Back
I could feel her eyes on the back of my head. Hell, I could imagine the glare that she was giving me now. I know I’d screwed up big time today, but admit it to her and bruise my ego? I don’t think so. To lighten things up between us, I turned back and flashed my best ‘James-Potter-The-Quidditch-God’ smile and winked at her. I could almost see the smoke coming out of her ears by now and her face was red.
She was mad.
Really, really. REALLY mad.
I was a dead man.
As if on cue, the bell rang. I’m telling you, McGonagall has it in for me. That woman hates me.
While everyone else cheered, I groaned and slumped into my seat. Today was the last day of the week and Transfiguration is my last class on Friday. Thank god it was Friday; I don’t think I could stand-
“JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!” I heard Avery screech. Ah, what a lovely temper my best friend has. I flinched and turned my head slowly to face her. She was fuming. Great. What a way to start a Hogsmeade weekend. I saw her hoist her heavy bag on her shoulder and said, faking nonchalance, “Why don’t you let me carry that for you. It must be heavy.”
“Don’t you pull that move on me, James! You know you’ve screwed it up big this time!” she screeched.
“Whoa, whoa! Calm down woman!” I said backing toward the door. She pulled the bag further up her shoulder and stomped towards me. I ducked as she aimed a punch at my face, in the process hitting my forehead to the table.
“Aaah!” I screamed as my head shot up and I held my head to lessen the pain. I rubbed my forehead with my palm as Avery looked at me smugly, grinning and tapping her foot impatiently against the floor. She raised an eyebrow suggestively and said, “You got what you deserved, Potter. Don’t say it’s my fault that you hit your head on the desk. Anyway, it’s always a wonder how your shoulders hold that big inflated head of yours. Speaking of egos-” I cut her off by walking away hoisting my bag and pulling hers with it. She stumbled as her leg caught on a bump on the floor and she fell down face first onto the cold stone floor. I yanked the strap of her bag causing the contents to fall on top of her. I saw her flinch as the ink bottle broke all over her causing her uniform to go all blue. Thank Merlin she decided not to use green ink.
“Not helping James.” I heard her muffled voice.
I nodded. “I know. Just trying though.” I could feel the grin spreading across my face.
Avery Hughes. Part time partner in crime. Full time best friend.
Yeah, that just about covers what Avery is, to put it simply.
I can proudly say that I’ve lived up to the reputation that precedes my name. Honestly speaking though, it isn’t easy to better what James Potter (I) and Sirius Black had done during their days at Hogwarts, but I think we came pretty close. The prank we pulled on the Slytherins this year on Halloween was classic. Plastic snakes falling on the entire House table during Dinner. Ah. You should have seen Scorpius Malfoy screaming like a little girl. That’ll teach him to flirt with Rosie.
Coming back to the present, I was walking back to the Common Room with Avery a couple of hours later after having cleaned up the mess in the classroom and restored her dress back to its usual colours of red, gold, grey and white and had dinner too.
I looked at her sideways, not wanting to be caught looking at her unnecessarily. In the past few months, I’d developed a sort of crush on her. She was pretty, to say the least. Brown curls, a brown that was bordering on black , same shade of eyes as me, hazel, and her best quality, her beautiful smile that lit up the entire room. Our eyes met and I looked away a slight blush creeping up my cheeks.
“What?!” Avery asked slightly hitting my shoulder.
I shook my head. “Nothing.” I cleared my throat. “Nothing, I was just...” and trailed off as she walked ahead and turned to face me. She folded her arms across her chest and waited for an answer.
“Uh..Um..I-” I stuttered.
She shrugged and skipped up the stairs to the seventh-year girls’ dormitory, when I didn’t come up with a coherent sentence in response. That was Avery for you. She never pried unless she thought it was necessary for her to know what you were going to say.
I was doing it again, thinking bout her in the middle of the Common Room, looking like a complete idiot, standing there, doing nothing. My mate, Fred Wesley (the second) came up behind me and thumped me on the back, “Ready for Easter, James? Who’re you calling over this time? Aves again?”
I rounded on him, suddenly angry, (I wonder where it came from) “No one calls her that except me, got that bro?” I said.
Fred raised an eyebrow, “Touchy, aren’t we today? What’s up man? Minnie got to you?”
“I don’t know, mate.” I said rubbing my temples. All of a sudden my head had started aching. I fell into a nearby armchair and leant back, closing my eyes, trying to get rid of the images of me and Avery together.
