【 CHAPTER THREE 】
━━━ PLATONIC ━━━
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THE NEXT FEW DAYS went by quite quickly, the weekend rolling in hastily. And the weekend meant two things at Hogwarts: Quidditch and Hogsmeade.
⠀⠀Evan was named Quidditch captain by Fred Weasley II (who had graduated) last year, and Oliver Wood couldn't have been more proud of his son. The Gryffindor team Quidditch tryouts were this weekend and James had to tryout for his position again (Evan had to be fair). After Ginny Potter found out about his dropping grades in Herbology (Professor Longbottom may have just accidentally leaked it out a little bit to his red-headed best friend), she banned him from playing Quidditch for the rest of the season. Thus, much to their dismay, Slytherin had won the Quidditch Cup last year.
⠀⠀"Quidditch tryouts are this afternoon," Callen told Dominique and Laurel as they walked to the Great Hall for breakfast.
⠀⠀"We know," Dominique said, rolling her eyes. "That's the last thing you told us before going to sleep last night."
⠀⠀Laurel chuckled. "Why are you so worried about it?" she asked. "Evan's already on the team."
⠀⠀"Yeah, well, he knows so many people and so many people want to try out and if he tells them they're not good enough, he's afraid that they'll hold it against him," Callen rambled, her eyebrows knitted together in worry.
⠀⠀"He'll be fine," Dominique said yawning, shrugging it off. "Trust me. Evan will be fine. People will be fine with it after a few weeks."
⠀⠀"You think your cousin will make it onto the team?" Laurel asked as they sat down at the Gryffindor table, which was half filled with first years. Laurel supposed that the three of them were early. Callen and Laurel took the same side of the table, while Dominique took the other side.
⠀⠀"Yeah," Dominique said. "He's really good. He's got Uncle Harry's genes and Aunt Ginny's genes so it'll be all good. Aunt Gin—oh my Merlin, Callen. Don't worry about it."
⠀⠀Laurel turned to her friend, who was currently biting on her nails nervously. The blonde chuckled, reaching over to pull Called's hand away from her mouth.
⠀⠀"We'll go to Hogsmeade for a bit and then we'll be back for the tryouts. Loosen up a bit," Laurel said reassuringly. "He'll be fine."
⠀⠀Callen let out a sigh of relief, her shoulders sagging as Dominique headed straight for the cereal. Just then, Laurel spotted three boys heading towards their direction, quickly spotting a familiar four-eyed boy who she was slowly growing closer to. There was something about James Potter that drew her towards him, but she couldn't quite figure it out yet.
⠀⠀Ever since the whole chocolate pudding thing at ten-forty at night, Laurel couldn't quite look at James Sirius Potter the same way. Now he was more than just Harry Potter's eldest child. He was chocolate pudding boy. She would've called him that out loud if it wasn't for the secret that he made her promise to keep.
⠀⠀"Good morning," James greeted cheerily, his hands in his jeans pockets and his jacket hanging slightly off his body. His hair was a mess, and his glasses were slightly tilted off his nose. He took a seat next to Laurel, who was too busy spreading butter across her toast to notice him, while Evan sat next to Callen, and Asher across from the four of them, placing himself awkwardly next to Dominique. She was half asleep, as she spent her Friday night staying up late and catching up on some Muggle TV show called Doctor Who that Rose had introduced her to. She had been babbling about Amy Pond and Rory Williams the whole way to breakfast.
⠀⠀"Good morning," Laurel greeted, turning to him to acknowledge him. There it was again. Her bright blue eyes hit him again and he had to blink a few times to lull himself back to reality. Laurel didn't notice as she turned back to her toast, placing her butter knife down and taking a bite with satisfaction.
⠀⠀"Ready for Quidditch?" Dominique asked after making herself wake up.
⠀⠀"Are you really asking that question?" James asked, cocking an eyebrow at his sleepy cousin.
⠀⠀"Just answer the question, Potter," Laurel said, chuckling and shaking his head.
⠀⠀James turned to the girl, his expression amused. After the whole pudding thing, he found it a lot easier to talk to Laurel, no longer tripping over his words.
