the girlfriend experience ━━ james potter ¹

xii. signatures and silent treatment

     Fiddling around with her tie to make it sit nicely around her neck, Bronwyn responded with a nonchalant shrug, "I can't make that promise."

     Andromeda practically threw herself back onto her four-poster bed, staring longingly at the fabric that hung above her, acting as a ceiling. "Isn't this the same kid that's so irritatingly confident it almost hurts to give him the time of day?"

     "That's the one."

     Andromeda propped herself up on her elbows, and looked quizzically at her friend, "So why does he need your help?"

     "Because," Bronwyn drawled, flicking her hair out from where it had been tucked under her robe, "he's a menace to society and I will do everything in my power to heal the world from the reign of James Potter."

     Andromeda made a face that implied she was pondering this for a moment. Finally, she pushed off from her bed, walked over to her friend, fondled Bronwyn's skew-whiff tie, and said, "Makes sense."

     And that, ladies and gents, is why Andromeda Black is Bronwyn Ward's chosen right-hand man.

     On the other side of the castle, in the Gryffindor common room, James Potter was trying to process the fact that it was Monday morning. Not in the sense that oh crap, it's the beginning of the week again! but more in the sense that Monday meant it was his first date with childhood friend, Quidditch nemesis, biggest James-Potter-fan-going, Bronwyn Ward, according to The Girlfriend Experience Itinerary. And he couldn't quite wrap his head around it.

     "Just let me copy the introduction. I just need something to get me going."

     James absently stared into the vacant fireplace, while Sirius Black followed a bothered Remus Lupin around the busy common room. "You've left it a bit late, don't you think, Padfoot?"

     "Last time I checked," Sirius said, now cutting Remus off from heading back upstairs to their shared dormitory, by hopping onto the first step, and leaning up against the tiled wall, "homework isn't due until the lesson starts."

     "Great," Remus said, glancing at his watch, "so you've got approximately one hour to write an entire essay. Nice work, Black."

     Remus ducked under Sirius' arm and continued making his way up the spiral stairs. "Which is why I'm asking you to help a friend out!" Sirius called up the staircase, but to no avail ─ Remus had escaped his clutches. Desperate, the dark-haired boy flopped onto the vacant spot on the sofa next to James, who was yet to say anything at all this particular Monday morning, bar a few hums of acknowledgement.

     "Have you done it?" Sirius asked.

     "Hm?"

     "Have you done Slughorn's essay?"

     James was silent for a moment, causing Sirius' eyes to flicker over to the fireplace to see what was so captivating about it seeing as it had been completely enamoured by his friend. Then ─ and Sirius isn't quite sure he understood what James said due to the mumbling ─ James' mouth moved for the first time that day. "Yeah, yeah, pranks, great."

     With his neck jutted out, and his brows furrowed, Sirius was utterly dumbfounded by his distracted friend. Trying to get the boy's attention, Sirius waved his hand in front of his face and nothing. James didn't so much as move an inch.

     To confirm his suspicions that James wasn't listening to a word he was saying, as well as being rather frustrated that he was yet to complete his essay that was due first period without his friends' help, Sirius tried a different approach.