September slid into October at Hogwarts. The grounds shifted from luscious green to crisp orange and red. Inside the castle, the roar of the beginning of term dulled to a hum, as students and staff settled into their familiar roles.
Lily woke up the Monday before Halloween to find a small scroll of parchment on her nightstand. She snatched it and untied the purple ribbon around it. As it unfurled and she caught sight of the purple writing, she knew what it was without even reading it.
Miss Lily Evans,
You are cordially invited to attend a gathering hosted by Professor Horace Slughorn on the night of 31 October 1976. Dress code is formal.
RSVP regrets only.
Lily sighed and tossed the invitation into her trunk. She would go to the party, of course she would. She had to go. Slughorn liked her and a good recommendation from him next year could determine whether or not she found a job.
Lily pulled her robes out of her trunk and began to dress, glancing around at her roommates, who were just beginning to rise. She noticed scrolls identical to hers on Marlene and Alice's nightstands. Her eyes flew to Mary's and found it bare. A pang of guilt coursed through her as she pulled on socks. Mary deserved to go to the party as well.
Marlene and Alice, now out of bed, both snatched their scrolls of parchment and opened them excitedly. Alice's reaction was much like Lily's; she shrugged and tossed the parchment on her bed. Marlene, on the other hand, grinned widely.
"I love a good Slug Club party," the brunette exclaimed when they were all dressed and walking down the spiral staircase.
"I think you're the only one in the world who does," Alice remarked dryly, tugging at her skirt.
"I wish I could go," Mary said mournfully. She pushed her hair out of her face and stuck out her bottom lip. "Halloween's going to be so dull now."
"You can spend time with Pete," Lily said, squeezing Mary's shoulder in an attempt to be conciliatory. "I bet he'd teach you those chess tricks he promised to show us."
"Maybe not," Mary said dubiously as they crossed the common room and climbed through the portrait hole. "That hufflepuff fifth year he's been spending so much time with, Cynthia Abbott, she always gets invited."
"Pete's been spending time with a hufflepuff fifth year?" Marlene asked, raising her eyebrows. "Since when?"
"He was just telling me about it last night," Mary said, looking surprised at knowing a piece of gossip before Marlene. "I thought it was common knowledge."
"I haven't heard anything about it," Marlene said, looking around at Lily and Alice. They both shook their heads.
"I didn't know Pete has a girl," Lily confirmed, her mouth tugging into a frown. "Is it—"
"I don't know exactly what it is but he said he really likes her and I've seen them once or twice in the library," Mary explained. "But anyways, what I was saying, her grandfather is some famous herbologist so she always gets invited to Slughorn's parties. That's what Pete told me. And he said she's dropped some hints last week about asking him to the next one, which would be the one on Halloween. So it looks like I'll be all alone-"
Lily groaned loudly, cutting of Mary's whines. Her friends all turned to stare at her as she covered her face with her hands. "I didn't even think about asking someone," she moaned. For the first time since it had happened, she regretted her break up with Connor. The idea of finding someone to take to the party made her stomach churn.
"Take James," Marlene suggested airily. "You know he'll say yes."
Lily hesitated. As much as the idea appealed to her, she knew she couldn't ask James. They were friends; going to the party together would send so many wrong signals. And that was even if he said yes. After all, he had almost definitely been invited too and would want to ask someone else. And no matter what, going to Slughorn's party with James would entail a tangle of unanswered questions and ignored feelings that Lily had neither the strength nor the desire to unravel.
"Or take Remus," Alice said, interrupting Lily's thoughts. "He looks like he co\\
uld use a party to cheer him up."
Lily's stomach unknotted itself and she smiled gratefully at Alice. Yes, of course. Remus was the perfect choice. And Alice was right, he had been exceedingly downcast the last month. His melancholic mood hadn't dissipated as everyone had hoped. Though she didn't say anything, Lily knew this was due in part to Marlene's close relationship with Sirius.
Nobody knew exactly what was going on between those two, but it had clearly surpassed platonic. They ate meals together and spent most evenings huddled together in the common room. The times Lily had joined them they appeared to be nothing more than close friends. Yet there were always little things: furtive smiles, hands on knees, small gestures that seemed insignificant but revealed so much. And she knew Remus saw every single one.
The girls entered the Great Hall and Lily spotted the pale, tired boy sitting with James and Peter at the Gryffindor table.
"Morning," Lily said as she slid into the seat beside Remus. Marlene sat on her other side while Mary and Alice sat across from them.
"Where's Sirius?" Marlene asked, looking pointedly at all three boys in turn as though trying to trick them into breaking their frostiness towards their friend.
"Dunno," James mumbled. He looked up from his plate and caught Lily's eye. She averted her gaze.
They ate quietly, chattering about Halloween and the Hogsmeade visit scheduled for the day after.
"If only it were last weekend," Alice complained. "I would have liked to have some new robes for Slughorn's parties. I'll have to wear my old silver ones now and they're much too tight."
"Oh!" Lily cried, remembering her earlier mission. She turned to Remus and hurriedly swallowed a mouthful of eggs. "Remus," she said.
He turned to her, eyebrows raised apprehensively.
"Slughorn's having a party the night of Halloween," Lily told him, "d'you want to go with me?"
"Er—" Remus flushed and looked down at the table, running a hand through his hair. "I'd love to, Lily, but I'm, er," he looked at her unhappily, "I'm visiting my mum the night before and—"
"Oh," Lily said, feeling her face heat up and kicking herself for not thinking to check that before asking him. "No, of course. I understand, don't worry about it."
"You're visiting your mum on a Thursday night?" Mary asked from across the table, furrowing her brow.
"Yes," Remus said, a bit defensively. His flush darkened. "It's, well—"
"It's too difficult to arrange travel the weekend of Halloween," James broke in smoothly, his eyes trained on Remus' scarlet face. "With the feast and everything there's just too much going on here and Mungo's is just as mad. Better to visit during the week."
