Still December 21st, 1976

Connor Greyson tried his hardest not to seem jealous, because despite the messages from all the romance novels and radio-dramas, no girl really liked a man who was jealous. Especially his girl, Lily Evans. He lucked out with Lily honestly; it took him months to ask out the ginger. Besides the fact that she was beautiful with that wavy mane of fire red hair, shinning eyes, and the slightest dash of freckles, Evans was one of those genuinely decent human beings. She was clever, quick-witted, loyal, and truly kind. He figured this much out in just a month of dating her so far. Connor knew that there were a long list of male students at the school who would die to take her on a date. One of those men was James Potter.

Now, oppositely, Connor knew that there were lines and lines of girls waiting to date the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain who was filthy rich, exceptionally charming (even McGonagall has somewhat fallen for the bloke), and actually rather handsome. James Potter did have an awkward stage, like most teenagers, but once he came back this academic year, he was something else. He grew about twelve centimeters, bulked out, and even managed to find the perfect combination of tousled and sleek for his jet black hair. And even though Connor knew that Lily considered Potter to be an arrogant prick; he would still find himself wondering if Lily would ever re-consider James' date offer. Not that the two talked at all in the term, or so he believed.

Currently, Lily was gulping down a tall glass of water that he had brought her. They were sitting by themselves, and he had one hand rubbing hers. "You feeling alright?" He asked warmly.

Lily nodded with a smile and wiped the remnants of the liquid off her mouth with the back of her hand. "I'll be fine, Connor," she said reassuringly. "I can boot-and-rally quite well."

Connor nodded, "Let's hope there won't be any booting, just rallying."

Lily smiled and shook her glass of water. "Working on it," she added before taking another sip.

After a moment Connor found himself looking at Potter again, who was now talking to Remus Lupin. Another fellow who would probably like to ask out his girlfriend. Although Lupin was perhaps too shy or too friendly with Lily to actually make advances. Connor could feel his stomach twist. "Well," Connor asked, attempting nonchalance, "You and Potter seemed rather friendly."

Lily gave him a questioning look. "Connor," She said in a stern voice, "the only time that my identity, Potter's, and the word friendly should come together in a sentence is when the word not is also in there."

Connor couldn't help, but smile at that. "You know he's still into you, right?" He asked.

Lily sipped more of her water. "I've heard mixed reviews on that."

"He looks at you the same way he did last year, and the year before, and the year before that."

"Like a piece of meat that he's ready to try out for the first time," Lily scoffed, "How romantic."

"He looks at you like he wants to do nothing else, but, well, look at you."

Lily rubbed her chin because well, what else do you say to that. It wasn't true, of course, but Connor didn't believe that. She had seen first hand the way James Potter can treat girls: charm them, shag them, and toss them aside. Even if he had been looking at her like that for the past how many years, she was not interested. She pressed a quick kiss to her boyfriend's warm cheek, flushed from his own alcohol consumption. "Connor," Lily said in a soft voice, "Marlene is James' cousin as you are aware of. Now, she spent the entire summer with him and explained to me in great detail the many escapades he's had with women. He's over me, and that's why he hasn't spoken more than ten words to me the entire term. He's not into me; I'm not into him. Simple."

"Just because he's shagged other girls doesn't mean he's not into you, Lil."

Lily gave a dramatic shrug. "Either way though," Lily said taking his face into her small hands, "I don't want to be with James Potter. I want to be with you." She leaned in for a kiss, and Connor reciprocated. He would have to trust Lily's words for now.

"Did I see you talking to Lily?" Remus Lupin asked eagerly as he stepped over to his friend, sipping on his own drink. "And without tearing each other a part?"

James Potter rubbed his chin, and looked over to Evans and Greyson. She was holding him, lovingly. An expression he had never seen before on her. It looked good. "Truthfully, I'm not quite sure," James said, still relishing the moment he had with her. "She may have been insulting me to my face, but said it in a nice enough tone."

"Often times, you can tell when Lily is not being genuine," Remus explained insightfully, "she wants you to know." Out of all the Marauders, Remus and Lily were the closest by far. They had become rather close when they were paired up as study partners for their third year History of Magic course.

