Don't Let Your Guard Down
chapter 17
I had tons of work last week (midterms...eek!) so i'm sorry this is long overdue.
disclaimer: i think you've got the hang of this by now.
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James tossed the ball up in the air and caught it. He was lying on his back on his bed, face up toward the ceiling. After throwing the ball up and catching it again, he turned to Sirius. "You know what we haven't done in awhile?"
"Homework?" Sirius teased, looking up from the floor.
James laughed and turned on his side. "No…I was talking about sneaking into Hogsmeade."
"It has been awhile," Sirius said, adjusting his back which was leaning against the wall.
"We should do that this weekend," James suggested.
"I bet Rosette misses us."
"I doubt she misses being hit on by you," James said with a laugh.
"James, haven't you learned by now. No ones dislikes being hit on by me," Sirius said with a grin. "Plus, it's the only way I can get her to give us alcohol."
"The only way we get alcohol is by reassuring her that we'll keep you far away from her," James said.
"Oh…" Sirius said slowly. "Really?"
James nodded and tossed the ball to Sirius. "Knowing her, she'll run and hide when she sees you coming."
Sirius caught the ball and threw it back. "I think I'm losing my touch. I'm starting to repulse girls."
"Not girls, just Rosmerta," James corrected. "And Gigi."
"I haven't always repulsed Giliba," Sirius muttered. "Just within the last year and a half."
"So dude, what's been going on with you two?" James said, sitting up.
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.
"Well, recently, the hallways and classrooms and common room have been quiet because there's no yelling coming from you two," James said. "And I can't remember the last time you and Gigi were in the same room. It's been two weeks and neither one of you have said a word to each other."
"Yeah, because we hate each other. And we've learned that it's probably better to just stay away from each other than to yell at each other," Sirius said with a shrug, not looking up at James.
"And you're sure nothing else happened?" James asked.
"I'm sure," Sirius said.
Just then, James burst out laughing. Sirius looked up at him. "What's so funny?"
"Do you remember the first time we snuck Gigi into Hogsmeade?" James asked.
Sirius thought about it and he too burst out laughing. "She was so drunk!"
"If I recall, you had to carry her back to Hogwarts," James said with a laugh. "And we had classes the next morning."
"I don't think she even knew her own name," Sirius said. "Let alone what classes she had."
"And the professor asked if she was okay…" James said.
"And she called him Mr. Rubber Ducky," Sirius ended.
"She hated us for weeks," James said.
Sirius smiled and looked up at James. "So, are you going to invite Lily to go to Hogsmeade with us?"
"She won't want to go. It's not her kind of thing. She won't enjoy it. Getting drunk when she has so much work to do and has Head Girl responsibilities isn't something she'll go for," James rambled on.
"You're not gonna tell her are you," Sirius said with a smirk.
"Not a chance."
Sirius laughed and then said. "Do you think we can convince Remus?"
"Remus may seem like a good-two shoes but he's a Marauder," James said. "In the end, he's willing to do anything even with the risk of getting caught. I mean, c'mon, he was the one to find the first secret passage way into Hogsmeade."
"Yeah because he got lost on the way to the Great Hall," Sirius muttered and the two of them laughed. "So, you think he'll come?"
"Oh definitely."
"No."
"Oh, c'mon Moony," Sirius begged.
"No."
Sirius turned to James. "Remus is coming."
"No."
"Come on!" James urged.
"Okay."
"Really?" Sirius exclaimed.
"No!" Remus cried out.
"Oh come on Rem. You're a Marauder! This is what we do," James exclaimed.
"Getting drunk and hitting on random chicks is not what we do," Remus said. James and Sirius gave him a look. "Okay, it's not what I do. I study and graduate without getting expelled."
"That's crazy talk," Sirius said.
"What's the fun in that?" James asked.
"Seriously, how did you become a Marauder?" Sirius asked Remus.
"I'm the smart one. Without me, your pranks would consist of throwing a piece of parchment at a Slytherin," Remus said, rolling his eyes.
"But it would be a hard piece of parchment," Sirius noted. James hit Sirius on the shoulder. "Oh right, but that's not the point." Sirius paused and then turned to James. "What was our point?"
