Where's the firewhiskey?!
Regulus Black was the perfect son in the eyes of his parents, the one who never did anything wrong, the one who made the right friends, but most of all, the one who got sorted into the right house. So one might ask themselves why on earth would he be following a well-known pair of Gryffindor twins out of the great hall.
Simple, he was their younger brother.
Slipping out of the great hall, he caught a glimpse of dark hair disappearing behind a corner. Speeding up his steps, he rounded the corner in a slight hurry but stopped when he met a pair of smiling faces looking right at him. Cassie almost laughed at the surprise and slight fright that covered his face the moment he saw them. Seeing the conflicted look he wore, she immediately took him in her arms and hugged him.
Sirius looked at his younger siblings and felt a happiness that he couldn't quite explain; however, a slight sadness quickly overtook it. The fact that they had to go out of their way not to be seen together was heartbreaking. "Alright, give the lad some air, or else you'll probably kill him." Turning her head, she met Sirius's gaze, who looked at her in slight amusement. Reluctantly she withdrew from her younger brother, but not before giving him a warm smile.
"Suppose you'd wanna go first, then?" Regulus gave his older brother an uncertain look, meeting his eyes before casting them towards the ground. He wouldn't blame Sirius if he did, not really. He had always been a little envious of the courage his siblings had, the way they had no fear of being who they were. In truth, they were both leaders while he was just a follower, too scared to stand out among the crowd and the people they grew up with.
Although they hadn't written much during the summer, Sirius could remember in one of the last letters his sister had sent about how different Regulus acted. After Sirius had left, the younger boy had become more withdrawn and quieter than usual, sometimes going out of his way not to talk to Cassie. Cassie told him later that she thought it had been too much for Regulus. With Sirius leaving, her engagement, which meant that she also would be gone soon. Sirius, however, suspected that there was more to the story than either knew.
He gently shook his head while a small chuckle escaped his lips and lunged forward. Regulus was shocked, to say at least, when he felt his older brother wrap his arms around him and hug him tightly. "I see you've become mental over the summer if you think I'd kill you." The younger boy closed his eyes while he hugged back and allowed himself to let a tiny smile appeared. Regulus could feel the familiar burn in his eyes and wanted nothing more than to cry at the moment; it wasn't until now he truly felt as if he had taken his siblings for granted. It wasn't long until they both would be gone, which made him feel more alone than ever.
"I'm sorry." He mumbled out as he felt his brother's hand gently clap him on his back. Sirius turned his head slightly, meeting the gaze of his smiling twin, who was looking at them almost like a proud mother would at her child. "It's okay, Reg... it's okay."
The younger pulled reluctantly away from the embrace and kicked himself internally. He had come with the intention of just coolly congratulating the twins on their birthday, not hugging them while almost breaking down as he missed them. Imagine what his parents would have said if they saw him right now. Pathetic.
Lifting his eyes, it surprised him a little when he saw a slight sadness that covered the twin's faces and thought he wasn't quite sure; he almost thought Sirius looked a bit regretful. However, a big smile covered his face quicker than Regulus thought was possible. "So... come to congratulate the birthday boy?" Cassie scoffed before turning her head toward Sirius, looking as if she almost wanted to hit him over the head. "Excuse me?"
"You're excused." Sirius grinned happily at her, while Cassie looked anything but pleased. Crossing her arms, she raised a single eyebrow at him and glared. It was a glare so well-known within the family, one that the siblings had practically grown up with. It was their mother's or rather an exact copy of it. Sirius's smile faltered as he looked slightly uncomfortable under the glare.
"or... or the birthday girl? Definitely the birthday girl."
Regulus almost wanted to smile as his sister nodded approvingly at Sirius but stopped himself when he started hearing students emerging from the great hall. "I-I just wanted to say happy birthday... and well... I hope you two have a good day." He said, panicking as he could hear Crabbe's loud voice getting closer to where they were standing. "I need to go."
Turning around, he hurried around the corner, coming face to face with Severus Snape, who stood between Crabbe and Rosier. Snape gave him a puzzling yet suspicious look wondering just where the boy had been. "Where have you been?"
