Lily rubbed her hands together as she watched the quidditch players rise into the sky, straight away there was a rough barge by Avery against James who shoved him right back, pushing him off course, sending a vicious smirk as he did so. Instantly Roberta Mason, a seventh year, had the quaffle and she sent it soaring towards James who caught it smoothly as he dodged a blunger from the Slytherins eliciting a cheer from the crowd which only increased in volume when a bludger sent by Dorcas thwacked Avery in the leg. The Gryffindor chasers were off sending the quaffle rocketing between them with the commentator only having time to shout their names before they passed.
"Potter! Mason! Potter! Jensen! Mason! Lovely dodge, beautiful pass, Mason to Potter… Potter approaching the posts… aaand Potter scores! 1 minutes 37 seconds folks, that must be some kind of record!" James grinned as he high fived his fellow chasers, Remus and Peter were cheering next to Lily and she smothered a smile in her scarf as he saluted the Gryffindor fans, causing a third year girl to burst into tears. The game was fast and furious with Slytherin swiftly retaliating, 7 minutes in Gryffindor scored again from a penalty after one of the Slytherins threw their bat at the keeper, kicking up the competition a notch.
James smiled to himself as he flew through the air, the wind rushed through his hair and for a second he allowed himself to forget there was a match and simply revelled in the joy of being on a broom. A shout from a Slytherin chaser drew him out of his bliss.
"Unlucky Meadowes! My bludger almost had you there! I was hoping I could knock you out so you could join your pathetic father!" The jibe caused Dorcas to completely miss the bludger she was about to send back at the culprit and she turned a furious, white face towards him. James barrelled into him from the side, sending him plunging to the ground
"Ignore him Cas. They're just trying to get to you!" She nodded and turned away and it was with a renewed vigour that James dove back into play. Thirty minutes had passed and the score was 90-60 to Gryffindor, the Lion's ferocious attack and James' obnoxious celebrations were frustrating them and with a hoot of giddy laughter James outskilled another one of the green chasers setting Jensen up for a beautiful goal.
"You must admit." Shouted Remus to Lily over the sound of the crowd. "James is a marvel in the air." Lily didn't look away from the game as she replied.
"He sure is." He may be arrogant and obnoxious but he was excellent at quidditch. She shook her head as he did a loop the loop when the reds scored again. "And I know him being obnoxious and overconfident was part of the plan, but he's definitely enjoying this."
"Oh definitely." Said Peter, grinning as James and Sirius slapped broom tails. It wasn't long before Slytherin called a timeout but when they entered the air again there had been a change in tactics. Both Slytherin beaters suddenly sent the two bludgers towards Sirius who was guarding Jordan Jensen, Sirius managed to avoid one but the other hit him painfully in the arm almost making him drop his bat. The third year burst into renewed sobs and a distracted Lily conjured some tissues for her.
Dorcas was next to be targeted, she managed to hit the blunger away but flew into the goalpost as she did so, ending with a bleeding cut across her forehead. She shrugged off James' queries about if she wanted a timeout and signalled that they should play on, Slytherin swiftly caught up and the score was soon 100-110 to the greens. Another half hour passed and it was 130-120 to Gryffindor with two goals scored by James and one by Mason. The play had been ferocious with many close calls and great saves and "GET 'EM GRYFFINDORS!" From Lily when Marlene finally darted underneath Mulciber to pluck the snitch out of the air by Avery's ankle. She held it victoriously in the air and the Gryffindor team swarmed towards her, James at the forefront, beaming happily. Suddenly from behind Marlene a bludger came whistling towards her, aiming for her skull. The crowd gasped and James shot forward, alarmed, Marlene moved out of his way as he turned sharply into the path of the bludger, taking the projectile in his leg, in the middle of his thigh. He was pushed back by the speed and with a startled grunt his now dead leg slipped off his broom and he hung half on his broom half in the air. Sirius and Dorcas rushed forward ready to catch him while Andy and Jordan rushed after the bludger with Madam Hooch tracking down the other one. James managed to pull himself back onto his broom and gave a sarcastic bow to the crowd. In the stands Peter caught the third year girl who had suddenly fainted.
