. "That still doesn't tell me what happened."
Lily took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and exhaled. She took a few more deep breaths before she was finally calm enough to face him. "Colin told me that I'm obsessed with you and he was angry that I wanted to finish my Charms reading instead of going for a snog with him. He said I should snog you because he thinks – thought that you were all I was thinking about. That it was okay for you to distract me because you're Potter but that it wasn't okay for my boyfriend to." Anger, embarrassment, and sadness were mixing in Lily's core and she knew she wouldn't be able to hold them at bay forever.
James let out the breath he was holding in. "I'm sorry. I don't really know what for but I feel like I owe you an apology. Um, I'm sorry if you feel like I've ruined your relationship with Colin." He uncrossed his arms and turned. He twisted the door knob and opened it slightly before Lily started talking again.
"Potter, wait." Lily hadn't gotten up from the desk but James turned back around and closed the door. He looked at Lily with curiousity. She didn't sound angry but there was clearly something else on her mind. "How did – how did I end up…in your dormitory?" The question stumbled out of her mouth slowly.
James stood by the door debating if he knew enough of the story to be able to tell it. He decided that he knew the basics of it and sat down on at a desk across from Lily. "I only know some of how you ended up there. Believe me I was as shocked as you."
Lily found that pretty hard to believe but she waited for him to continue. That damn voice in the back her mind was making inappropriate comments again. James was ruffling up his hair and the voice asked Lily how she thought it would feel to run her fingers through his beautiful dark hair. The girl shook the voice off and gestured for James to continue.
"After you left the Common Room we sort of sat in a standoff with Colin and his friends." James told her, she figured 'we' meant the Marauders. "Aubrey Davies showed up later in the evening and I guess that's when Remus went to look for you. He told us he found you on top of the Astronomy tower."
"Yeah, I took Marlene's firewhiskey and snuck up there." Lily had decided after the fact that it hadn't been as good of a decision as it had seemed at the time.
"What were you going to do if a professor had caught you?" James had been trying to figure this out all week.
Lily grinned at him. "I was going to say I had confiscated it from you and Sirius actually."
James glared across the room at her flatly. "That's cold, even for you."
"Sirius is of age now. I figured he'd have gotten in less trouble for it than anyone else." Lily shrugged. "It doesn't matter because I didn't get caught."
"Marlene's seventeen too AND she's the one you got the bottle from." James waved his hands and muttered that they were getting sidetracked here. "Do you remember Remus coming up to the Astronomy Tower? He was gone for hours."
Lily wracked her brain and then finally a little glimmer of memory. She had been halfway into the bottle when Remus had showed up. "Yeah, now I remember. We stayed out there until I finished the bottle. It wasn't quite past curfew when he showed up. I think."
"Well, eventually students started to go to bed. Aubrey left to head off to her own dormitory but you hadn't come back yet. Sirius went up–" James caught himself. He didn't want to divulge that information. Fortunately, Lily had started to cut him off at the same time he stopped himself.
"I remember Sirius lifting me up out of a hole at some point but it's really hazy." The memory was so odd. She couldn't tell James where in the castle they had been but it was such a weird memory that she could remember Sirius pulling her from above and Remus lifting her up from below.
James nodded, "Sirius went to find Remus. He found you two on the third-floor. The two of them got you back to the Common Room to find it empty. Remus didn't want to leave you on a couch in case you puked, so they carried you up to our dorm because we have an empty bed."
Memories came rushing back to Lily. She distinctly remembered Remus tripping and dropping her on the floor before landing on top of her. "Right. Sirius had tried to get me to keep quiet when we entered but Remus dropped me on the floor by accident."
"Yeah, and I woke up super confused to a very drunk Lily in my dormitory." James muttered dryly. He remembered how Lily had asked him if he'd been a good snogger and wondered whether he should tell her about that part.
James didn't need to tell Lily about what happened next. The evil voice in her mind replayed the memory for her. Remus was propping her up and she shouted across the room at Potter, asking if he was a good snog and then demanding five Galleons from Remus. Sirius told her she only got Galleons if she snogged James. Tripping over Sirius and landing in James's arms. James scooping her up in his strong arms and carrying her to the bed. The look on James's face told Lily that he remembered it too. "Oh God. James, I…" Terror stretched across her face. Why was drunk her such a traitor?
"You were drunk, Lily." James couldn't help but smile hopelessly at her calling him James. "But you owe Remus five Galleons."
James scooted off the table. He knew what had happened and Lily knew what had happened and that was enough for him. He looked up for a brief moment and saw the mistletoe above him. Lily looked up to where he was looking and saw the plant. She didn't know what made her do it. Lily closed the space between them and pressed her lips tenderly against James's. She was on her tiptoes and her hands were on his cheeks.
James was caught off guard. It took him a moment to realize that Lily was kissing him. He wrapped one arm around her body and pulled her closer to him. His other hand moved to the back of her neck so he could deepen the kiss. It felt like electricity was surging through their bodies. Lily's hands roamed down to James's chest. His chest felt as toned as she had suspected it would when she'd seen him in just his boxers last weekend.
The door to the classroom opened quickly and Remus pulled Marlene in behind him. Lily and James sprang apart at the intrusion. The four teens stood there in uncomfortable silence. Lily bolted for the door and knocked into Marlene on her way out.
"Lily!" James called after her. When he made it out the door, she was gone. He turned to his two friends and ruffled up his hair anxiously.
"Merlin's beard, James!" Marlene shouted at him. "Honestly! Can't a girl get a snog with her boyfriend without having to put her best friend's life back together." Marlene glared at him and took off at a jog to go find Lily.
Remus scowled at James. "Are you serious?"
"No, but I am!" Sirius popped his head through the door.
"Where the hell did you come from?" Remus looked at him incredulously. Sirius opened his mouth to answer but Remus silenced him with a look.
James leaned back against the desk with his head in his hands. "I just can't win."