GETAWAY CAR , james potter

05. the potter andrews debacle.

chapter five: the potter andrews debacle
act one: ( fake ) love is cruel
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Charlie felt rather nervous about walking the halls with James Potter's hand within hers. The physical act of holding hands was not the initial source of her anxiousness but rather the envious eyes that followed her from one corridor to the next. She could hear rumours begin to fly out the second someone caught a glance of James whispering something in Charlie's ear in the Great Hall. She, of course, smiled and whispered something back in response, even though James had only told her that Sirius had tripped over his pant leg getting ready that morning. Charlie treated it like precious information, resting her hand on James' arm as she whispered back.

The rest of Hogwarts' seventh-year students took to concocting backstories and meet-cute's about James and Charlie. It was common knowledge James was obsessed with Lily Evans until the spring of last year, and that Charlie was in a semi-serious relationship beforehand. Not once in their six years of schooling had they made any romantic moves. And yet here they were, baffling the teenage population of Hogwarts as James made Charlie laugh over and over again in the Gryffindor common room.

The Marauders tried to pry information out of James, who kept offering up the same story without fail. He had started to fall for Charlie around the time he gave up pursuing Lily, waiting for her to notice his efforts and feelings. When Ben cheated on Charlie, James was a shoulder to cry on, a friend in need. And, well, of course, one thing led to another. Because how could it not? This was James Potter working his charm.

Partial bits of that story rang true, James did comfort Charlie through her breakup, anyone with eyes saw that he was one of her primary support systems. And the Marauders tried interrogating Charlie too, wondering if they could catch her in a lie or if she would spew out a much different story. However, Charlie retold the same tale James did, smiling and sighing during all the right parts, leaving Sirius Black borderline furious.

Remus had given up interest after a week, Peter following in his footsteps. Remus was content seeing James happy and Charlie no longer crying over That Guy. Sirius, however, was upset more than anything. He didn't mind that Charlie had begun to go out with James, in fact, the idea gave him a bit of a thrill. After years of rejection, Sirius had tried to gently coax James out of his infatuation for Lily. So seeing James looking at Charlie with brown doe eyes brought Sirius a sense of relief for his friend, a relief knowing he was happy.

However, that didn't change the fact that Sirius Black was a fierce part of James' life. He didn't have a clue about James' feelings for Charlie until the two confronted him and the other Marauders, cheeks pink and eyes gleaming. While the idea of James Potter dating Charlotte May Andrews a little peculiar (in the sense that it truly came out of nowhere), Sirius didn't doubt the couple. He was, however, growing jealous that James kept such information from him.

Charlie began to notice Sirius' surly behaviour about a week after she began to pursue a fake relationship with James, leaving her more anxious than ever. Was he catching on? Would he call them out? The whole school would know that they were frauds. The idea made Charlie sick, and she wondered if she would escape the dread coiling in her stomach by Christmas. This, of course, meant she had a week to sort everything with Sirius until the break, where she hoped everyone could be merry and bright during the holiday.

"Maybe you should talk to him," Charlie whispered to James, the two sitting together in the common room. Charlie was scribbling a letter to her aunt, wondering if Lou could see the lie about her infatuation with James Potter through the ebony ink. It was late but a weekend, leaving room open to stay up during the dark hours. The fireplace lit up the room in a warm glow, the occasional crackle or pop from the fire filling a comfortable silence. "Do you think he knows?"