Remus nodded, smiling weakly at James as he did so.
"Speaking of Halloween," Marlene said loudly, her fork suspended in front of her. "Pete, when were you gonna tell us about this hufflepuff?"
"Marlene," Lily said warningly, trying to reign her nosy friend in before the interrogation got off the ground.
"What's that got to do with Halloween?" Peter demanded, his round face going red.
Marlene shrugged and took a bite of eggs.
"You didn't tell them?" James asked, turning in surprise to face his friend.
Lily sighed and smiled sympathetically at poor Peter, who sputtered and sighed.
Peter's face was scarlet. "No," he mumbled, not making eye contact with anyone. "She's just a girl—"
"Pete, mate, you've been going on about this girl for ages," James said, raising his eyebrows.
"It's been ages?" Marlene cried, shock covering her face. "Peter, I thought we were friends!"
"We are," the embarrassed boy muttered, fidgeting. "There wasn't anything to tell."
"Nothing to tell!" Marlene squawked, staring at Peter with wide eyes. "But—"
"Give it a rest, you two," Remus said firmly, pointing to Marlene and James. "It's not like the two of you are pillars of honesty when it comes to who you're snogging."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Marlene demanded, her face turning pink.
Remus' mouth snapped shut and he turned back to his plate. "Nothing, just—never mind," he muttered, spearing a piece of ham.
Nobody said much for the rest of the meal. After breakfast Lily, Marlene, Alice, Remus and James said goodbye to Mary and Peter and made their way down to the dungeons for potions.
Sirius was waiting outside the dungeons when they arrived. Marlene broke away from the others and approached him. "Where were you during breakfast?" she demanded, trying to glare at him.
Sirius smiled sheepishly and brushed a piece of hair out of his eyes. "I went out for a fly this morning," he said quietly. "Help clear my head."
Marlene stared at him dubiously, but Sirius threw an arm around her shoulders and led her into the classroom before she had a chance to continue her questioning.
Lily followed them in, taking care not to glance at Remus. She slid into her seat and began unpacking her supplies, watching Marlene giggle and muss Sirius' hair.
James took his seat beside her without a word, though Lily could feel him looking at her. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and busied herself with retrieving her book and potions kit from her bag.
The dungeon doors burst open and Slughorn strode into the room, whistling merrily. "Good morning!" he called out, standing at the front of the room and beaming. "As you all know, today we're working on our Elixir to Induce Euphoria. I trust after last week's lesson you all have a basic understanding of the intricacies of this particular brew, correct?"
The class rumbled in consent. Slughorn rubbed his hands together. "Excellent, excellent," he said. "Now, you won't get all the way through today, but if you do well you should be able to get about halfway. The instructions are on page 72 of your books. Everybody pair up and begin!"
As Lily retrieved a cauldron and her mortar and pestle, James opened his copy of Advanced Potion Making to the indicated page, scanning the instructions. It was an outrageously complicated potion, full of tedious timing and careful measurement. James sighed.
Lily, on the other hand, fairly glowed with excitement.
"I'll measure out the rose oil and chizpurfle fang," she said, opening her potions kit and taking out several glass vials. "You start crushing the doxy eggs, it looks like we need seventeen."
"Alright," James answered, stifling a grin. Her enthusiasm for potions baffled him, but he did have to admit she was brilliant at it.
He took a deep breath and drummed his fingers on the table while she carefully counted out the doxy eggs. "So," he said, uncomfortably aware of how uncertain his voice sounded, "that's too bad Remus can't go to the party with you."
"Yeah," Lily sighed, shoving the eggs towards him. "It's a bit unfortunate."
"So, er," James faltered, running his hand through his hair again and wishing she would look at him. He grabbed one of the small, blue speckled eggs and began crushing to powder. "D'you know who you're going to ask? Now that Remus can't go, I mean."
"Not a clue," Lily replied, now slowly measuring out a thick, viscous gold liquid and pouring it in the cauldron. Her eyes remained glued steadfastly to her work.
James had the urge to seize her chin and force her to look at him.
"I almost wish I was still with Connor," Lily continued nonchalantly, putting away one of the vials and searching for another one. "At least then I always had a date."
James' stomach dropped, but he forced out a small laugh as he seized two more doxy eggs and pounded them to dust. "Yeah, that makes sense," he said lamely, keeping his gaze on the pestle in his hand. This was not going as he'd wanted it to, not at all. His stomach rocked uncomfortably as he tried to regain control of his nerves. Of course the one person who reduced him to a quivering, anxious mess was the one he most wanted to impress.
Lily finished measuring the liquid out of the second vial, a strange amethyst color that sat on top of the gold contents of the cauldron. She took her wand out and flicked it towards the mixture, causing it to smoke and turn a pale green color.
"But," James forced himself to continue, grinding the pile of eggs down to sand, "I'm sure you'll have no problem finding someone to go with."
"I hope that's true," Lily sighed, finally looking up at him over the smoking cauldron. Her green eyes blazed, though that might just have been from the heat radiating from the potion. Lily gave him a smile and raised her eyebrows.
James realized he was staring and hurriedly looked down at the table, where he had reduced the doxy eggs to a fine powder.
Lily reached out and carefully transferred the powdered eggs to one of her scales before dumping them in the cauldron. "I seem to have very few options, though," she said nonchalantly as she stirred the potion three times clockwise.
James exhaled; she seemed to be understanding him. She turned back to her potions kit and began rifling around in it before he could spit out the question he had been meaning to ask since he had woken up and read the scroll left on his nightstand. He had to ask now, before someone else did. But he didn't want to just up and ask out of nowhere.
"Here," Lily handed him a jar of puffer-fish eyes. "These need to be chopped."
