Padfoot and Moony – Matchmakers to James Jr.
Disclaimer: looks around like one of those trained narcotics dogs who me? Owning harry potter?? And the characters (besides bess)?? When pigs fly, when dan Radcliffe asks me out, when Rupert grint stops growing, when Snape washes his hair!! ...now you DEFINITELY get the picture :P
A/N: This is a sequel to my other one-shot called 'Padfoot, Moony and James Jr.' I know, I know, I have little to no originality in titles. You don't really need to read the other one to understand this but it does give it a more complete feel, you know. Anywho enough with the chit-chat and on to two very important things: the story and... drum roll please
Thankyou to the bestest and most wonderfulest fan fic buddy/ beta/ friend you could ever encounter – Hela – i love you. if you like this story then it's really her you have to thank, idea, typos and all :P
HPHP
What was he thinking? In the seven years they had been in Hogwarts, he'd barely said more than a handful of sentences to her. He had talked to practically every girl in school, revelled even in the attention they gave him, even gone on a date with a few, realising afterwards that they were better off as friends, but he had never once gone up and talked to the one girl who truly fascinated him. This is where comparisons really became odious. Whenever presenting the problem to his father, James would be faced with a chuckle, who would fondly retell the story of how his grandfather had constantly pestered his grandmother to go out with him, never in fact giving her a moment's peace. Yet, the younger James seemed to be under a stupefying hex whenever approached with the idea of talking to a girl he ACTUALLY liked.
Obviously to the general population of Hogwarts, who regarded him as a charming ladies' man (the current fifth year Ravenclaw girls were particularly keen on this viewpoint), this had gone practically unnoticed. But that was only because of one very simple, albeit constantly infuriating reason; he only really liked one girl, Bess Routledge.
Which brought him back to the specific chain of events he was reminiscing while lying on his bed in Grimmauld Place after being sent home for fear that McGonagall would come back to find Hogwarts castle demolished.
He hadn't known what he was doing. In all fairness, it was all Fred's fault. Fred Weasley, his partner in crime, had a very sneaky ability to flip the tables over and put James in a most precarious position. Weasleys... they were the undoing of Potters any day. Fed up by the constant sighing coming from James' mouth every time they were within ten feet of Bess and fuelled by the many cousins and siblings of the Potter-Weasley clan (and maybe a nudge or two from the Potter papa himself), Fred challenged James to talk to her or run the risk of having several embarrassing secrets revealed not to mention the always successful dare breaker, the fear of being called 'chicken'.
So there he was walking towards the most gorgeous girl he had ever laid eyes on as she was sipping a Butterbeer in 'The Three Broomsticks' with her friends. He knew all her friends. They were all very nice to him. He was particularly fond of the fact that none of them ever giggled whenever he passed by but simply made polite conversation. This was a great feat considering one of them had gone on a disastrous date with Fred in sixth year. (Suffice it to say, Fred forgot about the Dungbomb in his pocket when things actually seemed to be turning into a very good night.)
James towered above the three girls. A good six feet tall already, his mother loved walking down Diagon Alley with her eldest son, almost feeling as if she has her own personal bodyguard. His grandmother never ceased to compare the height advantage with that of her brothers' who she also liked to mention is where James got his good looks from.
He coughed slightly and all three girls turned towards him. Bess smiled at him, as any girl would smile at someone she knows is from the same school but has never really talked to.
"Erm, do you mind if I join you ladies?" Bess's two friends quickly exchanged looks. Lily Potter had had a little chat with them prior to the Hogsmeade weekend, so they knew the reason behind James' forward attitude. And they were all for it. They really both thought that James could make their best friend Bess happy and so they had willingly agreed to make matters easier by bringing Bess to 'The Three Broomsticks''.
"Yes, go ahead. Sit down. We were just leaving anyway." The first of Bess' friends, who spoke, was named Lucy. This had been the unfortunate girl who secretly wished she and Fred could have another go at a date. Aside from the Dungbomb incident, it really had been the best date she had been on. Ok so maybe she was helping James for her own benefit a little bit. But the way she saw it, it was a win-win all around. "Come on, Claire, we have that Potions assignment to finish. Bess, we'll see you back at the castle ok. You stay and have fun." And with a subtle wink thrown at Lily, the two friends left James and Bess alone.
