Party 1 - Spin the Bottle
It was now finally time for the big party. First of many this year, Sirius suspected. It was around three o’clock in the afternoon, six hours til the party, when Sirius entered Marlene’s dorm room. It was a small thing, but every party since third year had started with them getting ready together in her room. They’d dated in second year only to break up a month or two later due to both of them figuring out they might both be gay for their best friends. Since, they’d mull over their crushes in her room with Elton John and The Rolling Stones in the background. She was his closest friend outside his marauders. She introduced him to eyeliner and leather boots, he helped her cut her bangs and dye her hair platinum blonde. “Hi drama queen,” she greeted, not looking up from her spot on the floor where she was putting makeup on in front of her floor mirror. He took the opportunity to face plant on her bed. “Just because I said it doesn’t mean you have to act like one,” she continued using her powderpuff as she talked. She turned for a moment to stare at him. “Alright, I’ll bite. What happened now?” He screamed into the comforter. He turned just his head over so he could speak without sounding muffled. Remus John Lupin, that’s what. He’s just perfect Marls,” he said finally sitting up. He kicked off his shoes letting them fling across her floor. She glanced disapprovingly at the shoes and then back up at Sirius and then back to the shoes. “I’ll move them later,” he waved her off. There were far more important things to discuss. “You going to make a move tonight?” She was now curling her lashes, her voice becoming a little nasally as she made a lizard-like face to curl them. He sat with that question for a second. He knew tonight was Pete’s night to get lucky with love, then again that’s all the more reason to go for it. If love was in the air, why not jump at the opportunity? “If you tell Dorcas how you feel, then I’ll tell Moony. If I’m going down you’re going with me,” he said, mischief lacing his words. “Ugh, ever the challenger, eh Black?” He laughed and shook his head slightly at her remark. “Fine then. As long as you let me dress you. You need to look hot tonight,” more mischief in her voice than Sirius thought he had in his soul. Don’t tell the other marauders though, that’d be shameful. He reluctantly allowed her to play dress up with him since he just knew his chances to fluster Remus would be great tonight. He couldn’t believe he switched between a shy school girl and a smooth Casanova around him. What a mess.
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James laid on his bed just throwing his snitch up and catching it in his hands. He reserved the common room from 8 to dawn, so he had time to kill before they could set up. Sirius and Peter were off who knows where but Remus was sitting on his bed (across from James), reading a book James knew he’d seen him read about one hundred times. Prime time to mess with him a little. “You gonna dress up tonight?” He didn’t look up from his book as he answered, “Don’t see it necessary.” He twirled his bookmark in his hand, an indication he was almost ready to put it away. Finally he marked his page and set aside his book, ready for any bullshit coming his way. “What? You want to dress me? No offense mate, but you haven’t got a single fashion bone in your body,” Remus said getting up and heading over to his chest of drawers. He pulled out an old pair of faded jeans and a white t-shirt. Upon inspection James could tell the shirt was cropped and it had wide, loose sleeves so it’d hang off his shoulders nicely. “Lily picked this out when we went muggle clothes shopping over the summer. I figure it’s a good time to wear it,” he said laying them out. James nodded in agreement. He sighed, “I wonder what Lily’s gonna wear. I hope she wears black, it makes her green eyes pop,” he fell backward on his bed, lying with his arms spread out. “And you always tell me I have it bad,” of course he knew they were probably equally so. “What will you be wearing then?” James sat up and sat for a second thinking. “Probably black jeans and…maybe that red bomber jacket pads got me for my birthday last term. I think Lily liked it, but I don’t remember,” as he spoke he copied what Remus did and retrieved the clothing items. For shoes they both picked boots, as they knew the other marauders would as well. They were a new year’s gift from Effie Potter who said they’d gain good luck from wearing them. So last semester they’d all worn them out at every party, and each party was more splendid than the last. “Right then, I’m gonna go find Pete to get the party going,” he said as he accioed the map.