The Gryffindor team drifted towards the ground in a huddle. "You OK Prongs?" Asked Sirius through his teeth.
"My legs fucked mate." James said smiling at the cheering Gryffindor fans. "How about your arm?"
"Hurts like hell."
"Black you take one side of James, I'll take the other." Said Dorcas woozily, swiping at the trickle of blood that had made its way down her cheek.
"Yeah and I've got you Cas." Said Marlene worriedly, "you look like you're about to fall over. And thanks James by the way." James shrugged her off, grimacing as he dismounted his broom. An out of breath Andy then trotted over to the line that was forming.
"Aye, Jensen will get on your side Sirius and I've got Marlene. Oi! Mason get over here!" James smiled fondly at the line of them with their arms around each other, supporting their ream members.
"Great teamwork guys." And it was with a surprising lump in his throat that James and his team made their way to the hospital wing on Hooch's orders.
Lily linked her arm with Alice as they made their way out of the stands. The excitable Gryffindors were chanting obnoxiously, orchestrated by Peter who was sat on Remus' shoulders, waving his wand like a conductor's baton to direct the crowd, her and Alice were about to head up to the hospital wing to join Dorcas and the rest when a hand grabbed her shoulder, she released Alice and span around, her hand going to her pocket where her wand was but stopped short in relief when she saw it was only Brendan
"Shall we get lunch?" He asked her a small smile crossing his face.
"Oh." Lily replied, taken aback. Her house had just won the first match of the season against Slytherin, their all time rivals, she was going to the hospital wing to congratulate her friends. "Oh, well I should go check on Dorcas and say well done, so I was going to get lunch with her and the others when they had been given the all clear."
"OK." Said Brendan slowly, crossing his arms. "So you'll sit with me at dinner then."
"Brendan." She said, laughing slightly. "We just won, there's going to be a party tonight and I want to celebrate with my friends. I'll catch up with you during the week, ok?" Lily turned to go and Brendan scoffed.
"I suppose you want to congratulate James too?" Lily turned back around to him, a curl of anger igniting in her chest, her expression fierce.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Brendan curled his lip.
"Well you were with him last night and are sat with him and his stupid friends all the time, so what do you think it means?" Lily didn't even know where to start, was Brendan jealous? Of James? She crossed her arms as she frowned at him, she did not have the energy for this right now.
"I'm going to hang out with my friends Brendan, I'll see you later." She turned back around and linked arms with Alice again who was waiting awkwardly, a short distance away and they walked quickly back up to the castle. So quickly in fact that she didn't see Brendan slam his hand furiously into the wall of the quidditch stands or see him join his group of friends as they stood chatting to the Slytherins.
It was after much wheedling that Alice and Lily were eventually let into the hospital wing by a frazzled Madam Pomfrey and they made a bee line for the clump of Gryffindors at the opposite end of the hospital wing to the Slytherins. Dorcas was lying on a bed looking disgruntled at the fact she was in a bed while Sirius stood at the foot of it, his arm in a sling and James was sat in a chair, his leg stretched out in front of him, holding ice on it. Remus, Peter, the rest of the team and a few other Gryffindors had managed to infiltrate the hospital wing and were gathered around joyfully recounting moments of the match. Lily ruffled Sirius' hair roughly, smirking as he turned around angrily.
"Nice flying Black."
"Bloody hell, Evans if it had been anyone but you who just touched my hair…" Lily laughed at him before turning to Dorcas.
"How do you feel Cas?" She asked sympathetically.
Dorcas raised her hands in exasperation. "I feel fine, but Pomfrey put me in this bloody bed and now I'm not allowed to move."
"No you are not miss Meadowes." Commanded Madam Pomfrey as she walked past. "And you will stay there until I tell you otherwise." Dorcas groaned and threw her head back on the pillows. Lily perched on the arm of James' chair, nudging his arm with her elbow.
