All Right, Evans?

Chapter 9

Saturday 7:00 P.M.

The Gryffindors skipped dinner that night, choosing instead to remain in their common room for the party the Marauders had thrown together to celebrate the Quidditch team's first win of the season.

It was still early, but the festivities were in full swing. Madam Pomfrey had healed James's shoulder hours earlier, and he and his fellow Marauders had donned the Invisibility Cloak and snuck into Hogsmeade for supplies.

"I can't believe Rosmerta just gave you the firewhiskey," Peter said for the third time, shaking his head as James popped a bottle of the stuff open.

James shrugged and Sirius said, "I reckon she fancies me."

"She's too old for you," Remus reminded him. He'd been reminding Sirius of the same thing for the past three years, but it never seemed to stick.

James laughed and took a swig of firewhiskey. It was warm and tangy and burned a little on the way down his throat, but he figured he'd earned it after that morning's match. Two goals, Bertha Jorkins, a Bludger to the shoulder, and an unmanageable Seeker, and... The firewhiskey bottle was pulled out of his hand.

Confused, James looked around to see Lily Evans standing next to his chair, her eyebrows raised and the bottle dangling between her fingertips.

"Wah... wah... waaaaah," Remus chanted ominously.

"Thank you for that, Remus," Lily said, her eyes still on James. "Potter, you can't bring this in here."

"Hate to break it to you, Evans, but he already did," Sirius informed her.

"Yeah, what's the big deal?" James wanted to know.

"The big deal," Lily said, "is that there are first years here. Do you know how old first years are, Potter? Eleven," she went on before he could respond.

"Give me a chance to answer, why don't you?" James said, making a grab for the bottle. Lily held it a little higher, out of his reach while he was sitting down. "Come on, Evans, I'm not eleven."

Lily sighed. She supposed, as long as none of the younger kids got a hold of them... "How many bottles are there?"

"About a dozen," Remus told her, and he lifted the bag that was sitting at his feet, "and they're all right here. I swear we won't let them out of our sight."

Sirius lifted his own bottle in a sort of toast. "Solemnly swear."

"Well... all right, then," Lily said. She wasn't terribly hesitant about it, not as long as Remus was in charge of the bottles. So she took a swig out of the one that was in her hand and said, "We're awful prefects, Remus."

He smiled. "Don't I know it."

Before Lily could say anything else, Marlene rushed up to her and grabbed her hand. "Lily, we need you for a moment, darling," she said, flashing an apologetic grin around at the Marauders. Then she spotted the bottle in Lily's hand. "What is that, firewhiskey?"

"Stolen firewhiskey," James corrected, making another grab for it but Lily brought the bottle back to her lips so he couldn't reach. Besides, Lily had always been rather partial to the taste (although she'd sooner pass the bottle to a first year than admit that to James Potter).

Marlene ignored him and snapped her fingers at Remus. "Hey, Lupin, pass one of those over here, huh?"

"You needed something, Mar?" Lily reminded her friend.

"Right." Marlene took a long draw from the bottle Remus had given her. "Alice needs us. Come on."

As Marlene dragged Lily away, James called out, "Oy! Evans! Firewhiskey!"

Lily shot him a grin over her shoulder. "Sorry, Potter, it's been confiscated."

James turned back around in his seat, unable to help the small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. His friends rolled their eyes at him but couldn't help their smiles, either.

"Good thing you're mates now," Peter said, "or you'd be in a right spot of trouble with her."

"Oh, I don't know, Wormtail," Remus said with a one-shouldered shrug. "Lily's always been a lot more laid-back than you all think; it's just that James was always winding her up."

"Bet he's winding her up now, too," Sirius said with a roguish grin.

James scowled at him. "Don't be an ass."

"Said James Potter." Sirius rolled his eyes, still grinning, and tossed his friend a new bottle of firewhiskey.

"Frank asked me out."

Lily had followed Marlene to the other side of the common room, where Alice was leaning against the wall for support, looking simultaneously radiant and like someone had just smacked her upside the head with a blunt object.

"Really?" Lily's face split into a smile.Finally. "When?"

"About five minutes ago," Alice said, returning Lily's smile but still looking terribly nervous. "We were talking about the match, you know, and I asked him how James's shoulder was and he said it was fine and then he just... Well, he sort of shouted it at me, to be honest."

Lily and Marlene laughed, and Alice - despite her shaken nerves - couldn't help but join them.

"Are you going to tell your brothers?" Marlene wanted to know. "Or can I do it? Oh, please, Alice, let me tell them that you've got a date."

Alice shook her head. "Nice try, Mar. But they'll find out themselves on Halloween, when Frank skips Hogsmeade with them to go with me."

"Halloween?" Marlene repeated, then looked at Lily. "You'll be on your own, then; I'm going with Benjy."

Lily shrugged. She didn't mind going to Hogsmeade alone, or not going at all. She was just glad that Alice and Frank had gotten over their he-doesn't-like-me-she-doesn't-like-me paranoia.

"Or," Marlene went on, and Lily didn't like her suddenly singsong tone, "you could go with James -"

"No." Lily took another drink of firewhiskey.

Marlene cocked an eyebrow, watching her friend guzzle down the alcohol. "You know his mouth was on that, don't you?"

Lily nearly spit out the liquid she'd just drunk, torn between amusement and disbelief at how immature Marlene's remark was. "What are you, twelve?"

"You're worse than Alice, you know that?"

"Hey," Alice protested, but her friends weren't listening.

"Why?" Lily asked. "What's so wrong with me not wanting to go to Hogsmeade with James?"

"Come on, Lil," Marlene said. "You two have made the leap from one-sided affection to friendship pretty quickly, and you've done it so well that it's like you never hated him at all."

Lily didn't quite see Marlene's point. "So?"

"So..." Marlene sighed impatiently, blowing some of her hair out of her face. "I mean, can you say 'unresolved sexual tension,' or what?"

Definitely amused now, Lily had to laugh at that. Marlene wasn't making any sense at all, and there wasn't any tension between her and James anymore, let alone sexual. The thought of that made her a little uncomfortable, sure, but she couldn't say why. Not that it mattered, she told herself, because Marlene was just being her usual overreacting self.

There was nothing going on between her and Potter.

Lily drained half the bottle of firewhiskey.

Nothing at all.