Hi all,

Sorry I've been MIA - holiday season is hard and all! But please stay tuned for the first (real) chapter of this fic! I hope you enjoy it; please review, follow, and favorite if it so moves you. I would really appreciate it.

Please note that this is Jily, BlackKinnon, RemusXDorcas!

Happy Holidays,

Rose

December 21st, 1976

Identical brunette twins practically strutted down the stairs to the Great Hall with folded paper stars gently floating behind them. With a nod of either head, a star would trail off and drop into the hands of an unsuspecting student (only those above the age of sixteen, of course). The Prewett twins gave a wink to each student that received one, emphasizing the star's secrecy.

"Looking good as per usual, Morley," smiled the one with the beard, Fabian.

"As do you, Hilford," winked the one with the freckles, Gideon.

The two fifth year hufflepuff students giggled as the twins walked past them. They opened up their stars quickly, peeking around to make sure that no professors (or Peeves) were watching. Inside their stars said:

Astronomy Tower - 9:30pm. Tell no one… or else.

The twins walked into the Great Hall for the last super of the term. The ceiling was a foggy gray, like a storm was about to come, but beautiful flurries seemed to trickle down as well. The christmas decorations were as festive as ever, and there were laughs up and down the hall. For a moment, it seemed like there wasn't a war outside of these castle walls.

The last two stars dropped beside the plates of two Ravenclaw sixth years. And just as they did, a bright white flash from the other side of the room distracted the Prewett twins for making eye-contact with pretty Marie Macmillan and Elizabeth Washworth. Both of the twins rolled their eyes when they saw that they were being caught on camera by little Peter Pettigrew with ruffled brown hair, big eyes, and a chubby face. The friend beside him with jet black hair and round glasses waved over to them. That was James Potter.

They turned their backs awkwardly at the pretty girls and sulked over to the Gryffindor table. "You're ruining our advertisement business, Pettigrew," grumbled Fabian. "Also, who said you can take pictures of us talk to girls, ay?"

"Hey now," scolded an incredibly handsome boy with bright skin, a charming smile, and shiny black hair. He had a mouthful of mashed potatoes sloshing around in his mouth. "Only we - " the boy motioned to the four immediate students - "are allowed to ridicule and chastise Peter. Got that, Prewett?"

Peter couldn't help but let out a small, but proud smile as he reset his camera. "I thought you would like it for your senior yearbook, Fabian," he added.

"And I would want one from you, why?" Fabian glared, causing the boys (including his own twin) to look at him questioningly.

Gideon patted his brother's shoulder as he took swig of his pumpkin juice. "Now, now, other half, no need for moodiness. I know the weather can affect your mood sometimes-"

"So what if I get pleasure from seeing the sun," he countered loudly, "it's good for my beard highlights."

"- And that's not a reason to get pissy with poor Pettigrew," Gideon finished sternly. "Now eat something before I need to give you chocolate."

Fabian imitated his brother as he began to pour himself some pumpkin juice.

James leaned forward and said in his most diplomatic voice, "We're just interested in whom you are intend to invite to this rather large shindig? Hope you're inviting the right crowd?"

Fabian snorted. "I didn't take Potter as a blood supremacist-"

"My friend means Slytherin students," said the boy who had been quiet the entire up until now. He had shaggy auburn hair, dark green eyes, and a distinct scar. Remus Lupin was skimming through today's Daily Prophet.

Fabian paused. "Right, I'll be quiet now."

"We did invite a few Slytherin students though," noted Gideon. "Just two actually."

James sucked his teeth. "Ah, come now, Prewett. Slytherins are just going to end up ruining the party. And they all talk, so they're all going to know."

"When I say two, I meant to Vanity and Meadowes," Gideon explained.

The Marauders paused, even Remus popped his head up from his newspaper. Their eyes simultaneously shifted from the twins and roamed over to the table furthest away from them. They spotted a group of two girls sitting over towards the end of the table.

"Interesting nest of birds to choose from," murmured Peter.

Sirius scoffed. "Actually a rather nice choice. They're rather nice to look at. And not the worst Slytherins on the planet."

James deadpanned at his best friend. "Do you hear yourself now, Padfoot? I reckon that sounds like fraternizing with the enemy."

"I'll fraternize with the enemy any day if it meant fraternizing with birds like them," Sirius barked with a loud laugh.

"You weren't saying that when Meadowes nearly knocked you out during the game in October," frowned James, trying to continue his point.

