Different

Lily woke up to the sun streaming through the cracks in the blinds. She rubbed her eyes, and groaned, memories of the previous night flashing through her mind. Had she really cried into James Potter’s shoulder about her problems with Petunia? She rolled over onto her side.

“Shit.” she groaned. She supposed he had already told everybody how she had clung to him, or how he’d caught her staring earlier. She sighed, and got up. She could only delay this. She got up, and collected her clothes for the day. She shared a washroom with Marlene, but thankfully Marlene seemed to have gotten up already. Lily showered and brushed her teeth, and, when she could put it off no longer, she slowly walked down the stairs. She followed the sound of voices into the kitchen, where she found her friends sitting around the table. Mary and Remus waved at her, and Potter winked.

“Mornin’ sleepy head” he grinned, reaching up to fluff his hair. Sirius rolled his eyes at his friend, and nodded at Lily.

“Hey Evans, Peter’s making scrambled eggs, want any?” her eyes found Peter at the stove.

“Sure, I’ll have some. Thanks Peter!” the boy nodded and cracked another egg. She took one of the two remaining empty seats, between Dorcas and Sirius.

“So, how did everyone sleep?” Potter asked, carefully not looking at Lily. Everyone nodded, humming their assent. Lily’s eyes found Potter’s. She shot him a grateful look, and he gave her a short smile. A real smile. Not his usual proud, flirty smirks. This smile was more reminiscent of the boy she had glimpsed the night before. The real James Potter. She forced herself to look away, and remember all the things he’d done to annoy her over the years. Fortunately, she had a lot of material to work with on that aspect. She was brought back to earth by Dorcas elbowing her. She looked up to see Peter holding out a plate of scrambled eggs. She took it gratefully, thanking the boy, and gobbled it up hungrily. She was the last person to finish, as she had had to wait for her coffee to brew. Once she was finished, she turned to Sirius, who had been practically jumping out of his seat in excitement. Remus had taken on the daunting task of distracting him, and had been partially successful by launching cereal at the other boy, and instructing him to catch it in his mouth. Lily watched in mild amusement as Sirius got three in a row.

“Good boy!” Potter praised, as Remus patted him on the head.

“He’s not a dog, you know.” Mary scoffed, biting back a smile. Peter made a strange choking sound as the other three boys burst out in laughter. Dorcus shrugged at Marlene.

“It's best not to ask.” Lily decided. “So, we were going to a lake?” she asked, bringing order back to the breakfast table. Sirius leapt to his feet, grabbed Remus by the arm and tugged him to the door.
“Yes!!! Grab your swimsuits and stuff and let's go!” he jumped up and down, still holding onto a resigned Remus’ shoulders.

“Sorry about him,” Potter said to the rest of the room “Remus thought it would be fun to give him fully caffeinated coffee this morning for the first time.” they all nodded understandingly, feeling slightly less sympathetic for Remus than they had moments before.

“Meet at the bottom of the stairs in 5?” Lily offered, and the others nodded. Lily placed her plate in the sink, and headed upstairs to put on her swimsuit. As she put her clothes back on over the suit, she idly wondered whether Potter would swim without a shirt or not. She sighed. She was losing her mind. She had to keep reminding herself of why she didn’t like him, or else memories of the previous night would take over. He’d been so tender, and, she hated to admit it, sweet. She pushed those thoughts away. Right now, she was going to go enjoy swimming with her friends, and probably get wasted. That was all she needed to think about.

They met downstairs, all clutching towels and various other things. Mary was lugging a large picnic basket, Potter had somehow acquired mass amounts of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey, and Remus appeared to have brought a 12-pack of muggle beer. Peter, wisely, had brought a pack of coca-cola, and Marlene was clutching a large stack of red solo cups. Lily grinned. This was making to be an excellent afternoon.

Once everyone had met up, they set off. According to Potter, the lake was about a 20 minute hike/walk. They all took turns holding the drinks, before Dorcas realized they could just levitate the drinks. That made the walk significantly more enjoyable, as they were able to focus on the view. They ran into a couple of cats, one of them looking suspiciously similar to Professor McGonagall’s animagus form.