"You have to come with us," James said.
"Oh yeah!" Sirius exclaimed and looked at James again. "I can take it from here." He turned back to Remus. "You have to come with us."
James rolled his eyes. "Come on Remus, we used to do this all the time."
"Yeah…and it's amazing to me that you've never been caught," Remus muttered.
"Maybe this time, we will!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Oh now I really want to come," Remus said sarcastically. He turned to James. "And what about you? What does Lily have to say about this?"
"Oh she doesn't care," James said with a shrug. Remus gave him a look. "…mostly because she doesn't know."
"Oh good, so you're gonna start off this new relationship by lying to her?" Remus asked.
"I'm not lying…I'm just not telling her," James said.
"Oh who cares," Sirius said, jumping over the back of the couch and sitting beside Remus. "He's been lying to girls for years. It's a Marauder thing."
"So basically I've learned that Marauders get drunk, hit on random chicks, and lie to girls?" Remus asked.
"Exactly!" Sirius cried out.
Remus glanced from James to Sirius. "I want out of the Marauders."
James and Sirius laughed but Sirius started giving Remus a sad face. "Pleeeease Moony."
Remus threw his hands up in frustration. "Fine," he said and James and Sirius cheered. "It's not like I would miss an opportunity to mock Sirius for the rest of his life."
"You saying I'm gonna do something stupid?"
"No," Remus said. "I'm saying you're gonna do multiple stupid things."
Sirius grinned. "Well, I'm going to go write down all the pick up lines I'm going to use on Rosette."
As Sirius walked out, James turned to Remus. "And I'm going to go write down all the ways I can get Sirius to stay as far away from her as possible."
James left and Remus just shook his head. "And I'm going to write down the hundreds of rules we'll be breaking."
Lily plopped down on Gigi's bed. "What does a guy mean when he says he's hanging out with the guys on a Saturday night?"
Gigi looked up. "Well, and correct me if this sounds at all wrong to you, I think it means that he's going to be hanging out with the guys on Saturday night."
Lily rolled her eyes and put her head down on Gigi's pillow. "He wouldn't tell me what they were doing. Just that he's gonna hang with the guys. Like he doesn't do that enough. He hangs out with them all the time."
"It just means they're gonna do guy things together," Gigi said with a shrug.
"But what exactly is a guy thing?"
"You're killing me here Lily," Gigi said, putting down her quill and shifting her body so she was facing Lily. "Why does it matter?"
Lily sighed and rolled over on her back and faced the ceiling. "Because now I have no one to hang out with Saturday night."
"What am I? Chopped liver?" Gigi asked.
Lily laughed. "But I can't kiss you."
"You could…" Gigi said. "…I just don't think you'd enjoy it very much."
Lily laughed again. "Alright, let's have a girl's night. It will be way better than their stupid guy's night."
Gigi burst out laughing. "Oh yeah because girls hanging out chatting about boys is so much better than playing pranks and getting drunk."
Lily jolted up. "You think that's what they're doing?"
Gigi froze. "Uh…no?"
"Good…so they won't be doing anything illegal?" Lily questioned.
"Oh no, they are definitely going to be doing something illegal," Gigi said.
Lily groaned. "How do you know so much about guys?"
"Because remember, I used to be an honorary member of the Marauders. And at least once a week, it was a ritual to get drunk, play a prank, or get with random girls."
Lily's eyes grew big. "Get with random girls?"
Gigi smiled sheepishly. "Oh don't worry Lils. They've grown up."
"So you don't think they'll do anything stupid?" Lily asked.
"Oh no, they definitely will," Gigi said.
Lily groaned again. "What did I get myself into?"
Kacie walked in just then and saw Lily pounding her head against the pillow. "What's up with her?" Kacie whispered to Gigi.
"She just found out what guys do when they're not with us girls."
"Oh," Kacie said. "Did you tell her that they usually talk about how many times they have had sex and what hot girls they've done it with?"
"Shut up," Lily muttered into the pillow.
"Guess not," Kacie said with a grin.
