'AND AFTER THAT, the plan worked perfectly! Gwenog passed the Quaffle to me and wham! Another goal! And then -'
'Good job, mate,' Sirius interrupted with a laugh, breaking off James' fourth retelling of tonight's Quidditch match. Isla was tugged into the crowd as she fought her way across the common room; she was nearly at the stairs when a hand brushed against her wrist, and she was spun around to be faced with James.
Although he seemed rough and boyish on the outside, along with the arrogance lining his collarbones, every time he touched her, it was surprisingly soft. It ignited the memory of her crying into his arms, the recollection warming her cheeks like a hot, sensual flame.
They had, of course, never mentioned the incident in the library - she had taken the book and shoved it under her bed, planning to deal with it when she was ready, and she and James instantly snapped back to normal (he'd winked at her from across the classroom and she'd told him to jump off a cliff). Still, every interaction seemed laced with something delicate, something warm and vulnerable under the surface.
'So,' he said, jolting her from her reverie, 'you're coming to the afterparty, right?'
She hesitated. 'Oh, I don't know ...'
'Come on,' he grinned. 'What, you have a hot date tonight?'
'Sure,' she played along, a cool glint in her eye while her pulse spiked wildly. 'He just turned up earlier than I expected.'
James took a step back, eyes sparkling in surprise with a Venus iridescence. 'Are you flirting with me?'
'What?'
His face lit up with the predictable hint of amusement. 'Oh, no - don't stop now, I liked it.'
'Don't get your hopes up, smartass,' she glowered. 'I don't flirt.'
'So, this is how you talk to all guys? I'm starting to get a little worried here, Vix.'
She let out an irritated huff. 'Give me a minute,' she murmured, voice slightly too breathy for her liking. 'I'll be downstairs in a moment.'
The boy grinned and tucks a stray curl back behind her ear. 'Come back to me, Isla.'
Once up in her dormitory, it took Isla a moment to regain her composure. Because James kept messing with her head, and she was positive he was messing with her feelings too, because, well - it had been over a week, and he still hadn't given up this charade.
Dangerous.
She took a deep breath and walked down the stairs, finding the party in full swing. The sound of a Muggle band washed over her senses - courtesy of Sirius Black, she assumed. As she was tugged into the push and pull of the crowd, she had to physically shake her head to rid herself of the image of James smiling softly at her, his touch lingering under her jaw as he tucked her hair behind his ears.
James. Where was he?
'Hey,' she called over the music, fighting through the crowd to find Remus and Sirius. 'Have you seen James?'
Remus shook his head. He still looked slightly ill, the enchanted light falling on waxy skin and tired eyes, a few fresh scars lining his body in thin pink ribbons. 'We assumed he was off somewhere bothering you.'
'But then again,' Sirius said lightly, 'he's been less predictable these last couple of weeks. Like a different person.'
Isla laughed slightly. 'What do you mean?'
'Since you come to Hogwarts, it's weird ... he's acting different now.' Remus shrugged. 'Less of a prat.'
She inhaled sharply, feeling her cheeks colour. 'I doubt that has anything to do with me,' she said.
'Maybe,' Sirius shrugged. 'All I know is that about a dozen girls came onto him after the match this afternoon and he told them he wasn't interested.'
Her heartbeat was out the window, completely buried underneath a mile-high layer of lazy adrenaline as she skimmed the crowd for James again. Sirius handed his cup to Remus, offering Isla a slightly condescending bow.
'Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and look for a girl drunk enough to find my idiocy charming.'
Isla allowed herself a small laugh before bidding goodbye to Remus and letting her gaze skim the common room again. The party had grown wild, dappled with a touch of intoxication and recklessness. She watched as bodies moved against each other behind wisps of blue shadow and smoke, and from her place in the crowd, she could just make out the swift movement of a girl's hips as she was pulled in towards -
It felt like her throat wanted to close and her hands possessed the sudden urge to rip the two apart. It looked wrong - James and that girl looked wrong together, and Isla really fucking hated it.
She maneuvered her way through the crowd, vaguely wondering what the actual fuck she was doing here as irritation flared underneath her skin, heat seeping into the apples of both cheeks. She paused at the edge of the room, a wallflower against the vibrant scene as James offered that girl a smile, the kind usually reserved for her, the kind that knocked all sense out of her mind and strung stars at the edges of her vision.
He'll make you think he's actually falling in love ...and then - boom. It's over as soon as it started.
A huff escaped her lips as she turned away. The heat was a sticky saccharine, pale golden and a little suffocating as it pushed back the hair against Isla's neck.
'This party sucks,' she grumbled, dropping into the couch next to Marlene, whose arm was supporting Dorcas, eyelashes fluttering under the weight of alcohol. Honey dripped between the languid bodies of dancers while the turntable jumped and skipped over Moonage Daydream.