The boys peered back at the Slytherin girls. The Marauders actually somewhat respected those two, often citing them as the strongest players on the team. Emma Vanity, a sixth year, was the Quidditch captain and the team's keeper. Dorcas Meadowes, also a sixth year, was one of the team's beater. Despite her slight physique, the girl had quite the arm.

"None of them will talk," Gideon said passively. "Also, Fabian is trying to get a quick shag in with Vanity before she leaves."

"Where is she going?" Remus asked curiously.

"Rumor has it she's dropping out," Peter noted.

"I heard it's true," said Fabian. "And that's why I'm not letting a girl like that just walk out these castle doors without being worshipped properly."

James shifted his glasses uncomfortably and let out a long breath.

"What's wrong with you, Potter?" asked Gideon. "I've never seen you so uneasy before."

"He just doesn't want Snivellus to join the party," noted Peter. "And I don't blame him." Peter put his hand up for a pound, which James responded less than enthused.

"Ah, because then you'll end up making a fool in front of yourself for Evans again, innit?" Fabian smirked, waving his fork at him knowingly. "You two would make a teenage girl's radioshow dreams."

James smiled for a moment because the thought of a sappy radioshow happy ending seemed pretty nice. But he immediately shook it out of his head, like he had been doing so far for the entire term. "I have barely spoken ten words to Evans this year, thanks," he countered defensively.

"And those words have been quite loud and mean," murmured Remus as he flipped the page.

"I'm trying to have as little interaction with her and Snape. I don't intend to start now."

"So does that mean Evans isn't invited either?" Gideon asked, raising a doubtful eyebrow.

James shrugged. Ever since they had all come up with the idea for an end of the term party, scenarios played through James' head like a movie. They'd see each other at the party, Lily Evans would a) glare at him for the whole night; (b) dazzle him beyond belief with that fucking angelic face of hers, causing him to do something irrational and idiotic that would cause her to then glare at him; or (c) completely ignore him. Neither option sounded splendid. He wished that somehow Lily Evans would somehow not be finished with her end-of-term essays and not be able to attend. But then again, who are we talking about? The two had managed to keep a considerable distance the last three months, but even that was difficult. James and Evans had several NEWT classes together: potions, charms, transfiguration, and DADA, He tried not stare at her as she bite her lip while concentrating, or push back her fire-red hair showing off her creamy neck. It felt impossible, but it was doable.

"And it's okay if we invited Greyson too?" Gideon asked curiously. "I mean it is helpful to have the Head Boy on your side."

"Might need to retract all those floating stars at this rate," grumbled Fabian.

James tried not to cringe at the thought of seeing Evans and Greyson together. He already saw the new couple fawning around each other enough in the Gryffindor Tower; he didn't need it on this night too. "Yeah, I guess it would be good for Greyson to come too," sighed James, as he put his hands behind his head.

"Mate," Sirius said as he took James' glass of pumpkin juice and lowered it under the table. He peaked around, keeping an eye out for any professors (or Peeves), before popping the top to his flask and pouring his fire whiskey into James' glass. "Get a little pre-game in now. It'll be good for you." He slammed the cup back down and gave his friend a bright smile.

James looked at it unsteadily. He sighed and prayed to whichever God he didn't believe in that this was going to be a decent night. He didn't want anymore trouble because the world was already going to shit as is. "Well, Cheers, Boys," he said before tipping his glass off to his housemates.

Marlene McKinnon was a strange, yet kind housemate and friend. She was loyal, creative, out-spoken, and a hoarder of muggle stuffed animals. However, she had some quirks.

Like being a hundred-percent okay with her own nudity in front of any audience.

"Marlene!" squeaked Mary MacDonald squeaked as Marlene arose from the bathtub. The Hufflepuff sixth year hid behind her own bushel of black curls. Mary had the face of a baby with a little bit of chub still on her cheeks, soft brown skin, and square black glasses. "Merlin, have some decency, will you?"

"It's not like anyone is here," Marlene said dismissively as she reached for her lotion.

The blond had a point. The seventh floor girls bathroom was only inhabited by four girls currently: naked Marlene McKinnon, uncomfortable Mary MacDonald, amused Emmeline Kim, and uninterested Lily Evans. The four friends often met up in this specific bathroom for their catch up sessions. It sucked that they were split up by houses (Marlene and Lily in Gryffindor while Mary and Emmeline were in Hufflepuff), but they still had managed a long lasting friendship since the end of their third year.

Marlene lathered her body with lotion unabashed. She had an athletic body due to years of Quidditch, sapphire blue eyes, and a silver bar piercing her left ear. She asked her Hufflepuff friends, "So, are you two going tonight?"

