The game is simple.
Everyone sits in a circle. A wand is placed in the middle before the owner of the wand casts a specific incantation. You tap the wand and it spins, until it chooses someone at random. Whoever the wand lands on is instantly hexed and they have no choice but to kiss the person that they are most attracted to. It has to be someone sitting on your direct right or left side. You have to kiss them for a minimum of ten seconds and you cannot break contact until the ten seconds have lapsed. Once you sit down and the wand first begins to spin, no one can stand. So even if you sit beside someone you'd rather not have any sort of contact with, you cannot get up until the game is over.
You have to kiss whoever you are most attracted to. Which is exactly why James made sure to place himself right beside Severus Snape.
Don't misunderstand, James wasn't doing it because he was hoping to get a kiss from the slimy, greasy, disgusting roach. Absolutely not. It’s simply a case of chivalry because you see, James made sure to place himself between Snivellus and Lily.
Why was Snivellus even at the Gryffindor opening party anyway? Because Lily insisted and James was still trying to gain the redhaired sirens affections, since she insisted on being so difficult about it. How difficult you ask? Lily was insisting that he make nice with Snivellus of all people. If he did that then she would agree to another date – since the last one they had was before the term ended – and if he kept being civil with the uncivil prat, they could keep dating.
James begrudgingly agreed. He even stopped pranking the Slytherin to prove to Lily that he was in fact very mature and wasn't some sort of monster who enjoyed hurting others. He wasn't pranking Snape because he was getting any sort of enjoyment out of it. Of course not, what James did was simply an act of public service. The prat was clearly evil. A slimy, dirty, creep who couldn't be trusted. James was just making sure Snivellus stayed in his place, that's all.
But Lily didn't agree and so to prove that he didn't even care about Snape enough to hate him, he agreed to being civil.
Did Snape still get pranked; sure. But that wasn't James' fault. It’s not his fault the greasy bat was so widely disliked in the school. And sure, the Marauders did prank him from time to time, but that was mostly Sirius' doing and surely James can't be held responsible for his every move. Padfoot is his own person, James can't control him. That’s what he usually told Lily whenever something happened with Snape and she got snippy with him. Because he's telling the truth. He doesn't care about Snape.
That's the difference you see, you have to care about someone in order to hate them with any sort of intensity. James didn't give a shit about Snivellus. So, he'll be civil. He'll be the perfect gentleman until Snape eventually fucks up and Lily finally sees him for the evil worm that he really is.''
So why is Snivellus at the party? Because he's still - infuriatingly - Lily's friend and Lily wanted him there. James relented and invited him and - much to Padfoot's disappointment - agreed to make sure that there would be no pranks or taunts or insults thrown the Slytherin's way for the duration of the party.
Things were going well, much to James' surprise. Snape mostly stayed huddled up against the wall. Holding his one cup of pumpkin juice, the same one that he picked up at the beginning of the party and refused to set down for so much as a moment. James scoffed at the thought.
Paranoid bastard.
Snape spoke to Lily and only to Lily. When the redhead left his side to spend time with her other friends he stayed exactly where he was, hunched over, dark eyes constantly scanning the room while everyone else had a good time. No one else spoke to him. There were no other Slytherin at the party, James made sure of that, so he was alone most of the time.
Most of the time
Remus wandered over to Snape's side once. The raven tensed tremendously and immediately scurried off to some other corner of the room. Unsurprising after the incident in the shack last year. Surely Moony knew that as well, which is why James was confused at the dissappointed look on his friend’s face as he watched the Slytherin slink away.
Padfoot kept going over to Snape. James noticed the Animagus leering over the Slytherin with a smirk, clearly taunting the raven. Snape glared at him hissing insults that had Sirius glaring back and turning various shades of red, James could see the Animagus forcing himself to stay calm. His hand clenching tightly at his side, jaw twitching and eyes swirling into a thunderous storm before Snape quickly scurried away again.
James had to make sure he kept Lily occupied when that happened. Which happened more and more as the evening progressed. It happened more and more as Sirius drank he realised, until it all came to a stop when Alice called out for them to play Spinning Wand.
Lily went over to Snape and grabbed his arm to pull him closer, trying to encourage him to mingle a little more with her friends. She tried to sit Snape down between her and Marlene.
James certainly couldn't allow that. It wouldn't be right. If the wand landed on Snape the greasy git would absolutely try to kiss Lily. He'd try to put his disgusting maw on her precious lips and that simply couldn't happen.
