Changing the Past by PEMDAS
Chapter Notes: WARNING: Some adult material is contained in this chapter, including alcohol abuse and some innuendo. Read at your own discretion.
On the morning of Saturday the 27th, Harry got up as he’d done in December and dressed warmly for Hogsmeade. He decided not to wear the heavy overcoat, since it was spring and the snow had long melted away, but Hogsmeade was notorious for being chilly, so he put on three layers anyway. He walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast, where he met James, Sirius and Remus. “Ready for the big party?” Harry said, grinning as he sat beside James.
“Prongs doesn’t seem to be too happy about his birthday,” Sirius remarked. Indeed, James was staring at his plate, expressionless. “Apparently, not having Lily is hard on him.”
“Still?” Harry asked, sighing. James nodded his head slowly.
“Hey, James, lighten up a little,” Remus said, hitting his friend playfully on the shoulder, which received no response. “It’s your seventeenth birthday! You come of-age today!”
“It’s just another birthday,” James muttered. “So I’m allowed to legally do magic now. Big whoop. I already do, anyway.”
“You’ll feel better at the party,” Sirius said, then whispered just to Harry, “Yeah, once he’s had a few firewhiskies to loosen him up.”
Harry laughed nervously. He’d never had alcohol before, but figured that if he could overcome the Imperius Curse, he could overcome a little intoxication, as well. Besides, the next day was Sunday; nothing bad could come of a hangover, anyway. Assuming his plan worked, however.
As he’d done last time, and this time with James’ permission, he copied James’ permission slip and got past Filch at the school entrance. He met up with Lily at the carriages, where they rode into Hogsmeade together, chatting about anything that came to mind...Quidditch, teachers, etc. “Where should we go?” Lily asked when they arrived in the town.
“Why don’t you choose?” Harry said wisely, now knowing that it was smart to let the girls choose.
As on their last date, they went to The Three Broomsticks, where they had butterbeers. Harry decided to pose the question there. “So...how late are you planning to stay?” he asked innocently.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Lily said, sighing. “Whenever we get bored, I guess.”
“Well, listen...” Harry cleared his throat. “I know you don’t like James and all, but I still think you should give him a chance.”
Lily groaned. “Can’t you just drop it? Just because we get married in your future doesn’t mean it will happen again.”
“I told you, I don’t care about the future anymore,” Harry said exasperatedly. “But James is my friend, and I want to make sure he’s happy, and I’m just going to find someone else to marry anyway, so I just think...”
“No!” Lily exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips.
“Let me finish.” Harry held up a hand to silence her. “Today is James’ birthday, and me, Sirius, Remus and James are gonna have a few drinks at the Hog’s Head. I won’t ask you to...you know...do anything with him, but it would mean a lot to him if you were there.”
Lily pondered this for a few seconds, then sighed. “All right, I’ll do it,” she said, and Harry grinned. “But not for James,” she said sternly. “I’m doing this because I trust you.”
“Thanks,” Harry said, nodding, relieved that Phase One of his plan was complete.
Now that that was out of the way, Harry could relax and actually enjoy the time with Lily. He felt much more comfortable now that they weren’t dating, so he wasn’t pressured to do something he thought Lily would want him to do, like...kiss her, for instance. Instead, they chatted about each others’ lives, classes, or anything that struck their fancy.
They didn’t see James, Remus or Sirius until about three in the afternoon, where they bumped into each other in Honeydukes, where Harry found them browsing the various candies and sweets along with the fifty-odd students crammed into the small shop. “Hey, Harry!” Sirius exclaimed. “Ready for the big party?”
“Yeah!” Harry exclaimed, then lowered his voice. “And so is someone else...” Conveniently, Lily had shied away from the boys, and was browsing the back of the store. He motioned to her, and Sirius followed his eyes and saw Lily. His jaw dropped.
“Evans?” he asked, incredulous. “But she hates James!”
“I know,” Harry sighed. “But I convinced her to go, just because I told her it would make me happy if she went.”
“James will be happy,” Sirius said, smirking. “Although I’d better not mention the last part.”
“Good idea,” Harry said, winking. Sirius moved off to tell James, while Harry rejoined Lily at the back of the store. “Well, it’s all set,” he told her. “The party’s in a few hours.”
“Great,” Lily said, not hiding her sarcasm. Harry shook his head, but held his tongue.
Meanwhile, James, upon hearing that Lily would be an added guest at his party, had cheered up considerably. Lily agreed to go with some of her friends she’d spotted down the street while Harry, Sirius, Remus and James went up to the Shrieking Shack to talk privately.
“Listen, James,” Harry said. “About Lily...”
“Brilliant!” James said, patting Harry on the back. “Say no more. Thanks a million. How’d you get her to go?”
“Just your charm, I guess,” Harry said, shrugging and grinning. James’ smile fell.
“Okay, what’s really up?” he asked somberly. Harry shook his head.
“All right, all right, she’s not going because of you,” he admitted. “She’s going because I said it would make me happy if it made you happy.”
Harry thought James would explode at him for this new revelation, but James nodded slowly and then shrugged. “Better than nothing, I guess,” he said. “Besides...a few Firewhiskies might loosen her up.”
“Come off it, James,” Remus piped in. “You don’t really expect her to drink while we’re there, do you?”
“Why not?” James asked, grinning. “What else is she gonna do in a bar for a few hours? I’m sure Harry could get her to...”
