All Of Me | A Jily Love Story

Chapter Thirty Three: New Years Eve

- JAMES -

Boxing Day arrived with a thundering headache and half full bucket of vomit teetering on the edge of my nightstand.
The faint smell of tequila and a quiet rustling sound had tugged me into consciousness, a rasped groan crawling from my lips. Something stirred to my right, followed by a second rustle.
My eyes snapped open, the familiar patterned ceiling of my créme wallpapered room slowly blurring into sight.
"God?" I asked aloud, reaching out a hand to grapple for my glasses as I lifted my head up to scan the room. A flutter of white caught the corner of my eye and I blinked, reaching up to grasp it. My hand came away with a soft feather between my finger tips. I dazedly turned to squint at my silken pillow to see that it had seemingly burst beneath my head last night, with multiple clouds of white feathers surrounding my headboard.
"So you're a pillow biter, huh?"
I started, yanking my quilted duvet upwards to cover my chest. My eyes swivelled to the right.
Remus, shirtless and wincing, was slowly dragging himself up into a sitting position on the far side of my bed.
"You're not god." I said indignantly, staring at him as he blinked heavily, slowly turning to face me.
"And you're not the hot lady I took to bed last night." He replied, rubbing at his eyes. I frowned, glancing at our surroundings.
"Do you remember getting here?"
Remus snorted, gripping the beam of my fore poster bed frame in support.
"The last thing I remember is doing the waltz with Lily and eating crisps off Sirius's stomach."
"Huh." I grinned faintly at the foggy memories of last night. "Sounds about right." There was a long pause. The two of us slowly turned to look at eachother.
"Do I get to tell people we had a one night stand?" He asked lifting an eyebrow. A tired grin spread across his cheeks.
"Sure. Here I was thinking I was going to be a headboard rattler, not a pillow biter." I snorted, running a hand through my tousled bed hair. "Blimey, I didn't think we'd get that trollied."
"Never said that before." Remus muttered.
"Ah."
"...Coffee?"
"Coffee."
There was a silent pause as we sat besides eachother in my king sized bed, mentally preparing ourselves to decide whether or not we were going to acknowledge our current attire.
"Think they're awake?" Remus asked after a moment. I slowly turned to face him.
"Hmm?"
Moony lifted a hand to rub his eye gingerly, reaching his other arm over the side of my bed to grope for what I could only imagine was his discarded shirt from last night. "Do you think they're up yet?"
"No." I snorted, watching him tug a Fleetwood mac shirt over his head and attempt to fit it through the right sleeve. "You've got the wrong hole." I pointed out after an amusing few moments of watching him struggle. Moony grunted in response, yanking his head through the neck before proceeding to tug on a forest green vee-neck sweater.
"I'm going to investigate." He managed tiredly, looking up to stare gloomily at my ajar bedroom door before slowly dragging himself out from beneath my covers. I sat there gazing after him for several moments before I rolled out of my duvet and stumbled after him into the common room wearing nothing but Gryffindor briefs. I winced at the faint rays of sunshine seeping through the drawn drapes, lifting a hand to itch my head.
"I hope Jesus enjoyed the birthday bash we had for him." Remus grunted, cocking his head to scan Marlene and Sirius's intertwined bodies, moulded against the suede fabric of the couch.
"At least someone did." I grinned, gesturing to my usual armchair by the fire where Mary was laying flat on her back, limbs hanging over the side with an empty whisky bottle balancing on her stomach. Deep, nasally breaths escaped her parted lips, causing the bottle to rise slowly every few seconds.
"Merry Christmas." Remus muttered. I stared at her for a moment before taking a deep breath and rolling my head back to face the ceiling.
"Coffee?" I asked after a moment, nudging my glasses up the bridge of my nose.
"Please."

...