James didn't know how true that was. That girl was harder to read than an Arthimancy Textbook. He looked over to Remus, who looked rather radiant, and couldn't help but smirk. "Did you just talk to Elise Martin, without ripping each other's clothes off?" James asked, changing the topic.

Remus scoffed as he passed James the flask. "Prongs, you know I'm a one-night stand kind of a man," he said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"A two-night stay may be good for you, Moony," commented James. "You're allowed to break your rules every once and a while, you know?"

Remus shook his head determinedly. "No, those rules are good rules," Remus said coolly, "I only break rules with you, Sirius, and Peter. That's my time for that."

James laughed. "All right, squire prefect. Don't get too cocky now."

"This is bloody ridiculous," Sirius said, popping up behind them. "Absolutely ludicrous!"

"What now?" asked James.

Sirius ran a hand through his dark, nearly shaking with anxiety. "How is it that not one bird has a cigarette? Not one!" Sirius demanded hotly.

"Finals stressed everyone out, everyone is probably out," Remus reasoned nonchalantly.

"What about my stress!" Sirius exclaimed loudly, banging his hands against his chest. A few students even turned to them in surprise. "And I don't even have any in the room! Look!" He pulled out his wand. "Accio Cigarettes!"

Nothing changed.

"Withdrawal will be nasty for you," Remus noted.

Peter tapped on Sirius' shoulder and whispered loudly, "Oy, Sirius, look over there. She has one."

The four boys turned their heads over to the balcony of the tower and saw that Dorcas Meadowes, while speaking to Emma Vanity, just lit up a cigarette. Remus let out a low whistle and clapped his friend on the back. "That's going to be an interesting introduction," he murmured.

"She's terrifying… but gorgeous" added Sirius, looking at Dorcas Meadowes appraisingly.

"She is very attractive," Remus said, not trying to sound too enthused.

"She may be the hottest bird in the school!" Peter said excitedly, clapping his hands together.

"Eh…" James said dismissively.

This was true about Dorcas Meadowes. Although she was small, probably around 160cm (5'3), she had a striking presence. She had flawless skin, long onyx hair, a shapely figure, and the most stunning ice blue eyes. She looked like old Hollywood met high-end English fashion. It was hard not to notice her.

"What if she petrifies me?" Sirius asked, suddenly finding talking to women the hardest thing on the planet. Normally, it came as easy as English did for him. "I mean last time I talked to her, she nearly broke my nose."

"That's because you called her a cheating twat, Sirius," Remus said as if it were obvious.

James wrapped an arm around his best friend's shoulder. "You, Mr. Padfoot, are Sirius Orion Black. You are the top ranking assassin of the league of Lady Killers. Dorcas Meadowes will not only offer you a cig, but maybe more!" He said wondrously, indulging in his own dramatics.

"Excessive," muttered Remus.

Sirius ignored his more rational friend and looked to James with confidence. "I'm going to do it! I mean, I'm Sirius fucking Black. Look at me."

"Right you are, Mate," James cheered. Shit, if James could talk to Lily Evans without getting his head ripped off, maybe Sirius could actually win over the cold Dorcas Meadows.

Sirius grabbed Remus' flask and took a quick sip for some liquid courage. "See you on the other side, Boys!"

"Don't hurt yourself now," Remus called out.

On the balcony, Dorcas Meadowes was not amused. When she lit the cigarette, it was out of pure annoyance and frustration. Normally, she was rather good at concealing her emotions. But Emma Vanity had been her only friend since their third year together. So, Emma Vanity was well aware of her friend's off-put mood.

"It's what I want to do," Emma said, still trying to sound calm. She checked her compact mirror to make sure that she still had all of her lipstick on.

"Yeah, I got that part," Dorcas said as she took the first drag of her cigarette. "It's just bloody stupid, that's all."

"The war is at its peak, Dorcas," Emma insisted. She flipped her black hair over her shoulder, showing off her warm mocha skin. She was beautiful with slender proportions, bright brown eyes, and quite the flashy dress on. Many of the male students were staring at her, and she absolutely adored it. "I need to protect myself."

"And when did you need a man to do that?" Dorcas asked hotly, confused by her friend's sudden sense of feminine weakness.

Emma let out a haughty laugh. "I don't need Carl," she said truthfully, "I'm using him."