Over at the table in the corner, Fred, Lily, Albus Potter and Albus' girlfriend, Angelina Longbottom unconsciously leaned forward to hear the conversation that was about to commence. All four hoped that this would end well. James deserved to be happy, especially in his last year at Hogwarts.
However, no conversation seemed to spark. Bess sipped her Butterbeer awkwardly and James twiddled his thumbs nervously and refused to look up. It was after a good solid two minutes of silence, that in what Albus Potter would later call the biggest clusterfuck since the Chudley Cannons recruited the aging Viktor Krum, James blurted out, "Moments like this you wish one could just come out and ask what do you look like naked?"
For two of the tables in 'The Three Broomsticks', nothing, not even the return of Voldemort himself, would shake off the bewildered faces set in all six participants.
"Excuse me." Bess said in a low, yet obviously on the verge of yelling voice, as she tried to clear her practically spilt Butterbeer.
James could hear Fred mimicking the sound of an aeroplane nose-diving in his head. "It's just my friend and I were saying last time that if men were up front with the whole 'getting into girl's pants' thing right from the beginning of the date and they were to talk about it maybe they could sort of talk it down and by the end of the date the man wouldn't really be all that interested in that anymore and would have genuinely, well you know, actually enjoyed the conversation with the woman."
If a picture were to be taken of the table at that moment, it would look very similar to a Muggle picture, because the faces wouldn't move. Lily would be on the verge of tears at the inevitable ensuing loss of brother, which she had to admit would be completely justified. Albus had just slapped a hand to his forehead, wondering how his older brother, the brother that was supposed to be the calm and cool one, had single-handedly managed to dig a hole so big that not even their father's 'I saved the planet' card could get him out of this. There goes the Potter name absolutely down the drain as far as women were concerned. Angie showed a pondering look on her face, trying to count the number of things that were wrong in that little rant. And Fred...well Fred was torn between two emotions. The first was utter awe, that after all these years of prank-pulling and hanging out with Fred Weasley himself, James had still remained innocent. He knew that James for all his dumb-wittedness was actually not being a pervert. He was just a klutz with words when it came to girls he liked. Alright more like a renegade Bludger with words, but you catch the drift. And the second thought running through Fred's mind is who could ever possibly replace James as his best friend because clearly a funeral was about to commence.
Bess squinted her eyes at James, giving him a disbelieving look when suddenly she fixed her eyes on the remaining Butterbeer, placed a furious look on her face, stood up and poured all the remaining contents on top of James' head before proceeding to stomp out.
As she approached the door, she bumped into Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy who had just walked in hand in hand. They realised that the girl who had just rushed out with a scowl on her face was the girl James was supposedly sweeping off her feet. One glance at their drenched friend and Scorpius leaned in to whisper in Rose's ear. "Let's get the details. Something tells me that if your father decides not to like me, this would be a perfect diversion from the topic."
James sighed defeated and opened his eyes. That had just not been a good day for his love life in general. Albus' screaming at the top of his lungs about the Potter family name being sent into the Whomping Willow had not helped matters really. But here he was at home for Christmas. Secretly he was glad to get away from the castle. He could focus on some studying for the NEWTS because contrary to popular belief, he did study... how else did people think he got those high marks? He could merely wake up in the morning to the smell of the wonderful breakfast made by his mother and discuss matters in the 'Daily Prophet' with his father. Yes it would be good to do things he did as a child for what could be the last time before he ventured out into the real world in search of work.
He decided he was in desperate need of a shower. He quickly proceeded into the bathroom that he and Albus shared. It was already eleven o'clock. Just because he needed to get work done didn't mean he couldn't enjoy sleeping in all the same. And he decided to take his time in the shower. However no sooner had he gotten in, when he heard his mother coming upstairs and entering his room.
"James, dear, I wanted to remind you that I invited Caroline Routledge for lunch." She raised her voice so that it could be heard over the shower that was clearly running.
"You mean that friend of yours from work?" James replied.
"Yes that's the one. It seems she's bringing her daughter with her. She came home for the holidays from Hogwarts. I wonder if you know her James. She's exactly the same age as you although I can't seem to recall what house she's in. It's been a while since I've talked to Carol. Anyways I was hoping if you would entertain her daughter while she's here dear. I'm sure you'll have lots to talk about."
"Yeah ok Mum. No problem." James was only half-listening. His mind was still whirling around his embarrassment.
Suddenly, Ginny heard the Apparition sensors go off and subsequently the doorbell.