"Is it Monday?" I wondered aloud as Moony drained the dregs of his second mug of coffee some thirty minutes later.
"It sure is," Wormtail replied glumly, breaking off the edge of his buttered scone. "Monday the twenty sixth of December, the last week of 1978."
"And why, exactly, does that make you want to kill yourself?" Remus asked mildly, nicking a crumb from his shining silver plate. Wormtail lifted his eyes from the scone in his hands, staring at Remus for a prolonged moment before sighing deeply.
"Will I ever live a day without judgement?"
"Oh, shut up." I snorted, scooping a heap of sugar and dumping it into my empty mug. "Anyways, I've been thinking -"
"Oh no, not thinking again." Remus grumbled, to which Pete grinned.
"New Years eve proposal -I reckon we do a shot an hour from twelve onwards. One for each month of the year." I added for the sake of Pete's tiny frown of confusion. Remus winced, pushing his empty coffee into the middle of the table.
"I'm not sure if I'll last."
"You're not the one we need to be worrying about." I pointed out, jerking my head towards Pete. "Don't worry Worm, even if you're unconscious on the floor I'll hold your head back while Sirius pours the shot down your poor little throat."
"Ethical." Remus rolled his eyes.
Peter gave him a weak smile, his eyes flickering back to me. "If I pass out -"
"If you pass out, I'm throwing you in the snow." I cut in flatly. "No way are you wasting the night, it's our last Hogwarts New Years."
"Then don't force a millions shots down his throat." Remus said calmly, turning his head to face me with a bland smile.
"Twelve." I corrected grudgingly.
"Yeah, whatever." He waved an absent minded hand.
Peter was watching the two of us thoughtfully. He paused.
"I'll do it with you on one condition."
I raised a single eyebrow. "Let's hear it, then."
"For Christ's sake...." Remus murmured underneath his breath, choosing a breakfast muffin from the middle of the table.
"Stick to tequila." Pete said firmly, giving me a look. "Nothing else, no whiskey, no special concoctions - and especially not vodka. No mixing - I won't be mixing anything over my dead body."
I cocked my head, pausing to deliberate.
"Agreed." I finally grinned, leaning forwards to settle my forearms against the cool mahogany wood of the Gryffindor table. "You've just signed your death warrant, my friend."
"Idiot." Remus said to him unapologetically, cutting into his muffin.
"You are." I agreed, grinning at Peter manically. He merely watched me for a moment before giving a deflated sigh and murmuring something I couldn't hear.
"You know he's going to find any possible loophole to make it harder for you, right?" Remus asked Pete with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah." He replied glumly, sinking his chin into a hand. "I deserve it."
"I never thought you'd break." I chuckled, shaking my head. "You realise I was joking? You should never have agreed to that."
Peter paused. He turned to stare at me, his mouth slowly opening into a wide 'O' as Remus threw his head back and laughed loudly.
"You're fucked." He grinned, chuckling as I raised my hand to bump his fist.
"Wanker." Pete scowled, tossing the last of his scone at me. It bounced off my shoulder and into my plate as I laughed, setting my coffee down on the table.
"Don't worry, I'm sure Marlene will join you on the floor."
"Think she'll agree to that?" Remus asked shrewdly.
I gave him an incredulous look. "Will It rain today?"
"Most likely." He gaged, cocking his head from side to side. Peter grinned, chewing on his scone.
"I've had enough of you both." I retorted, folding my arms. "Marlene will do anything involving alcohol."
"That's why she dates Sirius," Remus informed Pete, who snickered.
"Shall we turn one of Madam Prince's cherished tables into a beer pong unit?" I ventured, arching a suggestive eyebrow.
"She didn't have much favour for it last time." Remus responded grimly with a slight wince.
"I still think we should chain Filch to his office door." Pete piped in with a mischievous grin.
"Have patience," I assured him, smiling in a way that made Remus's narrow his eyes at me. "That day is yet to come. In the meantime, how about a waterslide on the grounds?"
"Now that is something I would prefer to partake in." Remus agreed mildly.
"Fabulous."
"Not today?"
"Oh, no." I snorted, swirling the dregs of my coffee. "I couldn't dig up the energy and I'm sure our mastermind remains ill disposed on the couch."
"He's probably fucking Marlene in the bathroom, actually." Remus's eyes sparkled with amusement.
"Wouldn't be the first time." I grinned widely.
"Shall we go wake them?" Peter asked, pushing his empty plate into the middle of the table.
"What did we just discuss, Wormtail?" I replied with raised eyebrows, pulling myself up to my feet. "They're fornicating up against my communal shower."
He rolled his eyes as Remus smiled vaguely, devouring the last two bites of his muffin.
"Maybe we could join them." He said thoughtfully after a minute of pondering.
"First in first serve." I grinned at him.
"As of this conversation, I've decided I'll be heading back to the Gryffindor common room." Peter announced with a slight shudder. Remus glanced to me the moment my eyes swivelled to his face, and we both burst out laughing.