𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄
chapter twenty-two; Avoid The Worst On April First
" Prongsie, found yourself a pretty little redhead d'ya? "
APRIL CAME WITH no remorse, bringing ever more spring showers and allergies to the unlucky few. But, what was most important to a select group of teenage boys, was April first.
April Fool's Day, the global day of pranks and hijinks, it was practically made for the Marauders. And they had an ingrained rule that no one was safe, so when it came to Salem's turn to be pranked, the girl dealt with the most innocent of pranks.
"I'm not opening the can."
"But I can't do it," Sirius drawled out, eyeing the can, "Oh, come on, please, Sal?"
Salem raised an eyebrow, looking to James who matched Sirius's puppy dog eyes with ones of his own. So the redhead sighed, popped the can open, and stoically watched as worms exploded from it.
"Got ya!"
"You're both children."
"Ah, but you tolerate us," James sighed, pulling Salem into his side without hesitation, "Can o' worms, come on, it's classic."
"I assume not all your pranks today are as tame."
"Have you met us, Gerard?" Sirius asked genuinely, falling into an armchair, "Oh, unrelated, steer clear of the third-floor lavatories today."
"Noted. I'm heading to the library, if it's safe."
"As long as you weren't hoping to actually read any of the books—"
"It's safe," James cut off Sirius, shaking his head lightly as his friend grinned mischievously, "Want some company?"
"I suppose, if Lily's free—"
"Evans is avoiding the castle today— she knows better— unluckily for you my schedule is wide open," James smiled, squeezing Salem's shoulder slightly, "C'mon, Sal, I promise to only distract you a little bit."
"I feel like I don't have much of a choice."
"We'll play a game of chess when we get back?"
"Suddenly, I'm fully on board."
Salem felt like a stupid schoolgirl the walk to the library. She kept purposefully brushing her arm against James's, hoping he'd take a hint and grab her hand.
James knew, of course, he knew, and every time she did it he'd grin and wait for it to happen again.
And eventually, he laced their fingers together smoothly, laughing when Salem sighed and made a comment about him being needy.
"So, are we here for anything in particular?" James asked as Salem led him through the stacks, their hands still intertwined like vines between branches, "Or did you just want a dark corner to hex me in?"
"Haha," She said dully, "I need to study for Potions— I'm shit at it and I'll never be a Hit Witch if I can't pass my NEWTs."
"Lucky for you, I am the Potions master."
"You're cocky."
"For a reason, darling," He smiled boyishly at Salem's light pink cheeks, the very same ones she hid behind a curtain of copper hair.
James reluctantly let go of her hand to retrieve books, meeting her at a table of her choice. She sighed, spilling parchment and— "Pens?"
"Quills are stupid," Salem attempted to fight back a smile, holding out a ballpoint pen as James took the seat across from her, "I promise you, you'll never touch another inkwell."
James sucked his teeth before taking the pen, sliding open his first book.
"Alright, Draught of Living Death."
Salem groaned but pulled her own piece of parchment and readied a pen, casting an expectant look to a smiling James Potter.
"Valerian Root?"
"Steps, not ingredients."
"You're horrible."
"This is true tutoring, Sal."
Salem rolled her eyes, covering her face for a moment before pulling her hair up, readying herself.
Until she noticed James resting his chin on his hand, watching her.
"What? Did I miss hair?" She asked genuinely, running her hand over the back of her neck.
"No," James smiled, "You're just beautiful."
"Shut up," Salem scoffed, though her flushed cheeks told a different story.
And James almost pushed on. He almost told her he was being serious, that she was so pretty it made him stop for a second. That her smile was sunshine and her hair was ember waves and everything she did turned him into a pathetic excuse for a poet and it would be embarrassing if he didn't care about her more than he'd ever cared about anyone or thing in his short, but full life.
But he knew 'shut up' didn't mean 'shut up' when it came to Salem, so he just smiled a love-sick grin and tapped the empty parchment in front of her, propping his head up as she wrote slowly.
⥊
Sirius Black wasn't sure how he'd feel about seeing Salem and James, but when they entered the Three Broomsticks, hand in hand, he was smiling before he knew it.
"Prongsie, found yourself a pretty little redhead d'ya?"
James laughed once setting sights on Sirius, leaning over a very annoyed Remus. He looked to Salem, tugging her along to the overflowing booth of friends— squishing Peter and Dottie to make room for himself and encouraging Sirius and Remus to do the same for Salem.
"Yeah, picked her up while I was shopping for Fizzing Whizbees," James nodded, "She looked cold, figured I'd bring her here for a drink."
"She looks rather self-sufficient to me," Remus noted, stealing Sirius's butterbeer.
"Ah, it was out of the kindness of my heart."
"Not that he shared any of those Fizzing Whizbees."
"You eat one, you eat the whole bag," Dottie smiled, which brought a special smile from Salem.
"So, Dottie Fitzgerald," James clapped, making the raven-haired girl look to him with raised eyebrows, "I'll take a wild guess and say you're not here for the drinks."
"What could possibly make you think that?" Dottie smiled lightly, her arm snaking around Peter's— a blush blooming across his cheeks.
"Knew it!"
"Hey, I called it before you did," Sirius pointed to James.
"Neither of you knew, shut it."
"I think you're embarrassing Peter," Salem told Remus, Sirius, and James softly, sending the slightly squished together couple a soft smile.
"What do I have to be embarrassed about?" Peter asked with a gentle laugh, "I'm dating the best girl at Hogwarts."
"We have different views on the best girl at Hogwarts, Wormy," James informed, winking at Salem who shook her head while rolling her eyes towards the bar.
"Sal!"
"Dad!" The girl responded with equal enthusiasm, making Roman sigh heavily as he stopped at the end of the booth. "What?"
"There's only supposed to be four of you in a booth."
"Oh, come on," Salem groaned, falling back dramatically onto Sirius, "You're not kicking us out, are you?"
"Rosy might say something," Roman mumbled, scratching his beard.
"That's alright, Sal and I can grab our own booth—"
"You know what," Roman cut off James as Salem sat up straight, "Rosy can deal with it. I'll grab you two some butterbeers."
Roman was gone before Salem could fully let out her laugh, her eyes focused on James— who held his pride inside.
"You did that on purpose."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You scared my dad so we could all sit together."
"I'd never do such a thing."
"On another note," Sirius spoke up, rapping his knuckles on the tabletop, "We have a game this weekend, is everybody going to be there?"
"Isn't it the last game of the season?" Salem asked, "For you lot, I mean."
"If we lose," Sirius confirmed, "But we won't, especially if we have Salem Gerard in the stands cheering for us."
"Then, I guess I haven't got much of a choice, do I?"
"Nope, was only asking for courtesy."
( AUTHOR'S NOTE. )
this was a fluffy chapter
but I feel like it was needed
after the past couple
crazy ones :)
Also, fun question,
where do you guys want
to see the story go from
here? Aside from Sal and
James's relationship
progressing, of course