James took the fish eyes and began cutting them into small cubes with his knife. He wanted to just blurt it out, to just ask her if she'd like to go to Slughorn's party with him. But what if that scared her off? What if it was too forward? He needed to work his way up to that, instead of just dumping the question on her. Yes, that was it, he had to drop some hints first.
"Well," he said slowly, pushing the pile of fish eyes towards her, "you could always go with a friend."
"Mhm," Lily muttered, counting out porcupine quills under her breath.
James took this as encouragement and opened his mouth to say he didn't have a date right then either, when Lily stopped suddenly and looked up at him, her green eyes gleaming. His stomach turned over.
"James, that's a brilliant idea!" she cried, beaming at him. The pile of porcupine quills in front of her sat forgotten.
"Er, really?" he asked tentatively. Had she really understood him so clearly? He racked his brains for what he had said. Had he asked her to go to the party with him and just didn't remember it? Did he do that terrible of a job of it that he didn't even remember? Or had she gotten his meaning when he said she could go with a friend? They were friends now, after all, and she was incredibly smart.
"Yes!" Lily said enthusiastically. "I can't believe I didn't think of it before!"
James' face split into a grin at her excitement. He had thought he had a good chance of persuading her to go with him, but never had he dreamed it would be this easy.
"I mean," Lily continued, waving her hands about excitedly, "it doesn't say anywhere that I have to go with a bloke."
"Absolutely," James nodded, silently congratulating himself at asking her so smoothly. "Wait," he paused and shook his head, "what?"
"I'll take Mary!" Lily said, grinning. "She's always wanted to go to one of these parties and I don't have anyone else to go with."
"Well—" James started, but Lily cut him off.
"Oh, it'll be such fun!" she exclaimed jubilantly. She threw her arms around him for an instant but pulled away quickly, a pink tinge creeping up her cheeks.
James wished he could sink into the floor.
"So who are you asking?" Lily queried, dumping the quills and fish eyes in the cauldron and picking up a gurdyroot, which she began to slice.
"Er," James paused. He could tell her what he'd been about to ask earlier. No, he wouldn't do that. Not when she was so excited at the prospect of taking her friend. He could make up a name and gauge her reaction. No, that wouldn't work either, then he would have to actually ask whichever girl he said. Finally, he just shook his head. "Dunno yet," he said with forced nonchalance, mussing up his hair and seizing a jar of scarab beetles. He smirked at her. "Maybe I'll go stag and steal someone else's date."
Lily slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "You would never," she said in a feigned scandalized tone, trying to look sternly at him but unable to hide her laughter.
James' smirk dimmed and he began to take out scarab beetles; they needed thirty eight. "No, I wouldn't," he said quietly. Lily's laughter subsided and James looked away, settling his attention on counting out the dried insects. "I might just skip the party and stay back to keep Remus company," he said airily, looking up to gauge her reaction.
Lily nodded, her long hair falling over her face as she continued to slice the gurdyroot. "He would like that," she said. "But," she cocked her head to the side and peered at him, "you should still try to go to the party." The corners of her mouth quirked up. "It'll be much more fun if you're there."
James grinned, his chest much lighter than it had been a minute ago. "Well, I am the life of the party," he said dramatically, his smile growing wider when she laughed.
"Oh no," Lily said seriously, setting the root aside and adding two handfuls of lavender to the cauldron. "I've forgotten the number one rule of being friends with you, never offer compliments. Or else your ego gets unbearably large."
James put a hand to his chest in mock distress. "That hurts, Lily," he said gravely, though his wide grin rather ruined the effect. "I'll have you know my ego is a healthy sized one."
Lily snorted, taking out a vial of salamander blood. "Your ego is as healthy sized as my sister's husband."
James wrinkled his nose. "Based on your tone I take it he's a—"
"A walrus," Lily supplied, her eyes twinkling. "Perhaps a bit larger."
"Are you calling my ego a walrus, Evans?" James asked, throwing a scarab beetle at her.
"No," Lily laughed, abandoning the vial and shielding herself with a textbook. "I'm just saying it's the size of one—"
James chuckled and pelted her with scarab beetles until Slughorn came over, puffed out with indignation.
"Miss Evans, Mr. Potter, I expected better from you!" he said disapprovingly.
"S-sorry, Professor," Lily choked out, trying to suppress her giggles as she hurriedly began measuring out salamander blood again. "It won't happen again."
"I should hope not," Slughorn admonished, though he had already lost most of his severity.
Lily gave the potions master an apologetic smile and bent to check on their potion, which bubbled happily along.
"I trust I'll see the two of you on Halloween?" Slughorn asked, regaining his geniality as he eyed their potion, which was exactly the shade of magenta the book described.
"Of course," James answered, finishing counting the beetles and shoving the pile towards Lily. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Excellent, excellent," Slughorn said, turning to leave. "Now, mind you clean up those beetles before you leave for the day."
When he was out of earshot, Lily lapsed into giggles once again and cleared the floor with a flick of her wand.
They spent the rest of class attending to their potion, which ended up being a sunny yellow color and which Slughorn praised as "as close to perfect as you can get."
As they were filing out of the dungeon, James noticed a small, black beetle clinging to a strand of Lily's red hair. Grinning to himself, he reached out and gently extricated it, prompting her to turn around with raised eyebrows.
"Beetle," James said by way of explanation, holding up the offending insect.
"Oh," she said, turning pink. "Er, thanks."
"No problem," James answered, dropping the beetle to the ground and shoving his hands in his pockets as they walked to transfiguration.
When they reached the classroom, Lily shot him a small smile before dropping into her seat beside Mary.