"I had to go to the loo. Though I think I forgot my bag in the great hall." Rosier lifted the dark bag that Regulus spoke of and handed it to him while giving Snape a look. "That's what I said. Didn't you see the amount of pumpkin juice he had been drinking? Bound to go sooner or later."
Crabbe nodded enthusiastically at his friend while looking at Snape. "Better to go now than during transfiguration, doubt Professor McGonagall would be happy."
Severus looked at the dark-haired boy and tried to hide the frown from appearing on his face. There was something about how the younger boy looked at him, which made him think that was something Regulus wasn't saying. However, the thought quickly left him as a flash of red hair passed by them. Though what he saw made him clench his fists.
Hard.
Lily was laughing at something Peter had said while occasionally casting glances towards a depressed redfaced James, who had his gaze glued to the floor. Remus walked next to him, a smile evident on his face while trying to say encouraging words to the blushing boy, who looked as if the world was about to end. In a normal setting, the look on Potter's face was something Severus would have taken great pleasure in seeing. However, it was the glances that his former friend sent towards the boy that almost made him want to burst up in flames. When the group rounded the corner, he moved his glare towards the younger boy.
"Let's go."
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"I don't understand. Why can't we study in the library?" Lily rolled her eyes at her friend. While the others were busy decorating the common room, she had been tasked to distract Cassie for a while before bringing her there, while Remus was currently doing the same with Sirius. However, Lily hadn't seen the pair since dinner and wondered where they were. Or at least that's what she did before Cassie started asking questions.
"I already told you, I forgot my charms book."
"Can't you just use mine?"
"No, I can't. I... I wrote something in it that I needed to remember. And now I forgot it, so I need it."The dark-haired girl gave her friend an uncertain look, wondering for a moment if she had gone a bit mental."Okay... if you say so." The familiar sight of the fat lady almost made Lily let out a breath of relief. However, before she could utter the password, the sound of her name almost made her jump.
"Lily! Cas!"
Turning around, she was met with the slight of the two boys she had thought about not too long ago. Sirius looked as happy as every while Remus was munching on a chocolate piece, looking rather pleased. "you two going in?" Cassie nodded at her brother and gave Remus a slight chuckle as she saw the end of a chocolate bar sticking out of his pocket. "Yeah.. apparently Lilypad here forgot her charms book in the common room. Told her she could have borrowed mine, however..."
"Yes, well. I wrote something in the book that I need for my essay." While Cassie and Sirius were too busy looking at her, Lily looked at Remus, who was shaking his head, trying not to laugh at her.
"Anyway.. come on."Cassie said the password and walked in along with her brother while Remus walked up to Lily and gave her an amused look.
"Wrote something important in your charms book, huh?"
"Oh, shut up." He laughed as they entered the dark common room just in time. Suddenly the lights turned on and up jumped several people while yelling at the top of their lungs.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!"
Cassie jumped slightly at the sound before letting a brilliant smile cover her lips. Her brown eyes shone bright with joy as she looked at her friends and quidditch teammates across the room. Sirius had an identical look on his face as he took in decorations and was eyeing a table filled with delicious-looking food. The common room was filled with several red and golden balloons, and over by one of the windows were several balloons enchanted to spell out 17. There was a big maroon banner hanging across the burning fireplace that was enchanted to change between Happy 17th Sirius & Cassie to what looked like a drawing version of the twins smiling down at the others while occasionally making funny faces.
"Surprise!" James walked out from behind one of the chairs while wearing a yellow birthday hat on his head. Just the sight of him made Sirius burst out laughing. "Nice hat, James."
"Oh, don't think you're not gonna wear one." Before Sirius could react, Lily had taken a hat from the table next to her and placed one on the boy's head before doing the same to Cassie.
"I must say yellow is your color."Remus gave the older boy a grin before walking over to the couch where the other people had gathered themselves. Cassie bumped her elbow into her brother and sent him a knowing grin before following her friend.
When decorating, the group had moved some chairs over to the couch and laid a few pillows on the floor, making room for everyone to sit. The couch was occupied by Marlene, Dorcas, and the Gryffindor seeker Keryn Jones, who were all wearing yellow hats, while laughing at something Cassie had said when sitting down in a chair next to them. Along with Peter, Remus sat on the floor with chaser Ava Fraser, keeper Ewan Murphy and beater Stephen Collins. Lily clapped Sirius gently on his back before joining the others occupying a chair next to Frank's.
