𝕬 Mia and Melody day. Mia insisted on the two of us having a girls day while Monty entertained the boys back at the manor, probably playing quidditch or something. We decided to go to Diagon Alley to look around the shops and go for tea or coffee in my case. Mia was really like another mother to me and did things with me that my mum couldn't being a muggle or because she was sick.
"Have you seen mum lately?" I asked her as we walked through the crammed alley, my converse hitting the cobblestones with each step. We had just had our beverages in a small café and were now strolling through the alley.
"I saw her a couple of days before you came back, she's doing alright. Your dad is taking care of her" She informed me, pulling me into a clothes shop to look around, no doubt would buy me anything I looked at for just a moment.
"Okay, so she's doing okay?" I questioned quietly, following her around the shop as she browsed through the shelves and hangers.
"She's doing okay, Melody"
"Good" I nodded, breathing out a breath of relief. She picked up a summer dress, a white one. It was thin strapped with a v neck and then flowed down to around mid thigh length. It would definitely be a dress I wouldn't usually wear, much more mature.
"James would love this on you" She hummed, holding it up to me. I blushed, averting my eyes away, hearing her laugh softly, "It would look beautiful on you"
"Mia I don't-"
"You can wear it on Easter, Melody, if I had a figure like yours I would definitely wear something like this"
"You have an amazing figure, Mia, I don't know what you're talking about" I knitted my eyebrows together, following her around the shop again. I didn't have a desirable figure, I was just skin and bones, no curves, nothing.
"Oh, my day for wearing dresses like these are long gone, my dear. You are young, embrace it" She reiterated, picking up a red top and held it against me, "...and James would drop his jaw to the floor"
"You seem pretty adamant on James liking what I wear" I laughed, watching a smile etch its way on to her face.
"I've been waiting for you to get together for years, let me have this. I never would have thought he'd be able to get a girl, nevermind that girl being you. If he's anything like his father-"
"He can't form any words when he tries to speak" I finished for her, the both of us smiling at each other until her face becomes serious and she looks into my eyes.
"Do you love him?" She whispered, hope in her bright blue eyes. Obviously, James inherited Monty's eyes because his were hazel not the oceany blue Mia has.
"I love him, yeah" I nodded, swallowing slightly. I loved him before we were together. I always loved him. I knew what she meant though, it was kind of a awkward thing for me. Mia was like my mum and yet I'm talking about being in love with her son.
"No, Melody, are you in love with him?"
"I don't know Mia, i've never been in love before" I told her honestly, biting my lip and scanning over her face, "We've only been together weeks, it would be too soon wouldn't it?"
"Love knows no time. In some cases it takes longer to fall in love, you are getting to know the person when you are with them, learning to understand them more. In your case, you've known James for years and you were already close, think about it theres no rush" She responded, a small smile on her face, "I see the way he looks at you and I've heard him talk about you. I've never seen him like that before. Not even with the Lily girl"
I stayed silent, pondering on her words for a few moments. That was true, I already knew him in and out, he was the person I looked forward to seeing or went to if I was feeling down. He was the person who gave me butterflies all the time and made my cheeks tint with rosy red, the way no one else did. In love? Could I be in love with him?
"Let's pay for these and then we can head back and you can be with the boys, I've had you long enough"
"Are you trying to get rid of me Mia?!"
"No time with be enough for me, my dear. It's the complaining I will be having from all of them when we go back, about me stealing 'our girl' from them" She tutted, rolling her eyes playfully, the two of us going over to the counter. My eyes widened at all the items she placed down, I don't remember her picking up all that stuff. There was atleast two more dresses and five more tops and a jumper.
"When did you find all these?"
"When you were daydreaming about my son"
"Mia, this is too much, I-"
"Melody, i've told you about this before. Let me treat you, you are like my daughter I want to do this for you" She replied, my heart warming at the name. Her daughter, "In more ways than before, now" She muttered, handing a bag of galleons over to the woman at the desk, taking the shopping bags and exiting the shop with me.
•••
We flooed back to the manor, the green flames erupting in the fireplace, the two of us immediately spotting the boys rushing over to us, excitedly.
"You're back!"
"You've been gone ages...." James whined, coming towards me with a pout on his face.
"Fleamont, I thought you were going to entertain them" Mia voiced to her husband as he sat with his arms folded on the couch.
