Christmas Eve found a number of girls milling around Slughorn's office. News had reached them that the now-reformed, sizzlingly handsome Potter and his roguishly attractive best friend, Black, were attending the Slug Club's Christmas party, which one could attend by invitation only. However, the question on everyone's minds was: who would be the lucky girls to be blessed by the opportunity to be on the arm of the two most eligible men in the school.
Peeves had tried, in vain, to find the answer. Popping out in the loo was one tactic that earned him numerous threats to be reported to the Bloody Baron, which ceased his enthusiasm dramatically.
Be that as it may, many rumours that a certain red-haired girl was to be accompanied by at least one of these fine gentlemen had started blossoming. This caused Lily to earn many a glare in the hallways and attempts at being hexed (she dodged them each time and discreetly sent a Confundus spell in the general direction of the attacker). However, rumours were neither confirmed nor denied, as both parties remained tight-lipped on the subject, even when probed by the persistent Marlene McKinnon.
By the time the clock struck eight, which was the time of party, most of the female population of Hogwarts was gathered around the hallway just before the potions teacher's office.
Many of them whispered and nudged each other in excitement as the locks of Lily's deep red hair were spotted, bouncing on her shoulders. As she walked closer, they could see her elegant blue dress ("Did she steal off the back of an elf? 'Cause that looks like our Gertie's uniform", scoffed a fifth year in derision), her school shoes ("Does she not own any more shoes?" cried another sixth year, earning many sounds of assent) and the fact that there was a boy next to her.
Everyone stood on their toes to get a better view and gasped in shock when he stepped under a patch of moonlight; it was...
"Eric Gold, Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team!" a number of girls chorused excitedly. "She sure can get them," said a dark-haired Hufflepuff enviously, as many girls rubbed her back sympathetically.
As they disappeared from view-- not before being scrutinised from head to toe-- a flurry of movement at the end of the corridor caught their attention. No one could mistake the cocksure gait of Sirius Black, the heartbreaker, the lean and muscular silhouette of James Potter, captain of the Quidditch team and every girl's fantasy, and the two other people next to them.
They came closer and closer, laughing and talking, one could finally make out their 'dates'. It was none other than Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin, the two charity cases they had taken on. Though they were deeply disappointed, the spectators still nodded in approval at this gesture; it was so Potter, being absolutely the unattainable man in every girl's dreams and yet bringing his best friends to a party.
***
The party was in full swing when the Marauders arrived. The whole room greeted them enthusiastically, except for a few Slytherins, who sent them a cool look before turning away. Slughorn personally shook hands with all of them, omitting Remus and Peter from the conversation completely.
"Man," Remus said, once Slughorn was out of earshot, "You did not do him any favours by bringing us." Peter nodded, his eyes darting nervously around the lavishly decorated room.
"Look, Moony, Wormy," Sirius sighed, "It was a stupid idea to come in the first place, but James suggested this brilliant idea so if this goes wrong, it's on him." James swatted at him. "I didn't want to come in the first place, because if someone is dumb enough to skip over raw talent, they're just stupid. But," James looked at Peter, "I realised that he just doesn't know you the way we do! We'll get him to notice you tonight."
"Plus," Sirius added, "We get free and delicious food. It's better than sitting around, watching Prongsie sing love songs about Evans, isn't it?" James shot him an exasperated look and turned away.
"Actually," he whispered, so only Sirius could hear him, "I brought them to smooth over any, er, underlying tension during your family reunion." Sirius glanced at Narcissa and Bellatrix, huddled together with Nott, McNair and some distant relatives of the Malfoys. Bellatrix sent him a wink and blew him a kiss, lounging on her seat.
"Get me some Butterbeer," Sirius groaned, "I do not wish to remember their faces for the next ninety minutes."
***
Lily was a little uncomfortable, to say the least. Marlene had been pestering her for ages to 'go out and live a little'. She had always dismissed her friend, preferring to find solace in her spell books, but this year, she decided to finally explore this new, unchartered territory. Another motivation might be, though it probably isn't, the fact that her new friendship with Potter had caused rumours to sprout.
She recalled Severus' spiteful words, uttered so long ago, "It's only a matter of time before you succumb to his charms, just like every other girl here!" She grit her teeth and tried to clear her head.
