Delicate | James Potter

2.20

~

The Yule Boy had ended unexpectedly early, due to a mishap with the ceiling and an accidental snow storm and a boy named James Potter, but Alice didn't mind. They'd ran from McGonagall's shrieks and hidden in an empty classroom, and spent the majority of the night conversing about Christmas plans and what they could do.

She was more than excited to take him and Sirius to the cinema, and also to the muggle market set up in a nearby town. James said he'd been before (though not at this time of year), that you could get a bus and if they went at Christmas there were rides and a ferris wheel and an ice rink. Of course, he'd never gone on the bus himself, nor did he know what the 'big spinning wheel' was, but was eager to try it all out.

Alice must have fallen asleep at some point during their evening of classroom conversations, because when she woke up she was in a foreign bed in a foreign room with no recollection of how she got there. The sun was crawling through the window, iluminating floating dust at the edge of her bed. She rubbed at her eyes.

"Alice? What are you doing here?"

Peter was stood at the end of the bed, still dressed in his own pyjamas and sporting very ruffled hair.  He looked confused, to say the least.

"Pete?" Alice mumbled, "why are you here?"

She yawned and pushed her duvet covers down, only to reveal the same dress she'd been wearing last night.

"Because it's my room. Why are you here?" He said, unintentionally sounding very offended by her presence.

Alice smiled at her friend and laughed a bit. "I'm not sur - wait, sorry, did you say your room?"

"Yes. I just woke up. You're in James's bed."

Alice almost choked on simply the air she breathed. James's bed. She'd fallen asleep downstairs somewhere, which must have meant...

"Sorry Pete. I'll let you get changed in peace." Alice gave him an awkward half smile and shuffled out of the bed, realising only then how much it had smelt of James. That was probably a weird thing to think.

Peter gaped, "oh, no, sorry, you don't have to go. We can have breakfast together... if you'd like."

"I think I'm going to go get dressed. I'd look a bit strange going down wearing this." She yawned again and rubbed her eyes, crumbling mascara wiping off onto her hands. She grimaced. "Thanks for the offer though."

Halfway down the stairs, deep in thought as to what time she must have fallen asleep, she bumped into James himself.

"Oh, hi." Were all the words she could summon.

James grinned. "Morning. Sleep well?"

"Yes, actually. Very comfy... thank you." Alice added.

He nodded, smiling. "S'alright. I tried to get you some breakfast so you didn't have to get up straight away, but Minnie caught me and now I have detention till 4."