"I don't like the idea of you going out at night without me," James said when Lily told him about the hen party. "What if one of the Death Eaters recognizes one of you? You'll be drunk – your guard will be down–"

"What Death Eater is going to be in some Muggle pub? Besides, why's it any safer for you to go out?" She crossed her arms and glared at him, her brows forming that adorable little furrow he knew better than to point out. "And if you say it's because you're men, I'm fucking hexing you."

He repressed a laugh. "I didn't say that. Honestly, it's probably no safer for us than it is for you girls. I don't care about putting myself at risk, but I feel differently when it's you."

"So you're admitting you're a hypocrite?"

He smiled and reached for her hand. "Only when it comes to protecting you."

She jerked her hand out of his reach. "So, what, you're telling me not to go?" The dangerous glint in her eyes was a warning, but James couldn't tear his gaze away.

"Of course not. I'm just saying you should take precautions. Go Polyjuiced."

She gave an irritated sigh. "Fine. But you have to do the same."

"Evs–"

"What? You might not care about putting yourself at risk, but I do."

James ran a hand through his hair, his eyes lingering on the flush that flooded her chest and crept up her neck when she was angry. "That's a lot of potion…"

"We have plenty. And if we run out, I can always brew more." The hint of a smile tugged at her lips. "Stop giving me that 'you're sexy when you tell me off' look."

A sheepish grin spread across his face. "Fine. You're not at all sexy when you tell me off, and I certainly don't want to snog you right now."

She wrapped her arms around him, her breath warm against his skin as her lips grazed his neck. "I don't want anything to happen to you. You've got to stop being so reckless."

His fingers slid under her shirt to trail along the smooth skin of her lower back. "But being reckless is part of my James Potter charm."

"You don't have to stop being reckless altogether, just cut back." She trailed kisses up his neck until her lips brushed against his jaw. "For example, you could do something reckless like shagging me when we're supposed to be at an Order meeting in twenty minutes, and then counteract that recklessness by taking Polyjuice before your stag party."

He murmured his assent into her ear as she pulled him down onto the sofa. After all, it seemed like a fair compromise.

James's Polyjuice Potion gave him the form of a tall, thin man with sandy hair that curled across his forehead and brushed the top of his collar. He scrutinized his reflection in the mirror, then glanced at Sirius and grinned.

"Is it just me, or do I look a bit like–"

"–Moony? I was thinking the same thing. Except your hair isn't doing that Moonyish thing in front." Sirius frowned, then raked his fingers through the curls on James's forehead to spread them out. "There. Now you look like Moony."

Remus let out a wry laugh. "A less fucked up-looking version of me, maybe."

Sirius gave Remus's shoulder a light shove. "How many times do I have to tell you that you're a sexy, sexy man, Remus Lupin?"

"Hopefully you never say it again, because it's rubbish and it makes me uncomfortable." Remus sighed and shook his head. "Moonyish isn't a word, by the way."

Sirius ignored him. "Prongs needs that jumper, Moony. If he's going to look like you, he needs to dress like you as well."

"So what am I supposed to wear?"

Sirius shrugged. "I'll decide once I see what you look like." He opened his vial and dropped a hair into his goblet of potion, then downed it and shuddered as his body began to contort. When the transformation was complete, he gazed into the mirror and groaned. "Ugh, I'm a short, ginger tosser. Prongs, I thought you picked us out good ones."

James smirked and clapped him on the back. "I knew you'd hate that one. I picked it for my own amusement."

Sirius remained in his Queen t-shirt and leather jacket in an attempt to counteract the "tosserness." When Peter drank his own potion and transformed into a muscular blond man, Sirius dissolved into laughter and leaned against Remus to stay upright.

"You're a better-looking Pete," he gasped out between peals of laughter. "It's like if you got tall and fit and didn't have that permanently confused look."

"Don't be an arsehole, Padfoot." Remus tipped a hair into his goblet and watched as the thick liquid turned a pale green. "You can't make fun of anyone for being short at the moment."

