Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition
Round 11
Chudley Cannons

Chaser 2: Never Have I ever (S6)

Optional Prompts:
2. [dialogue] "You're the worst" / "But you love me anyway
14. [word] Unnecessary
11. [emotion] Surprise

Word Count: 1,837 words

LOVE AND A BIT OF FIREWHISKY

"Whatever you're planning, I am not in the mood," Lily snarled as she was nudged forward by James and Sirius.

"Have a bit of trust, Lils," James chuckled as they kept on walking toward the Gryffindor common room.

"Trust is a rather far-fetched term when you four are around," Lily groaned. "And to think I was planning on some studying tonight."

"Study, study," Sirius drawled. "You do that too much. You need to let loose sometimes, have a bit of fun."

"We could have done that in the library."

James and Sirius exchanged horrified looks with each other and smirked mischievously before they gasped, Sirius chuckling as James clutched his heart and wailed.

"Lils, you embarrass me. There is no fun in the library. It's the library, for Merlin's sake!"

Lily laughed, shaking her head as they heaved their way up the stairs to the Gryffindor corridor. "That was completely unnecessary."

"No, it was not. It pains me to see you bore your life away. What would you ever do without me?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

Sirius groaned and leaned sideways, playfully slapping his friend's head. "Prongs, Lily—keep the flirting to yourselves, would you?"

"Shut up, Sirius," the latter snapped back, biting her lip to keep a smile from breaking off.

"All this romantic tension that you have between—" Sirius yelped as James stomped on his foot. "Why…why did you do that?"

"That's enough boys," Lily sternly spoke before muttering the password to the Gryffindor common room.

"Whatever excuse you two have for bringing me over here, it better be good," she continued as the portrait swung open.

Sirius hobbled forward, glaring at James while Prongs offered a rather innocent smirk, shrugging it off after.

"The excuse is right behind you." Sirius nodded his head towards the door.

Lily turned around curiously and her eyes widened in surprise as she saw Remus holding two glass bottles in his hand, smiling expectantly; Peter standing beside him. Not what I was expecting, she thought, for she was sure that James had whipped up a party or something loud and frisky in the common room itself.

She narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized the two bottles carefully. "Is that firewhisky?" Lily asked hesitantly. She jerked back and screeched out before any of them even got a chance to speak. "Merlin, that is firewhisky! It's not allowed inside school premises, what the hell is it doing here?"

She tripped slightly as she was further pushed into the room. "James, what—"

"Lily, keep your voice down," James whispered urgently. "It's just—"

"Of course it was your idea!" Lily snapped, this time keeping her voice level with the others. "I don't even know why I doubted it. James Potter, not the mastermind behind two bottles of illegal drinks inside the Gryffindor common room? That would be simply outrageous!"

"You have a very bad sense of sarcasm," James replied calmly, feigning obliviosity to the situation in front of him as his friends backed a safe length away from the duet.

Lily blinked, clearly not expecting that counter and opened her mouth again before being cut off by James.

"That worked, didn't it? It's just a bit of fun, Lils, calm down!"

"That could get us expelled, you nitwit! Do you even think before you do something?"

"Do you really think that it is that uncommon for the professors to find a whisky bottle in the possession of a couple of sixth years?"

Lily stared at the raven-haired boy in front of her, fuming but clearly realizing his logic behind the predicament. "You are the worst," she grumbled.

"But you love me anyway," James offered, a boyish grin spreading onto his face at his apparent win.

Lily blushed. That's the problem, she thought as James waved his friends over, each with equally big grins on their faces.

"I half thought Lily would murder us," Remus joked, chuckling nervously.

"I was thinking of it," Lily muttered. "Just to be clear, I don't approve of this."

James stuck his tongue out at her and snatched a bottle from Remus's hands while Sirius snatched the other, shaking it vigorously before opening the cap.

"Here's to Lily letting loose for the rest of the year," James declared and took a swig from the bottle.

"That was unnecessary, too." Lily glared at him, looking uncertainly at the bottle.

"Here's to Marlene going out with me," Sirius declared as he downed a quarter of the bottle in one go, before passing it over to Peter and settling on the sofa, letting out a loud burp.

Lily stared at the scene in front of her and turned around as James nudged her.

"Try some, it's not bad." He held out the bottle, grinning his very handsome boyish grin.

Lily stared a bit longer and hesitantly took the bottle, twirling it a bit in her hands.

"I have never drunk alcohol before."

"It's good. Shame you haven't tried it before."

