Disclaimer: Nothing that seems like I stole it is mine, probably. Unrelated: I mostly listened to Soundtracks while writing and editing this - and I recommend the soundtrack of "The First Time". The movie's great, the soundtrack's excellent.

So far: Lily and Sirius are friends now. Mary and Tally fought. The Marauders are a thing. Lily, Dorcas, and Marlene are good friends. Marlene and James kissed at a party about a month ago. Mary and Sirius have an "agreement".

Chapter 10

Or

Of a Night to Remember and Alcohol

(One month ago)

"Sirius," said a shaky voice behind him. Sirius had been marveling at this – well, marvelous party, but at the sound of his name he turned around and nearly spilled his drink. That rarely happened to him, as he never, ever lost his cool, but seeing a drunk Mary was something one never really expected to see, nor was anyone ever truly prepared for it. Because drunk Mary was nothing like normal Mary.

For one, Mary never cried in front of other people.

She was holding the arm of a Hufflepuff Sirius did not recognize, but whom was gazing at Sirius fearfully, and so Sirius assumed he had hexed him at one point or another. She seemed to have been in tears for quite a while, because her makeup had been smeared all over. Her bottom lip was quivering, and she stared at Sirius as if expecting him to do something about it.

"Sorry mate, but – um – I think I'll take her off your hands," said Sirius, reaching for Mary, realizing she was practically depending on the Hufflepuff for support. "If you don't mind."

The Hufflepuff took one look at Mary, one look at Sirius, and then nodded. He let go of Mary – had to pull himself away from her, actually – and walked away, slowly, hesitantly, then assuredly. Sirius, in the meantime, carried Mary to the nearest chair, shooing away a couple who were sitting there, preoccupied with each other. "Are you okay?" he murmured, placing her gently in the chair and leaning on the armrest.

"I'm fine," Mary said. "I'm just fine. Everything's so fine. I have never been more fine – fine – fine – fine. Marlene's fine, James' fine, Tally's fine… And I'm drinking my weight in cheap alcohol."

"Most of the stuff we put here is not cheap, actually – " Sirius began, only to be interrupted by the sobs of Mary, which were getting louder and louder. Maybe I should get her somewhere more secluded, he thought, but she continued her ramblings like she didn't really care about what was going on around her. She probably didn't, if she had really drunk her weight in alcohol.

"You know, the whole thing was stupid," she said. "We never should've fought. I don't even like you that much. God knows what Lily sees in you – but then again, we don't talk much. You're just a really, really good snog. I don't want to see you – to go steady, or whatever, but I liked snogging you. I didn't mean – I knew, and I didn't know, and I hoped – anyway. That's done, though. And now – " And through all of that, she was still crying. Sirius wondered how she was so coherent, anyway. "And Tally had been my only real friend here. Like, I think Marlene's nice enough, but Dorcas is rude and Lily has her nose in the air all the time, and you should hear them gossip – " Sirius didn't bother telling her that he had heard her gossip, and it wasn't pretty – "and Tally was my best friend. But now we're not friends, and I'm torn between not liking you and wanting to snog you."

"Then how about we – we make some agreement?" he offered, mostly hoping to calm her down. "We snog, no attachments involved – in fact, unless we have to, we never really speak with each other. All we do is snog – maybe more, if you'd want that – " she made a face and he hurried to add, "but only if you want to, of course. And we could see other people. Like, nothing personal, but I don't particularly adore your judgmental side either."

"I don't think that anyone else in the castle could say that without getting slapped, at least twice," she said quietly, her sobs quieting and calming down. "But – "

"But?"

"If I remember this when I wake up tomorrow," she said, her voice only slightly slurring – how much experience does she have drinking, exactly? he thought – as she looked up at him. "If I remember this, I will give you an answer."

(Tonight, the night of Halloween)

"Frank and Hayley really did a great job, didn't they?" Lily whispered to Alice as they walked into the Great Hall for the Halloween Feast. This year, not only were there pumpkins hanging everywhere, but also images of ghouls and extremely life-like ghosts shimmering, still as – well, as dead bodies.

"Yes, they did," she said, half-distracted by Frank himself, who was sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor table, looking very much proud and presentable. The Head Boy had definitely done a marvelous job, and Alice was visibly anxious to go – uh, congratulate him for a job well done.

"Go," Lily said playfully. "I can see Sirius and Dorcas over there, I'll talk to you later."

Lily made her way slowly to her two friends, taking her time to watch the many creative decorations floating about the Hall. As she grew closer, she heard snippets of their conversation, something about Whiskey, but they quickly shut up when she grew near. "What's up?" she asked cheerfully, pretending not to have noticed their sudden silence. "Aren't the decorations lovely?"

"We're throwing a party after the feast and you should come," said Dorcas. Sirius glared at her, but she shrugged it off. "She would've found out about it anyway. I mean, six people, five of them friends of hers, disappearing suddenly? Lily's too clever for that. You're too clever for that, right?" Dorcas was looking at Lily pointedly, as if saying, if you say no, I will make a filet out of your skin.

