Chapter Three: The First Hogsmeade Weekend
"Moony, wake up!" James said shaking his friend's shoulder. Remus sat up; it was just after dawn.
"What?" Remus asked glancing rather nervously at James' bed for a brief second before focusing on his two friends.
"Ah, then, you do know who was sleeping in my bed!" James exclaimed.
"Uh, well," Remus stuttered as Sirius appeared beside James.
"So, who was it?" James asked. He walked over to the bed and poked the pillow roughly with his forefinger. He glanced back at Remus rather curiously.
"Well, the thing is, she was really drunk," Remus started quietly. Sirius shot James a look of something that Remus couldn't quite put his finger on.
"Who?" James pressed.
"Lily," Remus offered slowly. He watched James' jovial face go a little stony. "She slept in your bed pure and untouched. Nothing happened." James circled the room a few times, glancing between Remus and his empty but mussed bed. Remus swallowed nervously not afraid of James, more out of concern for his friendship with James.
"I believe you," James said finally. Remus almost let out an audible sigh.
"She must have woke up and realized that she was in a bed that wasn't her own," Sirius said sniffing James' pillow. "The pillow smells like her and fire whiskey."
"Ooh, yeah," James laughed as he snatched the pillow from Sirius and inhaled her distinctly sweet aroma from the cottony pillow.
"Ewe, gross," Peter said as he made a face.
At the breakfast table, Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter ate and laughed as they normally did. The conversation did not revert back to discussing how pathetic James was over Lily (which was very pathetic) or how great it was to torment Snape (which, it too, was very great).
Lily walked into the great hall with a few first years that had managed to misplace themselves in the school and had been previously lost. She sat with her dear friends, Alice and Talihina, discussing thing such as the Halloween Ball and other random girl things. The Marauders looked and watched Lily as she slowly spread jam on her toast, listening to one of Alice's long and intense tales of the wonderful Frank Longbottom. As if willed, Lily glanced over at them; smiling, she tucked a stray strand of her auburn hair behind her ear and turned back to listening to Alice.
"Ooh, Prongs, something tells me that you might have finally gotten through to the ice princess. You should have cut yourself on her dagger ages ago," Sirius teased. The Marauders laughed nearly insanely at Sirius' jab. Lily got up and strolled down to the part of the table where the Marauders were sitting, who were being louder than anyone else in the entire great hall. She stood there, waiting to be addressed.
"Evans, how can we help you this fine day?" Sirius asked in a mock serious voice.
"I just wanted to come down and thank you, Remus, for being such a gentleman last night," Lily said with a hint of embarrassment staining her cheeks. "You could have really taken advantage of me in the situation, while I was in the dreadful state I was in."
"Come sit with us and tell us all about how you ended up so willing in Prongs' bed?" Sirius mocked his fingers touching the hem of her uniform. She stepped away from Sirius, glaring at him.
"That was James' bed?" Lily asked. She was now biting her lip, and no less than three Marauders wanted to jump up and help her nibble on the plush pink lips that seemed to cast them each under a spell when she spoke.
"Who did you think had a free bed?" James asked as he shook fuzzy thoughts from his fuzzy brain. She would be the death of him if he didn't watch it.
"I just assumed Remus would give up his bed to me. Sorry James," Lily murmured shrugging. She began to walk away. "Send me a bill, if you'd like," she tossed over her shoulder before disappearing from the great hall. Outside of the great hall, Lily fell back against the strong wooden door, her hands clutched to her chest.
`Oh my goodness, I just called him James,' she thought as her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest, `Twice!'
"My, my, my Prongs…she called you James," Sirius teased at the table.
"Twice," Remus and Peter cheered in unison. James grinned stupidly. She had. She normally called him Potter, but this time, she had dropped the surname and called him James. Things were looking up for James Potter.
James decided early on that he was not going to rush things and ask Lily out; that would be stupid. Instead, he decided to keep her at a distance and wait patiently for her to come around. He knew he would run into her at the first Hogsmeade weekend. The weather couldn't have been worse, but he still hoped that it would clear up in time.
Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter looked at the darkening, ominous clouds that were covering the ceiling in the great hall. Icy cold rain and wind whipped and pelted the glass window panes causing them to creak and moan like breaking glass. The Marauders were thankful for the map and the passages. The other students would have to brave the elements and would be soaked and chilled to the bone by the time they reached Hogsmeade, but the Marauders would remain very dry.
Most students seemed to flock to Zonko's, Honeyduke's, or the Three Broomsticks for a drink or distraction, but the Marauders preferred a seedier Hogs Head Inn to sit and have a drink. Aberforth Dumbledore, the brother of the headmaster, enjoyed giving his four favorite delinquents whatever their hearts desire, including under-age drinks when they mood so sparked them.
Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus were not without company at this bar. An odd or end person was here or there, but the place was relatively dead compared to its sister counterpart. The four were tucked away in their favorite booth in the back corner where they had a perfect view of the entire bar.
The storm drove in the most unlikely person to the Hogs Head Inn. The four looked up as the bells rattled against the old clap-board door and a very drenched looking Lily Evans walked in, fighting to pull the door closed against the increasing winds. She deftly removed her cloak, water still streaming down her body as if she was still outside. She waved her wand to dry first the cloak, hanging it next to the others, before drying up the puddle she had created with her dripping.
James liked to look at her always, especially when she wore her muggle clothes. She was wearing her (and his) favorite muggle outfit: skin-tight blue jeans and a light pink button up shirt that clung neatly to her body. Wet shirts really gave her figure a glimpse of enhancement and defined her womanly curves.
"Woo-hoo," Sirius murmured quietly as he drank. "I wouldn't mind having a go with her."
"Give her Fire Whiskey and she is a little vixen," Aberforth said as he brought his eyes back into focus on the drinks he was about to rest before the boys. She was drawing quite a bit of attention from each bar patron. "Remus here could hardly keep her at bay."
"That, my dear Moony, you did not mention," James said with a playfully sour tone to his voice. "While I was up at the hospital near death," James added with a sound of forlorn woe. Remus grinned.
"It was just a few kisses," Remus swore as he tried to pull his face into a serious look. He struggled not to puff out his chest importantly and brag on how great they made him feel.
"You kissed her before James, aren't you mad?" Peter prodded James with his stubby little fingers. James brushed Peter away.
"Nah, Wormy," James laughed as he climbed free of the booth. "I would have done the same. I will be right back."
James walked up to Lily who was standing in front of the mirror by the entrance, drying to dry herself as best as possible with her wand. She glanced nervously at James in the reflection and wondered how he managed to get so dry so quickly, even with a cloak on, in this horrid weather. It was a miracle that she hadn't drowned on her way there to the Hogs Head Inn. He handed her his new drink.
"What's this?" Lily questioned suspiciously as she thought back to the potion that they had brewed together in detention. James must have read something in her expression.
"Fire whiskey, plain ol' fire whisky," James explained. "It'll warm you up better than any charm you can think of."
"No thanks," Lily said as she tried to hand it back to him. He refused to reach out for the drink. He refused to relieve her of the drink.
"Sip it, don't gulp it, and you won't get drunk," James informed her. "You'll only get the slightest of buzzes. Come and join us." James took her by the hand and headed towards the table with the other Marauders.
Lily hesitated but James pulled her over to the table, pushing her toward Sirius. He didn't budge, intending to have her climb in over him. He grinned at James as she brushed against his loins as she reluctantly climbed into the booth. These were the things that Sirius lived for.
"I really shouldn't. I am meeting someone," Lily said weakly as she began sipping the drink. It did seem to be warming her on the inside.
"Who? Snape?" Sirius snorted. The others laughed but Lily remained quiet.
"Sev and I are really good friends. We were always close," Lily defended with an almost quiet defiance. Sirius raised his eyebrows.
"How close of friends are you with Greasy?" Sirius asked sinisterly. Lily didn't look at Sirius. Her eyes were set and trained on the door.
"That is really none of your business," Lily murmured absentmindedly as if she was thinking about it, tracing the rim of her cup with her finger. She allowed a slight smile to cross her face momentarily. She continued to sip her drink, the sips coming quicker and longer.