Reaching his own desk, James watched as the two girls shared a quick, whispered conversation which concluded in Mary squealing excitedly and throwing her arms around Lily's neck. James grinned as he watched them; Lily's eyes shone as she smiled exuberantly at her friend. The pleasure on her face almost made up for the fact that she wasn't going to the party with him. And anyways, she had said it would be more fun with him there, hadn't she? She still wanted him to go.
Remus shifted in the seat next to him and leaned close to James. "I heard Alice say that Miles Pilchak invited Sarah Carroll to Slughorn's," he whispered.
The smile slid off James' face and his lip curled in distaste. "How did a prat like Pilchak get invited in the first place?"
"You just don't like him because he's friends with Goldstein," Remus said with a pointed look.
"He plays dirty in quidditch," James grumbled, taking his textbook from his bag as McGonagall walked to the front of the classroom. "Remember in fourth year when he almost knocked me off my broom?"
"You kept flying directly at him trying to make him drop the quaffle," Remus pointed out in an undertone, dipping his quill in ink as McGonagall began the day's lecture.
"He's still a prat," James muttered.
"Well he's not the one I was worried about," Remus continued. "Sarah's going to be at the party."
"So?" James asked. He took care not to pay attention to his ex-girlfriend. The memory of that relationship still made him flush from embarrassment.
"Well you know she might try to—I don't know—start something," Remus said, glancing quickly at James, who pretended not to notice. Neither said it, but James knew they were both thinking back to that dreadful party last year.
"I can handle Sarah," he said firmly.
Remus didn't answer and they spent a few minutes in silence, taking notes as McGonagall described the intricacies involved with conjuring. James glanced over at Lily and saw her and Mary huddled together, undoubtedly whispering about Friday's party.
"I take it she said no?" Remus asked gently.
James jumped and shook his head, the corners of his mouth tugging downwards. "I never got a chance to ask properly," he said, tearing his gaze away from the girls and ruffling his hair. "Maybe it's for the best, though. I don't want to—you know—scare her off or anything."
Remus nodded. At the front of the room, McGonagall concluded her lecture and instructed them all to take out their wands to begin practicing.
"Alright," Remus said with a sigh, glaring at his wand as he took it from his pocket. "Let's see how bloody terrible this goes."
The rest of the day passed easily and by the time dinner came, James was in good spirits. He helped himself to a large helping of potatoes and turkey and was in the middle chewing when Peter sat down, looking extremely pleased.
"What's up, Pete?" James asked, swallowing quickly and raising his eyebrows. "Or have you been practicing cheering charms in front of a mirror again?"
"I'm going to Slughorn's party," Peter announced proudly, puffing out his chest. "And I won't be crashing this time."
"Cynthia asked you then?" Mary asked from across the table.
Peter nodded.
"Excellent," James said, grinning and clapping his friend on the shoulder. "Pete's got a date!"
Peter mumbled something indistinct, though it sounded very much like "it's not a date," but James wasn't listening.
"And now we can all finally meet this bird. You've hardly let us be in the same room with her for weeks now!" he continued.
Peter went red in the face and mumbled into his robes.
"Are you afraid she'll like us better?" James asked, grinning playfully as Peter folded into himself.
"James, leave him alone," Lily chided, glancing sympathetically at Peter.
"I'm just joking, Lils," James said. He turned to Peter and gave him a hearty smile and another clap on the shoulder. "That's great, though, Pete."
"Thanks," Peter said, a smile blooming on his face. "But, er, Prongs?"
"Yeah," James said through a mouthful of potatoes.
"Can you and Moony help me decide what to wear?"
James stared for a moment and then threw his head back and laughed. "Of course, Wormtail," he said. "We won't let you down."
Friday evening found Lily in the sixth year girls' dormitory getting ready for Slughorn's Halloween party. It was a monumental night; for the first time, all six girls would be attending.
"I didn't know you were invited, Em," Mary said from the bathroom, where she was applying her lipstick.
"I wasn't," Emmeline answered, pinning her dark hair up into a twist. "Hestia was and she invited me."
"Oh, that's exciting!" Mary squealed from the bathroom, poking her head out to grin at Emmeline. "It's just like me and Lily!"
Emmeline gave Mary a small smile but didn't respond.
Sarah Carroll, clad in shimmery gold robes that looked as though they were a size too small, glanced haughtily at Lily, who sat on the corner of her bed while Marlene curled her hair magically.
"I was going to ask you about that, Lily," Sarah simpered, her cotton candy lips stretched in a thin smile. "I thought you were going to go with James."
"I don't know where you got that idea," Lily replied stiffly, tossing a lock of curled hair over her shoulder. "I never planned on asking him."
"I must have heard it from someone then," Sarah said sweetly, taking out a tube of mascara and flouncing towards the bathroom. "The whole school really thought you two were going to use this as an excuse to come clean."
"Come clean about what?" Lily demanded, narrowing her eyes. Behind her, Marlene laid a warning hand on her shoulder.
"Leave it," Marlene muttered, holding Lily down. "She's trying to get to you."
Lily glared at Sarah Carroll's retreating back, but didn't say anything.
"Come on, love, don't let Sarah ruin your night," Marlene chided. "Here, I've just finished your hair. Take a look in the mirror, you look fabulous."
Lily got up and peeked at the full body mirror someone had leaned against the wall. She wasn't sure if she looked fabulous, but she had to admit she looked very nice. Her bottle green dress robes went nicely with her eyes and Marlene had managed, with a liberal amount of Sleekeazy's, to tame her mass of red hair into a shiny cascade of curls that fell gracefully over her shoulders. With a grin she turned to face Marlene, who was putting the finishing touches on her own hair.
"Are we almost ready to go then?" Marlene asked, smoothing her navy blue robes. "I told Sirius I'd meet him in the common room at eight."
"We're just waiting on Mary," said Alice, who appeared from the bathroom in a set of dust pink robes, her blonde hair pinned back loosely.
