Party on
The door handle jerked suddenly, Remus' advanced hearing catching it almost immediately. His eyes skated over to the wooden entrance as the handle began to turn and he began to panic. In one clumsy motion, he put out his cigarette on the window sill, flicking it out onto the grassy plains beneath him and practically jumping across the room, onto his bed. The door opened a think slice as Remus searched frantically for a book beside him, picking up the first thing he could find a flipping over to the middle page. Much too late, he realised that he was holding one of James' quidditch magazines.
"Remus!" James sighed, walking over to the bed and snatching the glossy pages from his hands and then pinching the bridge of his nose and putting his other hand on his hip. Remus had seen Euphemia do this on many occasions. "If you're going to pretend that you don't smoke, at least make your cover up story believable."
"Yeah," Peter joined in, frowning. This confrontation reminded Remus of a scene from a movie where two boring looking parents were telling off their teen daughter for using drugs or getting pregnant or something. "And at least spray something to get rid of the smell."
"You guys know that I smoke?" Remus asked, wondering if it had been so obvious the entire time. It had been very obvious. He must have gotten so used to the smell of smoke that he had begun to stop noticing it all together.
"You smoke? Like real cigarettes?" Sirius entered the room behind the other two boys, a dramatically fake look of disbelief painted across his handsome features. "No. Actual. way."
"Haha, very funny, Black." Remus rolled his eyes, grabbing his cigarette packet from his bed side table and holding it up in the air. "Catch." He said before flicking the paper box over to his long haired best friend.
"Thanks mate." Sirius winked and dragged out one of the sticks between his teeth, maintaining eye contact even from across the room as he did so. Remus clicked his fingers and the end of it lit as if an invisible zippo had been held out in front of him. He noticed Sirius' gaze, feeling the odd tightness in his chest and the tugging sensation in his stomach but chose to ignore it.
James and Peter groaned almost in unison as Sirius jumped up onto the window sill and puffed away, creating small wispy clouds in the late afternoon light, the breeze carrying them gently away as if they were lengths of sheer silk blowing about in the wind.
"So, when is this rager to end all ragers supposed to begin?" Remus mused, turning his head to James since he was the unofficially appointed leader of the group, as well as the most sensible one there. If anyone were to know their plans, it would be James. Sirius and Remus had once made a habit of calling him 'mum' but James had eventually gotten ever so slightly, very upset at this nickname and unfortunately it had to be retired. "Or have we changed our plans and decided to spend some quality quiet time up here with textbooks and hot chocolate?"
"Nah, we just thought we would get dinner and then go to bed early." Peter called back at him, without ripping his gaze away from the open wardrobe that he was inspecting very closely.
"Pete, what are you doing?" James laughed as he was attempting to run Sirius' hairbrush through his curls but it just ended up making them look oddly static.
"I don't know what to wear." He whined again.
"Aw, mate. You'll look stunning in whatever you chose to wear." James beamed, placing a hand on his heart. He was being silly, of course, but whatever James said always seemed genuine. He was nice and Remus always knew that would be his hamartia.
"Yeah, Wormy. You're beautiful." Called Sirius, though anyone could tell that he didn't mean it. Sirius wasn't the same beloved and genuine guy that James was. He was beloved by many but for more superficial reasons. This thought process was Remus' way of admitting that his best friend was devastatingly attractive, drop dead gorgeous even, without making it personal. If he could admit that there was a reason girls swarmed around the poor guy, like flies swarmed around a rotting corpse, he could tell himself that he was aware of this fact without being overly indulgent in it and in absolutely no single circumstance admitting that Remus himself found Sirius quite attractive. Remus tended to overthink things.
"Gorgeous, whatever." Remus muttered, bored at the banter and jokes that he used to join in on. He wasn't the same after his dad. Everything felt dreary and unimportant or maybe he just really wanted to know when the party started. "But what time does it start?"
"I told everyone that it starts at nine, so I'm not sure what time they'll actually be here. Maybe ten-ish." James called from the bathroom, where he was probably wetting his ruined curls in the sink.
"That makes absolutely zero sense." Remus shook his head, entertaining the idea that absolutely nothing in this world made sense. "Why wouldn't they just arrive at nine if the party starts at nine."
"Poor little Moony. He doesn't know about being fashionably late." Sirius stuck out his bottom lip as if Remus was an infant asking his parent about adult things.
"Oh, so its just about looking cool. Like 'oh look at me I don't care about anything. I don't own a watch which is just so so super hot and you should kiss me on the mouth'." Remus mocked in a stupid little voice, sounding truly like the apathetic pessimist that his father raised.
"Nah, people just don't want to be the first one there. Its so awkward just standing there with a beer with two or three other people." James shrugged. "No one wants that, man."
"Why don't they just bring a book?"
"Romely was right. You are boring."
***
The party was the same as any other party Remus had been to. Too loud, too warm. Bodies cramping into every inch of Gryffindor common room, moving around nonsensically to whatever pop music was being played through the magically amped up record player. He didn't particularly like any of this but his friends did and he loved his friends. So, in the name of love, Remus sat on the couch silently sipping the warm beer in his hand and thanking the lords above that the snogging couple had moved away from him. He never got the appeal of such public displays of affection and doubted he ever would. It just felt like such a private thing that Remus wondered why anyone would feel comfortable sharing it with whoever else was in the room at the time.