"You shouldn't be hanging out with him. He's a Slytherin," Peter said much to the agreement of his friends. Lily's head snapped up and she looked at Peter rather annoyed.
"That's stupid," Lily said in a sound not much different from a growl. She saw Snape walk in and glare at them. She downed the last half of her drink in one gulp and forced her way out of the booth rather insistently to join Severus Snape at the opposite end of the Hogs Head Inn. She took a seat first in the booth, followed closely by Severus Snape. Lily's laughter could be heard clear across the bar. Her cheeks were flushed and she seemed to be having a difficult time keeping her hands off Snape's arms, neck, and chest.
"Ooh," Remus grumbled. "She definitely two sheets to the wind"
"Damn," Sirius swore. "We go and get her drunk and ol' Greasy gets to score. How is that fair?"
"I hate him." James spat as he watched the way she looked at Severus Snape, her eyes wide with lust and wonderment. She bit her lip in that way she did when she wanted something intensely and had every intention of getting it.
"Easy tiger," Remus laughed. "You are starting to sound a lot like Sirius, and we all know we can only handle one Sirius."
Lily tried to stand but erupted into laughter when her legs seemed too weak to hold her properly. She stumbled slightly and Snape deftly caught her in his arms, leading her to the door. She smiled up at him in such a way that the Marauders thought to look that way at Severus Snape was nearly indecent. Severus stopped only long enough to don his cloak and to help Lily into her own cloak. She laughed at whatever wise and witty quip he made and the words `Shrieking Shack' drifted back to the Marauders, the only thing that was of any coherence.
"I am going to follow her," James decided quickly as the two departed the Hogs Head Inn. He pulled out his Cloak of Invisibility and threw it on, disappearing from sight.
"You probably don't want to do that," Remus warned. Sirius swore at Remus and followed James out into the rain. The Marauders couldn't see Lily or Snape, but they knew where they were heading.
"You two are plain crazy," Remus said as he joined them on their walk down the street. Sirius turned into a shaggy-haired black dog, Padfoot. "Pass the cloak this way, James."
James sighed and handed the cloak to Remus. Before a moment had passed, a black dog and a stag with broad antlers were walking hurriedly down the path toward the Shrieking Shack. As the reached the clearing before the barbed wire fence they could hear the sound of two voices elevate in a verbal battle.
"I don't understand!" Lily yelled over the damn sound of rain splashing off all the earthen surfaces. She was standing against a tree, her cloak lay forgotten on the boulder. She looked like she was crying; her shirt nearly unbuttoned all the way. Her lips were swollen, their pink deepened from kissing.
"I am a Slytherin, you are a Gryffindor," Snape said in his quiet, monotone way.
"This is about Lucius Malfoy, isn't it?" Lily bit back. She had her arms crossed against her breast as if trying to squeeze herself together.
"No, of course not, it has doesn't have anything to do with Lucius." Snape rebutted as he continued to gaze at her with worry. He looked as if he was torn between running at her full force and taking her against the tree or fleeing to safer ground.
"Then it has to do with him, doesn't it? The Dark Lord who hates all that I am?" Lily asked in a quick breath as if she was fighting to get it out. Snape's expression went cold as ice.
"Lily, you can't begin to understand," Snape practically growled.
"Well, explain it Severus. You used to tell me everything," Lily begged. Her arms were dropped from their defensive pose and she held them out to him inviting him. Her shirt really wasn't buttoned well, the Marauders could make out her bra, and she was vulnerable.
"I-I can't Lily," Snape finally said turning his back on her. She bit her lip again, this time biting back tears.
"So that it then?" Lily snapped angrily, finding anger a better emotion to hide behind than love or despair.
"Yes, that's it," Snape said. His voice had returned to the calm quiet in which he usually spoke to her.
"That's bull shit," Lily growled at him as she angrily buttoned two of her buttons on her blouse. She snatched her cloak off the boulder and headed toward the village at break neck speed. Padfoot saw Lily's wand leaning against the boulder where her cloak had been cast aside. Sighing, he fetched it like a common mutt and chased after her.
