attached | james potter

twenty-seven: can't help falling in love with you

As he dragged her out of the bakery, she raised an eyebrow at him incredulously. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

James shrugged, gesturing to where Sirius and Peter were already outside, munching on their food. "They were getting impatient."

She folded her arms in disbelief. "Sure."

James smirked. "You should be thanking me, I saved your a whole lot of time. He wasn't an interesting fella anyways. Probably still lives with his mother."

Brooklyn rolled her eyes. "You still live with your mother."

"Touché."

Brooklyn sighed, but she was trying to hide her smile. He was a bloody idiot, but she couldn't really stay mad at him. Stupid moronic adorable boy.

"Whatever. Come on. Let's go surprise Remus with some brownies."

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That evening, the five of them sat together under a large tree in the forest behind the Potter mansion, patiently waiting for the sun to set. James had protested for an hour about how they should have left Brooklyn back at home, safe and sound in her room where nothing could harm her, but his efforts (although valiant) were ignored.

"You alright there, Moony?" Sirius asked, yawning. Remus, who was leaning back against the trunk, groaned in reply.

"Head... hurts..." He mumbled.

"Don't worry, it'll be over soon," Brooklyn said encouragingly, earning a weak smile from him. Beside her, James huffed irritably. "I still don't think it's a good idea to let you stay out here with us. You could get hurt."

"So could you," she scoffed.

"It's different!" He protested, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "You're.... you're...."

"A girl?" She raised an eyebrow, a dangerously calm tone in her voice. "So what, you're saying girls aren't as capable of taking care of themselves as guys are?"

James opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Sirius shaking his head warningly. "Don't answer that, mate. Trust me. Just play dead or something."

Brooklyn rolled her eyes. "What is this, the Dark Ages? I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself."

"But..... something could happen to you," James grumbled, looking down at the ground petulantly like a sulking child.

"Nothing will. Just relax."

He still didn't look convinced. Sighing, she moved to sit next to him on the log, nudging his shoulder slightly. "Honestly, it'll be fine."

Sirius, sensing that an argument was about to break out, quickly sprang to his feet. "Come on, guys. We should start moving deeper into the woods. The moons almost here." He turned to them hesitantly. "You guys coming?"

James glanced at them then back to Brooklyn. "Uh, you guys go ahead. We'll catch up."

Sirius nodded, half-dragging Peter and Remus away, leaving Brooklyn and James alone. It was silent for a few moments, with only the sounds of crickets chirping and wind rustling the leaves. The sky was already turning dark, with a few groups of glittering stars here and there. James wasn't sure what to do, or what to say, he was racking his brain but he kept coming up empty. He knew he should have a little more faith in her, but he couldn't help it. Even though he was sure that she could take care of herself just fine, he wasn't about to take any chances.

He sneaked a few glances at her a few times, trying to gauge her expression. She was looking up at the sky, her face neutral, neither upset not pleased. He wasn't sure what to make of it. Was she mad? Finally, he decided to apologise, but he didn't get the chance to.

"Do you know any constellations?" Brooklyn asked suddenly, breaking the silence. She was gazing at the sky, transfixed.

James was surprised at first by the sudden change in topic but shrugged nonetheless. "My mum taught me a few, but not much. I think I've forgotten most of them by now."

"See that one over there? That's Andromeda." On an impulse, she gently took his hand and pointed it up , guiding it towards the speckle of silver stars she'd been referring to. "In Greek mythology, Andromeda was the daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. The queen offended the sea nymphs, the Nereids, by claiming that her daughter was more beautiful than them. They complained to the sea god Poseidon, so he sent Cetus, a sea monster to flood and destroy the king's lands as a punishment. The king was told that the only way to appease the gods and the nymphs was to sacrifice his daughter to the monster, so Andromeda was chained to a rock and left to Cetus."

James barely heard her. The moment their hands made contact, his mind went blank and he couldn't focus on anything other than the feeling of her warm, soft skin, clouding his thoughts and making his heart beat feverishly. He abruptly forgot everything he'd been thinking about just moments before that.

Brooklyn moved his hand towards another constellation, completely focused on remembering the Greek myth. She hadn't realised that James had gone as still as a statue.

"That one right there is Perseus. He's one of my favourite Greek heroes. He saved Andromeda from the beast, and they ended up getting married. He's actually one of the only Greek heroes to have a happy ending."

She glanced towards him and paused, a pink tinge of embarrassment creeping up her face as she realised that she'd green rambling. "Sorry, I'm not boring you, am I?"

James shook his head hurriedly. He'd be content to just stay there and listen to her talk all night, even if she was reciting from their History of Magic textbook. "Not at all. Tell me another one."

Suddenly realising that she was holding his hand, she quickly let go but nodded, smiling a little as she proceeded to tell him about Orion and Artemis. There it was again, that smile. He felt like if she kept smiling at him in that way, he would do anything. He would scale Mount Everest twice, he would even endure 40 hours of chick-flick movies.

To him, other girls were nothing. Their laughs didn't make his heart do gymnastic routines or tap dances, and they didn't make his lungs expand with air when they smiled. Their eyes didn't make him stop in his tracks and try to remember what he was about to say next. James wasn't in love with them. He didn't love them, not like he loved Brooklyn.

He could tell her now. It was the perfect moment. The words were right there, on the tip of his tongue. No more playful flirting and innuendos. All he had to do was grab her hand, and he could say everything he'd been wanting to say for the past 4 bloody years. But as he opened his mouth, the words all jumbled together in a big mess and he lost his nerve.

How could he possibly explain how he felt?

He couldn't explain it to her, the way his lungs burned for air every time she smiled at him, how his heart drummed in his chest like the steady beat of a bass. He couldn't explain it like how you can't explain colours to a blind person, or how you just can't explain why the sky is blue. Besides, there was no way he could sound poetic and romantic without sounding like a complete idiot at the same time. He wasn't Remus, after all.

So he stayed silent for the rest of the night, listening to her voice until it faded away slowly as she drifted asleep. Then, he carried her back inside before heading back out to the forest to join his friends.

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(honestly THEY NEED TO ADMIT THEIR FEELINGS ALREADY) 

i have a feeling you guys are going to love the next chapter ;)