The week between Christmas and New Years had been a somewhat awkward one for the Marauders and their female friends. James and Remus had yet to formally mend their friendship. Loraina seemed overly eager to please Remus at every given moment, and Lily and James participated in sporadic, uncomfortable conversation and the occassional surprise attempt at a kiss that almost always ended with one of them near tears. Delilah and Sirius, however, were preoccupied with their newly retained couple status.

New Years Eve came upon the group quickly, and Delilah had decided that it was absolutely neccesary to throw a party in the Room of Requirement, inviting any sixth or seventh year student from all houses who had remained at Hogwarts for the holidays. That is how Lily and Loraina found themselves in Lily's room an hour before the party, getting "glammed up" by Delilah. The golden blonde was wearing a skin tight cream colored dress with lace panels down her sides. She paired it with a pair of ivory pumps and big barrel curls in her long hair. Loraina was now wearing a jade green baby doll dress made of silk that felt to her more like lingerie than a dress, with a pair of pale gold high heels. Lily wore a black dress that was low cut and tight around the bust, fanning out at her hips in a short little skirt. A pair of strappy red shoes completed her look, which she stared at in the mirror, pulling the hem of her dress down.

Loraina shook out her beachy waves nervously. "I look like a prostitute. And not the good kind. Like, the kind you would find in Knockturn Alley."

"Oh hush," Delilah said as she hummed around to Elvis Presley's "All Shook Up". "You look amazing. If Remus didn't want you back before, he's going to be begging by the end of tonight."

Loraina shrugged. "I don't want to pressure him. We're friends for now, and that's it."

"To be honest, I don't know what James and I are," Lily sighed, running her hands through her curled and teased hair. "I mean, I kissed him when we were working things out on Christmas. Now we hug every once in a while, we talk like we're hardly friends...I just don't know."

"Well, you guys weren't really friends for long before you started dating," Delilah said, applying her eyeliner in the mirror. "So it's a little hard to go back to something that never existed."

"Is that why you went straight back into a relationship with Sirius?" Loraina asked curiously. Delilah shrugged.

"Maybe. I mean, not intentionally, but maybe. Without nothing, ya know?" Delilah rambled. "Is it odd that I'm nervous about this party? The fact that last time Sirius and I were at a party he ran off with Missy. And she's going to be there tonight."

"You have nothing to worry about," Lily said confidently with a shake of her red mane. "Jesus Christ, could this hair be any bigger?"

"It's hot," Loraina assured her. "Guys, I seriously look like a hooker. Like a two sickle hooker."

"Oh come on, you look like you at least cost a galleon," Delilah joked. Lily giggled.

"Maybe a galleon and a knut," Lily joined in. Loraina rolled her eyes.

"Let's just get this over with then. The boys are waiting downstairs," Loraina said with a nervous intake of breath.

The girls made their way down the stairs, slightly wobbly in their heels. The boys were sitting around on the couch, their backs to them. Lily held her hand out before either girl could make their presence known. The Marauders looked as if nothing had ever happened between them, for the first time in weeks. Remus was speaking, running his hands over his sandy hair.

"I mean, I want her back, you know?" he was venting. Loraina's jade green eyes widened and she attempted to go back up the stairs, looking nervous. Lily pulled her back, but cleared her throat.

The boys all leapt up in shock, turning and awkwardly covering up their conversation before finally laying their eyes on the girls. Remus's jaw dropped in shock for a moment before he recovered, shaking himself and then staring anywhere but his ex-girlfriend, who sighed sadly and leaned against the couch.

"You look amazing, Lily," James said quietly. Lily gave him a small smile.

"My hair is ridiculous."

"It's beautiful," he said sincerely. "I mean it."

"Thanks," she said, patting her hair down in the back a little bit. Sirius was simply staring at Delilah, looking a little dumbfounded.

"Well?" she asked with a sultry little giggle. He took two steps toward her before pressing her against the wall and ravenously kissing her. The remaining four stood awkwardly for a moment before James threw the nearest book at his best friend's back.

"Oi, mate, save it for the party," James whined, and Sirius simply grinned cockily. Delilah blushed, smoothing out her dress.

"Shall we?" she asked in a high pitched voice. Loraina threw an arm around her.

"Away we go," the platinum blonde laughed. "Let this party, and this year, be better than the last!"

"Ay!" Lily shouted, coming to Delilah's other side. Her face suddenly became serious as they walked through the halls. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make. I fully intend on partying for the first time in my life."

"That's my girl!" Delilah whooped. "This is going to be amazing!" She skipped a head, walking backwards in front of her friends.

"You're going to trip," Loraina laughed, suddenly coloring as Remus fell into step on her other side. Sirius dashed up to his girlfriend, grabbing her hand and dragging her quickly down the hall.

"Pardon us," Sirius said with a wink, "we're just going to make a quick stop at the nearest broom closet."

"Unhand me, Black!" Delilah yelled jokingly, and as the entire group shared a laugh at Delilah and Sirius's antics, it suddenly felt as if nothing had ever come between them.