“Sorry professor!” whisper yelled Sirius as the cat looked disapprovingly at the mass amounts of alcohol they were carting. The rest of the walk was spent arguing whether or not it was McGonagall. The general consensus was no, although Peter and Mary seemed to have their suspicions. They walked for a couple more minutes, before they came out into a long beach-like area beside a glittering lake. Lily picked a spot under a large tree, and set down her towel. Even in the shade, the sun was warm, but just pleasantly so. The rest of the friends set their towels down around Lily’s, peeled off their clothes and headed to the water. Lily looked around at her friends and bit back a chuckle. Sirius was sporting a pair of the loudest, most garishly coloured trunks Lily had ever seen. Potter had, in fact, abandoned his shirt. Not that Lily noticed, of course. She also didn’t notice how the water droplets rolled down his surprisingly fit body. And she certainly didn't notice how tight his trunks were, leaving little to imagination.

“Oi! Evans! Toss that ball over here, yeah?” Sirius yelled, doggy paddling in circles around Remus, who looked like he’d like nothing better than to single-handedly consume every single alcoholic beverage they’d brought today. Lily looked around for a second, then tossed the ball in the direction of all the splashing. She rolled her shoulders and dunked her head under the water. It was slightly chilly at first, but soon warmed up. They spent the next few hours in the water, splashing and throwing the ball around. Lily was beginning to feel waterlogged, so she got out of the water and meandered over to the picnic basket. Approaching splashes told her that her friends had finally realized how hungry they were, and decided to join her.

As they ate, the chatted about their families, the war that seemed so far away, how they felt about their final year at Hogwarts, amongst other things: Had Lily been swept off her feet by Potter yet ( a very emphatic ‘No!’) or, Did Sirius put his hair in curlers (an even more emphatic ‘NOO!’, although Remus had assured them otherwise).

“Who wants to play ‘Never Have I Ever’?” Marlene waved a bottle of firewhiskey mischievously. Sirius and Potter whooped as everyone gathered in a circle. Marlene began pouring the whiskey into the cups and passing them around.

“Whose starting?” Peter asked, and Sirius raised a hand.

“Never have I ever… gotten less than 15 detentions in a year”. Mary, Lily and Dorcus drank immediately, but Marlene had to count on her fingers. She evidently hadn’t, or just gave up and took a sip. Remus took a moment to think, then said

“Never have I ever… used somebody else’s toothbrush.” Sirius looked guilty and took a sip. “Whose?” Remus asked, nervously.

“Yours mate, I’m sorry.” Sirius said, trying not to smile. Remus mimed gagging, but patted the other boy on the knee.

“Never have I ever… snuck out to the Forbidden Forest at night.” Marlene asked, leaning around to look at the four boys, who all took a sip. Lily sighed.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that.” Peter gave her an appreciative smile, and Mary cleared her throat.

“Never have I ever… kissed anyone.” Lily sat up straight. Now this, she wanted to know. She herself hadn’t really, unless you counted kisses on the cheek, which she suspected didn't count. Marlene, Potter, Sirius, and, surprisingly, Remus took a sip of their drinks. She was about to open her mouth to ask, when Dorcas beat her to it.

“Who?” Marlene shrugged.

“A couple people. An older Ravenclaw guy in fourth year, some Hufflepuff last year, this guy on a dare in fifth year” she said, nodding at Sirius. “Do not recommend it.” she stage whispered, as Sirius pretended to look hurt. Lily noticed Remus blushing, but was distracted by Marlene, again. “What about you, Potter?” James looked uncomfortable.

“There was this one girl at the yule ball in fifth year, who got me under the mistletoe.” Everyone nodded understandingly. December was a dangerous time at Hogwarts. Whoever decorated the halls had placed mistletoe at very congested junctures, and the majority of Hogwarts students took mistletoe way too seriously (although, to be fair, Peeves played a large role in that). You had to watch your step, and who was around you.

“What about you, Sirius?” Lily asked, “Besides Mar.” Sirius shrugged.

“Oh, you know,” he said evasively “I’ve been around.” Before anyone could question further, Potter cut in

“You really don’t want to get him talking about his exploits.” he warned, and everyone decided to drop it. “But this one I’m genuinely curious, Who’ve you been snogging Lupin?” Potter asked, peering over at an embarrassed-looking Remus.

“Erm, Why don't- you ask- your mum” Remus choked out, causing a roar of laughter to erupt throughout the group. Lily chuckled, smiling to herself as Remus and Sirius exchanged a furtive glance.