"So, I thought Ellie couldn't do it, I'll have to Keep for her. Of course, I'm not even a very good Chaser-- Sprout must've been batty to make me captain-- but somehow, I managed to stop the Quaffle." Eric looked at her as she nodded and smiled, not sure how to respond. "I'm sorry," he laughed, "I've been talking way too much about Quidditch, haven't I?" Lily responded, apologetically, "Just a tad." Eric chuckled, "Well, tell me more about you, then."
Lily took a deep breath. Eric Gold. The nicest, most attractive person at Hogwarts; at least according to her. She didn't quite understand why he'd been asking about her from Marlene's cousin in Hufflepuff when she was so obviously ordinary. But she did like him. What was not to like? From his bright and sunny personality to his chiseled jaw, he was absolutely everything she could have asked for. Besides, it was just a stupid party, right?
"Well, I am Lily Evans, a witch with a pestering need to be the best at everything, even making party-conversation." She shrugged playfully as Eric grinned.
"I don't know about that, I can be pretty good at talking."
"Ah, yes, but I actually have to enjoy the conversation."
The night progressed, finding usually well-kept officials tipsy and slurry. Professor Slughorn had himself given up on conversation and instead resorted to munching mournfully on crystallised pineapple that his friend, Rufus Scrimegeour, had brought him. The marauders were perhaps the only lively ones left; with occasional bursts of song and plenty of laughter and joking, they were the life of the party.
James and Sirius had spent the whole night talking up Remus' and Peter's achievements, exaggerating them until even Slughorn couldn't help being impressed. A normal incident involving a teacup and a Transfiguration mishap was retold as a complete disaster with Remus to save the day with his last-minute, extremely skilled spell work. Peter's skills at Transfiguration were highly emphasised, with certain favour for topics related to shape-shifting or animagi. All four of them muffled their laughs and shot one another secretive looks that only they could understand.
When the mysterious source of their youthful stamina had run out, they stood by the edge of the room, talking about various things that wouldn't dare be discussed without the influence of the spiked butterbeer.
"You know, Prongs," Sirius slurred, "I kind of like Tanya Shutter. But you know what?" he dropped his voice, "I like Johnson better." James laughed, "Why do you only have a thing for Quidditch players?" Sirius shrugged, "I could go after those know-it-alls, like your darling Evans, but they don't like anyone. Maybe Moony stands a chance."
Remus gave a half-hearted laugh, "You do realise the chances of me liking absolutely anyone are rather slim? Or anyone liking me, for that matter?"
"We thought that about little Wormy, but poor boy had his heart broken and went on to become a man," James sighed, looking at the snoring lump that was Peter Pettigrew. "Has anyone noticed, he seems a little.... ratty lately?"
Sirius snorted, "Well, you seem a little prongs-y lately, Moony's been all moony and I, of course, am still the wonder that is the bloody Grim."
James shook his head, chuckling. He never could deny his best friend's terrible, yet completely spot-on sense of humour. "I love you, Pads." Sirius groaned, "Oh, God, Evans is going to kill me. I knew my good looks would get us in this situation. Look, Prongsie, you're great and all that, but you're a little stupid, mate, and frankly, I am way out of your league."
James rolled his eyes, "If anyone's out of any leagues, I am out of yours."
"Don't flatter yourself, buddy."
But James could see in Sirius' eyes, that under the thinly veiled attempt to disregard this emotional subject, he felt all the emotions and he felt them deeply. James smiled, clapping a hand on his friend's back and no more needed to be said.
"I'm going to get some air," James sighed, getting up. "I don't need Sirius drooling on me. Remus, it's your job now."
He strolled into the dimly lit hallways, stretching his sore legs, wondering if he would get in detention if he caused Remus to miss his Christmas-y duties as a prefect when something caught his eye. He turned around, towards a dark alcove, when he froze. He knew those red hair.
Lily Evans had her mouth tightly jammed with the stupid Hufflepuff captain.
------
A/N
Hey! This is probably my favourite chapter yet, honestly, and I've been trying to improve my writing, for my sake and yours, because I know it's absolute crap, but I'm improving, I swear.
Anyway, we're nearing the end. As we know, Lily didn't go out with James till seventh year, so we still have some jealousy, drama and denial to go through, because that's a romance novel, eh?
So, I've been trying to make this a full-fledged book, describing not only the jily love story but also Sirius' family issues, James' reform and why, Lupin's apprehension about being a werewolf, Lily's problems with Snape and the Voldemort backstory all in one go. It's hard, honestly, because I've been very disproportionate about it all, but I guess that's to be expected, as the leading genre of this story is romance after all.
So here's my completely unwanted and unasked-for thought process. Continue reading!