Jily; Hogwarts: A Love Story (First in Marauder's Trilogy)

12

cw: talking about drinking/getting drunk

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"But, the list explicitly mentioned we had to do it in 'Hogsmeade.'" Lily reminded James trying to find any reason to not get drunk tonight.

"Evans," he started. "Who made that list?"

"You did." she answered.

"Potter, you see, Saint Evans has never drank anything but water in her life." Alice explained.

"She drank one butterbeer though." Marlene argued.

"Non-alcoholic!" Sirius pointed out.

Lily felt like she was shrinking more at every word while James was lost in thought. Yes, she didn't drink, she never felt it was necessary. It was useless, plus, they were only 15! There was no reason for them to get drunk. While Sirius and Marlene fought on whether Butterbeer counts as a drink or not, Lily's eyes rested on James, noticing that James looked up and realisation washed over him.

"Lily, you don't have to drink if you don't want to." he declared almost immediately after his epiphany. The others looked at him, surprised that he backed out. "It's your choice. Everyone doesn't have a palette for firewhiskey, Chocolate liquor--" Remus perked up. "And Gin. Hell, I don't wanna drink either." He finished. He looked at Lily with a small smile which she thankfully returned.

"You both can enjoy not drinking, but I definitely am." Alice said.

"So am I!" Sirius said from the bed.

"Me too! Remus?" Marlene asked, turning towards his bed where him and Sirius were sprawled.

"Yup." Remus said, eyeing the chocolate liquor, "Peter?" He asked.

They all turned towards an already asleep Peter, saying something about not being chased by a dark mark.

"So, that's settled. Give me the firewhiskey Potter." Alice asked, holding out her palm.

"Now before you all get tipsy and I have to carry you to bed, let's at least play something." James suggested looking annoyed.

"Alrighty then. What are we going to do?" Marlene asked as everyone sat in a huge circle in the middle of the room, well, everyone but Peter.

Sirius gleamed evilly, "Let's play truth and dare shall we?" He asked, rubbing his palms. Lily could practically imagine horns emerging from his skull.

They all agreed and so, the game began.

"Alice, truth or dare."

"Truth." Alice decided after thinking of all the horrible dares Black could give her. But it was her friend that spoke up.

"So, Alice, what's the deal with you and Frank?" Marlene asked, trying hard not to smirk. Alice instantly won the reddest tomato contest.

"Nothing." She said, still not able to control her blush.

James caught on and questioned further, "Last time I checked, 'nothing' wasn't a synonym for 'hopelessly in love.'" James remarked.

She thought it wasn't possible but Alice got even redder. She finally calmed down and answered, "We might have kissed once." everyone's jaws dropped to the floor. "Or twice." she added in a small voice.

"Are we talking 'kissing' like a peck on the lips or 'kissing' like a full on make-out session in the quidditch changing rooms." Sirius questioned inquisitively.

"The second type." she answered.

Everyone went ballistic and patted Alice on the back while she laughed along.

"So is it official yet?" Lily asked.

"We were about to tell everyone after he came back." Alice informed them. Sirius whooped and Remus hit his arm, making him stop. "You all better not tell anyone." She added in a dangerous tone.

"No promises," James said boldly.

They spent the night laughing, dancing and drawing stuff on Peter's sleeping face. The others enthusiastically drank the alcohol while James and Lily laughed at their drunk friends. James quite liked drunk Alice, she hadn't tried to stab him with her wand like she usually did, but instead she kept complimenting his hair every other five minutes. Drunk Sirius and Remus spent most of their time cuddling and had eventually passed out on Remus' bed while Marlene, passed out on Sirius' after two drinks and Alice too was peacefully sleeping on Kingsley Shacklebolt's four-poster.

James and Lily sat in comfortable silence since both were set on staying up all night and pulling their all nighter. Because of the cold weather, the two were bundled up in a blanket together as they stared out of the window. Lily's head was resting on James' chest and his head was resting on the wall behind him. They would NEVER sit in such close proximity unless they were sleep deprived and tired, which they were. While Lly couldn't tell, James' heart was booming against his chest and he was afraid that it would wake up the sleeping wizards and witches in Hogsmeade.

"We should do this more often." Lily said softly, nuzzling into James shoulder,

"Definitely." He answered unconsciously. Both of them were slowly dissolving into sleep but then suddenly a loud-thumping noise sounded.

The two jerked awake and jerked apart as they headed to the window where an owl was constantly slamming its head against the glass. James opened the window to let the owl in. The owl flew in, left a letter addressed in messy cursive handwriting that Lily recognized as Petunia's. James fed the owl and then it left through the same video which they then shut. Lily opened the letter as James walked past her.

"Everything alright?" He asked, clearly concerned.

"Everythings fine," Lily said, trying to hold back her tears. "Just grand." she added, a lone tear escaping. She quickly wiped it away, but James noticed the droplet.

"Hey, what happened?" He asked wrapping his arms around her waist as she put her head on his chest, soaking his pajama with her tears. James didn't want to pressure Lily so he waited for her to speak and when she finally did, it was in a dangerously calm voice.

"It's my sister, Petunia, half of the letter talks about how she hates me and how I'm a freak. The last two lines--" her voice broke. "James, my father is horribly sick and I can't be there to do anything." she said, finally letting out the storm brewing as James patted her back. "She says he'll be alright but she also says that I'm a horrible person for not being there." Lily said, still crying.

James' heart was shattering into a million pieces as he cradled the usually confident Lily Evans. "Lils, not even a vessel in your body is horrible. You are the most amazing person I've ever met. You're kind and you help everyone and I can't even begin to describe how much I like you already in the little time we've been friends." He told her, hugging her tighter.

Amidst her tears, lily chuckled and hugged him back. "Thank you. But it really isn't working, I'm anxious." she explained. Her brain reminded her of every word that Petunia called her in that letter, every insult, 'freak', 'monstrosity', 'evil', 'useless' and so many more. 'She was really utilizing her vocabulary' she thought to herself. That's it. No more of this, she just wanted to forget.

Lily's eyes landed on the pile of still full bottles of firewhiskey. There was her answer, she brushed off James body but still grasped his hand as chills went up her spine, probably because it was cold.

"I think I do want to get drunk tonight."

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