James watched with fascination as Remus drank his potion and his body shrank by almost a foot.

"You're even shorter than I am!" Sirius gave Remus a patronizing little pat on the head, then poked a finger into his pudgy stomach.

"Can you not?" Remus darted backward out of Sirius's reach. "Let's get going. Prongs looks thirsty."

"You're not wrong," James said, leading the way out of the flat.

The dim, grimy Muggle pub was half-empty as they made their way to a table near the back. When Sirius and Peter returned from the bar clutching four pints, they all raised their drinks in the air.

"To Prongs," Sirius said in his strange, unfamiliar voice. "And to a night of mischief and mayhem to celebrate the end of his time as a young, single bachelor. Although he's been Evans's bitch for years, so I dunno if we can really consider him a young, single bachelor."

"Oh, shut up." James clinked his glass against the others and took a long swallow. A radio was playing somewhere, and there was a shout of laughter from the table behind them. He looked around at his friends, their presence so familiar and comforting despite their unrecognizable appearance. Taking another sip of his drink, he leaned back in his seat, looking forward to the evening ahead.

New pints kept appearing in front of him. There was a pleasant warmth in his chest and a looseness in his limbs when Sirius placed yet another full glass on the table and leaned over, eyebrows raised.

"Alright, I think it's time we talked about this."

James exchanged apprehensive glances with Remus. "About what?"

"About the fact that you've only had sex with one person." Sirius waved away James's indignant expression. "No offense to Evans – you know I think she's alright, and chances are you couldn't pull anybody better looking – not with that hair–"

"Is there a point to this, or are you just going to insult me?"

Sirius held up his hand. "Don't interrupt – this is important. Are you prepared to only have sex with Lily Evans for the rest of your life?"

"There's nothing wrong with only having sex with one person," Peter said.

Sirius snorted with laughter. "Shut up, Pete. You don't have enough experience in this area to give input."

Remus shook his head. "You're such an arsehole."
"And you have the body of a chubby house elf at the moment," Sirius said, shrugging. "Prongs, I'm still waiting for your answer."

James thought about the stubborn set of Lily's mouth when she had insisted he take Polyjuice tonight; the way her pale skin stood out against their dark sheets; the hitch in her breath when his teeth grazed her neck.

"I'm fully prepared," he said, grinning.

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "You sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Good," Sirius said, nodding. "Just wanted to make sure, before I go through the bother of writing my best man's toast."

"You bloody liar," Remus said, chuckling. "We all know you're going to wait to write it until the night before the wedding."

This round of drinks disappeared even faster than the last. James was gulping the last sip when Frank joined them. He had taken the form of a middle-aged bald man, and he laughed as he tried to pick out who was who.

"Remus doesn't have a monopoly on cardigans, Frank," Sirius said when Frank incorrectly guessed James was Remus. "No, this is Remus. Look how fucking short he is. Poke his stomach – no, please do it, it's hilarious."

James slipped off to the bathroom and stepped into a stall before pulling the two-way mirror from his pocket.

"Lily Evans," he whispered, tapping his fingers against the glass as he waited for her face to appear. After a full minute, his own reflection disappeared to be replaced by a blonde woman with wide blue eyes.

"Is that you? I like your hair. What are you doing?" Her eyes narrowed, and a laugh burst from her lips. "Are you in the loo?"

"Where else could I go to talk to you? Are you having fun?"

She nodded, and the motion sent a strand of hair tumbling into her face. "We've done an irresponsible number of tequila shots and Marlene has already interrogated me about our sex life." A flicker of apprehension clouded her face. "I think Mary's one drink away from crying in the pub, though. She really misses Sirius."

James frowned. "Poor Mary." He watched Lily lean her head back against the building. She seemed to be sitting on the curb outside of the pub, and a light breeze tugged at her hair. "I miss you."

