AND SO, NOVEMBER CARRIED ON,
and with it, the cold wind invited itself in, leaves had already fallen off all trees, Christmas was beginning to whisper around the corner, as were exams. But, having passed the Ravenclaw against Slytherin Quidditch match (with a victory for Ravenclaw), it meant Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff was just around the corner, before anyone could enjoy the holiday break.
Three days of practice per week turned into four, and the only reason it hadn't gone up to five was Dominique pointing out some people wanted to live outside of Quidditch. This, James claimed was rubbish, but decided to be the bigger person, and agree.
Hands calloused as they'd ever been (easily rivarling how they'd turned out after a few rough Herbology lessons), cheeks permanently red from the dire need hydration, and both arms and legs positively aching from stretching out and holding herself on the broom for so long, Lucy was positively stressed.
And Thomas still dared say "but you're sitting down the whole time?"
'Not a real sport' his arse.
"We're done, aren't we? Done?" Called Lucy, the golden snitch's tiny wings trying to flutter their way out of her fist's firm grasp.
"If I swing this again, it's gonna take my arm with it, as well!" Fred added, waving his bat around, actively pretending that the bludger that was evidently chasing Hector around didn't exist.
Luckily, James agreed this time (it had absolutely nothing to do with him being just a little ditzy from going from hoop to hoop trying to keep every quaffle out). It took the lot a while to get the nasty bludger off of Hector's trail, but five minutes later, the seven players were safely down on the ground.
"Hufflepuff's gonna suck it real nice. They are so gonna suck it," Collete Blanc said triumphantly, despite being out of breath, she was grinning.
As much as Lucy would usually love to stay around (gossip with the team really was an experience), she had quite the urge to get moving, lie down in the common room, and try to convince Thomas, once again, to please do her homework.
"Ta-ra, team. See you at home." She gave a twirl of her fingers, something she'd seen Aurora do from time to time (though Lucy's was nowhere near as graceful as hers).
With the passing November, James Sirius Potter had come to realise a few things, most importantly, perhaps, was feelings that came back, were feelings that had never really left. He was not mad that he'd fancied the same person for a good three years now, he was mad at the fact that all that time had been spent trying to ignore it, brushing it under the rug, laughing it away as he claimed it to be an impossibility.
Three years he had wasted on that, so when he did choose to let it in, it was something completely different, like learning to walk, knowing he'd been able to perfectly run before.
"Are you done?"
"Hold on, it's getting there."
"That's what she said."
"Good one, Freddie," James had to admit, laughter filling his voice, "Okay. See you at home. Good practice, love the lot of you." He nodded, rushing past the remaining five members.
Sixth sense, intuition, predictability, whatever it was, Lucy knew he was there a moment before he said, "All right, Stewart?"
"I'm going to the changing rooms...?" Lucy half asked, "May I help you?"
"You may," James said, "Come with me."
"But that's gross-" Lucy tried to object, but he'd whisked her away nonetheless. She soon recognised the path to the Black Lake, but that didn't mean it cleared up any questions.
"Why did you bring me here, again?"
James thought for a moment, "They say the lady of the lake comes out around this hour, thought we should take a look at that, yes?" He smiled, taking a seat nearby the edge of the lake.
"That's just the giant squid." Lucy scoffed amusedly, sitting next to him, "So. Now that we're here, just the two of us, mind telling me why you asked Mia to ask me about you?"
"What?" The tone of his voice was almost guilty by default. If the giant squid decided to drag him down, James would thank it. "No. Why would I ask her to do that? Where's your information coming—"
"I'm messin' with you," Lucy interrupted, smiling devilishly, "The day I see you take interest in a girl, that'll be the day."
That would be the day, indeed. "Implying?" James laughed, "You know I like girls, don't you?"
"It's been made clear." She rolled her eyes, "I mean when you pine over one, you daft. Fred, well, I concluded he was incapable, before Aurora. Thomas had Vic for a while, in his head. I had Teddy, Romeo for a crazy minute–"
"I did have Lei. Third year?"
"Third year, yeah," Lucy agreed, a small sigh escaping her at the memory, "Why did that end, again? You never said that much."
James shrugged his shoulders, "There wasn't... much to say, I guess. Feelings change. It didn't feel right anymore." He did know, and Leilani knew, too. And often times he feared he was the reason his former girlfriend could hardly look at Lucy anymore.
And she grew silent. Perhaps she already knew that was the answer, for quite a while. True as it was, innocent as it longed to be, it was harsh, and inevitable, and she was merely a teenager, but she already feared it. How could someone so full of love suddenly not feel the same anymore?
"I didn't like how she treated you, either. Especially after that one night," James admitted.
"I was kind of insane back then, can't really blame her—"
"But you were still my best friend."
"James, I kissed her boyfriend." Three years, it had been, but the guilt flooded her whole each time she dared think of it. "Reckon it's enough to get anyone mad," Lucy muttered, looking at a strand of her hair.
"She kissed my cousin that night, too. It was weird," James said, "We were tipsy. We all agreed to the game. And Godric's sake, we were bloody thirteen..."
She supposed he was right. He sounded logical, even. Still, Lucy could not quite accept it. That was something nobody would quite get. But with the way Leilani avoided eye contact to that very day, Lucy wondered if she did understand. They were tipsy, they all had agreed to spin the bottle, they were thirteen, but never mind that, Lucy had liked it. To date, she was unaware of how long they'd actually kissed. What she did remember was the feeling, of her stomach leaping through the skies, a point where mortality and heaven met, and how curious, how oddly curious, that she could be so in touch with her senses, yet so far beyond herself.
