It was one of the few times in his life that James Potter thought he needed a drink.
Laying in bed, he thought back to the night's events. The Quidditch game seemed like it happened years ago, but it was only this afternoon. His mind was having a hard time processing it all. The swirling thoughts were interrupted by a snuffling snore from the girl next to him. She sighed in her sleep, and affection washed over him. His arm was getting tired from her head being on it, and her hair tickled his face, but he really didn't care. He considered snuggling her close, but he feared he would wake her. Suddenly, his ears detected footsteps coming up the stairs. It was Sirius, no doubt back from the Hospital Wing. He looked tired worn from the night's events, but his face registered shock at James.
"Prongs with a girl? I thought this day would never come." He whispered. James wanted to tell him to piss off, but he didn't want to disturb anyone, so he just gave Sirius a rather rude hand gesture instead. It only made Sirius double over in a fit of silent hysterics.
"Fine, be cranky. But tomorrow you will tell me how this happened. And I want the full story. Every single detail." He said suggestively. James threw a pillow at him with his good arm. Tosser, he thought. But seriously, how did all this happen? How did he get here, an amazing and beautiful girl in his bed? He closed his eyes, remembering it.
It was the first time Lily had been drunk.
She'd told him so, multiple times, when she wasn't running away from him or dancing with some other guy. The thought of her with Trife made James's stomach twist uncomfortably. He'd been worried about her all night. She wasn't talking to him like she usually does, with complete ease and banter. It felt to James like she was hiding something, but he didn't want to push her. Then she got mad at him for no reason. James remembered how confused he'd felt. She yelled at him, but she also told him that he was perfect, so really he couldn't tell if he was insulted or not. But he did know she was mad, and he never wanted Lily Evans to be mad at him again. But he was also a bit angry. What grounds did she have to criticize him? He'd spent all year working on himself, and his improvements had impressed her as well. She'd told him that herself, but now apparently he was too perfect? But he figured she was hammered, so her emotions were probably running high. She had run off somewhere with Sirius, looking upset, which pained him. So he took the time to figure out what he was going to say, and Mary then dragged him into the whole drinking game. (Not that it was hard to drag him in, he bloody loved reffing.) Figuring he'd wait till morning when Lily was sober and he had cooled off a bit, he got ready to help. He was not expecting Lily to be there, or for her to participate, or for him to realize how bloody beautiful she was while she was chugging Butterbeer like an animal. He remembered how his heart skipped a beat when her eyes made contact with his, and she dropped the bat completely. It was like they were both under some spell together.
Then she'd began to fly and he was terrified. She was fine at first, but as an experienced flier he knew she had gotten too high and was descending far too quickly. Before anyone else realized there might be a problem, he'd torn off running behind her. It was one of the most fearful moments of James's life, he was more afraid than when he first saw Remus as a werewolf, more afraid than when he'd learned about Voldemort for the first time, more afraid than when he'd jumped off the third floor of his house into a pile of pillows Sirius set up on a dare. His mind was full of alarm bells, and he could think of nothing except getting to her before it was too late. But he was too late.
She'd crashed just feet in front of him. She had a weirdly calm expression before she'd hit the ground and was knocked out cold. James got to her first, and quickly bent down to look her over. Careful not to move her head or neck, he took her pulse. He thanked Merlin his mum, a Healer, taught him some basic first aid techniques and spells. Fingers fumbling, he finally got to her heartbeat, shaking quickly like a frightened bird against his skin. Relief swooped in his stomach. He felt tears prick his eyes and was shocked. James Potter was not the crying type, and he was pretty sure the last time he cried was when his dad died. With Lily, ironically enough. More people were circling around her now, but Sirius was trying to shoo them away, to give her some air.
"What should we do? Send her to the hospital wing?" Marlene cried, looking on the verge of tears. James tried to find his voice. Lily had a large bump on her forehead, and her lip was bleeding. The hand that was holding her broomstick when she crashed was twisted in an awkward angle.
"No," He said horsely. "If Mcgonagall saw her like this it would ruin her chances of getting Head Girl." Thinking of Lily talking animatedly about her goal to be Head Girl to him almost broke him. He thought about the day they were talking about it together, and the determined look on her freckly face.
