If James was allowed to say so, which he probably wasn’t, the party was looking rather great. Maybe it only seemed that good because he had planned it but he had helped plan loads of parties and none of them had ever turned out this good. Maybe it was the fact it was inter-house. Or, to be more specific, the fact Regulus was there. Yeah, it was probably that.
It had taken James a good while to convince Sirius to let the Slytherins in. He had told them repeatedly that it would look like a much better party if there were more people there to fill the space the room of requirement had created but Sirius was adamant that letting the Slytherins find out about the room would be ‘a possibly world-threatening catastrophe’ and could possibly cause a paradox. James didn’t exactly remember what a paradox was but Sirius sounded dramatic when they said it so he assumed it wasn’t a good thing.
They had eventually caved on the conditions that Snape, Malfoy and Zabini were allowed nowhere near the 7th floor that night. They didn’t, however, say anything about their brother and his friends, so technically inviting them wasn’t against the rules at all. At least, that is how James had looked at it.
James had been sure to invite others too, just to make it seem more random, though he was certain Peter had noticed the way he jumped at the chance to greet the three of them and none of the other members of their house. But it didn’t seem like he was going to say anything so James figured it was fine.
The Slytherins that James had rather meticulously selected had not yet caused any problems so hopefully, they would be okay to invite them to future parties without too much protesting from Sirius. It was a wonder they hadn’t tried to kick Reg, Evan and Barty out yet. Lucky too, with the amount of outright refusal to attend Regulus decided to respond to the invitation with, it wouldn’t have been too difficult.
He was on his way to get a refill after choosing to leave Lily and Mary to…enjoy themselves when he felt an arm grab him and pull him behind a pillar, putting a hand over his mouth to stop him from speaking. Wanting to be able to talk to his mysterious kidnapper, he licked their hand and laughed as they pulled it back and pretended to retch.
“Ugh, you’re worse than Barty, absolutely disgusting.”
He saw their face before he recognised the voice. As the lights shifted, he caught a glimpse of blonde hair and a rather disgusted expression.
He laughed quietly, holding the intrusive hand away from him. “I’ll take that as a compliment, Rosier.”
“Oh, you would, wouldn’t you, Potter?”
After a few seconds, James started to grin properly. “Alright, enough of that. Why did you spontaneously decide to abduct me? You’re not planning on kissing me in the middle of a party, are you? I mean I’m flattered, Evan, I really am but I don’t think Reg or Barty would particularly-”
“Are you capable of shutting up for one minute? I’ve seen you staring at Reg all night and decided to take some pity on you but I suppose if you’d rather pine hopelessly for another three hours and get caught by your best friend then sure, do that instead.”
James scoffed and folded his arms defensively. “You pity me?”
“That’s what you pick up on? Are you serious?”
Evan realised what was about to happen the second he said it and glared up at James and his stupid smirk as he opened his mouth to speak. Evan was almost daring him to say something.
“If you even think about it, I will leave you unable to go anywhere near Regulus all night, do you hear me?”
“Merlin, okay. A tad dramatic there but I’ll hear you out anyway. Go on, then, shoot.”
“Okay, so, you can’t go near Reg without suspicion and if I even try to get any closer to Barty tonight, the rumours will spread like wildfire and we’ll be murdered by Snape. Right?”
James slowly nodded. “...Yeah?”
“So. I was thinking. You suggest to Black that we play truth or dare. Make sure we play it randomly, otherwise it won’t work. I’ll pick you and dare you to hold hands with Reg for the rest of the game, I’m a Slytherin so it would make sense for me to torment you first or some bullshit. Then you pick me to get ‘revenge’ and you dare me to kiss Bar or something, okay?”
James couldn’t help but grin and grab Evan’s arms, jumping up and down on the spot like a toddler. “Oh my Morgana, that is GENIUS! Evan, you are actually fucking brilliant, I’ll go and do it now!” He turned to leave but paused and turned back for a minute. “Hang on, wouldn’t that still start rumours?”
Evan shrugged. “Yes, but they are less likely to be believed than if we started clinging onto them the whole night for no reason, aren’t they?”
James' grin came back and he gripped Evan’s arms again. “You have thought of everything! Oh, this is PERFECT! I’ll go, I promise I won’t fail you, blondie!” He bounced on the spot and kissed Evan’s cheek quickly, gaining a disgusted sound in response.
With that, he ran off and left Evan feeling particularly proud and rather glad the plan had worked. He was lucky James was so influential, or he would have had to deal with pretending his heart didn’t flutter every time Barty laughed at something somebody said to him.
