Parties and Firewhiskey

"Why are we in the seventh floor corridor?"

"Shhh."

"Seriously, Bree? I got all dressed up fancy like you asked," Al gestured to the shirt and black jeans he was wearing – that was as fancy as he went, "And I followed you blindly out of the common room. Where are you going?"

"Shhh."

"I really hate you sometimes."

"Nope." I halted when I came in front of the wall that James showed me was the entrance to the room.

"Wait, you know about the Room of Requirement?" Al asked me as I walked back and forth in front of the wall. James had told me that there would be no problem for everyone to get into the same room as, and I quote, 'that was just how the room works'.

"Yes, and thanks for telling me about it, by the way. I had find out through your brother."

"My brother? Since when do you guys talk? You hate each other." Al asked with crossed arms.

My eye's widened, and I hastily replied with: "Prefect duty." I wasn't sure why I lied – well, it wasn't exactly lying, more like missing out some minor details. Al was my best friend, but for some reason it didn't seem exactly right to tell him about how James and I had been getting on better over the past couple of days. It all felt a bit like a dream, and if I was telling the truth I was enjoying this new, nice James. Telling Al felt like it would shatter the dream, and I didn't really want that to happen.

The door had since appeared on the wall, and I knocked on it three times to signify to James that Al was here, exactly like we had planned. I assumed James got the message because when I pushed Al through the door all the guests were waiting for him and all cheered a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

I was standing behind Al, so I couldn't see his initial reaction, but he turned to me with a bewildered look on his face. "Wha…?"

But he was cut off by James and Lily coming and hugging him. "Happy birthday, lil' bro." James said, ruffling his hair while Al tried to duck out of his grip.

The first hour the party went really well. Cake was shared and music was played and, while I didn't much talk to Al – he was busy talking to his many, many cousins – I was having a great time talking to Alec and Sophie.

Quite a few people had been invited, although James had decided he was going to be the one choosing about 90% of the party invitee's which include all his family and [James'} friends, leaving only Alec and Sophie for me to invite, seeming as Rose was Al's cousin and Scorpius was a family friend anyway.

I scanned the crowd, recognizing almost everyone there – although not completely by name. James had seemed to invite all of his family members and almost all of the NEWT year students, which meant that Erica, Becky and their friends were also, unfortunately, present. When I saw them my eyes narrowed in distaste. It had appeared that Erica and Ellen had made up, which I guess was good? As much as I hated them, being without friends must be pretty shitty, even if your friends were horrible people.

After the first hour though, James pushed Lily and Hugo out the door along with their fourth year friends that they had brought along. I watched from where I was standing in the corner by the door as Lily begged to be allowed to stay.

"Sorry kiddo, Fred and I are gonna get the Firewhiskey out, and I am not setting a bad example for my little sister."

"If you don't let me stay, I'll tell mum that you brought Firewhiskey to Al's birthday party."

"If you don't leave, then I'm telling mum and dad about that boy you like, and you know how much they like to tease people."

I watched as Lily huffed heavily and then dragged her friends out of the room.

I wasn't aware that James and his cousin had smuggled in alcohol to the party, but I also wasn't surprised. I shrugged it off, knowing that Al quite liked drinking occasionally.

James and Fred picked up a couple of crates that were hidden under the food table and stacked them next to the remains of the birthday cake before starting to pass bottles around.

"Ooh, drinks." Sophie said, looking over her shoulder when she spied the passing bottles. She took one of the bottles and opened the bottle with surprising expertise.

"Geese, Soph. How often do you drink?" Alec laughed.

"Please, I am the life of the party. Ask any of my muggle friends,"

"Whom we have conveniently never met." I pointed out as Sophie took a large swig of the bottle.

"Ah, that's good." She sighed and passed the bottle to Alec, who took a much smaller swig. When Alec passed me the bottle I contemplated not drinking any. I wasn't a huge fan of drinking, only normally having a couple pints of cider at family occasions and once a tiny bit of Vodka at a muggle friend's party. Despite that, I hadn't ever gotten drunk before – rosy cheeked and jolly? Yes. Drunk? No.

But in that moment I found my hand bringing the bottle to my lips. I wanted to see what Firewhiskey tasted like, and I knew that if I didn't have any tonight I would regret it.

When the liquid poured into my mouth it felt cold and extremely refreshing, but as soon as I swallowed the drink it felt like my throat was on fire. It was exhilarating, and I felt myself wanting more.

Alec and Sophie laughed at my scrunched up face. "Pass the bottle back to the master." Sophie said, wiggling her hand expectantly and I reluctantly gave her back the bottle.

The bottle went in a circle for a while before we ran out. Our uncontrollable laughter – which was surely caused by the liquor that we had drank all rather quickly – and I volunteered to go find us another bottle.