⠀⠀"After all of that, you're referring to me through my last name?" James asked jokingly, a small smirk appearing on his face.
⠀⠀"After all of what?" Asher asked, confused. He seemed to be speaking for everyone else, looking between the two.
⠀⠀"Nothing," Laurel waved it away and was about to respond to James' question when two hands landed on her shoulders. She jerked her head around and found her brothers, Lysander and Lorcan, standing there, a sardonic smile on both their faces.
⠀⠀Lysander and Lorcan were exactly alike and very similar in facial features to Laurel. They had blond hair that was tied into a short ponytail on the back of their heads, a few fly away hairs falling out. While Laurel had curly hair like their mother, the twins had straight hair like their father. They were both a head taller than Laurel, which she hated immensely. They always belittled her for being the younger one and the shorter one and it was annoying. But she loved them anyway.
⠀⠀Lorcan was a Chaser on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, while Lysander was lazy and played no sports. How he kept himself in shape was another story. He preferred to stay in the library with some books and resorted to writing stories instead of playing Quidditch. Lorcan, however, was never seen without his broomstick or something related to Quidditch in hand. The three always joked that Lysander kept himself fit by climbing the massive library shelves to find books and put them away.
⠀⠀"Good morning, sister," Lysander said, a slightly sardonic smile on his face.
⠀⠀Laurel rolled her eyes, turning back around to face her friends, plucking Lysander's hand off her shoulder.
⠀⠀"You only call me 'sister' when you want me to buy something for you," Laurel huffed, pulling out her hand. "Give me the money and I'll buy it."
⠀⠀"Well, aren't you lovely," Lysander said, grinning. Lorcan pulled out a bag of change and placed it in Laurel's hand.
⠀⠀"Save the sugar-coated requests. There's a list inside with everything," Lorcan stated simply. "Thank you."
⠀⠀"And if you didn't give me enough money—"
⠀⠀"We promise to pay you back," Lorcan said quickly as he stiffened at the reminder.
⠀⠀"You both owe me five Galleons each," Laurel said haughtily. "And they're long overdue."
⠀⠀"Okay, fine," Lysander huffed, rolling his eyes. "We'll pay you back next week, Little Leaf."
⠀⠀"You'd better," Laurel said as the twins started heading off. "Or I will ruin your stories and your Quidditch game!"
⠀⠀Lysander and Lorcan waved it off as they headed to the Ravenclaw table, where their friends sat (which included students from all four houses). Liam Anderson coincidentally walked their way, immediately cowering as they approached. Lorcan and Lysander shouldered him on both shoulders and Liam winced, while Laurel looked on and tried not to laugh. Callen and Dominique had also been looking on, both sniggering loudly at what had just happened. James, Evan, and Asher, on the other hand, were confused as to why the girls were sniggering. But they didn't question it.
⠀⠀Liam walked by the six Gryffindors swiftly, not daring to look at them, heading to the Slytherin table to his friends, who were throwing glares their way. Dominique resulted to rolling her eyes as Laurel finished up her breakfast, waiting for her friends to hurry up so they could go to Hogsmeade, oblivious to Liam's friend group.
⠀⠀"Are you guys done?" Dominique asked impatiently, speaking Laurel's mind. "I have things to do and we need to get back in time for the Quidditch tryouts if we're taking you boys with us."
⠀⠀"Okay, okay, we're done," James said, waving his hands around in surrender as the rest of the wiped their mouths and stood up to leave. They all began shuffling out of the Great Hall to the exit where everyone else was leaving to go to Hogsmeade.
⠀⠀The air was chilly as autumn was coming in, the brightly colored leaves falling off of their branches and onto the ground. The wind blew through Laurel's blonde curls as they entered the busy streets of Hogsmeade, heading straight to where they usually went: the Three Broomsticks.
⠀⠀They all quickly ordered a bottle of butterbeer to go, whereas Laurel ordered a bottle of gillywater, her favorite. Laurel didn't mind butterbeer, but if there was gillywater, she'd take it.
⠀⠀Once their drinks arrived, they paid and left the inn, walking around Hogsmeade.
⠀⠀"Callen and I are going to go," Evan said, reaching for his girlfriend's hand. "Date today."