"Oh they're here. Hurry up then James." She called back while rushing obviously excited at the prospect at catching up with an old friend.
"Yeah mum I'm done." James called as he started towel-drying his hair and brushed his teeth.
He could hear voices from downstairs that quickly faded as they headed towards the kitchen. James decided to try and at least fix his hair in the bathroom with some water and maybe a spell or two. But try as he might, he had inherited his father's renowned messy texture.
Giving up on all hope, he opened the bathroom door, heading for the wardrobe wearing nothing but his jeans, when suddenly he had the distinct feeling he was being watched. True to his instincts, he turned towards the doorway and there stood Bess, wearing a simple yet very flattering red short-sleeved dress. Her red hair with natural streaks of chestnut brown was up in a sophisticated ponytail and she wore a simple blue bracelet that seemed to reflect off her blue eyes.
He wished it hadn't, he really did, but James' mouth just dropped. It just dropped. He seemed to recall his Uncle Ron saying that his jaw had done something frightfully similar in his fourth year at the Yule ball. Incidentally, that was the night Ron says he realised he was in love with his Aunt Hermione.
Bess shifted from one foot to the other. She had heard from a few of her fellow Gryffindors how fit James was. They seemed to make it their crusade to catch him with his shirt off. But she had personally never had the well... she had to admit... pleasure of seeing how well-toned he was. He had obviously just come out of the shower and beads of water were still glistening off his biceps. Quidditch, as everyone knew, did any body good, but somehow she thought he did something else to keep him in shape.
Suddenly she mentally shook her head. This pig had not only insulted her a few weeks prior but had also blatantly refused to apologize. She had been dragged to his house, dreading it the moment her mother mentioned the words Ginny Potter, but she'd be damned if this was going any further than a begrudgingly offered 'Hi, how are you?'
It seemed that James at the same moment was shook out of his trance and hastily threw a sweater over his head.
Bess cleared her throat, "Mrs. Potter insisted I come up. She thought you'd be ready from your... erm. Well you know ready."
James idly scratched the back of his head. It took all his self-restraint not to smirk at how nervous she looked, shifting her eyes all over the room. If he hadn't been so entranced by her beauty, he could have sworn he saw her ogle him for a split second.
"'Ello 'ello 'ello what do we have here?" Bess stepped back alarmed at the voice coming from her right where she knew no human could fit. James's face brightened up as soon as he noticed that of all the perfect timings Sirius had ever had, this had to be his best.
Bess moved forward and looked at the portrait and gasped, "You're... you're Sirius Black."
"That I am my dear. James have I taught you no manners my boy? Who is this exquisite flower we have here?" James swore not even a wolf could imitate the wolfish grin Sirius had on his face right now.
James smirked fleetingly from behind Bess and quickly added, "Sirius, this is Bess Routledge. She's a fellow Gryffindor. In my year in fact."
"Ah a Gryffindor. Bess, good strong lovely name. Befitting perfectly to such a lovely girl as yourself."
"Put a sock in it Sirius. She's half your age even at the age you were painted. This reminds me, you are a portrait." The soft yet obviously amused voice of Remus Lupin could be heard as he made his way into the portrait.
"Oh for the sake of Merlin on one of his laundry days, Remus, I know I'm a portrait. Doesn't mean I can't pay a girl a compliment where it's obviously due. Besides we're not all tied to the old ball and chain mate."
"Sirius I may love you as a brother, but I'll break your portrait neck in half if you ever refer to me as 'old' or 'a ball and chain' ever again." Nymphadora Tonks made her way into what was increasingly becoming a crowded portrait. She quickly placed herself besides her husband and folded her arms in an intimidating way while glaring at Sirius. She did however spare a glance and turned to grin outside the portrait, "Wotcha James."
"Dora my one true love. You can't possibly think I was referring to you. I was merely thinking of new ways to refer to Remus' furry little problem." And with that he winked at Tonks and turned back to look at the young spectators who were clearly amused.
"Wow," Bess exclaimed, "I can't believe I've got to see three of the most legendary names in modern Wizarding history. I know you probably hear this a lot in your portraits at the Ministry, but I have admired you immensely since the first day I heard your stories. Mrs. Lupin-Tonks, I wrote a paper on your side of the story for History of Magic last year. I've always felt the women in the Second Wizarding War are all greatly underappreciated."