"Oh, Al, you're stunning!" Marlene squealed, reaching out to touch one of Alice's curls.
"Don't, you'll mess it up," Alice said, slapping Marlene's hand away lightly and glancing in the mirror to ensure everything was still in the right place.
"I don't know why you're making such a fuss," Marlene grumbled. "You could show up stark naked and Frank would think you looked beautiful."
"I think he might actually think she looked even better if she showed up starkers," Lily added, grinning wickedly as Alice's face turned scarlet.
"You're both terrible," the blonde said, sniffing delicately.
"Only because we love you," Marlene replied. She strode to the bathroom door and poked her head in, bellowing, "Oy! MacDonald, let's go!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Mary cried as she rushed out, checking her reflection in the mirror and patting her hair. "Do I look alright?"
"You look great, love," Lily said, taking in Mary's appearance. She really did look lovely, with her light brown in loose waves falling down her back and her lilac robes embroidered with silver.
"Are we all ready now?" Marlene asked impatiently, her hand on the door.
Mary linked her arm through Lily's and straightened. "Ready," she announced.
They trooped down the spiral stairs, Lily and Mary arm and arm. Sirius and Frank were waiting in the common room, both wearing black dress robes.
Alice waved to her friends and took Frank's outstretched arm, huddling close to him as he gazed at her, a big, goofy grin spreading across his face.
"And she isn't even starkers," Marlene whispered to Lily, causing the latter to burst out in a fit of giggles.
"Alright, Lilybean? MacDonald?" Sirius asked, smirking as he approached the girls. His dark hair had been combed back and Lily noticed a crest on his black robes. It was silver, emblazoned with a stag and the words et in nomen, in omni, nobilitate.
Marlene followed Lily's eyes and raised her eyebrows at the crest. "I didn't know she gave you that," the brunette said, her eyes flickering to look up at Sirius.
He shrugged and turned so the crest was hidden. "I threw out all my toujours pur ones, and she decided I couldn't go walking around like I just didn't have a family."
"What?" Lily asked, thoroughly perplexed by the entire conversation. "Who are you talking about? What did you throw out?"
Sirius watched her warily and then moved back so she could see the crest on his robes plainly. "This is the Potter family crest," he told her simply.
Lily's eyes widened in understanding as she glanced again at his chest, at the words. "So you threw out everything with yours?" she asked.
"That was never mine," Sirius said gruffly. "All the toujours pur bollocks was never mine; this one is, though." He straightened and adjusted the robes so the crest was in plain sight, the silver stag glistening in the candlelight.
"Are we ready to go?" Sirius asked, glancing back at Frank and Alice, who were huddled by an armchair, whispering. "I don't think they'll be leaving for a bit."
The four of them meandered down to Slughorn's office. When they arrived Sirius opened the door and bowed dramatically at Mary and Lily as they walked in. Marlene entered last and he grabbed her hand. Lily wasn't sure, but she thought he might have kissed her on the cheek as they entered the magically enlarged office.
The space was mesmerizing. Every inch was decorated in purple and black, with servers dressed as vampires walking around with trays of food. Students milled around, all dressed in their best robes.
"We'll catch up with you two in a bit," Marlene called as Sirius tugged her towards a small table in the corner. Lily waved and nodded. She and Mary made their way to a table standing against a wall. A waiter approached and offered each of them a glass of elf-made wine, which they took without a second thought.
Lily leaned against the table, sipping the sweet wine and letting her eyes wander around the room. She felt vaguely disappointed, though unsure why. Her eyes roved over the groups of students walking around. She spotted Connor at the opposite end of the room, talking seriously to an older wizard in purple robes; his eyes turned towards her and Lily looked away hurriedly, her face flushing. Emmeline Vance and Hestia Jones arrived together. They made an excellent pair, even their robes seemed to be coordinated, with Emmeline's forest green and Hestia's pearl grey. Sarah Carroll entered haughtily with Miles Pilchak, though thankfully he pulled her towards Connor before she saw Lily.
Lily's gaze meandered to Marlene and Sirius, sitting cozily in their corner, both laughing raucously at something. Lily frowned at her two friends. She loved that they were happy, really she did. But she felt that their happiness was isolating them, that she wasn't invited to take part in it.
"Do you think they're shagging?" Mary asked abruptly.
Lily turned and saw her friend was also staring at Marlene and Sirius with a similar look of consternation.
"I don't know," Lily answered, thinking of Remus and furrowing her brow. "I hope not."
"You don't like them together?" Mary asked, taking a large gulp of wine and swirling her cup.
"No, it's not that," Lily said thoughtfully, trying to find a way to explain her misgivings to Mary without sounding rude. "I just—I don't want them rushing into anything."
Mary nodded. "It'd really fuck things up if those two hated each other, on top of everything else right now."
"Exactly," Lily agreed, throwing back the last bit of her own wine and turning to look for another waiter. Instead she found herself turning to come face to face with James, clad in a set of black dress robes very similar to Sirius' except his were embroidered with gold. Lily's eyes jumped to his chest and found a crest identical to the one Sirius bore on James' robes.
"Hi," he said, smiling nervously, ruffling his hair.
Lily blinked before realizing she hadn't said anything yet, only stared at him oddly. "Er, hi!" she exclaimed, a bit too enthusiastic. James stared at her strangely and Lily felt a flush stain her cheeks. "We're, er, just having a drink right now," she said, gesturing to Mary, who had finished her glass of wine.
"Sounds like a good plan," James said, regaining his composure and leaning on the table beside them. "Get good and sloshed right at the beginning."
"Well, I'd rather not be completely pissed," Lily said, smiling. "Just enough to tell Slughorn truthfully I had a good time."
James laughed and they descended into awkward silence.
Lily fiddled with her bracelet. "So, er, no date then?" she asked.
