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He feels betrayed when he sees Lily wrapped up in Sirius’ arms. This trip to London was supposed to be about the two of them. However the minute Lily sees him, she pushes Sirius away and rushes to him and wraps her arms around him. The hug is far too brief yet Severus notices the familiar jealousy in Sirius’ eyes. He smirks at the other wizard until Lily links her arms with both of theirs. She drags the two them towards the venue and soon enough they’re enveloped into a crush of bodies and the air is heavy with smoke. Not all of it is tobacco and Sirius laughs at Severus’ expression. Lily elbows Sirius in the ribs and says something that’s eaten up by the cacophony of noise. Sirius’ smile turns into a grimace but he shrugs his shoulder and wanders off, leaving Lily and Severus alone.
“Why’d you bring him?” Severus asks, his voice sulky like a small child’s.
Lily smiles up at him and her answer is lost when Sirius comes up to them, his hands full with three glasses of foaming lager. Lily and Severus both take one and they stand there, awkward and uncomfortable as they drink. Severus starts to think that it might be better if he just left instead of incurring the wrath of his father until Sirius hands him a silver flask.
“It’s whiskey, our kind,” Sirius shouts over the noise.
Severus takes it and perhaps unwisely takes a large swallow of the whiskey. It burns as it travels down his throat but suddenly the awkwardness and spite seem to fade away. He still hates Sirius but the hate is a little less intense. Soon enough the band make their way to the stage and the three of them find themselves engulfed in the crowd again and once the first note is struck, Severus finds himself locked in a world that he never imagined.
Lily had discovered the band through one of her Muggle friends, Severus can never remember the name of them but the music they play with it’s sound effects of planes crashing and alarm clocks clanging, makes him feel things he’s never felt before. Every time he takes a lungful of the acrid and sweet air, his head feels lightheaded and before too long, the show is over and Lily and Sirius are dragging him out of the venue and into the fresh nighttime air.
Severus starts to laugh. He’s not sure what is so funny but he knows that it has to do with the way that Sirius’ arm is curled around his lower back. Whatever would James Potter or Remus Lupin say if they ever found out that their best friend’s arm is curled around Severus’ back, just barely touching his skin. He misses the worried look that Sirius and Lily exchange as he continues to laugh.
“I can’t take him home like this,” Lily quietly states. “His father will kill him.”
If he had been completely sober, Severus would have expected Sirius to ask why that would be such a bad thing. As it is, it doesn’t occur to him to be shocked when Sirius acts like he cares.
“There’s a hotel close to here, we can go there. Although what about tomorrow when he finally arrives home?”
“It’ll be better than if he shows up high as a kite and drunk to boot.”
“I’m not drunk, Lily,” Severus says. “But I wouldn’t mind flying in the sky like a kite.”
Lily groans as she and Sirius manage to get Severus moving in the direction of the hotel, every now and then they stop when Severus starts to laugh. He’ll never know how they manage to check into the hotel, or who paid for it, or how they manage to get him through the lobby and into the elevator and finally into their suite in his state. Everything seems to fascinate him. But the feeling is starting to wear off and Severus is desperate to hang onto that bliss that he never really gets a chance to experience. When they stumble into the room, Lily first, Severus in the middle and then Sirius who turns around and shuts the door, Severus breaks free from Lily’s grasp and he pushes Sirius against the door.
There’s a part of his mind that catalogues how Sirius’ mouth tastes but right now most of his mind and body are focused on snogging Sirius Black and he’s momentarily stunned when Sirius doesn’t push him away. This time, Sirius’ hands slip underneath the hem of Severus’ jumper as he pulls Severus closer. Lily’s shocked gasp is what pulls them apart and Sirius smirks at her.
“Jealous?”
Severus staggers over to the bed; he cradles his head in his hands as he tries to block out whatever Lily and Sirius are furiously whispering to one another. He can’t figure out what’s come over him. His body feels clumsy and his mouth is dry.
“D’you got anymore of that whiskey?” Severus mumbles.
Sirius sits down on the bed beside him and hands him the flask. Severus takes several large swallows of it, enjoying the way it burns. Lily is the one who takes the flask away from him. She hands it to Sirius before she straddles Severus’ lap. He can barely believe it when she kisses him and she allows him to place his hands on either side of her hips while kissing her back.
Severus shudders when Sirius shifts so that Lily can lean over and kiss him or so that Sirius can kiss him. They tumble backwards onto the bed in a tangle of limbs and although they remove clothing piece by piece, nothing ever seems to advance from kissing and touching. Not that Severus complains about it, he rather enjoys the feel of Lily and Sirius even though he knows that tomorrow this will be nothing but a distant memory when the war lines between him and Sirius are drawn up again.
((END))