Almost Love at First Sight
Disclaimer: Is this really necessary? I'm obviously not JK Rowling, but if I must say it. I don't own anything!
Edit 10/10/16: turn into a collection rather a stand-alone one shot.
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James Sirius Potter was a cocky, arrogant boy. Not because he was treated like a little king by his family, but because he was treated like one from the rest of the wizarding world. Being Harry Potter's son could do that to a kid. He was often compared to his grandfather, the late James Potter, due to this. He was cocky, arrogant, and most importantly, a prankster. He looked almost identical to him too. He had his black messy hair and hazel eyes, but unlike his grandfather he didn't wear glasses. James being James didn't like being known as the late James Potter replica, so he always tried to find something that could prove he wasn't. It wasn't an easy thing to do because the more James found out about his grandfather, the more he started to agree with everyone, he was exactly like his grandfather.
Then one day he found out something that for some reason everyone knew but him. His grandfather chased after a girl who always rejected him ever since he met her in first year. This girl, to James' surprise, happened to be his grandmother, the late Lily Potter. So James started to use that as his excuse whenever he was compared to his grandfather. It seemed to work and people stopped doing it as much. James didn't know if it was the excuse or that they realized he hated to be known as the late James Potter replica, but James didn't care because they stopped and that's all that mattered to him.
James just had to make sure when he started Hogwarts that he didn't fall for some girl the first time he laid eyes on her, but he thought that couldn't be too hard, right? James was wrong, he was completely wrong and he felt like he just jinxed himself saying it wouldn't be hard. There he stood, on platform nine and three quarters, staring at a girl he never saw before like he was a kid in a candy store. She was a pretty girl, long red hair that blew as the train flew by, and eyes as blue as the ocean. James couldn't believe this was happening to him. It was so cliché too, which made it much worse. Why'd she have to have red hair, couldn't she be blonde not making the situation so cliché! At at least she had blue eyes and not green, James thought to himself. James really was a James Potter replica. All these years, everything they said was true. Yes, James didn't ask her out many times, not even once, but he knew he would. How could he not, she was perfect in his eyes. Only if she says yes, James thought to himself, I won't be considered a complete replica.
That gave James an idea, to create an epic way to ask that girl out so she wouldn't reject him; then there would be no need to chase after her. How hard could it be, James thought to himself, unknowingly jinxing himself once again.
"Have a good year, James," Harry told his son as he gave him a goodbye hug.
"I can't believe my baby is off to Hogwarts," Ginny told James, tears in her eyes.
"Mom, stop, this is so unlike you," James told his mother as he hugged her.
"I know, but I'm just going to miss you so much, the house is going to be so quiet," Ginny told him as the train whistled, meaning it was leaving soon.
"You better get going, James," Harry told his son.
James nodded and gave one final wave to his family before turning his back and heading to the Hogwarts express. James figured his fellow partners in crime were already on the train. James did lose time by staring at that girl. Which reminded him that he needed his friends to help him make a plan to ask her out. James eventually found his two friends in a compartment and when James entered, he made sure to make a grand entrance. "Boys, your fellow king has arrived and he needs your help," James said as he sat down.
"What for?" Louis asked his friend/cousin as he looked at himself in his favorite mirror.
"Stop looking at yourself, Louis, it's annoying! You already know you look great, you're one-eighth veela after all," James told his friend.
Louis put his mirror down and looked at his friend and smiled, "Alright, alright, now spill, I'm all ears."
"Well… you see...I saw this girl and it was... love at first sight! I need you to help me make a plan on how to ask her out," James told them.
"Oh James, you are doing what you said you would never do," Fred laughed.
"I know, but if I ask her out in a way where there is no way she can say no; then it won't count because I won't be chasing after her," James explained.
"James, first I must ask, was it really love at first sight?" Louis asked, knowing his friend exaggerated a lot.
"Yeah, I walking down the platform and there she was, and I knew that I loved her and I need to get to know her," James told his friend with a dreamy look across his face.
"Woah, woah, woah, James, slow down, you love her? You haven't even met her mate!" Fred exclaimed, laughing at his friend.
"I know, but like I said, love at first sight," James told them.
"Now James, I must ask another question, did she even look at you? Are the feelings mutual?" Louis asked.
"Well... no, I don't think she even noticed me," James told them sheepishly.
"Okay, then it's almost love at first sight, we're doomed," Louis sighed as he threw his hands in the air in defeat.
"What's almost love at first sight?" James and Fred asked in unison.