"I tried, apparently i'm not as good as Melody" He huffed, "They wouldn't even play quidditch for more than twenty minutes, just moping around waiting for Melody to come back"
"Oh don't feel too bad Monty, i'm just so loveable" I teased, being dragged away by the boys with the shopping bags in my hand.
"Don't let him see the dress, Melody!" Mia called out as I got carried up the stairs.
"Dress?! What dress?! Why can't I see the dress?" James rushed out, trying to take the bags out of my hands.
"You can't see it until Easter apparently" I told him, swatting his hands away when we entered my room, the other three boys collapsing on my bed.
"But we can see everything else, right?"
"A Melody fashion show"
"I mean I haven't seen half of them yet" I mumbled, looking down at the three bags on the floor. What if they didn't look good on me and Mia was wrong?
"Weren't you with mum when you got them?" James queried, confused as to what I meant.
"I swear she didn't have that much in her hands and then we went to pay and she had way more than I thought. Apparently, I was daydreaming"
"About whom?" Sirius wiggled his eyebrows at me, nodding his head towards James.
"Dumbledore" I sighed in defeat, playing with all of them. Peter and Remus burst out laughing at James' crest fallen expression and Sirius just shrugged as if he's thought about it before.
"Let's see them then" Remus decided, shoving me into the bathroom with the bags. I lifted my original top over my head, putting on the first one, a sage green lace cami top.
I walked out of the bathroom, rolling my eyes at the sight. They had all shifted my desk to the middle of the room, with four chairs behind it, like judges waiting for me to come out. They held up sheets of paper, which I then realised was numbers they had drawn with markers. James 10, Sirius 9, Peter 9 and Remus 8.
"I think you suit pinks and reds more" Remus shrugged, James scoffing.
"She suits any colour" He told Remus before turning to me, "you look amazing love"
"You're going to say that about them all, whatever she wears" Peter murmured, "Too much lace I think"
"Next one" Sirius nodded, pointing to the door. I shook my head at their antics, walking back into the bathroom, hearing them argue about what colour suits me the best. The next piece was a dress, different to the one she told me I should wear at Easter. This one was baby pink and had little flowers across it with a tie in the middle of the my chest for a bow. I walked out, posing for them all, Sirius and Peter whistling and cheering me on.
"And your scores are in...." Remus announced, the five of of them lifting up a 10 each, a beam on my face. I laughed, twirling around and going back into the bathroom again. This one was a cream cable knit jumper, so I just put my blue jeans back on with it, allowing the knit to hang over me. The fabric hung off one shoulder loosely, allowing my prominent collar bones to be on show.
"100" Remus proclaimed as soon as I set foot out of the bathroom, grinning at me.
"There is no one hundr-" He cut Peter off, grabbing the marker and drawing another zero next to the 10, making it one hundred.
"There is now"
"Turn around for us, M. Let us take it all in" Sirius instructed. I twirled around for them posing, all of them choosing the appropriate number.
There was a soft knock at the door before it opened, all of us turning to Mia at the door, her eyebrows shooting to the top of her forehead taking in the scene before she burst into laughter, fully walking into the room.
"You're rating her clothes?!" She chuckled to the boys, who grinned.
"You have good taste, Mia" Sirius nodded to the older woman, eyeing me.
"I know" She boasted, everyone drawing their attention back on to me humming, "Wait for the dress she wears on Easter"
"I haven't fully decided-"
"Melody, you are wearing the dress. Trust me" She put in with a subtle gesture to the bespectacled boy. I can do that, I trust Mia whole heartedly.
"I really want to see this dress now...." James uttered, desperate to see what all the fuss about this dress was about. I didn't really know, it was just a dress. Mia was just insistent I wore it.
"Don't worry Jamesie, you won't be able to take your eyes off her, it'll all you see then" Mia told him, his eyes widening already.
"Are we sure about this dress?" Remus queried, a protective expression on his face when he looked at James.
"If you can't control yourself that's your problem, not Melody's"
"What?!" They all spluttered, looking away from the woman, and to me, to which I turned around and walked into the bathroom without a word, not knowing what to say.
"Mum! Why did you say that?!" James whisper shouted, even though I could hear him with my hearing, "Really?!"
"It's all right Prongs, you can't help if you get hard when you see her"
"No! Shut up" James and Remus shouted at the same time.
I stayed in the bathroom, listening to them and looking at myself in the mirror. This is what you get when you're best friends with four boys, one of them happening to be your boyfriend. It's my fault really. Marlene will find this hilarious when I tell her, she won't let them forget it. There was a quiet knock on the bathroom door,
"Elody?"