"What?" James glanced at her, his eyes softening. His hand jumped to his hair and he smiled nervously. "Er, no. There wasn't anyone I particularly wanted to go with."
"Right," Lily muttered. Of course, there was nobody right now who James wanted to take to the party. The thought made her strangely happy. "Well good then, you can join our singles club."
James chuckled and mussed his hair up again, turning to scan the room. His eyes fell on Marlene and Sirius in the corner and his face crumpled in distaste. Lily saw his eyes narrowed and followed his gaze to the silver crest on Sirius' robes.
"He's got some bloody nerve," James muttered, turning back to the girls and grimacing.
Lily realized how bold of a move it was, really, for Sirius to wear the Potter family crest now, when he and James had barely spoken in over a month.
"I think he misses you," Lily said quietly as Mary flagged down a waiter and handed wine glasses around.
"Well he could be less of a prat about it," James murmured, taking a sip of the wine.
Lily didn't answer, but drank down half the glass of wine, her eyes trained on Sarah Carroll, who was talking animatedly to Connor and Miles.
"Stupid bitch," she grumbled.
"What was that?" James asked, raising an eyebrow as the corner of his mouth quirked up.
"Er, nothing," Lily said hurriedly. "I didn't realize I said that out loud."
Across the table, Mary snorted. Her face was flushed and somehow she had managed to procure a third glass of wine, which was nearly gone.
"Yes, Mary?" Lily asked, a bit defensively.
Mary, apparently all the more blunt under the influence of potent wine, raised her eyebrows and announced, "Well it's not secret you hate Sarah Carroll, Lilybean."
Lily's face went scarlet and she heard James stifle a laugh beside her.
"I don't hate her," she said quickly, elbowing James in the rib. "I just think she's—"
"An all-around terrible person?" Mary supplied.
Lily sat there speechless, torn between wanting to disappear into the floor and wanting to wring Mary's neck.
"Well," the brunette said sagely, tipping her empty glass towards Lily, "I'm with you."
"Er, thanks, Mare," Lily mumbled, examining the table carefully.
James continued to chortle next to her. "I'm with you too, Lilybean," he said through his laughter.
Lily's head snapped up. "But you—last year—"
James shrugged. "We all make mistakes."
Lily frowned and turned back to the table, her mind spinning rapidly.
"Peter!" Mary squealed loudly, moving to embrace the newcomer.
"Er, hello," Peter said, looking a bit uncomfortable at the unusual greeting. The girl beside him, a small blonde with a snub nose and blue eyes, fidgeted.
"You must be Cynthia," Lily said, forgetting her own embarrassment as she attempted to minimize the stranger's. "It's nice to meet you."
"You too," Cynthia said, her eyes crinkling as she smiled. "You're Lily Evans."
"I am," Lily said, unsure whether it was a good or bad thing that the girl already knew her.
"This is James," Peter said, finally free from Mary's embrace.
"Nice to meet you," Cynthia said, inclining her head towards James. She looked rather nervous to be in the presence of the three sixth years.
"You too," James replied gently, smiling and holding out a hand which Cynthia took. "I've heard so much about you from Pete, I was wondering if I was ever going to be allowed to meet you."
Cynthia blushed and looked questioningly at Peter, who turned scarlet.
"I'm Mary," the inebriated girl said loudly. "Pleasure."
"Er, same to you," Cynthia said, recoiling slightly and looking nervously at Lily.
"Don't worry about her," Lily whispered. "She's plenty nice, just overdid it a bit on the elf-made wine."
"You two want drinks?" Mary asked, as though on cue.
"I think you've had plenty to drink already," James said, moving the wine glasses to the other side of the table.
"But the guests, James, the guests!" Mary cried, gesturing towards Peter and Cynthia. "They don't have anything!"
"We're okay for now," Peter said, wrapping an arm around Cynthia's shoulders.
They spent nearly an hour at the table, telling jokes and asking Cynthia more about herself. At some point James and Lily conceded that Mary could have one more glass of wine. Then one more glass turned into two, and then three, and then all of them were laughing loudly as James told the story of the time in first year he had tried to shave Mrs. Norris.
"Filch nearly murdered me," he chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. "I think he would've too, if McGonagall hadn't found me first."
They all laughed and Lily took another sip of wine as Emmeline Vance and Hestia Jones walked by.
"Say, Cynthia," she said, looking at the hufflepuff. "What do you know about Emmeline Vance and Hestia Jones? None of us can get anything out of Emmeline about it and the whole thing is rather odd."
Cynthia made a face and set her wine glass down on the table. "I don't know much about her and Emmeline," the fifth year said in a stage whisper, looking over her shoulder. "But there's some stories about Hestia Jones, mostly just among hufflepuffs."
"What sorts of stories?" Lily asked, thoroughly intrigued.
"Well," Cynthia hesitated, then shrugged. "She's a bit odd just in general but there are rumors about her and Elizabeth Bones last year. I remember because she kept threatening people not to tell anyone and one boy almost told Bertha Jorkins and Hestia got a week of detention for hexing him."
"What did he almost tell Bertha Jorkins?" Lily asked, furrowing her brow.
"Er, the rumor was that Hestia and Elizabeth were meeting after charms every day to snog behind the fourth floor tapestry," Cynthia said quickly, turning a bit red.
"Oh-ooh," Lily said slowly, turning back to look at Emmeline and Hestia.
"So you're saying—" Mary began, hiccupping.
"Yes, and you mustn't tell anyone," Cynthia said with finality, picking up her wine glass to indicate that the discussion was over.
Lily's mind reeled. She glanced over at James and was relieved to see that he looked even more shocked than she did, staring at Emmeline Vance with his mouth hanging open.
"Is that—is that something quite normal for wizards?" she asked quietly, leaning towards him so only Mary could hear.
