Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my ideas.

A/N: I'd like to thank hisluv for helping me with some of the ideas, and I apologise if any of the characters are out of character, as this sort of thing didn't happen in the books, so I didn't really know how they would react.

Magic Always Has Consequences

Chapter One

James smiled, feeling the warmth of another person reach him across the bed. He stretched out and pulled her in towards him, breathing in deeply the scent of Jasmine. That's funny, he thought. That doesn't smell like Poppy. Oh well, she might have changed her perfume.

He brought her in closer and settled himself spoon-like against her back before kissing her neck. He moved a hand up her shirt and began to stroke the soft, silky skin of her flat stomach. He stopped the caress and moved the hand upwards while the other hand moved lower down.

Then, just as he had started stroking a breast and had slipped a knee between both of hers, reaching for the trouser fastening at the same time, she let out a small scream that stopped him in his tracks.

It also forced him to open his eyes and to become fully awake, only then realising that he hadn't felt the soulmate connection and the woman in his bed was taller, curvier, and had a lot more up top than Poppy. She was also fully dressed which should have alerted him as well.

As he looked down at her head, he saw that she had long, dark hair, slightly wavy. No, definitely not Poppy. He shifted quickly back and pulled away his hands before he embarrassed himself further. Luckily his body cooled down quickly, solving that particular problem.

He sat up and so did his companion, neither looking each other in the eye.

"Um." He began. "Um, I thought you were someone else."

"Poppy. I know, James, don't worry about it. We can just forget it ever happened."

"Um. What's your name?" She turned to face him and he saw that she had beautiful clear blue eyes. In fact, if James hadn't had Poppy, he might have been tempted.

She smiled at him and held out her hand. "My name's Mary-Lynnette Carter, I'm Ash's Soulmate." James sat up straighter. So this was the soulmate Ash had been pining for.

"Um James?" She asked after another uncomfortable silence.

"Yes."

"Shouldn't we get out of bed?"

"Yes." He reached for the blanket so he could pull it back and climb out, but before he could, Mary-Lynnette stopped him with a hand on his arm. He looked at her enquiringly.

"Sorry about this James, I'd hate to embarrass you further, though of course it's possibly saving you from some, but are you even wearing any clothes, because you know, it didn't feel like it, I mean I guess I can't really say, but…oh god did I really just say that? Um…oh dear." Mary-Lynnette's face turned a darker shade of red, the kind that goes well with dark hair, and she noticed that James had also turned a darker shade.

Poor James. She felt sorry for him; after all, he didn't really know what was going on, not like she did.

She scrambled out of bed, tripping over in her haste, and rushed to the door, hoping no-one would see her leave James's room. Unfortunately, just as she was about to grasp the doorknob, the door opened, revealing several guys standing there – including Ash.