This was wrong. We were just friends; I wasn’t supposed to be feeling this way.
Oh bollocks, now I’m becoming a pansy too!
*******
Gryffindor Common Room, 1 am
After what felt like minutes; I felt a gentle prodding on my shoulder and my eyes snapped open. The first thing I saw was a face too large to be normal peering at me from right above.
“Aaargh!” both of us screamed together, me, because I was startled and Avery because I was screaming.
After we’d both screamed our lungs out, she placed a hand on her chest and said, “Bloody hell, you scared the shit out of me James. Don’t’ do that to me ever again. To anyone for that matter.” She added as an afterthought.
I frowned and said, “Why in Merlin’s name were you peering at me like that Ave?”
“I’d been trying to wake you for more than ten minutes now, James, so I was trying to see if you were alive.”
“I was breathing wasn’t I?” I snapped cranky at being woken up in the middle of the night.
“Yeah, but I was just making sure.” She shot back. “Sorry, for trying to make sure my best friend was alive.” I could sense a hint of annoyance in her voice. With that she turned on her heel and marched up the stairs once again.
I saw here legs going up the staircase leading to the Girls Dorm and felt bad at having snapped at her. Avery and I were very unlike other boy-girl best friends. We hardly ever fought.
“Avery!” I called out but was too late, she’d already disappeared.
I ran after her and started climbing up the stairs. I’d barely climbed a couple of steps when a loud wail sounded and the ground below my feet gave away and I slid down.
Bollocks.
******
Great Hall, 8:30, Breakfast
“You were the guy who tried to climb up to the Girls’ Dorms last night?” Lily, my baby sister asked me, shock all over her face
Last night, I’d run as soon as I landed on the carpeted floor of the Common Room.
I looked around, trying to see if anyone had heard us.
“Say it a little louder won’t ya Lils; I think someone at the Staff table didn’t hear you.” I said, annoyed.
“Say what a little louder?” Avery asked, sliding into a seat next to Lily.
“Nothing.” I said before Lily could say anything. She closed her mouth and pouted at me.
“Oh nothing. It’s just that James was the guy who tried to sneak up the Girls’ dorms last night.” Al, my younger brother said from somewhere down the table.
I threw my hands up exasperatedly and said, “Thank you, Albus. Mind your own fucking business.”
“Language, James.” Both Lily and Avery said at the same time, and then looked at each other in surprise and burst into a fit of giggles.
(How very unlike Avery.)
Once she’d stopped giggling (!!) Avery turned to me and arched an eyebrow. I shrugged and continued with my breakfast. A few minutes of silence later she said, irritated that I was ignoring her, “Well? Care to explain yourself?”
“Nope.” I said popping the ‘p’.
“Okay.” she huffed. “But mind you, James. I’m going to get it out of you by the end of today, or else-”
“Or else what?” I challenged her.
“Or else, nothing.” She finished lamely.
“No. I bet, you couldn’t get the secret out of me by the end of today.” I said, smirking smugly.
“You know what? I bet I can. She shot back, her eyes darkening. “You’re on, Potter.”
I folded my arms across my chest and said, “Bring it, Hughes.”
She started to walk away when I said, “Wait, there’s a catch.”
She turned back and said, “What, I can’t use magic or potions of any sort?”
I shook my head, “Or alcohol.”
Avery stared at me, her eyes narrowing. “I would never stoop that low, James. You know that.” Her voice deathly low. She was getting wound up now.
I shrugged, “You never know.” And I knew this got on to her nerves, my behaviour. Me being this way.
But I had a plan. A plan that I knew, would work.
“So, what does the loser have to do?”, Lily asked from behind me.
Avery looked at me expectantly and I said, “The loser has to confess their undying love for the winner.”
Fred got up and started yelling, “Place your bets. Come on people! Get the money flowing!”
Avery shot him a withering look and said, “I’ll be in the library doing my Transfiguration essay, which I may add we need to submit this Monday.”
I slid back into my seat at the table, a smug, satisfied smile on my face.
Lily poked me in the arm and said, “James! What was all that about?”
“I think I know.” Fred said from beside me. When did he get there?
“When did you get here?” I asked him.
“Right after I finished collecting all the bets. The odds are on you winning mate. All the guys are rooting for you and the girls, except the members of your fan club, for Avery. And you know how cautious most girls are with their money, no betting and all that shit.” Fred rambled on, I tuned him out after a while.