"Yeah?" I bit my lip, looking at the closed door that I knew he was behind.
"Can I come in?" He mumbled. I opened the door, him instantly falling on top of me.
"You ask me to open the door but lean all your weight on it, because that makes sense" I grumbled, as he picked me up off the floor and sat me down on the cabinet in front of the mirror. He sent me a grin, before he slowly lost it, staring into my eyes. My heart rate sped up in my chest, his hands either side of me, the two of us gazing into each other's eyes. It was like the world stopped spinning, and we were frozen in time.
"They um they've all gone down for dinner" He whispered, not taking his eyes off me for a second, gulping slightly.
"Nice" I responded quietly, noticing him getting closer and closer to me. He dropped his head when his face was near mine, looking down, "Are you okay?" I murmured, moving my hands around him and bringing him closer, his head still dipped down.
"Mhm" He hummed, lifting his head up again, our faces inches away from each other, "About what mum said...."
"It's fine" I whispered, flickering my eyes between his, letting out a soft breath from our close proximity.
"Can I kiss you?" He asked almost inaudibly, his lips inches away from mine.
"You don't need to ask" I muttered, feeling him connect our lips together, my eyes fluttering closed, pushing our noses together. Endearing. Doting. Fondness. He pulled back, leaning his forehead on mine, lifting his hand up to tuck a piece of hair behind my ear.
"What are you doing to me?" He said lowly, butterflies dancing in my stomach. I flitted my eyes open, peering straight into his, "Elody, I-I" He paused his sentence, my heart beat picking up quicker quicker, "I think we should go join them"
"Right, yeah" I mumbled, frowning when he left me in the bathroom, walking away and leaving my bedroom. What happened? Did I do something wrong? Is it my fault he left?
I slid off the counter, trudging down the stairs, and into the room, seeing everyone eating dinner. I took my spot at the table, taking a side glance to the messy haired boy, noticing he was staring down at his plate. I definitely did something, otherwise he wouldn't be acting the way he was. Everyone was silent, flickering their eyes between us, noting the strange behaviour.
"So how's school going? What's that Professor that is always throwing you out, Melody?" Monty piped up, trying to diffuse the tension in the room.
"Brindle. He absolutely hates me because I called him a shit teacher and told him I felt he was trying to get me alone for detention just to be with me" I voiced, "It was a full moon day"
"He's made it his mission to throw her out every class and if-"
"One of us goes"
"We all go" We all but James chirped. They all eyed him for not contributing when he usually would. He looked up, noticing everyone was staring at him, pushing his plate away and walking out of the room without a word. My heart dropped, everyone looking at me.
"I don't know what I did" I mumbled, resting my chin on my hand, twirling my fork around. He was kissing me one minute and then the next it was like he just completely shut off and walked away from me. I just want to know what I did wrong. Sirius scraped his chair back, following him out of the room, Mia keeping her eyes trained on me although I chose to ignore it.
•••
"Prongs?" Sirius called, pushing open the door of his bedroom to reveal the boy on his bed, holding the snitch that the blonde werewolf had gifted him for his birthday. Sirius walked in further, sitting on the edge of his bed, concerned for the boy who was just like his brother. "What's up?"
"Nothing" James mumbled, not sparing him a glance and continuing to play with the golden ball in his hands.
"Actually the sky is- no.....Okay, move over" Sirius ordered, laying down beside his best friend, staring up at the ceiling. They stayed there for a few minutes in silence before Sirius decided to speak again, "Is it M?"
"No" James grumbled, placing the snitch down and turning on his side, facing the long haired boy.
"So it is.....what's happening with Melody that's got you all moody? Is it what Mia said earlier-"
"No, it's not that"
"Then..."
"She's driving me crazy, like no one has ever done before. I want to be with her all the time and be near her, Padfoot, have you seen her eyes? They are the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen, besides yours of course, and the things she does to me. And fuck does she drive me crazy when she bites her lip- I-"
"You're in love with her" Sirius finished for him, drawing to the conclusion of where this was leading.
"I'm in love with her" He whispered, feeling tingly all over his body at the thought of the girl.
"What's the problem then? You should tell her" Sirius replied, turning on his side to face the bespectacled boy.
"I-I can't. It's too early and I doubt she feels the same. She thinks she's a monster that can't be loved, what if she doesn't let me? What if she leaves me now?" James wondered vulnerably, not wanting to imagine what it would feel like for him if they went back to being friends. He couldn't, he needed his Elody. He was in love with her.