"Even better," Dorcas said dryly.

"He wants to marry me," explained Emma.

Dorcas deadpanned and simply took a drag of her cigarette. She waited for Emma to continue.

"I'll be rich at seventeen, and he's dying anyway," Emma explained coldly as she took a sip of her wine.

Dorcas let out a loud breath and quickly composed her rather astonished face. She knew her friend was rather merciless and cunning, but ruthless was never a word to describe Emma Vanity until now. "That's, well, that's fucking harsh, Em."

"There's a war going on," Emma emphasized again. "I am a half-blood with a muggle mum. Who knows what's going to happen to people like me? Or for that matter, people like you, Dorcas. You should be finding a way to protect yourself too. You have to look out for yourself now."

Dorcas ran a hand through her own dark hair. She leaned against the balcony edge and said, "The safest place for a muggle-born is here, Emma, and that's where I am staying."

Emma scoffed. "You can't possibly believe that."

Dorcas shrugged and took her longest drag yet. "Dumbledore wouldn't let anything happen to us inside of Hogwarts."

"What about radicals like Mulciber and Avery, huh?" Emma asked fiercely, putting her hands on her hips. "They'll be all over you, more so than they've been already."

Dorcas smiled just at the thought of being given a reason to pull out Avery's hair and smash in Mulciber's jaw. "I can deal with those two."

Emma let out a sigh. Both girls were far too stubborn to change one another's mind. "We'll stay in touch," She said, almost reaching out to Dorcas' hand.

Dorcas nodded, but knew it wasn't true. Emma was never really the letter-writing type. She was too self-involved to read any of Dorcas' letters from their vacations, she didn't expect her to start now.

"All right, well, I'm going to join the party," Emma smiled. "Apparently, Fabian Prewett invited me specifically because he heard I was leaving." She had a face on like that of a predator finding its prey.

"Good luck, Gold Digger," Dorcas smirked, picking up Emma's left wine.

"Try and have fun, Masochist," Emma said, sticking her tongue out before strutting amongst the rest of the Hogwarts students.

Men flocked to Emma like pigeons flocked to bread. Dorcas watched un-impressed and actually rather disappointedly. She turned her head sharply and instead tried to find solace in the stars and moon. Yes, she was upset by Emma's usage of others, although it was the Slytherin motto practically, but mainly Dorcas was upset because she didn't really know anyone else in Hogwarts. The rest of the Slytherin students ostracized her for being the only muggle-born in the House, and the rest of the school was afraid of her, or hated her for being a slytherin. And well, she didn't blame them because she wasn't the most social being, never had been either.

"Oy, um, Meadowes."

Dorcas looked away from the night sky and saw that Sirius Black was standing before her. The most cocky Marauder of them all, the ultimate Slytherin Blood Traitor, and the Beater who called her a cheating twat. Oh, this should be amusing. She stayed quiet and took a long swig as she waited for him to speak.

Sirius chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know I must not be your favorite Gryffindor face-"

"Try the antonym," she murmured in agreement, letting smoke trickle out from her mouth.

Sirius shrugged and said in a blasé voice, "I completely understand that, and it was rude of me calling you that last year. I haven't apologized since then. Normally, I act much more noble than that, and if my mother saw me act like that, she would be appalled. And in actuality, that idea alone would make me delighted-"

"Black," Dorcas said curtly.

Sirius paused noticing his rambling and raised an eyebrow.

Dorcas took another drag of her cigarette and let some of the smoke blow out in his face. "I have a feeling that this apology is not as much of an apology as it is an inquiry, and I'm really not in the mood for long stories, so…" she said coolly, "what do you want?"

His blank face turned into a smirk. Who knew that Dorcas Meadowes actually give as little shits as it seemed? Everyone thought it was just a hoax or some mysterious persona the girl put on. It seems like no games would be needed here; it would just be unnecessary to charm a girl with no intention of being charmed whatsoever. So, he cleared his throat and asked in his most normal tone, as if he were talking to any of the other Marauder, "Could you bum me a cigarette? You're the only bird in here that seems to have one."