Tonks seemed greatly flattered by the attention and was growing increasingly fond of this girl very quickly. "Well I don't know dear. Take Hermione for instance."
"Oh yes of course and Mrs. Potter obviously. All key figures. But I don't know I always think there's a lot to the story that's left unsaid, even by them. Anyways I did a lot of research when writing the paper. The things I found were all so fascinating and just increased my respect, if that were even possible, for all the women who participated, especially you."
James stared baffled at the girl in front of him. He didn't know why he never knew that Bess had such a fetish for history of the Second Wizarding War. He knew more about that than had ever been written in any book. Suddenly he was feeling like an even bigger idiot. Clearly, he could have used often recounted bedtime stories to his advantage.
"Why thank you dear. I'm afraid I didn't quite catch your name. It seems men will never change. Manners will always lack." At this Tonks gave another pointed glance at James.
"Great I keep doing the same mistake today it seems. Tonks, Lupin meet Bess Routledge."
Lupin smiled serenely at the girl, "Charmed."
Tonks settled down on the grass in the painting and looked intently at Bess, "But why all this fascination dear?"
Bess seemed to become increasingly aware of the fact that she was in James Potter's room speaking to people that he probably knew all his life. She didn't want to sound like an overly-hyped fan and she definitely didn't want him to think that she was only in his room to meet famous people. No matter what a horrible impression he had left on her, she was not out to use him as payback. However, the opportunity was too good to pass up. The few times she had been to the Ministry, the Lupins and Sirius' portrait were often overwhelmed with spectators. And frankly, she had always been too shy to just go up and talk to them.
She blushed and looked down at Tonks' question and slowly started, "Because growing up without a father, it was always very important that I believe women could be strong and independent. It always seemed to me as though the women who fought in the War did it for love of their husbands, brothers, fathers, sons," and with that she gave a fleeting look at James, "but they succeeded because, on sheer principle, they did not believe in giving up."
A comfortable silence lulled into the room as Lupin looked admiringly at his wife while she felt a small tear in her eyes at the sweet girl's words. James was also staring at the blushing Bess, contemplating if she could hear his heart beat faster and faster. But no one noticed Sirius' ever-increasing and knowing smirk.
He coughed politely and said, "James I think you've got a real keeper here."
Bess's head shot up, her eyes darting from Sirius to James.
James scratched the back of his head nervously, "Sirius now is not the time."
Remus smirked and so did Tonks. Both knew that Sirius was well aware of the last embarrassing incident that had occurred between these two.
"Oh nonsense. Bess, I haven't met an intelligent, sensible girl of James' age in.. well it's been a while."
"Thank you Mr. Black." Bess blushed again.
"Sweetheart, please don't call me 'Mr. Black'. That reminds me of my father and Merlin knows that's not a pleasant thought. If I were married to a screaming banshee I would have had an untimely death with a Norwegian Ridgeback too. Call me Sirius."
"That goes the same for the two of us," Tonks piped up, smiling softly at Bess.
"Why Dora, I didn't know you loved me so much you wanted my name. I tried to get Andromeda to name you after me in fact when you were born. Clearly that didn't pan out as well as I'd hoped."
Bess and James laughed at this. They caught each other's eye and in that moment Bess's preconceived irritation seemed to diminish.
Sirius seized the opportunity to make James look good, "Of course all's well that ends well. James's middle name is Sirius. A fine choice, if I do say so myself."
Remus quickly caught on and added, albeit teasingly, "And you never miss a chance to say so yourself, do you Sirius?"
"No Moony, my old friend. And I'll tell you why. James here has been named after two of the greatest men I've ever known." And with that, he smirked evilly, "and what names to live up to. But he copes grandly, I must say. Although, I have to say I think it has a lot to do with the many... life-lessons I used to give him as a child, him sitting at that bed and me up here, pacing back and forth, recounting endless Marauder stories."
"And that's how we all know he got inspired to carry on the legacy. But tell me Sirius, how is it that James comes to consider his sister and brother for example, above anything else? Or that he actually returned to Grimmauld Place for three weeks when his mother got a nasty case of adult dragon pox? Or when he nursed one of the Muggle neighbour's cats the year before he went to Hogwarts?" Tonks raised a knowing eyebrow at Sirius, daring him to dig the hole she knew he was about to dig.
Sirius looked confused, "My impeccable influence?"
Tonks smiled at him as though she was gently reprimanding a four year old who was caught stealing, "Try again."