"Hi." A cheerful voice spoke, as a body placed itself next to Remus on the couch. He turned his head to check who it was as he didn't recognise the cheerful voice. His question was not answered by the visual aid. A girl around his age with darky curly hair, twisted neatly into a single braid with a few tight coils left free to frame her face. She wore a colourful, paisley patterned blouse, the sleeves of which were long and much wider than needed around her wrists. She wore this extravagant shirt with a black pencil style mini skirt and a pair of whit go-go boots.
"Hello." He replied with a smirk, taking another sip of his beer. He didn't actually know if he liked beer or he'd just gotten used to the taste.
"Hi." She repeated herself but in a more sing song, giggly way, twisting the end of her braid as she did so.
"You already said that."
"I know." She giggled again, this time holding out her hand as if he was supposed to shake it. "I'm Elsie."
"I'm Remus." He took her hand jerking it once and then letting go.
"How'd you get that scar?" She used the hand that he had dropped to trace the thick silvery line across his face, barely touching the skin.
"Fight with a dragon." He grinned, knowing it was the worst lie he'd come up with yet.
"Really?" Elsie leaned in closer.
"Oh yeah. Just a baby one though."
"Wow." She edged closer to him on the couch so that her knees were digging into his thighs. "That's so cool. You must be so brave."
"Yeah, I guess." She was nice. But drunk. Only a drunk girl would even attempt to believe such an atrocious lie. So, Remus thought he might as well try and have a conversation with her. "What's Elsie short for, then?"
"Elspeth." She rolled her eyes to the back of he head. "Completely horrid, right?"
"Wow, your parents really had it in for you." He laughed.
"Yeah. I know right." She said half heartedly, placing her hand gently onto his thigh. He wasn't exactly into it but the alcohol had gone to his head, leaving him feeling light headed and stupid.
"I like Elsie. Its a good name." He said without being sure why.
"Thank you very much." She shrugged her shoulders flirtatiously, tipping the rest of her beer into her mouth. "Damn. I've finished it."
"You want another one?" Remus offered.
"Nah, I actually want to remember tonight." She shook her head. "I stop drinking after two. That's my rule."
"Good rule. Why are girls always so much smarter than guys?"
"Really?" She seemed genuinely interested in the hypothesis. "You think so?"
"Yeah, of course I do. All my girl friends are so much smarter than my guy friends. Like James and Sirius get really good grades and all that but the girls, they just understand shit that we don't. They have all the common sense and they know what guys to talk to and which ones to avoid and they can read people, you know what I mean. They can talk to you and see you immediately."
"I don't know. Some girls aren't like that. Maybe you've only met good ones."
"I've definitely met good ones."
"Aw, that's sweet. Like your sister?"
"You know my sister?"
"Yeah, us girls stick together."
"Really?"
"Nah, I lent her a pad in the bathroom yesterday and I thought I recognised her so we got to talking. She really admires you, you know?"
"She thinks I'm boring."
"Why would she think that?"
"I read a lot."
"So does everyone." She scoffed.
"Apparently not."
"Really? I do."
"Most of my friends don't."
"Do any of them?"
"Oh yeah." He nodded enthusiastically. "My mate Lily and Marlene but she'll never admit it."
Elsie laughed at this. "Why won't she admit it?"
"She' obsessed with her reputation. Like, she think that if people know she reads and gets good grades, they'll think she's less cool."
"That's very stupid. What about your other friends?"
"What about them?"
"Does Sirius Black entertain himself with books or what?"
"Nah, he's into music."
"That's cool, I guess. You know all of my friends fancy him. Its kind of boring really. He's all they ever talk about nowadays. Like suddenly everyone's become obsessed with hot guys and getting them into bed."
"Well, your friends will be disappointed then."
"Why oh why?"
"You're not the only one with rules, you know?"
"What in merlin's beard do you mean?"
"He has a rule that he doesn't go for two girls in the same group."
"Oh well, I might have to tell them that. They can fight over him."
"Will you be throwing your hat in the ring?"
"Oh no. Definitely not."
"Why oh why?" He asked, copying what she had said earlier, fluttering his eyelashes jokingly.
"I might like someone else." She told him, her eyes wide and kind, showing him gorgeous brown irises. She had nice eyes but as he looked into them more, all he could end up thinking about was the cool grey eyes of his best friend, Sirius. It was probably just because she had mentioned him once or twice. Why else would he be thinking of Sirius during a moment like this?
Elsie's hand creeped up his leg slightly more as she leaned in closer. "Do you want to get out of here?"
It was a teasing little remark but Remus was bored at this party and Elsie was the best conversation he'd had all academic year, even though the school year had started two days ago.
"Okay." He barely managed before the space between their two faces had closed and Else was kissing him and he was kissing her back. He hoped he was good at it. He hadn't exactly had a whole lot of practice.
She pulled apart from him, smiling brightly. "Lets go, then."