"Well done Captain." She said in a lower voice, "considering you got spiked just before, you played great." James laughed sheepishly, running a hand through his hair before beaming at her, a smile so wide, Lily couldn't help but return it, a moment passed before she cleared her throat and broke the strange silence that had settled over them.
"So how's your leg?" James looked away from her, smiling still.
"Well, I think I'm starting to feel my foot again, so I'm sure I'll be fine, I'll just have a huge bruise for a while." The non injured members of Gryffindor got 15 minutes in the hospital wing before Pomfrey and Lambert ushered them out and together Lily, Alice, Frank- who had joined them at some point- Marlene, Remus and Peter wandered down to the kitchens deciding to have a picnic in the common room instead of in the Great Hall.
It was just before dinner and there was an air of excitement among everyone in Gryffindor about the party that James and the team had promised. James was stood with Sirius, Peter and the Quidditch team making arrangements when Lilly intercepted Remus as he came through the portrait hole.
"So about this party." She started slowly, Remus grasped her shoulders.
"Oh, come on Lily, it'll be better if we give some ground rules or something instead of trying to shut it down, it's the first match of the season, we need to start off well and-"
"Remus." Lily interrupted him, "Remus I don't want to stop the party believe me."
"But last year you-"
"Last year I had something to prove, I managed to maintain my badge all year so I don't feel like Dumbledore will take it away from me now."
Remus grinned mischievously and it was a stark reminder for Lily that he was in fact a marauder, he squeezed her shoulders.
"We should have some rules though." Lily said.
"OK, sure, what are you thinking."
"No alcohol for anyone who's fourth year or below."
"Sure."
"Fourth years and below out of the common room at half nine, and only then can the alcohol be served; there needs to be snacks; for Godric's sake play some muggle music as well as wizarding music because most wizarding music sucks."
"Couldn't agree more."
"Fifth year prefects are in charge of clearing the younger students from the common room." A wide grin split Remus' face. "And for goodness sake make sure everyone gets dinner."
"Done!" Remus held out a hand for Lily to shake. "Do we have a deal?" Lily laughed, shaking her head as they grasped hands. Remus threw a jolly arm around her and planted a kiss in her hair before leading her towards James.
"We've reached an arrangement Prongs." James looked over at them, taking in the easy way Remus had his arm around her and tamping down the irrational jealousy inside him.
"Oh great." Muttered a fifth year boy. "It's prefect Evans, come to ruin the fun as usual."
Lily raised a challenging eyebrow, "I can hear you dumbass." The boy blushed as he frowned angrily at her.
James smothered a smirk as he jumped off the table he had been standing on, spreading his hands beseechingly.
"Ok, listen Evans I know that last year there were a few wild ones but-" She rolled her eyes at him. Had she really been that bad last year? Lily Evans loved a party as much as anyone.
"Bloody hell, I'm not trying to stop the party, tell them Remus." Remus recanted the list of rules rapid fire which was met by enthusiasm from the small crowd now gathered.
"If you stick with them, we should be good Potter." An infectious grin lit up his face and Lily held a hand out for him to shake, a playful smirk - which was also unfairly attractive - on her lips. James grasped her hand and twirled her around. Sirius swiftly following suit, ruffling her hair with his good arm.
"Deal! 100% a deal! This is great because we've already got a bunch of kegs of butter beer on the way."
"What?" Lily asked, amused, "how?"
"Lets say," said Sirius sweeping his hair out of his face, smirking, "me and Rosmerta at the three broomsticks have an arrangement." The marauders laughed raucously.
"Yeah!" Chimed in Peter, "in exchange for drinks we told her we'd stop Sirius flirting with her at every opportunity." They laughed again.
"She's just in denial of our love!" Announced Sirius, shoving Peter.
"You know I don't think we're too far gone that if we actually told people the truth they wouldn't believe us." Remus added, they had after all come to an arrangement that didn't involve blackmailing The Three Broomsticks.
James launched himself onto the back of the nearest couch, spreading his arms wide.
