Game of Heartbreak - James Potter x Reader

30 - Second First Date

After changing my mind about five times, I finally decide on an outfit to wear on my date with James. 

I don't know why I'm stressing about this so much. I know James. We've been on dates before. But it for some reason feels different this time. 

I finish doing my hair and makeup and try to stop feeling anxious - but it's apparently impossible to just stop feeling anxious, so I instead choose to ignore it and apparate to the restaurant where I'm meeting James. 

I immediately see James sitting at a table, fiddling with a fork in his hands. I smile, my anxiety fading as I walk over. 

"Hey," I say, sitting down across from him. 

"Hi." He grins, setting the fork down on the table. "You look nice." 

"So do you," I respond. 

"Except my hair," He says. "No matter what I do, it's a total mess." 

"No, your hair is cute, I like it messy." 

"Aw, you think I'm cute," He says teasingly. 

"Shut up." I laugh. 

"Well, I think you're cute too." 

I can't help but blush. 

And then from there an awkward silence falls upon us and we both seem to decide to stare at our menus to avoid this. Then the waiter comes over and takes our order, which manages to ease the awkwardness for about three seconds before they walk away again. 

"This is weird," James says. "You're feeling weird too, right?" 

"Absolutely," I answer. 

"Glad it's not just me," He says. "I don't even know why it's weird. We know each other, we've been on dates before, why is it weird?" 

"Maybe because we haven't been on a date in like six years," I suggest. "I mean, what the hell do you talk about on a date with someone who you dated years ago?" 

"Yeah, this is like a super weird first date. Except not the first. But it's also like a first date. It's our second first date? All of this is so weird. But not bad weird! I still am glad this is happening." 

"I am too," I respond softly. "Maybe it's weird because we're adults now. When we were younger, on our dates we could gossip or complain about homework or find a cupboard to make out in, but I absolutely have no idea how to have adult conversations." 

"Yeah, I've never understand what adults are supposed to talk about. I usually just talk about quidditch until I scare people off." 

"Well you can talk about quidditch all you want, there's nothing you could do to scare me off." 

He grins. "You're going to regret saying that." 

This thankfully manages to make everything much less awkward. We start having a conversation, not just about quidditch, we end up making really weird jumps from one random topic to the other and it's amazing. 

And suddenly it's like I'm transported back to six years ago when we'd go on dates. The way we can so easily connect makes me forget about the last six years - like nothing bad happened, James and I never broke up, the war didn't happen, the deaths didn't happen, we're just carefree eighteen year olds talking about complete nonsense and having fun. 

But then the waiter says something that completely snaps us both back to reality. 

"I hope you and your wife have a lovely evening, sir," They say to James as they place our plates of food on the table and we both immediately freeze.