"Woof," Padfoot barked startling Lily. She turned to see the dog there with her wand, looking at her expectantly. "Woof."
"Please be friendly, please be friendly," Lily murmured to the dog as she cautiously stretched her hand out. "Good doggy, good boy." Lily continued to murmur, hoping that it was a soothing thing for a dog to hear. She took her wand in her hand and hugged it for a moment before shoving it into her back pocket.
"Woof," Padfoot said as Lily's finger tips brushed the hair from his eyes and head, quite tentatively.
"Don't bite me, please don't bite me," Lily begged as she was sitting down as the rain began to stop. She was emotionally tired, the fire whiskey and her confrontation with Snape was giving her a spinning, pounding headache. She pulled the wet dog close, needing someone close. She scratched and petted his wet fur, its head rested against her warm and steady heart. "You are a good doggy. I have never had a doggy before, do you want to be my doggy?"
Lily kissed his nose. Padfoot cocked his head quizzically at Lily and she laughed. She gasped as she looked into the woods where a beautiful stag with broad antlers appeared. She tightened her arm around the dog, out of fear and amazement.
"Look at that," Lily purred warmly into the dog's ear. "Have you ever seen something that impressive before? Hmm… What shall I call you? The only dog I know is a human, and you are a much better person that he is… so much better a person than Sirius Black." Remus fought to keep silent, tears of laughter streaming down his face.
"Lily," Snape said as he approached, breaking the silence. Padfoot pulled away from Lily and stood between her sitting there on the damp ground and Snape hovering near the edge of the woods. Padfoot was snarling, growling, and baring his teeth at Snape in challenge. "Lily, get away from that dog. He's probably rabid. Look at the way he is growling at me."
"I read that dogs are excellent judges of characters," Lily quipped waspishly. "Go away, Snape. You made your choice."
"Lily, please," Snape said with a whining begging voice. "Your kiss was unexpected, that's all." She was standing inches from him, her hands defiantly on her hips. His fingers found the buttons of her shirt and he began to fiddle with them, not unbuttoning them as expected, but refastening them. She slapped his hand away from the buttons at her breasts and began buttoning them herself.
"Fine," Lily snapped as both the stag and dog both watch on in morbid curiosity.
"We can talk when you calm down," Snape mumbled. He started down the lane. "I don't mean for you think I was rejecting you."
Snape disappeared out of the clearing. Lily walked a few steps away, looking rather longingly at where Snape had disappeared. She laughed and wiped a tear away.
"So stupid of me to think that he would choose me; Blackie, you can be my boyfriend," Lily said matter-of-factly. She snuggled the dog against her body, hugging him, and again kissed him on his wet little nose. Rubbing his fur, she found comfort in the beast's companionship. She held the dog's head in her hand so that he would have to look at her. "You almost look intelligent."
The rain started to flow again and Lily sighed, ignoring for a moment that she was looking more and more like Moaning Myrtle, half drowned and depressed. The rain soaked through her clothes, her top clinging haphazardly to her breasts. Thoroughly soaked, Lily finally stood up, releasing the dog. Almost absent mindedly, she put her wet cloak on over her wet clothes, chilled to the bone.
"Why do I keep forgetting?" Lily asked no one in particular. She pulled out her wand and pointed it at the dog, which looked rather nervous. She cast an anti-rain spell first on the dog, and then on herself. "I'll bring you some food next time, Blackie."
"Woof," Padfoot said as he wagged his tail. He was always hungry and could go for some food. She swooped down for one last hug and one last kiss on his wet nose before taking a few steps away and disappearing to the gates of Hogwarts.
"Do you think she kissed you enough?" James asked tersely as he reverted back into his human form. "At this rate, it looks like I am going to be the only one at Hogwarts that isn't kissing Lily Evans. I should have been the dog."
"What can I say? I am loveable," Sirius said shrugging a dazed smile on his face.
"I have to say, you looked like you were rather enjoying yourself," Remus teased. Sirius shrugged again.
"Animal instincts?" Sirius said with a questioning tone in his voice. James ran at Sirius and tackled him, laughing, and the two rolled around a bit in the mud before taking to their feet.
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