Chapter 4
“What about Mamma Mia?”
“Lils we’ve watched Mamma Mia for our last three movie nights” Remus answered with a petulant whine in his voice
“I can’t help it Tonya was my lesbian awakening” Lily replied in an equally whiny tone.
“I get that I really do but you don’t see me making us watch Prince Caspian every chance we get”
Lily laughed. “God you have such a clear type it’s not even funny” she said still chuckling softly.
“And just what do you mean by that?” he said raising an accusatory eyebrow.
“First crush prince Caspian, long hair, pretty eyes, adventurous attitude. Your crush when we met in uni that one zoology professor, what was his name Farrow?”
“Ferox” Remus answered blushing
“Right him. Once again long hair, pretty eyes and an adventurous attitude. And now Sirius”
“I do not have a crush on Sirius” He said far too adamantly for it to be true. Then suddenly an idea struck Lily.
“What if we… never mind it’s stupid”
“You know I hate it when you do that Lils finish the thought I’m sure it’s not stupid” he said in that voice that somehow managed to be exasperated and comforting in a way that was uniquely Remus.
“You will think it’s stupid because these are our flatmate nights and you hate hanging out with other people especially people you barely know and honestly I’m really not a fan of it either so I don’t even know why I’m suggesting-“
“What exactly is it you’re suggesting?” Remus asked, cutting off her nervous rambling.
“I thought maybe we could ask Potter and the lot in the chat to join in on movie night” she said quickly “but it’s stupid because I’m sure they all have plans or have totally different taste in films so we’ll just be arguing forever and-“ Lily stopped her babbling when her phone pinged suddenly.
the potter fam
Remus: hey everyone me and lils are having a little flatmate film night and can’t decide what to watch would you lot want to come over and help us pick?
Lily looked up at Remus who was smiling at her gently. “I don’t think it’s stupid at all Lils”. She smiled back at him feeling so grateful he’d stumbled his way into her life. Then her phone ruined the moment by pinging loudly and repeatedly.
the potter fam
james: ooh yes please also may i suggest Enchanted it’s an absolute classic
emmeline: ooh james the taste and also yeah me and the dork are in
pete: one word ratatouille
marlene: pete no we’ve seen that twice already this month i know you’re like in love with remmi or whatever but like it’s a bit much
pete: marls that’s absurd
i'm in love with LINGUINE remmi just gives me gender envy get your facts straight
regulus: you get gender envy from an animated rat???
sirius: reg don’t act like you don’t get gender envy from warren peace in sky high
dorcas: no but that’s so valid reg
guinea pig girl was my lesbian awakening
mary: ooh let’s watch sky high
Lily smiled at the messages. The group hadn’t even all met in person but they all had an easy camaraderie. She suddenly wasn’t nearly as anxious about this idea.
the potter fam
lily: so i take it that means you’re all in for movie night
james: yupaduda just text us the address
remus: yupaduda??
marlene: he changed the shortcuts in his phone to autocorrect yes to that when he was ten and hasn’t changed it
mary: on our way! see you soon loves <3
Lily tried to hide her blush at the little heart but she obviously must not have done it well enough because when she looked up at Remus he was looking at her with that infuriating little knowing smile. She wanted to throttle him but knew she’d miss him too much so she did the next best thing. She threw a pillow at his head.
——
Lily knew it was just a movie night with friends and that no one would expect her to look perfectly put together. She also knew that Mary was going to be there and that fact was far more significant. She changed out of her stained Reputation Tour shirt and into her favorite dress. It was brown and casual and when she threw a sweater over it she didn’t look overdressed at all, or at least that’s what she told herself. She was fixing her hair in the bathroom when the buzzer rang out and James’s ever chipper voice played over the intercom asking to be let in. Lily left the bathroom satisfied that her curls were sufficiently bouncy and went to greet their guests.
Remus had already buzzed them up so when she got into the small living room it was more crowded that she’d ever seen it before. She and Remus didn’t have parties they barely even had get togethers this was something completely unfamiliar. James, as always, led the pack with an excited smile and armfuls of expensive looking artisanal popcorn.
“We come bearing popcorn! Also a fuck load of candy and alcohol.” James exclaimed excitedly.
“Excellent. Reg Cas and Emm are on their way, they said they’d be about five minutes” Remus said, leading them into the kitchen to put down all the drinks and snacks. Lily lagged behind waiting for a cloud of black curls to enter.
“Hi” Lily said, trying to keep her voice level. It was quite a feat considering Mary looked utterly radiant. She was dressed simply in an oversized tee shirt and bike shorts with her hair bouncing around her head. She looked like she’d not even tried and was still the most gorgeous creature Lily had ever seen.
“Hi” Mary said, her voice soft with the fondness she typically reserved for her flatmates and it warmed Lily’s heart to see they were gaining that same closeness. They simply stared at each other with soft smiles on their faces until the buzzer sounded again.
“It’s Cas and Emm let us up we have booze” rang loudly through the intercom and Mary laughed musically. Then once again the buzzer went off “It’s Regulus I didn’t bring anything” Lily smiled at that, classic Reg.
