It was a boys’ dormitory indeed.
Random pieces of clothing were strewn haphazardly on the floor, bedposts, and chairs. A small red, black, and gold top spun in a corner, emitting a soft whirring noise. The scarlet hangings on one of the four-posters were half torn off the wooden beam (some of the frayed threads showed signs of singeing), and the whole room was filled with the sounds of muffled snores.
In the four-poster to the far right, next to the window, James slept peacefully. He was lying on his back, his blankets gathered at his waist, both his arms lying on either side of his head. In the next bed was Sirius, who was lying spread-eagled with one foot hanging off the edge of his mattress. He had completely wriggled free of his blankets, which would have otherwise covered his red and black paw-print boxers. Remus was lying on his side, one arm draped over the pillow next to him, his hair falling over his eyes. In the very last bed nearest the bathroom, Peter stirred and shifted into a foetal position, a trickle of saliva running down the side of his mouth. None of them awoke to the glistening sunlight filtering through the cracks of frost in the windows and the increasing bustle of activity in the common room.
Just then, James’s face scrunched up, as if he had seen something utterly disgusting in his subconscious, and he rolled over onto his side. His arm came out and hit the glass of water on his side table, knocking it over. The glass toppled and the water splashed out, some flecks hitting Sirius’s face. Sirius grunted and wiped his face with his hands in annoyance. Groggily, he propped himself up on one elbow and looked around with half-open eyes, trying to gauge what had rudely woken him up. When he spotted the steady dripping of the water on James’s side table, he growled in irritation and flung a heavy pillow at the other boy.
James woke up with a start. “Oi!” he said thickly, rubbing his eyes. When he spotted Sirius’s pillow lying across him, he glared at his companion. “What’re you on about?”
“You woke me up, you stupid arsehole.” Sirius ran his fingers through his thick black hair and met James’s contemptuous stare with his own annoyed one. James rolled his eyes and flung himself back onto the bed.
“The hell I did. I’m not the one with stupid delusions.”
Sirius narrowed his eyes and, stowing his wand into his bedside drawer, he flung a second pillow at James, which hit the other boy painfully on the side of his head. James yelped in surprise. Growling, he sat up, grabbed both pillows that were lying across him, and started for Sirius. Sensing danger, Sirius tugged at the next available weapon: Remus’s pillow. He yanked it from beneath the blond’s head and shielded himself from James’s assault just in time. Remus’s head hit the mattress, and he jerked awake.
“What’s going o”?”
James delivered a particularly violent blow that knocked Sirius onto Remus’s stomach, cutting the poor lad off in mid-sentence. Peter had awoken as well, and presently held a pillow high above his head. Sirius spotted him, and yelled frantically, “Wormtail, NO!”
Both parties attacked at the same time”James’s on his groin, Peter’s squarely on his face. Remus grunted as Sirius’s weight pressed further into his middle. I did not need this as a wake-up call, he thought miserably.
“Fucking sods!” shouted Sirius, and finally, he leapt to his feet and delivered a series of blows to James. A shower of feathers filled the room and littered the floor, making an incredible mess. After taking a while to allow the pain in his stomach to subside, Remus grabbed his pillow and joined in the frenzy, unable to resist.
Half an hour later, when all the feathers in the pillows had flown about the room, when the four Marauders were panting and lying breathless on the floor, there can a knock on their dormitory door.
“Grab it,” managed James, poking Sirius in the ribs.
“No, you grab it,” snapped Sirius, flinging his empty pillowcase at the bespectacled prankster.
“I’ll get it,” Remus rolled his eyes and pulled himself to his feet.
“Ahh, brave soul, Moony!”
Kicking the feathers as he went, Remus made his way to the door and pulled it open. There stood Lily, fully dressed in her weekend clothes, with her hair pulled up in a high ponytail. Her gaze rested on the mess inside the dormitory and gasped.
“What the hell happened here?” she demanded.
At the sound of Lily’s voice, James stood up and hurried to the door, completely unaware that his pyjama top was unbuttoned and hanging loosely on his torso.
“I . . . er . . .” began Remus, but James cut him off.
“Lily! How very corking to see you this lovely morning,” he said brightly.
“Indeed.” Lily eyed him from head to toe, the look on her face unreadable. “Professor McGonagall wants us both in her office at 11:00. Get dressed.” Before James could utter another word, she turned on her heel and left.
Sirius whistled. “Talk about nasty. I don’t know about you, Prongs, but I wouldn’t want to live under the same roof as that vicious snapdragon.” James ignored him and waded his way across the room to his closet.
“Of course, Lily could be a snapdragon in other ways,” piped Peter, a lecherous grin forming on his face. “A girl who can talk like that surely can move like that.”
“Ahh, now you’re talking my language, Wormtail!” chuckled Sirius. He propped himself on his elbows and amusedly eyed James, who was pulling a jumper over his head. “What do you think, Prongs? Think Evans will show her wild side at Sluggy’s party tonight?”
“Not likely to you, but you can dream, can’t you, Padfoot?” James shot back, running his fingers through his hair in front of the mirror hanging on Sirius’s closet door.
Remus snickered. “Of course he can, while he’s sleeping next to Olivia Brampton in a secluded broom closet somewhere.”
“Oi! I’m not sleeping with a psychopathic stalker, thank you very much!”
“Right, lads, I’m off to see Aunty Minerva,” announced James, with an air of talking about his favourite godmother. “See you all later!” He crossed the room and did a rather exaggerated bow before exiting the dormitory.