⠀⠀"Yeah, yeah," Dominique said, rolling her eyes as the pair began to veer off from the rest of the group. "Don't let me catch you snogging against a tree or something."
⠀⠀Callen laughed as Evan whisked her away to some unknown location. Laurel grinned as she saw the two. Merlin, she...shipped it.
⠀⠀"Dom, are you sure you want to come with me to shop for my brothers' things?" Laurel asked skeptically, pulling out the slip of paper in the bag full of Galleons. "It's a really long list here."
⠀⠀"The last time we did that I almost had a fit because you were so slow," Dominique said. "I'm sticking with doing my own thing."
⠀⠀"Like?" Laurel asked, chuckling at her friend's complaint.
⠀⠀Dominique thought about it for a moment and then turned to Asher. "Have you ever been to the Shrieking Shack, Arlington?"
⠀⠀"No, but—"
⠀⠀"You've never been? What kind of Gryffindor are you?" Dominique asked feigning surprise, grabbing his arm. "That's it, we're going right now. James, are you coming?"
⠀⠀"Nah, I'll stay. Shopping sounds fun," James said, smirking at Asher, who was silently begging James to come along. "Have fun, Ash!"
⠀⠀Asher had uttered a string of unclean words at James as he laughed. Dominique waved goodbye at her cousin and blonde haired friend, dragging Asher away from them. Laurel laughed along with James, taking a sip of her gillywater.
⠀⠀"So, where to?" James asked happily.
⠀⠀Laurel scanned down the list and then back up at the stores, stopping in front of one. "Koler's Apothecary. Lorcan needs, er...unicorn hairs and some other things for some reason."
⠀⠀They walked into the shop, walking around for the item.
⠀⠀"Why are your brothers' making you go shopping instead of going themselves?" James asked.
⠀⠀"Last year they were making too many potions in the already flooded boys' bathroom and they accidentally made all the toilets explode after dumping out the failed potion, so McGonagall banned them from going to Hogsmeade, thus they can't get their supplies," Laurel explained casually, as if she had told that story multiple times before. "But obviously, they found a way to get their supplies. Also, I apparently have an eye for choosing the best ingredients while the twins are terrible at it, so they make me do it."
⠀⠀James chuckled. "What kind of potions were they making?"
⠀⠀"Oh, all sorts," Laurel replied, her eyes on a bottle of unicorn hairs. "Housekeeping potions, transformation potions, healing potions, etcetera. Mum was pretty mad and she rarely gets mad."
⠀⠀"Sort of like you," James said as they continued to walk to around the apothecary for the other things listed.
⠀⠀"I suppose," Laurel said, shrugging as she found another thing on the list. "Getting angry isn't healthy."
⠀⠀"Yeah, I know," James said. "I don't like getting angry either."
⠀⠀"It's not like you can help it half the time," Laurel concluded. "People don't choose to be angry. There are instigators that get them angry."
⠀⠀"Yeah, like the time Lily almost broke my broomstick when I was five," James rolled his eyes at the memory. "I was so angry. Mum was able to calm me down though."
⠀⠀Laurel chuckled. "You must've really loved Quidditch as much as you do now."
⠀⠀"I came out of the womb with a passion for Quidditch. It's obvious that I would've loved it at five years old too," James said, causing Laurel to laugh.
⠀⠀"Well, your mother did play for the Holyhead Harpies and your father was the youngest person to become a Seeker on the Gryffindor team in — what was it? — a century? — so you should be a natural," Laurel deduced, turning to him.
⠀⠀"And then there's my brother, Albus, who's not that great at Quidditch," James said, shrugging. "But at least he's excelling in Herbology unlike me."
⠀⠀"If you need help with that you can always ask me," Laurel said, walking to the cashier, who eyed James with awe. James paid it no mind as he was used to that kind of treatment, being the Chosen One's son and all.
⠀⠀"Yeah. I'll come around. I hate that new policy where you can't be on a team if you don't have at least an Acceptable in all of your classes," James complained.