"Yeah, I would've figured something was up," Lily said, noticing Marlene and Peter were walking towards them. "So, who are the six people who are invited – well, four, beside you two?"

"Marlene, Peter, James and Remus," said Sirius dutifully. "Frankly, we're hoping to get James and Marlene drunk enough to snog and Remus drunk enough to forget that he's having trouble communicating with his girlfriend. We're thinking of inviting Dan and Cameron, maybe even Mary – but I'm against Mary. I don't want to be next to her when she's drunk, not ever again," he added to Dorcas.

"When's the last time you saw Mary drunk?" Marlene said calmly as she took a place next to Dorcas. Peter sat next to Sirius, across Lily; Lily wished that Marlene had sat next to her, because James was making his way towards them, and she didn't want to sit next him anymore than she wanted to talk to him. Being friends with Sirius and Peter and not just Remus has turned out to be hard work on her part.

"The night you snogged James," he said hurriedly. "And let's not mention anything about that right now. Hi James," he said loudly as James sat down, thankfully, next to Peter, as far away from Marlene as he could get. "What do you think on the topic of inviting Mary to the party tonight?"

"So we're not keeping it a secret from Evans anymore, then?" he said calmly – everyone was acting just a bit too calm in this conversation, Lily noticed – "Well, I don't really care one way or the other, as long as she doesn't finish all of the Firewhiskey. We are running out, you know," he added, looking sharply at the direction of Peter. Peter seemed to shrink in size as he mumbled an apology for something that was very unclear.

"We'll get more next Hogsmeade weekend, which is only two weeks from now, you know," said Sirius, just as the food appeared.

Everyone gathered food on their plates. Dorcas, Sirius, and James' plates were all covered completely; Marlene, Lily and Peter's not so much.

About fifteen minutes later, Marlene asked, rather suddenly, "Where's Remus?"

Nobody knew the answer.

(One month ago)

Lily had done her best to work in her dormitory, but eventually the party had become much too loud, and she decided to give up studying for the evening and take a stroll through the castle. She debated whether she should visit the library or the owlery first, eventually deciding walking up the stairs and breathing in some fresh air while still technically being inside was a good idea. She made sure, once more, that the letter she wanted to send her parents was tucked safely into her pocket, and marched on.

Though the Hogwarts corridors were rarely particularly loud, except between classes, knowing that about half the school's population was in Gryffindor tower right now made it seem even quieter. She could almost feel it in the air, in her bones…

And then she was climbing the stairs, and then she was in the owlery, and she was not alone. "Remus, what are you doing here?" she said. "Why aren't you at the party?"

Remus, who was sitting on the floor, did not answer. Lily crouched down, half-sitting in the air next to him. "Are you okay?" When he looked up, Lily saw that he was in tears. Without even thinking about it, she hugged him, and he let himself melt.

The sound of his sobs echoed that night through the empty halls, but no one heard except for them.

(Tonight, the night of Halloween)

Dear Remus,

I think we should stop corresponding. I know that I really enjoy our this, but I think – well, I think I have a met someone, and since you can never visit anyway, this felt sort of – detached, and I really – well.

I'm sorry.

Natalie

"What a bitch," said Sirius, throwing the letter to James, who skimmed it and said, "Such a goddamn bitch."

Remus couldn't help but nod, despite not completely agreeing. "I just – did I do something wrong? I mean, her last letter was so – she seemed fine. Sort of. I just don't understand what happened. I really liked her," he finished gloomily.

"It's simple, Mate," said Sirius, plopping himself down on the floor next to Remus, who had his head leaning against the cold stone wall of the Astronomy Tower. "She's a bitch. Not worth your time."

"But – "

"I got the chocolate," announced Peter, his face slightly red. He handed it to Remus and said, "Go on, it's all for you. Everyone else will be here shortly," he said, glancing around the empty Astronomy tower. "Mary, as far as I can gather, is not coming. They couldn't find her. And Dan and Cameron already have plans. But the girls are bringing alcohol. Well, more alcohol." He produced, seemingly from nowhere, a bottle of Firewhiskey, handing it to Sirius.

"Cheers," said Sirius, but before he could get even a drop inside him, Remus grabbed the bottle and jugged it down.

"I hope you didn't just bring the one," he said, his gloomy expression still, uncharacteristically, clear on his face.. "Because I wouldn't get drunk enough on just that."

Peter shrugged, and pulled out two more bottles from the bag. James cheered.

They had stopped looking for Mary and were well on their way to the Tower by the time she showed up, miraculously, in front of the lot. She'd simply wandered out of a classroom in front of them, and suddenly, and then they were all in the Astronomy Tower. Lily couldn't recall exactly how they'd persuaded her to come; she remembered that Mary was visibly sniffling, but no one really said anything about it.

At the present moment, however, she was sitting next to a melancholy Remus and a quiet-as-a-mouse Peter (when Sirius came up with that, he laughed like a lunatic for some unknown reason), and Dorcas was babbling over something or another that had annoyed her. Many things annoyed Dorcas; Lily had long learned to tune her out for the simple sake of their friendship, though she often felt guilty about it. Sirius and Mary were snogging – at least she wasn't crying anymore – and James and Marlene were talking quietly in a faraway corner, so that no one would listen in.