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It was now Sirius’ turn to be sat on the floor while Marlene pampered him as if she were a hair stylist at a salon. Currently she was using a hot brush to blow out his hair. He had no idea what any of that meant, but his hair looked good as a result, so. Along the way, Emmeline joined them in Marlene’s dormitory, and she was assisting with Sirius’ makeup. It’s like he had his own glam squad. He asked for his face to be brightened a little and for perfect eyeliner. “So, basically you’re both chicken so you’re forcing the other to do it too? I’d just do it, guys,” Emmeline said. Everyone in the group who was queer had come out sometime between third and fifth year. Sirius and Marlene had individually done it but both in third year, Dorcas did in fourth year, and then of course Remus had done it end of fifth year. Now that was something to think about all summer. His chances with the werewolf had gone from zero to one percent. Maybe point zero one percent, but it was still slight. “It’s never that simple. I mean, what do I do tonight if I see him kiss someone in spin the bottle?” “What do you do if he has to kiss you in spin the bottle?” He saw her point but he didn’t like it. “Stop pouting I can’t do your makeup like that,” she said moving his chin up to add some glitter under his eyes. Marlene’s request. By now it was five o’clock, four hours til. More of the girls joined them to continue getting ready. It was a relatively casual party but there was chance to meet some new people, make new relationships, and deepen their bonds with close friends. Sirius wanted to be noticed by Remus, unaware that he was already the only one he noticed, and even if tonight went bad, he could blame it on firewhiskey. After a lot of discussion they decided he should wear his best pair of black jeans, his favorite AC/DC tee, and one of his many leather jackets. Of course, there was much accessorizing to do with chains, a belt, and other kinds of jewelry like rings, but the base was perfect. Lily sported a black turtle neck, some black tights, and a squash colored corduroy skirt. Perfectly fall. Marls’ hair was curled and pulled into a neat ponytail as to not cover her black, lace corset that she paired with her wide-legged leather pants and the chunkiest black boots he’d ever seen. No one dressed necessarily like they were attending the same event, but everything always worked. By now it was dinner time in the great hall, not like they’d be attending. Now it was time to pregame.
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“C’mon just a shot! I promise I won’t do any more, just need to get it going, y’know?” Reluctantly, Peter slid the bottle of alcohol over. James made a silent exclamation before cracking the first bottle of the night open. He poured one for himself and one for Wormtail. “Cheers man,” they clinked and downed them in five seconds flat. James shook his head a little to wear the burn off. He felt great seconds later, the high alcohol tolerance built up from years of experimenting with the substance. Not like an addiction of course, just responsible, good fun. The boys were taking a little break from setting up the event. The music set up was up and running with a stack of vinyls and a record player ready to be used with their first song being ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’ by KISS, a perfect opener, with a very important Bowie album tucked further towards the bottom of the stack. The big plan wouldn’t come to fruition until a healthy amount of alcohol was consumed. The plan was spin the bottle. Yes so simple. But what if they don’t kiss? Statistically they should as long as they play for a while, and it didn’t matter if they didn’t kiss because they’d each be so jealous they’d have to talk their feelings out by the end of the night. That part would be instigated by James where he’d lock them in the dorm until morning so they had all the time to talk, or do…other things. By now it was time to get things started so James enchanted the record player to start playing the first track. There was a warm glowy vibe in the common room with the lighting just dim enough to see the outlines of faces and colors of clothes. He was four drinks in and feeling the buzz. Presently, he was dancing around with Sirius and Frank as they loudly sang along to ‘Walk This Way’ by Aerosmith. Every once in a while he found his eyes searching for something, or someone to be exact. ‘Lily looks so pretty tonight. And every night and day and time between’ he thought as he watched her laugh hard at something Marlene had said to her and Emmeline.
