the Horcrux Thief, james potter

xx. dating an idiot

Amaya had never felt so free flying with the team, and she wasn't such a Quidditch fanatic like James. All the players were nice and kind, but most of all athletic machines, and so much more advanced at playing and tactics than Amaya thought was possible in Quidditch. She played as a seeker for two of the games they played, and despite the competition, she was a bloody good flyer and caught the snitch both times, through the second one she did so by throwing herself off the broomstick, spinning in the air and landing on the broomstick on both feet.

That had gotten her a wave of silence as all of them stared at her in awe. And only when James started clapping and whistling did everyone join in and AMaya was sure her face looked as red as a tomato.

That night had been a dream come true, and seeing James on the bleachers cheering her on made her heart flip. Because he'd brought her there for her, it didn't matter whether he was a massive Puddlemere fan, or that he would've geeked out should he be able to play amongst professional players, who in Amaya's opinion he was at the level of. He just did it for her.

So it was stupid that she was mad at him now. It was, and she knew it. What annoyed her though, was very simple. James was not touching her. He was being fucking weird. The night of the date, Amaya wanted to thank him for everything and he just said she didn't need to and they went to sleep.

He'd kiss her. He'd hold her hand and drag her into his arms at night, but the moment Amaya tried to do anything more he'd find a way to avert it and shift her focus elsewhere. Or he would start something and abruptly stop.

In the beginning, Amaya wasn't sure what was happening, why he was rejecting her all of a sudden but if he wasn't comfortable she didn't want to push anything. She still didn't. But the matter of fact was she could see he wanted more, that he wanted exactly what she wanted and was purposefully denying himself.

Amaya didn't know whether it was some sort of test for himself, or perhaps he truly didn't want to touch her, and she would understand that. But he didn't tell her anything. It was like something switched and suddenly he halted all the sex they'd been having. To a place they were, back when they were barely more than friends.

And yes, perhaps it was strange that she felt so strongly about it, that she wanted to shove James off the cart as they settled into it in Gringotts intending to go to "her" vault. But the fact was, he'd made her a whole speech about wanting her and now he wouldn't touch her. And every time he rejected her, it stung. Was she not good enough anymore?

They got into the cart and Amaya was sure even the goblin could tell the tension between them.

It so happened that James was pissed at her too.

For an entirely different and absolutely unreasonable reason. He was mad about the stupid Horcrux Compass.

When Remus and her finally finished building the blasted thing, they showed it to Sirius and James, throwing jazz hands in the mix. James had narrowed his eyes at her as Amaya and Remus explained they studied the Horcrux's magic to create the compass and even replicate it on a shallow scale.

When they finished James and Sirius blew up, telling them how the Horcrux could've poisoned them both and how they could've asked for help. Then, Remus and Amaya got mad too. Safe to say, planning the heist was no easy feat when everyone was pissed.

"Can we go slower?" asked Amaya to the goblin handling the cart.

The goblin stared at her blankly. "I'm not allowed—"

"I'll return to you the goblin-made dagger I have in my vault," Amaya interrupted him, seeing as the goblin's eyes turned greedy and he nodded.

The cart started moving, and jerked as it did, causing Amaya to grasp James' arm subconsciously for safety. He laughed. She glared at him and let his arm go as the cart moved, fast but not deadly. It was enough that they could talk. Enough that they would have time to stop right after the Thief's Downfall.