James appears by her side. His black hair is carelessly swept around and his bright brown eyes have a mischievous twinkle in them. He must have grown a few inches over the summer, because I don’t recall him being so tall… or his shoulders so broad… as a matter of fact, I don’t recall him being so handsome…. My stomach turns a little at this thought, but I can’t determine if it’s butterflies or nausea.

 I feel like war has been waged in more ways than one.

 “Quinn,” He uses the name I go by, as opposed to Pips or Pipsqueak… he’s serious now. Serious is a rare sight with James Potter. “You’ve gone bloody mad!”
My jaw is clenched, my chest is heaving, and my hands are balled into fists. “Y-Y-You! You’re mad!”

 Noooo… he’s right. I’m mad. Hell, I’m past that. I’m positively bonkers.

 

 I remember what James said before leaving the joke shop. “Hope your lips aren’t too chapped.” My stomach turns with an abrupt sense of dread. See, although I find Scorpius attractive and charming and surprisingly sweet and… oh I bet his body is amazing….

Regardless of all those winning factors, he has two playing against him:


1) He’s a Malfoy.


And…


2) He’s not James.

 

“Well, hey! What if I get your wand back for you? That way you won’t have to talk to him…. I figure that might lead to violence anyway…. Might be safer, you know?”

“No, no.” I chuckle and go to pick out an outfit for today. “I’ll do it.”

“Quinn, you’re way too calm about this. What’re you thinking?” From the tone in her voice, I can almost tell that Rose has her arms crossed, eyes squinted, and lips pursed.

When I turn to face her, I see that my assumption was absolutely correct. She can tell I’m up to something. I smile, “Oh nothing!”

“You were right, James. Is that what you want to hear?”

He chuckles, “Not really. That’s nothing new. Don’t you know me, Pips? I’m always right.”

“Either way.” He says, “What you did is against the rules. Ten points from Gryffindor! James, leave.”

James obeys without a second thought… and without looking back.

I’m crushed.

My ribs are still sore, but the pain I feel now is much more distracting.

My dorm is empty when I get there, and while I had every intent of changing clothes and going to breakfast, I somehow find myself curled up on my bed. Crying.

It feels good now that tables have turned. Or at least, now that tables are equal. Before, I was the crazy one who would snap at any given moment, but now it seems James has joined me on my quest to be considered craziest person alive.

Previously....

Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine that I would feel anything like this.

“James, I—“