Chapter 10: Two Parties and a Soap Opera
It was the first week of October and the rain had surprisingly disappeared, leaving behind only cold weather and the distinct feeling that fall was in the air. The only other thing that particularly affected the Gryffindor seventh year boy's dormitory that first week was the arrival of Peter's birthday. When James awoke, Peter was already fully dressed and sitting on his bed, his expression filled with painful anticipation. Sirius was pretending to be asleep, which James could tell from the dramatic snores issuing from behind his bed hangings. Grumpily, James reached down, grabbed a shoe, and chucked it at his bed with a Chaser's accuracy.
"Shut it, you prat," he groaned. "Get up, we all know you're awake."
"James! You're up!" Peter cried.
"Er--yes, Peter--Oh, it's your birthday isn't it?" James wracked his brain and tried to remember if he'd gotten Peter a gift this year. He concluded that he hadn't, and hoped that he could get away with it as Sirius did every year.
"Legal drinking age now," Peter said, beaming. "I intend to skive off classes and get properly smashed in the Hog's Head."
"Can you believe this bloke?" Sirius asked, wrenching open his bed hangings and rubbing a red spot on his head. "Thanks for the shoe, mate. Anyway, you'd be pretending to sleep too if you'd been listening to this idiot for the past hour, coming up with all the idiot things he intends to do now that he's of age to get arrested for it."
"Don't see how they're idiotic, as I suppose you'd do the same thing," Peter said sulkily.
"You don't think they'll just let you skive without asking about it, do you Wormtail?" Sirius sneered. "And besides, just because we aren't old enough to do it legally doesn't mean the rest of us haven't had a few drinks ourselves."
"Still don't see how you're older than us, Pete," James yawned, getting up and putting his glasses on. "And Sirius is the baby."
"Hey Prongs, I don't suppose you're wanting me to return your shoe, are you?" Sirius asked, brandishing it threateningly.
"You wouldn't," James said, but he ducked, because he knew Sirius would. Indeed, a black blur flew over his head not two seconds after he'd ducked.
"Such abuse, Black. Don't cry, but you're starting to resemble your mother."
"I'll kill you for that, Potter. You won't expect it until one day you find yourself dead. Dead by poisoned pumpkin juice."
"I would expect nothing more original than that with you as my murderer."
A fifteen minute fight ensued, causing Peter to look very put out as he, his legal ability to drink, and his birthday in general were forgotten. In fact, it only managed to end when it caused Remus to wake up and remind them, in a scarily uncharacteristic way, that once a month he was a frightening man-eating monster and would not be at all afraid to practice his skills early on people who dared to disturb his eight sacred hours of silence.
"Right," Peter said later as they were eating breakfast. "We're going to have a party, right? Giant party. Lots of drinks."
"Whatever you say, Pete," James said, rubbing his eyes. "All I know is tomorrow's the first game of the Quidditch season for us and Bagman had better not be sick from all those kippers he's eating."
"He's mad," Sirius said, beaming. "Nobody thicker, nobody better at using his caveman instinct to hit things."
Peter looked quite frustrated.
"But we're having a party, right? Like you did with Lupin and Potter?"
"Now, Peter, no need to get nasty and use last names," Sirius said. "'Course we will."
"Damn well doesn't seem like it," Peter said angrily. "More bloody occupied with your Beater than one of your best friends."
"Don't worry, Peter," Remus said, giving both James and Sirius a Look. "There'll be a party."
"Honestly, Moony, you can be such a girl. He knows, even if he's making a huge scene over it," Sirius said, stuffing some toast into his mouth. "Meanwhile, we need to be go--" He froze, his eyes riveted to the Slytherin table. James followed his gaze, and saw Lily happily eating breakfast with Snape, though neither he nor the rest of his house looked at all happy about it.
"Oh, good God," James said, burying his head in his hands.
"Is that supposed to mean something?" Sirius asked indignantly, pieces of toast still in his mouth. "What do you mean, `good God'?"
"Nothing," James said. "Absolutely nothing."
"Damn right, nothing," Sirius said. "I wasn't going to say a word, Head Boy."
"Oh, is that right?" James muttered.
"Perfectly right. I have a plan, and nobody but me and the thick birthday boy know about it." Saying this, he put his arm around Peter. Peter looked at Sirius uncomfortably for a moment, then continued with his breakfast.
"Come off it, both of you," Remus said, standing up. "If I'm a girl, then you certainly are, cat fighting as you do."