'Turn that smile upside down, sunshine.' The blonde offered her a swig of Firewhisky, the likely culprit for the roguish expression painted on her delicate features. 'You're not the only one having a bad night.'
She indicated to the corner of the room where Sirius had a girl pressed up against a wall, their entwined figures glowing underneath the flashing of lights. Remus was nowhere to be seen.
'Men are pigs,' Isla muttered savagely.
'I'll drink to that,' Marlene said, as Dorcas nuzzled her head closer into her girlfriend's shoulder.
It was about ten minutes later when, through the kaleidoscope of laughter and music, James emerged from the crowd. Isla noticed too late to be able to get away as he approached her, the memory of him and that girl drawing shuddering starbursts up and down her spine.
'Hey, where'd you get to?' He smiled like fireworks, painting the sky with shimmering trails sparkling just out of Isla's grasp. 'Why aren't you dancing?'
She said nothing.
'Whoa, hang on.' He glanced towards Marlene. 'Do you get the impression she's mad at me?'
Isla stood up abruptly, cold fractures of ice hardening over her heart. She could sense him following her through the crowd, but she didn't deign to turn around, not even when she'd left the common room and was heading determinedly towards the gardens.
'Isla,' she heard him say from behind her, 'what's the matter with you?'
She didn't reply and continued walking briskly and at a fast pace. Because every time she thought she'd figured James out, the next day he completely shattered her perception of him and everything started from scratch all over again.
Outside, the sky was tinged pink with the beginning of a sunset, a cool breeze slicing over her collarbones. She drew a deep breath in and turned around to face him, hating, hating how her heart winced as she took in his hazel-toned eyes, resembling jewels underneath the pink sunset's glowing light.
'That girl you were with before,' she began, voice shaking slightly. 'She's very pretty.'
He tilted his head to one side, a lazy arrogance lining the corners of his mouth. 'She is, want me to set you up?'
'What - no -'
'There's nothing wrong with it, you know?' He grinned. 'My friends are gay as fuck.'
He took a tiny step closer and it was like the world tilted on its axis and righted itself all over again, gravity evaporating like blue sea salt. And Isla was mad, so mad that he was just standing there, mocking her like he wasn't the worst person in the whole world.
'Seriously, Isla,' he murmured. His voice was low and honeyed and she wished he wasn't standing so close, wished she couldn't remember how his arms felt around her shuddering body. 'What's bothering you?'
'It's just -' She shook her head, the words dying in her throat.
'What?'
Without warning, her feelings were turning into a waterfall, gushes of emotions pouring down like shattered gemstones. 'It's just - you spend months, making it appear like you - I don't know - like me or something, and now all of a sudden, you're all over her?'
He tilted his head. 'Isla, where is this coming from?'
'Other people have been interested in me too, you know that?'
A smile buried itself in the corner of his mouth, giving her the impression that he was humouring her. 'I don't doubt it, Vix.'
'But I had the - the decency to not go parading it all around. Just in case you, I don't know, actually felt something for me. And I - God, why aren't you saying anything?'
Silence embedded itself like glossed pearls between her lips, rose petals falling into the space between them.
She huffed. 'Well? Say something!'
'You know,' he breathed out, voice husky from the cold, 'you're the most difficult woman I've ever dealt with in my entire life.'
'Like you're fun to be around - like, oh, I'm so funny, and, oh, my friends are so cool, and, oh, I'm so attractive -'
'You think I'm attractive?'
'- and I thought this meant something to you.' Isla met his gaze, voice breaking under the strain of vulnerability. 'I thought you actually liked me, that I was more than just a - a game to you -'
'Isla, please just listen -'
'- and I ignored the girls' warnings and I just went along with it anyway, because James, I thought we really had something here -'
'God,' he finally interrupted, voice husky, 'will you just fucking shut up and let me kiss you?'
And Isla didn't know exactly how it happened, but all of a sudden she was feeling smooth skin heat up as his lips moved against hers, and - and holy shit, he was an expert kisser. Her heartbeat was speeding up, faster, faster, until she could no longer tell where one started and the other ended, because he was so close and - and warm, a slice of the sun glowing behind his skin.
She gasped slightly as she closed her eyes and just ... felt. Felt the way he kissed her roughly and yet smoothly at the same time, hair brushing her forehead and breath unsteady against hers. And oh, she thought vaguely, how'd we get here again?
She was making out with James Potter. Heart pounding, Isla rested her thumb on his pulse point and felt it flaring wildly, recklessly. Dangerously. Oh, my God, she thought, a gasp escaping her as James squeezed her waist, thumbs teasing the fabric. Oh, my God.
I have to go.
***
aahhhh !!! i've had this scene planned out since i first began this book. If you're worried things are moving too fast, don't be - there's much more idiocy to get through before james and isla officially get together.
love you all !! mwah