Emmeline shrugged, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder. "I might if I finish my Divination analysis. I can't seem to get this tea-reading." She was a sweet-looking girl of Korean descent with wavy black hair, cat-like eyes, and pouty lips.

"A reading Emmeline can't read," Marlene said mockingly with a smirk.

"I can tell you this much, McKinnon, it says you need to put on underwear," countered Emmeline, looking at her appraisingly.

"I love my body, thank you."

"All for self-love, Marlene, but enough is enough. I'm only sixteen - I don't want to go blind."

Marlene let out a laugh as she waved her wand at Emmeline. The tip of her wand splashed water onto Emmeline's legs. "All right, Playboy Bunny, do what you want," Emmeline said, retracting her legs just in time. "Just not my leaves. I need to keep the leaves exactly as they were!"

"What about you, Mary?" Marlene asked. "Going to take off the glasses and let loose for once in your life?"

"I need to finish my Creatures essay," insisted Mary, giving her friend a pleading look.

"Oh, you two bums! It's our last hoorah of the term, let's get drunk and make horrible choices," Marlene shouted, raising both of her hands up high as if she were on a rollercoaster.

"Underwear," Mary begged.

"Only if you indulge me, MacDonald, you deserve it! Stop working so hard," pleaded the blond. Mary gave her friend a dismissive look as Marlene then pointed to Lily. "And that goes for you too. You're done with finals, right?"

Lily held up a flask, eyes still glued on the newspaper. "Beat you to it, Marls," she said coolly as she jiggled the flask lightly.

Marlene, Mary, and Emmeline looked at their friend with round eyes. Lily Evans was not shy in terms of drinking, but it was only six o'clock which was pretty early for the ginger prefect.

"That's my girl," Marlene said as she slipped on her cotton underwear. She stalked over to Lily and sniffed the flask. "Firewhiskey and pumpkin juice, a favorite of yours." She took the flask and took a considerable swig. Once she put the drink back in Lily's hand, Marlene finally saw what Lily had been reading all along.

Five Dead in Essex - a Muggle-Born Family's Home Bombed

"Merlin, the third in the month," Marlene cringed. She noticed Lily's passive expression, but knew that underneath that attempt to seem cool and collected, she knew that Lily was torn up inside feeling as if she should be doing more to help end these attacks. "Stop staring at it, you're going to make yourself sick," she added snatching the newspaper away.

Lily didn't even try to fight her friend. "It's getting worse," She groaned.

Marlene nodded, "it is." She grabbed her T-shirt and slid it over her head. She didn't know what else to say.

"And it's probably going to keep getting worse," Emmeline added.

Marlene snapped her head at Emmeline and glared, "For a future seer, we must work on your timing, Emmeline."

Emmeline tilted her cup so that Marlene could see the tea leaves. She sighed and said in a grave voice, "Can't control time. It's just what the leaves say." She pointed to the intricate outline at the bottom of her cup. "It looks like a bird - a big one - coming at you. So, maybe that's a falcon. It's holding up something small and circular, maybe a ball. This long line at the lower end of the 'ball' gets slightly bigger towards the end, which could be a bat. So, maybe it could-"

"Today would be lovely," glared Marlene.

Emmeline let a short breath. "Falcon, skull or head possibly, and a club mean a deadly enemy, upcoming danger, and attacks. It's only going to get worse," she said exasperatedly.

"Smashing," Mary said, faking a chipper voice.

"If the tea message is so clear," Lily said before taking a sip of her alcoholic concoction, "then just imagine what it's going to look like in real life."

Marlene grabbed the flask out of her hand. "Okay, no more of this," Marlene said quickly, "you're now really going to make yourself sick." She screwed on the top and put it down. "Yes, it's fucking scary outside these walls right now. It's terrifying, but right now, we are safe. Dumbledore would never let Hogwarts get harmed by the War in anyway. We are also sixth years who are done with their hardest term ever and we deserve to be a happy about that. So, I beg of you three to try and chipper up instead of forecasting our deaths-"

"I never said anything about deaths," Emmeline countered defensively.

"-And staring blankly at newspapers," Marlene went on determinedly, "and to come out tonight and just for a second forget about what could happen and think about what's happening to us, right now!"

The three girls exchanged glances.

Lily snatched back her flask and said, "I'm coming out, Marlene, and you're just misinterpreting my pre-gaming."

Marlene gave her a look before turning to the others. "I hope to hear the same from you two. In precisely four hours, I expect you to be dancing on the telescopes of the Astronomy Tower."