So just as the game started, he sat down between Lily and Snape. Lily huffed at the action and Marlene rolled her eyes as she just got up to sit on Lily's other side. Just as well, Marlene couldn't possibly want anything to do with the Slytherin. He was doing both of the lionesses a favour. Surely, once Lily has come to her senses, they'll both thank him later.
As for Snape's other side, Padfoot seemed headed their way only for Mary to grab hold of his arm. Batting her eyes at him as she asked him if he would sit beside her. James didn't hear what his friend said to the blonde, he was too distracted by Moony sitting down beside Snape, giving the raven an awkward smile even as said raven glared at him out of the corner of his eye.
"Alright! It’s time to start the spell!" Alice called out and the rest of the room quickly moved to get into position, since Alice clearly wasn't willing to wait until they all picked out their spots. They sat down at random. Sirius finally let Mary drag him over to sit next to her.
"Everyone ready?" Alice asked, blue eyes fluttering over the circle of wixen before she said the incantation and set the wand down in the centre. Then she touched the end of the wand and it began to spin.
James looked over to Lily, watching the redhead watch the wand spin, those green eyes beaming as a slight smile pulled over her pretty lips. Perfect, all of this is perfect. Lily is perfect, she'll make an excellent lady Potter. He's told his parents all about the girl and they were excited to get the chance to finally meet her and they may soon get that chance. He just has a few things to deal with first. Namely, a greasy haired git that simply refuses to go away.
James then looked over to Snape. Annoying snake, he always has to ruin everything. The Slytherin sat with his shoulders hunched like always and his head down, hair covering his face. It wasn't greasy this time, it looked ridiculously dry. James nose twitched and he realised that he had the faint scent of soap on him, something flowery and… antiseptic. What a surprise. Maybe he actually got cleaned up for once. He really was hoping for a peck from Lily, wasn't he? Delusional prat. Well, there's certainly no chance of that happening now.
James smiled to himself only to tense when he realised - shit.
He might have to kiss Snape!
The wand finally stopped on Mary McDonald. The girl flushed and let out a soft squeak. Everyone laughed and cheered, save for Snape of course. They all knew who she would choose to kiss, she’s had the most obvious crush on him since second year. Padfoot would entertain her but nothing ever came from it.
Sirius scoffed when the wand stopped and the girl brushed her hair behind her ear, quickly leaning up to kiss him.
Of course Sirius, ever the shameless exhibitionist, had to put on a show. He quickly grabbed her by the waist and pulled her over so she was on his lap. Mary squeaked again, her face going a darker shade of red as her arms quickly went up and around the Animagus' neck. He seemed to be trying to shove his tongue right down her throat. His hand went around to pull her right leg up around his waist. James shook his head with amusement.
"Merlin, Padfoot, there are children present!" He teased which earned a wave of laughter. Ten seconds went by and the wand started to flash to signal the end. Sirius turned the girl back to set her beside him. Mary gasped as she was released, a pretty blush on her face as she giggled and her friends teased her all around the circle.
Sirius wiped his mouth on his sleeve and winked with a smirk. James caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Snape with a grimace as he shook his head, he heard the low scoff of disdain and couldn't help but glare at the prat.
Right, this problem.
If the wand lands on James then he's definitely kissing Lily, but what if it lands on Snape.
The spell makes you kiss the person you are most attracted to, regardless of whether you like them or not.
… shit.
Shit! Bloody fucking fuck! He didn't think this through!
Snape only has two options, its either him or Remus.
Shit! He's definitely going to choose James. Of course he is.
Not that he doesn't think his friend is attractive. Of course he is, Moony is certainly much too good for Snape, but the spell has you kiss the person you're most attracted to and James is... well.
It's not like he's vain enough to think that he's the most attractive bloke in school or anything, but he certainly isn't ugly. A grease troll like Snape could only dream of locking lips with someone as dashingly handsome as James, of course Snape is going to pick him.
Fuck, hopefully the wand won't land on Snape. It wouldn't be the first time someone went the whole game without a wand giving them a turn. Hopefully it'll be fine.
Please let it be fine.
James looked over to Snape and stared at him in horror as the possibility slowly started to sink in.
Two more kisses happened, James was entirely too occupied to pay attention.
Godric, it’s going to be awful.
James could just imagine the snake's slimy claws on him trying to hold on for the only form of physical affection that he could ever hope of getting. There's no way, absolutely no way anyone else has even breathed in Snape's direction before let alone kissed or ... horror of horrors; had the great misfortune of shagging him.
Sweet Merlin, he's going to be Snivellus' first kiss. James felt his face flush with embarrassment.
