running on fumes but we'll make it through the night
THE BOY COULD NOT UNDERSTAND HOW SHE COULD REJECT HIM all these times. The ginger Muggleborn shook her head once again, her resolve as strong and stubborn as it had been since the first time he popped the question.
"For the tenth time today, no! I will never go out with such an insufferable git like you!" she practically shouted at him in the middle of the common room. Usually, Lily Evans was able to keep her temper in check but there was something about James Fleamont Potter that just made her tick. Her existing Prefect duties and the worries of NEWT's (though they were now in their sixth year) were bearing down on the girl and she did not want to have to deal with the boy and his foolish antics for another year.
She stormed away from him, going up to her dormitory to escape his presence, and James remained in the center of the living space. Most of Gryffindor House was already accustomed to the constant quarrels between Lily and James so they paid it no mind; however, there still existed a few second years that chose to gawk at James like they had never seen a boy been rejected by his one true love in their lives.
James narrowed his eyes at the group and snarled, ready to snap at them and ask if they couldn't mind their own business when Sirius threw an arm around the boy's shoulders and pulled him to sit on a sofa by the fireplace.
"Prongs, Prongs, Prongs. I don't care what she said, that was the most beautiful serenading I have ever heard in my life!" the Black exclaimed, pretending to wipe tears from his eyes.
Remus, who was on a speedy recovery after a full moon, wasted no time in adding, "Yes, the part where you compared her eyes to the colour of McGonagall's robes really touched me."
"No, no, no," Peter said as he dropped himself onto the space beside James, "Your long and luscious hair; no one in the castle, not even Dumbledore, could compare. That was golden."
The three boys snickered as they teased their friend who, even though he was slightly defeated by her rejection, refused to give up. He had been pining over the same girl, the one and only Lily Evans, since their first year of Hogwarts. Though she turned him down countless times, the boy never gave up. Now, the Marauders had already entered their sixth year at school and James was still hung up on the Muggleborn witch.
"Tease all you want, you wankers. But I can feel it, this year is the year that Evans will fall for me," James said surely, with a large grin plastered on his face.
"Didn't he say that last year?" Peter asked the others, raising an eyebrow.
They both nodded and Remus said, "And the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that."
James rolled his eyes and Sirius, always there to save his brother from endless teasing, jumped in, "How about we go to a party? That always gets you feeling right."
"Only one problem," Remus said, "There's no party going on tonight. At least, not in Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw."
Sirius smirked, "Oh, but there is one in Slytherin."
* * *
Uncharted waters.
That was the only thing on James' mind as he entered the Slytherin common room that night. Every square inch of the room was unexplored territory for each of the Marauders (for obvious reasons, seeing as it was the Slytherin common room and they were all proud Gryffindors). They had never been to a Slytherin party before so all of this was new to them.
They waited for a Slytherin to enter the room before slipping in behind him. The entire group then stood still at the door, taking in their surroundings.
The room was dark and cold, whether it be the natural state of the dungeons or the fact that the fire had been extinguished for the occasion was unknown to James. Fairy lights that dimly glowed were hung all over the room, stretching from wall to wall, giving the place an ambiance of seclusion. Music flowed from speakers that James could not see, the bass booming in time with James' heart.
"How did you even know about this?" Peter asked, barely audible due to the loud music.
"January 17th," Sirius answered, though he was mesmerized by the dancing bodies of all the girls, "Regulus' birthday, they were bound to throw a party."
James gulped, steeling his nerves before he ran his hand through his face and slapped his famous side-smirk on his face. He was James Potter, he could more than handle a party full of snakes. He stepped down into the center of the room, making his way across the dance floor and to the table of drinks, the rest of the group in tow. They were almost there when a voice called out.
"Hey! Who invited the blood traitors?"
All the activities of the party ceased as everyone turned to watch the band of Gryffindor boys. The music and dancing stopped at the same time, the crowd's faces hardening as they realized who had crashed their party. There was a pause, and James was sure that they were going to be kicked out, before a sultry voice spoke out, "I did."
From the shadows of the crowd, a girl appeared. She was clad in all black, a short and tight dress that had a deep neckline, exposing her cleavage. Around her neck was a necklace with a huge pendant, which drew more attention to the curve of her breasts. Her face seemed bare from where James stood, excluding the dark red lipstick that made her lips look fuller.