"Alright my Gryffindorians! We have the blessings of the most gracious prefectedness's Evans and Lupin," Remus went into a luscious bow while Lily laughed, "and tonight! After we have gorged ourselves on a beautiful feast and filled up on bread and carbs and all things absorbent." The older students laughed. "We." He paused, looking at the assembled students. "Shall." The boy was a damn good speaker. "PARTY!" A deafening cheer broke out as James raised a triumphant fist in the air and Lily clapped her hands in rueful amusement at his stupid speech, with the rest of her house and she only blushed slightly when he caught her eye with his crooked smile and winked conspiratorially at her.
The party was in full swing by the time ten o clock rolled around, the younger students were out of the way and an infectious buzz had spread through the remaining students, due in part to the delicious ale that had been generously provided by the marauders. Lily and Alice had got Dorcas, who had eventually been released from the hospital wing, up and dancing and they were laughing at each others ridiculous moves whilst Marlene tried to commandeer the record player from a reluctant fifth year. Sirius, Peter and James had gathered by the refreshment table after Remus had wandered off muttering about finding something while Sirius topped their ales up with fire whiskey, proposing a toast to the fact that Tess had stopped stalking James in favour of sticking her tongue down McCartneys throat, a turn of events which James did not mind in the least.
"Padfoot." Declared Peter, his cheeks rosy, "I officially declare this… A tremendously bad idea.
"Cheers to that!" Announced James downing his drink and whooping as it hit the back of his throat before a small tongue of fire whiskey induced flame left his lips. Sirius burst out laughing before downing his own and topping them up again.
"Where's Moony anyway?" He asked gesturing with the bottle.
"Something about a camera?" Said Peter, swaying. "James stoop sh-taring at Lily, just go and talk to her f'goodness sake." James' eyes snapped back to his friends.
"Was not." He complained.
"Bloody hell Prongs, I'm gonna go talk to her, if you won't." Sirius said as he grasped James' shoulder, "we bonded the other day James! You may have to duel me for her affections!"
"Shuddit Padfoot." James said, shaking his head. Sirius burst into hysterical laughter.
"Sh-uit yourself." He said, eyes glistening as he downed his drink and wandered over to the girls who cheered when they saw him, swiftly joining in on their banter. James stared after him for a moment before being distracted by the return of Remus who was brandishing a muggle film camera triumphantly.
"Goddit!" He shouted wrapping an arm around a still stunned James, "c'mere we're taking a picture." There was a flash as a selfie was taken. "What did I miss."
Peter grinned, "Sirius went to talk to Lily becau-sh James was too sh-cared." Remus downed a shot of Sirius' abandoned whiskey.
"Why are you scared? You're mates now." James scrubbed a hand through his hair, his eyes fixed on Sirius as he talked easily with the Gryffindor girls.
"I don't know." He muttered, "I'll go over in a minute." With a knowing glance at him, Remus and Peter started chatting while James mentally argued with himself. Why was he so unwilling to go over? Because it was a party? She started dancing with Alice and James mentally groaned. She wasn't even trying to be sexy but how she flicked her hair away from her face as she laughed with her friends and the sway of her hips as she danced was so damn attractive to him, unfair is what it was. Sirius and Dorcas were pretty drunk and laughing as they each made a fool out of themselves. When suddenly the music changed and an upbeat tune came on. Marlene let out a victorious whoop as she managed to take control of the music, and she pointed imperiously at Lily.
"This ones for you Lily!" Lily threw her hands in the air and cheered, a sentiment echoed by at least half the common room as the music began. James had no idea what song it was, he turned back to Remus who was looking between him and Lily expectantly.
"OK, I'm going!" James said giving in to the pointed looks of his friends, he threw back his drink and only stumbled slightly as he made his way over to the singing redhead, pasting his signature cocky grin on his face.
"Evans." He shouted affectionately, getting her attention as he clambered over a table to get to her, knocking some bottles off. She span to look at him, still smiling and his heart beat erratically in his chest. "What the hell kind of music is this?" Her, Marlene and Alice all turned to him, expressions of disbelief on their faces. She pushed him jokingly and he innocently grabbed her hands as he stumbled backwards slightly, unable to smother the playful grin on his face.
