Happy Birthday!
Several days later and it was you and James’ shared birthday. You'd woken up that morning bright and early prepared for the evening. For months you'd been collecting fire whiskey so you had a huge stash underneath your bed and then there were the vials. You kept them stashed alongside the fire whiskey. And lastly, you had a few mugs you'd stolen from the tavern in Hogsmeade. So, early before anyone was awake, you'd tasked yourself with transporting your stash of fire whiskey, cups, and vials from your bedroom to the Astronomy tower. It took you three trips to get the fire whiskey alone. You were going to get drunk, perhaps even alcohol poisoning with all the alcohol you had. Then you had to make a last trip carrying blankets and pillows to the tower to make the place all cozy for the party that night.
After you'd made all the trips it was about 9 AM and breakfast time so you went to the dining hall to join your friends and brother. You entered the dining hall and spotted them immediately. They were sitting at a corner of the table, huddled together. You approached them and sat down beside Sirius. He looked over and grinned at you.
"Good morning birthday girl," he greeted. He threw an arm around you and pulled you against him. You leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
"Good morning babe," you said.
"Can you stop with the PDA? It's gross," James said.
"Shut up. It's not like you don't kiss Lily all the fucking time,” you snapped. "Right, Lily?" You glanced over at her. Her face had turned five shades of red, and she looked away.
"I think you broke her," Remus commented.
"It would appear I did,” you muttered.
"Y/n, what the fuck did you do?!" James yelled.
"Do not yell at me you little shit. Calm down and get off your high horse. She'll be fine," you snapped. James glared at you before turning to his girlfriend and trying to get her to calm down.
"She's overreacting for such a small comment," Sirius whispered in your ear. You nodded. The rest of breakfast was tense until breakfast ended and you were all dismissed to your first classes of the day. You and Remus headed off to Transfiguration class, Peter to potions, and James, Sirius, and Lily to Defense against the Dark Arts. After Transfiguration, you went to your following classes alone. You shared none of them with your friends. The day seemed to pass so slowly until finally it came to an end and you were allowed to return to your dorms. You got to your dorm quickly and changed before speeding off to the Astronomy tower. You were the first to arrive at the tower.
Upon arriving, you tied two small pieces of string around the handles of two cups; James and Sirius’ cups. Then you poured the contents of the vials in each cup. You grabbed a fire whiskey bottle and began filling all of the cups to the brim. Nice and prepared, you could finally relax. You propped yourself up on some pillows and waited patiently for the arrival of your friends and brother. Some time passed and you fell asleep waiting for them only to be awoken to the sound of knocking at the door. You opened your eyes and looked at the door, processing the sound in your half-awake mind.
"Hm? Who is it?" you called.
"Y/n, it's us," Sirius called from the other side of the door.
"Coming," you said. You got up slowly and stumbled over to the door. You opened the door, revealing Sirius, Remus, Peter, James and Lily. "Come in," you said and stepped back. You walked back over to your spot and sat back down on the ground. "Everyone take a seat." Sirius took a seat beside you, and you curled up beside him. To your left sat James and Lily. To the right of Sirius sat Remus and across from you sat Peter.
"Shall we have a toast?" Remus asked.
"Yes!" Sirius and James said in unison.
"Alright," you said. You leaned over and grabbed the mugs. "These are for you.” You handed the ones with strings to Sirius and James. "And these are for you," you said as you started handing out the rest of the mugs to Remus, Peter and Lily before taking one for yourself.
"A toast to Y/n and James Potter! Two wonderful siblings. May they live long, fruitful lives!" Remus said and brought his mug up in the air.
"Aye," everyone said in unison. They all brought their mugs up in the air as well before bringing them back down to take a sip. The first sip felt like fire rolling down your throat. You couldn't take it and put your mug down on the ground.
"Ugh, that is disgusting," you spat.
"I agree,” Remus muttered.
"Disgusting? This stuff is amazing!” James laughed. "Pass me a bottle."
"You can have all of it," you said. You handed him a full bottle of Fire Whiskey. You watched as he filled his mug to the brim once again. He downed the whole mug in one go. Then he filled his mug for the third time. He raised the cup to his lips but Lily stopped him.
"Babe," Lily said. "Isn't that a bit much?"
"It's my birthday. I don't care."
"James," Sirius started.
"Just let him," you whispered in his ear. He nodded.
"We should do something fun. How about a race in our animagus forms?" James asked. Sirius grinned. And you saw Peter pipe up. Of course, he would never win a race against Sirius and James, he was a tiny little rat when in his animagus form.
"That sounds like loads of fun. I'm in,” Sirius said.
"I'd like to join," Peter said. Then it was just you. Sirius looked down at you with pleading eyes.
"Babe?" he asked.
"No, I don't want to."
"Come on, it'll be fun,” he said.
"Fine," you sighed.
"Great!" Sirius jumped up and helped you up. Peter and James got up, and the three of the boys headed towards the door while you just watched. James opened the door and stopped.
"Are you coming?" he asked.
"Race you down there," you said. You then transformed into your animagus form, a snowy owl. You started flying around the room and headed to the nearest ledge. You landed on the ledge and glanced back at the three of them who were looking at you wide-eyed. Then you dove off the edge.
"That's not bloody fair!” James hollered after you. Your laughter came out in the form of hoots. You opened your wings as you neared the ground, gliding to a landing. You landed on a branch of a tree that gave you a perfect view of the entrance to the Astronomy Tower. Several minutes passed and the boys came bursting out. "Where is she? Ha! We made it! Take that.” he yelled.
