The Fake Relationship Contract ♥ James Sirius Potter

Chapter 9

A couple days later, I am released from the hospital and when I get home, I realize that I have forgotten to get Christmas gifts and it is Christmas Eve. Mum and Dad are both reluctant to let me go alone but after I promised to update them every 30 minutes and tell them if I needed help, they let me.

When I get off the train in London, I wander around Victoria Place, looking for gifts to get for my parents. I walk into Lush to get Mum some new bath bombs, seeing as she loved the ones I got her last Christmas. When I walk out and turn to go to the perfume shop, I bump into someone.

The someone turned out to be Roxanne, who was with Fred and James. Fred helps his sister up while James holds out a hand to help me up. Without thinking, I grabbed his hand with my left hand so when he pulled me to my feet, pain shot through my shoulder, leaving me to cry out softly in pain. The three cousins look at me concerned as I blink away the tears forming in my eyes.

"Sorry, Alex. I didn't mean to pull your arm that hard." James says, frowning.

"No, you didn't." I say, rubbing my shoulder, waiting for the pain to go down.

"Then why did you cry out in pain?" Roxanne says, looking really concerned.

"Because I-" I cut myself off realizing they did not know what happened to me the day I got home.

"Because you what?" Fred asks and before anyone can question me any further or I can answer, I get shoved from behind, knocking me to the ground and I land painfully on my left shoulder, this time, I am unable to blink the tears of pain away. The tears roll slowly down my face. I sit there, not wanting to move, thinking about how my parents were right, I should have let them come with me.

Fred walks away, after muttering to his sister and cousin about getting me some water. Roxanne moves to my left side, protecting my shoulder from getting hurt again. James crouches beside me on my right side, looking at me through his glasses with a look of deep concern.

"Is it alright if I help you up with your right arm?" He asks and I nod my head. He, very gently, helps me up using my right arm. Fred returns with a bottle of water, which he holds out to me. I grab it and open it and drink some of it.

"Thanks for the water, Fred," I say, my voice sounding quiet, "I'll pay you back."

"No need." He says.

"So where are we going?" Roxanne asks.

"I need to finish my Christmas shopping." I tell them.

"So where's our next stop?" James asks.

"You guys do not need to come with me," I look at them, "I'm sure you guys have things you need to do."

"Nope! We were just wandering, bored." Fred says.

"Yeah, so lead the way, Hunter." Roxanne says, smiling at me. Before we can keep walking, my phone rings. It's Mum and she is calling me instead of texting me.

"Hey Mum." I say when I pick up the phone.

"You were supposed to check in 10 minutes ago, young lady." Mum says, sounding angry although I know it's because she's stressed.

"I know," I say with a small sigh, "I just bumped into some friends and it slipped my mind. I'm okay though."

"Send a picture, please," Mum says, sounding slightly less stressed, "as long as your friends are okay with it."

"Hey, you guys okay if I send a picture of us four so my mum stops worrying so much?" All three agree so we all pose and I take a quick selfie before sending it to Mum with the names of my friends attached to the picture.

"Oh, so that's who Fred, Roxanne, and James are," Mum says, and I chuckle, "well, tell them I say hi and you better check in in 25 minutes, young lady."

"I will, Mum. I love you."

"Love you too, my lovely,." Mum hangs up and I sigh.

"Why was your mum worrying about you?" Fred asks as we start walking towards a different shop for me to get something for Dad for Christmas.

"I don't want to talk about it right now." I say and all three cousins agree to drop it.

"So who do you have left to buy for?" Roxanne asks, changing the subject.

"My dad and brothers," I explain, "and I want to go to Diagon Alley to get some stuff from there. My mum loves the tea from Rosa Lee's tea shop." We walk into a couple shops and I get some stuff for my dad and brothers and then we start to head to Diagon Alley. I message Mum to let her know.

We get halfway there when we hear someone call my name from behind us. I turn and see Benny standing there.

"BENNY!!" I scream, excited. I haven't seen him since July when he got deployed. I run and jump into my brother's arms and he spins me around. My shoulder is aching like crazy but I don't care, I get one of my brothers home for Christmas. He sets me on my feet and both of us are grinning like crazy.

"How've you been, Lexi?" He asks, ruffling my hair.

"Did they tell you what happened?" I ask, "is that why you're home?"

"No? What happened?" Benny looks more confused than I have ever seen him. James clears his throat, reminding me that he and his cousins are still standing there.

"Oh, right!" I say, turning to face the cousins and seeing that James does not look happy, "you three, this is one of my brothers, Bennett or Benny as our family calls him. Benny, this is Roxanne, her brother Fred, and their cousin, James, who is also my boyfriend, hence the sour look on his face." The twins start laughing when they find out that Benny is my brother.

"Boyfriend?" Benny looks to be seizing James up, leaving me to roll my eyes at him.

"Yes and I can handle myself, Benny."

"Does anyone else know? I.e. Sammy?"

"No, I like him and want him to still be alive, thank-you very much." I snort.

"Oh, yeah Sammy would kill him," Benny says, looking over at me with a smirk, "I think he should know."

"You do that and I'll tell Dad what happened to his bottle of vodka when you were 14." He gasps and playfully glares at me.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, James," Benny says, holding out a hand to shake his hand which James shakes, "and you two as well. Where's Will?"

"Italy, visiting his family." I tell him, "does Sarah know you are back in the country?"

"Yeah, I got back last night and spent the night with her. I was just about to take the train home to spend more time with you and Mum and Dad and Sammy."

"Sammy isn't home and he won't be," I frown, worrying about my eldest brother, who is god knows where, "but he promised to try to video call, sometime tomorrow."

After that, Benny accompanies us to Diagon Alley because he loves all the magic, which is why he is excited for when I turn 17 so I can use it all the time around him.