"No," he said in a dazed voice, still staring at Emmeline and Hestia. "Not at all. I didn't—Merlin—"
"It's rather taboo with muggles," Lily whispered. "I mean, obviously everyone knows that people like that exist, but—"
"You knew?" James asked, his eyes snapping back to her.
Lily furrowed her brow. "Yes, of course I knew that some girls like girls," she said, trying hard not to sound condescending. "It's sort of common knowledge now, isn't it?"
James raked his hand through his hair, his eyes wide as they wandered back to Hestia and Emmeline. "I—no, it's not, at least not here."
"Are you telling me," Lily said sharply, "that up until now you had no idea that some people—"
"I knew it was possible," James said. "But never that people like that were—real—"
"Did you think they were made up?" Lily asked slowly.
James looked at her in surprise. "I don't know," he replied, frowning at the table. "Obviously I knew they existed, but everybody just—nobody ever talks about them."
"There have to be others though," Lily insisted. "Surely there's—"
James shook his head. "No, all the prominent families are the traditionalist purebloods. Something like that isn't tolerated. Everything's about preserving the family line, keeping the family name going. You have to be—you know—married—to the opposite gender in order to accomplish that."
"They can't be the only ones who are in the public eye though," Lily said hotly.
James cocked an eyebrow. "You've seen the Prophet, Lily," he said quietly. "You know who controls what's said. And really, I didn't know there were real squibs in the world until I came here and saw Filch."
"But, this is so much more—and your parents!" Lily hissed. "They're not part of the traditionalist pureblood bunch, surely they don't have those ideas."
"My parents are fairly detached from the pureblood mania," James acknowledged. "But this isn't even just a pureblood thing, Lily. It's just—nobody talks about it. They're not—I don't think I've ever heard my mum or dad say anything against this. They just—never mention it."
Lily stared at him and then allowed her eyes to drift back towards Emmeline and Hestia, who were sitting together at a small table, much like the one Marlene and Sirius occupied.
"As long as they're happy I don't see why it matters," James said beside her. "I mean really, it's no different than the argument against werewolves, or against muggle-borns. People don't like it because it's different, but as long as they're happy, who cares?"
"Mhm," Lily mumbled, giving him a small smile and putting her hand over his on the table. "I'm glad you think that."
James grinned at her and Lily quickly removed her hand, staring at the table. Her face burned, though she told herself it was just from the wine.
"We should go," she said quickly, moving around James and taking Mary's arm. "It's getting late."
"I'll walk you back," James murmured.
"No," Lily said. "We can manage."
"Lily it's late and Mary's gone and you're not exactly sober," James said in a tired voice, frowning at her. "And you know that some people would like an opportunity to attack you, so please, just let me walk you back."
Lily cursed inwardly. He had a point.
"Fine," she said, avoiding his eyes as she tugged Mary forward. "Bye, Pete," she said, smiling in his direction. "And it was lovely to meet you," she called to Cynthia.
"Bye, Lily," they said.
With Mary leaning heavily against her, Lily followed James to the door, where they were waylaid momentarily by Slughorn.
"I trust you had a good time?" the potions master asked, his face pink.
"It was lovely," Lily said with a smile, hoping tonight wouldn't be a night Slughorn decided he wanted to have a chat about her future.
"Well, off to bed with you then, my girl!" he said loudly, chortling at his own response and waddling away, humming some unknown song.
They exited the office and Lily hitched Mary's arm around her neck. "Bloody hell, Mare," she growled, "you could've gone a little easier on the wine."
"I wanted to have a good time," Mary mumbled into Lily's hair, her legs plodding sluggishly so that Lily was forced to slow down.
"Here," James said, nudging Lily's arm away and picking Mary up in one swift motion, tucking her head into his chest. "We can go much faster if I just carry her," he said in answer to Lily's questioning look.
She nodded and didn't say anything. They walked in silence through the corridors, which were eerily dark with strange shadows playing on the stone walls. Although she wouldn't tell him for a hundred galleons, Lily was extremely glad that James was with them.
"Lilybee," Mary called out, holding a hand towards Lily. "You're great."
"You're pretty great too, Mare," Lily said, taking her friend's hand.
"You're great too, James," Mary slurred, looking up.
"Thanks," James mumbled, turning his attention towards the wall.
Lily laughed quietly and let go of Mary's hand. They approached the portrait of the Fat Lady and James set Mary gently on her feet, keeping a hand on her shoulder to ensure she kept her balance.
Lily gave the password and they climbed through the portrait hole.
"Thanks for walking us back," Lily said when they were standing in the common room and she had an arm firmly around Mary.
"No problem," James said, ruffling his hair. "I—it wasn't that bad of a party."
"No," Lily agreed, smiling. "It was rather fun, in fact. See, I was right that it would be more fun if you were there."
"What happened to not offering compliments?" James asked with a grin. "I thought my ego was the size of a—what was it? A hippopotamus?"
"A walrus," Lily corrected, giggling.
James shrugged good-naturedly. "I was close."
"You were not close, you git!" Lily exclaimed. "A hippopotamus is nothing like a walrus."
"Oh yeah?" he asked, his eyes glowing. "And what's the difference, Miss Know It All Even Though She's Tipsy?"
"The difference," Lily said seriously, "is that a walrus has tusks and a hippo doesn't."
"I'll remember that," James said, equally serious.
Lily laughed and Mary mumbled something incomprehensible. "I'd best take her upstairs," Lily sighed. "She's going to have a rough day of it tomorrow."
"Give her water," James advised.
"Right," Lily muttered, beginning to hoist Mary up onto the first step of the spiral staircase. "Thank you for everything," she said suddenly, looking up.
"Not a problem, Lilybean," he said, giving her a lopsided smile. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, James," she said.