No no, it'll be fine.
The wand spun again, James' stomach filled with dread and it landed on...
Peter.
Thank Merlin.
The portly teen's eyes went wide and an odd blotchy blush spread over his face. He was sitting on Mary's other side. He looked at the blonde who pulled a grimace before she could stop herself. Lily seemed to cringe in a similar way and James wanted to feel offended on his friend's behalf but... he could kind of understand their reactions a bit.
"I-" Peter started, but whatever words he planned to say died right on his tongue. Mary rolled her eyes, before leaning in to quickly press a kiss on his lips. Close mouthed, James noted, and then just stayed there. Peter seemed too petrified to move.
Maybe that's what James could do if the wand lands on Snape, just stay there and wait for it to be over.
Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Hopefully he won't need it, though.
The wand started flashing and Mary quickly pulled away. Peter was as red as a tomato. Padfoot reached over around Mary to give his friend a hearty thump on the back as he laughed, and Mary only gave him a light pat on the shoulder before quickly looking away.
James cheered for his friend and he could see Remus clapping as well. Snape, stayed completely silent.
The bespectacled wizard just rolled his eyes.
A few more kisses came and went. To a point where James started to get bored.
Then the wand landed on Marlene, who only laughed before leaning over to kiss Lily. James didn't mind one bit. He wasn't worried, what would he worry for? Marlene and Lily are friends, this is totally fine. The kiss ended and Lily laughed, bright and beautiful with her hair almost seeming to catch fire in the light of the lamps in the room.
James glanced over to Snape and noticed his lips twitch up briefly in a slight smile before he scoffed with a shake of his head. The Gryffindor frowned, he thought Snape of all people would be bothered by this, as creepy and clingy as he is with the redhead. He should be fuming, James thought. But whatever, who cares about what Snivellus thinks anyway? Certainly not him.
He's just waiting for his own chance to kiss Lily, that's all. They've kissed before, of course, but James relishes every chance he gets with the girl of his dreams.
He looked over the circle to notice Sirius glaring at Snape, elbow braced on his bent knee with his chin resting on his palm. Snape seemed to ignore him, he seemed to be ignoring everyone around them really. Sirius must be bored out of his mind. He must be itching to pull some sort of prank on the git. This has to be a new record, being around the Slytherin for so long and not teaching him a lesson.
Well, maybe the game will be over soon and they can all do something else. Can't have Padfoot picking on Snape. He promised Lily after all.
It was then that James noticed that the wand had been spun and was starting to slow down. Slower and slower and slower, until it seemed like it was about to point at him only for the spin to continue and stop at... Snape.
James stopped breathing. He thinks he heard someone gasp though he can't be sure who that would even be. Not that it matters.
This is horrible! It’s the sum of all his nightmares! Snape is going to kiss him and there's nothing he can do about it!
He looked over to Snape, which is when he realised that the Slytherin had tensed up completely, hands clenched on his lap. He was sitting absolutely still, everyone had gone quiet as they all stared at the Slytherin. Some of them having forgotten that he was there only to be reminded of his presence at that very moment. The raven only had two choices, Remus or James and with James being as handsome as he is they all knew who he was going to pick. The spell doesn't care about whether or not you like the person beside you, it only cares about who you find most attractive between the two.
Of course, it’s going to be James.
James just sat still, resisting the urge to glare or give any sort of insult with Lily sitting right there beside him. As for Lily, her lips pursed before she gave a tentative smile.
"You don't have to if you don't want to, Sev. Nothing will happen if you say no."
"The game will end if he says no, Lil's. Some of us, would like to keep playing." Alice said looking at her friend, before looking at the Slytherin. "Just do it Snape."
Marlene huffed, "Look, it doesn't need to be a big deal. Its ten seconds and then it’s over, so just get it over with."
The room went silent again, with Lily giving each of her friends a look of displeasure. James said nothing, his lips pursed and his nose wrinkled with distaste.
Its fine, it'll be alright. He chose this and chose it for a reason. If Snape sat next to Lily, he would have kissed her or even someone else entirely. This is a chivalrous act, his good deed for the day. James is taking one for the team so no one else has to. He took a deep breath and steeled his nerves.
Ten seconds.
It’s just ten seconds.
Suddenly Snape let out a deep breath beside him and moved. James closed his eyes and braced for impact only to pause when no impact came.
Instead there were a series of gasps. James opened his eyes and blinked when he looked over and saw that Snape had-
Snape was kissing Remus.