"It's only Dancing Queen by ABBA!" She exclaimed, "one of the best songs ever!" She hadn't let go of his hands and he didn't object as she twirled and began dancing the stupidest most adorable dance ever that James couldn't help but join in with. They continued dancing stupidly with James not letting go of her hand.
"Please tell me you've heard this song Potter." Lily asked.
James shrugged, his grin not leaving his face. "Well, not this particular one but generally in anything to do with culture, muggles have wizards beat hands down." Lily laughed, her eyes twinkling in the light. A few more moments passed before James smirked at Lily, "muggles have better dance moves too." He let go of her hands and gestured at Sirius who broke away from Dorcas and gleefully bounded towards him. The two teenagers started doing The Bump, bumping their hips together in time with the beat of a new song which had just begun, periodically jumping around to alternate hips and soon enough the girls and a lot of the common room were laughing hard at their concentrated facial expressions but before long everyone was up and joining in. This continued for about half a song with James and Sirius grinning as they gradually increased the strength of their bumps until eventually James went flying, toppling over a small table as Sirius gleefully whooped. Lily burst out laughing clutching her sides as tears gathered in her eyes James also started laughing contagiously with Sirius, the other marauders and the girls joining in and it was a while before Lily had good enough control of herself to offer him a hand up which he took James bowed graciously to Sirius.
"You have the victory Padfoot." He declared to which Sirius also bowed. James snatched the bottle of fire whiskey which Sirius was still clutching out of his hands and slumped on to a sofa, casually pushing a fifth year couple who were snogging on the arm of it to the floor before reclining innocently, they glared at him before finding a safer spot. Peter and Remus collapsed on either side of him and they passed the bottle between them, chatting away.
It was past midnight and the party was winding down, the marauders were still sprawled over the sofas except they had taken over another and Alice's dorm had joined them. Sirius tipped the empty fire whiskey bottle upside down.
"Who finished this?" He asked, confused, "Prongs, you drank it all."
"Did not." Came James' reply. Peter cracked up laughing.
"It was you Shirius, you fished it."
"Fished it?" Chipped in Remus starting to laugh, he had been idly twirling his wand in his hand and paused in the action when he registered what had been said.
"Shuddit, Moony."
"S'no fair." Said Sirius. "I wanted to play a drinking game."
"A drinking game?" Asked Marlene, sitting up from where she'd been slumped against Dorcas' shoulder.
Lily groaned, she was sat on the floor leaning against the sofa which held Dorcas and Marlene with her feet up on the armchair on which Alice and Frank were sat cosily
"Don't get Marlene started on a drinking game." But it was too late and with a few tries and a few clumsy waves of her wand she had successfully summoned another bottle of the amber liquid. Sirius stared at her in amazement, he had been lying across Peter, James and Remus who had taken the couch but he rolled off when more alcohol appeared and made himself comfy on the floor.
"Thank Godric." Peter complained, "was starting to lose feeling in my legs." To the Marauders' surprise Lily also perked up.
"Well if we're playing with Jack Daniels I can be convinced." James looked around angrily.
"Who the hell is that?" The girls burst out laughing.
"Not a who James." Dorcas said, grinning, "an alcohol." James squinted at the bottle and his expression cleared as he saw the label for the Jack Daniels Whiskey.
"Prefect Evans has had a soft spot for good ol' JD since fourth year." Alice said conspiratorially, summoning some cups and grinning cheekily at the boys.
"And there is definitely not a story behind that which will be shared at any point in the near future." Lily said glaring at her friends, who backed down good naturedly.
"I will definitely be finding that out at some point Lily flower." Sirius said, "but let's play!"
"What're we playing?" Asked Remus, straightening up.
"Never have I ever!" Sirius said happily, grinning evilly at everyone. A series of groans and excited noises broke out at the announcement but everyone agreed to play, they were Gryffindors after all.
"Never have I ever… had a detention!" Began Sirius. Everyone but Lily, Frank and Alice drank, Lily smirked at them.
"Spot the goody goodies." Muttered Marlene, winking at Lily. Frank went next.