"It's when one person feels it's love at first sight, but the other doesn't feel the same. Kinda like unrequited love," Louis explained.
"Where'd you read this at shite?" James asked.
"Don't judge me, okay? I was bored and Dom left one of her dating magazines out, so you know, I just read it and it happened to talk about something like this, okay?" Louis told them as he flushed red.
Fred and James laughed at their friend for reading a dating magazine, but quickly calmed down knowing they needed a plan.
"Okay, so let's not believe what some loser wrote in some dumb false magazine, let's come up with a plan to get her to go out with me," James told his friends cheerfully.
Louis sighed, "this is going to be one long train ride."
"What do you mean Louis? This will be fun!" James told his friend.
Louis narrowed his eyes at James whilst shaking his head, "Mate, you don't even know her name."
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"That's her," James said as he pointed over to the girl with red hair coming off the train, talking to Victoire. Why was Vic talking to her, James thought to himself.
"Oh James, this is just too cliché! Why did you have to fall for a red head," Louis said as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I find this whole thing hilarious!" Fred said whilst laughing.
"Stop laughing, look, Vic's talking to her, she knows her somehow," James told them as he pointed back to Vic and the girl.
"Let's talk to Vic, then we can at least figure out her name," Louis sighed, still dreading the predicament he was in.
"Talk to Vic to figure out whose name? That girl with the red hair over there? Do one of you like her?" Teddy asked as he walked over to the trio, wiggling his eyebrows at his last question.
"Yeah, James does," Fred told him with a laugh, making James slap him real hard.
"Oh James, you're doing what you said you'd never do. To add to that its so cliché because she's a redhead," Teddy told his god-brother as he gave him a pat on the back.
"Don't you have head duties to do?" James asked in attempt to get Teddy to leave.
"Not any assigned ones, but I thought I would see if you three were up to anything yet. McGonagall has been dreading your arrival," Teddy told them, a sly grin plastered upon his face.
"Oh, Minnie? She loves us, just doesn't want to admit it," Louis told his honorary cousin.
"Whatever you say, but really, do the Golden Marauders have anything planned for the feast tonight?" Teddy asked them, using the name people dubbed the trio, the Golden Marauders.
"That is information only us Golden Marauders should know, and do I hear Hagrid calling first years, yes I do, so come on boys, we got to go," James said as he pulled his friends over to Hagrid with him.
"Bye guys, don't get into too much trouble," Teddy told them as they walked away.
"James, I thought we were going over to Hagrid," Fred said.
"No, we're going over to Vic, Freddie," James told him as they approached Victoire.
"What do you guys want?" Victoire asked them as they approached her.
"Well we just wanted to ask umm...looking forward to fifth year?" James asked as he chickened out, causing his friends to sigh and give him a look.
"Yeah I guess, more happy to see my friends again than get back to learning, plus I have O.W.L.'s which I'm not looking forward to. That's not what you wanted to ask me though, so what did you really want to ask me?" Victoire asked them with her arms crossed.
"James wants to know the name of the girl with the red hair you were just talking to," Louis said before James could say anything and chicken out once again.
"Why? Do you like her James?" Victoire asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"He does, and before you say it, we know, he's doing what he said he was never going to do and it's so cliché because she's a redhead, but we really must be going, so what's her name?" Fred explained quickly.
"Ella," Victoire told them.
"How do you know her anyway? She's a first year and you're a fifth year," Louis asked her.
"She's my best friend Chloe's younger sister," Victoire told them.
"She's Chloe's sister? She doesn't look like Chloe," Louis said questionably as he compared the two girls in his head.
"Well, she is her sister, now you must be going, see you after sorting. I'm sure you'll get into Gryffindor with me," Victoire said as she pushed them off to Hagrid.
"Well this helps your case James," Louis told his friend.
"How?" James asked him.
"I'm familiar with Chloe because if Vic. Which means I know that she is a pure blood from America, meaning Ella is the same," Louis said.
"Oh, I see where you're going, James grandmother was a British muggleborn, complete opposite," Fred said, connecting the dots.
"Yeah, I guess that helps," James said as they got on one of the boats that took them up to Hogwarts.
"Don't we need a fourth person on our boat?" Fred asked.
"No, we were the last ones here," James told them as they pushed off.
"Oh," Fred said as they made their way up to Hogwarts.
