[1] The Lone Wolf Scam ✓ | WOLFSTAR AU

• Chapter 5 •

"Okay, James, you need to invite people, LOTS of people..." I instructed as I paced back and forth at the massive organisational task that lay before us.

"... So Remus doesn't think we're sad excuses for humans with no friends." Sirius finished giving me a knowing smile. I stared at for him for a few seconds in confusion.

"No, NO! If he comes to party and there's only three of us then he'll get confused and realise it's all a ruse plus we won't have enough people to hide the fact that there's only one of you! If there's lots we can have you briefly switch between Sirius and Regulus until Sirius disappears into the night. You see?" Slowly getting louder until I was basically yelling. They both sat there, their eyes wide in shock.

"Okay, lots of people. Got it." James said slowly.

"Sorry, I get like this when I'm stressed." I apologised.

"Can I invite Lily?..." James asked hopefully.

"Yes of course. The more the merrier. Get her to bring friends too!" I said and James did a small fist pump.

"Okay, Sirius, you're in charge of alcohol for other people though because when you're drunk, you become very, very candid and you'll tell him everything. You can have a little bit but as we've been taught for years, in moderation! Act drunk if you have to!" I said firmly.

"Hey Dorcas....we have a problem..." James said suddenly. I rolled my eyes as hard as possible, why couldn't he just fix it himself? I was already stressed with Sirius's fake party even though it wasn't really my problem.

"What now, James, can it wait? I'm trying to figure out timings and food and just... everything that Sirius should be doing right now for his last minute party!" I said exasperated.

"Hey I'm buying alcohol and I would plan it but you love this sort of thing!" Sirius defended himself.

"No, Sirius, I don't love it, I just do it anyway because I know that you'd mess it up really badly if I left you to your own devices."

"You have so little faith in me..." Sirius said, sounding a little hurt. I raised my eyebrow at him, "But you're right, damn it."

"Of course I am." I muttered, the stress making me very confident in my abilities suddenly.

"Anyway, back to my problem..." James said, waving to get my attention, "I have no way of contacting Lily! I can't go to the café alone and ask her to come, she'll probably throw lemonade in my face or ask me if the only guests with be loneliness and Netflix!"

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" I asked confused.

"I've got other people to invite, a surprising amount of them are free - probably just because Sirius has a hot tub in his lovely flat but at least they'll be here. I was wondering if you could maybe go and ask Lily with me or... for me?" James asked nervously. I glared at him although I wasn't really mad, just vaguely irritated.

"I will go with you, IF you make sure there are other guests here so it's not just sad and you make the playlist for me. I'm having trouble with it." I said and James nodded casually although I could tell by his face that he was grateful.

The café wasn't too far and both of us were eager to get there so we walked briskly in silence.

"Dorcas?" James said breaking our comfortable silence. I turned to him expectantly, surprised to see him looking oddly confused. I really hoped that he wasn't having second thoughts, "Why are you putting so much effort into Sirius's plan?"

"No, I'm not." I said, brushing him off.

"Yes, you are. You're planning a party for him to sleep with some guy whilst he's pretending to be his brother. Why get so involved? You said you didn't agree with it before so why the change?" I hadn't really considered it before to be completely honest so his questions took me by surprise.

"I guess... Sirius got me involved. I agreed to help with one thing and it spiralled as always and now I'm planning his party for him." I said laughing weakly. I don't think James was completely satisfied by the answer but he didn't press it any further. I wouldn't have really had much more to say, I didn't really know why I was so involved. I just.... was.

I always found it amusing to watch James change when he entered Lily's presence. He would ruffle his hair around more, his voice would be deeper and mature and he sort of hold himself differently, with a new sort of confidence and maturity. I was only now seeing that Lily changed a bit too.

Of course I didn't know her as well so it was hard to tell but there were subtle differences from when I last saw her on my own. She stood a little taller and ran her hands through her hair. I don't see how the pair of them hadn't got together yet, they were so obvious. James claimed that she hated him even though it was so ridiculously obvious that she didn't, she might as well have had a sign.

"Hey Dorcas... and Potter." She rolled her eyes at the last part, sighing dramatically, "What a surprise seeing you here! I thought after four months of ordering our cheesecake you'd be sick of it and move on. When I say thought I meant hoped."

"Damn, Evans, you're not even going to let me order before you shower me with your hurtful comments?" He said and Lily gave him a small smile.

"I'm sorry." She said, in a sweet tone, "You know if I was smart, I'd actually wait until after you'd tipped to start them. Being mean to the customers isn't the best way to solicit tips but you're just so annoying that I can't help myself."

"Aww, you're so charming." James said and I sighed at the pair of them, "But I was actually not here today to order."

"Damn, at least if you buy something it's like I'm getting compensation for enduring your presence..." She said although she looked genuinely disappointed, "What do you need?"

"Me, Dorcas and Sirius are having a party tomorrow night and I'd love it if you came... I mean not love it but it would make up for me not ordering anything today..." He said slowly getting less confident but more sincere. Lily looked pleasantly taken aback.

"Plus Remus will be there too and me of course so it would be great if you came along." I chimed in.

"Oh, that sounds nice. I think I'm not doing anything tomorrow so I might be able to stop by." She said, her eyes constantly flicking back to James who looked a little awkward, "Here I'll give you my number so you can text me the address."

She wrote her number down on a napkin and handed it to me.

"Great, well we'll see you there." I said, glancing over at James who was concealing a smile, "Anyway we have to head off now so we'll hopefully see you tomorrow hopefully."

James flashed her a cocky grin as we left and she raised her eyebrows at him and shook her head. However after he had turned away, I saw a small smile creep onto her face. She was definitely coming tomorrow.

"Damn, I've been trying to get her number for months now and you get it in a matter of minutes. Teach me, Dorcas." He begged. It was a joke but there was a hint of sincerity behind it.

"It's the secrets of a female. Couldn't teach you if I tried." I laughed as we headed back to the flat.

By the time we came back to the flat, Sirius had actually managed to sort out the alcohol, maybe almost a little too much. There counter was covered in six packs and random bottles of prosecco (Sirius's weakness) dotted amongst them.

"I didn't want to buy too little." Sirius said looking a little stressed by his very simple task.

"I don't think too little will be a problem, Padfoot." James said throwing his arm around him, "Although actually it depends how many people actually show. I mean I set up a random Facebook event and just invited all of my friends on there."

"James, how many Facebook friends do you have?..." I asked, suddenly a little worried.

"Around 700, 800?..." He said realising the slight space issue we had. Sirius's flat was quite big but not for a hundred people.

"Can they bring other people...?"

"Well... yes but not everybody can come. I'm sure that it will be fine." He said, convincing nobody, not even himself. "We've had worse, so don't worry about it!"

"I'll try...." I said nervously, "But just to be on the safe side lets go out and buy some more food..."

I had a feeling that the party wouldn't go as planned and I really hoped that I wasn't right....