She buzzed them up and chatted lightly as they waited for the group to climb the stairs. Eventually the group trudged in Dorcas and Emmeline each weighed down with quite a lot of booze.
Mary smiled “Hi I’m Mary you guys must be Lily’s coworkers it’s so great to meet you Reg and Lils talk about you constantly”. She pulled Dorcas into a hug and Dorcas mouthed ‘Lils?’ over her shoulder with a little smirk and raised eyebrow.
“Hey I’m Dorcas or Cas”
“And I’m Emmeline” Emm piped up happily
“You’re both gorgeous, Cas you have to meet Marlene come on” Mary said excited grabbing Dorcas’s arm and quickly dragging them into the kitchen.
“Oh my god Lily!!! She’s so pretty! Like holy shit you were not exaggerating. And she's totally into you!” Emm whispered s little too loudly as they followed behind.
“She is not. Into me, I mean, she is so pretty you got that part right”.
“What are you two whispering about?” Reg asked, his voice tinged with suspicion.
“Nothing” the two girls chorused in the least believable tones possible.
When they reached the kitchen James was the first to greet everyone loudly and enthusiastically. None more so than Reg who he jumped up to squeeze tightly, pressing a kiss to his hair (Lily may have imagined but she was pretty sure she saw Regulus blushing). Peter gave more subdued but just as welcoming greetings and Sirius couldn’t form a single coherent sentence because he was too busy staring at Remus.
“Marlene come meet Lily and Remus’s work friends” Mary called then grabbed Lily’s arm pulling her close to whisper “watch this it’s gonna be priceless” into her ear sending shivers down her spine.
Marlene stood with the same confidence and indifference they’d worn on the day they met and walked over. Then her entire demeanor changed when she laid eyes on Dorcas. Suddenly the person Lily had found so intimidating was gone and in her place stood a dazed kid.
“Hi,” Marlene said.
“Hi?” Dorcas replied looking baffled
“Oh fuck shit I forgot to introduce myself. I can be such a bloody idiot. Marlene I’m Marlene”
“Dorcas” Cas responded laughing at the way Marlene had gone from shy to swearing like a sailor in a matter of seconds.
“I am the second coming of Aphrodite” Mary whispered to Lily as they watched the two settle into each other seamlessly. Looking at the glow of the usually harsh fluorescent kitchen lights on Mary’s skin she couldn’t help but agree.
——
“God this movie is a classic” Marlene sighed, voice tinged with awe.
“It does not get the recognition it deserves. I mean the dean from community playing a weird robot baby thing, fucking earth shattering” Dorcas replied. They were all sitting on the floor on top of a pile made of every pillow and blanket Remus and Lily owned. They were all pleasantly buzzed and cuddled together in a way that made it easy to forget most of them had just met. Peter and Emm, who had bonded instantly over their fantastic taste in women and terrible taste in men were sitting on each other’s laps giggling like they’d been best friends their whole lives, Remus was steadfastly ignoring Sirius who was doing everything in his power to not be ignored, Regulus was sleeping on James’s shoulder while James watched him like he was the most precious thing in the world, Marlene and Dorcas were sitting side by side making crass remarks about how this character was a total milf or that character was totally getting pegged, and Lily. Well Lily was losing her damn mind.
Mary's thigh was pressed into hers, soft and warm and sending electricity through her veins and it was all too much. The movie started drawing to a close and everyone got up to get more drinks. Well everyone except James, Regulus, Mary, and Lily who stayed firmly in their seats.
“So Jamie are you having…fun?” Mary asked her voice heavy with implications and Lily laughed.
“Shush both of you you’ll wake him!” James said far louder than Mary and actually did wake Regulus.
He shook his hair out of his eyes and looked at James sleepily. “Is the movie over?” he asked voice husky with sleep and Lily swore she could feel James’ knees go weak.
“It just ended, we were thinking about maybe doing Spy Kids too if you’re up for it?” James’s voice was hopeful.
“I’ve got work in the morning you all stay though” Reg replied looking a little sad.
“No I’ll take you home” James argued already standing up to get his shoes.
“James, stay, I'll take the train,” Reg said, putting on his jacket. “I don’t want you to lose out on fun with your friends cause you’re hanging out with chronically tired introverted loner”
“I will not let you take the train alone this late please just let me drive you” James gave his puppy eyes and Reg caved.
“Fine but promise you’ll come back as soon as I’m home safe” Reg said face resolute.
“Ok fine” James said and grabbed his keys yelling out the door “I’m taking Reg home I’ll be back in a bit”.
“They’re adorable aren’t they?” Mary asked, smiling fondly at the closed door.
“Yeah they are. I’ll be honest I really didn’t get it til I saw them together I mean James is so bright and loud and Reg is quiet and witty but god they just work don’t they?” Lily said happy for both of them.
Mary nodded “Now they just need to realize it”. She looked at Lily. Lily looked back. There was something heavy in the air but no one was saying it. Then Peter came back carrying two bottles of vodka shouting “Bring on the Thumb-Thumbs!” and the moment was over.