How wrong that was! That she'd revelled on it, that her heart had swooned with joy when the bottle landed on him, that she'd had the audacity to take every bit of it in, knowing he was not hers. How wrong they were. The second things dared to escalate, just the slightest bit, just to try, flames ignited. And those weren't lively, or warm, they burnt, relentlessly, until the candle would be no more.
With the thought of talking her mind so close yet so far away, Lucy spoke again, "Yeah. I s'pose. Just wish some stupid first kiss hadn't become so problematic."
"I'm... sorry. If I got you into a load of rubbish for that. I mean, everybody loves me," James said, in a funny mixture of sincerity and lack of modesty, "It was meant to be genuine!" He exclaimed, hands up in surrender as she playfully threw a fistful of grass at him. "Was I your first, though?"
"Just the first kiss!" Lucy promptly replied.
"Obviously. I think I'd remember if it wasn't jus' that." The both of them chuckled, in hopes to cancel out the sudden rush of heat in the rather chilly evening.
"To be fair, I did think of it. At some point. A while back." James thought his neck might've snapped with how quickly his head had perked up. In fact, it did crack somewhere, small but painful, and his hand flew to the back of his neck.
"You thought of that?"
"Yes. That," Lucy confirmed. Choosing to spill her guts like that was not a conscious decision, but she was there now, might as well properly have that one out. "I don't know. Everyone was talking about it. When was the last time you snogged someone... last time you went down on someone, have you done it already— all that. I just really wanted it out the way. So I thought of you. And I really, really was tempted. If term had ended a month later, I think I would've asked."
"But not everyone was doing—" James cut himself off at her accusing look, "Well– there was— it was a thing, yes. After the OWLs and whatnot. But not everyone was. Thomas didn't even care, I think."
"But it's Thomas. He has that thing. He just knows his boundaries. If he says no, it's no. And he doesn't care, he can just decide not to care," Lucy explained, "And I have to know what people think. I just wanted the bloody experience, that's all."
"Lucy, you're the coolest person in school, don't tool yourself. You might be even cooler than me, and that is really speaking somethin'."
"Bet your pretty face I am," Agreed Lucy, smile suddenly returning to her face, for with one swift tug, she'd pulled him down to the lake, but with an improvised pull of her ankle, James had dragged her down, as well.
"The squid's gonna have us for dinner!"
"You started it!"
"...but wouldn't that be one fine meal?" He should've expected the immediate splash of water he got for a response, but James could be rather foolish. "Okay! Okay! But that doesn't change facts, y'know?"
"Fact is, you're not as hot as you think you are." Lucy teased, swimming closer to him with some effort (thanks to the clothes and the shoes they'd of course not taken off), "You look like a scarecrow." She snickered, hands finding his face to move his now wet hair out the way.
"You're one to talk." James retorted, with feigned confidence he didn't think he could hold for long, with her hands running along his hair, and her legs accidentally tangling with his, he could hear the beat of his heart in his ears, and her cold breath ghosting along his face. Please, fancy me too. Please like me back. It's a long shot, but please? Godric, please, I wish I were a poet to tell you, but I think my heart is burning for you-
Her eyes moved down to meet with his, and it felt, for a moment, like she'd heard every single word he said. James would question it from that moment onward. Her beautiful eyes, capable of raging like the sea gleamed before him, brighter and clearer than diamonds, could've read him whole, if she so wished to.
"So, if I was your first..." James started again, "Was it good?"
His eyes were so brown, it was inexplicable. Like all its tonalities had come together to create their one masterpiece. His eyes were the gentle, definite reign over uncertainty, welcoming to whoever found themselves looking into them. This realisation didn't feel like one at all. It wasn't a decision, it was fact, and who would she be to deny such a thing?
"Yes," Lucy said, without thinking about she was saying, or that she'd sworn to never admit to that, "It was."
Called by a greater force, that seemed to know of what was happening, the clouds above dropped their first warning drops. Said warning was only a couple seconds long, before rain truly fell, adding on to the cold of the day. Rain was, of course, always a frequent visitor, never mind any kind of previous weather. But it mattered not, in its own way, rain had to be there.
"I mean that. If it's not the giant squid, it's gonna be the buggin' lady of the lake. Let's go." Lucy laughed, narrowing her eyes to look above at the clouds, before back at James. "You've oughtta do something about your brows." She ran her thumbs along them, and not for the first time, the little hairs were tamed below her touch.
Only this time, James didn't fear it anymore, "Why would I? You wouldn't have to brush them if I did," He said, expression alight with joy.
Despite rolling her eyes, Lucy said nothing, ony smiled too, as the both of them pulled themselves out of the lake.
It didn't take long for McGonagall to come across the path of muddy footprints, and small puddles of water. And it took her even less to trace it back to the owners for their detention. Detention that, coincidentally, didn't seem to interfere with Quidditch practices.
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AUTHOR'S WORDS ˊˎ-
So, I went through one of those moments where you question everything, and think to yourself "what if everything I'm writing is a pile of rubbish? What if everyone just really, really hates what I'm writing?" and as we know, those episodes just tend to halt and really make you question things by their destructive nature. Then I thought to myself, sure, it might be a load of rubbish, but it's my rubbish that I love very much, so I am writing it either way. There's the storytime on why this took a while longer to arrive.
However! Thank you for the over 5K views, that's kind of crazy. And for all the interactions with this book. Again, kind of crazy! Hope this was enjoyable for you to read, and have a lovely rest of your day! xx.