And on the telescopes they were, dancing their souls out to the radio blasting through the Astronomy Tower.

Four hours later from their conversation in the bathroom, Mary and Emmeline were eight shots of fire whiskey deep into the night. The moment they finished their homework, they took a few shots of Firewhiskey in a row and just went on from there. Now, they were the main attractions at the party, which was smashing by the way.

Fabian and Gideon Prewett set up the whole shindig with floating shinning paper stars, glistening almost like disco balls. There were snacks out, but were mainly gone by this point, and a heavy-duty silencing charm placed on the tower. So, far everything was going according to plan.

"Well done,Ttwins," Sirius said, clapping them both on their backs as he walked up to them with the rest of the Marauders. "You managed a very decent party."

"Your compliments mean the world to us," Fabian said dryly.

"It's true," James added. "Everyone looks like they're really enjoying themselves."

"And the slytherins are doing just fine," Gideon pointed out. He nodded his head over to Vanity and Meadowes, both looked lovely, standing by the balcony. It looked like they were having a very important conversation.

"You talked to Vanity yet?" Peter asked curiously.

Fabian shook his head. "I'm waiting for the moment," he said dreamily, causing the surrounding boys to look at him doubtfully.

Sirius, who was paying very little attention, patted himself down in search of his cigarettes. Once he seemed to be at a loss, he looked to James and asked, "Oy, bum me a cig?"

James shook his head. "Sorry, Pads, I'm all out."

Sirius cursed under his breath and then shrugged. "Well, no better way to start up a conversation and a potential one-night stand than the mutual decay of one's lungs. Ah, there's McKinnon, she might have one." Sirius stalked over to the blond, who was surrounded by fellow Gryffindor members, with Peter at his side.

James was about to make a quip about how Sirius better keep his hands to himself when talking with Marlene, but he realized that he was all alone now. Remus' attention was focused elsewhere, specifically on the cute Elise Martin, a fifth year in Ravenclaw. They were talking by the punch bowl, looking quite intimate. Although he was proud of his friend, James' chest felt rather empty now. He made his way over to the snack bar to hoard whatever was left: a few crumbles of pumpkin cookies, chip crumbs, and few jellybeans. He stuck his hand in for a few jellybeans and picked out the least nasty ones, which meant strawberry and lemon. He popped them in his mouth, but nearly choked on the swallow when he saw Lily Evans.

Truthfully, James hated the power one girl had over him. Just looking at her made something in his body twitch. He could never act right in front of her, never show the self he really wanted her to see. But, it seemed like Lily Evans wasn't seeing anything clearly at the current moment.

Lily's face was as red as her hair; her eyes were barely open; and she was holding securely onto her flask. She slid down against the wall and took another swig before ruffling her hair out of her face. Even batshit drunk, Lily Evans still managed to look lovely.

Lily looked up at James, noticing his staring. She tried to glare, but it looked more like a lopsided smile. "What, Potter? Never seen a girl drunk before?"

James tried not to laugh because he wouldn't even try to tempt Evan's fury, even when drunk. He just gave her one of the famous Potter smiles and said, "You look a little more than drunk, Evans."

Lily shrugged, "You're probably right. Would you care to take some away from me?" Her head slung down into her knees as she raised her arm up to pass him her flask.

James leaned down to take the flask. He sniffed it once and grimaced. "Bloody Hell, Evans, what's that?" He asked curiously. It smelt stronger than most liquors he had tasted before, and that was quite a few.

"Tequila," Lily murmured looking up. "Muggle alcohol."

James looked at it questioningly, causing Lily to chuckle under her breath. She smirked at him, another crooked one. "Can't take a muggle drink, Potter?"

James snorted. "Evans, I'm the King of Firewhiskey, if you recall. I've had that title since our fourth year, thank you very much." He added in a bow at the end, which she seemed to like.

The redhead laughed, "Yeah, I do. You also threw up that night, and we heard you hurling for hours."

James slid down beside her and took a cautious swig of Tequila. It stung as it went down, and unfortunately, he felt no rush of confidence like he did with Firewhiskey, but he did feel considerably looser.

"That's foul," James stated matter-of-factly.

Lily shrugged, "It gets the trick done when you're trying to not feel… well, feelings."

The statement took James off-guard, so he took another swig to fill the awkward air. "What's wrong with you? You finished finals, Miss Prefect, and you're about to go home for christmas break. You should be celebrating. I mean, look at your mates. Mild MacDonald may be the hit of the party tonight."

This was true. Mary's glasses were off and she was singing loudly in accordance with one of The Beatles songs.

