I Fancy You: James Sirius Potter

4. The Astronomy Tower: James pov

Pulling on a sweater that grandma Molly knit for me, I look in the mirror and try to do something about my unruly hair. I had to get Dad's hair.
"So... I think Conor and I will just hang back here tonight," Desmond says smirking.
"Wait what?" I whip around and they're both smiling mischievously.
"You and Ellie alone on the astronomy tower? Come on, she'll eat that up," Conor explains.
I blink and stand in silence for a minute. Am I ready to be alone with her? She's way out of my league. There's absolutely no way things will go past friendship. "We're just friends. Ellie and me, we're just friends."
Both Desmond and Conor crack up laughing. "Oh okay sure," Desmond says when they calm down. "Just have a really good night okay?" They both walk out of our dorm laughing.
I've only known Ellie for two days we really are just friends. Okay, so she's really cute and smart and interesting and... oh shit I do like her. That's why I'm trying to fix my stupid hair? "You're an idiot," I say to my reflection in the mirror. Ellie just got here so there's absolutely no way she's looking for any kind of fling. Or is she? No, no way. This is a just friends thing tonight. No pressure. Just a friend thing.

By the time I get down to where the Slytherin common room is I've totally freaked myself out. Maybe I should just tell her I don't feel well enough to go anymore. But then she comes out of the common room. And it's her. Shoulder length brown hair, green eyes, tan skin. "Hi," I say awkwardly.
"Hey, where are the guys?" She looks around for them.
"Oh uhhhh... they decided to just hang back tonight." I look at what she's wearing and smirk. "You look great and all but are you sure that shirt is warm enough? It gets really cold on the tower."
"I look great?" She looks up at me and blushes. "I mean, I can go back and grab a sweater."
"Here have mine!" I instinctively take mine off and hand it to her.
"Won't you be cold now?" She asks while putting it on. It looks so cute on her. A bit too big for her but it looks like she likes it.
"No I'll be okay," I tell her and nod my head in the direction we'll be going. I take out my dad's map and check for Filch. Nowhere near us, nice. Out of the corner of my eye I can see her eyeing the map. "It's called the marauder's map. My grandfather, the one I never got to meet, he helped make it with his friends. I'm actually named after my grandfather and his best friend, Sirius."
"Oh wow! It's really cool. Are those their nicknames?" She points to where it says messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs.
"Yep! Moony for Lupin who was a werewolf, padfoot for Sirius who was an animagus, and prongs for my grandfather who's patronus was a stag. My dad actually has a stag patronus too." I look over at her and can see she wants to ask why I skipped Wormtail. Looking ahead, I sigh. "Wormtail betrayed my grandfather and grandmother. Big time. Got them killed. But then he kinda saved my dad. I have really complicated feelings about him. Not that he's still alive I just-"
"I get it. I mean, I obviously could never understand that exact situation but I understand why you'd have complex feelings about that particular person," Ellie's voice soothes me a bit and I can't help but smile.
Once we get to the tower, I feel my stomach drop. Ellie looks around like it's the most beautiful view in the world. And it honestly might be.
"James this is amazing. This is my new favorite place at Hogwarts, definitely." She looks back at me and I smile stupidly. "Is this your favorite place?"
"Definitely one of them. Hagrid's hut is another. I love the Gryffindor common room, too," I tell her.
Ellie leans against the railing and asks, "What does the Gryffindor common room look like?"
I feel my face light up. "Oh it's really comfortable! It's almost just like my living room back home! Not that you know what that looks like either. But it's just..." I trail off, thinking. "You know maybe we could disguise you and sneak you in!"
"God I thought I was a troublemaker. You Gryffindors are nothing but trouble," she laughs and turns back to the view.
"I'm not all trouble. I just like to have fun. Mum says I remind her of my uncles Fred and George. I do enjoy causing mischief with uncle George at family events," I chuckle.
"I don't think you're all trouble," she says, catching me a little off guard. "I see right through you, James. I know your type."
"Oh really? Boyfriend back home?" I don't mean to sound desperate for the answer to be no but I think she might truly see through that as well.
"Not officially. He was always free to see other girls." Her voice is sad. I look down at her and follow her gaze over to some mermaids breaching in and out of the lake. "He was my trouble I guess. The minute I thought I could keep up with him was the minute I lost myself to him," she winces and looks up at me. "Please pretend I didn't just open up."
I feel my hand inch closer to hers. "Not a chance. But I won't tell anyone you did," I say quietly. Suddenly my pinky finger is on hers. Our eyes stay on each other. "I didn't invite you here for this you know? I'm not trying to be your new trouble."
Her eyes flicker with mischief. "Okay." We're still holding eye contact and I feel my pulse quicken. "James?"
"Hmm?"
"You should probably check the map," she says breaking eye contact.
"Right, you're right." I look at the map and see Filch making his way around the library. "I guess we should go," I finally say. I notice our fingers no longer touching.
"Thank you so much for taking me here," Ellie says with a smile.
I nod, pulling out my dad's invisibility cloak from my bag and cover us both. I have to hunch down a little to make sure our feet don't give us away. Being this close to Ellie makes my heart race and I want nothing more than to touch her hand again but I've already told her I'm not here for that. To my surprise though, her hand lightly touches mine.
Once I safely get Ellie back to the Slytherin common room and she waves goodbye my thoughts start racing. I'll admit that I'm not exactly shy around girls and I've gotten into a fair bit of trouble with them. I understand the reputation I've created for myself. However, it feels different with Ellie. I'm already this crazy about her and it's only been two days.
Realizing I'm standing here like an idiot, I decide it's time to walk back to my dorm. On my way back I don't bother with the map since I'm under the cloak.
"You can't just change your mind on this, Rolland. It's an unbreakable vow. You'll die." I hear a voice whispering harshly. As I turn the corner I see two fifth year Ravenclaw boys named Rolland and Flick. "And if the vow doesn't kill you I will," Flick continues.
"I'm going to do it okay? Just give me some time! This shit doesn't happen overnight. And what about your end of the bargain?" Rolland looks agitated.
"I have it covered. Potter will never see it coming," Flick says and my stomach drops.
"Good. Now let's get back to the dorm before we're found," Rolland says, turning and almost walking right into me. Thankfully I'm able to move out of their way quietly enough that they don't hear.
What the hell were they talking about? Did they mean me or Albus? Quickly, I get to my dorm room and shake Conor and Desmond awake. I tell them what I heard and they shrug it off.
"Flick and Rolland are prats, mate don't worry about them," Conor says sleepily.
"Yeah they're probably just trying to sabotage you at the next quidditch game or something stupid like that," Desmond yawns.
"It really didn't sound that way. If it was something dumb like that they would be able to talk about it in their dorm." I throw on some sweats and get into bed. I want to keep talking about it but they've both gone back to sleep.
Instead of thinking about what the Ravenclaws are up to I decide to think more pleasant thoughts. Ellie.
With Ellie on my mind, I drift off to sleep. I can't wait for another day with her.

