Chapter 9: Aftermath
In the blurry void of her semi-conscious mind, Ariadne felt something tickle her cheek. With tremendous effort she reached up to brush it off.
It mewed loudly.
Ariadne opened her eyes, and her vision slowly came into focus. When she was finally able to see her surroundings, she gasped.
The Gryffindor common room looked like a war zone. Black robes covered almost every surface and were stuffed into the corners of armchairs. The afternoon sun glinted off bottles strewn everywhere, and on broken glass fragments. The enchanted torches had eventually died out and ashes had collected on the floor. One of the gorgeous Gryffindor banners now sported scorch marks and a missing corner, apparently from an accidental brush with the fireplace. James' Quidditch robes were inexplicably wrapped around the shoulders of a sleeping fifth-year, and his Shooting Star was planted at the foot of the portrait hole, like a flag staking out territory.
Ariadne's cat, Morgan le Fay, was perched on the arm of the sofa, nuzzling her cheek and mewing. On her other side, she was nestled into something very warm and solid, but comfortable.
That something was Sirius Black's chest.
Ariadne scrambled away and over the arm of the sofa as fast as possible. She and Sirius weren't the only ones that didn't make it back to their beds last night. James was passed out over an armchair with an empty bottle at his feet and very minimal clothing remaining on his body. Sophie was curled up, looking almost exactly like a cat, on a fluffy rug by the fireplace. A few other Gryffindors of various years occupied the remaining couches and armchairs. Ariadne didn't see Priya and Lupin and assumed they had taken advantage of the mostly empty dormitory.
Ariadne's sudden movements had woken Sirius. He stirred and stretched luxuriously, pulling the muscles on his bare chest and arms taut. "G'morning, Morrigan," he greeted casually, yawning.
Standing up so suddenly had given Ariadne an immediate, throbbing headache. She cautiously perched on the arm of the sofa and tried to piece together what had happened last night after McGonagall left.
James had woken up. Sirius had grinned at her and said, "Not bad, Morrigan. You make a good accomplice to a Marauder." Almost unable to believe that she had just lied through her teeth to a professor to cover up a wild party she had sworn as a prefect to prevent, Ariadne accepted another drink when Sirius offered it. James' yelling had summoned the rest of the Gryffindors out of hiding, and they hailed Ariadne and Sirius as heroes. Re-energized by the close shave and miraculous save, incredibly, improbably, the party was revived and raged on harder than ever. Someone turned the wireless set back on. Ariadne undid the illusion disguising the Butterbeer and Firewhiskey. She caught Sirius slyly refilling the Firewhiskey by multiplying the small amount that remained.
After that, things got blurrier. She had more drinks—she couldn't remember how many. She remembered dancing with Sophie and Priya. She remembered James stripping down to his underwear on a dare. She remembered Sirius dancing nearby, sometimes with a girl pressed close to his body, other times near Ariadne. She remembered seeing the sweat rolling in beads down his chest through his open shirt and his fingers running through his tousled dark hair. She remembered his hands hovering near her when the crowd crushed them close together, almost as if he wanted to put them around her waist, but stopped himself. She remembered his breath close to her ear and his unbuttoned shirt brushing her red blouse, even though they didn't dance together. She had to snap out of the haze of memories. Why did she remember so much about Sirius and so little about everything else?
The headache hit her with renewed strength. She put her face in her hands and groaned. She sensed Sirius watching with amusement. How did she end up sleeping against him on the sofa? She didn't remember that part.
"Once I get over this hangover, I'm going to kill you," mumbled Ariadne into her hands.
"I may have nudged you through the door, Morrigan, but you're the one who chose to party," answered Sirius, smirking.
Ariadne only just resisted the temptation to hex him.