She walked towards the group, the crowd parting for her as she took each step. The girl stopped in front of Sirius and smiled, "Glad to see you got my message, cousin dearest."
Sirius returned with a grin just as bright (and all of the Marauders could tell it was fake), "Thank you for the kind invitation, Cecilia."
Just like that, it all clicked in James' brain.
That's Cecilia Lestrange.
James was considered quite popular in Hogwarts so he practically knew everyone that attended the school. Cecilia Lestrange, on the other hand, was a complete mystery to him. The only things he knew about the girl were that she was Sirius' older cousin (she was in the year above them), she had one friend (Elliot Summers, a Hufflepuff) and that she was a decent (more than decent, if all the rumors were true) shag.
Cecilia looked around, "Well, nothing to see here. Carry on."
As if her words hit a switch, the music restarted and everyone got back into the groove of doing what they were previously doing. The four Gryffindors made their way to the drinks table, accompanied by Cecilia who was looking them all up and down.
"Storming into Slytherin parties now? I see leaving home has given you some nerve, little cousin," Cecilia said, folding her arms over her chest as she watched Sirius.
He kept her gaze, a feat not many others can say they have done, and smirked, "Is that another tattoo, Cecilia? I see turning seventeen has given you some nerve. Add that to your list of conquests and I'm sure Mummy would be proud."
She narrowed her eyes at him but in the dim lighting, James swore he saw the ghost of a smile dance on her lips. She was closer now and James could see that atop her cheekbones was something shimmery that gave her the glow of a goddess. The girl flipped her hair over her shoulder, an action that came second-nature to her, and let out a deep breath.
"Well, I see you can take care of yourself. Just make sure and keep your band of..," she paused, looking over the group once more before continuing, "..animals out of trouble, will you? Avery's already got his panties in a twist because I have Elliot in here and I really can't handle another one of that pansy's tantrums."
Cecilia sauntered away, leaving the four boys mystified. They had just managed to complete the Animagus transformations in order to help Remus with his furry little problem but they had been careful that no one would notice what the quartet was doing. Were they not cautious enough?
"That was just a coincidence, right? Her choice of words?" Peter asked, his voice an octave higher than usual.
"Yeah, yeah. Just a coincidence," Sirius said, his voice trailing off as even he seemed unsure. He shook his head and turned to his friends, "Well, I'm here for a good time and I'm sure there's got to be a Slytherin willing to give it to me, I will see you boys later."
The group disbanded; Sirius going to mingle with the group of girls closest to him while Peter and Remus walked a little lower down to get food. As for James, he remained planted by the drinks table. The boy took this opportunity to survey the crowd. Bodies of different Slytherins swayed in time with one another's as the music played on. He picked out the few that he knew from his own pranking escapades (mainly Mulciber, Malfoy and Snape) and watched how they circled around girls, like predators marking their prey.
James took up a cup from the table, taking a sniff before he downed it in one gulp. It burned the whole way down, setting his insides ablaze.
Definitely firewhiskey.
He coughed and he felt his eyes watering at the strength of the liquor but he accepted the buzz that it left in his veins wholeheartedly. James then stalked through the crowd, wandering aimlessly as no one that was currently in here was on good terms with the boy. Slytherin house had been the butt of his and his mates' pranks for years; how had he let Sirius convince him to come here?
"He's like a hopeless puppy," Elliot said as the boy took another sip of his drink. His free arm was draped around Cecilia's shoulders, her legs draped on his lap as the duo sat in the shadows of the party.
"The puppy would be my cousin actually," Cecilia corrected him, her gaze shifting to the gray-eyed Gryffindor who was currently trying to chat up a few fifth years. She shook her head before letting her brown eyes drift back to James. The boy had circled the entire room, ending back up at the drinks table. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and Cecilia snorted quietly.
She stood up, turning back to look at her Hufflepuff friend, "I'm going for another drink, bring you a refill?"
Elliot shook his head, "I'd like to go my classes without a hangover, thanks."
Cecilia smiled at him, a small and genuine action that only he was able to get out of her, before she proceeded across the room.
James noticed the girl coming his way instantly, though he wasn't sure why his brain registered her as quickly as it did. She ignored his presence, or maybe she just did not observe that he was blatantly staring at her, and that irked him. She had come all this way, why wasn't she making conversation?
