#silver era

‘’I’m going to declare myself to her!’’

“You are drunk!” 

“Is there a better time than now? Come on Prongs, put me on your shoulders, I will tell her that I love her.” 

''No, I'm not going to do that,'' James refused, even though he already felt Sirius hanging from his neck, trying foolishly to climb on his back as they did when they were younger and made to go up to James' room without his parents finding out they had left at dawn.

But they were no longer young, well, at least not at 15 years old. Sirius was no longer so thin, and drunk James could barely stand up alone, especially with someone on his shoulders, who had also been drinking heavily.

‘’You’re going to kill him, Pads!’’ Remus pulled Sirius back, knocking him down on the pristine lawn of the girls’ house, almost knocking James down too. Remus was the least drunk of the three, but he was walking slowly and tripping over his own feet, which caused him to fall with Sirius. ‘’You filthy dog, get off me.’’

‘’You’re going to wake up the whole neighborhood, Moony!’’

“Shhhhh,’’ James scolded, feeling an urge to laugh, even having to put his hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. It seemed ridiculous that they had walked to the house the girls shared, just because he wanted to talk to Lily - and Sirius wanted to tell Hestia that he loved her - in the middle of the night on a cold Friday. The girls were probably already asleep in preparation for the trip they would make on Saturday night to Marlene's parents' house, to spend a week of vacation in the country.

James should have been packing to see his parents, not drinking like an idiot with a group of guys more idiots than he who agreed to do any shit without even thinking twice.

He didn't know how Sirius didn't punch Snape when they ran into him outside the bar. They turned into great jerks when they drank.

‘’Hestia!’‘ Sirius shouted, lying on the grass like an idiot. ‘’Hestia, I love you!’’

‘’Don’t scream, you asshole!’’ James shut him up by throwing his coat on top of his friend, then stumbling to the front door of the house and starting knocking madly. ‘’Hestia! Sirius wants to talk to you,’’ he warned, before smiling and completing. ‘’Lils… I want to talk to you too!’’

''You're going to make people call the police,'' Remus was sitting next to Sirius, shirtless - even though it wasn't even a bit hot - proudly displaying the lipstick marks that were left by the blonde that no one remembered the name . ‘’I don’t have the money to pay our bail.’’

‘’We won’t be arrested,’‘ Sirius said with a smile on his face. ‘’Hess won’t let us be.’’

''Actually, I think she'll be the one to call.'' James laughed, his head resting on the cold, dark wood of the front door, his hands slamming without much force, hopeful that someone would open the door and he could say to Lily that he had never been happier than in the past few months with her. ‘’Lils, please open.’’

‘’Why don’t you throw a stone at her window? Like in romance books.’’

‘’Because I don’t have a stone here, Moony, and because Hestia will hate it.’’

‘’She will hate it even more if you keep screaming, dumbass!’’ One of the neighbors screamed, but James didn’t care, much less Remus or Sirius, who kept talking loudly and calling out to the girls. It was already possible to see some lights going on in the house, as well as in the houses next door.

‘’Hess!! Please don't leave me,’’ Sirius shouted even louder, trying - and failing - to get up from the grass. ‘’I know we fought, but please, I love you.’’

‘’You’re such an idiot, that’s not how you defend yourself.’’ James rolled his eyes and walked over to where his friends were lying, helping Sirius to get up. “You need to say that there is no one in the world like her, and that you hate having to say good night because that means you won’t see her anymore.”

‘’Please Sirius, shout it out loud for everyone to hear,’’ Remus suggested, laughing and leaning on James ’shoulder to keep standing. ‘’Scream. I’m sure Hestia will love having all the attention on her in the middle of the night.’’

''I'm not going to say that, you idiots. That is cliché… Hess, you know that no woman has ever made me as hard as you have.'' Sirus shouted right away, causing a burst of laughter from James and Remus, who lost their balance and fell back to the ground, the damp lawn tingling their skin as they rolled and laughed.

''What the fuck, Black?!'' Hestia finally shouted back, opening the second floor window that should have been her room, appearing next to Lily, Dorcas, Marlene and Mary, all squeezing themselves to see what was going on down there. James noticed that other neighbors also opened the windows to see the three idiots humiliating themselves.