"You're obviously experiencing the aftereffects of that time of month, Moony," Sirius said. However, he dropped his arm from Peter's shoulders and grabbed his bag. "Come along, mates," he said. "Let's go remember why we hate Remus for tricking us into signing up for Potions again."
Peter stood up as well, but James shook his head.
"I'll be along in a minute," he said. "I've got to go take care of some Head Boy business."
Sirius nodded suspiciously, but they left without any questions, and James swaggered up to the Slytherin table, not at all as confident as he appeared. In spite of how many times he had pranked them, or perhaps because of it, he was always nervous to be around large groups of Slytherins alone. Instinctively, he grabbed his wand.
"Hey there, Evans, Snivellus," James said, nodding to both of them. Lily gave him a disapproving look and Snape positively glowered.
"Hello, Potty," Snape sneered. "I was not aware that your presence was necessary here. I would have thought you would have bothered to brush your hair for the visit, at least." Lily nudged him and whispered, "Stop it," but Snape completely ignored her.
"And I would have thought you would have washed yours," James said, unthinking.
"You know what, Potter, you can just--"
"Enough," Lily said forcefully. "Look, James, is there something you wanted?"
"Well, for one thing, to know why you're with this idiot," James muttered. A frown appearing on Lily's face, he said, "But mostly, Head business. Would you mind…" He gestured away from the table.
"Excuse me," Lily said to Snape and the rest of the table. "I'll be right back."
"Don't bother, Mudblood," someone sneered.
"Hey," James whipped out his wand in the general direction the insult had come from, "take it back. Now."
"It's fine," Lily said quickly. "Really, they're being uncreative today. Not as though I haven't heard that before."
"It's a nasty thing to say. And they'll take it back."
"Well, isn't that sweet," Snape said. "It seems as though Potter has his eye on you, Evans."
"Don't even start, Severus," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, James. Classes will start soon."
"Right." He led her a distance away from the table and said, looking at the ground, "Really, what I wanted to do was thank you. If it wasn't for Bagman, we'd--well, we'd lose every game. We haven't even had our first match and I know that."
"It wasn't a problem," Lily said. "But I thought you wanted to discuss Head--"
"I--er-well, I lied. I didn't want them to know--"
"That you would talk to me without it being necessary?"
"What?" James asked, looking up. "No! I don't care what they--look, they have no idea we've got Bagman, and as he's a rather thick bloke, I would prefer it if the Slytherins didn't manage to kill him before the first game."
"So you told Sirius that you were coming to talk to me to thank me about Ludo?"
James didn't answer.
"See?" Lily smiled a little bit and bent over to look him in the eyes, which he currently had riveted on the floor. "You're ashamed to tell your friends that you talk to me. You have no problem asking me to talk in front of a table full of Slytherins, the people who would admittedly use any information they could against you, but you can't tell your best friends the truth?"
"Don't make such a big thing of it."
"But James, it is a big thing. Why in the world would you do something that you could casually do anytime when you're certain your friends won't see? It isn't even something complicated like dating!"
"I don't know," James muttered. "I shouldn't have even--"
"Oh, no you don't," Lily said, grabbing his wrist. "Not until you admit that you're afraid to show the people you care about your feelings."
"Stop acting like a fucking shrink," James said, ripping his wrist from her grip. "You're not exactly the image of perfection. Why don't you stop kidding yourself into thinking you're so skilled with people that you've managed to make a best friend of Snivellus Snape? And another thing, have you realized you're absolutely insane?"
Lily crossed her arms, looking both hurt and angry.
"You are the insane one," she said. "You have two completely different personalities, one for your friends and one for when you're talking to me. Goodness knows how many other ones you have! Come tell me when you've finally managed to halfway figure out what in the world you're doing." She turned on her heel and stalked back to the Slytherin table, ignoring the groans and cries of, "Leave, you goddamn Mudblood!"
James hated the horrible feeling that came afterwards, something deep down that said, no matter how much he would like to deny it, she was absolutely right.
***
The next morning, James was awoken by a sudden weight on his midsection.
"Wake up! Some captain you are. I told you I should have gotten the job."
James pried his eyes open and found that a familiar Sirius-shaped blur was perched upon his stomach.
"Geroff," James choked. "I'm dying."
"Indeed, you are.," Sirius said cheerfully, sliding off of James's bed. "After that brilliant birthday party--thank you again, Wornmtail, for being born so early into the school year--I wouldn't be surprised if our whole house is hung over. Luckily, we have Pepperup potion!" James put on his glasses and could see that Sirius had steam merrily pouring out of his ears.