The girl stood in front of the table for a few moments, contemplating which poison to pick, and she couldn't hold back her words. Clicking her tongue against her palette, she said, "Didn't Mummy ever tell you it was rude to stare?"
It took a while for it to register that she was speaking to him but when it hit him, James wasted no time in stammering out a response (something that never happened because James Potter always knew how to keep his cool), "What? Staring? Me? Never."
She turned to him and met his stare. James then found himself drowning in her dark eyes, unable to keep himself from the trance that they sent him in. He felt his knees grow weak and he became afraid that he would collapse in the middle of the party.
Cecilia rose an eyebrow and James looked away, his breathing shaky as he did so. He turned to face the table, picking up another cup and emptying in a gulp. She watched him do so in amusement and when he was finished, she asked, "How did that taste?"
It burned like I had swallowed Fiendfyre.
He shrugged, throwing a lopsided grin her way, "Nothing I'm not used to."
"So you've had these before, I take it?" Cecilia inquired, gesturing towards the cups lined on the table.
James nodded, "Well yeah, I mean, who hasn't had a bit of firewhiskey in their life?"
Cecilia's eyes glistened with mirth as she bit her lower lip, her body shaking as she tried to keep the laughter in. She lost in the end as she found this all too hilarious.
"Firewhiskey? You drank that and called it firewhiskey?" she asked, pointing at the cups as she threw her head back in hysterics.
He froze and his eyes widened slightly in panic, "Wait, so it's not firewhiskey?"
She shook her head, "Oh Merlin, you're bloody clueless. Did that honestly feel like firewhiskey alone going down your throat?"
Cecilia took a deep breath to calm herself before she spoke, "Oh, this is comedy gold. I've got to tell this to Elliot."
The girl grabbed a random cup off the table and had started to make her way across the room, through the gyrating crowd, when James called out, "Cecilia, wait!"
The dark-haired girl stopped and turned, watching the boy with a curious gaze, "Yes, Mr. Potter?"
"What's gonna happen to me now?" he asked, the two drinks that he drained already making his thoughts go hazy. He felt like he could move a mountain with the renewed sense of energy that was coursing through his veins and he had the sudden urge to storm into the Gryffindor's sixth year girls' dormitory to confess his undying love for Lily Evans.
She shrugged and a playful smirk remained on her lips, "I guess we'll have to see, won't we?"
"Will I die?" he asked, his words slurring together slightly as the tone of his voice changed greatly.
"I'm sure you'll make it through the night, Potter."
Those were the last words James Potter heard from Cecilia Lestrange that night before she disappeared into the masses of moving bodies. He looked around in a daze, hoping to locate any of his friends that he had came here with. He found Remus right away and the boy pat himself on the back for befriending such a tall person.
"Oh Remmy!" James called out, drawing attention from everyone that was in the vicinity to hear him. The Slytherins in the area laughed while Remus and Peter watched their drunken friend in horror. The duo was confused for James had never been a lightweight and they had only been in the party for twenty minutes. Pushing away the perplexity of the situation, they both hooked arms with James, Remus on the left and Peter on the right, before they scavenged the party to find Sirius.
They located Sirius in the darkest corner of the room, snogging a girl ferociously. James burst out in giggles, "Oi mate, are you trying to snog her or swallow her?"
The girl pulled away from Sirius at his friend's interruption, giving the boy a look of contempt, and stood up. She left the Black boy with his friends and made her way back into the party, Sirius huffing at his friends as she blended in with the crowd.
"Thanks Prongs," he said sarcastically, running a hand through his already messy hair.
James smiled at the boy, "Don't mention it, my matey. Huh, matey. Makes me sound like a pirate. Argghhh."
Sirius paused, looking at his best friend warily, "Okay, what happened to James?"
"That's the problem," Peter said as he too watched the bespectacled boy, "We really aren't sure."
Remus nodded, "I mean, how much could he have had to drink? It's barely been a half hour."
The trio instantly decided that the best thing would be to carry James back to his dorm. With Remus and Peter holding the boy up and Sirius walking in front to guide them, they were about to leave the room when Cecilia called out to them, "Going to bed so early?"
While the others ignored her voice, James turned his head. Their eyes met and her left lowered in a provocative wink as she raised her cup to him and tipped it back. He smiled and was about to shout a goodbye when his friends pulled him out of the Slytherin common room, the door shutting behind him.