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Off to the side of the Gryffindor common room there is a table set up, and a game of pong is currently being played. Remus and Sirius are standing on one side, ready to throw their pong balls into the cups set up across the table in front of Lily and James. It is obvious that Lily and James are winning. They only have three cups left. Remus and Sirius seem to have only made two cups.
“Being pong partners with your ex is crazy, Potter” Dorcas laughs as she and her friends make their way over to the pong table.
“No,” Regulus starts, “Honestly, I get it.”
“Boyfriends and girlfriends are replaceable, but the right pong partner is not,” Barty agrees.
“Exactly!” Lily exclaims.
Remus looks at the group that just walked over to the table, “You’re telling me you would choose your ex over the person you’re actually dating as a pong partner?”
“If I was still friends with them, hell yeah,” Barty responds.
“Fuck it,” Regulus says, “We’ve got winner.”
James looks at his boyfriend and smirks, “So us?”
“As if, Prongs,” Sirius scoffs, “Me and Moony are about to make the craziest comeback in the history of Gryffindor.”
Lily rolls her eyes, “Sure you are.”
Sirius raises the pong ball, ready to throw it. He tries to bounce it off the table and into the front cup. It would have been a good idea if James and Lily were still distracted by the conversation, but, unfortunately, they were locked back in on the game.
Lily swats the ball off the table and sarcastically says, “Nice try.”
Everyone around the table laughs, and Remus sets up to take his shot. He throws the ball, and it bounces off a cup on the left and into one of the out of play cups.
James picks his drink up off the table and holds it out to clink glasses with the other players, “Social!”
Regulus watches as James drinks from his cup, a drop missing his mouth and falling down his chin. He tries his best to act like it wasn’t the hottest thing he’s seen all night. At some point, someone must have grabbed the ball Lily had swatted off the table because both of them were now ready to shoot.
Right before Lily goes to shoot, she calls out, “Front!”
She shoots the ball and makes it into the front cup. Remus goes to grab the cup and pull it out of play, but he is stopped by James saying, “Leave it, same cup.”
This is likely going to be the final shot of the game. There’s no way Sirius and Remus could come back in redemption. James shoots the ball into the same cup as Lily just did. It makes it.
“And that’s all three cups for us,” James laughs.
Sirius tries to argue that James and Lily got the rules wrong. They didn’t.
“Just take your loss and step aside,” Barty says to Sirius.
Sirius glares at Barty, but Remus drags him away from the table. Regulus and Barty step up to the table and begin to set the cups back into formation. This is not going to be an easy game. Regulus has played pong with James before but never against him. Usually James is Regulus’ partner at Slytherin parties, but, before James, there was always Barty. The two exes know how to play pong better together than with their actual partners.
“We’ve been running the table all night,” Lily taunts, “So don’t feel too bad when we beat you.”
“You’ve only been running the table because we weren’t here yet,” Barty smirks. Lily and James might be good, but Barty and Regulus are better.
“We’re on a streak, so we get balls first,” James says. Barty and Regulus roll the pong balls across the table.
James goes to shoot the ball, and Barty wraps an arm around Regulus’ waist to distract him. All the Slytherins know about James and Regulus, so Barty knows exactly how to play dirty against James.
Somewhere in the distance, Regulus can hear his brother say something about how he and Barty didn’t look all that much like exes at the moment.
As James is about to let go of the ball, his eyes flicker up to Barty’s hand gripping Regulus. He misses the first shot. Lily goes to shoot next; she misses as well.
Barty lets go of Regulus’ waist to move the cup out of play and grab the ball. As usual, Barty shoots first. He makes it in the back, left cup. James moves the cup out of play and starts messing with the pong ball inside it. Regulus gets distracted watching his boyfriend’s hand and misses his shot.
James shoots the ball and makes it in the middle cup.
“Bitch cup,” Regulus shouts, “From a knee.”
From the side of the table, Remus can be heard as he says, “Damn, Prongs, that’s tough.”
“A cup’s a cup,” Lily shrugs as she shoots her ball into the cup on the right of the second row.
“Balls back,” James smirks.
“Let’s see what you can do on your knees, Potter,” Barty taunts. The group standing around the table breaks out into laughs.
“Oh, I can do quite a bit,” James starts, “ Including making this next shot.”
He misses his next shot.
Lily shoots and makes it into the back, left cup.
“Heating up!” James shouts, gesturing towards Lily.
It’s finally Barty and Regulus’ turn to shoot again. Barty sets up to shoot into the back, right cup. He makes the shot.
Regulus wonders if James and Lily have realized what they’re trying to do. He shoots the ball into the middle cup.
Regulus can hear James mutter something along the lines of, “Oh fuck.”
Lily and James roll the balls back to Barty and Regulus. They both aim for the front cup and miss.
James makes it into the front cup, and Lily makes it into the back, right cup.
“On fire,” Lily smirks as she grabs the balls being rolled back across the table.
James points at the in play cups and says, “Zipper.”
Barty begins to rearrange the cups how James requested.
Lily misses her next shot.
“Fuck it,” James laughs, grabbing Mary’s arm and pulling her to that table, “Celeb shot!”
Mary shoots the ball into the middle, left cup and taunts, “That’s two cups.”
Barty and Regulus each pull a cup out of play.
It may seem like Lily and James are winning given they only have three cups left, but, if Barty or Regulus make the front cup right now, they will automatically win. Unfortunately, it seems like James has picked up on their strategy.
Barty misses his shot. James starts to whisper in Lily’s ear. He’s probably trying to distract Regulus again. He’s trying to make him jealous, so he misses this last shot.
Regulus won’t fall for it. He shoots the ball into the front cup.
“Ring of fire,” Regulus smirks, reaching a hand across the table to shake hands with his opponents, “Good game.”