"Never have I ever broken a bone." Remus grimaced and took a large gulp, Frank was the only one who didn't drink. "Seriously?" He asked, looking around in amazement. It turned out that James, Sirius and Dorcas had all broken at least one bone through various Quidditch related accidents, Marlene had fallen off her bike when she was younger, Alice had fallen down the stairs in her childhood, Lily had been pushed off a jungle gym by her sister, Remus muttered something about an accident in his youth and Peter complained rather bitterly that in second year he had been on James' shoulders for a prank and had fallen off and broken his wrist.
"Bloody hell I have said I was sorry." James complained.
"Ok, my turn." Said Alice, grinning, "never have I ever had a crush on a teacher." All of the assembled teenagers drank, causing all of them to laugh and begin demanding which teachers they had fancied
"Easy." Said Marlene, swaying slightly where she sat, "Professor Chadwick last year." At the mention of their former DADA teacher the girls made an affirmative noise of agreement.
"He was so fine." Dorcas said, sighing.
"Such a shame when he had to go back to America." Alice said as Frank frowned. The marauders all looked at each other before they too agreed with the girls, causing another round of loud laughter.
"Professor Vector though." Said Sirius letting his head fall back to lean against the sofa.
"I'll drink to that." Remus said clinking cups with Peter.
"And she's not that much older than us." James said. Professor Vector had started teaching in their fourth year and was only in her mid twenties. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Me now!" Crowed Marlene. "Never have I ever got with someone in a different house." Marlene, Lily, James, Peter and Sirius all drank. Dorcas wrinkled her nose and Marlene laughed at her expression.
"Oh c'mon Cas! Anyone who's not a Gryffindor not good enough for you?"
"I don't even know who there is in the other houses that would be worth getting with." The boys laughed.
"You hitting on us Meadowes?" Asked a swaying Sirius.
A mischievous grin lit up Dorcas' face. "You tell me." Lily, Frank and the marauders roared with laughter whilst Marlene and Alice began a stream of objections.
"You are not getting with Sirius, Dorcas Meadowes!"
"Ew!"
"Hey!" Came Sirius' amused objection.
"Wait!" Interjected Peter, "Moony did you not like that Ravenclaw girl Nancy?"
Remus nodded, sipping his drink morosely. "Hasn't come to anything though has it?" Lily poked his leg with her foot and gestured to him with her hands.
"She's just not ready for all that."
Remus grinned reluctantly and swept his hair out of his eyes Sirius-style to another round of laughter. "Yeah, you must be right." Out of the corner of her eye Lily saw a delighted grin fill James' face and he raised his cup, taking a sip.
"Ok! Ok!" Shouted Marlene,"who was it for everyone then?" For Marlene, it was obviously her Ravenclaw boyfriend, for Lily it was Brendan Weathers, James had dated a Hufflepuff girl in the year above briefly, Peter had had a relationship with a Ravenclaw for a few months last year and Sirius- of course- had an exhaustive list of every girl he'd ever done stuff with including-
"A Slytherin!" Exclaimed Dorcas indignantly. "Black how could you?" Sirius smirked.
"She was two years above us, what was I supposed to do?" The marauders rolled their eyes. Well used by now to their friend's randy tendencies. Sirius let his head fall back and his hands came up shaping the outline of a woman. "She had an amazing rack." Lily promptly hit him in the face with a pillow, caught between mild disgust and amusement.
"And believe you me, Slytherins know how to get it on-"
"Sirius!"
"Ew!"
"She taught me everything I know."
"Stop!"
"That girl knew how to fu-"
Remus cut him off by clamping a hand over his mouth. Frank and the girls were in uproar. Frank was laughing while his cheeks blazed red, Alice had her face buried in a cushion, Marlene was pretending to retch over the side of the sofa and Dorcas had her hands over her ears singing loudly. Peter clutched his belly as he laughed and James and Lily were both hitting Sirius. Lily laughed into her drink whilst giving him a dead leg and James poked him with a socked foot before rubbing his foot all over his face. Sirius licked Remus' hand to get it off his mouth and the teen recoiled in disgust wiping his hand on Sirius' top
"Ok! Ok!" Sirius raised his hands in surrender, his eyes bright with mirth. "I won't excite you with the details!"
