31: James Potter - True Love Part Two

Warning! This is part two of two, so if you want this to make sense I'd recommend reading part one first!

House: Ravenclaw

 Our next potions lesson was incredibly awkward. Since Remus had told me the truth about James I had little else on my mind, and was somehow both excited and dreading this lesson. He sat beside me, seeming his usual happy self. As always we were working together, us having to compare amortentia to other love potions. "It seems a weird thing doesn't it? Teaching students about love potions," I mumbled as I stirred the powerful potion.

"Yeah I guess so, there are cooler things we could be working on after all," James said.

"Oh, look here, you can see the colour is much richer in amortentia than in the other potions," I said, pointing to the three cauldrons in front of us. James peered over my shoulder, getting much closer than I expected him to. I gulped but kept my attention on the potions before us.

"So... (y/n), you're part of the Slug Club aren't you?" James said and I let out a breathy laugh.

"Yeah," I said, knowing I told him last week.

"Well, it's the party tonight isn't it?" He asked and my body went rigid.

"Er- yes, yes it is..." I mumbled, avoiding eye contact with him.

"So who're you going with?" He asked, looking extremely casual but there was a hint of nervousness in his tone.

"No one... I mean, I don't know if I'm gonna go," I admitted.

"Why not?"

"I can't imagine anyone wanting to come with me," I chuckled.

"Why not?" He seemed genuinely shocked by my words.

"W-well, I - I don't know," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"I think anyone would be lucky if you asked them. I mean if you have no one in mind then... then maybe I'd be lucky enough to be asked by you," he said so nonchalantly but there was a blush on his cheeks which shocked me completely. I stood not knowing what to say, him avoiding eye contact but fiddling with the corners of the worksheet on our desk. It seemed as though Remus, Poppy and Sophia were right.

"Okay... yeah, I'd like that James," I said in a quiet voice. "Here, here's the extra ticket," I added, fishing it from my bag.

"Great! I'll pick you up from the Ravenclaw common room, yeah?" He beamed brightly making my heart flutter.

"Y-yes, yes of course," I said, now feeling elated. Happiness had overtaken any doubt I had held, particularly as he was the one to ask me in an admittedly roundabout way but nonetheless I couldn't stop smiling for the rest of the lesson.

I was finding it difficult to stop smiling throughout the rest of the day, and felt undeniably happy whenever I passed him in the corridors and he'd wave at me. Sophia and Poppy kept on teasing me as I had told them what had happened straight after class, and they were excitedly discussing what outfit I was going to wear that evening.

When that time came however I had gotten extremely nervous. My self-doubt had begun to creep up on me again and I was having difficulty keeping calm. The girls picked out a nice (f/c) dress for me to wear and were keen to do my makeup for me so I let them, but inside my stomach was twisting with fear. I was scared of being nervous and not knowing what to say, the thought only increasing my nerves making me more scared - it was a vicious cycle.

"(y/n) stop worrying, you look gorgeous," Poppy said, carefully applying my eyeshadow.

"It's not so much how I look it's how I'm going to be... I know I'm gonna get nervous and curl in on myself, I won't know what to say or how to act, it's gonna be a mess-,"

"Stop it," Sophia said sternly. "You're going to be absolutely fine because you're just going to have fun. It's natural to feel nervous but when you're there with him you'll have a great time I don't doubt it. Your nerves will fly out the window," she tried to comfort me.

"I-I suppose," I mumbled, Poppy telling me she was done. I checked myself in the mirror feeling satisfied with how I looked, it being rare that I felt this way. The girls wished me a finally good luck before I left, feeling a little confident thanks to their supportive words.

When I stepped out into the corridor I was surprised to see James already standing there waiting, dressed very smartly. Without even realising I stood staring at him, but that was when I realised he was also doing the same to me. "Hello," I said slightly timidly, snapping him from his gaze.

"(y/n), you look beautiful," he said and merely a second later his cheeks turned bright red. "I-I mean- what I mean is- er-,"

"Thanks, James. You look good too," I said softly and he let out a breath of relief. I tried to keep a calm exterior but inside I was panicking, trying to give myself a pep talk to calm me down.

"Shall we?" He gestured the way down the corridor whilst holding out his arm for me to take. I tried to hide my smile of excitement as I nodded, the two of us walking towards the party with our arms linked.

"Have you ever been to any of Professor Slughorn's parties before?" I asked as we approached the door.

"No I haven't," he said.