"Aguamenti!" Peter cried, pointing his want at Lily's face. A stream of water splashed on her, causing bits of her damp hair to cling to James like tendrils of fire creeping up his arm.
"The fuck did you do that for Wormtail?" Sirius demanded.
"I don't know I panicked! I thought it would wake her up!" Peter said sheepishly. It seemed the water actually did have a positive effect, as Lily's eyes scrunched up and she let out a low groan.
James laughed in relief. "Wormy you did it!" Lily opened her green eyes slowly, no doubt being greeted by a ring of intently-staring people around her.
"Did I win?" She asked. Everyone laughed softly.
Lily began to rise, but winced. James rushed to cradle her head with his hand. It seemed like the first time Lily really noticed his presence. She gave him a face-filling grin, and he grinned back.
"My head." She began to complain. "Why'd I let you idiots get me drunk?" Marlene and Peter chuckled. James, on the other hand, was still worried.
"Let me patch you up Evans." He said.
"Please, you'd probably end up turning me into a cow or something." She joked weakly. But James could see the pain stricken across her face, no matter how she tried to hide it. Ignoring her objections, he began to murmur Healing spells. He fixed her broken fingers and stopped the bleeding from her forehead.
"Evans you look like a red-haired troll with that bump on your head." Marlene joked. Lily swatted up at her playfully, as James worked on reducing the swelling. After he was done and his friends were beginning to disperse and clean things up in the corridor, Lily looked up at him. She had an intensely grateful look in her eyes.
"Thanks for patching me up. You're not so bad Potter." She smiled.
"You're not so bad yourself. Even when you're yelling at me." He told her. She winced, seemingly ashamed.
"I'm sorry about my freak-out. I don't know what came over me, honestly."
"Well just don't let it happen again. You know my head's too big already, being told I'm too perfect just might make it explode." The giggled together. They began to stand, James offering her his arm.
The relief that washed over him once he knew Lily was alright was making him feel giddy. He could tell that she was still dizzy from her head injury,and she was most likely still wasted. But things between them in that moment felt so real. A year ago, James reflected, Lily would never be drunk, would never let him heal her, would never dream of being his best friend. But that's what they were now, best friends. The thought gave him tingles of happiness in his chest. Even if Lily never wanted anything more, he wouldn't care. Sure, sometimes he looked at her and felt longing gnaw at his chest for something more. But the priveledge of getting to be Lily's friend, if nothing more, was enough to quash those feelings. Usually. He couldn't pretend that his eyes didn't wander to her lips when he was daydreaming, or that his thoughts at night concerning her were entirely pure. He'd been in love with her since he was fourteen. Them being friends only made it stronger.
They walked back into the common room through the portrait hole. Lily still was out of it, so James sat her on the couch. The party seemed to be winding down, only a few stragglers left. James and all of his friends sat in a circle around the fire, chatting. Sirius and some others had began to pass around a bottle of firewhiskey. When Lily grabbed for it, they all waved her off.
"There's no way drinking more is going to make your head injury better." Remus chuckled after Lily began to pout. Suddenly, she grabbed James's hand and pulled him up by her on the couch. She took his arm and snuggled into it. His gut erupted with excitement, but it was probably just in a friendly way. Right?
"I'm sleepy." She said drunkenly. Her head was nuzzling into his stomach, right by his bruises, but he didn't mind. Part of him watched from outside his body as she snuggled her way to her head being right on his lap. His heart pounded, but he tried to squash the blooming hope in his stomach. She was probably just tired.
"Should Marlene take you up to bed?" He asked. She shook her head violently, which made him chuckle. Her hair felt like silk on his arm.
"No, I'm gonna just stay here with you forever." She said sleepily. Some of his friends shared knowing grins with each other. Or was he just imagining it? His heart felt like it was in free-fall. It wasn't like he could ask Lily. She was drunk, and now fast asleep. He smiled down at her.
His friends' conversations wandered. They had heated debates, shared raucous jokes, and just did what they normally did, except Lily was snuggling with James. She woke up every once and a while to throw out an opinion or comment to her friends. Each one left James in stitches. All of his friends were extremely drunk. Marlene and Sirius had passed out, heads on each other's shoulders. Laura was the only one still dancing, though no music was on anymore. Mary was flirting heavily with Peter and Remus, but James had a bad feeling that she was only doing it when she knew he was looking. Alice and Frank had disappeared a while ago. A couple others hung around too, until the firewiskey was almost gone. Suddenly Mary thrust the bottle up by Jame's face, amber liquid sloshing around in the light.
