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Quidditch practice
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James Potter and Evelyn Rosewood had met up at the astronomy tower every single day since that one night. They would talk about any and everything. It was a win-win for both of them. After talking Eva would get some sleep and James would get to know Eva better.
The two had naturally become closer. The rest of the marauders had noticed this however they didn't know about their secret meet-ups in the towers every night. Remus had suspected something to be going on between the two but to them nothing was going on, just two best friends meeting up every night in secret.
She just felt safe with him.
"Okay, so you're telling me that your Patronus is a stag?"
"Yep," James nodded.
"So that explains why the group calls you prongs," She said thoughtfully with a smile on her face.
"Oh! yeah. It's silly really," James laughed, rubbing the back of his head.
"I always wondered why you guys have such weird names for each other. I just figured it was an inside thing and that I shouldn't get involved," The girl sat on the floor of the tower spinning her wand in between her fingers. "Can you show me?"
James nodded as he lifted his wand and said the incantation "Expecto Patronum!" A silvery stream of light appears from his wand. Out comes a stag, just like James had said. She watched it run around James for a few seconds, making her giggle.
The stag walks up to her and sits down on the ground beside the girl. It lowers its head onto her lap snuggling into her. When she lifted her hand to run her hands along the stag's head, she smiled at the adorable stag.
At that moment, seeing Eva being so kind and gentle to his Patronus, James desperately wanted to tell Eva about him being an Animagi. He wanted to show her. At that moment he wanted to tell her everything but he knew that was a bad idea, he knew that if he showed Eva it would lead to a bunch of questions and he couldn't risk it. He valued Remus too much as a friend to do that to him. She just looked so beautiful. Her hair was messy but he was mesmerized by it as it started flowing because of the wind.
"You know I could never produce a full Patronus," Eva said looking down at the stag on her lap.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Some lights would come out of my wand but never enough to produce a full image." James thought for a second.
"Maybe I can help?" James inquired. She looked up at him with surprise. She raised her eyebrows at the boy.
"You really think you can teach me?" Eva asked. The boy stayed silent for a second as they shared eye contact.
"Yeah! Remus taught me. How hard can it be?" James smiled.
"Okay. Let's give it a try," Eva said.
"Great! Meet me here tomorrow night," James bit his lip, trying to hide his excitement. He got to spend more time with her. He was overjoyed. Eva smiled at the boy who seemed to be lost in thought, both not noticing that the bright silver stag had disappeared.
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Like the enchanted sky predicts, the day was set
out to be endearing in the least. You see Eva loved the rain however the weather in Scotland had started to become colder in the worst way. She had a love-hate relationship with the weather right now. The sky was gray. And it wasn't your typical is-raining-soon-light gray type of color, it was a dark shade of gray that stained the sky. There was no rain, it was just- dark.
With the sounds of the howling wind, it brought a hurried Gryffindor, scampering his way down the aisles to his designated table for breakfast while trying to knot his red and gold tie. Eva looked up at the boy. His hair was tousled gently, small wafts of chestnut tresses venturing out of its place, and his shirt was untucked chaotically from his trousers, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His Gryffindor robe seemed to have been ditched completely.
Eva took a deep breath. James Potter dropped to the bench, next to Eva, allowing his fumbling fingers to continue fixing his tie, as he'd been doing for the duration of his journey to breakfast. James Potter seemed to have ultimately given up on the tie and had sighed frustratedly, tossing the tie on the table.
Eva raised an eyebrow at the messy-haired boy, watching as he started pouring some cereal into a bowl. James noticed this. "What?"
She pursed her lip in amusement. "Nothing," she shook her head. "You want me to help you?"
"What?" James seemed out of it. She pointed to the tie.
"Oh yeah!" James nodded. She smiled and shook her head before scooting closer to him, turning her body and wrapping her leg around the bench to look at him. She picked up his tie and carefully slid her hands around his neck wrapping the tie around his collar. She then tied it and made it centered. When she looked up he was just staring at her. She flashed him a smile before smoothing out his shirt, trying to fix the wrinkles. Her hand rested on his chest feeling his abs through the white canvas shirt. She felt him breathe in deeply as he tensed under her touch. She looked up at him once more and ignored the warmth she felt in her cheeks. She looked away again and turning her body to focusing her attention on the toast in front of her, not missing the way his face flushed with a red tint.