"Until I get some, I don't want to hear any more of that cheerful crap coming out of your mouth," James groaned. "We're going to lose. Nobody got any sleep, and even if we win, McGonagall will notice that something's up, what with the whole team with steam coming out of their ears."
Sirius handed James a flask with the potion in it.
"Ah, but that is why we are friends with Lupin over there. Tell him what you told me we could say, Moony."
"I said you could tell them you wanted a way to stay warm in the cold."
"See? Sheer brilliance."
James, ready to hit Sirius out of annoyance--how could he be so cheerful when he felt so miserable?--downed the potion, and at once his headache disappeared. He sighed in relief, and Sirius dragged him out of bed.
"Come on, we have to get ready. The game starts in forty five minutes."
"WHAT?!"
***
Several hours later, James, Sirius, and Ludo were being lifted into the air and cheered loudly. Gryffindor had just beat the Slytherin Quidditch team 400-160, their best game in a decade, especially since almost all of Slytherin`s points came from catching the Snitch. James could have sworn, from where he sat, that McGonagall was even wiping tears from her eyes.
"Holy shit, James," Sirius called from where he was being supported a few feet away. "This is only our first game!"
James shut his eyes, beaming. This was what he had always imagined being Quidditch captain felt like.
That night, Gryffindor had their second party, though this time, at James's insistence, there was no alcohol.
"Sodding pansy, Prongs, s'what you are," Sirius said, though he was still grinning. "Never fear, however, this lack of good things is a one time event." This last part was addressed to a large crowd that had gathered around him as he recreated the events of the game, and they laughed appreciatively.
"If I hear one more time how you almost broke your neck saving that Quaffle, I'm going to vomit," James groaned as Sirius launched into his tale again. "I'm going to go find some decent company."
"Good luck with that!" The crowd laughed again, and James shook his head. He made his way to the chairs nearer to the wall and therefore farther away from the host of people knotted in the center.
"Good game, Potter," came a voice at his elbow. Looking down he saw Hestia, holding hands with a blond boy that he assumed was Charlie. "Almost makes me want to take back the shit I said the other day about your team."
"Thank you?" James said, not quite sure if this was meant to be a compliment or if it was a comment meant to show that she still thought little of them--the `almost' had seemed rather ominous.
As he was about to sit down, he saw Lily curled up in one of the chairs. He felt a knot form in his stomach. He knew what he ought to do, but it was so hard.
When he approached her, he saw she was reading a small pile of papers. She seemed completely engrossed in them, and it was only when he tapped her on the shoulder that she looked up.
"Look," James said quickly, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "I'm--okay, I know I'm a prat. I was thinking about what you said and--well, we both know you're right, don't we?"
"Really?" Lily asked, putting the papers down. "I'm never sure, you see."
"Well you are. And I--well, I'm sorry."
"Okay," she said calmly. "Does that mean something will actually change, or are you apologizing because nothing will? Change, that is."
"I--" He took a deep breath at the thought of what the implications of change taking place would mean. He'd have to come clean with Sirius, something that he'd cleverly managed to avoid before, and he'd have to deal with people linking him with the oddest girl that he'd ever met. He'd need to always be prepared to be assessed and tested in the most random--and sometimes unpleasant--ways, none of which he could have ever have imagined on his own. Or, he thought, nothing can change and then I'll always have to know what a prat I am. He was still undecided until he came to a revelation--his mother wouldn't change. Not changing, not ever acknowledging that Lily Evans was now more than the name of somebody than he'd never known existed, would be the exact sort of thing that Lydia Potter, one of the most obnoxious socialites in the wizarding world, would do. He would never stand for that. No matter what happened, he could never end up like her.
"It'll change," James said firmly. "It--well, it'll be odd, but I'm tired of acting stupid."
"Good," Lily said, giving him a beaming, dimpled smile. "I was so afraid that this whole thing would be a long, drawn out, soap opera-esque affair."
"Soap what?"
"Oh, goodness, you don't know what a soap opera is, do you?" she asked incredulously. "It's the most idiotic and amusing form of entertainment that muggles have ever invented. That's what I was just reading, actually--Petty always owls me the latest events on Coronation Street."
"Where is that?"
"Coronation Street. It's the name of a--James, sit down, I have a lot to teach you."
For the next few hours, James would find himself immersed in a whole separate world, and by the time Lily had filled him in on the whole thing, he was able to speak names such as Dierdre Langton, Gordon Clegg, and Ernest Bishop as though he had known them all his life.
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