"Come on Jay, just try some!" She exclaimed. She was very drunk now, and she was batting her eyes at him.
"Oh you just want me pissed so you can take advantage of me?" He teased. She laughed hard.
"Yeah you wouldn't want that, Jay." Lily's venomous voice came from James's legs. He looked down at her, startled. It was very rare Lily Evans talked to someone with that much dislike, and they almost always deserved it. Her leafy eyes were hard and narrowed. He looked up, expecting Mary to back down, but she had a competitive glint in her eyes he only saw during games.
"Oh Lils, just because some of us can't handle our liquor doesn't mean James couldn't have a good time with me." She said, face sneering slightly. James actually gasped out loud. He looked over. Marlene was awake, her mouth agape. Remus and Peter looked like deer in headlights. Never had anyone heard Mary talk like this. Suddenly Lily jumped out of James's lap and was standing. She stumbled slightly, but Mary stood up to face her. The two girls looked livid. What the hell was going on?
"Oh Mary, you had such a good game today." Lily said sweetly. "I'm sorry you didn't win the one you really wanted to." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and disgust. James's mind was reeling. They didn't mean... Couldn't possibly be talking about... did she mean him?
"I wouldn't say I lost Lil." Mary said. "I'd just say someone got too drunk, and made the night all about her." She looked at Lily as if she was dirt.
Everyone around the fire was silent in utter shock. James was stunned. He'd never seen Lily or Mary behave with anything but friendliness to each other. Just the other day Mary was saying how much Lily supported her during games. His mind went back to her kiss on his cheek this morning. Lily had quickly looked away from them, no doubt to give him some privacy. He was too shocked to react, and then it was over. But he'd just written it off. Mary liking him would have been perfect, in a life where he wasn't mad for a certain redhead. But he figured if she made another move he'd just explain his feelings to her and they'd be fine. He had no idea she was so into him. And Lily. What was she doing? Was she actually jealous?
Suddenly there was a bang. Mary flew back in the air, landing in an armchair with a thud. James looked back at Lily, who had somehow found her wand and was wielding it. She looked drunk and angry. Mary was groaning, and suddenly, her t-shirt began to bulge. She screamed as the fabric moved, and hair snaked around the sides of her shirt and out over her arms, but it was long and ropey.
"Evans! You hexed her armpit hair?" Sirius guffawed.
Mary began to panic as the hair crawled up her fingers and out. it was now hanging off of her like a baggy sweater. Marlene shoved Sirius, who was still in hysterics. Peter and Remus rushed over to help, but no one in the room knew of a counter-spell. Lily sat back down on the couch as the madness ensued, looking sullen. Soon Sirius and Laura took Mary by the hands, (both looking rather disgusted), and led her out of the portrait hole to the Hospital Wing.
James was with Peter and Remus, cleaning up the mess. He honestly had no idea what to say to Lily. Was he mad? It certainly wasn't a rational thing to do, but he'd done far worse to people who deserved it far less. Peter and Remus bade him goodnight and headed off to their tower. They were basically alone now. Shooting a glance at Lily, he realized tears were falling silently from her face as she stared at the fire. It jolted him back in time to a few months ago, when she was staring at the fire in his dance hall, puffy eyes and quiet. In that moment struck him how much he really did love her. He walked over and sat down, but sensed he should wait for her to speak first.
"I really am a bitch, aren't I?" She asked quietly.
"No." James said firmly. "Lily Evans is a short-tempered firecracker, a huge dork, a chronic rule-follower, an extremely powerful wielder of armpit jinxes, but a bitch? Never." She laughed and cried a bit at the same time.
"I really don't know why I did it." She mumbled. "Mary had such a smug look on her face." She mimicked the face with surprising accuracy, causing James to chuckle.
"Plus there's just this silly crush." She said quietly. James felt like the world stopped. All of the hopes he'd made himself not listen to came thundering into his chest. She had obviously not meant for him to hear it, but her drunken mouth made her talk louder. Lily continued her conversation as if she hadn't just killed James and brought him back to life with her words.
