Chapter Forty Nine
Sirius felt like he was suffocating as he restlessly tugged at the collar of shirt. "Stop tugging Pads." James swatted his hand away, fixing his tie once again, this wasn't an unusual sight. James Potter has always been what you could call the mum friend of the group. He was always making sure we did our homework, or wore a sweater when it was cold, overall making sure we took care of ourselves. He sometimes felt like if he didn't, we wouldn't last a week. It wasn't uncommon to hear him 'chastise' us for our 'unhealthy' tendencies. You would hear things like: "Moony stop picking at that scar it is going to bleed again, Sirius you aren't too punk for breakfast sit down, Wormtail set that book down and get some sleep before I take it away, Prim five cups of coffee isn't food, eat something."
It is Ravenclaw's annual halloween party, and despite Sirius's discomfort he hadn't been able to refuse when asked to dress up. He had even agreed to watch the movie so he knew exactly who he was supposed to be dressing up as. "I just hate this." Sirius said defeatedly. He felt uncomfortable. To anyone else Sirius looked very handsome and quite charming sporting a three piece, black striped suit, but to him it reminded him a little too much of a place and time he hates.
"It isn't quite that bad Padfoot you ought ..." James's answer was lost to his ears, as he looked up the stairs when he heard the sound of laughter. Alice and I were making our way out of our dorm to join the party, walking with arms entwined, giggling as we talked.
When we reached the bottom I let Alice go and turned to look at Sirius, who took my hand and gave me a spin. "Cara mia, you look stunning in that dress." His hands settled on my hips. I'm not wearing anything grand. Just a long black, sleeved, velvet dress, Amelia had kindly agreed to make, in honour of one of the most iconic muggle tv couples: Morticia and Gómez Addams.
"You look very handsome as well." I replied, taking my time admiring him. Sirius might've hated the idea of wearing a suit, but the smile on her face when she saw him, that was a sight worth of relieving his worst memories a thousand times over. "I know I do love. Shall we then?" He offered his arm and I rolled my eyes, taking it nonetheless. It wasn't a long walk, after all the party was in Ravenclaw's common room and he was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
The party was already in full swing, the common room crowded with many students from different houses fifth year and up. Sirius and I found the rest of our friends, each of whom had their own costume, near a corner. "And what are you supposed to be?" Sirius asked Remus, who was wearing the classic red and blue suit. "I'm Spider-Man." Remus answered as if it was obvious, and it is, to a few people that is. "What the bloody hell is that?" Sirius looked utterly bewildered. Remus rolled his eyes. "It's a muggle thing. He's a superhero from a comic, I'm surprised Amelia was able to pull it off." Remus said amused. "A bloody what?" Sirius asked again, making me laugh. "There is still so much to teach you about the muggle world." I tell him, slightly patting his cheek. "But that's for another time. I really want to dance." I took his hand in mine and dragged him to the empty space designated as a makeshift dance floor. The next few hours seemed to pass by in a blurr. I lost count of the number of drinks, there were a few firewhiskey shots here and there, and of course non-stop dancing.
I was standing next to the drinks table, taking a break from dancing with Alice, Lily and the girls. From where I stood I could see Sirius perfectly, he had left with Remus a little while ago to take a breather. He was sitting on a couch, tie and jacket gone, and a few buttons of his shirt undone. He looked heavenly. Head thrown back as he took a drag of smoke and let it out. A girl was sitting next to him, smiling, twirling her hair, touching his arm. Her attempts are painfully obvious.
I don't know if it was jealousy, the alcohol, or maybe it was a mix of both, what fueled my actions. I finished the last of my drink, and with my head held high I crossed the room. Without warning I sat down on Sirius's lap, sending a glare at the girl who was clearly trying to flirt with him. Doesn't she know he is spoken for?
Arms instantly wrapped around my waist. "Hello darling." He had a lazy grin, cigarette hanging from his lips, hair slightly rumpled, and eyes unfocused. "Hi." I smiled back at him. The girl tried to coax his attention once more, but he clearly ignored her. With a scoff she stood up, and I kept glaring her way until she was out of sight.
