THE Party
Chapter 4: The Result
The sun is so bright. It is making the inside of my eyelids glow red. I squeeze them tightly shut. My head is pounding. It feels as though there are thick, hot, cast iron spikes being violently forced through my skull at every angle humanly possible and it's about to explode at any second.
I take a deep breath to try and clear my head and it smells and tastes as though some kind of rodent had crawled in my mouth and died last year and is now starting the process of decay.
I hear a deep moan that stabs painfully into my headache like a bolt of lightning. I open my eyes a millimeter and see that there is a person beside me. No, more like under me. It is definitely a guy; his bare chest is slightly tanned and hard with muscle. I wiggle my fingers and rest them in front of my face, bringing another masculine hand with it. There is an ancient silver ring on his finger. I open my eyes a little to decipher the tiny script on it.
P… Either a lower case A or O… T, T- Oh, please great Godric, no. I shut my eyes in hopes to wake up from this nightmare, only to have him groan again. I reluctantly tilt my head up and seeing the messy black hair, strong elegant features and freckles sprinkled across his nose from the previous day spent in the sun, I scream in terror and bolt to a sitting position.
That's when I come to the realization that I am stark naked.
I yank the covers up to my chin only to reveal James's, er… James. Instinctively, I dive across him to replace the blanket. He moans my name envelopes me in his rather muscular arms, turning on to his side and pressing his face into to side of my neck.
So, there I lie. Stark naked. With a blasted headache. Crushed up against a sleeping James Potter. Who also happens to be buck-naked. With his hand on my arse. I stare at the ceiling and pull the covers up to my mouth.
Against my will of course, I caught a whiff of him. Much to my misfortune, it was very nice. Like broom stick polish and a slight hint of axe.
He nuzzles my neck and hugs me closer, pulling my leg over his waist and stopping abruptly. I can almost hear his eyes open. "Lily?" He groans his voice thick with sleep and he reaches up to rub his eyes, jabbing me in the cheast… I hiss. James jerks his hands back in surrender, slapping me in the jaw as he does so.
"Sorry! Are you okay?" He looks at me with a worried, apologetic expression.
"No! I am bloody well not okay! How could you just- We aren't even- Uhhgg! You are an idiot!" I accent the last word with a hard back hand. "Sorry! Are you okay?" I ask in a falsely sweet voice.
He clenches his jaw. "You know, if I were another guy, that would've probably hurt a lot more, but don't worry, I'm used to it. Not to mention another guy most likely wouldn't let you walk out of this situation with dignity. You really aren't in the position to insult me Lily."
"Is that a threat?" I sneer.
He raises an eyebrow "No. It was a stern warning." And he sits up, as if he forgot he was indecent.
He threw the blankets of himself so hard that they flew behind me. At a lightning speed, I snatch them back and he takes a corner and sinks back under.
"Bloody Hell, it's chilly out there!" He exclaims.
I blink.
After a long, painfully trying and awkward moment of complete, utter silence, he asks tentatively, "Hey, Lily?"
"Yes, James?" I reply through gritted teeth.
"When are your parents getting home?"
My eyes widen and my jaw falls open. "P-parents?"
"Ah. I see. So… D'you, have any idea where our, erm, clothes?" He attempts at making it sound casual.
"Merlin, I don't even know what we did last night, let alone where our clothes are!"
He looks at me. "Right, err, here this is just a hunch but…" He hesitantly reaches under my pillow and pulls out Sirius's leopard print speedo.
We look at each other.
"Nah I don't wanna know." James says weakly.
I look at him expectantly. "Well? Put it on."
"I'm not wearing that thing! It's sticky and smells like strawberries!" He says incredulously. "You put it on."
I glare at him.
"F-f-fine. I can't believe, after all we've been through you're making me do this… I don't even know what's been in there!" He pretends to sob. It does nothing to faze me. Seeing this, he huffs. "You are impossible." And he puts the swim wear on under the comforter, looking about to vomit. "Why s'it have to be sticky?" he whimpers.
James rises out of the bed, his usually arrogant face flushed with embarrassment.
I try for his sake not to look, but considering James Potter is on the top of the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and probably Slytherin girls Best Body list, I catch myself staring at all places hard to see under the baggy Hogwarts robes.
He clears his throat. "Umm, I found my shorts. D'you need me to get yours or did you just want me to head down stairs and start cleaning?" his eyes have a knowing look in them. It's my turn to flush.
"Would you mind cleaning?" I ask uncharacteristically shy.
He grins "I offered, didn't I? No peeking." He gestures changing out of the speedo. I hurriedly pull the blankets over my eyes, removing them after a couple seconds I pull the blanket down only to have James whip the speedo in my face.