He turned and walked to the staircase on the opposite end of the room, disappearing quickly. Lily sighed as she and Mary ambled slowly up towards their dormitory. When they arrived, Mary collapsed on her bed, not even taking off her dress robes. Lily fetched a glass of water and placed it on Mary's nightstand before tearing off her own dress robes and climbing into bed, falling asleep quickly.
All the water in the castle couldn't have saved Mary from the raging hangover which plagued her the next day. Lily had to drag her out of bed so they didn't miss the carriages into Hogsmeade. But it was with laughter that Lily recounted the events of the party to Alice in the Three Broomsticks later, as the blonde had arrived late with Frank and therefore missed meeting Cynthia and hearing about Emmeline and Hestia. The girls sat at a big table in the pub with Mary, whose face was covered by a large pair of sunglasses Lily had loaned her.
"My head is absolutely pounding," she complained, massaging her temples.
"Six glasses of elf-made wine will do that to you," Lily said, shoving another butterbeer in front of her.
"Why did you let me drink all that," Mary whined, pouting.
"Let you?" Lily cried out. "You practically wrestled the glass out of my hand!"
"Now everyone probably thinks I'm a bloody alcoholic—"
"Alright, MacDonald?" the voice of James Potter rang out. Lily turned to see James, Peter, and a very pale Remus standing behind her.
"I feel awful," Mary groaned, turning a bit pink behind her sunglasses.
Lily smiled sympathetically at her friend and turned to the boys. "Hello there," she said evenly, sliding over to make room for them.
"Hi," James said, sitting next to Lily. "And how are you doing after last night?"
"I'm fine," Lily said loftily. "You make it sound as though I had been keeping up with Mary."
"Hey!"
"You had your share," James said, grinning as Lily smacked him in the shoulder and Mary glared at them both indignantly.
"How are you doing, Remus?" Lily asked, turning to the sandy haired boy, who had been staring at something over her shoulder, his face thoughtful.
"Fine," he answered vaguely, not taking his eyes off whatever he was looking at.
Lily turned and let out a big breath when she saw what had captured Remus' attention. She should have guessed. Marlene and Sirius sat at a small table in the corner of the bar, both looking tired but happy as they sipped butterbeer.
"Remus," Lily said softly, reaching a hand out.
"It's fine," he said in a tight voice, turning his grey eyes to her. "Really, it's fine. How was the party last night?"
"Er, good," Lily said slowly, still watching Remus carefully. "We met Cynthia. She was very nice."
"Yeah?" Remus asked, taking a sip of his drink. His eyes once again drifted back to Marlene and Sirius. "I'm sorry I missed the chance to meet her."
Lily turned to James and raised an eyebrow. He only shrugged.
"She's going to meet us here in an hour," Peter chirped.
Remus nodded, not even glancing at Peter. "I look forward to it."
"We can move tables if you want," Lily said pointedly, trying to keep her voice patient.
"No need for that," Remus responded quickly, his face flushing as his attention snapped to Lily.
A gush of cold air swept through and Lily felt James stiffen beside her as he turned around. "Oh no," he muttered, staring at the door.
Lily turned to look and didn't understand what was so bad. A man had entered the pub, wearing a thick black cloak and looking around for a place to sit. He looked perfectly ordinary, or at least, as ordinary as a wizard could look.
"Who is that?" she asked quietly, watching as Sirius' eyes landed on the man. He immediately straightened, and pushed his chair out. Lily could see his hands forming fists at his side. The man, who had thick grey hair combed neatly off his face, and piercing grey eyes, stepped further into the pub. A flash of silver on his cloak caught Lily's eyes and she made out the words Toujours Pur and she let out a gasp, realizing who it was.
Sirius, his face hard, stood up mechanically and approached the man. His eyes blazed. Everyone around Lily sat still, holding their breath as they waited for the explosion.
"Father," Sirius said coldly, his face crinkling in disgust. "What are you doing here?"
Orion Black glanced down with a look of mild repugnance, as though he had just been addressed by a toad. "I'm here for my son," he sneered, pushing past Sirius roughly and striding towards a group of slytherins in the back.
Sirius stumbled slightly but regained his balance quickly. He stood stock still and watched his father's back, his face rigid.
"Dad!" Regulus Black cried out, jumping up and embracing his father. "What are you doing here?"
"Hello, Reg," Orion said, his sneer twisting into a smile as he let go of his younger son. "I had business here today and mum said you mentioned that you lot had an outing today. Come, we'll find a different place that's not filled with such scum," he glanced viciously back at Sirius, who still stood rooted in the same spot.
Sirius' mouth twitched; for a moment he looked as though he were going to cry. Now that she thought of it, Lily had never seen Sirius cry, not even when his friends were ignoring him.
"I'll get you and your friends a proper drink," Orion said, addressing Regulus and his friends.
The slytherins filed out of the pub, their faces glowing haughtily. Sirius still stood in the same spot, staring at the door through which his father and brother had left. Slowly, he walked back to the table and sat down. His face crumpled; he looked broken, like a man who fought one battle too many in a war he did not believe in.
Marlene put a reassuring hand on his shoulder; Sirius shook it off.
Lily turned to look at the three boys sitting with her. All were ashen-faced. Beside her, James was staring at his best friend with a pained expression, his mouth fighting to stay in a neutral line.
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor shook them out of their reverie and Lily looked up to see Remus rising. Without a word, he pushed his chair in and made his way to the table where Marlene and Sirius sat. Slowly, Remus sank down into the chair beside his friend and put an arm around Sirius' shoulder.
Sirius raised his head to look at his friend for a moment and then launched himself at Remus, tackling him in a hug, which Remus returned.
"I'll be damned," Mary MacDonald said.
Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, school has gotten very challenging, so thank you all for being patient. Also thank you so much for all your wonderful reviews and I hope you like this chapter!