"So, we're having a girl's night on Saturday," Gigi said, rolling her eyes at Kacie.
"Don't we have a girl's night every night?" Kacie asked with a laugh. "And why do you assume that I can come? Maybe I'm busy. Maybe I have a date."
"Oh okay, so you're not going to be able to come?" Gigi asked.
"Oh no, I'm definitely there," Kacie said. "I mean c'mon, it's me. Of course I'm not busy."
Lily sat up from the bed. "So what are we going to do?"
"Something wild! Something exciting! Something we've never done before!" Gigi exclaimed.
"Scrabble?" Lily suggested.
"At least make it monopoly," Kacie joked.
"You guys are the worst friends ever," Gigi joked.
"You should go back to being friends with Sirius then," Lily said.
"You girls are the best friends EVER!" Gigi exclaimed and they all laughed.
"What exciting things did you used to do?" Kacie asked.
"Skinny dip in the lake, sneak into Hogsmeade, drink stolen alcohol in the dorms, make the commons room into a big dance, play pranks on Slytherins, streak across the Quidditch pitch," Gigi said with a shrug.
"So, anything against the rules basically," Lily said.
"Exactly."
"We should go out by the woods and drink," Kacie said.
"We can't do that!" Lily cried out.
"Why not?" Gigi asked.
"Because it's illegal!" Lily exclaimed. "…and because the bears could eat us."
Kacie rolled her eyes. "It's settled, we're going to sneak into Hogsmeade, get alcohol, and hang out outside while getting totally wasted."
"The last time I got totally wasted, I ended up doing something really stupid," Lily said.
"Aw, don't say that. You slept with James," Kacie said. "Really stupid doesn't even begin to describe what you did."
Lily threw the pillow at Kacie. "But I'm up for it," Lily said with a shrug. "It'll be fun."
"Either after six years, you've finally listened to us, or James has rubbed off on you," Gigi said.
"I'd go with the latter," Kacie said with a grin.
"Invisibility cloak?" Sirius asked.
"Check," James responded.
"Marauder's map?"
"Check," Remus answered.
"Hot bodies?" Sirius asked.
"Double check," James answered with a grin.
"And triple check for myself," Sirius said. Sirius smirked. "So tonight's the night."
"The night you come to your senses and realize you're really not that hot?" Remus asked.
"The night I come to my senses is a long way off," Sirius said. "And every girl at Hogwarts would disagree with that last part."
Remus shook his head in disbelief. "The day you're in a real relationship is going to be the day I stop howling at the moon," Remus said, rolling his eyes.
"So Peter, how's Penny doing?" James asked, changing the subject.
"Ugh," Peter muttered.
"What happened with you two?" Remus asked.
Peter shrugged. "I've decided that if a girl is going to like me, she's gonna like me for who I really am."
"She dumped you huh?" James asked.
"Oh yeah."
The guys laughed. "Well then, this is the perfect opportunity to get drunk and hook up with a random chick."
"So no matter what happens, we're all going to end up back here by five in the morning, right?" Remus asked.
"That depends," Sirius said. "Do you mean five in the morning tomorrow? Or five o'clock Monday morning?"
"Five tomorrow morning," Remus insisted.
"We should synchronize our watches," Sirius said.
"We don't have watches," James said.
"Then we won't do that," Sirius said.
"There's no point in initiating a time to be back," James said with a shrug. "Sirius will end up with some girl and won't come back at all."
"And you're gonna be so drunk and horny that you're going to climb into bed with Lily," Sirius said.
"And Remus is going to be throwing up in some bathroom all night," James said.
"And Peter is going to be sobbing about how he missed Penny and will be serenading her outside her window," Remus noted.
"So basically we all agree not to meet back here at five in the morning," James said.
"Exactly," Remus responded.
"As long as that's clear," Sirius said. "You guys ready to go?"
"Let's go get drunk!" James exclaimed.
"Rosette!" Sirius shrieked, walking into the bar.
"Oh god," she muttered. "Maybe he didn't see me."
"You miss us baby doll?" Sirius asked, walking right up to the counter.