"Ugh I'm never drinking again." She sighed dramatically "I feel like I'm gonna ralph." James noticed she was looking a little green.
"Let me take you up to bed." He said. Lily looked up at him, expression unreadable. "I'm sure Alice won't mind taking care of you if you're sick."
"Nope." She said firmly. "Alice snuck off to shag Frank on the seventh floor. Plus I want you to take care of me." She waggled her eyebrows. James laughed, assuming that she was kidding around. But a part of him, now much stronger from her confession earlier, began to wonder. Was she coming on to him?
"Alright, if you insist." He teased. His insides were doing backflips as he led Lily towards the girls' dormitory. Lily stumbled along with him, her looking as if she was about to fall asleep. But once they got to the stairs she stopped with a surprising amount of strength, and halted James in his tracks.
"No boys allowed up there!" She said in a sing-song voice. Damn, he'd forgotten about the slide. Lily looked over at him, a flirtatious smile on her lips.
"Let's go show me the infamous Marauder's dorm." She said. James tried to keep calm. But it was terribly difficult with Lily's suggestive banter and disarming smile. Now it wasn't like the two haven't flirted before. James and Lily just had this chemistry. But never had Lily been so up front about it.
James's heart felt like a frenzied drumbeat against his chest. He carefully led Lily up the steps, praying their room didn't smell too much like teenage boy. Lily gasped like an excited kid, doing circles around. Thank Merlin Peter and Remus are heavy sleepers, as Lily had began to rifle through the Marauders' stash of jokes from Zonkos and pranks they were in the process of creating, which all resided in a trunk on the far side of the room. James successfully stopped her from setting off Peter's dungbombs. She was giggling madly and ran across the room to wake up Remus, filled with glee. James had to physically tackle her onto her bed. Little did she know Remus was a bear when he was woken up, and James just saved her from a force to be reckoned with. The two fell with a soft thud onto James's bed. He didn't want to think about how this could've looked if one of his mates woke up right now.
"I'm sleepy." Lily yawned. She promptly got under his covers and snuggled into his pillows. Chuckling, James grabbed a spare blanket from his trunk, preparing to sleep on the floor. But as he laid it down, an arm yanked him back up onto his bed.
"NO way Potter." Lily said. "I'm not letting you sleep down there. There's rats! I saw one in the girl's room last week."
"It was probably just Peter hoping to see one of you changing." James joked. Lily scoffed and pulled him closer, wrapping the blankets around both of them.
"No way, I want you to be the first girl you've slept with." She teased, waggling her eyebrows at the double entendre. He didn't know what to say, and couldn't help but snuggle in closer to her.
"Your bed smells like you." She mumbled.
"I hope that's a good thing." He said sarcastically. She giggled. Then she reached her dainty fingers up to his face. She seemed to hesitate, before carefully tracing his lips with them. He froze, letting her trace his features, shivers emanating from everywhere she touched. He felt her breathing quicken, chest rising and falling rapidly next to his. His mind was surprisingly blank for once. The air seemed thick with anticipation.
With surprising strength, Lily, grabbed his face and pulled him closer. He gasped out loud when her lips hit his cheek. It was almost just like the first time, in his bed, in third year. Her lips were more sloppy with drunkenness. And it was much longer, Lily seeming like she wanted to stay there forever. Which James had no problem with. Then she began to move her lips over his face, kissing his nose, chin, ears. Each spot where she kissed left a feeling of warmth spreading all over his body. She placed hot, wet kisses down his neck and he snapped out of his lovesick stupor. What if she was just drunk and regretted all of this in the morning?
Gently he pulled away. Lily's face was unreadable in the dark, but her green eyes looked glistened.
"I'm sorry." She said quickly. "I-I... It's just this silly crush. Now I've ruined everything, didn't I?" She sounded miserable.
"No!" James exclaimed. He heard Peter snuffle. "No." He said more quietly. "Lil, that was... Well I can't even find a word good enough to describe what that was." She laughed softly.
"Let's wait until you're sober, ok? I don't want to take advantage." He explained. She laughed and rolled her eyes.
"See what I mean? Too bloody perfect." She teased.
"You can still sleep with me, you know." He joked back. She smiled, reached up and kissed his cheek one more time, and promptly fell asleep.
And James was left feeling like he was falling and being hit with the Hogwarts Express all at once he was so elated.