⠀⠀"Well, it keeps you motivated," Laurel said, shrugging as she paid for the requested ingredients, placing each bottle carefully inside her bag. They left the apothecary and headed to Tomes and Scrolls, this time for books.
⠀⠀"Well, I'm terrible at memorizing names of plants that won't even help me anymore," James said indignantly. "I don't know why they gave me Herbology when my career choice is to be an Auror."
⠀⠀"Maybe so you know which plants will kill and which won't while being on certain cases?" Laurel guessed as she scanned down the list of books. Lysander and Lorcan were spending all their money on potions books, as they wanted to start a potions business. Luna and Rolf had been full supporters of innovation as long as they didn't act up in school and didn't get themselves killed, but the twins had other plans.
⠀⠀James was impressed at Laurel's intellect, tapping his chin as her thought settled on him. "You're right. I actually haven't thought of that."
⠀⠀"Well then you'd better get memorizing," Laurel said, pulling out the books from the shelves. "Tell me when you want to start."
⠀⠀"How about in a week's time?" James suggested, although he wasn't keen on the idea of tutoring. Maybe he could give Laurel a shot.
⠀⠀"Alright," Laurel confirmed, heading to the front of the store to purchase the books. "You need to teach me how to fly a broomstick."
⠀⠀"Your brothers haven't taught you?" James asked incredulously as they left the store with the books.
⠀⠀"They used to give me faulty broomsticks when I was younger so I started to dislike flying," Laurel explained, rolling her eyes. "But I kind of want to fly again."
⠀⠀"When do you want to start?" James asked, chuckling.
⠀⠀"When are you free?" Laurel asked, entering Spintwitches. Lorcan needed a new pair of gloves for Quidditch.
⠀⠀"The same as you," James said, noticing that they had walked into his favorite store in all of Hogsmeade. "I'm free after lunch."
⠀⠀"Okay," Laurel responded.
⠀⠀"Why are we in here?" James asked, confused. Laurel never went into a Quidditch shop at her own accord.
⠀⠀"Lorcan needs a new pair of gloves," Laurel said simply. "After we're done, I might go to Gladrags. They have these socks that scream once they get too smelly." She grinned at the thought of the socks and James couldn't help but chuckle. Whether he admitted to it or not, he liked this girl so much.
⠀⠀"Maybe you should get me a pair of those socks," James said as Laurel looked at Lysander's intricate drawing of the pair of gloves that he wanted.
⠀⠀"No," Laurel shot at him. "You're paying for your own things. I'm not buying anything for you unless it's your birthday."
⠀⠀"Well, aren't you lucky that my birthday is in two weeks," James said smugly as Laurel whipped her head around in disbelief, dropping the pair of gloves she had in her hand as he stuck his hands in his pockets.
⠀⠀"You're bluffing," Laurel said, asking her head as she gathered herself together and picked up the gloves she had dropped, continuing her walk down the aisle filled with Quidditch supplies.
⠀⠀"No, I'm not," James insisted, following her closely. "I wouldn't lie about my bloody birthday."
⠀⠀"Fine," Laurel said, rolling her eyes. "And stop with the cursing, will you?"
⠀⠀James rolled his eyes. "No. You're not the boss of me."
⠀⠀Laurel shook her head as she walked to the counter to pay for the gloves. "Then you won't get the socks. I can't believe you actually want them."
⠀⠀"Why? Because I'm a realist?" James asked.
⠀⠀"No," Laurel countered, chuckling as she paid for the gloves and left. "How much more real can a pair of screaming socks get?"
⠀⠀James laughed. "To Muggles it's not really...real."
⠀⠀"Has your grandpa ever figured out the function of a rubber duck?" Laurel asked.
⠀⠀"No—wait, hold on, how do you know about that?" James asked, pausing in his tracks.
⠀⠀"Dom told me," Laurel said, pausing with him.
⠀⠀"Ah," James said, beginning to walk again. "No, he's still trying to figure that out."
⠀⠀"Which means we're not so different from Muggles," Laurel said, shrugging. "I can't believe some magic folk still think that Muggle-borns and Muggles are inferior. Your aunt has such a high position in the Ministry and they still have the nerve to say that."