"Oh it hasn't been that long," Rosette said. "Only three months, three weeks, and six days…but who's counting."
"What's new sweet thang?" Sirius asked with a low whisper.
"Obviously you're not new…just the same 'ol Sirius," she said with a roll of her eyes.
"How 'bout you just get us four beers and we'll get him out of the way," James said.
"You do and all four of these are on the house," Rosette joked.
"Look Sirius! A puppy!" Remus cried out.
"Who cares," Sirius said.
"Eating cake," Peter added.
"Cake!" Sirius cried out, running over to see where the puppy was.
"I knew I should have started out with food," Remus muttered and then looked up at Rosette, the bartender. "How've you been?"
"Sane," she answered. "Until that boy walked in. What the hell do you guys feed him?"
"You mean besides everything in sight?" James joked, taking a swig of his beer.
"Why is he always so hyper?" Rosette wondered. "Did you switch his coffee with crack?"
"No," Peter said. "We switched his crack with coffee."
Rosette glanced over at Sirius searching around for a puppy and she smiled. "He's kinda cute."
"What?" Remus asked.
"What?" Peter asked.
"What?" James cried out, spitting some of his beer out.
"Do us a favor," Remus said. "Do not tell him that."
Rosette snuck another look over at Sirius. "Is anyone else concerned that he's crawling on the floor?"
The three boys whipped their heads in his direction. "He's looking for a puppy," James said.
Rosette laughed. "And he's not even drunk yet."
"Twelve beers, ten firewhiskeys, six screwdrivers, and a bottle of wine," Gigi said, looking into the bag and counting. She was meeting the girls in the woods and had just collected the necessary alcoholic beverages.
"Turn the song up!" a voice cried out.
Gigi gasped, knowing perfectly well who that voice belonged to. She glanced into the bar and sure enough, there were the four boys, flirting and dancing. Or at least three of them were, she didn't know where-
"Black?" she asked as someone ran into her.
Sirius turned around and there standing in front of him was Gigi. "Giliba?"
"Wha-what…" Gigi took a deep breath. "What are you doing here?"
"Guy stuff."
"Getting as drunk as possible and hitting on random girls?"
"Getting as drunk as possible," Sirius said.
"No random girls?"
Sirius just shrugged but didn't answer.
"So that's why James didn't tell Lily what you guys were doing tonight," Gigi said, looking down at her feet.
Sirius just gave a sheepish grin and glanced down at the bag full of alcohol. "Getting as drunk as possible and hitting on random guys?"
"Getting as drunk as possible," Gigi repeated.
"No random guys?" Sirius asked.
"It's just as girls. We're hanging out on the east side of the woods," Gigi said.
"Be careful," Sirius said.
Gigi gave him a suspicious look.
"Uh…I hear there are bears," Sirius fibbed, also not sure where the 'be careful' came from. "And werewolves and bats...and Lily."
"Lily?"
"She can be very scary at times."
Gigi half smiled. "Make sure James doesn't do anything stupid."
"Okay, what is this?" Sirius finally asked.
"Some people call it a conversation," Gigi said. "But I understand that you're not used to using your mouth for just talking."
Sirius ignored her comment. "No, what is this? You and me. Having a civil conversation. Making small talk. Like friends do."
Gigi just shrugged. "Lily and Kacie are waiting for me," Gigi said lamely.
Sirius looked down at his feet and then back up. "Of course."
"Hey mister! One drink and one dance is not enough," a girl said, coming to the entrance of the bar and looping her arm around Sirius's waist.
Sirius and Gigi just looked at each other until Gigi turned away. Sirius sighed and looked at the girl. "I'll be right in." the girl smiled and bounced off.
Gigi gave Sirius a fake smile and then turned and walked away. "Hey Giliba!" Sirius cried out.
Gigi turned around and looked at Sirius but didn't say anything.
"I just…" Sirius said, not sure what he wanted to say. He opened his mouth, trying to figure out what to say.
Gigi tilted her head and gave Sirius a half smile, trying hide not to show her true feelings. "Your random girl is waiting."
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more interaction between Gigi and Sirius next chapter! all you need to do is review!