"Then be prepared for eccentricity," I laughed, opening the door to reveal the large hall decked out with large, slightly obnoxious decorations. James raised his eyebrows, trying to take it all in but it was exactly as I expected. Large netted drapes hung from the ceiling, being pulled back to the walls by thick twirled cords with tassels on them. There were many tables with drinks and snacks on them, as well as there being several other students in posh white uniform going round with beverages.

There were many people, a few of which I recognised from last years events but I doubted James knew any of them. "Well this is... unexpected," James laughed, looking around at the large stars that decorated the walls.

"Yeah, he's bold isn't he- oh, James," I tugged on his sleeve when I saw Slughorn approaching.

"Ah, Miss (l/n)! And you've brought Mr Potter along, how marvellous!" It was clear he had already had a few glasses of wine. "Well come on in, don't be shy. You're quite the quidditch whizz aren't you Potter, captain of Gryffindor correct?" He asked.

"Er, yes sir I am," James said proudly.

"Well come and meet some of my alumni, they're members of various teams across the country," Slughorn said and James' eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Sure!" He beamed, the two of us following Slughorn. I had met a few of his ex-pupils last year so greeted them happily, whilst James met them all and spoke about all things quidditch. He had a gleam in his eye and I couldn't keep my eyes off of him as he spoke eagerly to the professional players.

A while into their conversation I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Lily. Nerves hit me as I wondered what she wanted with me, but she smiled and nodded her head to the side. I followed her, James not noticing my absence. We stopped at the side of the hall, standing beside one of the snack tables. "Lily... is everything okay?" I asked awkwardly.

"So you're the girl he was talking about," she said and I furrowed my eyebrows, slightly confused.

"What do you mean?" I mumbled.

"When I asked James to come to the party with me he said he was hoping a specific girl would ask him, and that girl wasn't me," she said simply.

"O-oh..." I didn't really know how to react to her words and wanted to head back to James as soon as possible.

"So you like him?" She asked and I winced. "I'll take that as a yes. Well he seems interested in you all of a sudden, especially as he turned me down and decided he suddenly wants someone else."

"Lily, do you... have feelings for him?" I muttered, avoiding her eye contact.

"What would you do if I said yes?" She asked.

"I-I don't know," I admitted, nerves filling me.

"Hm..." she seemed to be analysing me, making me feel uncomfortable and wanting to get away from her as soon as possible. "Well I don't. Have feelings for him I mean. I guess I just thought I'd give him a chance by asking him to the party, thinking he still liked me but he'd clearly moved on. It seems as though you're the girl on his mind now, especially after I heard him and Remus talking about the potions lesson last week, when we learnt about amortentia. Since then James has seemed bewitched by you, so I should've guessed you were the 'specific girl' he wanted to be asked by."

I wasn't sure how to react to her words so I simply stood there, staring at her. She glanced over my shoulder and said a quick goodbye before floating away into the crowd. I almost jumped out of my skin when I felt a hand pressed against the small of my back. "(y/n) it's just me," James chuckled. "Sorry if I got carried away there, talking to them," he said but I shook my head.

"The only reason I came away was because Lily wanted to talk to me," I admitted and he furrowed his eyebrows.

"About what?" He asked and I hesitated.

"A-about you saying you wanted a 'specific girl' to ask you to this party... a-and that specific girl was... me..." I said and a soft smile appeared on his features.

"Would you care to dance," he gestured the area where most couples were dancing.

"Oh, I'm not much of a dancer," I said but he pulled me towards the floor anyway, placing a hand on my waist and holding onto my hand, pulling my body tight against his.

"It's true," he whispered soothingly. "I did want you to ask me but I was scared you weren't going to, hence earlier today... I wanted to have a chance to sweep you off your feet."

"H-huh?"

"I'm more than sure Remus has already told you, but I have feelings for you, strong feelings and I want you to be my girlfriend," he whispered, looking me deeply in the eye with his hazel coloured ones. I thought time had stopped - I couldn't breath and my heart had stopped. I stared, trying to see any sign on his features of this statement being a joke but instead there was a sincere smile and a look of hopefulness in his eyes.

"R-really?" I stuttered and he nodded gently, cupping my cheek. "Then yes... yes I'd- I'd love to be your girlfriend," I whispered, unable to stop a smile coming to my face. He let out a laugh in relief, then pressing his lips against my forehead lovingly. It felt as though we were the only two people in the room as we swayed back and forth to the music, having our first dance together as an official couple.