⠀⠀"There will always be people like that and if we don't raise the children right, they won't grow up to be acepting," James said, shrugging. "People always find something to hate out of nothing."
⠀⠀"Yeah, I know," Laurel sighed. Then her eyes bugged out when she saw the last thing on her brothers' list. "They need another cauldron?"
⠀⠀James poked his head over her shoulder, seeing the thing she was getting increasingly annoyed at. He chuckled as she stomped her way to the cauldron shop, quickly lugging over the cauldron the twins' had specified. She paid for it and left the shop abruptly, taking a sigh of relief.
⠀⠀"Are we done yet?" James asked.
⠀⠀"Yes," Laurel replied, sighing with relief. "Now we can go to—"
⠀⠀"Laurel!" someone called from afar, breaking Laurel off from her sentence.
⠀⠀Both James and Laurel's heads snapped towards the direction of he voice, finding a tall male figure running towards them. Laurel immediately shrunk slightly behind James as she recognized his face.
⠀⠀"Can we help you, Anderson?" James asked nonchalantly, Laurel seeming to put herself on guard. Why was he talking to her?
⠀⠀"More like Laurel can," Liam said, looking from James to the blonde next to him. "Where are your brothers?"
⠀⠀"That's none of your business," Laurel said quickly, beginning to walk away from the boy. James looked between Liam and Laurel but followed Laurel anyway. Liam chased after them and the blonde resulted to walking faster. There was a hot rage boiling up inside her. Why was he here and why did he want her brothers?
⠀⠀"Just tell me where they are," Liam pressed, jumping in front of her.
⠀⠀"Why do you want them?" James asked as Laurel veered away from Liam again, making sure to stand ten feet away from him.
⠀⠀"They shoved me earlier and I want to duel them," Liam stated indignantly.
⠀⠀"Well, they're not here," Laurel said bluntly, crossing her arms.
⠀⠀Liam narrowed his eyes. "You're lying."
⠀⠀"No, I'm not," Laurel persisted, turning away from him. "I don't want to talk to you, Anderson."
⠀⠀"Oh. So now we're on last-name basis?" Liam asked. "After all of that?"
⠀⠀Laurel turned away, continuing her walk to Gladrags. All she wanted was to have a good Hogsmeade trip with no one hindering her whatsoever, but here this pathetic boy was, asking where her brothers were.
⠀⠀James followed close behind the girl, casting a wary glance at Liam, who was still following them diligently. He watched Laurel's hand curl up into a fist, clenching her knuckles until they were white. He had never seen her angry before.
⠀⠀"See, this is why I broke up with you. You switch personalities too quickly and your brothers fucking hated me for some stupid reason," Liam ranted, pausing before beginning again, getting louder and louder. "This doesn't even have to do with you! It's your—"
⠀⠀"It has all to do with me!" Laurel snapped, whipping around at Liam. "They're my brothers and I am not about to endanger them! You think my apparent 'duo' personalities are a problem? Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself why you're so petty as to strike up a duel with my brothers for just shoving you!"
⠀⠀"I'm standing up for my—"
⠀⠀"Oh, but you'd lose," Laurel cut in coldly, grasping the wand in her pocket. She wanted to hex him so badly, but she refrained from doing so, since they were on the main streets. James was getting increasingly annoyed at Liam. Laurel was rejecting his advances and he wasn't leaving her alone.
⠀⠀"I really lo—"
⠀⠀"Don't you dare bring up our relationship," Laurel snapped, a ferocity in her blue eyes and voice that shocked James. "Don't you ever dare. If you don't leave me alone right now, I will hex you."
⠀⠀Liam didn't respond, standing there stubbornly.
⠀⠀"She said leave," James said exasperatedly. "You know what?" He grabbed Laurel's hand which sent tingles down his spine; but he ignored it. "We're leaving."
⠀⠀Laurel glared at Liam as she let James pull her away, heading into Gladrags. When they got in, he was still holding onto her hand unknowingly, as if he was afraid to let her go.
⠀⠀"James," Laurel said calmly, staring at how comfortable he seemed with their hands entwined, "you can let go now."