It was a bit like what Mary did earlier, he'd leaned over to press a kiss on the werewolf's lips and just stayed there. He went beet red. Remus seemed to have frozen at the kiss and stared back at Snape with wide eyes in shock. Everyone was quiet.
James didn't understand what was happening. And then Moony moved.
He reached up and put a hand on the side of the Slytherin's face, cupping his jaw before slowly moving his lips against the one's on his own. His eyes slipped shut and then Snape made this weird noise. It wasn't a squeak exactly, it was more like a high pitched grunt... before he slowly kissed back.
"What is happening?"
James heard someone whisper and James wanted to know the answer to that question as well.
Because Moony and Snape couldn't possibly be kissing right here in front of everyone. That's not possible.
So what the fuck is this?!
Suddenly, without warning Remus moved forward, pushing the Slytherin down onto his back without breaking contact. Snape gave another grunt at the impact and someone gasped yet again. He grabbed a hold of the raven's hands and held them down, up above the Slytherin's head, tilting his head to accommodate that nose so he could deepen the kiss and pressed down onto him in a grind as he'd landed himself right between the raven's legs.
"Uh..." Alice started breaking the silence, the wand was flashing, "Time's up."
Apparently, she wasn't heard as Snape let out a strangled moan and his hands clenched above his head just as Remus bit the raven's lip and a strange wave of horror washed over James as he could see the werewolf's tongue sink into Snape's mouth, and Snape's back arched up with a stuttered moan that almost sounded like a whine as he took the Gryffindor in. The flush colouring his cheeks.
"Bloody hell," Marlene whispered, "Maybe I should've stayed where I was."
"For Remus or Snape?" Someone asked and the girl just stared.
"...I'm not sure."
"Sev." Lily called out somewhat awkwardly, "Remus, I think that's enough."
Snape twitched his eyes snapped open and he jerked as if coming back to the moment, trying to pull away only for the werewolf to let out a low growl that had James' eyes going wide. His hands clenched tighter around Snape's wrist as the Slytherin stared wide eyed at him and another strangled muffled moan left his throat.
"Moony!" Sirius suddenly called out sharply and Remus seemed to snap out of it as he quickly broke the kiss. They stared at each other both breathing hard before Snape swallowed and hissed.
"Unhand me this instant."
"I... sorry." Remus said, clearing his throat as he let the Slytherin go and sat back. They were both beet red, but Snape seemed to curl into himself even as he sat up. Pulling his faded robes in closer against his body and dropping his head so his hair covered as much of his face as possible. Remus dragged a hand through his hair and gave an awkward laugh as he stared down at the floor. Everyone was still staring. Sirius was glaring daggers at Snape.
James just gaped.
What just happened?
"Right." Alice started as she reached for the wand, "Moving right along."
The wand started spinning again, but James kept staring at Snape.
Snape kissed Remus and then Remus kissed him back, which is mental just to begin with but then they started snogging right there in front of everyone.
What in Merlin's name was that?
It slowly dawned on James that-
Snape kissed Remus.
Snape kissed Remus.
Snape kissed Remus and not... him.
That would mean that Remus is more attractive than him, or at the very least; Snape finds Remus to be more attractive than James.
Wait... does Snape not think that he's attractive? Sure, they don't get along but the spell doesn't care about whether or not you like the person. It works purely on physical attraction. So Snape doesn't think he's attractive.
...
...
That can't be right. No no that must be a mistake. Everyone thinks he's attractive, he has his absolute pick of everyone in this school. Even the most Slytherin of Slytherin would be ecstatic to be able to catch his eye and yet... Snape didn't kiss James, he kissed Remus.
What the fuck-
Snape doesn't think he's attractive?!
James' disbelief morphed into a glare aimed directly at the stupid, greasy prat beside him. His head was still down, covering most of his face, biting his bruised lip hard and staring at the floor. The blush in his cheeks had yet to go down.
Looking over to Remus, he realised that the werewolf was staring at the Slytherin beside him. The flush under his skin had subsided a bit, but it was still barely there. He lifted a hand to touch his lips and smiled only to stop and clear his throat when he caught James watching him and he just stared at the spinning wand instead.
…what is happening?
The wand stopped, Alice kissed Frank. That seemed to draw back some attention from the party since the two have been dancing around each other for years. Last James heard, Frank’s Mum planned on securing a marriage contract for Alice since her son seemed so absolutely besotted with the girl.
They drew some laughter and cheers, James looked away from the two beside him to try and drag himself back to reality. Because, well… it shouldn’t matter. You know, kissing Remus is absolutely something that matters and James will be having words with his friend over exactly what that was, but the fact that Snape chose to kiss Moony instead of him shouldn’t have bothered him. Merlin, he should be ecstatic. He didn’t have to suffer the indignity of being forced to kiss the Slytherin bat.