"Ah." She slipped her own cigarette between her lips and dug into her back jean pocket and pulled out a tin case with some weird insignia on the front that looked like some weird version of a devil angel. She passed it to him and pulled out her own cig from her lips. "It seems unlikely that I'm the only girl in here with cigarettes," Dorcas noted.

"Trust me," Sirius noted as he took one of the nicely rolled cigarettes, "I tried before coming to you."

"Every girl?" Dorcas asked, amused and impressed with his self-confidence.

"Eh," Sirius shrugged as he put the cig to his lips, "I avoided a few of them; the ones I've hooked up with and the ones who've hooked up with my mates."

"A womanizer with morals," she mused, "impressive."

"I aim to impress," Sirius said. As if it were a glass, he raised the cigarette in cheers. Dorcas joined him before he pointed to the end of his cigarette with his wand, and without a sound, a flame kissed the end of it. Sirius puffed a few times before it lit properly, but he let out a long sigh once it did. "Honestly, Meadowes, good looking out."

"Do what I can," Dorcas said indifferently.

"And now, I can see with complete honesty that I am sorry for calling you a cheating twat," Sirius said solemnly, putting his free hand over his heart. "You are definitely not a twat."

She ashed her cigarette and said, "I appreciate that, I guess."

"And you're a rather good beater," he added.

"Okay. Don't hurt yourself, Black."

"I thought I would try."

"Try what?"

"Seducing you like every other bird would like to be seduced in here."

Dorcas raised her eyebrows as she took the longest drag yet. The long inhale gave her time to analyze that statement. The bluntness actually may have been the most seductive thing she's heard in a minute. "And how would that be?" She asked releasing the smoke to the side.

Sirius puffed and released rather quickly. "Compliment you on your most obvious and hard-worked features. For instance, everyone in the school knows you're a fantastic beater, even for a Slytherin-"

Dorcas snorted, "Sore loser."

"- And you know that probably better than anyone. Or that you're beautiful. Those eyes, nice set of lips, and a fit body. Merlin, your mum must have been quite the looker."

Dorcas remained as composed as possible as she scratched her head awkwardly. "Is that what you tell all the girls? Their mums must've been hot?" She teased.

"Only the ones with most likely pretty mums," Sirius agreed. "Is she?"

Dorcas looked down at the ground, not wanting to think of her mother too much. She agreed nonetheless though and said, "Yeah. Very."

Sirius smiled, "It only makes sense that she has a daughter looking like you."

She took a long swig of the wine, nearly finishing it the formerly full glass. She then gave him a questionable look. "Does this work on other girls? I'm very curious."

Sirius calculated the results for a moment. "I say I have a solid 87% success rate with this one," he said earnestly.

Dorcas had to laugh at that one. "Well, it's not with me," she said, feeling some effects of the alcohol warm her.

"Well, I've never been shot down like that either," Sirius said in a rather appreciative tone, "well done, Meadowes."

She pursed her lips before finishing the rest of the wine, which was now causing her to feel restless and well, aroused. The opportunity was practically begging her. Sirius Black wasn't a bad-looking bloke either, actually rather attractive. And it had been weeks since she's been laid, and the rumors were consistent about Black's oral abilities, and she was just annoyed, just fed-up, and just tipsy enough for this to be a decent idea. She took the last lick of her cigarette before throwing it off the astronomy tower and gave him a look. She appreciated the audible gulp she heard when his gray eyes met her blue ones.

"You know what would work on me, Black?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?" He said, trying not to sound like his former fifteen year old virgin self.

Dorcas stepped down from the balcony and looked back at him with a devilish stare. "You'll finish your cigarette, follow me to the top floor of the tower, and meet me in the empty storage cupboard. Can you manage that?"

Sirius nearly dropped the cigarette, but he was still Sirius Black. A reputation to maintain. He nodded and straightened his collar. "I think so."

"Good," Dorcas said before turning on her heel to meet him in their destination. In the mean time, Sirius silently thanked himself, his Black genes, and the good sense of charm he learned on his own. He tossed his cigarette and was only a few steps behind Dorcas Meadowes.

"Merlin's Beard," Marlene McKinnon gaped. She grabbed onto Lily's arm, who was now trying to re-find her perfect alcohol balance with some wine. "Is that Black following Meadowes?!"