⠀⠀"Oh!—fuck. Sorry," James said quickly, immediately releasing Laurel's hand. She chuckled quietly, her smile short-lived. She didn't understand why Liam was so keen on finding her brothers. It was Liam who had brought this upon himself after all. He was the one who broke her heart. He was the one who made the twins hate him.
⠀⠀"Do you still want those singing—I mean, screaming socks?" James asked as they remained standing by the front door, trying to look inconspicuous. But that didn't work as they began receiving looks as to why the two of them were just standing at the front door, one lost in her thoughts, the other rather confused and slightly flustered.
⠀⠀Laurel sighed, looking down at her shoes and then back at James. "I don't really know, James."
⠀⠀"It's okay," James said reassuringly as he shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "We can just go eat ice cream in the ice cream parlor down there."
⠀⠀Laurel smiled, beginning to walk out the door. James grinned, proud at himself for making the girl smile. He followed after her, who was waiting for him patiently. James led her to the ice cream parlor, which was called Maddie's Ice Cream. James told her that during the warmer months, they sold ice cream and during the colder months, they sold special butterbeers, hot chocolate, and other hot beverages.
⠀⠀They walked in and Laurel looked at all the different choices, trying to find the one that she liked. She finally settled on green tea, with toppings that sang Christmas songs and multicolored sprinkles. James got his favorite, butterbeer, and settled on having no toppings. He paid for both (despite Laurel's protests and the cashier laughing inwardly as she assumed they were dating), and they left the parlor heading to the end of Hogsmeade, which held benches for people to sit on while enjoying the grassland that surrounded the village.
⠀⠀They both sat down, staring at the Shrieking Shack that stood as a tiny speck in the distance.
⠀⠀"Are you alright?" James asked after awhile.
⠀⠀"I'm just a little...perturbed by his sudden appearance, but I'll be alright," Laurel answered after thinking about it. "Thank you, by the way."
⠀⠀"For what?" James asked, his spoon in his mouth.
⠀⠀"Taking me away from him," Laurel said simply, "and the ice cream." She waved the ice cream at him.
⠀⠀James chuckled. "No problem. I'm glad you like it."
⠀⠀"Yeah, I haven't eaten ice cream in awhile," Laurel said, happily enjoying her singing Christmas toppings. "And green tea is my favorite."
⠀⠀"Butterbeer is mine," James said, scooping up the last of his ice cream with his spoon.
⠀⠀"You really love butterbeer, don't you?" Laurel asked, looking at him.
⠀⠀"Yeah," he said, not looking at her as he stared at the Shrieking Shack. "You think Dom and Asher are still there?"
⠀⠀"No," Laurel said, shaking her head. "Either Dom dragged him in and they stayed in there for about ten minutes before he chickened out or he completely refused and they're going on a date."
⠀⠀"A date? You mean a date like in that tea shop?" James asked, turning to Laurel who was staring at the Shrieking Shack. She laughed cheerily, causing him to smile.
⠀⠀"Dom isn't that cliché," Laurel concluded. "Funny how we passed by that tea shop and went for the ice cream across the street instead."
⠀⠀James chuckled. "That's because we're not actually going on a date."
⠀⠀"This is a date," Laurel said with ease. "But a friendly date."
⠀⠀James froze for a second, which he then let go of. She didn't mean what he wanted it to mean, of course. "A platonic date?"
⠀⠀"Yeah," Laurel said, smiling and shrugging, "platonic."
⠀⠀James forced a smile, feeling his heart sink a little as she said those words. He wanted to be more than just platonic. But he knew that she may not reciprocate those feelings.
⠀⠀To him, she was a mystery that he was ready to solve. He didn't know how long it would take, but he was determined to do so.
⠀⠀He loved this girl enough to take her on a platonic date of ice cream and sharing a bench at the end of Hogsmeade. He loved this girl enough to have his heart sink to his stomach at the mere word of platonic that came out of her perfect lips, enough to force a smile for her. He loved this girl enough to ruin his relationship with her ex, whom he had been on good terms with before. He loved this girl enough to take her hand and not know that he was still holding onto it, letting go despite his desire to keep it in his.
⠀⠀His love for her was bursting at the seams and she didn't even notice.