Sirius smirked while Remus and Peter shared eye contact. See it's not a surprise that the group's day started off with James shoving Sirius's face in a cereal bowl. The idiot had stared at him a great while, watching the way he glanced to his right and, blushing furiously, fumbled with his fork for a good two minutes. It happened more than three times. Finally, the Casanova had had enough.
"Prongs, have you been drinking firewhiskey alone again, mate?" Sirius Black got a milk facial that day.
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The weather was a perfect opportunity to be in the library. So that's where Eva was that afternoon. She had just started reading a new book Andromeda had recommended to her earlier in the morning.
As everyone knew the library became quite the haven for Eva. She even had her own corner just by the window where she could clearly see the quidditch pitch. From where she sat, she could see that the place was filled with reds and gold on both the stands and the field itself. She reminded herself that it was the Gryffindor Quidditch team's practice day. Curiously, she peeked a look at the fake game James was hosting. Sometimes the players would get close
Enough of the window that she recognizes them. She's even seen Sirius sometimes wave at her from outside the window.
She felt sorry for the boys who had to practice in this weather but she also knew that they were too stubborn to quit. From the side of her eye, she saw Remus and Peter walking toward her. She looked at the boys waving them over to sit. They walked over to her, Peter stood beside the girl and Remus stood behind her.
"Hey, we'd love to but we're gonna go watch James and Sirius practice," Peter said. While Remus started playing with her hair.
"Yeah. We figured you might want to come," Remus spoke rubbing his hands through her scalp.
"Yeah. I do. Let me just pack up," she quickly fixed everything around her.
The trio made their way to the kitchen, to get the boys some snacks, before going down to the quidditch pitch. Peter had some drinks for the boys and Remus and Eva had some snacks for during the practice and after.
They made it to the stands as Eva spotted James flying in the dark sky on his broom. His quidditch robes flowed with the wind. James was so preoccupied with the faux game that he didn't even notice the trio that had appeared in the stands until he paused the games to give some pointers to one of the players. He saw a flash of blonde hair in the stands and he knew it was Eva's. He dismissed the group to take a break and he and Sirius flew to the stands to greet their friends.
"Hmm. What a lovely surprise. Are you here for me? " James stopped his broom in front of the girl as he hovered in the air.
"Don't get cocky, I'm here for Sirius," Eva said with a smirk on her face.
"What?"
"What!"
Remus and James said at the same time. Sirius smirked. "Aww, is little jamsie mad that the pretty girl didn't come to see him," He pouted.
James rolled his eyes. "Don't worry prongs. She's obviously joking," Peter said while he handed James a drink.
"Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night," Eva shrugged leaning on the railing so that she was closer to the boy.
"Anyway, we brought you guys snacks. Do you want them now?" Remus coughed.
"Actually we should probably head back to the game. Maybe when we finish we can take a longer break?" Sirius looked at James.
"Hey! I am the captain. Don't I have to make the plans," James pouted.
"Yeah. Yeah. Come on you big baby," Sirius spoke as he dragged James back to the field.
James looked back at Eva and smiled before focusing his attention back on the game.
Eva smiled and all three sat back down to watch the boys practice. "What's going on with you and James?" Remus curiously whispered to Eva.
"What! what are you talking about-"
"Oh come on. Don't act like I don't see the way you two look at each other," Remus crossed his arms.
"We look at each other normally?" Eva stubbornly added.
"Okay. So what about the flirting? or the tension? or the blushing?" Remus raised his eyebrows.
"I- I don't like James," Eva stuttered. Do I like James? *Laughs* Please! Me Like James *laughs* fuck do I like James? Holy Shit. She thought.
"Sure,"
"Fine okay but what about you and Sirius?" Eva asked with a smirk.
"N- Nothing," Remus's eyes widened.
"Sureeee," Eva mocked at the same time as Remus while rolling out the 'e'.
"Oh Fuck off!" Remus rolled his eyes.
The game had finished pretty quickly after the two teens' conversation. James dismissed the group to take a break before they started another game. Peter and Remus dragged Eva down to the quidditch pitch as they waited for the boys to come down from the air.