James put an arm over Sirius's shoulders as they stood for a moment, looking at their friends and admiring the common room. "This is brilliant, Prongs. Thank you."
"I'm not the one you should be thanking, couldn't have done it without any of them." James nodded towards the group before deciding to join them, sitting next to Ewan, while Sirius joined Remus. A few minutes passed before Alice stood up from her chair, lifting a basket and placing it on the table. There was a dark green blanket hiding whatever it was the basket held.
"Okay, so after thinking for a good while. We decided why not go a little all-out for you two. So well, wanna have some fun?" She pulled the blanket off, revealing bottles of firewhiskey. The common room was filled with cheers, as bottle after bottle suddenly disappeared from the basket and was sent around the room.
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"Dancing Queen, young and sweet, only seventeen!!!!!!" Cassie sang out while moving her body to the beat of the music, and had she been sober, she would have been thankful that the common room had been filled with silencing charms earlier that evening. However, right now, she was having too much fun to care. An hour earlier, Frank had come with the idea of putting a spell on the recorder, making the music play much louder than before. Which was why everyone was currently either dancing around or sitting in a circle playing a muggle game Lily had suggested.
"Where's the firewhiskey?!"
"Here!" Lily trusted the bottle in the air while standing up, or rather trying to, as her foot gave out, making her crash into Marlene, who only laughed at her. "It's coming!" She managed to make her way over to the table Cassie and Dorcas had occupied. Cassie quickly opened the bottle and took a long sip before handing the bottle to Dorcas and then held out her hand to Lily. "Come on, Lils, join us."
The redhead took the bottle from her friend and took a long sip before getting on top of the table. The three girls looked happy as ever, dancing on top of the table while passing around a bottle of firewhiskey. Marlene laughed at the girls before moving her gaze around the room, seeing Keryn and Stephen sitting together in a chair while kissing. Alice sat happily on the floor, in Frank's sweater while Frank wore Alice's top, sulking a bit from the dare he had just received from Peter. While said boy and a shirtless Sirius were laughing their hearts out at the look on Frank's face. Remus, who was grinning mischievously while swaying from side to side, was for the moment sitting behind Sirius, busy writing or rather drawing something on the back of the shirtless birthday boy. Upon seeing his friend's drawing, James broke into a laugh and pointed out something which the sandy-haired boy eagerly agreed to.
Marlene turned her gaze back to the girls, seeing Lily twirl Dorcas around while Cassie was busy with the bottle. The girls burst out laughing when they almost lost their balance and fell off the table had they not caught the arms of the drinking girl.The blonde smirked when the perfect idea fell into her head. "Oy Potter, look at that" She lightly punched James's arm while pointing towards the three dancing girls who were singing at the top of their lungs and passing around a bottle of firewhiskey.
Moving his gaze to what the blonde was pointing towards, James thought for a moment that maybe he had drunken too much, as he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Lily Evans was dancing around on a table while chugging the last of the firewhiskey, looking absolutely drunk. She raised the bottle once again and turned it completely upside down when nothing came. "Any firewhiskey left?"
James spotted a bottle poking out of the basket next to him and grabbed it, making his way towards the dancing girl. He almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous they sounded, as they were now singing very offkey. "You called?" He said while holding up the bottle, watching as her eyes lighted up when she saw it. Just as she was about to reach for the bottle, the table wobbled as Remus had decided that he wanted to join the dancing. Losing her footing, she fell and landed right in James's arms.
Her green eyes met his hazel, and James thought that this had to be the closes the pair had ever been, as he could almost feel her breath on his lips. Frozen up, he honestly had no idea what to do. The only thing he could hear though over the music was the overpowering sound of his heartbeat. However, unlike him, Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him slightly closer. Her eyes were blazing with something James had never seen before and thought that he wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or just her, but the way she smiled at him took his breath away.
Her gaze shifted from his eyes and down to his lips as she did something she wouldn't have done if she wasn't drunk.
She kissed him.