“You shouldn’t make Harry do your dirty work!” Sirius said to James angrily. “Besides, trying to get Lily to like you by getting her drunk is wrong!”
“Since when have you been my father?” James replied hotly to his friend. “I don’t answer to you. It’s my birthday, and I’ll do what I want.” With that, he stormed away from the three boys angrily. They all looked at each other and shrugged.
“He’ll calm down,” Remus said cheerfully. “Besides, it’s not like he hasn’t had Firewhiskey before illegally...I’ve seen him after a few drinks. He just lets loose.”
“Good,” Harry said. “Because I have a plan...”
***
At seven, after an early dinner, Harry and Lily walked down to the Hog’s Head for the party. It was completely empty except for Sirius, James, and Remus, plus the disgruntled-looking bar owner, who was cleaning glasses, obviously knowing what was soon to happen at a seventeenth birthday party.
Sure enough, the first thing James did was put a large handful of Galleons on the bar and say, “How many Firewhiskies can I get with this?”
The bartender considered his money, then filled most of the glasses he had with Firewhiskey. James and Sirius instantly began downing glasses left and right, while Remus and Harry sat calmly and sipped at their glasses slowly. Lily sat in the back of the bar, not daring to touch a glass. Harry felt a tingling, burning sensation in his throat as he drank the liquid, and even though he’d barely had any, he could already feel the effects of the alcohol on his body.
He walked over to Lily, grateful that he could, thus far, walk straight, and he sat beside her. “C’mon, Lily,” he said exasperatedly. “This is supposed to be a party! Won’t you have anything?”
“I told you, I won’t entertain James,” she said, glaring at him. “He’ll be drunk anyway; why should I be at the same time?”
“This isn’t about James,” Harry replied. “This isn’t even about me! This is about you. If you’re just going to sit here all night, there’s no reason for you to be here at all! At least do something worthwhile while you’re here!”
“What, like drink alcohol and do something I’ll regret in the morning?” Lily scoffed.
“Come on,” Harry coaxed her. “Look at James...” He motioned to the other boy, who was chugging Firewhiskies left and right, alongside a very red-faced Sirius. “He’ll be out in a few minutes. No one can withstand alcohol for that long, much less James.”
Lily glared at him. “Fine,” she muttered, and grabbed a mug of Firewhiskey. Although she hardly went as fast as any of the boys, she still drank a considerable amount of the drink.
By seven-thirty, Harry had had too much. He could barely think straight, and he had trouble sitting up straight, much less walking. James and Sirius were passed out in a corner, and Remus was attending to them, while Lily sat sullenly in another corner, sipping yet another drink, starting to turn a little pink in the face. Harry thought it would be a good time to continue with his plan, while he was still mostly awake. He stumbled over to the boys in the corner, doing his best to look sober.
“Hey, Remus,” he said, “I’ll take care of James and Sirius. Go ahead and head up to the castle. I’ll set them up in a room upstairs for the night.”
“Thanks, Harry,” Remus said, yawning. “I always knew the party would end up like this, but blimey, I’m tired.” He walked out of the pub, stretching his arms. Harry smirked, and walked up to the bartender.
“Excuse me,” Harry said to him, “I’d like to let these two stay upstairs for the night. Is there any way to make sure they won’t die from the alcohol?”
“Yeah,” the bartender said gruffly. He pulled out his wand, walked over to the boys, and muttered an incantation, and nothing of consequence happened, although Harry could now be assured they would survive the night.
“Thanks,” Harry said. Then he lowered his voice so Lily couldn’t hear him. “Could you “ er “ put them in separate rooms?”
The bartender looked at him curiously, but nodded. Harry extracted some gold from James’ pocket and gave it to him, and the bartender levitated the boys into the air, bringing them up the stairs up to their rooms. Then, Harry approached Lily, who already looked pretty overwhelmed by the drink. She, like Harry, had never had Firewhiskey before.
“Well?” Harry said to her, raising his eyebrows. “Glad you tried it? And see? No harm done.”
Lily chuckled nervously. “I feel so...exposed,” she laughed. “I’ve never felt like this before. It’s sort of...fun.”
“Then you shouldn’t be going anywhere tonight,” Harry coaxed. “Spend the night here. I can find you a room.”
Lily looked up at Harry curiously. “Are you saying you want to spend the night with me, Harry Potter?” she asked coyly.
Harry’s stomach lurched at the thought. “No!” he said, much too quickly. He hadn’t expected her to be as sober as she was at this point.
Lily laughed. “You know, Harry,” she said, “you’re a great guy. I think...well, since you’re not going back to the future, anyway...”
Harry’s stomach dropped out. His plan was not going well, and the alcohol wasn’t helping. He could still remember, possibly enhanced because of the Firewhiskey, all the great times with her that he’d had, and she looked...beautiful, despite her askew hair and slightly out-of-focus eyes. Lily took his hand and stood up, smiling at him.
“All right,” she said softly. She led him towards the stairs before he could protest, but then, Harry wondered if he even wanted to. His head was spinning at a rapid rate...he couldn’t think straight...and then everything was a blur as Lily led him into a vacant room, closing and locking the door.
Author’s Note: This chapter was very different for me to write, because it has a much more adult theme to it, with some alcohol references and mild innuendo, and being only 15, I’ve never experienced any of this...but this is pretty much the only chapter I’ll ever write that does. Thanks for reading; leave your thoughts (harsh reviews discouraged, but it you must...) in a review, please!