"Who's Meadowes?" Lily asked as she finished her sip.

"Dorcas Meadowes!" Marlene said in a hushed voice. "Sixth year, Beater, the only muggle-born to be placed in Slytherin in over a hundred years. Look!" The blond physically moved her friend's head in the direction of the winding staircase where both Meadowes and Black were climbing now.

"Oh," Lily said, only partially interested, more interested in her drinking. "Huh, that Meadowes."

Emmeline had popped up behind them and grabbed Lily's drink. She was already a bright red, which she attributes to her Korean genes. She took a sip herself and pointed at the distant "couple" and informed, "Pretty sure he called her a twat last year though."

"Language, Emmeline!" Mary demanded ferocsiouly. She tended to get loud when she was inebriated.

"Yeah, and she punched him in the nose for it," Marlene added.

"Seems like there won't be anymore punching between those too," noted Gideon Prewett as he rested an arm on Lily's head. He was that much taller than she.

"Just loads of pounding," winked Fabian.

Marlene made a disgusted noise, Lily frowned as she continued to drink, and Emmeline just laughed. "Ugh, you two are foul," Mary grimaced.

"Despite our foulness," Gideon said as he lifted a finger, "we've created a rather lovely gathering haven't we? Where else would you see a Gryffindor snog a Slytherin, ay?"

"Speaking of Slytherins," Fabian said as he peered past the two girls, "I'm going to get myself one." He skittered past Marlene, Lily, and his brother and headed towards Emma Vanity, who slipped away past a few drooling fifth years.

"Emma Vanity?" Emmeline asked in disbelief. "Out of all the girls, he picks the slag?"

"Harsh, Emmy," Lily said.

"It's true," Emmeline said defensively. "Rumor has it that she's not coming back next term because some old wealthy wizard wants to marry her! If that's not a gold digger, then what is?"

Lily dismissed it and said, "Leave the rumors as rumors. You don't know why she may be doing it. She may love him."

Gideon, the gentler of the two Prewetts, even gave a doubtful look. "That girl literally has the surname Vanity, Evans. I'm pretty sure she won't love anyone else but herself."

Lily shrugged. She didn't enjoy partaking in the gossip mill, especially when it concerned people she had no clue about. "It is a good party though, Gideon," she said, trying to lighten the mood. "Seriously! Everyone seems to be having a very good time."

"Oh! I love this song!" Mary squealed, throwing her hands up high as a Jackson 5 song came on. "Come on, Emmeline, let's dance."

"All right, all right," Emmeline grumbled as she took another shot of fire whiskey. She followed Mary as they found a few other Hufflepuff students to dance with.

Gideon smiled proudly as he watched Mary and Emmeline dance off. "Thank you, Evans," he said triumphantly, "I'm glad you're enjoying it. It seems that even you and Potter got along this evening. I can say that's quite an impressive feat."

Marlene nearly choked her on her drink. "You two talked? And one of you isn't steaming from anger?" She asked incredulously.

Lily shushed them both. "Just for a minute," she said sheepishly.

Marlene let out a long hmmm as she sipped on her firewhiskey. "Ignoring the fact that he also has the amazing McKinnon blood in him, James does not entirely suck as human being."

The redhead let out a loud snort.

"I'm serious, Lily," insisted Marlene. "He's a decent human being, and he's changed in the past few months. He's gotten his head on his shoulders a bit more now. Haven't you noticed?"

Lily contemplated this for a moment. She had noticed a significant change in James Potter's actions. He stopped pranking innocent first years, stopped showing off (as much) in Transfiguration class, and well, stopped trying to ask her out on dates. It made this year significantly more peaceful, and the conversation she just had with him was actually rather tranquil. Or maybe the alcohol was acting as peacemaker.

"I've noticed it a bit," Lily agreed hesitantly. "But, that doesn't mean I want to go on a date with him or be his friend! He's caused too much trouble for me as is."

Gideon gave her a pointed look. "Evans, you're the one always telling people to forgive each other. Shouldn't you be listening to your own advice?"

Marlene clapped her hands together. "Thank you, Prewett! See?"

Lily frowned. "James Potter frightened more than half of the male population away from at this school. He has bullied my friends-"

"Former friend," Marlene clarified.