It was then that I realised how much I had drunk, and I found it all quite difficult to walk in a straight line. I started to laugh to myself, finding the situation extremely funny for some reason. Perhaps it was just the idea of me drunk.

Al saw me and walked over, talking to me for the first time since the party had begun. "Thanks for doing this by the way – I know that you and James planned this together, and I can't imagine how difficult that must have been working together and – are you drunk?" Al asked once he saw my rosy cheeks and noticed me swaying softly on the spot, eyes not quite focused.

"No!" I said, and to me that sounded very convincing, but apparently not to Al.

Al smirked. "Wow, Bree. I wanted to be there when you took your first drink."

"I've drunk before!"

"Muggle cider does not count."

Al, not wanting to miss a drunk-me and Alec – who was also a relatively new drinker – decide it was time to hang out with us for a bit. Al and Sophie often drank together – not too much, but sometimes Alec and I would go shopping in Hogsmeade while Al and Soph went to the Three Broomsticks and got Fred to pass them some more… alcoholic drinks.

Eventually Rose and Scorpius joined us, the two of them seeming more sober than most. Alec and I, being newest at drinking, were probably the most drunk. Followed by Sophie, who had drunk the most but was a heavy drinker. Al was slightly tipsy, but seemed to find it more entertaining to watch me and Alec than drink himself.

Thanks bud.

"I think that if I had to pick between either chicken or slippers," Alec was telling me, "I would pick chicken slippers. Then I wouldn't have to give up either."

I burst out laughing. "You idiot, that's cheating."

"Also very impractical." Al said, shaking his head in amusement. "I think that you too have drunk enough, to be honest."

And with that, Al took away the bottle that Alec and I were sharing. Alec and I protested, but we were both a little too exhausted to fight back for our bottle.

At the defeat I leaned my head up against the stone wall and looked around the room, watching all the people. Many had already left, and only a few drags of people were left. Out of these few were Louis and Harriet, who were kissing in a corner, parallel to Roxanne and her girlfriend – whose name I didn't know – in another corner. Molly, Fred and a couple of their other relatives were playing a drinking game in the middle of the room. Other people were doted around the room.

My eyes eventually settling on two figures who seemed to be fighting. When I focused on them I noticed that it was James and Erica. James had a very empty bottle in his hand and Erica was shaking her hands at him. James then suddenly thrust the bottle into her opened hand and stormed to the door. When he was walking he looked right at me, and as our eyes met I could see how hurt he looked.

When the door slammed shut I pushed my self off the wall. It seemed that my friends were all too preoccupied to notice me leaving, and I wasn't sure what was pushing me towards the door to follow James but I found my legs carrying me that way anyway.

No one noticed me leave the room, not even Eric who had returned to her sister and friends. When I got into the corridor and the door shut, the sound of music and chatter instantly stopped. I looked around the dark corridor where James was no were to be seen.

I was about to give up and go back in when I spotted a pair of feet sticking out from a tapestry along the corridor to my left and I slowly waddled over to the piece of hanging fabric.

Taking a deep breath I picked up the bit of fabric to find James sitting glumly on the floor with his head in his hands. He didn't seem to notice be standing there and so I awkwardly cleared my throat.

James' eyes shot up and he looked at me, his face illuminated by the small amount of moonlight in the corridor.

"Bridgette?" James asked, confusion in his voice. "What are you…" He tried to stand up but seemed to find it quite hard.

"You're drunk." I stated lamely.

"So are you." Was his reply. Then he did something quite unexpected. He traced his cool fingertips across one of my cheeks and I stiffened at the touch. If my face wasn't as red as a tomato by now, I'm sure that it would be now. I dint know what to do, so I just stood there, not breathing. "You're very red." He said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

The sound of the door swinging open and music and chatter filled the air. Before I could turn to see who it was James pulled me behind the tapestry with him as the fabric fell around us.

"He's being unreasonable," Came Erica's squeaky voice, "If he can give his scarf to that neat-freak bitch then I can kiss whoever I damn well please."

I furrowed my eyebrows. Was this why James looked so hurt?

When Erica's voice and whomever she was talking to drifted off down the hall I looked up at James. It was then that I realised just how close we were. Our bodies were pushed right up close to each other because of the cramped space we were in, and I could feel his breath on forehead. His arms were wrapped around my shoulders from where he had pulled me in, and he only let me go a little bit now.

James was a very handsome young man. He had clear skin that was slightly tanned, and his brown hair spiked out all over the place. His eyes were a deep green and always seemed to carry such excitement and life, and seeing them so sad now made me concerned.

"What was that about?" I asked, sobering up a little bit.

"Oh, it's nothing." He shook his head, and it was difficult to see his facial expression in this light.

"Are you sure?" I whispered back.

James sighed sadly. "It's just – I found out Erica kissed another guy. I mean, she's my girlfriend! Most relationships rule out the kissing-other-people part."