"I think it's pretty concerning if she's not down here. Seeing how much of an advantage she had," Peter added. James stopped and looked at him, contemplating what he'd said. Then he looked around, searching for you. His demeanor changed in a matter of seconds.
"Y/n?" he called.
"Babe?” Sirius called out.
You jumped off the branch you were sitting on and shot up off into the sky. You soared above the three boys. You circled them before diving down. You launched yourself at James and transformed back into a human when you were a few feet away. You tackled your brother to the ground and he let out a frantic scream.
"What is on me? Get it off! It's heavy. Is it a boulder?!" James yelled.
"Holy shit! James! Y/n?!" Sirius yelled. You started laughing so hard tears formed in your eyes. Weak from the laughter you pushed yourself off your brother's back and rolled onto the ground.
"What the bloody hell is wrong with you? You could've killed me!" James yelled and smacked you. You still couldn't get a hold of yourself and continued to laugh so hard your belly hurt.
"Babe, are you okay?" Sirius asked and crouched down beside you. You nodded. Your laughter began to die down, and you finally got up off the ground and dusted yourself off.
"You scream like a little girl," you wheezed.
"I do not," he yelled defensively.
"You kinda do," Sirius said. Peter nodded in agreement.
"Neither of you have my back?! Really! Wow," he said and crossed his arms. You could tell that he was really upset, so you walked over to him. You wrapped your arms around him in a hug.
"I'm sorry. I took that too far. I didn't mean to hurt you," you whispered.
"Fine," he muttered. He hugged you back. You smiled. After a few moments, you pulled away.
"Now, it's time for the race,” you said. "When Sirius barks we'll all go. The first person to make it to the school and back to the tower wins 5 galleons from each loser. Alright?" The boys nodded.
You then transformed back into an owl. You flew up above the boys. The boys then transformed into each of their respective forms. Sirius waited a few seconds before barking three times. Upon hearing the barking you shot off across the greens. You and Sirius took the lead, fighting head-to-head to make it to the school. You managed to speed up ahead of him and reached the school first. You turned around across the greens, leaving Sirius, James and Peter in your dust. The wind howled in your ears. In a matter of minutes, you reached the tower doors. You threw yourself against the door and transformed back into your human form. You fell down to the ground exhausted and out of breath. Moments later James came, winning second place. He turned back into his human form and bent over out of breath. Then Peter made it and lastly Sirius. The two transformed back and collapsed on the ground beside you.
"So, I won. Pay up losers," you said.
"Don't rub it in," James huffed.
"How much again?" Peter asked.
"5 galleons," you said.
"My poor wallet," Sirius wailed. You laughed. You pushed yourself up off the ground and walked over to Sirius. You helped him up. Sirius wrapped his arms around you and leaned down. "Do you think I can pay in other ways?" he whispered in your ear. You glared at him and he grinned at you deviously.
"Horny fucker," you muttered. You pulled away from him and walked over to the door to wear James and Peter were waiting.
"Is that a yes?" he called.
"Yes," you sighed. James opened the door and stepped inside followed by Peter. You followed inside and held the door open for Sirius who came running. You closed the door behind him and waited patiently as James and Peter mounted the stairs. Then you turned to Sirius. "Come," you said. You dragged him along to the nearest door and headed inside.
20 minutes later you exited very disheveled with Sirius grinning like a madman. You headed up the stairs of the astronomy tower with Sirius a step behind you. Once you arrived at the door you stopped and turned to face him.
"Wipe that grin off your face and don't you utter a word about what just happened," you whispered. Sirius tried to make his face as stoic as possible and nodded. You then knocked on the door. "It's Sirius and Y/n," you said. Moments later the door opened by Peter. "Thank you." The both of you entered the room. You and Sirius walked back over to your spot and sat down. There was an awkwardness in the room like everyone knew what you'd been doing but no one wanted to say it.
"So did you guys see Professor McGonagall's new haircut?" James asked.
"It's awful!" Sirius added in.
"Right!? Even my blind nana could do a better job." Remus said. Peter snorted. "Seriously she could!" he added.
You spent the rest of the evening chatting with your friends and drinking until you all passed out in the early hours of the morning. You fell asleep curled up with your head on Sirius’ chest. However, when you awoke, you were laying on the cold hard ground and there was frantic yelling. You groaned and opened your eyes. You could see people moving around and talking.
"What the bloody hell happened?!" Remus yelled.
"I'm ancient! You're ancient! We're ancient!" James cried.
"I can see that!" Sirius hollered.
"Love, calm down. I'm sure it's not permanent." Lily cut in.
"Not permanent. Right, right. But how long is it going to last?! We have classes on Monday. I can't be seen like this!" James wailed.
Slowly you pushed yourself up into a sitting position to get a better look. James and Sirius had aged horribly. They were skinny and frail with white hair and long beards. You snorted at the sight. Dead silence followed and everyone turned to look at you.
"You both look horrible," you laughed.
"You think this is a joke!?" James hollered. You kept laughing and nodded your head. It was the best joke. A wonderful prank too.
"This isn't funny!" Sirius yelled.
"Unless," James started. "Are you behind this?" Your laughter died down and you smirked at him.
"Why yes dear brother. It's revenge. You made me meow like a cat for a week so I've made you both old men for a week," you said in the sweetest of voices.
"You little shit!" he yelled. He dove at you, but you transformed into an owl and shot out of the way. You flew over to the ledge and looked back one last time before diving off. "I swear when I get my hands on you Y/n!" James screamed.