When I see you.. (James Potter)

Chapter 18: old friends

Joy did attend the classes after the lunch break, to her own surprise. But she did not take any notes or pay attention overall. Her mind was somewhere else, as usual, these days.
Her heart, though, felt, for the first time in a few days, less heavy. Whether it was thanks to her chat with Logan, seeing her parents or forgiving Prim, but probably a combination of all of them.
With her head leaned on her hand, her elbow on her desk, she stared to the front of the classroom where Professor Binns was talking about the Wizarding Revolution in the 12th century, but she was not actually listening to what he was saying. 

„Psst!", Joy heard Lucius behind her but it took her a while to realize it. „Psssst", it now made a bit longer and something pokes into her back. She hesitates for a second but then turns around abruptly. She sees that Lu, who sits next to her, shifts in her seat, turns around for a second but turns back to her notes on the WIzarding Revolution. 

Joy musters Lucius, who was leaning over his desk to be closer to Joy. "Hey", he smirked. 

Joy's gaze quickly hushes to Nila who was sitting next to Lucius, and then back to him. "Hi", she whispers without any special expression. 

"I was thinking", he presses out between his teeth, "maybe we should meet tonight", he stops talking to reflect on his words. "Y'know, as we always used to do... I miss hanging out with you!", he mumbled. 

This hit Joy in an unexpected way. She wondered why she never thought about asking Lucius to hang out, as she had to admit to herself that she missed their friendship, or however they might call it, as well. Finally, she nods slowly, "yea... meet me after dinner?", she responds with a light smile. 

"Let's eat dinner together!", he insisted still whispering. Joy nods and turns back around. She takes her quill, that was laying in front of her sheets, and dips it into the pot with black ink. On the parchment in front of her, that wrote 'Wizarding Revolution of 1230', Joy started to take notes of what Professor Binns was telling to the class (of which half students were almost asleep). Her mind seems cleared. 

An estimated half-hour later, the class was finished and the students packed their things together. Just as they left the classroom, Lu nudged her side: "I'll have to figure out something real quick, can you tell Slughorn imma be a bit late?". Joy nods confused and heads off to potions. She links her arm into Nila's and they wander the hall. Almost all the students were wearing their houses' scarves and beanies in the halls. In winter, the hallways were usually very cold while the classrooms were heated through fireplaces.

"I'm looking forward to winter being over", Nila cried. 

Joy shrugs her shoulders: "it's not all too bad, I find it a quite cozy atmosphere".

Nila reflects and Joy thought she would eventually agree but after a while, Nila shakes her head: "no, I don't like it". Joy sighs. 

Nila shrugs her shoulders to change the topic: "are you happy to stay in Hogwarts over Christmas?"

Joy shrugs her shoulders again: "well, in the beginning, I was quite upset but quite some people are staying so, in the end, I think it is going to be fun!", she rejoices. 

Nila nods, "unfortunately, I will have to go home", she gulps.

"Are you not looking forward to seeing your parents?", Joy asks.

Nila shrugs her shoulders: "not sure... How is it going with your... y'know".

Joy shatters for a second: "please don't talk about that here", she insists with a whisper. She looks around nervously, students walking in front of her and behind her, all wandering to the potions classroom. Joy sighs, no one seemed to have heard anything suspicious.