Her fingers stroked the glass as her eyes widened. "I miss you too! Where are you? Maybe I can convince everyone to go there. Unless you don't want me to interrupt your night with the boys."

A brilliant smile lit James's face. "Please interrupt. We can do a tequila shot together."

Ten minutes later, James and Sirius were laughing with their arms thrown around each other when James felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Prongs, you invited them?" Sirius asked as James pulled Lily in for a kiss. Her lips were fuller than usual, but they moved against his with the same greedy insistence.

"Don't be grumpy, Padfoot," Lily said, fiddling with a lock of his red hair. "I practically begged him to tell me where you were. I missed you."

"Look at you, Black." The woman in Mary's red leather jacket had a high voice and long, straight hair. "I'm not sure you can pull off the leather jacket as a ginger."

"Is that you, Macdonald? Look at you," Sirius shot back. "You didn't need to use half a bottle of Sleekeazy's to make your hair look decent for once."

"Maybe if we let them talk they'll end up snogging," Lily whispered in James's ear. She leaned against the back of his chair, then laughed when he pointed out Remus and Peter returning to the table with their own drinks. "Fucking hell, Peter – you could kick James's arse. And Remus – you're adorable!" She wrapped her arms around him, then gave his stomach a gentle poke.

"Can I help you?" he asked, wriggling out her grasp. "Does nobody in our friend group have any sense of personal space?"

James led Lily up to the bar and ordered them two shots of tequila. While they waited for their drinks, James rested his hand on her lower back, enjoying the warmth of her skin through the thin fabric of her t-shirt.

"You know, I don't think you're meant to get drunk with your fiancé at a hen do," Lily said, sliding her hand into his pocket and making his breathing speed up.

"Well, you're not supposed to plan a wedding in a month, either, but we make our own rules." He handed her a shot glass, then lifted his own into the air. "Here's to making our own rules."

He watched her face twist into a grimace as she tossed back the drink, spilling a few drops of tequila onto her chest. Her relaxed, clumsy movements were incredibly sexy, even while she was in this unfamiliar body.

"You make a cute face," he explained when she caught him looking.

"Show me."

He gulped down his shot and imitated her pained expression, then almost spit out his drink when he heard her snort of indignation.

"I don't look like that!"

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and shrugged. "How would you know? Have you ever watched yourself take a tequila shot before?"

Laughing, he took her hand and led her back to the table. Sirius and Mary were still bickering, but they were standing very close together, and their hands kept bumping as they reached for their drinks. A woman he had never seen before had her arms draped around Remus and Peter, both of whom looked equally embarrassed. At the end of the table, Frank was leaning in to kiss a woman James assumed was Alice.

"God, Marlene's a flirt," Lily said, giggling as she watched the strange woman trying to unbutton Remus's cardigan. "She wanted to take half the pub with us when we left. And she kept interrogating me about whether I was ready to commit to shagging only one person for the rest of my life."

James laughed. "Pads said the same thing to me." His smile faltered as a possibility occurred to him. "Are you ready for that? Because I don't want you to feel like you've missed out on anything."

She put a finger to his lips and shook her head. "Shut up," she murmured before leaning in to kiss him, tequila lacing her breath. The drunken boldness of her touch made him forget anyone was watching, and his doubts begin to melt away. "I only want you." Her lips pressed against the spot behind his ear, making him shiver as her fingernails grazed his scalp. "I like your hair like this, although I prefer your actual hair."

He wanted to slip off to the alley outside with her so she could continue to explore his new hair and the rest of this borrowed body, but a tap on his shoulder interrupted.

"I guess they're getting along again," Peter muttered.

James and Lily separated and turned to see Sirius and Mary, snogging against the wall by the bathroom. A man emerged from the bathroom and nearly walked into them before striding away with an indignant glance over his shoulder.

"Do you think they actually talked?" Lily asked, laughing as Sirius slipped his hand down the back of Mary's trousers.