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Sirius searched for Remus, his eyes glancing over all of the teenage bodies surrounding the dancing trio. He spotted the lanky man standing in the corner, glass of whiskey sitting in his hand. Sirius could tell Remus noticed the eyes on him because he leaned in a way that forced his back to arch slightly. The white crop top he was wearing slid up slightly, and Sirius could see the outline of Remus’ left areola. His tan skin contrasted the white of his shirt beautifully, he looked ethereal. After who knows how long of Sirius staring, Remus made direct eye contact with him. Sirius watched as Remus took a sip from his glass, and he audibly gulped when he saw Remus lick up some whiskey that dripped down the side of the glass. ‘He has to know what he’s doing…’ He broke away from his trance when he felt James bump into him slightly, the action successfully removing his eyes from his best friend. He hoped that if he was drunk enough, he could forget his feelings and even that Remus existed at all. With that in mind, he excused himself to get more alcohol. Of course, that didn’t necessarily mean he’s avoid Remus, who was also getting more whiskey. “Enjoying yourself Pads? People are watching you, you know. I mean, I get why, you’re mesmerizing when you dance,” Remus said tracing the belt loops of Sirius’ pants. He could die right there and his tombstone would say he was a happy man. He wanted to say something but the words were caught in his throat. Before he could get a word, Remus winked and walked away, making his way towards Lily and the girls. Sirius couldn’t help but stare at his behind for a beat before taking a long, burning swig from his drink which he didn’t even realize had been filled by Remus. “Has anyone even seen Peter?” He said, returning to his group from earlier. “Probably with Mary,” and as if on cue, or something, Mary called everyone to attention with an empty bottle in her hand. ‘Oh no….I know where this is going’
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Mary was splendid with timing, James thought so at least, because he’d seen what occurred at the drink table between his friends, and was excited at the prospect of them finally getting their shit together. They all gathered into the circle, some stumbling slightly due to intoxication. Mary placed the bottle in the center before taking her spot between Dorcas and Pandora, a Ravenclaw also in their year. “Ok who first then?” Nothing for a few beats. “Oh come on! Fine I’ll start things,” she said before leaning over to spin the bottle. She flicked it easily and it maintained a good pace before slowing down. The bottle spun at a painstaking pace before stopping in front of Peter. A gaggle of ‘oos’ and ‘ahhs’ began from the crowd. Just to ensure Sirius and Remus had the appropriate reaction, he scanned each of their faces. Remus had a look of surprise as if he didn’t believe it would work, and Sirius was smirking ear to ear. When their kiss was over and they both moved back, Sirius gave Peter a big slap on the back in congratulations. Moving on from that, the kisses just continue. They went around in the circle taking turns to spin the bottle and James was sure he could sense some jealousy from Evans when he had to kiss a Hufflepuff 5th year. Then it was Sirius’ turn to spin and it landed on Marlene. Now, their close inner circle knew both of them were gay, but not everyone in the room did. They kissed passionately, to avoid stares, and he could see a pouting Dorcas and Remus with an unreadable face. It’s like, he knew it meant nothing but it was still painful to see. When the circle came around to Remus, it landed on this Ravenclaw 7th year. James recognized him as being one of Remus’ study group members. He also remembered Sirius ranting about him being a prat one time because he said congratulations to Remus for getting prefect. The kiss didn’t last long, just a gentle peck that lingered for a little before Remus broke away quickly and moved back to his spot. He wiped the kiss off of his mouth a little before tucking his hands away in his lap. Again it went all the way around and back to Sirius.
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Tom say he was surprised that the plan for Peter and Mary to become a thing work out so quickly was an understatement. He was definitely perplexed by the efficiency of it. But yet, none of that mattered after he felt a massive pit form in his stomach after he saw Remus and that Ravenclaw…David? Was that his name? He really didn’t care, but whomever he was, he was on the top of Sirius’ hate list. How dare he expect more than what he got from Remus’ kiss! It’s just a game, they’re to be pecks followed by cooing from the rest of the circle. Though, half of these ended up in borderline make out sessions. No matter, if Moony was gonna make him jealous, regardless of intention, he’d do the same. Whoever this landed on, he was going to put on a show with. Except….he spun it and it landed on Remus. ‘Bloody hell! Of course..’ Now, he couldn’t present as nervous or even as excited for this. He had to be normal, old Sirius who never backed down from a challenge and welcomed kissing his friends, after all they were only best mates. “Come on then Moons, pucker up,” he said when he inched closer to the tan, curly-haired boy. Remus pushed his hair out of his face a little, something he did when he was nervous, before slowly inching his way towards Sirius. They both breathed a little, kinda in each other’s mouths, while looking between eyes and lips. Chapped, scarred lips met soft, traumatized ones. Sirius felt warm inside, like a little spark was created and it enveloped their whole beings together in a blanket. All good things must come to an end, though this one was more abrupt than Sirius had hoped. Remus pulled back, not a jolt like before, but a slow lean. He moved all the way back to his seat, as did Sirius, but he could see Remus touch his lips, as if he could still feel the sensation. Sirius could still feel it. He wanted it again, more of it in fact. But it was just a kiss. Nothing more, Sirius could tell by how quickly he pulled away. He excused himself to get some more alcohol. “What shit,” he murmured before downing a full glass of whiskey.