"Shhh" Freddie Weasley muttered to his twin brother. "We don't want to get caught."
"I'm being as quiet as I can, Fred." Jake Weasley whispered back.
"You two dumbnuts can just calm down. There's no one behind the door."
James Sirius Potter looked back at his two best friends and cousins and grinned.
"We're in."
The three boys hurried down the hall and then stepped through a side door into the grand ballroom. Fred and Jake immediately disappeared, looking for food or girls, whichever one they came across first. James stood back and looked around the room with a grin on his face.
Everywhere he looked he saw beautiful women and debonair men talking, laughing, dancing. Every lady was dripping in diamonds and carrying a glass of champagne while the men flocked around. The ballroom and decorated in beautiful shades of blue and James could clearly see the host, a young, handsome man, walking around the room interacting with everyone.
James, Fred, and Jake had started this party-crashing activity at the beginning of the summer. Tired of being around people who knew who they were and teenagers who just wanted to be friends with them for fame, they decided to go to the one place where no one knew who they were.
The Muggle world.
For weeks now, every Saturday they would come to this mansion that served a party space and mingled with the guests. They could finally talk to people without worrying that someone would recognize them. When James had told Harry about this idea of his, his dad had been skeptical. But when James explained his reasoning, his dad gave in. As long as the three boys stayed out of trouble and were home by 3 o'clock, they could go.
And so their weekly excursions began. In their fitted tuxes and slicked back hair, the three seventeen year olds would socialize with famous people, old people, young people, but most importantly unknown people.
James took in the sight and then looked around hoping to see someone interesting that he could talk to. He liked talking to strangers. Hearing their stories, he could tell them his own without being judged. It was a nice feeling. He was looking upwards towards the magnificent chandelier when someone caught his eyes.
There was a girl standing on the balcony. She was dressed to the nines like all the other women in the room but she was, rather curiously, dressed in jeans and a casual shirt. She was standing with her arms against the railing and was just looking around the room. Sightseeing, just as he was.
James scanned the room and saw the staircase in the far left corner. Looking around, he didn't see either Freddie or Jake so he hurried towards the stairs. He'd been to many of these high-class parties but he had never seen someone that intrigued him as much as the girl on the balcony had.
He reached the top and slowly walked towards her. She hadn't noticed his presence and was still serenely staring out over the crowd. As he got closer, he saw that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had dark hair that was piled on top of her head in a casual manner. Her face was makeup free but James thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Her profile showed her full, pouty lips and her defined cheekbones.
He cleared his throat. "Fancy seeing someone up here," he said.
She whipped around and stared at him. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of brown. James decided in that moment his new favorite color was the color of her eyes.
"Why are you up here instead of enjoying the wonderful party?" he asked.
She just looked at him. "Who are you?" she asked.
Oh shit, James thought, an American. Even her voice is enough to make me want to kiss her right here, right now.
James looked in the direction of the party and decided to try and impress her a little.
"See that man over there? The host? He's a close friend of mine," James said, looking at her face. "What about you?"
The girl smirked and James thought he had never seen a more devilish sight, which was saying a lot since he lived with Lily.
"See that man over there? The host?" she asked, mocking him. "That's my brother."
James froze. Her brother? A million thoughts were flying through his head. Most of them being curse words.
"Y-your…" he stammered.
"Brother." she finished. Just when James thought he was going to call security on him, she laughed.
"You're obviously a party-crasher.," she said.
"Uhhh… I'm sorry. I'll just leave." James said.
"It's okay. You don't have to go," the girl said, smiling at him.
"Really you don't," she repeated, noting his shocked face. "If it wasn't already my own party I would have crashed it too. But I must say, you missed out. The one he threw last week was so much better."
James finally relaxed and smiled. "What a shame."
She giggled and motioned for him to follow her. She led him to a warm room that was lit by a fireplace.
"So what are you doing up here? Shouldn't you be at the party?" James asked, as he sat on the couch.
"I should be," she replied, tucking her feet under her legs. "But, these parties can get very boring."
"I can see how." James replied. He had been to about ten of these parties and the conversation was severely lacking. He liked it because he didn't have to be himself but if he actually lived this kind of lifestyle, he would have killed himself a long time ago.
"So, what brings you here?" she asked. Seeing James's confused look she clarified, "Most people have a reason for randomly coming to a different world."
James stared. She had just seen right through him. But she was a Muggle. How much could he possibly tell her?
"I just didn't want to be myself," he said. "My dad's a cop. He's taken down some of the most famous criminals. And my mum's a journalist. She used to play a sport professionally. Everyone I meet, they expect me to be like them. Either to be a cop or a qu- soccer player," James said, stopping slightly when he realized that he almost slipped up.
"Why don't you just tell them?" she asked, softly.
James stared at the beautiful creature sitting in front of him. He had known her for about twenty minutes and he was already slipping his heart out. What's a little more?
"Because I'm afraid they'll be disappointed," James said, and for the first time, he realized it was true. He didn't want to be an auror or a professional chaser but he didn't want to tell his parents because they might be disappointed in him.
"Everyone expects so much from me. And sometimes I'm afraid that if I don't pick on of those two options, they'll be mad," he elaborated.
"What do you like to do?"
"I… don' know," James replied. "I spent so much time thinking of what I don't want I never realized what I do want. I like to sing and play piano, though."
"Really?" Her eyes light up. "I love to sing. I play the guitar. And don't worry, I know how you feel. About disappointment."
"How so?" James asked. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."
"No, it's okay. My brother, the host, he's not my actual brother. He's my half-brother. My dad… he's rich, he's famous. But he's not a good dad. He never cared. About either of us. Chuck's been there for me my whole life. But sometimes, I know that I'm disappointing my dad by not going into business like him and Chuck are. But then I think, he didn't care about me. He never did. So why should I care about him?"
James looked at her flushed face. He realized that this was something that she had been wanting to say for a long time. She looked at her hands, a little embarrassed. Then her eyes flew to the clock.
"It's getting late. Don't you need to go?" she asked.
Crap. It was half past one. They had decided to leave at 1:30 today.
"I have to find my cousins," he said, standing up.
"There are more of you?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Uhhh…."
"I'm just kidding."
They stood again, side by side, on the edge of the balcony. His eyes swept over the floor most of the guests were preparing to leave. The girl suddenly pointed to the door.
"Those two seem to be leaving in a hurry. Is that them?"
James looked in that direction and saw the tell-tale Weasley red hair that graced Freddie's head.
"That's them. Those bastards. Leaving without me," he said chuckling.
She turned to him. "Well then, I guess this is good-bye."
James looked at her. "Thank you. I've never felt more like myself," he whispered, as though saying a sacred oath.
She just looked at him and then, all of a sudden, she closed the distance between them and gave him a hug.
"Thank you," she whispered in his ear, "I've never felt less alone."
Then, all too soon, she let him go and smirked at him.
"Bye, Party-crasher. It was nice meeting you." She turned to go.
"Maybe I'll see you again," James said, before he could stop himself. He knew in his mind that it was unrealistic. School was starting in two weeks and she was a muggle for crying out loud.
"Maybe." she said. She turned to look at him and winked. She started to walk away after giving him a little wave.
"Goodbye, girl on the balcony." he whispered, staring after the girl that had, in one short half an hour, stolen his heart.