"Yes, in the time it took you to take a tequila shot and feel up Prongs, they had a long heart-to-heart and discussed all their deepest fears and insecurities," Remus said, turning away in disgust as Mary tugged Sirius backward into the bathroom.

"You'd better knock it off with the sass, or I'm poking your stomach again," Lily said.

Marlene giggled and followed through on Lily's threat, then turned her attention to Peter. "Can I show them your abs?"

"They're not my abs…" Peter whispered, blushing, but Marlene was already pulling up his shirt to reveal his well-muscled stomach.

"You should take home a Muggle tonight," she urged. "I noticed that girl over there looking at you earlier. Just make sure to hide your wand, although if she feels it in your pocket, you can always tell her it's something else." She winked and draped her arm over his shoulder. "Or if she's not your type, you could take me home instead."

James nudged Lily, grinning as Peter's face reddened.

"I only have enough Polyjuice to look like this for a couple more hours," he stammered, staring down into his drink. "I can't…"

The conversation continued until a startled shout interrupted. James turned to see Mary stumbling toward them, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm leaving," she announced, reaching around Lily to grab her jacket from the back of the chair. "I'm sorry, Lil, but I've got to get away from that arsehole, and I spilled the rest of my Polyjuice on the floor of the loo."

"I thought you'd made up," Peter said, helping her into her jacket when her arm caught in the sleeve.

"Yes, well, I should've kept snogging him instead of letting him open his big fat mouth." She pushed a strand of hair out of her face, frowning at the clumpy liquid that dripped from the ends. "Lily, can Polyjuice Potion damage your hair?"

"Er, I dunno."

"I'm sure it's fine." Mary wiped her hands on her trousers and patted Peter's shoulder. "Please shag that Muggle girl in the pink dress. I'll be disappointed if you don't." She took a step toward the door, but Lily grabbed her arm.

"But where are you going? Back to the flat?"
"We can go back to mine," Marlene said, finishing her drink and hopping to her feet. "I have wine, if we're still thirsty. Have a good night, gentlemen, and tell Black I said he's an arsehole, although I don't hate him as a ginger, to be honest."

She waved goodbye to Frank and Alice and marched Mary toward the door.

Lily cast a helpless glance at Mary's retreating back. "I can stay…"

"Don't be silly." James kissed her, drinking in the taste of her so he could savor it for the rest of the night. "Go be with Mary. I'll try to talk some sense into Padfoot–"

She laughed. "Good luck with that."

He watched her maneuver around the other customers until she reached the door. As soon as she disappeared into the night, her absence was a tangible ache.

"Where the fuck has Macdonald gone?" Sirius braced himself against the back of James's chair, a lit cigarette dangling from his fingers. His ginger hair was tousled and a red mark bloomed against his neck.

"They went to Marlene's," Remus said, raising his eyebrows at Sirius's disheveled appearance. "Apparently you pissed her off again."

Sirius scowled and wiped a splotch of spilled Polyjuice Potion from his jacket. "I didn't even say anything! Fucking Macdonald." He reached for James's drink and drank the rest in one long swallow.

"Have at it, Padfoot, I was finished with that," James said, flashing Sirius a wry smile.

Sirius looked down at the empty glass in his hand, and his expression softened. "Fuck. Sorry. I just– fuck. Come on, I'll buy you another drink."

Before James had time to argue, Sirius was dragging him up to the bar, weaving around other tables and sidling up to two empty stools. After waving down the bartender and paying for two more pints, Sirius clapped James on the back.

"You're having fun, right, Prongs?" A quaver of uncertainty had crept into his voice.

"Of course I am." James laughed as he noticed a bit of dried Polyjuice Potion on Sirius's collar. What were they doing, licking it off each other?

"I'm sorry about…" Sirius made a vague hand gesture that almost sent James's fresh pint flying. "It's just fucking Macdonald, isn't it? I dunno what her problem is."

James shrugged. "She seems to think you're the one with a problem."
"Yeah, well, she would." Sirius took a sip of his drink, slopping some onto the bar when he set it down again. "But sorry she stormed off and took Evans with her."