"Yes, that's true," Lily noted, "but either way, he's made my life exceptionally difficult and I'm not in the mood to forgive him-"

"All right, all right," the blond said, trying to settle things down, "all I am saying is to maybe give him a chance to prove that he could possibly, maybe, sometime in the near future, be your humble acquaintance."

"Humble acquaintance," Lily repeated in a murmur before taking another sip.

Her eyes landed on James Potter, who was now talking to a few Ravenclaw students. They all looked to be having a rather dashing time. And then he ran his hand through his stupid jet black hair… that did look rather soft. Come off it, Lily, her mind shouted at her. Lily wanted to smack herself for thinking such thoughts. Twice in one night! Merlin, she was going to have to control her drinking because twice was far too much. In the past term, yes, she'll admit that she's had rare moments of weakness (which she will blame is due to stress of NEWT classes) in which she found herself observing Potter's stupid unruly hair or his muscles because he must've worked out heavily during the summer. And she hated those moments more than anything.

"Yeah, not happening," Lily said determinedly as she a much larger swig this time. Gideon couldn't help but laugh, while Marlene cringed.

"You know, it's hard having my two best friends in the world fighting every time they enter the same room," Marlene scowled. "I would like to party with you both, eat meals with you both, and, I don't know, just be a person with you both."

"Well, now we just don't talk to each other. One step at a time, my friend," Lily teased.

"Oh, you are frustrating," Marlene glared. "But, either way, I expect you two to both be cordial enough to attend my New Year's Party, correct?"

"When's that again?" Lily asked, feigning ignorance. This caused her to be pushed by Marlene.

The curly blond then turned to face Prewett and said, "I expect you and your sleazier half to be there too, right? I couldn't imagine the Prewetts not attending a function."

Gideon smiled mischievously. "Wouldn't miss it for the world, Love."

"Good," she said in a determined voice.

And the party went on; it was a good party. Everyone enjoyed their time. A game of beer pong started up, more dancing, and even louder music. It seemed as if this party was going to make Hogwarts' underground history. Peter took pictures to memorialize the moment. He got a picture of the Marauders all together, Marlene and James taking fire whiskey shots together, the Prewett Hosts, MacDonald and Kim nearly giving a strip tease, and even one of Lily and Marlene winning at beer pong against Greyson and Caradoc Dearborn. The last picture of the night he snapped was a most unfortunate one however.

"Oh bullocks," Peter whispered when he realized what he snapped. He skittered away from the Astonomy Tower's entrance staircase and hurried over to James and Remus, who were chatting it up with the same Ravenclaw girls. "Oy, oy, big trouble."

"Kinda busy now, Pete," hissed James, trying hard to focus on pretty Veronica Gross instead of his hyperactive friend.

"Slytherins!" Peter squeaked. He pointed to the staircase.

James and Remus immediately looked over the Ravenclaw girls' and Peter's head to see three darkly-dressed Slytherin students standing at the top of the staircase, eyeing the party roguishly.

"Go tell the Prewetts, will you, Peter?" Remus suggested. He knew that Peter particularly hated that crowd because those three, including Snape, were the ones to pick on Peter the most.

"Looks like we didn't get the invite," Caleb Parkinson noted in a loud voice, his snooty nose high in the air. He had dark hair, pale white skin, a long nose, and a lean build. He pulled out his wand and wordlessly blasted the radio speaker, causing a few students to shout in terror.

The room got quiet. Parkinson himself was Head boy of Slytherin with the ability to deduct points and serve detentions as easily as he liked. It didn't help that he had two eye-witnesses with him who were also well-loved prefects (at least by some professors): crude Alex Mulciber and vicious Mariah Avery.

"Well, this is going to be unpleasant," whispered Remus.

"You ought to hide," James noted to his friend.

"And since when did Marauders hide?" Remus asked indignantly.

"When it involves expulsion," the Quidditch Captain countered quickly. "It's one thing if just regular students are seen throwing a party, but you and all the other prefects, including Greyson, should get the hell out of here. You all may get expelled for allowing and attending a party."