The suddenly it registered what Fred had said, “Hey, wait a minute! What did you just say?”
“That the number of girls in your fan club is increasing.” He replied hesitantly.
“No, no. Before that. The first thing you said before you started talking to yourself.” I asked slowly.
“ ‘I think I know.’ And I was not talking to myself!” he answered reproachfully.
“Don’t whine, Fred. You were. And what do you mean by ‘I think I know’?”
“I meant what I said.”
“What do you mean by that?!” I asked him again.
“It meant that, I think I knew what you’re up to.” He said, slowly, as if I found what he was saying hard to understand.
“Do you know what I’m up to?” I asked patiently.
Do not lose your temper. He’s your bro. Do not shout at him. It’s early in the morning and the day has just begun. Don’t spoil the day for yourself.
“I think I do.” He said nodding.
“Urgh!” I shouted in frustration and shoved Fred off the bench.
*******
Library, 12:13 p.m.
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.
I swear if she poked me once more, I wasn’t going to hold back just because it was the Library and ask her what her bloody problem is.
Poke.
That’s it.
I stood up, pushing the chair back. It made a loud noise and the next instant Madam Pince, the old bat we had for a librarian was standing next to me. She pressed a long wrinkled finger to her lips and said, “Silence in the library.”
“Haven’t we heard that one before.” Avery muttered from next to me. Lily burst into another fit of giggles and Pince shot her a glare which silenced her.
Pince pressed her finger to her lips to emphasise on her point and then left. I turned on Avery and said, “What?” through clenched teeth.
“What?” she replied innocently.
Oh no. Not that Puppy-dog-eyes-I’ve-got-no-idea-what-you’re-talking-about-look.
I just shook my head and went back to my essay, which I might add was extremely frustrating, not a surprise, considering it was Potions, which was easily my worst subject.
An hour and a half later I still wasn’t done with it. I hastily scribbled out the last sentence to end the essay and dropped my quill on to the table and leaned back in to the back of the squishy armchair I’d settled into not too long ago. I’d shifted to the Common Room after being unable to stand Avery and Lily’s incessant chattering and the formers pestering about the subject we’d had a bet on.
I pushed the portrait-hole door open and stepped into the crisp autumn afternoon. Walking down the castle corridors, I looked around at the students around me. It was one of the rare occasions when I had time to myself and wasn’t surrounded by my flock of fan-girls or Avery or Fed or any other family member of mine (which is pretty huge, let me tell you). I inhaled the scent of the castle and knew I would miss it when I graduated. This year was my last and I was going to make the best of it.
A pair of hands suddenly closed my eyes and I tumbled to a halt. I shoved my hands into my jeans pockets and leant back so that the tiny person who had obscured my sight could stand properly. I went through the names of all the people who were shorter than me.
Almost everyone, great. (I’d inherited the tall Weasley-gene)
I bit my lip and said, “May?” I immediately got my vision back and turned around to face my girlfriend of two years.
Marietta Longbottom. My girlfriend since the start of our sixth year at Hogwarts, Marietta, also called May by me; was Professor Longbottom’s only daughter. So I was under his hawk-like (Like that’s possible. Prof Longbottom was too nice) all the time. I leant in and pulled her into sweet kiss.
Yes, I know what you’re thinking, which guy in his right mind would look at another girl when he had Marietta Longbottom for a girlfriend? You see, Marietta, or May, was one of the nicest and hottest (okay, the hottest) girls in Hogwarts. Though she was very popular, she was extremely nice to everyone. Maybe it was her mother, Hannah Longbottom, owner of The Leaky Cauldron, or her father, I don’t which, but they sure had taught her well.
May pulled back and giggled, “Hey, handsome. How’s my favourite man doing?” May was in Ravenclaw, how no one knew. Her father had been in Gryffindor with my parents and her mother in Hufflepuff, so when she got sorted into Ravenclaw it was a surprise to everyone.
Neville was overjoyed, to say the least.
May had always been a part of the extended Weasley-Potter family, since Neville was an extremely close friend of both Mum and Dad. But, it was at the end of fifth year, when I’d built the rep of a Casanova that I’d noticed May and by the end of summer, I’d asked her out.
With soft brown curls cascading down her slender shoulders and a winning smile, beautiful brown eyes, deep brown like melted chocolate and soft, pink lips, May was any man’s ideal woman. Or so I thought.
But, that was before I saw Avery, as in really saw her.