~*~
Horace Slughorn’s parties were elaborate and often highly crafted to suit the student elite of Hogwarts”at least, those with family members famous enough to be admired by the vainglorious Professor Slughorn. And then, there were the talented select few who were fortunate”or unfortunate”enough to be initiated into the Slug Club. While Lily counted for the latter, James was recognized for both reasons, and although James’s Uncle Vincent, a famous Auror who assisted in the war against Grindelwald, admired Slughorn, the teenage boy loathed the short and plump velvet-clad professor. Admittedly, he only tolerated these parties because Sirius, Remus, and Lily shared his inevitable burden.
Tonight, at least, McGonagall gave the Heads the responsibility of supervising student activity, as Slughorn was often unreliable in that aspect. He was always off somewhere, talking to famous witches and wizards who cared enough about him to come. James leaned casually against the punch table, while his eyes roamed the room. Beside him, Lily did the same, although her gaze often settled on Remus and Julia, who were conversing in a corner. Every so often, her lips would turn up into a smile, as if congratulating herself on a successful matchmaking venture. In another corner of the room, Sirius stood with the Prewett brothers. Olivia Brampton was lingering close by.
“I don’t see Snape anywhere,” commented Lily as she scanned the room. “Sirius’s brother is here, though . . .”
“Snape hasn’t attended another Slug Party ever since Sirius replaced his teacup with a cup from Zonko’s,” answered James matter-of-factly after taking another swig from his drink.
“Hmm . . .” Lily’s face darkened slightly, and she craned her neck to look up at him. “I’m surprised you aren’t over there plotting something malicious.”
James raised an eyebrow at her. “I do follow instructions, you know?” He turned and refilled his glass, but said no more after that. Lily studied his face intently. Surely he wasn’t offended by that?
“Well, I’m just used to seeing you with Sirius all the time, that’s all.” She had no idea why she was attempting to cover up a non-existent mistake, but she couldn’t ignore the little pool of guilt that formed in her stomach when James fell silent all of a sudden.
James looked at her from the corner of his eye and smiled. “I came here with you as my date, not Sirius. In fact, if I came with Sirius, that would’ve aroused some sort of controversy, no?”
Lily burst out laughing. “Well, you two practically have a relationship already anyway.” She grinned mischievously at him.
James glanced over his shoulder at Sirius. “We do, don’t we? So you wouldn’t mind if I went over there and snogged him senseless?” He winked as he poured another glass of punch and handed it to her.
“Wouldn’t put it past you.” Lily accepted the glass gratefully and took a small sip.
“Ehh . . . Sirius isn’t my type. Now, Remus on the other hand . . .”
“Hey!” Lily slapped his arm. “I forbid you to have any lustful thoughts about my best friend.”
James burst out laughing. “Julia beat me to it, anyway.” He pointed. Lily followed the direction of his arm. Remus and Julia were weaving their way towards the exit, their hands tightly intertwined. Lily’s mouth fell open as she watched. Her eyes never left the couple until the finally disappeared out the thick oak door. James whistled.
“Three guesses which broom closet they’re heading for,” he remarked, his face also bearing a look of pleasant surprise. Lily’s mouth remained open for about a split-second more, and then she started for the door, dragging James along with her.
“Oi! Where are we going?”
“I just want to see . . .”
“Lily!” James tripped over someone’s foot, which allowed Lily to pull him more easily. Some students watched them curiously, probably wondering why Lily Evans was yanking James Potter towards the exit. “What are you, some kind of creepy stalker now?”
“Shush!” chided Lily as they reached the empty corridor, the loud chatter in the party a mere soft buzzing noise now. Some distance away, she could spy two figures disappearing around a darkened corner. Her conscience screamed at her to turn around, but her curiosity always got the better of her. James had fallen silent behind her as they quietly followed, most likely eager to spy on his friend as well.
The next hallway was very dimly-lit, making it nearly impossible to walk through without any light source. Lily slowed down to a soft tip-toe, her hand firmly grasping James’s, ready to run in the other direction if they ever ran into their prey. It was eerily quiet, and just when Lily wondered if they had chosen the right corridor, her foot came in contact with a bump on the floor.
“Ouch!” yelped a voice, which was unmistakably Remus’s.
Oh, shit. “Go!” she whispered fiercely at James, who quickly bolted in the opposite direction. They must have covered at least ten or fifteen yards before a wand tip light shone from Remus’s end. James tugged her into the nearest empty classroom, and they squeezed together behind the door, making the least noise possible.
Because of the cramped space, Lily found herself having the most physical contact she has ever had with any male in her life. She was pressed very firmly against James’s chest, and one of his arms was wrapped rather tightly around her shoulders. Both of them were breathing rapidly, undoubtedly keyed up by their little adventure.
“You are crazy, you know that?” whispered James, his mouth surprisingly close to her ear. “You are insane.”
Lily ignored him as she watched as the light in the corridor slowly darkened. When it finally disappeared altogether, she released a huge sigh of relief and rested her forehead against James’s shoulder.
“That was close,” she murmured, a slight giggle escaping her lips towards the end of her sentence.
“You”you are mental, absolutely mental,” breathed James, although his tone was slightly different from what he used previously.
Lily raised her head to look at him, although she could barely see anything through the darkness. She could only make out the faint outline of his glasses, which looked unnaturally large for some strange reason.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” she said, a rather coy smile playing on her lips. Indeed, it was impulsive on her part to tail Remus and Julia, but it was a fun chase nonetheless. James was silent, but she could feel his hand rubbing her upper back gently. She felt rather awkward, yet . . . comforted by this tender ministration. Turning her head slightly, she felt her nose bump into James’s, and with a start she realized that their faces were very close . . . too close. The adrenaline in her body pumped yet again, and before her actions preceded her thoughts, she slowly pulled herself free of James’s embrace.
“We have to go back,” she managed. Without another word, she turned and left the classroom.