James ran a hand through his hair. "It's only ruined my entire night. I'd demote you from best man, only I can't decide whether Moony or Pete would be a better choice instead."

Sirius laughed and rested his elbow on the bar. "Go with Moony. Pete can't make a toast to save his life." He took another long swallow of his pint. "Want to go somewhere else and have a few more drinks? The night's not over until you've thrown your arm around someone and told us how much you love us, like the sentimental sod you are. Then when our Polyjuice runs out, we can go back to the flat and throw Quaffles at Moony's head."

James grinned. "That's a bit mean."

"Nah, not if we call it a game. We'll call it, I dunno… Moony Quidditch."

"That's a terrible name," James said, chuckling.
"Yeah, well, no worse than Drunk Quidditch or Snow Quidditch or Pool Quidditch."

"You forgot Blind Quidditch." James gulped down more of his beer, then slid off his stool and headed back toward the others. "Come on. Let's see if we can convince Pete's admirer to come with us."

The rest of the night passed in a blur. Peter's admirer had disappeared with the rest of her friends, but Peter didn't seem to mind. They sat around a table sticky with spilled drinks as rock music blared from speakers behind them, shouting to hear each other reminisce about their best memories together. Peter said, "I can't believe you're getting married" so many times that Sirius threatened to hex him if he said it again.

It didn't bother James, though, because he couldn't believe it either. The rejections he had pretended to brush off; the Potions classes he had spent watching Lily chop dandelion roots instead of tending to his own potion; the smiles and laughs and rare hugs that had kept his hope alive when giving up was the kinder and more logical option – all of that had somehow led him here to this dingy pub with his four friends as they drank to his upcoming wedding.

"I couldn't have done it without you three," James said, draining the last drops from his glass and beaming around at his friends. "You listened to me go on about Evans, and you told me I wasn't a tosser even when I was the definition of a tosser, and you've agreed to help plan a wedding in a few weeks."

"Don't say it, Prongs," Sirius said, rolling his eyes, but James ignored him and threw an arm around his shoulder.

"I love you tossers."

"Well, the evening is now complete." Sirius shrugged out of James's embrace and finished his drink. "Come on, let's stumble back to the flat to play Moony Quidditch."

"Not sure I like the sound of Moony Quidditch," Remus said as James followed him out into the night.

Remus's reaction to Moony Quidditch was more favorable than expected, mostly because Sirius was too drunk to have accurate aim. They tossed around every Quaffle they could find (either five or six – James kept losing count) until Remus fell asleep on the sofa and Peter wandered off to the bunk bed. Then it was just Sirius and James, stretched out on the floor with one of the Quaffles resting beside them.

"I'm so fucking happy for you," Sirius said, fumbling to pull his cigarettes from his pocket until James retrieved them from under the sofa. "And for Evans." He exhaled a long stream of smoke into the air above them, then dropped the packet of cigarettes onto James's face as he tried to offer him one.

"Thanks." James reached for the cigarette that had spilled out onto the floor, lighting it after several unsuccessful attempts. "I'm sorry you and Mary are fighting."

"It doesn't fucking matter." Even through the haze of alcohol, James could hear the pain in Sirius's voice contradicting his words.

"You'll figure it out before the wedding." James glanced sideways to flash him a reassuring grin. "You'll be back together, dancing like idiots and drinking champagne straight from the bottle while Minnie looks on in disapproval."

The ghost of a hopeful smile flickered across Sirius's face. "Maybe."

James sighed and watched the smoke drifting past his face as Peter snored behind them. "I miss Evs."

"She still has the other mirror, right?" Sirius put his cigarette to his lips, his eyes half-closed "Talk to her for a bit. Maybe she'll flash you. I'll shut my eyes, I swear."

James laughed as he wriggled the mirror from his pocket. "They're already shut, Pads. Lily Evans."