It all started at Teddy and Vic’s wedding actually. Avery had worn a dress and put on some make-up. I was shocked to see how stunning she looked. Outfitted in a light pink knee-length off-the-shoulder dress, Avery was easily the best looking girl in the house, after Vic that is. (Vic’d kill me if she heard me saying Aves looked better than her, though she and Aves got along pretty well, Avery was Vic’s bridesmaid.) Avery’s brown hair hung loosely on her shoulders though I noticed she’d done something to it, her eyes round and excited, and a laugh escaped her lips. Ah, the lips; her lips looked pink, a kissable pink. I had to hit myself thrice to get rid of the thought (I bet Teddy thought his best man was mad). I couldn’t help but stare at Avery, who mouthed an exhilarated ‘Hi’ to me, as she walked down the aisle with Fred at her arm.
When the song changed and Vic started walking down the aisle, I tore my eyes away from her and looked at Vic. She had nothing on Avery.
It was then that I realised, I was falling for my best friend. The whole thing was, in reality, triggered off at the dress fitting when all of the Wedding party had to tag along. I saw Avery in a dress for the first time then.
I shook my head once again to get rid of thoughts of Avery and concentrated on May, my girlfriend. I loved her.
I leant in for another kiss and brought my arms down to hold her tiny waist. She responded sweetly, I could feel her smile against my lips and I intensified our kiss, kissing her harder. Several seconds later, she pulled back and I heard her mutter,
“Darn oxygen.”
I chuckled, though May was all prim and proper most of the time, when she swore, she swore as well as any guy at Hogwarts, maybe even better I’d say.
I intertwined my fingers into hers and we started walking down the castle, she, chattering, I listening.
*******
Saturday, Astronomy Tower, 11:05 p.m.
I pushed her up against the wall of the Astronomy Tower and looked into those hauntingly familiar eyes. The eyes that made my heart start beating a million times faster.
My arms were on the either sides of her beautiful face, against the wall. I could notice the visible change in her breathing pattern; her breath was getting shorter by the minute, as if my presence made her breathless.
My Room
Her hand reached up and cupped the left side of my face, and her thumb caressed my cheeks. I leant into her palm and flipped it over so I could kiss the inside.
Slowly, our faces neared and what felt like an eternity later, her lips found mine and then there was no looking back.
Needless to say, I’d won.
So what do you guys think? Good, bad, ugly? :P
She was mad.
Really, really. REALLY mad.
I was a dead man.
As if on cue, the bell rang. I’m telling you, McGonagall has it in for me. That woman hates me.
While everyone else cheered, I groaned and slumped into my seat. Today was the last day of the week and Transfiguration is my last class on Friday. Thank god it was Friday; I don’t think I could stand-
“JAMES SIRIUS POTTER!” I heard Avery screech. Ah, what a lovely temper my best friend has. I flinched and turned my head slowly to face her. She was fuming. Great. What a way to start a Hogsmeade weekend. I saw her hoist her heavy bag on her shoulder and said, faking nonchalance, “Why don’t you let me carry that for you. It must be heavy.”
“Don’t you pull that move on me, James! You know you’ve screwed it up big this time!” she screeched.
“Whoa, whoa! Calm down woman!” I said backing toward the door. She pulled the bag further up her shoulder and stomped towards me. I ducked as she aimed a punch at my face, in the process hitting my forehead to the table.
“Aaah!” I screamed as my head shot up and I held my head to lessen the pain. I rubbed my forehead with my palm as Avery looked at me smugly, grinning and tapping her foot impatiently against the floor. She raised an eyebrow suggestively and said, “You got what you deserved, Potter. Don’t say it’s my fault that you hit your head on the desk. Anyway, it’s always a wonder how your shoulders hold that big inflated head of yours. Speaking of egos-” I cut her off by walking away hoisting my bag and pulling hers with it. She stumbled as her leg caught on a bump on the floor and she fell down face first onto the cold stone floor. I yanked the strap of her bag causing the contents to fall on top of her. I saw her flinch as the ink bottle broke all over her causing her uniform to go all blue. Thank Merlin she decided not to use green ink.
“Not helping James.” I heard her muffled voice.
I nodded. “I know. Just trying though.” I could feel the grin spreading across my face.
Avery Hughes. Part time partner in crime. Full time best friend.
Yeah, that just about covers what Avery is, to put it simply.