Loraina skipped forward a few steps and threw her arms out and her head back. "I want to dance!"

"You can dance when we get there," Remus laughed.

"Dance with me?" Loraina turned suddenly, a confident smile on her face. Remus looked surprised at her sudden change in behavior.

"Sure," he replied, a small grin playing on his lips.

A sudden cat call from behind them caused Loraina to turn. "Looking good, Parker!" Troy said with a wink at her. He and his friends caught up to their group, and he lightly tapped her butt. She squealed and took a step closer to Remus, who felt a sudden desire to put his arm around the girl beside him and punch Troy in the face all at the same time.

"You too, Evans," his friend Sam smirked at the redhead, who turned abruptly and colored immediately.

"Well, uhm, thank you?" she replied uncertainly. He walked up beside her, oblivious of the stare down he was receiving from James. Without thinking about it, James grabbed Lily around the waist possessively.

"She does look fantastic," James said pointedly. The boy put up his hands innocently.

"Sorry, mate," he whistled, backing away toward the Ravenclaws. Lily looked up at James curiously.

"What was that for?"

"I didn't like him looking at you like you're a piece of meat."

"Oh please, you're looking at me the same way," Lily said playfully, catching James off guard. "Come on, Jay, lighten up."

Hearing her say his nickname for him for the first time in a month caused a huge grin to spread across his face. He grinned even wider as he realized that the ring he had given her was on a chain around her neck, catching the light and glistening. They made their way into the party, with its dark interior, pounding music, abundance of alcohol, and masses of rowdy teenagers.

"I'm going to grab a drink," Delilah shouted over the noise. She weaved her way through a crowd of Slytherin boys, who all looked at her appreciatively, much to the chagrin of Sirius.

"Dance with me!" Loraina exclaimed, grabbing Remus's hand and dragging him onto the dance floor. "Loosen up!" she giggled, unbuttoning the top button of his black shirt. He gulped nervously, allowing her to lead him. Next thing he knew, she was grinding against him provactively in her tiny dress, pushing his hands onto her shapely little hips. He watched with wide brown eyes as she slithered her way down toward the floor, rolling back up seductively against him. Oh bloody hell.

Across the room, Lily was standing with James near the bar, and out of sudden nervousness, she grabbed the nearest drink and downed it, choking and blinking back tears.

"What was that?" James laughed.

"I don't have a flipping clue," Lily said. "But I need another one."

She grabbed a shot of firewhiskey, downing it as she heard Delilah cheer from a few people over. Her blonde friend made her way toward her, handing her a shot glass full of some kind of glowing blue liquid. Delilah held one in her hand as well.

"To new beginnings," the blonde shouted. Lily nodded, and the two clinked glasses before downing the liquid inside in one sharp motion. They slammed the glasses down hard, shaking their heads. "Merlin!"

Lily was suddenly woozy from her rapid intake of liquor. "I think I went too fast."

"I'm on my fourth already!" Delilah giggled, stumbling a little. A concerned looking Sirius put his bottle down and grabbed his swaying girlfriend around the waist.

"You okay, baby?" he asked her. She leaned back against him.

"I'm fine, boyfriend!"

Lily put a hand over her suddenly warm face. "Isn't this fun, James?"

"Yeah," James said nervously. Lily had never drank in her life, and here she was downing magically enhanced alcohol like it was water. He was offered a drink, turning it down in favor of looking out for the redhead next to him.

"Oh my God," Delilah laughed, "look at Loraina and Remus!"

"She really is a hooker!" Lily burst out. The two girls grabbed each other, leaning against the bar in hysterics while James and Sirius exchanged confused glances.

"Do you want to dance?" a reasonably handsome Gryffindor sixth year that James knew as Tim Smith asked Lily. Before he could intervene, Lily was weaving through the crowd with Tim. James sighed, ruffling his hair.

"Oh, hey, Freddy!" Delilah suddenly exclaimed, breaking away from Sirius to chase after a dark haired Hufflepuff. Sirius watched her go, and looked over at his best mate.

"I'm thinking we shouldn't drink tonight."

"Yeah," James agreed, watching Tim pull Lily close to him. The girl was certainly not the most coordinated dancer when inebriated, causing James to laugh. Tim was looking over her head desperately all of a sudden. Lily looked up at him, her green eyes widening. James knew that look. She was sad. Tim grinned and lowered his mouth to hers. James watched in horror as the tall boy began kissing his Lily. Lily, for her part, looked relatively unresponsive. He began to push her off the dance floor, still kissing her, toward a couch. Lily suddenly looked more than unresponsive as he pushed her onto the couch; she was struggling to get away.

"Hold on, mate," James said, excusing himself from Sirius. He made it to the couch quickly, pulling Tim away from Lily in a relatively nonaggressive manner. "Sorry, Tim, she's not in a right state and I can't let you do-"

He was cut off by a punch straight in the face. James reeled for a moment before shaking his head, an eerily angry smile forming on his face before he pulled his own fist back and sent Tim flying off the couch.

