Two weeks.
It had been two agonizingly long weeks since James had last seen Harthwood, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could go without seeing her face.
In truth, he had seen her, but he had worked extremely hard to keep from making eye contact, or any sort of contact for that matter.
Staying away from Harthwood was pure torture, far worse than any Cruciatus Curse could ever be.
But how was he to interact with her now that he knew she didn't feel the same way he did.
Harthwood had chosen Blaze; he had to accept that fact.
Remus and Sirius sat across from him at breakfast that morning, and they were watching him with concern in their eyes.
They didn't know how to help him, how to soothe his heartache, and it was worrying the two to see the normally mischievous and carefree air about their friend completely vanished.
Before they could say anything to the sulking boy, Lily Evans plopped down next to James.
"Morning all!" She said cheerfully, a bright smile on her face.
A few months ago, her sitting next to him would have had James grinning like a maniac, but now he barely noticed her presents at the table.
"What's up with Mr. Grumpy?" Lily asked, shooting a confused glance towards the bespectacled boy.
Remus sighed. "Harthwood and Blaze are dating."
"Prongs is depressed," Sirius said bluntly.
"Well, no shit Sherlock!" Remus sarcastically shot back.
"Sherlock? Who?" Sirius questioned, his brow raised in bewilderment.
"Never mind, idiot," Remus muttered.
"Right. Where is Peter?" Lily asked, ignoring their antics.
"Oh, lover-boy Pettigrew is sitting with his girlfriend at the Ravenclaw table. The traitor!" Sirius said with fake hurt, earning himself a couple of eye rolls.
"Good for him! Maybe I should just go sit with Sev? It would be so much more relaxing than this," Lily said with exasperation, giving James a pointed look.
"I wonder if Gerrwick would hex me if I showed up at the Slytherin table?" The curly-haired Gryffindor thought out loud, resting his chin on his knuckles.
"If you go over there, she will probably hex you to oblivion!" Remus scoffed.
"I'm willing to take that risk!"
"Whatever. It's your funeral."
"Make sure there are white orchids at the service."
"Sure. And no inviting your cousin."
"You got it!"
Lily chuckled. The Marauders always managed to make strange conversations sound weirdly normal.
James had yet to say a single word.
"Right, so, Evans, we going to visit our Slytherins?" Sirius asked, an excited gleam in his gray eyes.
The redhead nodded in agreement, then turned to the sulking boy next to her. "If you are so upset, why don't you just talk to Adelaide? I know for a fact that she likes Jaxson, but she isn't in love with him." After she finished, Lily and Sirius stood and made their way to the table on the other side of the Great Hall.
Remus waited patiently for his friend to say something, and when several minutes passed without a word, he huffed and said sharply - "Can you please stop acting like a crybaby!"
"I am not acting like a crybaby. I'm acting like anyone in my position would be," James said in such a low voice that if Remus' hearing wasn't far superior to a human's, he wouldn't have heard his friend.
"And how is that, pray tell?"
"Heartbroken."
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Wren Gerrwick wasn't having a good day.
Merlin, she wasn't having a good week!
Everything that could go wrong had, and right now, she was about to murder Lucius Malfoy.
How someone could be so unbearably oblivious to other's annoyances was startling at best and rage-inducing at worst.
"Really though, my dear, you must meet my cousin. He is a very wealthy Pure-Blood and would suit you superbly!" Lucius droned on relentlessly.
Wren was so close to doing something illegal that she could almost taste the bloodshed.
But unfortunately for her, Lucius was saved by the forms of Lily Evans and Sirius Black showing up next to her.
"Gerrwick! My darling-dearest!" The ridiculous Gryffindor exclaimed loudly, throwing his body down on the bench by her.
Lily rolled her eyes and sat beside a shyly grinning Severus Snape.
"Hello, Sev," The redhead said, kissing him on a blushed cheek before turning in the female Slytherin's direction. "Hello, Wren. Sorry about him." Lily nodded towards Sirius.
Wren glared at his smiling face.
"Curse morning people!" She thought to herself.
"Has anyone ever told you that you have a remarkably beautiful glare?" Sirius asked, propping his elbow on the table and leaning his chin on his knuckles.
Taken aback, it took Wren several seconds to understand what in Merlin's name the idiot had said.
"No, no one has ever said that to me."
"Shame. You really do have a beautiful glare."
Unsure how to respond to that, she decided to flat-out ignore him and turned her attention back to Lily and Severus.
"Have you two started the essay we have on Venomous Tentacula?" She asked, pushing her porridge around with her spoon.
"Wait!" Sirius gulped, a stricken look on his face, "We have an essay on Venomous Tentacula?"
"It's due on Tuesday, you blundering idiot!" Wren scolded.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
Adelaide smiled at the terrible joke Jaxson had just told and laughed softly.
Two weeks had passed since she had said yes to being his girlfriend, and it was not that she wasn't happy with him - it was just that she was happy without him as well.
She didn't feel like a part of her was missing when they were apart, and when they were together, she enjoyed their time but wasn't desperate to keep it from ending.
Jaxson was a wonderful person he really was.
So why wasn't she falling head-over-heels in love with him?
"Maybe because he isn't James," A voice in the back of her mind sighed.
James didn't show any sign of liking her in that way, so why were her thoughts still on him?
"What do you think, Ladie?" Jaxson said, bring her out of her thoughts.
"Hmm? What did you say? Sorry, I'm a bit tired today," She sighed apologetically.
"I just asked if you think Chase and I should schedule an extra practice before we play Slytherin next week?" Jaxson said, flashing her a bright grin.
"Oh, well, that's not a bad idea. Practice makes perfect," Adelaide nodded, taking a bite of egg.
"How right you are, Ladie!" Jaxson praised, running a hand through his perfectly styled brown hair.
Adelaide refrained from telling him that she hated that nickname and returned his smile.
Lifting her pale blue eyes, to lazily sweep over the students still in the Great Hall, she chuckled when she spotted Lily sitting next to Severus at the Slytherin table.
They were adorable, and she had never seen Severus, or Lily for that matter, smile so much as when they were together.
What surprised her was seeing Wren and Sirius sitting beside each other, the former looking less than pleased but somewhat civil.
Finally, she glanced reluctantly towards the Gryffindor table.
Peter was a bit further down the Ravenclaw table with Della, so it was only Remus and a sulky-looking James Potter, sitting in the Marauder's designated area.
Adelaide frowned. What was the matter with Potter?
Was he ill? Did he get in trouble with McGonagall again?
A tangle of thoughts raced through her mind, but when James lifted his own head, and hazel eyes met pale blue, all of those thoughts disappeared completely.
He held her gaze like it was the most important thing in the world, and a thousand emotions sparked between their eyes.
James looked away first, and it left her breathless.