The Golden Marauders followed instructions for one of the first times in their lives because they didn't want to cause a fuss just yet. They got out of the boats smoothly, followed Hagrid into the castle, and stayed calm through the sorting ceremony. All of their last names were at the end of the alphabet so it took a while before they got sorted. Eventually it was James' turn.
"Potter, James,"
James stepped up and the hat was placed on his head. It was only on for about two seconds before it yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!"
Then it was the girl James had a crush ons turn a little later, Ella's.
"Smith, Ella,"
It was on her head for about the average time then yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!"
It made James very happy because she was in Gryffindor with him. Then it was his friends turn eventually.
"Weasley, Fred,"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Then...
"Weasley, Louis,"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The hat was only on their heads as long as it was on James, about two seconds. They then joined James at the table and ate dinner with very few conversations, they all took eating seriously. Around the time James finished eating, Ella Smith decided to make conversation with James, to James' pleasure, but Ella's mistake.
"Hey, I'm Ella," Ella said to James.
"Nice to meet you Ella, I'm James," James said. "Are you American? You sound American."
"Yes I am," she said.
"Did you just recently move here, to England I mean?" James asked her.
"No, I live in America," Ella said.
This confused James, why come all the way to Hogwarts if she lives in America, so he asked, "Why did you come to Hogwarts then?"
Ella looked panicked, "I umm... My parents wanted me to umm... Go to the school where many war heroes went to? Yeah that's why," Ella explained.
"Don't mean to be rude or anything, but it seems you just made that up on the spot," James said carefully, not trying to offend her or anything.
"What do you know! You don't know me! I just forgot why, okay!" Ella told him whilst panicking.
"Calm down? Ella, I didn't mean to offend you, that reason just seems a bit fishy," James said in attempt to calm her down.
"Who are you to tell me to calm down!" Ella yelled, now angry.
"Umm..." James said, not know how to respond.
"See! You're not, so just shut up and don't talk to me again!" she yelled to him, now causing the whole Great Hall to look.
"Excuse me! What did I even do but try to be nice!" James yelled, losing his cool.
"You called me a liar," Ella yelled back at him.
"No, I didn't!" James yelled, the whole Great Hall now staring, but neither James or Ella cared.
"You implied it!" Ella yelled.
"Okay, maybe I did, but only because that is really not a good reason and you were panicking!" yelled James.
"What do you know! Nothing! You know squat!" Ella yelled.
James started to laugh at this and said, "Who says squat?"
"I say squat! So now you're making fun of me?" Ella yelled.
"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," James said with a laugh.
"Oh I see what kind of person you are, you're just an arrogant brat who is too full of himself because the whole wizarding world worships his father and his mother is a famous Quidditch player!" Ella yelled.
This hurt James, he hated it when this is how people viewed him. He didn't know how to respond, so he didn't.
"Oh, did I hit where it hurts, Potter! Well I'm not sorry!" Ella yelled.
"That's enough!" roared McGonagall.
"Detention! Both of you! Tomorrow in my office."
"Now look what you did Potter," Ella said before she started to rush out of the Great Hall.
"Wait, Ella?" James yelled to her before she left.
"What now Potter!" Ella yelled back.
"Go out with me sometime?" James asked as he pushed his hair back sheepishly, which he did when he was nervous.
Ella just scoffed and ran out of the Great Hall. A blonde girl who looked about the same age of Victoire rushing after her. That must be her sister, Vic's friend, James thought to himself. The Great Hall then got back to talking, probably about him and Ella, but he didn't care, James was too crushed to care.
"Jolly good show, mate," Louis said with a laugh.
James ignored him and just put his head down on the table.
"It's okay mate, she wasn't that great, nasty temper she has," Fred said trying to comfort his friend. This just got a grown from James.
"Why didn't you just stick to the plan, James?" Louis asked calmly.
"I don't know, I just figured it was now or never because of what happened," James said.
"Why were you two fighting anyway?" Fred asked as he shoved cake in his mouth.
"I really don't want to talk about it," James said.
"Are you going to chase after her James?" Louis asked, even though he knew the answer.
James picked his head up from the table and just nodded his head and got himself a piece of cake. James then looked at his friends and asked, "Almost love at first sight?"
They both gave their friend a sad look and whilst nodding.
"I'm doomed," James said with a laugh, slamming his face into his cake.
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A/N: Thank you for reading everyone, I hope you enjoyed it. If you have not already, go to How To Live Life for more Ella/James, Golden Marauders, and more! You will even find out why Ella reacted so badly. I'll tell you know, she and her sister are hiding something!
~~~Lanie~~~