"Please spare us." Said James grinning, his annoyance at finding out Lily had gotten with Weathers almost completely forgotten. You've got no right to be annoyed James. He told himself, just FRIENDS remember? Don't screw it up now.
"OK, Dorcas, your turn!" Dorcas thought for a moment.
"I don't know what to ask!"
"Yeah, right!"/
"There's loads to ask."
"Ok, ok. Black you don't need to answer this one. Never have I ever… had sex." A silence overtook the teenagers as they looked around at each other, cheeks bright with embarrassment.
"Huh." Said Sirius, breaking the silence. "Well that makes me feel like a slut." He took a deep slug of whiskey, wincing at the taste. He was the only one to drink. James felt a traitorous sense of relief that Lily hadn't drank. Shut it. Completely none of your business, shouldn't matter even if she had had sex. With some random guy. A guy that wasn't h- stop! James shook himself internally. Lily had cocked her head at him.
"Not even you Potter?" She asked, aware that somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that was a terribly rude thing to say but the buzz of the whiskey had loosened her tongue and she promptly bit her lip as if to physically stop the words from leaving her mouth. James, taken aback, and mildly offended allowed himself a small laugh.
"Are you questioning my virtue Evans?" The others laughed as well and Lily grinned, glad she hadn't offended him. She shrugged.
"I just could've sworn that Tracy Midwell told me she had ravished you in a broom cupboard somewhere." The marauders roared with laughter whilst the others cringed at the imagery. James groaned, letting his head fall back against the sofa.
"That girl has had a crush on me since third year, please tell me she's over it." The girls looked at each other and grinned before telling him that she had not.
James waved his arms around dramatically, "I am as pure as… as- er-"
"Orange juice?" Supplied Marlene.
"A virgin bride?" Came Remus' suggestion.
"Sirius Blacks blood?" Cackled Peter causing another round of laughter and a swift punch from Sirius.
"Don't remind me." He complained.
James shook his head, grinning, "you can rest easy Evans."
Lily smirked, "well, thanks so much for easing my troubled mind." She said sarcastically.
"Yeah, cheers Prongs." Peter said, deadpan, "it was keeping me up at night."
James glared at Peter. "Ok, well how about I go next. Never have I ever thrown up after eating too much dessert." The marauders laughed at the targeted statement and Peter scowled as he took a drink. He pointed a finger at James.
"That was low Prongs, even for you." He cast a sweeping gaze over everyone else. "I will have you know, that all of the top five of my favourite desserts were out at the feast and I could not have not sampled each and every one of them."
"Five times." Remus coughed, his eyes gleaming over the rim of his cup as he teased his friend. Everyone laughed.
"You're not alone Peter!" Stated Alice, raising her cup. "I too have experienced that dreaded dilemma." She took a gulp.
"Thank you!" Said Peter, unsteadily rising to his feet in vindication, "a woman after my own heart!" He sank back into his seat after a glare from Frank silenced him.
"Was that Halloween of first year Alice?" Asked Marlene. Alice nodded. Dorcas guffawed with laughter./span/p
"Of course! I remember now!"
Lily snorted, "that was when me and Mar became actual friends with you."
"Because we found you throwing up in moaning Myrtle's bathroom!" Marlene cried through gasps of laughter. The girls all fell about laughing, the boys swiftly joining in. After they had settled down again, Peter grinned smugly at Remus and James.
"Well, never have I ever thrown up on the same night of a party after drinking too much." James and Remus grimaced and clinked their cups together before taking a drink and to the delight of the marauders a defiant Lily also took a glug. The assembled teens began laughing in disbelief as the girls grinned at each other over Lily's head
"Prefect Evans!" Exclaimed Sirius in glee
"Shut it Black." She replied, kicking him in the leg.
"When?" Asked Frank, his mouth hanging open.