Remus sucked in a quick breath. His mind raced of all the consequences that would come if Dumbledore knew he was attending a party. What school would take a werewolf for a student? And which Headmaster would create an underground tunnel for him to access on his full moons? Remus let out an aggravated groan and stepped behind his taller friend. "I could hit them with a quick oblivate spell and throw them off the tower," he whispered to James, readying his wand.

James tried to contain his guffaw, but slid it off as a cough. "A little dark for you, ay, Remus?"

"Tell that to the full moon coming up next week," mumbled Remus, sliding his wand back into his trousers.

"No one cares to share who the creator of this party is?" Parkinson asked in a loud voice. He had cruel smile on his face. He was enjoying this far too much. No one answered him too, because at this point, what was there to say? They were caught red-handed by the three nastiest students in the school.

Lily, who stood by the pong table, looked to Connor desperately and mouthed, Do Something.

"If I do something," Connor whispered quietly, sitting behind the taller Caradoc, "imagine how much trouble all of us will be in knowing that I permitted this. I'm the only bloody Head in here, Lil. We're all breaking rules."

Lily looked at her boyfriend, who actually had a decent point. It didn't seem right to get everyone in trouble when they were all just having a little holiday fun. But it was unlikely that the Professors and Heads of Houses would agree. This was tricky.

"Not you, Grout?" Parkinson asked a shy fifth year Hufflepuff boy. "No, no, far too timid to ask anyone anything… And what about you, Kane, did you want to show off you whore-ish side for a night?" He directed the question to the bookish Ravenclaw girl who had showed quite her wild side tonight. Parkinson pointed to his lips and smirked coldly, "Your tart lipstick is a bit smeared."

"I'm going to pull out his nose hairs, I swear to Merlin," hissed Marlene as she took a long drink, glowering at the three students who ruined their night.

"Or was it you, McDonald?" asked Parkinson. "Did you want to get a little fun in, trying to forget about all the muggle deaths going on outside these castle walls-"

A few students let out loud boos and 'sod offs,' but the loudest ones by far belonged to Lily Evans.

"Watch your mouth, Parkinson, you pompous slug," Lily called out, pushing aside Marlene pointing her wand at the Slytherin Head Boy.

"And you watch yourself, Evans," hissed Avery, who stepped before her Head Boy, putting up her own wand. Mariah Avery was yes, pretty, but in a common sort of way. She was tall, almost as tall as Marlene, but strikingly thin with pin straight dirty blond hair and dark brown eyes. She had the aura of an ice princess, which she thoroughly appreciated.

It could've been the Firewhiskey or it could've been Lily's own rage, but either way, it gave her enough confidence to step right in front of Avery's wand. "Pathetic as usual," Lily spat as her eyes narrowed at the three of them, "feeling a little lonely so you take it out on everyone else."

"You're the ones who broke the rules, and you're a prefect! Imagine the punishment that Dumbledore will have for you!" Avery stated matter-of-factly. "I bet you're the one who started this mess, weren't you, Evans? All you ever want is to be the center of everyone's attention, especially after you were betrayed by Snape."

Lily saw red. How dare she bring up Snape, when it was Avery who turned Severus into the cold, loathsome, and hateful person he is today. She was about to hex the girl into next Tuesday, but luckily someone else jumped in to distract her.

"All right, all right," James Potter said, putting his hands up to show a sign of relative peace. "No need for that. Why don't we all forget like this all ever happened. A little holiday cheer never hurt anyone, right?"

Mulciber put up his own wand to Potter and said, "No time for diplomacy, Blood Traitor. That time is long gone, you lost your chance to pick the right side."

James scoffed. "If all of us had picked your side, we would be fucking our cousins and siblings, or we would have extinct a long time ago, Mulciber. Don't be stupid… unless your mum shagged her relative of-sorts, which means you can't really help it."

There were a few laughs from the crowd, but none from the Slytherins. Mulciber prepared his wand and was about to produce a stupefying curse, when a loud cough distracted them. The cough belonged to the normally quiet Dorcas Meadowes.

"Ah, Meadowes, I should've expected you to be at this party," Parkinson noted dully, examining his own fingernails. "You've always resented being in our house."

Dorcas looked rather disheveled, but utterly calm. Her long hair was in a bun at the top of her head; her shirt was considerably wrinkled; and her lips were swollen. She trotted down the stairs and said in relaxed voice, "Well, us Slytherins should start working on new party arrangements, no? So we don't have secretly attend these."