And so it continued, with the questions getting more and more ridiculous as they got drunker and drunker. Eventually, the game was abandoned, and they started a small bonfire and pulled out the Potters’ old stereo. They danced around the fire, drunk enough to really let go. Lily laughed as she caught James’ hand and he spun her around and around, until she was so dizzy she had to go sit down. He sat beside her and they drank and laughed until the fire had died down, and the drinks were running low. They gathered everybody's stuff, and regrouped in a circle. Remus was a notorious sleepy drunk, and was curled in Sirius’ lap, clinging to his arm. Sirius glared around at the rest of the group as if daring them to say something, which, of course, nobody did. They collectively decided that Peter, who had drunk less than a full cup of the whiskey would be their best bet to apparate home. He took two at a time, until Lily and James were the only ones left on the beach. Lily yawned, leaning against James’ shoulder until Peter returned to get them. When they appeared on the front lawn, James stumbled a bit, and Lily threw out her arm to catch him. He shot her a quick smile as they followed Peter back into the house. Once Peter had made it halfway up the stairs, James turned to her

“I know you’re kind of a night owl who's awesome at potions, so do you wanna help me brew some hangover cure for the morning?” he asked.

“Sure! Let me just change out of my bathing suit first.”

“Hey, we can be Gryffindor pajama shirt buddies again!” he exclaimed, and she grinned.

“Yeah!” She ran up the stairs, wobbling a bit. She quickly peeled off her bathing suit, and pulled on her pajamas. She swayed slightly on the spot. Okay, maybe she was a little drunk. Once she made it to the kitchen, James was already there, and had poured her a glass of water. She took it appreciatively.

“I warmed up the cauldron and got out the ingredients, but I thought I’d wait for you.”

“Probably wise.” She agreed, “I’ve seen some of your potions.” she said, faking a shudder.

“Heyyy!” he pouted, and she had to laugh at his puppy-dog face. She took a look at the recipe. It seemed relatively straightforward, although a couple times she had to stop herself from crushing something instead of cutting it. James acted as her sous-chef, and was surprisingly helpful.

“Now we have to let it brew for a half hour.” She announced, setting down her ladle and washing her hands. She turned to see James fiddling with a small radio that appeared to be of muggle make. She watched as he appeared to give up, and simply tapped it with his wand. "New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra (who Lily was 89% sure wasn't a wizard) began playing.

“I found you some muggle music,” he said “I don’t know what you listen to at home, but I don’t suppose you get a wizarding radio signal.” Lily smiled at that

“I think my parents danced to this at their wedding,” she remembered.

“Oh yeah?” James said “Did they teach you to dance?”

“A bit, why? Do you want me to teach you?”

“Why not!” he shrugged, checking his watch. “We’ve got time.” She smiled back at him.

“Okay, so you put your hands on my waist, like this,” she instructed, guiding his hands “And I put mine on your shoulders.”

“Then what?” he asked, she looked up and him, startled to see that he looked almost nervous. What was it with James Potter’s kitchen at midnight that seemed to break him out of his shell and bring out the best in him? Lily wondered vaguely.

“Now, we just sort of sway to the music. It's not very exciting.” she explained.

“I can sway, I think I’m gonna be a natural.” he smiled. She stepped in a bit closer, tilting her chin up to meet his eyes. They began to move to the music, ever so slightly. His eyes seemed to be searching her face, committing it to memory, and she found herself doing the same thing. Somewhere, in the back of her mind she vaguely wondered just how drunk she had gotten to end up slow dancing with James Potter in the middle of the night. She decided that she probably didn’t want to know. She brought her mind back to the present. She leaned her head forward so she was now resting on his chest. He rested his chin on the top of her head as they continued swaying to chill Frank Sinatra music. She must have lost track of time, because it seemed like the timer beeped only a couple minutes later. She hummed, not wanting to let go just yet. James stepped back, reaching over to turn off the timer.

“What do you think, Evans?” he gestured to himself “Slow dancing prodigy or what?” She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly, and went to go take the cauldron off the heat. She divided the thick, green-ish substance into eight cups, and placed them on the table with a note explaining what they were. James yawned, and Lily realized just how tired she was. They needed to sleep. The hangover remedy could only do so much. She picked up two glasses, and handed one to him. They left the kitchen together, and quietly walked up the stairs.

“Night James!” she whispered, smiling over at him as she turned one way down the hall and he turned the other way.

“Night Lily!” he whispered back. As Lily made her way into bed, she couldn’t help thinking about how cute he looked when he was sleepy. This was, she realized, the second night that she had ended up in his arms in the kitchen late at night. Maybe James Potter wasn’t so bad after all. Even though they had both been drunk that night, she had genuinely enjoyed his company. And the night before, when they had both been sober had been, well, not exactly nice, but she’d been grateful he’d been there.