"Oh fourth year was such a great year." Smirked Alice.
"The best." Dorcas and Marlene agreed./span/p
"Yeah, yeah." Said Lily, flapping her hands. "Who's next?" If Sirius hadn't had so much to drink, he probably would have realised this was likely related to the Jack Daniels story, but as it was they were all pretty far gone and Remus swiftly volunteered, smirking at the marauders.
"Never have I ever had to get Mcgonagall to reverse a personal transfiguration that went wrong." He smirked and waggled his eyebrows at the ambiguous wording. James, Sirius and Peter all drank. The others looked at them in disbelief.
"Do we want to know?" Asked Frank.
"It's probably not what you think it is." Said Peter.
"Yeah, probably." Shot Lily.
"Oi!" Chorused James and Sirius. Another few moments passed as the Gryffindors went off on a tangent, talking shit, the way only a group of drunk people can.
"Alright Lil." Said James eventually, "round us off! Send us out!" Lily sighed, her head was swimming and she could barely string a coherent thought together.
"Oh I don't know… ok, never have I ever… punched someone in the face." All the marauders plus Frank and Dorcas drank
"Frankie boy!" Exclaimed Sirius in surprise at his confession. Alice looked at him, shocked.
""Yeah, please do tell." She said. Frank shrugged.
"It was nothing really, I punched my uncle Algie at a family gathering once." They laughed.
"When I'm less drunk, please remind me to ask you to explain that story, I want to remember it." Said Sirius.
"How about you Dorcas?" She smirked.
"I punched Tobias in the face on my ninth birthday."
"And what about you's?" Asked Marlene gesturing to the marauders who had all drank
"We've all punched Sirius at some point." Remus said to the nods of the other three.
"And I've punched James." Said Sirius, "and Peter as well actually."
"Yeah but I punched you back." Peter shot back, "and then there was that time me and Remus accidentally punched each other."
"I've always wanted to punch someone." Said Lily wistfully, "it's on my bucket list." They then ended up on another tangent and another twenty minutes passed before Frank put his cup down.
"I should head to bed, my dorm mates are gonna hate me for coming up at this time."
"You could crash in our room if you want." Offered James. "Sirius can sleep on the floor." Frank considered it, ignoring Sirius' protests, before declining. "Thanks for the offer but after tonight I dunno if I want to be anywhere near Sirius' bed." They laughed again.
"Fair point." Conceded Remus. They all decided it was time to turn in and made their way to their respective staircases, laughing at each other as they stumbled around. James was bringing up the rear and was saying good night to the girls when Lily, who was also bringing up the rear, tripped on a step. James bounded up the stairs to steady her with an agility that surprised his woozy brain. Catching her waist, before she could fall.
"Wait, James." She said, "the stairs-" she was cut off as the stairs promptly turned into a slide sending James and four rather drunk girls careening to the floor to the raucous laughter of the marauders who hadn't gone into their room yet. Alice, Dorcas and Marlene who had been farther up the stairs landed in a tangle of limbs nearer to the fire whilst James who had been nearer the bottom was knocked onto his back with a surprised grunt when Lily crashed into him ending up sprawled across his chest.
"Bloody hell Evans." Said James, slightly winded, "did you just fall for me?" She stared at him for a second and James was sure she was going to hex him when instead a large snort escaped her as she burst into laughter, James grinned in spite of himself and started laughing too.
"Touché Potter, that was a good one."
"Sorry Lils, couldn't resist." She laboriously got to her feet, almost falling over again. "You walked into that one."
She grinned. "Slid into it is more like." They laughed again.
"G'night Lily." Said James when they reached the stairs again, she turned to him, smiling and his heart flip flopped in his chest.
"Night James." She said. James met her eyes and a moment passed where his addled brain, brazenly considered kissing her cheek but he shoved the urge away and squeezed her hand instead, making his way up the stairs before he changed his mind.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed, now I don't recommend underage drinking but it does happen and it is quite fun to write. The formatting went all weird on this one but I think I fixed it. As always, please leave a fav or review if you enjoyed :)