"So much for a party," Dorcas eventually said, sarcasm practically dripping from her voice.

In front of their eyes, James and Marlene started kissing as well. Lily grabbed a bottle and took a swig. I guess that means they've sorted out – whatever was stopping them from dating, she thought gloomily. I guess they're dating now.

"It's like a love fest in here," said Remus moodily, interrupting her thoughts. "It's gross."

Dorcas nodded in agreement and grabbed another Firewhiskey, taking a very large swig. "Lucky there's all this alcohol," she said.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked gently, meaning Remus, of course. All three who were sitting beside her shook their heads. "I meant Remus," she said, taking another swig of the Firewhiskey.

"Remus got dumped," Peter said helpfully. Noticing Remus' glare, he asked defensively, "What?"

"By who?" asked Dorcas.

Peter said, "A Muggle he met over the summer."

"Her letters were getting shorter lately, less personal," mused Remus. "I had a feeling that something was wrong… I just didn't know what to do about it. And now…" He sighed.

"You've been dumped," supplied Dorcas. Remus nodded.

They all took a turn at drinking at that. The sweet burn of the Firewhiskey hit their throat, and they all shivered suddenly, as if the world had become ten degrees colder out of nowhere. Lily lay on her back and stared at the ceiling for a moment in this deep, depressing silence, before saying, "You know – my thoughts, that is, I keep going back to Mrs. – Mrs. What's-her-face – Mrs. Hitchens. Constantly. There's a reason why she's here."

"Yeah, there is," says Remus. "It'd be nice if we had any clue to what it was." He gulped down some more of the Firewhiskey, then scooted closer to Lily. "Dorcas, got any thoughts?"

"I'm thinking Death Eaters, obviously," she said. "Pass it here." When Remus passed it, and after she sipped a bit, she said. "They're threatening Hogwarts is my theory. Now – they've been threatening it for at least three years, but have you been paying attention to the newspapers?"

"Yeah," said Peter. "There's nothing."

"Exactly," said Lily, realizing what Dorcas means. "There's been absolutely nothing. Which means – whatever's going on – "

"It's getting so bad, they can't afford the public knowing anymore," completed Remus.

Lily sighed and sat up. "I am so not drunk enough for this."

"You know what I realized just now, though," said Peter as she was getting the second bottle, left forgotten behind her. "Mulciber's been especially vicious lately."

"He's always been vicious," said Dorcas.

"No, I mean," he began, struggling to find the right words in his slightly tipsy state. "I mean – he's been so nasty, and he's been hanging around a lot of seventh and fifth years he never hung out with before. And they're all – I mean, they all come from families who support You Know Who – and I think – "

"How do you notice this stuff?" interrupted Dorcas.

"I notice things, alright?" said Peter, looking annoyed. "Now will you let me finish my theory?"

"You're saying that he's – Voldemort that is – is recruiting within the school?" asked Lily.

Peter nodded.

"I'm definitely not drunk enough for this," she concluded, and took a swig of the Firewhiskey.

"Right now," said Remus truthfully, "I'm just hoping to drink so much I forget completely about this night.

A/N: Yes, new chapter! Finally, a chapter worthy of the M rating. I keep feeling like such a disappointment... Even if it was just a bunch of people getting drunk

Originally, this was bad. Then, I had this great idea, and then I cut almost all of it out. This is what I left in - d'you guys think I should've had a more detailed scene between James and Marlene, explaining their sudden make-out session? I decided not to, I thought it stopped the flow of the story, but if you guys have any requests for one-shot fics, whether within the realm of OTTLECHMAJP (whew) or not, you can just send me a request either here on my writing tumblr, and I'll most likely do it. You should mention where you want it posted, though.

To the two guest reviews - The first one: I'm in a committed relationship with my computer, so no skoodelipooping, but thank you so much! That means a ton! The second one: You're welcome! Please keep on reading, you guys!

SiryII: I googled where you live, and it's a cool place to live... I hope your exams are doing well (I hope EVERYONE who reads this passes/passed their end-of-term exams) and thank you! I do really, really try to make all the characters characters, and not just impressions of whatever my opinion is of them - eventually even Tally will seem almost likeable to you, but again, she's there for balance, so not really. Regulus is a likeable character, and I'm doing my best to show Peter's descent from best-friend-almost-family-part-of-the-Marauders status to traitor status, which is going to be, hopefully, a long and winding road! You are obsessed with James, of course, but then again, so am I - and eventually, James will actually become the main character. Right now I have a bunch of good characters struggling to find themselves... and when they do, it'll be a good story.

I'm posting this, once again, in the middle of the night, like every other chapter I've ever posted. It's like I'm physically incapable of finishing editing a chapter in a Godly hour.

Did you guys know that the average is 100 views per chapter on this thing? I had no idea! - JustGail.