𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃, 𝐣.𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

vi. feelings of doubt

❛𝘪'𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺,

"𝘩𝘦𝘺" 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶❜

James never felt so anxious and frustrated at the same time. Letters with Gracie brought a minimal amount of joy for him, considering their letters were mostly short. But every time an owl dropped a letter with her initials scrawled on it, he couldn't help but smile.

Things weren't getting better with Lily either, she had been treating him nicely, which was strange because she's never been nice to him before. It might have been the affect of him not bully her now ex-bestfriend anymore, and there was also the fact that he didn't bother her everyday.

This made the argument in his mind louder. Lily's starting to warm up to him, this might be the chance for him to win her over. Besides, he had no idea if he would ever be visiting the states ever again, it's not like he would see Gracie again.

Then, there was the other side of the argument. Gracie enjoyed his company for who he was, James really enjoyed her company too. He would really like to get to know her better. She was an amazing persona and they both had a lot in common. She really did leave an impression on him. If Lily wasn't in his life, he would have be crazy for the brunette.

But it wasn't easy trying to get to know her through letters, it was awkward, unlike their first counter when everything between them was comfortable. James didn't know if he could do this with Gracie.

So he made a final decision, though doubt clouded over his mind over and over again. His mind was telling him that this was the right thing to do, but he couldn't help but feel what he was doing was wrong as he approached Lily with a bouquet of sunflowers in his hand.

"Hey, Evans." James greeted the red-head.

Lily, who had been sitting on the Great Hall for breakfast turned around and offered the boy a smile. "Good morning, James."

James scratched the back of his head awkwardly and offered the flowers to her. "Uh-- this is for you." He said quietly.

Much to his and everybody else surprise, Lily took it gratefully with a smile. Now everybody was engrossed in the scene, this had never happened before, and they were wondering what would happen next.

"Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me this Saturday?" James asked her, mentally preparing for her rejection, but then--

"I would love to." was the unexpected reply that came out of the red-head, he felt a bubble of joy and relief wash over him, knowing that after five years of chasing her, she finally warmed up to him.

A large smile grew on his face as he chuckled out in happiness, he felt like he was on cloud 9 right at this moment, but there was a feeling he couldn't shake.

A few feet away, Sirius was looking at the two with disbelief in his eyes, there was a hint of disappointment there, but he smiled and tried to be happy for his best friend.

Merlin, James is so stupid.

・゜゜・．.・゜゜・

Meanwhile, Gracie frowned reading the letter on her hands.

Dear Gracie,

Thank you for the sweets! They taste great! I've been more and more busy with school, exams are coming up and I'm quite stressed about it. How are you doing?

James.

This was the shortest letter she had yet to receive from James. She sighed, feeling rather upset. She sat on the floor of her bathroom with her back and head against the wall. Then she felt a tear trail down her cheek.

She didn't even know why she was crying. She felt so stupid for crying, over James nonetheless! She had only met the boy once, and exchanged letters with him, why was she crying for him? It was so stupid.

She was crying over the fact that James had become dry? It was a waste of time, she wanted to be mad, really. But how could she? He had done nothing wrong. She wasn't sure they were even friends in the first place. She had no right feeling like this.

❛𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵

𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦

𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴❜

She knew what was coming next. His letters will get shorter and shorter, until there was nothing left to send. No more letters, no more James. The girl sighed quietly, she was hoping that James would be different, that he wouldn't be another heartbreak. She didn't even know why she was so affected by this anyway. A few hours was all it took to make her fall for him.

Her mother was right, she falls in love too easily. She hated that.

The song she wrote for James was half finished, she didn't know what to write next, honestly.

Gracie got up and splashed cold water to her face. She went back to her working table, only to notice another letter laid on her desk.

Curiously, she opened the letter and pulled out the piece of paper.

Hello, Gracie!

This is Sirius writing. You remember me from the party? What am I even asking, 'Course you do. I'm the best looking person there, how could you ever forget me? Anyways, I wanted to see how you were doing? Got you address from James' letters, don't tell him I read it (please).

Anyways, I wanted to see how the pretty girl is doing? Hope you're not attending those kind of parties again, they sucked, honestly. I used to go to these boring parties every year, courtesy of my mother, it was the worst.

Are you doing good? Hope you are, I stole some of the sweets you sent James. They taste amazing, not as sweet as you though ;)

Would the pretty girl mind sending me some sweets? Or maybe she can send herself here, either is fine!

I hope you don't ignore my letter because that would wound my ego, sweetcheeks.

Sincerely,

Sirius Black.

Gracie laughed reading her letter, her mood lifting. Even his best friend put more effort on writing to her than he does, that caused her to smile sadly. Gracie then shook her thoughts and grabbed a paper to respond to that letter, before sealing it and going out to get some sweets for a certain Sirius Black.