Lily narrowed her eyes, uncertain. It was wrong, she knew; why the hell was she even considering it? She had never been so dicey before. "I am underage," she continued, biting her lip as she contemplated the various outcomes that could happen.

One never knew.

"So are we, but it's not killing us, is it?"

She sniffed at the bottle and blew out a breath before taking a quick sip. Lily coughed as she felt her throat burning and laughed out nervously.

Sirius and Remus cheered as they watched her. Between the two of them, the bottle was half-finished, and they were already feeling the whisky's effects. After all, it was meant for a higher age group. On the other end of the couch, Peter was already drowsy and had his head laid back, his wide tummy peeking out lazily from the hem of his shirt.

"That wasn't quite so bad," she exclaimed and promptly took another gulp, a lot more this time.

"Ha, I told you she'd like it," Sirius garbled out.

"No, I told you that she'd like it," Remus argued, snatching the bottle away.

Lily chuckled as she lazily sat down on the couch, returning the bottle back to James. Believe it or not, she actually liked the thrill of breaking the rules. No wonder the boys did it all the time. Maybe she could join them again sometime.

She smiled lazily and leaned back, resting her head on the couch.

James handed the bottle back to her, and she took it confidently, taking a huge sip again. A quarter was left but, oh well, she'd finish it.

James watched as Lily gulped some of the whisky again and smiled. He couldn't help it; he was so in love with her. Part of him wished to kiss her right there, while the other part was screaming at him to not do anything stupid.

They had been drinking, laughing, and talking for almost an hour. Lily had, to James' excitement, completely let loose, so much so that she had completely let go of her otherwise stern character. James, who had been staring at Lily most of the time, finally glanced at his friends to discover they had finished their entire bottles. Wormy had passed out long ago, though James had expected the shrimpiest of them to be the first one to doze off, yet Moony held on just a bit longer. Though he too wasn't doing any better.

Sirius, on the other hand, was completely wasted, bursting out into giggles as he haphazardly waved the empty bottle in the air—really, he was a disgrace.

James shook his head and looked over at Lily. His eyes widened as he saw her blinking in confusion, the whisky almost gone.

"You finished the entire thing?"

Lily turned her head and giggled.

James frowned. "Lils…...are you drunk?" he asked incredulously, bending over to take the bottle from her.

"Course not, Jamesie." Lily giggled; her words slurred.

James chuckled. She really was drunk. And she had emptied the bottle! Merlin, he really wanted to drink some more. His eyes widened as Lily rested her head on his shoulder.

"You know, Jamesie, the Firewhisky is good, I will speak to Dumbledore to allow the students to drink it," she declared, wagging her finger in the air.

Almost impulsively, James wrapped his hand around her own and laid his head on top of hers. His heart fluttered as she giggled and stayed right where she was, not pulling away like he thought she would. He drew in a breath and smiled. She smelled of coconut and chocolate.

"I'll speak to McGonagall too. I'll speak to Slughorn and Binns, and everyone I know," she declared happily.

James grinned again. He shut his eyes and brought her closer. "You know what Lily; I think I'm in—"

"In fact, I am going to go speak to them now." Lily promptly stood up and giggled, stumbling as she stepped forward.

James' eyes widened and he stood up hastily. "No no no, you're not going anywhere. Sit down Lily, you can hardly stand."

"I'm going to go." Lily took a few more steps and stumbled again.

James calmly walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Come on, Lils, I'll sneak you back to your dorm."

"No, I am going to go now. Firewhisky should be made available for all," she garbled out.

James sighed. What was he thinking? It was her first-time drinking; he shouldn't have given her the entire bottle in one go.

"Lils, we'll go talk to them tomorrow. Now, you have to come sit." He gently pulled her to the couch. Thankfully, she was not struggling or making a fit, like the first time Sirius had done. That had definitely not gone well.

"I'll tell Sluggy to have a drink with us."

"You do that."

James chuckled as he set Lily back down on the couch. He smiled as he saw her lay her head back and nod off.

She looked so beautiful by the fire. He reached forward and brushed a few strands of her hair off her face and stroked her cheek gently.

He paused and bent forward, planting a kiss on her forehead.

James straightened back and carefully pulled her close towards him. When she woke up, he knew he would be in for it, but oh well. He looked back at the sleeping girl again.

The firewhisky was setting in now. He could feel his eyes struggling to stay open and laid his head back on the couch.

"I love you, Lily Evans," he whispered, his eyes snapping shut. It felt good to say it out loud, even though he had said it a million times before.

God, how he loved her.

I know I have said this exact same thing the past 9 rounds, but seriously, thank you to all those on my team who looked through this story. You guys are the best!