A low chuckle brought back my attention, and I turned to look at Sirius, eyebrows furrowed. "What's so funny?" I asked. "You're jealous." There was no point in denying it. "What if I am?" I countered back, speech slightly slurred due to the influence of the alcohol running through my bloodstream. He flashed me a million dollar smile. "You're adorable when you're angry." "Am not!" I said with a pout and crossing my arms. "Only proving my point further sweetheart. Your nose scrunches up and gets all wrinkly when you're upset." He said lightly tapping my nose. I mumbled some incoherent response snuggling deeper into his embrace, face pressed in the crook of his neck. I was engulfed by the smell of cigarettes, leather and coffee. It was the kind that made me feel all fuzzy and warm, the kind that feels like home.
Feeling completely relaxed, my eyes started to close. "Tired?" I looked up. "A little but I'm just fine here." He shook his head, putting out his cigarette, the corner of his mouth tilting upwards. "It's already late. Let's get you to bed sleeping beauty." He stood up, taking me with him in his arms. I looked at him confused. "Where did you learn that?" He shrugged his shoulders. "It's something Remus keeps saying to me or the lads when we sleep in." I laughed. The thought of big bad brooding Remus using a muggle expression with his pureblooded friends, a princess to be more precise, is amusing.
***
The party had been no surprise a mega success even now, two days later, the buzz and the gossip hadn't quietened down, and rightfully so. It had been a wild night, I even suffered the endless teasing from Alice and Sirius the next morning from my massive hangover, but the halloween feast proved to be the perfect cure.
I was chatting with Alice in our dorm when Amelia walked in, she was one of our dorm mates. "Prim, I have what you asked for." She said, grabbing a clothes bag from her bed and handing it to me. I carefully opened the zipper to reveal what was inside and I'm impressed. "It's perfect Amelia, you're an angel truly." I said, giving her a smile. "You're still doing my potions homework right?" "Of course." I assured her. It was a fair trade. A dress, a suit, plus four more outfits in exchange for a little favour. "Everything set for tomorrow then?" Alice asked, and I gave her a nod.
After Amelia handed me the bag I took my outfit out, before closing it again and left my dorm. I told Remus earlier today to meet me at the prefect's bathroom before dinner. It was the perfect place to give Remus the bag and the chance to sneak in the clothes without raising questions, while the rest went down to the Great Hall.
On November third 1976 nothing had gone out of the ordinary. A birthday was sung in the early hours of the morning before class, and after a long day Sirius and James had gone on to quidditch practice, so the former thought it strange when he suddenly found himself without the company of any of his friends at dinner time. Thinking that maybe he had taken a little too long in the shower and James had become impatient and gone off by himself he didn't worry too much about it, but he was baffled to find none of them were sitting at either the Gryffindor nor the Ravenclaw table.
He looked around the room once, twice, thrice making sure they weren't pulling a prank on him. Before he could decide what to do next a panicked voice resonated through the room. "Fight! There is a fight in the courtyard!" Alice ran into the room frantically. We had gone all out for this plan and Alice was essential to it. She was ecstatic when I asked her, saying something about finally being able to be part of one of the Marauders great schemes.
Everyone rushed outside to see what the fuss was about, food forgotten. Sirius followed the sea of students outside who all looked around confused by the lack of commotion and wooden platform in the middle of the courtyard. When Alice gave the signal there was a booming voice.
"Ladies and gentleman, tonight we have a special treat!" Peter's voice was heard first. "In honour of our dear friend Padfoot!" James carried on. "For tonight only, we give this very special marauders performance!" Remus finished. With the very first notes all four of us walked up the platform, dressed in matching sets of ruffled, bellbottomed, shiny jumpsuits.
ABBA had just released their new song 'Dancing Queen' over the summer and of course when we heard the lyrics:You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen I knew it would've been the perfect opportunity to tease Sirius a little. It wasn't hard to convince the lads to do this, and it had even been Remus's idea to fully commit to it, with the stage and the outfits, and everything.
For someone who relentlessly teased James for liking the band, and claimed them to be too girly Sirius certainly knew all the words and had joined in by the first chorus, and halfway through the song almost anyone who knew it had joined in as well on the singing and dancing.
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Stay tuned messer and don't forget the mischief is not yet managed.