issue | james potter

08 | THE FIRST DATE

issue
act 1; part 8 | the first date
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"WE HAVE A Hogsmeade trip later this week." James stated as he and Diana made their way towards the Potions classroom. James' arm was casually draped over Diana's shoulders and she tried her best not to shrug them off.

"I know that, James. Why are you telling me this?" She asked, looking at James expectantly.

"We are going on a date." James grinned at Diana, smirking at her disbelieving expression.

"James, how many times do I have to remind you that we are not actually dating." Diana whispered harshly, looking at James with a soft glare.

"I know that, but they don't." James said, pertaining to the student population of Hogwarts. "We have to keep up appearances Diana."

"Yes, but I'm pretty sure we don't have to be attached at the hip." Diana said, rolling her eyes at James.

"Eleven." James stated, looking at Diana seriously.

"Excuse me?" She asked, her eyebrows raised at him.

"That's the eleventh time you've rolled your eyes at me and we haven't even gotten through half the day yet."

"I didn't think you counted that."

"Well, you've done it so much I couldn't help myself." James said shrugging, giving her a small smile. "Anyways, Hogsmeade?"

"One of our initial rules is that we don't go on dates, remember?"

"Look, don't think of it as a date. Think of it as two unlikely friends hanging out. Because that is what it is to the both of us." James said, nudging her side slightly.

"Fine." Diana said, rolling her eyes but chuckled slightly. "You're still paying though."

"Wouldn't have it any other way, love." James teased. "Also, twelve."

"Shut up James."

...

"JAMES WHEN YOU said that we were going on a date this was not what I had in mind." Diana said begrudgingly, slumping down in one of the many waiting areas at Gladrags Wizardwear.

"I want your opinion on a few of these." James called out from inside on of the changing rooms. 

"Talk about role reversal." Diana mumbled, chuckling at the abnormality of the situation. Usually, it is the women who would drag the men into clothing shops. 

"What do you think?" James asked, stepping out from the changing room and turning around in front of Arabella. He wore black dress robes with a formal white shirt underneath, he had a smirk on his face as he waited for Diana's reply.

"You look fine, James." Diana said, looking at James from head to toe. "Why would you need dress robes anyway? Last time I checked we weren't having a ball."

James nodded and went back into the changing room, deciding to buy the outfit. He didn't really want to spend longer in the shop and from the looks of it Diana didn't want to either. "I'm attending a family wedding. I think my uncle Charles is getting married."

"Oh." Diana said, nodding but stopped when she realized that James couldn't see her. She got up from her seat and started to walk around the shop. They had quite a large selection of really quirky pairs of socks. She laughed as she grabbed a pair of socked that screamed when they would get too smelly.

"You might want to get these, Potter." She teased, holding the socks up James.

"You keep on finding ways to hurt me Diana." James said, laughing as he shook his head at her. Regardless, he took the socks from her hands and went to the counter to pay for them and the robes.

"MADAM PUDDIFOOT'S REALLY?" Diana asked, her eyebrows raised at James as they made their way into the shop.

"You have to admit, it's kind of cute." 

"Not really my type. It looks like somebody threw up the colour pink." Diana said, shuddering at the place.

"Bit of an overreaction, love."

"Nope. It's not." Diana said, looking at all of the couple holding hands and kissing coupled with the frilly decorum of the shop.

"Hello, you two." Madam Puddifoot said once she was able to make her way to James and Diana's table. The place was so full that she had great difficulty in moving between tables. "I haven't seen you two around here before."

"We just started dating." James smiled, reaching out across the table for Diana's hand.

"Well, you two are a very lovely couple." she commented with a smile. "What will you two be having?"

"A regular coffee for me and a jasmine tea for her." James smiled at the older lady. 

"You know my order." Diana commented surprised at this.

"You mentioned once that your favourite tea was jasmine so.."

"That is so cute." Madam Puddifoot gushed, cutting James off. "So thoughtful! That must be why you agreed to date him."

"Yeah." Diana said, chuckling nervously. "Besides nobody else makes me laugh harder than he does." she continued, looking at James with a small smile.

"And there is really no one else's opinion that matters to me more than hers." James said, looking at Madam Puddifoot then back at Diana.

"Oh, young love." Madam Puddifoot said, sighing dreamily at the two. "I'll have your order ready as soon as I can."

"If we can convince Madam Puddifoot that we're actually dating, then I think we have the entirety of Hogwarts fooled as well." James joked, winking at Diana.

...