I nodded in empathy. Personally, I didn't care how many people you kissed. Whether it's none or hundreds of people it's your choice. But I agreed with James, unless it's an open relationship – which I'm assuming is not the situation here – you shouldn't go kissing other people.

Then I realised something. "I thought you told me you guys had broken up?"

"Yeah," James whispered, "No."

"What?"

"I lied."

"Why?" I asked rather angrily. For some weird reason it made me feel guilty, like I was the other woman. Which is crazy because James and I hate each other.

"I don't know." He admitted. After a moment of silence he carried on talking. "Why is it so hard, Bree?"

"So hard to what?"

"Find a nice girl." Silence. "I mean, I get that I'm not the best boyfriend in the world. Half of my relationships have ended because of me, but, I don't know, I just didn't feel a real connection with them. Y'know?"

"No." I admitted lamely after a moment.

James carried on regardless. "And as the other girls, girls like Erica, they seem nice on the outside, but their horrible on the inside. Why can't I find a nice girl who I genuinely like? I girl like you."

I stiffened again. Why am I so embarrassed being this close to him? Why is his breath on my forehead and his hand resting on my arm making my stomach flip?

"What?" I squeaked.

"Well, you're nice. You're funny, smart, kind. You're brave too." With every word I'm sure my face grew even more red - if that was possible. It felt like my face was burning. "And you're pretty. Why can't everyone be like you?"

"Because then everything would be boring." I whispered faintly, my stomach flipping.

James smirked. "No. You're never boring."

I hadn't quite meant that. I had meant that if everyone was the same and nothing was different then everything would become boring and predictable, but the response James gave me made me want cry. It was so simple, but it was quite possibly the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me.

Before I could reply with a scoff, James' fingers were back on my cheek. They slowly traced my jawline and I froze. If I had been sober and rational I would have stepped away, and I'm sure if James had been sober and rational he wouldn't of pulled me behind a tapestry and said those things to me.

James fingers softly touched my lips and in that moment I ignored the sober-me screaming in the back of my mind, telling me to walk away now. James' face inched towards mine, but stopped hesitantly an inch in front of my face. His hand had dropped to hold the side of my face, and his neck was bent so that his face could meet mine.

At this angle I could see James' face a bit better, and I could see that he was looking at my lips, then up at me. Before I knew what I was doing I pushed my face to meet his, and our lips clashed together.

Sober-me had stopped screaming, or am I just ignoring it? But in that moment all I knew was that I wanted - needed – to be closer to James. Before I could do anything, James pulled me in closer, wrapping one hand around my waist and pulling me closer to him as the other hand fell from my cheek and behind my neck.

My hands snaked around his neck and he pushed my up against the tiny bit of wall behind us. I opened my mouth and he smirked onto my lips as we kissed.

I'd never really kissed anyone like this before. When I had been with Matthew, our kisses had been intimate, yes, but also very innocent. This, however, was hungry. Desperate. Desperate to be closer. Desperate to have more.

My hands moved from his neck to his shirt, and my hands turned into fists as I tugged at his shirt. The hem of my dress was riding up against my thighs as he tugged at the fabric around my waist.

It was suddenly then that I completely sobered up. When I realised who I was kissing. The screaming voice came back and I drew back from the kiss.

I didn't know how long we had been kissing for, but we were both breathless. We looked at each other for a while, both with wide eyes. "I- I – I have to go." I managed to say as I pushed past a bewildered James.

If truth me told I hadn't wanted to go. I hadn't wanted to stop the kiss. But I knew that I had to, and as I walked away I felt utterly embarrassed.

I practically ran back to the dungeons, ignoring James' calling my name behind me and not looking back and trying to hold back a sob. What had just happened?

You kissed James.

I know. I could still feel his lips on mine.

You've ruined everything.

I know. I always ruin everything.

Just when you two were starting to get along. Now he wont even be able to look at you. You're just his drunk mistake. A rebound from Erica.

I know. But why is it affecting me so much? Why do I feel so hurt?

As I ran back to the common room I didn't even realize that he had called me 'Bree'.

Belgh. When was the last time I updated this? October? Ugh. I am so sorry.

For the first two weeks I had legitimate reasons. I was ill and I had mock exams coming up. But ever since then? Well I'm a lazy ass.

The point it I am so sorry that I left for a little while. I just had no motivation to write, but hopefully – hopefully – it's back.

Now I'm not saying that I wont leave again in the future for a while, but I just wanted to say that I AM NOT GIVING UP ON THIS STORY!

As for this chapter, I'm not entirely sure I'm happy with it. It's a bit shorter than usual and It was quite hard to write, but I always planned for this to happen.

Romantic, right?

Heads up, though, I don't plan on them kissing again for a while. And things are going to get a hell of a lot awkward.

It feels good to be back. Hopefully I'll manage to stay a little longer this time, eh?

Please review with any comments [constructive] criticism and questions. They make my day!

M-F-U xx