He should be happy.
He should be happy.
Why isn’t he happy?!
There was another kiss, Dorcas Meadows was sitting on Sirius’ other side. Mary glared at the girl, with her arms folded over her chest. James wasn’t paying attention though, he was back to staring at Snape again. He missed the oddly anti-climactic kiss. Padfoot was distracted, distracted by what? James didn’t really know… and he didn’t really care either.
Who the hell does Snape think he is? What - he’s too good for James Potter, is that it? Then again, the prat’s always been that way, he’s always been standoffish and too good for everyone else. Its been that way since they met on the train. All this stupid idiot had to do was keep his mouth shut, but no, he had to run his mouth about Slytherin and talk down to James like he wasn’t the sole heir of house Potter. Snape is obsessed with purebloods and the pureblood aesthetic, isn’t he? James should be the centre of his bloody universe and yet he was never good enough.
There was another kiss, Olson Flint kissed Frank. Alice gaped, earning snickers and a few pokes from the girl beside her. The second the kiss ended Alice shoved at Frank’s arm and the wizard flushed as he gave her a sheepish smile, while Olson gave Alice a smirk-
Whatever, James saved Snape from a werewolf! He risked life and limb to save this scrawny, clueless, imp and he turns around and chooses to kiss the very werewolf that almost killed him last year?! Snape should be kissing the ground he walks on, he should worship James, he should be completely at the Gryffindor chaser’s beck and call and yet he still has the nerve to choose Remus instead of James?!
The wand was spinning again, but James didn’t even care anymore-
He was glaring at Snape, watching as he just kept staring at the floor. Those endlessly dark eyes not glancing up for so much of a second.
What the hell is this?! Is it because Remus is a werewolf? Has the Slytherin’s obsession with dark magic become so depraved that he’d develop some sort of infatuation with dark creatures? Well, that would sort of make sense – but that doesn’t excuse this complete and total utter nonsense!
Where does Snape get the nerve to repeatedly refuse James Potter, deny him, ignore him, insult and fight him?! Where does he get the audacity to choose anyone other than James?!
The wand began to slow.
James was furious, absolutely enraged. Right at that moment he could feel his magic threaten to break loose and he had to fight off the urge to grab his own wand to blast this stupid snake into oblivion. Destroy him, annihilate him, ruin him so that he would never ever-
The wand stopped.
James felt a pull, something compelling him to move. To turn to the side. It was a familiar pull; that’s how it felt when the Spinning Wand spell took effect. It didn’t necessarily force you to act on its pull, more… strongly encouraged it. Giving the recipient of the spell the option to stop, say no and end the game. But James wasn’t paying attention. He was distracted, so completely absorbed in his own emotions that he didn’t really get the chance to pause and think about what was happening.
The spell pulled and he reacted.
A brand new set of gasps.
The wixen in the room weren’t just shocked, they were stunned.
Without even thinking about it, James had reached over to Snape, grabbed hold of his shoulder to turn him and then his chin to keep him still, before planting a kiss right on the Slytherin’s lips. Snape was frozen in place as those dark eyes went impossibly wide. James realised what he had done right around the six second mark and when he did, he could do nothing more than stare back at the other in horror. The room had dropped into a silence so pronounced you’d probably be able to hear a ghost enter the room.
Ten seconds, the wand released its pull. James released Snape and flinched back as if he’d been brunt. Snape squirmed back, away from the Gryffindor still wide eyed and completely disturbed.
James looked over to the wand, seeing that it was indeed pointing at him. Everyone was staring, Padfoot’s left eye was twitching and his hands were clenched so tightly they were turning white. Peter looked close to fainting.
“Merlin…” That was Marlene again, James looked back to see that Lily had paled, mouth open in a gape.
“I…” The words completely disintegrated on his tongue. He looked back at Snape, who’s expression had gone from shock straight into rage as he got up and stormed out of the common room.
James watched him go, heard the portrait shut with a slam behind the raven. Everyone was still quiet, he caught Moony’s gaze; the werewolf’s eyes were narrowed, lips pursed in displeasure. James’ face was burning. He quietly got up and quickly left the room, headed for the boys’ dorms.
They all watched him go. Lily finally lifted a hand up to cover her mouth and Sirius was glaring at the wall.
Alice cleared her throat and reached out to take her wand.
“Well, I think that’s enough for one night.”