✓ | MISCHIEF MANAGED | James Potter V.S. Sirius Black

16 : Permanent Vacation

     Catherine cleared her throat, stammering out incoherent words as she slapped his chest. James just smiled and kept his eyes on her affectionately.

     "Ah, yes, good morning, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore greeted James who did so as well. "I take it you're here to fetch Miss Valentine for the Quidditch practice?"

     James nodded in confirmation. "Yes, sir. We'll be competing against Ravenclaw tomorrow."

     Dumbledore chuckled. "Best of luck to the lot of you, then."

     James and Catherine nodded their thanks and made their way out of the door with her telling him what she's accomplished and him telling her how his day was. Almost like what a real couple would do.

     Sirius who was in the office sighed deeply before slowly crossing the room to leave as well after a quiet mumbling of goodbye to Dumbledore. He had just laid a hand on the doorknob when a voice stopped him, "It's peculiar, isn't it?"

     Sirius froze momentarily before throwing a glance at Dumbledore over his shoulder. "What do you mean, professor?"

     Dumbledore smiled gently, a twinkle in his eye. "James and Catherine. They may fake their way around people as a couple, but they can't fake their feelings." Dumbledore paused as Sirius comprehended the headmaster's words before he continued speaking. "Maybe Catherine would be James's undoing."

     The thought of Catherine being his best mate's Achilles heel made him queasy but Sirius nodded nonetheless. "Yeah."

««•»»

     "So." James cleared his throat in an unnatural manner. "What was that?"

     Catherine raised an eyebrow at him as they continued walking down the corridor. "What are you talking about?"

     James attempted to keep up his cool and collected façade, though he was harboring moths in his stomach. "You know, you and Sirius. Laughing. Hugging."

     Despite his firm hold on Catherine, she couldn't help but smile at what he just said. Sneaking a glance at him, she took note of the hard glint in his eyes and the muscle that jumped in his jaw. "James Potter, are you...jealous?"

     James nearly choked on air, internally wreaking havoc. He faked a laugh, snorting at Catherine. "Of course not. Why would I be?"

     Turning the corridor, Catherine then shrugged and said slyly, "Alright. I guess I'll just go back and practice some more with Siri."

     James groaned frustratedly, suddenly pinning Catherine against the wall with his face mere inches from hers. He was so close she could feel his breath on her face. "If you want to practice, you go to me. All right?"

     Her heart hammered wildly against her chest, she was aware of every single bit of James's body pressed against her. She swallowed, her throat dry as she faked a laugh. "Dream on, Potter." With that, she playfully pushed him back before entering the Gryffindor locker room to change into her Quidditch robes.

     Catherine loved how the Quidditch pitch looked at this moment. Considering it was still December, tomorrow being the first day of a new year, soft snow still fell from the sky very gently.

     Currently, she was up in the air with her teammates and they were trying to pass the Quaffle around. They weren't practicing seriously, deciding to have a break and just play around with the Quaffle. She was having quite a difficult time catching it, considering she was used to handling small objects like the Snitch.