I can proudly say that I’ve lived up to the reputation that precedes my name. Honestly speaking though, it isn’t easy to better what James Potter (I) and Sirius Black had done during their days at Hogwarts, but I think we came pretty close. The prank we pulled on the Slytherins this year on Halloween was classic. Plastic snakes falling on the entire House table during Dinner. Ah. You should have seen Scorpius Malfoy screaming like a little girl. That’ll teach him to flirt with Rosie.
Coming back to the present, I was walking back to the Common Room with Avery a couple of hours later after having cleaned up the mess in the classroom and restored her dress back to its usual colours of red, gold, grey and white and had dinner too.
I looked at her sideways, not wanting to be caught looking at her unnecessarily. In the past few months, I’d developed a sort of crush on her. She was pretty, to say the least. Brown curls, a brown that was bordering on black , same shade of eyes as me, hazel, and her best quality, her beautiful smile that lit up the entire room. Our eyes met and I looked away a slight blush creeping up my cheeks.
“What?!” Avery asked slightly hitting my shoulder.
I shook my head. “Nothing.” I cleared my throat. “Nothing, I was just...” and trailed off as she walked ahead and turned to face me. She folded her arms across her chest and waited for an answer.
“Uh..Um..I-” I stuttered.
She shrugged and skipped up the stairs to the seventh-year girls’ dormitory, when I didn’t come up with a coherent sentence in response. That was Avery for you. She never pried unless she thought it was necessary for her to know what you were going to say.
I was doing it again, thinking bout her in the middle of the Common Room, looking like a complete idiot, standing there, doing nothing. My mate, Fred Wesley (the second) came up behind me and thumped me on the back, “Ready for Easter, James? Who’re you calling over this time? Aves again?”
I rounded on him, suddenly angry, (I wonder where it came from) “No one calls her that except me, got that bro?” I said.
Fred raised an eyebrow, “Touchy, aren’t we today? What’s up man? Minnie got to you?”
“I don’t know, mate.” I said rubbing my temples. All of a sudden my head had started aching. I fell into a nearby armchair and leant back, closing my eyes, trying to get rid of the images of me and Avery together.
This was wrong. We were just friends; I wasn’t supposed to be feeling this way.
Oh bollocks, now I’m becoming a pansy too!
*******
Gryffindor Common Room, 1 am
After what felt like minutes; I felt a gentle prodding on my shoulder and my eyes snapped open. The first thing I saw was a face too large to be normal peering at me from right above.
“Aaargh!” both of us screamed together, me, because I was startled and Avery because I was screaming.
After we’d both screamed our lungs out, she placed a hand on her chest and said, “Bloody hell, you scared the shit out of me James. Don’t’ do that to me ever again. To anyone for that matter.” She added as an afterthought.
I frowned and said, “Why in Merlin’s name were you peering at me like that Ave?”
“I’d been trying to wake you for more than ten minutes now, James, so I was trying to see if you were alive.”
“I was breathing wasn’t I?” I snapped cranky at being woken up in the middle of the night.
“Yeah, but I was just making sure.” She shot back. “Sorry, for trying to make sure my best friend was alive.” I could sense a hint of annoyance in her voice. With that she turned on her heel and marched up the stairs once again.
I saw here legs going up the staircase leading to the Girls Dorm and felt bad at having snapped at her. Avery and I were very unlike other boy-girl best friends. We hardly ever fought.
“Avery!” I called out but was too late, she’d already disappeared.
I ran after her and started climbing up the stairs. I’d barely climbed a couple of steps when a loud wail sounded and the ground below my feet gave away and I slid down.
Bollocks.
******
Great Hall, 8:30, Breakfast
“You were the guy who tried to climb up to the Girls’ Dorms last night?” Lily, my baby sister asked me, shock all over her face
Last night, I’d run as soon as I landed on the carpeted floor of the Common Room.
I looked around, trying to see if anyone had heard us.
“Say it a little louder won’t ya Lils; I think someone at the Staff table didn’t hear you.” I said, annoyed.
“Say what a little louder?” Avery asked, sliding into a seat next to Lily.
“Nothing.” I said before Lily could say anything. She closed her mouth and pouted at me.
“Oh nothing. It’s just that James was the guy who tried to sneak up the Girls’ dorms last night.” Al, my younger brother said from somewhere down the table.
I threw my hands up exasperatedly and said, “Thank you, Albus. Mind your own fucking business.”
“Language, James.” Both Lily and Avery said at the same time, and then looked at each other in surprise and burst into a fit of giggles.
