GETAWAY CAR , james potter

02. an angel without wings.

chapter two: an angel without wings
act one: ( fake ) love is cruel
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The second Charlie crept out of the portrait hole, she expected a spotlight to blind her and for hoards of her classmates to point and stare. There goes Charlotte Andrews! She jumped poor James Potter in the hallway! She attacked the Head Boy! She expected people to whisper, to exchange those godforsaken knowing glances once all eyes were on her.

So when Charlie was met with nothing but silence in the empty hall, she was a little underwhelmed. Grateful nonetheless, but the dread filling her lungs deflated promptly. Time was on Charlie's side. Christmas break was just around the bend. She'd do the opposite of whatever James decided. If he whisked himself back to Godric's Hollow then Charlie would hide away in the empty halls of Hogwarts. If James decided to stay at school during the break, Charlie would find the quickest way home; she'd hitchhike if needed.

And so, like the femme fatale she had become, Charlie snuck through the halls. While the air had a cold bite (it was December after all), she knew it was safe to assume most of the eligible students would be tucked away into the little village of Hogsmeade. This left Charlie to contend with first and second years, though the students would be too frightened to tease a seventh year. At least she had hoped.

As Charlie turned a sharp corner, she smacked into another body, and her poor heart threatened to burst out of her chest from the impact. She thought she would die from fear before she graduated, which would be a shame. Worst case scenario, Charlie would be facing off with James. The only things worse than James were his friends or That Guy. Luckily, (or maybe not so much), Charlie was not facing any of the dreaded options but rather facing a surly-looking Severus Snape. Some of his books had toppled to the ground and Charlie was quick to scoop them up and hold them out for Snape.

"I'm sorry about that," Charlie rambled, feeling her face heat up. "I'm not usually that clumsy—"

She trailed off after noticing Snape's frown and bit her tongue. She should have known that her close association with James Potter wouldn't put her in good standing with Snape, but she had never been particularly horrible to the Slytherin. Being so close with James didn't seem to help, and Charlie had hoped that one day she and Snape could be at least on good enough terms to exchange bits and pieces of conversation. However, those hopes were squashed after Snape muttered out a curt thank you before brushing past her in the hall.

Not thinking her sour day could go any worse, Charlie huffed with defeat. At this rate, she should have just accepted her fate and marched to her dorm, right back to her comfy bed to rot and decay. But before Charlie could turn back, a cheery call had her jumping out of her skin.

A pretty brunette-haired girl ran running up to Charlie, waving wildly. A small leak of relief flooded through Charlie as she saw Cate smiling wildly. She didn't have that gleeful glint in her eye whenever she was ready to burst with gossip, she was simply Cate at that moment and that was more enough for the Gryffindor.

"Char! God, I feel like I haven't seen you in ages," Cate cried, wrapping Charlie in a hug without warning. Charlie felt herself melt against Cate, exhaling as if her troubles were getting hugged away.

"Hi, Cate."

Cate pulled away and frowned at the sight of Charlie's troubled face. "Love, you look awful."

"That's bound to make me feel loads better."

"Sorry, you just look exhausted. Lunch is still on for another moment or so, hungry?"