Corrupted Souls | remus lupin

fleeting moments of youth

James beamed enthusiastically as he was carried into the party on Sirius's shoulders, still donned in their quidditch uniforms. 

"Red and gold

all so bold

never fold

GRYFFINDOR!

James is here

hear his cheer!

WE LOVE YOU CAPTAIN - OF GRYFFINDOR!

RED AND GOLD!

ALL SO BOLD!

NEVER FOLD!

GRYFFINDOR!!!"

"And fuck Slytherin!" Someone called out from the boisterous crowd, causing the room to erupt in laughter. Neoma rolled her eyes but couldn't help but grin at the comradery that her peers demonstrated. Gryffindor had beat Slytherin 120-80, sending them to the final match of the year where they would go up against Ravenclaw.

"It sucks we missed it," Lily frowned as she tipped her cup to drink some firewhiskey. "James looks hot, doesn't he?"

Neoma giggled, shaking her head as she glanced around. It was fairly full now, and the girls' efforts had come together at the very last second to breathe life into the musty abandoned classroom. HOGWARTS CLASS OF 1978 was painted onto a large banner hanging over the bar area, and a table was set up near the entrance with the gifts that Remus and Peter had put together. 

Leave it to them to try and one-up previous years. Instead of simply transfiguring a rock into the Hogwarts crest, they created dozens of statuettes of eagles, badgers, and lions, each wearing a tiny Hogwarts badge. 1978 was etched into the bottom of each one. 

Lily (who had been drinking since that afternoon) giddily made her way toward James, leaving Neoma to stand around awkwardly with her drink. She tried to entertain herself by people-watching, but she couldn't help but feel incredibly out of place. Up until recently, she would have been very unwelcome at this party (and even now she was receiving some nasty looks). 

Marlene and Dorcas had left together so Dorcas could change out of her quidditch gear. Alice was speaking animatedly with some of her Hufflepuff friends. Remus, Sirius, Peter, and Lily surrounded James to chat about the game. 

After a painful ten minutes of tapping her fingers on the side of her cup to the beat of whatever song was playing, Neoma felt an arm fall around her shoulders. She jumped slightly and glanced up, only to see Alder Korbin grinning down at her.

"Your cup's looking empty there, Neoma! Let's go fix that. Whatcha drinking?" 

"Gin and soda." Neoma glanced down, noting that her drink was still at least half full.

His eyes sparkled happily as he led the girl toward the bar, keeping his arm in place. As much as Alder had annoyed her during their time in the library that one night, she was happy to have the company, and so she didn't protest as he asked the sixth-year Ravenclaw manning the bar for a refill on Neoma's drink of choice.

"Enjoying yourself so far?" He asked over the noise, leading them to a nearby empty space. 

"Yeah!" She lied, taking a large gulp of her drink. "This is certainly better than any Slytherin party."

"D'you guys just make blood sacrifices and drink absinthe? Maybe pray to a demon or two?" Alder joked, which Neoma couldn't help but chuckle at. The other houses really didn't understand Slytherin at all, but they sure did make the house sound much more interesting than it was.