"Alright fine! So Remus had a tiny minuscule part in his upbringing. But that's only because Remus was always around so much of the damn time, occupying my portrait. Yes my portrait! It's a wonder I got any real prankster values into the child by the time I would show up."
Remus laughed out loud full heartedly. He'd forgotten how funny it was when Sirius was made out to be a loser. He silently thanked his lucky stars for having such an intelligent wife.
Bess, on the other hand, was stealing furtive glances at James. He was close to blushing, although he wasn't that unused to receiving well-earned compliments. Bess recalled that James always did have an air of modesty about him, yet an undeniable sense of confidence as well. However, what she also recalled at the moment, was that even in that most shocking monologue of his a few weeks ago he had bumbled his way through, quite unlike his usual self. Could it be that maybe James had actually been nervous? The same kind of nervous, as she thought about it quickly, her mind racing a mile a minute, as when Sirius had made that bizarre comment about her being a 'keeper' earlier.
She didn't want to get too ahead of herself. However, the notion that James Potter liked her and that the rant had been an unfortunate case of nerves had dawned on her. She wanted to make sure her intuition was right, because if it wasn't and she acted upon it, his earlier embarrassment would be nothing compared to hers. Despite this brief rationality, her giddiness was all she could really feel.
"Well I don't know. I'm sorry to break it to you Remus but maybe your lessons were a little in vain." James looked up surprised. Her tone had been almost joking. Could it be that she had forgiven him? The look she gave him now, albeit still a little miffed, also held a small smirk.
He found himself smiling back as she looked at him and he thought that this was his chance at explaining himself, "Bess... that...well you see," he struggled and tried to find the right words. He realised that his uncertainty had gotten him into this mess in the first place, so he decided to really put what both Sirius and Remus had equally thought him, confidence, into practice, "I'm sorry about last time. Clearly, I was going on like a blubbering goblin who'd drank a whole case of Firewhiskey. I didn't mean half the things I said. It was true that Fred and I were making a raucous laugh out of date conversations. And not to imply that that was a date or anything, but well..." and this is the part where he inevitably faltered a little bit. However he could feel all the eyes from the portrait silently urging him on, "I like you. I've liked you for a while actually. And well I guess I just don't have a way with words around girls I like. Especially ones as pretty as you..." But he was suddenly cut off as he felt a small flutter of a kiss on his own lips. It was brief, very brief, done merely to stop him from going on, but he felt as if he had just kissed the softest lips in the world.
Bess had moved closer towards him and looked down shyly, "I've actually liked you for a while too. I've tried to strike up conversations with you but you're always surrounded by so many people, it's a little intimidating."
At this, he cut her off by kissing her this time. His hands gently cupped her cheeks while hers softly landed on his chest. The two of them seemed completely unaware of Remus and Tonks desperately trying to get Sirius out of the portrait. Sirius merely shooed them off, "Ger' off me you two." He looked on grinning, "I'm so proud, my little boy's all grown up and kissing the prettiest girl in school."
Tonks was still desperately trying to pull him by his cloak, "How do you know she's the prettiest? You haven't seen them all."
"Now now Dora. Let's not be irrational in our haste to ruin my fun. By any standards, she's gorgeous." Sirius turned back to look at the couple, grinning manically yet proudly.
The two teens broke apart slowly, and James extended his hand, while giving a glimpse towards the portrait, "Come on. I've got a feeling I know what those three have been mumbling about," he cast a sly smirk in Sirius' direction, "I'd like to show you something and I don't think there's any chance of my dear mentors leaving any time soon."
With that, Bess slowly gave him his hand and smiled sweetly. He quickly led her out of the bedroom, much to Sirius's protests.
Tonks shook her head and turned to Remus, "You think he's going to show her he's an Animagus this soon?"
"He's mentioned how trustworthy and loyal to her friends she is. And he's liked her for a long time. I think neither of them wants to waste any time in seeing where this could lead. Besides you know James is an impeccable judge of character." Remus reassured her.
Sirius clapped his best friend on the back, "Was it before or after James showed Lily his Animagus form that she fell in love with him?"
Remus smiled knowingly and looked at his friend, "I believe it was after."
"Ah isn't tradition grand!"
A/N: in the lovely words of another author (damn it i can't remember who it was, pm if it's you and i'll give you credit) SAVE AN AUTHOR! LEAVE A REVIEW :P