James Potter turned his broom to find Eva on the field. They made eye contact as she smiled sweetly, she waved to the boy and her face lit up when he waved back.
Focused too much on James and his stupid eyes, Eva failed to notice the bludger swiftly making its way toward her head until James Potter all but exclaimed, "Eva, look out!" The blonde raised her arms to her head and shut her eyes closed as she waited for impact. Curse me and my damn slow reaction time.
Nothing? Nothing happened? Nothing but a hard grunt that made her open her eyes. The scene in front of her was made for sickening horror films. Her heart stopped.
James Potter took the hit for her. He somehow rushed in front of Eva before the bludger could hit her but unfortunately in enough time to hit James before he could catch it. The impact made his right arm bend backward, a grunt falling from his lips as everyone watched his right arm break.
Everything seemed to go in slow motion for Eva as she watched the boy fall off his broom. She lowered her arms and fell to the ground next to James. Her hands immediately went to his face holding it and playing with his hair to distract him.
"Bloody hell! James I-" Eva shook her head. She didn't know what to do or what to say. James was injured. Her James was injured.
"Shh. Eves, it's okay," He grunted. Eva shook her head. Her throat felt tight.
"It's definitely not okay! James, you're hurt," Eva said as she caressed his cheek. She saw the tear that rolled down his eye and swallowed thickly as she wiped the tear stain.
"What did I say about being your hero?"
"Fuck off!" James laughed before grunting in pain.
"Out of my way. Come on, move along," Madam Pomfrey said as she made her way through the crowd of Gryffindor teammates that had gathered around James and Eva. Pomfrey lifted James up in the air and made her way to the hospital wing to fix James's broken arm.
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"The damage isn't too bad but I suggest you stay here overnight." Madam Pomfrey dismissed. She handed him some sort of medicine for James to drink which caused him to make a weird face. Pomfrey rolled her eyes and shook her head before walking away.
Seeing that James was okay but clutching his arm, she turned her concern into anger. "You bloody idiot! What were you thinking, taking the hit for me?!" She wanted to smack the stupid grin that rested on his face, but he was already injured enough so she opted to pinch his cheeks instead. "Stop bloody smirking for Merlin's sake!"
"A thank you would be very much appreciated," Amusement filled the hazel boy's eyes. She rolled her eyes.
"Shut up!"
The marauders seemed to pile in all at the same time. All carried different reactions.
"Prongs, are you alright, mate?"
"Fucking hell, What were you thinking! Bloody Idiot,"
"Oi, that was wicked!"
She pulled a chair from the bed next to James and sat down right next to James's bed. She took his other hand and held it as they watched the boys bombard James. She drew circles with her thumb against his palm. She looked up and saw Remus talking to Madame Pomfrey before making his way towards James's bed.
The afternoon seemed to wither away as the group spent it in the hospital wing. They had brought snacks and stuff from dinner even though they knew Pomfrey would take good care of him. Soon Pomfrey started to whisk the group away to let James sleep. The marauders left one by one each saying goodbye until it was just Eva and James alone.
"I guess no secret meeting up tonight," James laughed.
"Oh! Right. I forgot about that." Eva looked up.
James sighed dramatically. "I was looking forward to it,"
"Well. You'll just have to wait until you get out," She shrugged. "It'll give you something to look forward to," she smirked. James smiled. You would think for a person that is supposed to be in a shit ton of pain he shouldn't be smiling this hard.
"I should go before Poppy kills me,"
"Yeah. Okay," James nodded understandingly. Nobody should mess with Poppy. Eva stood up from the chair that was beside him and kissed his cheek before saying goodnight and walking away.
"Oh. James," Eva called out when she was almost to the door.
"Yeah?"
She turned around and looked at him for a second. "Thank you. I mean it."
"I knew you couldn't resist it,"
"Ugh, Bloody Idiot," she rolled her eyes.
Even through the dark of the night and the howling of the wind. Eva could hear James Potter's stupid laugh and see his stupid smile.
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Authors note: hi beauties. Hope you enjoy it. I just wanted to say thank you for all the kind support it means a lot. And please don't be a silent reader, I love reading the comments. Mwah ily
love always emily <3