Lily patted James' shoulder. "And here we are concerned with our marks, getting smashed, and a savior baby when the world we currently live in is going to complete shit," she said before snatching back the tequila. She took a large gulp and shook her head as she swallowed. "Oh that may have been the one." She looked up to the ceiling and for a moment looked like she was praying.

"The one what?" James asked, feeling the effects of the alcohol rubbing off on him finally. He always got horny when drunk; it was like an itch that needed to be scratched. But Lily Evans was no mere itch. She was like walking into a field of poison ivy. Just having a conversation - a relatively peaceful one too - made him loose his mind. Her hair flowed down her skin, and her plump lips were slightly parted. What he would do to just feel them once against his own.

"The sip that will probably lead me to bad decisions," Lily explained coolly. She turned to him and opened her eyes slowly. James felt himself suck in a breath when those emerald eyes looked into his. He felt himself being sucked into her and let out an audible gulp. After a moment, the ginger titled her head, like a curious puppy.

"W-what?" James asked, trying not to sound overly cautious.

Lily pointed at him and wagged her index finger at him a little. "You, James Potter, rich class clown Marauder, have beautiful eyes underneath those foggy specks of yours."

75% of James wanted to grab her by the back of the neck and finally know what those soft red lips tasted like, and 25% of James also recognized that this must've been a dream. A perfectly wonderful dream that his unconscious concocted to simply fuck with him.

Instead of reacting in the way he wanted by saying something charming or complimenting her back, James instead insulted her. Like the idiot he was. James took away her flask and tsk-ed her when she tried to take it back. "Ah, ah, ah, Evans, it seems like you is clearly in need of water, muggle advil, and at least twelve hours of sleep because you just gave me a compliment."

"No, no, don't misunderstand" Lily countered. "It was simply a statement of fact. Like, for example, I have nice eyes, at least I reckon or I have nothing else going for me."

"You have stunning eyes, Evans."

Lily raised an eyebrow at the brutally honest statement. Despite being several drinks in, Lily had a perfectly good radar that could detect Potter Bullshit from a mile away. She knew when he was joking, being sarcastic, and when he was being completely honest. And there was honesty in his voice that made her heart rate spike for just a moment. She mentally blamed it on the alcohol.

So, she reached over and pulled the flask away from him and said, "Seems like someone also has been drinking a little too much because you almost sounded genuine."

James straightened up and said, "It was."

Lily squinted her eyes at him and decided to take another swig. "Well, if James Potter is being genuine, I obviously need to re-hydrate myself with some water," she said crassly. She tried to stand up, but nearly toppled forward. Luckily, she felt strong hands steady her, squeezing her hips to make sure she would no longer fall. And of course, when Lily Evans was drunk, she felt the insatiable need to snog. And her hips were a complete sore spot for her; her face was flushing even harder now. Tequila was not to blame this time.

"Are you okay?" James asked, standing up beside her. His hands still on her hips, almost massaging them.

Lily straightened up and tried to think. She wanted to slap herself for thinking such things, especially about bloody James Potter. Master of mean pranks, crude jokes, and womanizing. Also, the destroyer of friendships, or so she liked to blame on him sometimes whenever she felt close to forgiving Severus. Merlin, no more tequila for her.

"I'm - uh - I'm-"

"Lily!"

James and Lily both looked up and saw that Connor Greyson, Gryffindor Head Boy, was running over to the two. He had dark skin, short black hair, and a kind face. He slowed down when he saw that James had his hands on Lily and gave him a questioning look. "Potter, what're doing to my girlfriend?" Connor asked shortly.

James looked down at Lily and analyzed the physicality of the situation they were in. He gave a small smile towards his Head Boy and said, "Well, it's not what it looks like."

Lily smacked James' hands off of her hips. She stood up straightly and blinked a few times, regaining her sense of sobriety. "Potter was just helping me up," Lily explained casually. "Want some tequila?"

Connor gave his girlfriend a small hug and said, "I'm all right, Love." He then looked back at James with a blank face and said, "Good looking out, I s'pose, right, Potter?"

James saluted his Head Boy, not wanting a detention in line for him when they all returned back from the break.

Lily looked back at James and shook her flask. "Have fun, Potter."

"Likewise, Evans," James nodded as the redhead and her boyfriend turned around. Once they were gone and headed back towards another group of Gryffindors, he leaned against the wall and let out a long sigh. Maybe 1977 would bring in some good luck, because James Potter actually had a decent conversation with Lily Evans. He couldn't help but smile.