"She won't leave you now. You should have seen her face when you left the room, that's not the face of someone who would ever leave you. It's not too early for your case either, you've been best friends for years and probably loved each other for a while even if you didn't know. You've got to tell her, because she's probably in her room thinking about what she did to upset you. Where she went wrong. She's an overthinker, you and I both know this, she's going to think it's her fault and you don't want her anymore. I know it's scary but that's what love is, you have to take risks and tell people how we feel before it's too late" Sirius told him quietly, staring into his hazel orbs.
"We're not just talking about me and Elody now are we?" James voiced softly.
"It's different" Sirius muttered, averting his eyes away, "I need more time, you don't. You need to tell her Prongs and you need to tell her soon or she'll start closing off to you"
"Bloody werewolves"
"Bloody werewolves" Sirius repeated, sighing, "You're not going to kiss me now, are you?"
"Never again" James shivered at the memory, "We said never to speak of that again"
"I'm not a bad kisser! It can't have been that bad!" Sirius defended, gasping dramatically.
"It was awful, Padfoot. Don't bring it up again" James retorted seriously, before cracking a grin, grateful to have the boy by his side. He was appreciative that the Black had found him on the train going to Hogwarts, looking for a friend that his family would hate. He never would have thought they would be like brothers now, he couldn't live without his best friend.
"Agreed" Sirius snorted, rolling off the bed and onto the floor. He grunted, before standing up and brushing himself off, "Promise me you'll do it soon"
"I promise you" James nodded, smiling at him as he left his bedroom, probably going back downstairs or to his own room.
•••
I went to bed around nine pm, shutting off the light and laying alone in my bed, facing the window. I just wanted to sleep the day away, but my thoughts kept on plaguing me. I hadn't seen him since he left the room at dinner, and I didn't want to disturb him if he was upset with me. I just wanted to know what I did wrong. Did he not like the kiss? Did he not want to be with me anymore? Why would he? I'm a monster. He's probably remembered and now he wants to be just friends again.
I was too engrossed in my thoughts to realise someone had entered my room until I felt a dip in the bed behind me, arms wrapping around my stomach, bringing me closer into his chest. Cinnamon, liquorice and broom polish filled my lungs, making me feel comforted instantly. We didn't speak for a while, we just laid together with my back against his front. I could feel him breathing on the back of my neck, my hand going over his as he draped it over my middle.
"I'm sorry, love" He broke the silence with his soft whisper, pulling me as close as possible.
"It's okay" I murmured, turning over to face him, resting my head on the pillow just in front of him. I could just amount make out his features through the darkness, "I-Is it me?"
"Fuck no, Elody. It's not you, I was just thinking about something, it doesn't matter right now" He replied. He never lies to you Melody, he would never lie. "I promise you Lunes, you did nothing wrong, it was me"
"Okay" I swallowed, feeling slightly better than I did earlier, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Another time, for now let's just rest" He mumbled, tracing his hand up and down my back lightly, "Are you tired?"
"Mia dragged me around Diagon Alley for three hours, what do you think?"
He chuckled quietly, a small smile on his face, "It's your fault mum loves you" He returned.
"How is it my fault I'm extremely loveable?"
"Nothing could ever be your fault" He whispered, moving his hand to brush off any hairs from my face. He kept his fingers lingering on my face, leaning closer and closer until our lips met each other's. I felt his tongue sweep over my bottom lip, before I opened my mouth further allowing his tongue to lock on to mine. He pulled back for air, keeping our noses in contact with each other.
He kissed over the scar that ran from under my right eyes to my chin, then my scar under my left eye, across to my eyes and finally my lips again softly. Each kiss building up more love and adoration for him.
"Good night, love" He whispered, before beginning to slide out of the bed to go to his own in his room.
"James?" I called out as he walked towards the door, he turned around standing between the door and my bed.
"Mhm?"
"Can you stay with me tonight?" I asked quietly, biting my lip. He shifted his weight on his feet before walking back towards me and sliding under the covers again beside me, "Thank you"
"I'll always stay with you, Lunes, i'm not going anywhere"
"Good" I replied, snuggling into his body feeling warm and protected. He kissed the top of my head, holding me close in to him, "Night, James"
"Night, Elody" He replied, as I closed my eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep,
"I love you" James whispered, knowing the girl had fallen into sleep in his arms, their bodies entangled together under the covers of the bed in the bedroom.
•3900 words•