"James!" Lily gasped, standing shakily on her feet. "You're my hero!"

And then her arms were around him, and she was kissing him, and pushing him onto the couch, crawling onto him desperately.

"Lily," he breathed through the kissing. "Lily, you're drunk."

"I don't care," she panted. "I would be doing this sober."

"No, Lily, you wouldn't," James said reluctantly but firmly. He gently pushed her off of him, taking her hands. "I don't want to do this with you when you aren't sober."

Lily's eyes filled with tears, and he closed his eyes, anticipating her anger at his rejection. Instead, her arms were around his neck and she was hugging him tightly, sniffling.

"Thank you," she whispered into his neck. James smiled, wrapping his arms around her. "You know, I really do still love you. I don't just make those things up."

"And I really do still love you, too," James assured her.

"I know," Lily said softly. "You do really love me. And it's really nice. I want us to go back to normal."

"I do too, flower," he grinned, kissing the top of her head. "But we'll see how you feel about that tomorrow."

"Okay," she giggled, detatching herself from him. She watched with obvious entertainment as Delilah danced scandalously on a table, flipping her hair around and dipping low to the ground. Remus and Loraina were at the bar close by to her, taking shots and talking only to one another. Sirius appeared suddenly, attempting to wrangle his girlfriend off the table.

"Poor Padfoot," James laughed.

Lily laughed. "I want to go, too!"

"Oh, no you don't," James chuckled, standing to grab her around the waist as she eagerly made her way over to Delilah's little stage.

"And your little slut friend makes a spectacle of herself once again," a sarcastic, spiteful voice said from behind Lily.

"Excuse me?" the redhead snapped, suddenly not so giggly in her drunkeness. Now she was mad.

"You heard me," Missy said, nodding her head toward Delilah. "It's only a matter of time until Sirius gets sick of her attention whore ways and comes crawling over here for a good time."

Before James had time to react, Lily had backhanded the other girl across the face, pointing her finger in Missy's face. "Don't you ever talk about my best friend."

Missy's jaw dropped for a moment before she pursed her lips and tackled Lily onto the ground. James watched with wide, startled eyes as the two girls began to roll on the ground, chants of "Girl fight!" filling the area.

James sighed, seeing that Loraina now had Remus pinned to the bar, her face dangerously close to his. Sirius was still attempting to get Delilah down, and so he took control of the situation on his own. He grabbed Lily by the waist, pulling her off as she kicked and flailed at the air.

"James, no!" she screeched.

"Come on, babe," James laughed heartily. He continued to carry her until they were at the other end of the room.

"She deserved it," Lily mumbled darkly.

"Look at you," James said with a smirk, "a drunken Head Girl, starting fist fights."

Lily suddenly burst into tears. "I'm a terrible example! I'm awful.."

"Lily!" James rushed to say. "No, no, that's not what I meant!"

Lily continued to cry, throwing herself into James's arms. "Please take me home!" she wailed. James nodded and began to lead her out of the Room of Requirement.

He passed Loraina and Remus, who were now kissing so furiously against the bar that he was concerned any minute articles of clothing would be removed. Just as this thought occurred to him, Remus's black shirt was thrown over his face, leaving his blonde friend in only a white undershirt.

"Bloody hell," James mumbled under his breath, grabbing the shirt and continuing to walk Lily out. Delilah was fighting fiercely with Sirius, pushing him and hitting him repeatedly. "I'm taking Lily back!" he shouted over the noise to Sirius, who looked at him helplessly.

James and Lily reached the Heads common room just as she stopped crying. "Come to my room with me," she insisted, pulling him by both hands.

"Lily..." James began awkwardly.

"Just to sleep," she said with a little smile. "Please. I have all these horrible nightmares ever since you rescued me and I don't want to be alone."

James frowned. "Okay, Lils." She began to crawl into bed in her dress and heels. James laughed and stopped her, removing her heels. She suddenly threw her arms up over her head.

"Help!" she giggled. James colored, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Uh, Lily..."

"Please?" she pouted. James sighed, hating that she had to be so...sexy, while so inebriated. He slowly pulled her dress over her head, leaving her in a black lace bra and little black boy shorts. She kicked playfully at the bedskirt, continuing to pout up at him. Suddenly she reached up, pulling him by the collar and kissing him hard, dragging him on top of her onto the bed. He pulled away, holding himself up on his elbows.

"Lily," James groaned. "Don't do this to me."

She pouted again. "Why can't you just be drunk like me?"

"Because I was trying to look out for you."

"Well, now we're here and you don't have to!" Lily exclaimed excitedly, running over to where she had dropped her small purse when she walked in. She pulled out what looked like a flask of firewhiskey. "I got this out of Tim's pocket when we were dancing." James looked at it wearily.

"This seems like an awful idea."

"Come on," Lily whined. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," she whispered in his ear, tugging on his earlobe with her teeth. He groaned again and snatched the flask from her hand, downing most of it in one chug. He threw it aside and grabbed her bare waist, pushing her back toward the bed.