Avery turned away from Lily and then pointed her wand at Dorcas, who looked completely bored. "You'll never be a true Slytherin, you mudblood-"

"- Tainting our house name," Dorcas finished dully, "Yes. I know, I know. I don't really care." She walked up to Parkinson, who finally had looked up from his fingernail examination, and looked him straight in the eyes. Like being struck by lightening, he stood straighter and stared into Dorcas' blue eyes. "Parkinson. Why don't you, me, Avery, and Mulciber go talk about how us Slytherins could have our own party. Doesn't that sound like a good idea?" Dorcas asked in an alluring voice as if she were luring him away to bed, or to eat him.

"Yes," Parkinson said in an almost mechanical voice, causing some students to gasp in surprise. "Sounds good."

"Caleb!" Avery screeched. "What do you mean?!"

Parkinson didn't look away from Dorcas' enchanting blue eyes. He simply said, "Well, there is no harm being done here. And it'll be too pestering to deal with all of these citations. We should just follow Meadowes."

"Are you out of your bleeding mind?" Mulciber shouted, still pointing his wand at James.

James, on the other hand, was staring at Dorcas. He narrowed his eyes, noticing that the muggle-born Slytherin student was not doing anything else, but staring at Parkinson. Peculiar.

"No, come on," Parkinson insisted as he nodded his head. He seemed more of himself now, a little more arrogant and self-assured, but still only looked at Dorcas. "I'm bored. We should have our own party."

Dorcas finally broke eye contact with him, but took him by the hand. She looked up to the balcony and saw that Sirius Black was staring at her in awe. She gave him a slight wink before heading down the stairs with him.

"Caleb, what's going on!" Avery howled as she followed Meadowes and Parkinson.

Mulciber let out a frustrated grunt, and before he left said, "We're not finished, Potter. Got it?"

"Whatever," James said indifferently, just concentrating on Meadowes.

Festivities resumed as Gideon Prewett did a quick repairing charm on the speaker. Students raved and resumed dancing and chatting as the past five minutes had not just happened.

Remus turned around and gave James a look. "That was… odd," he said simply.

"More than odd," noted James, scratching his chin. He then found himself looking for a particular kinky-haired Slytherin, the only one left in the room. He found her chatting it up with Fabian Prewett now and made his way over to her. It seemed like he wasn't the only one who had questions because Lily and Marlene were now over by Emma Vanity as well.

Emma looked rather surprised as she flipped her hair back behind her shoulder. "I do like attention, but it can be rather off-putting when I have one too many suitors at the same time," she said, trying to sound casual. She looked to the two girls and said, "I thought you had a boyfriend, Evans. Huh? Is he interested in spicing it up a bit?"

"Don't get too excited," Lily argued. "What's up with Meadowes?"

Emma's face hardened. "She just saved your party. You sound pretty accusatory of a girl who just saved you all from detentions and, or, expulsions."

"She seems more like a hypnotist if you ask me," Marlene scoffed.

"Are they going to come back?" Fabian asked.

"How'd she do it? Parkinson is the most self-righteous arse in the school, and that's coming from me," James said solemnly.

Marlene barked with laughter and even Lily seemed to grin at that one.

Emma sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "Truthfully, I don't know what you're talking about. Dorcas is a strange bird - I love her, but she has her secrets. And one of them, I think, is that she's very good at persuading others. And if she's as good as I think she is, then they're not coming back. And no one is going to get in trouble."

The five Gryffindor students looked at Emma Vanity doubtfully.

"Just enjoy your damn party, all right?" Emma insisted. She snatched Lily's flask and took a long swig to get herself back in the party mood.

Lily took it back once she was done and looked to Marlene, James, and Remus for a moment before they started walking away. She wanted to ask more questions, but she knew that Emma Vanity either didn't know or had no intention of sharing how or why Dorcas stepped up like that.

James saw Sirius trot down the staircase from the upper level of the astronomy tower and gave his friend a wide grin. "Smashing night, innit?"

Hope you enjoyed! Have a Happy New Year Everyone! Cheers xoxo

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- Rose