(How very unlike Avery.)
Once she’d stopped giggling (!!) Avery turned to me and arched an eyebrow. I shrugged and continued with my breakfast. A few minutes of silence later she said, irritated that I was ignoring her, “Well? Care to explain yourself?”
“Nope.” I said popping the ‘p’.
“Okay.” she huffed. “But mind you, James. I’m going to get it out of you by the end of today, or else-”
“Or else what?” I challenged her.
“Or else, nothing.” She finished lamely.
“No. I bet, you couldn’t get the secret out of me by the end of today.” I said, smirking smugly.
“You know what? I bet I can. She shot back, her eyes darkening. “You’re on, Potter.”
I folded my arms across my chest and said, “Bring it, Hughes.”
She started to walk away when I said, “Wait, there’s a catch.”
She turned back and said, “What, I can’t use magic or potions of any sort?”
I shook my head, “Or alcohol.”
Avery stared at me, her eyes narrowing. “I would never stoop that low, James. You know that.” Her voice deathly low. She was getting wound up now.
I shrugged, “You never know.” And I knew this got on to her nerves, my behaviour. Me being this way.
But I had a plan. A plan that I knew, would work.
“So, what does the loser have to do?”, Lily asked from behind me.
Avery looked at me expectantly and I said, “The loser has to confess their undying love for the winner.”
Fred got up and started yelling, “Place your bets. Come on people! Get the money flowing!”
Avery shot him a withering look and said, “I’ll be in the library doing my Transfiguration essay, which I may add we need to submit this Monday.”
I slid back into my seat at the table, a smug, satisfied smile on my face.
Lily poked me in the arm and said, “James! What was all that about?”
“I think I know.” Fred said from beside me. When did he get there?
“When did you get here?” I asked him.
“Right after I finished collecting all the bets. The odds are on you winning mate. All the guys are rooting for you and the girls, except the members of your fan club, for Avery. And you know how cautious most girls are with their money, no betting and all that shit.” Fred rambled on, I tuned him out after a while.
The suddenly it registered what Fred had said, “Hey, wait a minute! What did you just say?”
“That the number of girls in your fan club is increasing.” He replied hesitantly.
“No, no. Before that. The first thing you said before you started talking to yourself.” I asked slowly.
“ ‘I think I know.’ And I was not talking to myself!” he answered reproachfully.
“Don’t whine, Fred. You were. And what do you mean by ‘I think I know’?”
“I meant what I said.”
“What do you mean by that?!” I asked him again.
“It meant that, I think I knew what you’re up to.” He said, slowly, as if I found what he was saying hard to understand.
“Do you know what I’m up to?” I asked patiently.
Do not lose your temper. He’s your bro. Do not shout at him. It’s early in the morning and the day has just begun. Don’t spoil the day for yourself.
“I think I do.” He said nodding.
“Urgh!” I shouted in frustration and shoved Fred off the bench.
*******
Library, 12:13 p.m.
Poke.
Poke.
Poke.
I swear if she poked me once more, I wasn’t going to hold back just because it was the Library and ask her what her bloody problem is.
Poke.
That’s it.
I stood up, pushing the chair back. It made a loud noise and the next instant Madam Pince, the old bat we had for a librarian was standing next to me. She pressed a long wrinkled finger to her lips and said, “Silence in the library.”
“Haven’t we heard that one before.” Avery muttered from next to me. Lily burst into another fit of giggles and Pince shot her a glare which silenced her.
Pince pressed her finger to her lips to emphasise on her point and then left. I turned on Avery and said, “What?” through clenched teeth.
“What?” she replied innocently.
Oh no. Not that Puppy-dog-eyes-I’ve-got-no-idea-what-you’re-talking-about-look.
I just shook my head and went back to my essay, which I might add was extremely frustrating, not a surprise, considering it was Potions, which was easily my worst subject.
An hour and a half later I still wasn’t done with it. I hastily scribbled out the last sentence to end the essay and dropped my quill on to the table and leaned back in to the back of the squishy armchair I’d settled into not too long ago. I’d shifted to the Common Room after being unable to stand Avery and Lily’s incessant chattering and the formers pestering about the subject we’d had a bet on.
I pushed the portrait-hole door open and stepped into the crisp autumn afternoon. Walking down the castle corridors, I looked around at the students around me. It was one of the rare occasions when I had time to myself and wasn’t surrounded by my flock of fan-girls or Avery or Fed or any other family member of mine (which is pretty huge, let me tell you). I inhaled the scent of the castle and knew I would miss it when I graduated. This year was my last and I was going to make the best of it.
