Down the Rabbit Hole | J. POTTER

5 | being drowned in my own tears

And that he did. By the next day, the news spread like wildfire. There wasn't a single soul - or ghost or portrait - in Hogwarts that didn't know that the boy Val had allegedly cheated on James Potter with was Regulus Black, his best friend's brother.

"Regulus Black?" James hissed as he followed close beside the girl. She rolled her eyes. He was not the first person shocked by the news and he certainly wouldn't be the last. "You could have told me that!"

"Where's the fun in that?" Val inquired. "I told you that you would find out with everyone else," she reminded him. "I never lied."

"But Sirius's brother?" he gaped. "Of all the people to-"

"Have a conversation with," she interjected before he could accuse her of 'cheating' on him. "I had a conversation with him one time," she explained. "We talked. That's it. Merlin, you would think I was Hester Pryne."

"Who?" he asked in confusion.

"From Scarlet Letter?" she replied but that seemed to only deepen his confusion. "Nevermind." She shook her head, "Do you need me to stand on a table and declare that I didn't sleep with him?"

"Well, no. I was just saying-"

"That I should have told you?" she interjected. "For one: I don't have to tell you anything. And two: technically we never said we weren't exclusive. Even if I did sleep with him - which I didn't - it wouldn't have mattered."

He watched her for a moment, "But now we're exclusive."

"If that's what you want, sure."

"Okay, it's settled then."

"I'm not sure you can call it settled when there was no real controversy but okay," she replied as they entered the Hall. The room fell silent upon seeing the couple and James took her hand in his. "I can find my way to the table. Go sit with your friends."

He leaned toward her and his breath tickled her ear as he spoke in a hushed tone, "I don't like the way all the guys are looking at you."

"Back on the whole alpha male thing are we?" she inquired as she took a seat at the table and he sat down next to her. "I thought we had decided that it didn't suit you."

"I am not an alpha male."

"Oh, you totally are," Remus countered as he sat across from the couple and Sirius sat next to him. Peter sat next to James but Val didn't have to see him to know he was there.

"And that says a lot coming from him," Sirius added, earning a scowl from the boy.

James's nose wrinkled, "I'm sorry that I want what's mine to be-"

"I thought we had moved past the whole women are objects thing," Val announced, cutting the boy short. "Guess I was wrong."

James rolled his eyes at this, "You know that's not what I meant."

"Do I?" she countered, scratching her forearm. If she just tried to relax, she could make it through one meal. Just one meal.

She placed food on her plate to distract herself but didn't eat it. She pushed the piece of bread she had cut into a small cube around her plate, her leg bouncing up and down as she did so.

James placed his hand on her thigh and she looked over at him to see him watching her with a questioning eyebrow. Val simply shook her head and looked down at her plate. He didn't remove his hand.

He had begun to draw circles on her leg which sent tingles throughout her body. She didn't mind it all that much though, it overpowered the burning sensation from being in such close proximity with Peter.