He smoked his cigarette as he waited for Lily to appear. After he repeated her name for the third time, her face filled the mirror, sending a rush of joy through his body.

"You're still up?" she asked. "It's— well, I don't even know what time it is."

James blew out a mouthful of smoke and grinned. "I know it's late. I just wanted to talk to you. I miss you."

He rolled sideways with the mirror, expecting to hear a snide comment from Sirius, but there was only slow, steady breathing.

"I miss you too." The mirror shifted sideways, and James caught a glimpse of a flowered shower curtain. "I'm in Marlene's loo," she explained. "Mary's a mess — she drank most of a bottle of wine and smoked a joint to try and forget how upset she is about Sirius, but it wasn't entirely successful. Marlene finally managed to calm her down, and they're both asleep in Marlene's bed now, but fucking hell, what a night."

"I wish I could give you a hug." James squinted to make out what she was wearing for pajamas. An unfamiliar t-shirt hung off her shoulder, and wisps of hair pulled free from her ponytail. "You look like you could use a hug."

A sleepy smile spread across her face. "I could use a hug."

He dropped the stub of his cigarette into the ashtray on the coffee table and pushed himself upright. "Hang on, I'll be right back." He tapped the mirror to end the connection before she had time to argue, then made his way over to the fireplace. The alcohol made his steps unsteady, and he had to grab the wall to remain upright when he finally reached the fireplace.

If this doesn't make me puke, it'll be a bloody miracle, he thought as he pulled his wand from his pocket and focused all of his attention on conjuring a fire. It took several tries, and there were beads of sweat on his forehead when he succeeded in producing crackling flames in the grate. He took a pinch of Floo powder from the tin on the mantle, then tossed it into the fire and spoke Marlene's address before clamping his mouth and eyes shut.

His head spun and the world spun and the contents of his stomach spun as ash hit his face and his elbow grazed the sides of the fireplace. When he tumbled out into Marlene's living room, he scrambled to his feet and hurried to the bathroom.

"What—?" Lily began when he yanked the door open, but the rest of her question was swallowed up by the sound of him retching into the toilet.

"Fuck. Sorry." James flushed the toilet and wiped his mouth, then sank down onto the linoleum beside Lily. "Floo powder."

She rose and crossed to the sink, returning a moment later with a glass of water. He took a tentative sip, then another, swishing it around his mouth to banish the sour taste.

"Sorry," he said again.

"You came to see me?"

He saw the brilliant smile on her face, even with ash smeared on his glasses.

"Even though floo powder makes you sick even when you're sober?" she continued.

He grinned. "I missed you."

"God, you're sweet." She wrapped her arms around him, her fingers brushing more ash from the back of his head. "Are you feeling okay now?"

"I'm fine, although I could do with a bit of mouthwash, for your sake."

She laughed and got to her feet again to retrieve a bottle of mouthwash from beside the sink.

"How's Padfoot?"

The burn of the mouthwash drove away the last of his nausea, and he heaved a contented sigh as he draped an arm around her.

"Irresponsibly drunk, asleep on the floor, and sadder than he's letting on, but he'll be alright."

"That's good. Maybe a hug would help. I gave Mary lots of hugs and it seemed to help a bit. Do you think he'll feel better if I give him a hug?"

James laughed. "He'll probably tell you to sod off, but yeah. It'll help."

She glanced over at him. "Can you walk without being sick again? Let's go out to the sofa."

Marlene's living room was warm and smelled of incense. A shag rug sat in front of a sofa that was a blinding shade of red-orange, but once James was stretched out beside Lily, he paid their surroundings no mind. Mary's soft snores drifted from the bedroom and mingled with the ticking of a clock and the murmur of a neighbor's radio, but James settled closer to Lily and let the sound of her breathing wash over him, draping him in a sense of peace and safety.

"We're getting married in two weeks," Lily whispered, her lips fluttering against his ear. "Can you believe it?"

"No," he admitted, his eyelids drifting shut. "But I'm so bloody happy."