It was a few hours before the music finally quietened down and Sirus stood on the little stage the room had provided for them. A good few people had left so it was a good time to start playing the game, there weren’t so many people that it would be busy and boring with people getting left out but there were still enough that it wasn’t a singular friend group playing. The students left were predominantly Gryffindors, with barely any Ravenclaws, a fair few Hufflepuffs and only a sprinkling of Slytherins. It had taken a while to convince Regulus to stay but the promise of getting to sit down with James at the end in the big room to relax after the chaos was over. It had taken the two of them promising not to get drunk but hopefully, it would be worth it. It appeared that James had drunk significantly less than usual too, likely so he wouldn’t accidentally say or do something he would regret, though Evan didn’t see why it mattered that much, he could just play it off as an effect of the alcohol, surely at least Sirius would be too drunk themselves to remember or see anything off about it.
“Alright everyone, time to play some games! Unfortunately, it’s gonna be a bit basic but this was requested by my dearest wife, Jamie, so I am afraid I must oblige.”
There was some booing as James shrugged and laughed from where he stood next to Sirius.
“Now, now. Let’s not be too harsh, his ego couldn't cope.”
This drew some laughter from the crowd and a muttered ‘you can talk’ from Regulus.
“Now, James here did suggest truth or dare, but I think just dares will be better so we’re gonna do that instead. I already know all the gossip I need to so let’s make people look dumb doing stupid shit instead, yeah?”
A few people cheered again, namely Marlene Mckinnon, who looked at least a bit drunk, clinging strongly to Dorcas Meadowes’ arm as she lifted her cup into the air.
“That’s the spirit, Marls! Okay, get in a circle everyone, time for some dares! We’re not gonna go round in the circle though, that's boring. Pick someone at random and ask them, yeah?”
Evan looked back to James and rolled his eyes when the other boy winked, looking away and moving to sit on the black sofa nearest to one of the fires, in the middle of Regulus and Barty, who were quick to steal the two spots next to him. Barty leaned back and took up as much space as possible, meaning Evan and Regulus ended up crushed against each other. After a few minutes, Regulus gave up and stood from where he was, sitting on the floor in front of the fire instead.
“Perfect.” Barty shuffled into a more acceptable place and let his arm fall casually around Evan’s shoulder, careful not to get too close in case the wrong person saw and told the whole school.
Sirius rubbed their hands together cunningly, pretending to be deep I thought. “Okay, here we go. I’ll go first. Hmmmm, let me think…ah! That’s it, Wormy!”
“Oh fuck.” Peter tensed as he waited for whatever Sirus was about to sentence himself to.
“Ah, come on, it won’t be that bad! Let me think…ah, perfect. Pete, I want you to mix all of the drinks on that table and down it.”
Pete closed his eyes and slowly stood up, walking over to the table slightly reluctantly.
“I guess this is tame for you, so I won’t complain.”
Everyone watched intently as Peter filled his glass, making sure he didn’t miss anything.
“Yes, but you see, my dear Wormy, I have to work my way up to my full potential.”
James laughed from beside them and leant back. “Can’t wait to see you at your full potential.”
Peter swilled the drink around in the glass and glared at Sirius and Remus sighed. “I most certainly can wait.”
-
It was a good few rounds before it came to be Evan’s go. He had been picked by a Hufflepuff who had seemed to pick the first one she knew the name of. The dare wasn’t too terrible, they had him finish his drink with his feet, which was odd but nothing irreparably embarrassing.
When he realised it was his turn, he saw the look of expectancy James was sending his way and turned to make eye contact.
He knew what the plan was but surely he could have a little fun first. They retained eye contact for a few long seconds, Evan not looking away as he smirked, finally announcing his choice.
“Let’s go for a Gryffindor, shall we…” James was already starting to smile and oh was this going to be fun. “Evans.”
Lily looked up at the sound of her voice, slightly warily, she clearly didn’t trust Evan. Due to this, he decided it would be best to give her something nice to do. The aim was to annoy James, not to seem like a threat to anyone, especially not the most skilled witch in the school, that would only be a death wish.
It seemed to be working already, James had slumped back in his seat and started glaring across the room the second he had said her name.
“I want you to stand in the middle of the circle and sing a song about Slughorn, seeing as you’re one of his favourites, it only seems fit that you show your praise. I’ll give you a few minutes to think of something, just to be fair.”
A few people laughed but James’ glare stayed strong, Evan worries that if he kept it for much longer, it would stay like that forever.
“Okay, I have it.” She stood and walked into the middle and started blabbing about goldfish and potion ingredients. The song was pretty repetitive but still amusing.
What was more amusing, however, was James’ face throughout the entire thing.
He would give James his dare last time, he was just doing this to make it seem less intentional, obviously. Obviously.
“Okay, that was humiliating, thanks, Rosier. I pick…Mary.”
-
A few rounds later, James was picked by Remus.
Perfect. Hopefully, James wouldn’t take this too badly and would pick Evan and give him the dare they had agreed on.
He should have known James better.
“Okay, well, let’s go with……Crouch.”
Yes, here we go.
“I think you should……ah yes, you need to kiss…let’s go for one of your housemates, shall we? I think…”
Was James seriously going about this with no tricks? Usually, he was one for revenge.