"Oi! I said no peeking!"
I shriek. "Ew, ew, ew! My mouth was open!"
He laughs freely, sporting crimson and gold Gryffindor swim trunks. "Sorry, Lils. I told you not to peek."
I scowl and he winks, running a hand through his raven hair.
Five minutes later, I am dressed and sprinting frantically down the stairs. Immediately, I look around expecting a big ugly mess. All I see is James standing at the foot of the stairs. He has a bunch of sponges, mops and brooms all magically at work and one of my mum's pink rubber cleaning gloves magically suspended in the air holding Sirius's speedo at an arm's length.
"Now we just need to get the yard. You want front or back?" He asks. I stare incredulously around the room.
"Wow, James! You didn't have to do all of it, you could've waited for me!" I step down from the stairs and face him.
"However much your praise flatters me, I didn't. This is just the kitchen." He flashes the cutest grin that I have to smile back and refrain from cooing and dunking him in my tea.
I lead him to the living room and pull out my wand, only to find Alice lying on top of a guy I recognize as Frank Longbottom. Frozen, I look at James. His gold eyes are glittering with mischief.
"No, James. They are asleep." I whisper.
"Why, yes Lily. They are asleep." With that, he silently flicks his wand and the pillows on either end of the couch float up and hit them both repetitively over the head.
The gesture is so minute that it is utterly hilarious. James laughs as Frank and Alice let out cries of despair.
"Alice, where's your top?" I ask. She glares at me and snatches one of the violently inclined pillows to cover her chest.
"If I remember correctly, I believe it is outside." She pinches the bridge of her nose to relieve her headache, and then her head snaps up. "So, how was the honeymoon?"
James demands an answer so fast I got whiplash. "What honeymoon?"
Alice lifts her delicate eyebrows. "Don't you remember? Lily, I seem to recall that you were rather smitten with the fact that your Jamsie's hand was so rough and strong and manly."
James snickers. He actually has the nerve to laugh. I punch his gut. None too delicately. He throws his hands up in surrender.
"What?!" He forces out through giggling fits. "I'm sorry! It's just that-" I punch him. "No, I didn't mean to-" I punch him again. "You can't really believe that-" I slug him yet again. He grabs my arms and pins them to my sides and I see his abdomen muscles flex.
"That's abuse!" He looks at the smug brunette hugging the pillow. "Alice say no more!"
"Oh, sorry Jamesie. I wouldn't want to upset your Lilsy." She mocks.
I lunge at her. "No, no. Lily, stop, here, sit!" James grabs my shoulders, pulling me back. I tilt my chin up with dignity.
"Accio pillow." The pillow comes soaring to my hand.
"LILY!" Alice flushes, and her arms cross over her bare chest. Her eyes flicker to James and Frank. James just clapped his hand over his mouth, then his eyes widen and he moves it to the upper half of his face. Frank however snorts and grabs the blanket on the back of the couch to wrap around Alice.
"So, I see you changed your outfit, Lily. Enlighten me. How was your first time? You know, it being with Potter and all. Can you even imagine not using protection in your drunken state?" she spits nastily. I suck in a shocked breath. I hadn't even thought about protection. By the look on James's face neither had he.
"Lily, I am so sorry." He says.
I am about to explode but Frank cuts me off. "Well, it does take two to tango."
James looks at his classmate. "What the hell's a tango? Like, a sour mango?"
"No Potter, it's a type of muggle dance. If you took Muggle Studies, you would know that." He raises his eyebrows humorously.
"Come on Frank, let's leave these two lovebirds to their privacy." Alice sniffs and glares at me as she passes. Then she touches James's bare shoulder. "Nice job with the hickey by the way." With that, the blanket wrapped tightly around her, she storms out. Once the door closes, James and I go quiet. I touch the side of my neck and feel a rather large tender spot on the right side. The thing that surprises me most, is that I have lost the urge to blame everything on James. Frank's words keep playing in the back of my mind like a broken record.
It takes two to tango…
So, without a word, I summon a garbage bag from the kitchen and start dropping bottles and err… the sort into it.
"Aren't you going to start yelling?"
I face James and give him a small honest smile and shake my head. "There really is no proof about what happened last night, right?" I ignore the slight throbbing down below…
He looks doubtful and scratches the back of his neck. "But judging by the position we were in-"
"What position would that be?" Comes a needle sharp voice causing both of us to spin at a one-eighty degree.
"M-Mum! Dad! You're home! I was beginning to worry that you'd lost you way and I erm…"
If looks could kill, James would already have died a very slow painful death and then shriveled up into a pile of ashes.
Dad is purple in the face and looks about to strangle him.