‘’Hess! Hess, I love you so much, please don't leave me.’’ Sirius knelt on the floor, but James didn’t know if it was because he was drunk and couldn’t stand up anymore, or because he was begging.

‘’Lily! Lily, I know you must be thinking of us as idiots, but I also want to talk to you.'' James stood up, trying to focus his vision on the redhead who looked like a tomato at the same time that his legs felt limp and made him hesitate to stand up. '' Every day with you is amazing, and I know I said I didn't care about you hanging out with Benjy, but damn, I care, because I want you to go out with me, and I'm sorry if that sounds like an asshole, but it's what I want most in this world.''

"Prongs, shut up, you're stealing my scene." His friend managed to get up and push James away, causing him to trip over Remus' body and fall like a rag doll on the ground, defeated, laughing without control over how stupid they were being. “Hestia, I’m sorry, I was nervous and afraid of what your parents would think of me, because I care about their opinion. I know you said it doesn't matter but I want them to like me.”

‘’Hestia, forgive this guy now or I’m going to call the police!’’ One of the neighbors shouted, looking quite irritated.

''See?! Everyone supports me!’’

‘‘No, they want you to shut up,’’ Remus said, not even caring anymore. He was completely lying on the lawn shirtless, with his hands under his head as if he were ready to sleep.

‘’What are you talking about, Black? I'm not mad at you.’’ Hestia smiled compassionately, at the same time that she looked ready to kill her boyfriend.

‘’James, is that true? Do you like me?’’ Lily asked, making him open his eyes and look out the window. Even drunk, with dirty and crooked glasses, James thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He could bet she was wearing dinosaur pajamas that made her look even cuter, if it were possible.

''Yes! My God, yes! I… I hate to see you with that idiot, and Lils… I hate to say goodbye to you, because that means-- ’’

‘’Shut up, Prongs, this is the dumbest thing you’ve ever said.’’

''I don't care, Moony ... Lils, I love you so much it hurts, and every time I see you I just think about kissing you, and being with you and... Lily, are you still there?'' James then became concerned, seeing that only Marlene and Dorcas had been left at the window, laughing and filming them. Great, he had scared the best woman in the world out of his life!

‘’Congratulations idiot, now how am I going to apologize to my girl?’’ Sirius snorted angrily, sitting on the floor and rubbing his face as if he could start crying. ‘’I knew I should have come alone.’’

‘’You would never have the courage to say this alone, Pads.’’ Remus countered. “And she said she doesn’t hate you.”

‘’But she also didn’t say she loves me!’’’

‘’Shut up, please.’’ Hestia asked again, appearing in the garden in a T-shirt that James was betting was Sirius’, hugging her body over the wind and walking over to them. Her boyfriend's face seemed to glow when he saw her there, but before he spoke again, she raised her hand. ‘’I love you too. Now, let’s go inside before someone calls the police and no, I won’t pay bail.’’

‘’Lily.’’ James tried to get up, he really wanted to look worthy of her attention, but the drink seemed to have wiped out any of his neurons, making him look like a rag doll, barely supporting himself.

‘’Come, I’ll help you.’’ She smiled, helping him to lean on her and walk into the house. ‘’Mary is going to get Remus. Come on, let’s take care of that binge inside, and tomorrow we’ll talk.’’

‘“omorrow you’re going to travel.’’ James said, saddened by the thought of saying goodbye to her for almost two months.

‘’We’re going in the late afternoon, I’m sure you’ll be better by then.’’ Lily, the same one who made James not pay attention in class and was the inspiring muse for him to draw, gave him a kiss on the cheek. ‘’You didn’t need to get drunk to tell me all this.’’

‘’It was easier. You are scary.’’ She laughed, making James laugh too, feeling his chest fill with joy.

''I am? I always thought that Marlene was the one who scared people.’’

‘’She too, but you… I don’t want to lose your friendship.’’

''We wouldn't stop being friends if you had told me.'' They entered her house, Hestia laughed at whatever Sirius had told her, taking him upstairs with Marlene, who was laughing too. Remus was already lying on the couch when James noticed, and he was probably already asleep.

''You say that now, but then there would be that strange atmosphere between us and you would walk away.'' James let himself be taken wherever Lily wanted, also going up the stairs. He wondered if maybe she would be taking him to her room.