I'm rudely awoken by Conor flopping onto my bed and Desmond laughing. "Morning gents," I mumble sleepily.
"It's time to get up Potter, you owe us details from last night. Plus it's time for breakfast," Conor's Irish accent always sounds much thicker in the morning for whatever reason.
"There are no details other than what I tried to tell you last night," I say stretching.
"Oh please," Desmond says rolling his eyes. "We know you better than anyone."
"You're not at all concerned about the Ravenclaw kids trying to do anything to harm me then?" I jump out of bed and start to dress for the day.
"James we told you, those two are just trying to fix the quidditch match or something dumb like that. We'll take care of them don't worry about it," Conor tells me while he finished putting his robes on.
"Fine but I still have no details from last night. We looked at the stars and the lake and that was that." I feel their disappointment.
"Does that mean I can make a move on her then?" Desmond asks with a cheeky smile.
I glare at him and they both laugh. "None of us are making a move on her because she is going to be one of us alright? Just a fourth to our group and that's it." I sound so serious that neither of them objects. They both know I still have a thing for her.

Down at breakfast I see Ellie laughing with my brother and Scorpius. My heart drops for a minute realizing Flick and Rolland could've been talking about Albus. He's such a quiet kid though there's no way anyone would want to hurt him. Walking over to them, I see Albus tap Ellie and grin.
"Good morning Slytherins," I say and take a seat next to Ellie. "Would you like to join the Gryffindors today?"
"I'm having too much fun with these two. Maybe lunch? And you're definitely coming to every class today right?" Ellie raised an eyebrow at me and I feel like I'm being scolded.
"Yes mum," I say with my hands up in defeat. Ellie grins and I look over at Albus. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Albus looks surprised but agrees to come with me anyway. Once we've stepped away from the table a bit I warn him about what I've heard. "Just make sure to keep an eye out alright? They could've been talking about either of us."
Albus nods and looks over at Ellie and Scorpius. "Did you have fun last night? I waited up for Ellie and she came in smiling."
"She did?" My heart races a bit. "Yeah we had fun I guess. It's nothing really. I swear we're just friends."
"Just friends? Don't remember the last time I saw you give Desmond or Conor your sweater to keep warm," he shoots at me.
"Alright you got me there," I admit. "Look be cool about it alright? No teasing." I smile when he grins and shrugs.
When I walk him back over to the table I say bye to all three of them and head back over to the Gryffindor table. Out of the corner of my eye I see Rolland glare at me and his eyes burn into me the whole time I pass by. Something is definitely up. I don't care what the guys say.