Limerence |James Potter|

Thirty

"You can take everything from me, 'cause this is all I need."

ϟϟϟ

Hogwarts was quiet when they got back. People stared at her when she hopped off of the carriage with James shortly behind her, but they didn't whisper. She stared back at them questioningly. Selene felt James' hand place on the top of her back and quickly realized why.

She was alone with James coming back late in the evening. She felt him, again, standing far too close behind her for it to be platonic. Her gaze hardened. Now, because she was returning from a date with somebody, she no longer was worth whispering about?

"Selene," James whispered in her ear. "Let's leave it, ok?"

Selene straightened her back. She could take James' advice and leave it, but she knew that communication was important to coping. She realized that she is about to use the advice the wrong way, but she didn't care.

"One moment, please," Selene dismissed herself from James.

She marched over to where the nearby girls were. She recognized this particular group - three Ravenclaws and one Gryffindor from the year above her. They were shushed by Mary a few times in a courtyard for being rude to Selene.

They looked up at her as she approached, their lips pursed together like they just ate something sour.

"Excuse me, I don't believe we have ever formerly met," Selene said as sweetly as she could. "I'm Selene Nightwell. I believe you called me a slut a few times. I would just like to kindly remind you that I have a name and that my sex life is none of your concern."

Selene heard James clear his throat from behind her. She looked back at him, expecting him to appear upset. He didn't, instead he wore a half-smile like he wanted to smile but was too ashamed to.

"I'm the reason why she made poor sex decisions," James introduced himself. He held out a hand as if he was expecting one of them to shake it. "I'm James Potter. I know, I'm a real catch. Don't worry, I'm a good catcher too, or that's what the commentaries say when I catch the Quaffle."

Selene turned her head to direct a raised eyebrow at James. He shrugged and kept his hand up, his grin in full-view now.

The girls they were talking to still didn't say anything, looking between the two with wrinkled foreheads and furrowed brows.

Selene had nothing else to say to them. She expected her telling them off to feel a lot better than it did. Or for there to be some apology from them in there somewhere. She backed away, grabbed James' still outstretched hand, and walked towards the front door to the castle.

Selene opened the door and pulled James inside.

James hadn't said anything. His eyes were narrowed and his pupils were darting back and forth as if he were reading writing on a page. Selene squeezed his hand three times to remind him that she was still there.

"There we go!" James exclaimed. He leaned down to plant a kiss on Selene's lips. It came in harder than expected, causing Selene to stumble back a bit. James grinned at her proudly.

"What'd you do?" Selene asked.

"Oh, I remembered a spell I read once where it expands the human tongue to be roll-upable like a frog. I had never used it before, and I figured those girls out front would be perfect candidates for me to test it on," James responded innocently.

Selene let out a laugh, "I thought you told me to leave it."

James planted another tender kiss on her lips. He drew his lips away to lean his forehead on hers. "I was hopeful that you wouldn't do anything, but if you insist on doing something... I figured I may as well help."

Selene shook her head at him but couldn't help the smile that graced her face.This was exactly the type of antics she supposed she would have to expect from James Potter. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy, the same guy who hexed Ryan for bragging about sleeping with her. That was a constant for James - standing up for his friends. She was happy that she was no longer an asterix on that rule.

"You're wonderful. Let's head back." Selene declared, pulling James' hand.

James nodded and the two walked back to the Gryffindor tower. The halls were fairly quiet as students were making their way to bed after a long day at Hogsmeade. The sound of footsteps echoed through the castle halls. Selene admired the silence and held back on further laughter at James' antics.

It felt good to be supported.

They arrived at the Fat Lady Portrait and Selene stopped, taking a moment to look at James.

The boy raised an eyebrow at her, "What is it?"

"I'm just... glad," Selene shared, "Glad that we are working things out. It feels good to be supported."

James leant and placed another warm kiss on her lips. A spark flew between them and Selene knew that James felt the same.

The portrait tooka look at their kiss and their Gryffindor colours and wrinkled her nose at their display. "Hey lovebirds, get a room or stop showing affection in front of me. Password?"

Selene felt her cheeks flush with colour as she blurted out, "Hobblestone."

The portrait swung backwards to reveal the fireplace-lit Gryffindor common room that they knew oh so well. Selene stepped inside and took a deep breath of the pine-smelling air. There were students on the couches chatting amongst themselves.

Along the far wall near the window, Selene saw a group of her friends - Remus, Sirius, Peter, Mary, Alice, and Lily. Sirius was the first to notice Selene and James enter the common room. He tapped the shoulders of other members and pointed their way.

"Oi!" Sirius shouted their way. "Did you finally work things out?"

James shot Sirius a thumbs up. It was instantly met with applause from their group of friends. Their smiles were wide as they shared in Selene and James' happiness.

Selene wrapped her hand in James' and walked over to chat with their friends. They caught up on what had happened. James launched into an elaborate story about how he swooned Selene into agreeing to it being a date, which was entirely false. Selene did not hold back on her corrections, and neither did Sirius or Lily - whom claimed their relationship was their doing.

Selene smiled, content with life. She was no longer everybody's last, or even second, pick. She was James' first. After almost a year of suffering, they were on their way to building a relationship that was made to last. Or maybe it wasn't, who knew what the future held.

All she knew that in that moment, surrounded by friends and by the boy who she spent so much time and effort pining over, she was happy.