The Wolf and the Raven

Ch 47 - "We Got Lost"

Warnings: underage drinking

After the fiasco of forgotten birthdays, the friends decided that they would celebrate James', Remus', and Peter's birthdays all on one day. They picked the fifteenth of March, a date that fell after James' and Peter's actual birthdays but before Remus'.

After dinner that day, Branwen, Alice, and Emmeline hurried to their room to dress. Branwen picked out her favourite red mini-dress with tall black boots and styled her raven hair in a glossy chignon. As she put the finishing touches on in her vanity mirror, she saw Alice over her shoulder, pointing her wand at her pale blonde hair for the eighth time, trying yet another variation on the complex braid she was attempting. "You know," Alice frowned, "sometimes I think about chopping it all off."

"What would Frank think about that?" Emmeline winked at Branwen and the two girls giggled when their friend turned a bright pink.

"Frank really fancies me," Alice almost whispered, "but sometimes I feel like we're just so young, it's all so fast."

Branwen turned around. "Honestly, Al. You're barely a year apart. It isn't exactly a generation gap."

"I suppose," Alice sighed.

When the three of them descended, they were met by less enthusiasm than they had hoped. The party was already in full swing and most of the students were already preoccupied. Fabian and Gideon had produced a radio and their favourite band, the Lunar Novas, were on full blast. The Prewett twins were also likely the source of the Firewhisky that was being passed around (carefully avoiding the underage).

The girls smiled at each other before parting ways. Alice flitted to Frank's side and he was quickly fetching a butterbeer for her. Emmeline sauntered onto the makeshift dance-floor in the middle of the room, losing herself in the beat of "Sweet Home Azkaban."

Branwen scanned the room for the birthday boys.

Peter was sitting on a sofa in the back of the room, Charity Burbage between him and Hufflepuff Jason Higgs. James and Sirius were, unsurprisingly, on the dance-floor. James was standing on a coffee table, wriggling his body in some kind of attempt at a wild dance. Ravenclaw Amber Pierce was attached to Sirius, rubbing their bodies all over each other; Branwen doubted she could have fit a piece of parchment between them.

Remus was a little difficult to find until she realised he was on the outskirts of the action. He had a butterbeer in his hand and was surrounded by Lily, Mary, Dorcas, and Nina Dawson. Branwen frowned. What did girls see in him? He was quiet, clever, cute....Merlin, they had terrible taste.

She decided he would be the easiest to get to though, so she set off trying to edge around the room. Before she had made it halfway though, Dirk Cresswell and Bertram Aubrey accosted her, each holding up a butterbeer as an offering.

It wasn't that they weren't nice boys. Dirk had soft blond locks with bright blue eyes and dozens of pale, pink freckles. Branwen liked to listen to the new words he was teaching himself in the Goblin language of Gobbledegook. Bertram had shaggy brown curls and big doe eyes; he was easily the more persistent of the two. In their shared Astronomy and History of Magic classes, he was always the first to snag a seat beside her.

For a few minutes the three of them chatted about Quidditch and classes, then Bertram leaned over and asked, "How about moving this to the dance-floor?"

Branwen hesitated. The music had shifted from loud rock to a soft jazzy tune, "Mooncalf Memories." Emmeline had her arms wrapped around Sirius' neck. James was swaying with Leliah Jenkins (though he kept glancing up at Lily who was twirling in Gideon's arms). On the other side of the room, Remus was dancing in a clumsy sort of way with Mary.