A pair of hands suddenly closed my eyes and I tumbled to a halt. I shoved my hands into my jeans pockets and leant back so that the tiny person who had obscured my sight could stand properly. I went through the names of all the people who were shorter than me.
Almost everyone, great. (I’d inherited the tall Weasley-gene)
I bit my lip and said, “May?” I immediately got my vision back and turned around to face my girlfriend of two years.
Marietta Longbottom. My girlfriend since the start of our sixth year at Hogwarts, Marietta, also called May by me; was Professor Longbottom’s only daughter. So I was under his hawk-like (Like that’s possible. Prof Longbottom was too nice) all the time. I leant in and pulled her into sweet kiss.
Yes, I know what you’re thinking, which guy in his right mind would look at another girl when he had Marietta Longbottom for a girlfriend? You see, Marietta, or May, was one of the nicest and hottest (okay, the hottest) girls in Hogwarts. Though she was very popular, she was extremely nice to everyone. Maybe it was her mother, Hannah Longbottom, owner of The Leaky Cauldron, or her father, I don’t which, but they sure had taught her well.
May pulled back and giggled, “Hey, handsome. How’s my favourite man doing?” May was in Ravenclaw, how no one knew. Her father had been in Gryffindor with my parents and her mother in Hufflepuff, so when she got sorted into Ravenclaw it was a surprise to everyone.
Neville was overjoyed, to say the least.
May had always been a part of the extended Weasley-Potter family, since Neville was an extremely close friend of both Mum and Dad. But, it was at the end of fifth year, when I’d built the rep of a Casanova that I’d noticed May and by the end of summer, I’d asked her out.
With soft brown curls cascading down her slender shoulders and a winning smile, beautiful brown eyes, deep brown like melted chocolate and soft, pink lips, May was any man’s ideal woman. Or so I thought.
But, that was before I saw Avery, as in really saw her.
It all started at Teddy and Vic’s wedding actually. Avery had worn a dress and put on some make-up. I was shocked to see how stunning she looked. Outfitted in a light pink knee-length off-the-shoulder dress, Avery was easily the best looking girl in the house, after Vic that is. (Vic’d kill me if she heard me saying Aves looked better than her, though she and Aves got along pretty well, Avery was Vic’s bridesmaid.) Avery’s brown hair hung loosely on her shoulders though I noticed she’d done something to it, her eyes round and excited, and a laugh escaped her lips. Ah, the lips; her lips looked pink, a kissable pink. I had to hit myself thrice to get rid of the thought (I bet Teddy thought his best man was mad). I couldn’t help but stare at Avery, who mouthed an exhilarated ‘Hi’ to me, as she walked down the aisle with Fred at her arm.
When the song changed and Vic started walking down the aisle, I tore my eyes away from her and looked at Vic. She had nothing on Avery.
It was then that I realised, I was falling for my best friend. The whole thing was, in reality, triggered off at the dress fitting when all of the Wedding party had to tag along. I saw Avery in a dress for the first time then.
I shook my head once again to get rid of thoughts of Avery and concentrated on May, my girlfriend. I loved her.
I leant in for another kiss and brought my arms down to hold her tiny waist. She responded sweetly, I could feel her smile against my lips and I intensified our kiss, kissing her harder. Several seconds later, she pulled back and I heard her mutter,
“Darn oxygen.”
I chuckled, though May was all prim and proper most of the time, when she swore, she swore as well as any guy at Hogwarts, maybe even better I’d say.
I intertwined my fingers into hers and we started walking down the castle, she, chattering, I listening.
*******
Saturday, Astronomy Tower, 11:05 p.m.
I pushed her up against the wall of the Astronomy Tower and looked into those hauntingly familiar eyes. The eyes that made my heart start beating a million times faster.
My arms were on the either sides of her beautiful face, against the wall. I could notice the visible change in her breathing pattern; her breath was getting shorter by the minute, as if my presence made her breathless.
My Room
Her hand reached up and cupped the left side of my face, and her thumb caressed my cheeks. I leant into her palm and flipped it over so I could kiss the inside.
Slowly, our faces neared and what felt like an eternity later, her lips found mine and then there was no looking back.
Needless to say, I’d won.
So what do you guys think? Good, bad, ugly? :P