“Mariah.”
What?
James grinned at Evan as Barty stood up and walked across the space, Regulus was trying as best as he could to not laugh.
Mariah groaned and pulled her arms away from where it was snaked around Peter and Ben’s waists. She was one of the only other Slytherins invited, Evan should have seen it coming.
It was over quickly enough but Evan looked furious and Barty looked slightly annoyed too. Mariah just seemed fed up as she nudged Pete and Benvolio apart slightly and took her place in between her boyfriends, laughing at something Pete whispered in her ear.
“How was that, then, Akesse?” Sirius giggled from across the room.
She shot them a glare, tightening her grip on the boys on either side of her. “Disgusting.”
“I think likewise. Though that is likely because I only like b-” Evan slapped a hand over Barty’s mouth and nodded to Mariah.
“I’m sorry you had to kiss this creep, he’s nowhere near as good as your boys, is he?”
Barty slowly pulled away from Evan’s hand, seeming a bit self-conscious after almost accidentally outing himself.
“Absolutely. No offence, Barty, but you are a pretty shit kisser.” She smiled as Benvolio leaned his head on her shoulder, closing their eyes and smiling.
Barty picked some random Ravenclaw and they picked Pandora, who chose Evan.
Again.
He had learnt his lesson and decided that if he was nice to James and gave him what he wanted, he would be more likely to stick to his part of the deal.
He went through with the dare as quickly as he could, growing desperate for James to realise he was done playing around as he felt Barty’s hand brush against his own.
“Oh, Merlin, I don’t know, I’ll just pick the first person I think o-okay, got it. Potter. I pick you. Now, being the proud Slytherin I am, I need a way to humiliate both you and one of my own friends so I think I already have the perfect dare for you.”
Everyone looked at him expectantly.
“You need to hold hands with Reg for the rest of the game.”
There were a few chuckles from around the room and a sound of disgust from Sirius. Regulus stared at him like he was planning a murder and James looked like he was trying as best he could to suppress a smile.
“Argh, that’s a bad one. Ah, well, a dare’s a dare.”
James wasn’t exactly going about acting angrily very well but what more could you expect from him, really?
He plopped down next to him and made a show of grabbing Regulus’ left hand and resting them on his lap.
“Don’t worry, Jim, you can just imagine it is Lily’s hand!” Sirius laughed at their own joke and a few people joined in.
“Don’t be revolting.” Lily tsked, slumping back against Mary’s chest and holding Pandora’s hand protectively.
James laughed it off and squeezed Regulus’ hand tighter, smiling slyly at Evan.
“Okay, my turn. Rosier, payback.”
He looked at James with a pleading expression.
“You need to sit in Crouch’s lap for the rest of the game.”
Barty’s face immediately lit up. “Oh? Well,” he grabbed Evan by the hips and pulled him closer. “We’re no wimps, are we, Ev?”
Evan shook his head, letting Barty pull him close and wrap his arms around his waist, leaning his head on Evan’s shoulder from behind. “Perfect. That’s an easy dare, your turn, Evan.”
Evan shot James a grateful glance, huffing at the wink he got. He had no idea just how Regulus put up with him.
The game continued and the four of them stayed where they were, more at peace than they had been for the past three hours. The game ended and they slid away, the trio going to get themselves drinks when everyone else started to tiredly filter out. They were practically asleep by the time everybody else had left, James’ friends leaving him when he declared he wanted to sleep in the room or requirement due to his exhaustion.
He shuffled himself along the floor until he reached a chair, hoisting himself into it as the others returned with drinks. Regulus handed him one as he collapsed into the armchair on top of him, curling into his chest like a cat.
Evan and Barty took the opposing sofa, Barty lying down with his neck and head resting against the arm rest, with Evan settling between his legs, lying back against his chest with his eyes closed.
“Thank you, Evan.” James murmured after a little while.
“It’s no problem, it was a mutual agreement. We both contributed the same amount.”
“Yes, but you thought of it to start with!” James argued.
Evan smiled, resting a hand next to his face on Barty’s chest. “I suppose I did. Does this make up for the alarm incident, then?”
“No.” Regulus and James responded at the same time, both looking highly unamused.
“Ah well,” Barty mused. “It was worth a try, wasn’t it? Good effort, Angel.”
They fell quiet again until Evan whispered into the dimly lit room. “Should we go back to the dorm?”
There was a collective murmuring of disapproval.
“Too tired.” James slurred, pulling Regulus closer. “We can stay here.”
“So good,” Barty agreed. “Night, guys. Night Ev, I love you.”
“I love you too. Goodnight everyone.”
“Good night,” James and Regulus chorused, James waiting expectantly for Regulus to speak again. “Okay, fine, you clingy idiot! J’taime.”
James grinned, snacking a loud kiss on his cheek and shuffling in the large armchair, trying to accommodate them both better.
“I love you too.”