To Love a Star
The Gryffindor common room was almost deserted. Only a few people remained, working on last-minute homework. Fifth year James Potter was among them. He was staring hopelessly down at his Arithmancy book, hoping that it might start talking and giving him all the answers he needed. His siblings, Albus and Lily, had already gone to bed, as had all of James' friends. They had already finished their homework, and Selan had refused to show James her Arithmancy work. James felt that this was highly unfair. After all, he let Selan copy his Transfiguration homework all the time. With a groan, he slumped back in his chair and happened to glance over at the portrait hole just as it opened and a girl came in.
Her huge, blue eyes scanned the common room as James stared at her. She had a long, silvery braid that fell past her waist and was wearing two earrings that appeared to be tiny real stars. Her eyes fell on James, and she smiled and walked over.
"Hello," she said with a slight lilt in her voice.
"Oh, um, Stella," James stammered. "Yeah, hi, how are you?" Stella Lovegood was a friend of the family. Her father was the Herbology professor. James had always known her, but lately he couldn't seem to put together a coherent sentence when she was around. Stella wasn't his closest friend, but she always went out of her way to talk to him.
"Oh, all right," she said, sitting next to him. "Are you working on your Arithmancy homework?"
"Yeah, my Aunt told me that I ought to take something sensible like Arithmancy, and Mum agreed with her, so…" he groaned again. "I'm really no good at it, though."
"Let me see," Stella said, holding out a hand. She examined his work closely. "It looks mostly all right to me, except you have to use the Third Law here, not the First." James started at her for a minute, and then realized she was holding the parchment out toward him.
"Err, oh right, thanks," James said, hastily taking it from her. "I forgot you were taking Arithmancy too. I mean, you sit in the front, and I don't…" James realized he was babbling and trailed off, searching for something intelligent to say. "I – has your week been all right? We haven't talked much…" James trailed off as he realized that they hadn't talked much. Why was that?
"Things have been fine. It's a bit odd to take classes from your father, you know, so I found out that my Herbology grade has been slipping a bit, but that's all right. My mother tells me that it is most likely the result of Gulping Plimpies, so she sent me a Gurdyroot."
"A what?" James asked, startled.
"A Gurdyroot," Stella repeated, pulling out what looked like a large green onion. "My mother grows them, you know, in her spare time." She smiled at James again and placed the Gurdyroot back into her bag. James struggled to wrap his brain around this. Stella's mother was the editor of The Quibbler, a decidedly odd magazine, and often came to visit his parents. While he knew that she was likely to do odd things, it always startled him when her daughter brought them up during school.
"That's, um, very… nice," he said, turning back to his homework. "I think my dad told me about those at one point, when he was telling me stories about his school days, and he mentioned your mother…"
"You know James," Stella said quietly, "My mother really liked your father." James froze. The conversation had just taken a turn, and now he wasn't at all sure of where it was going. But Stella was still talking. "They went to a party together once, and she had hoped that he liked her too. She was really devastated when he started going out with your mother, you know, but she eventually realized that they really were in love, so she started going out with my father." She paused and then said, even more softly, "If your father was anything like you, though, I think I'd have liked him too." Slowly, James looked over at Stella. Her face was bright pink, but she looked at him steadily. James knew that he was blushing too as her words sluggishly made their way into his brain. She smiled at him nervously. He felt his heart give a lurch, and realized why he was feeling so oddly. Stella was biting her lip as she watched him, nervously.
So James kissed her. He told himself that it was only to reassure her, so that she wouldn't be nervous anymore. But then all rational thought was lost as the sun spilled over into his brain, and he was lost in the joy of just having her near him. He hadn't realized that he felt this way until a moment ago, but now he accepted it with his whole being. They broke apart and looked into each other's eyes, his green ones holding her blue. James gave a small smile and cupped her cheek in his hand, Arithmancy homework long forgotten.
"And if your mother was anything like you," he whispered, "my father was an idiot to let her get away."
For weeks after he and Stella had begun going out, James seemed to be followed by a cloud of resentful girls. There had always been people who were interested in him because of his father, but never so angry before. Girls glared at him in the hallway, burst into tears as he walked past, and turned their noses up as he walked by only to gaze longingly after him. He didn't really mind that much, though, because he was happy as he had never been happy before, and not even his friends could spoil it for him.
"James, honestly, almost any girl in the whole school would have paid to go out with you, and you ask out Stella? Are you mental?" His friend Eddie Thomas demanded in the common room one day. "I mean, really James, her mother is nuts and her dad is a professor."
"Shut up, will you Eddie?" His twin Selan smacked him in the head as she sat down. "James, I'm really happy for you, you two are so cute together!"
"Selan," Eddie sighed, "Cute is not the issue."
"Oh, you're just jealous, Eddie," commented Penny Carmichael, who was sitting by James. "Just because you don't have a girlfriend and James does-"
"It's not that," Eddie protested, turning bright red. "It's just that James is popular, he could have any girl in the school-"
"And he chose Stella," Selan informed him. "So just shut up, Eddie."
"Plus, not every girl in the school is desperate for a snog with James," Penny pointed out scornfully. "No offense, James."
"None taken," James said with a grin. Eddie struggled to get back to his point.
"James, mate, listen. Sure, Stella is pretty, but you're going to be dating her right under her dad's nose."
"Professor Longbottom says that he's thrilled," James informed his friend. "He's actually written to my parents to tell about it so he can share the joy."
"Plus," came a lilting female voice from behind Eddie, "Our parents happen to be very good friends, so it's not like he wouldn't know anyway." Eddie whirled to see Stella smiling at him. "I quite understand," she informed Eddie. "If you like, I can lend you a special necklace that will ward off the Wrackspurts. My mother designed it." James choked as he struggled to keep from bursting into hysterical laughter. Penny smiled.
"You tell him, Stella!" laughed Selan. "He needs to be knocked down a peg now and then.
"With you people, it's more like twice a day," Eddie muttered.
"It's so good for you though," Penny said with an innocent expression on her face. "Only think of how stuck up you would get if we weren't around."
"James, are you going to just let them walk all over me?" Eddie demanded, turning toward his friend. James lost the battle not to laugh and slumped in his chair, shaking with mirth.
"James?" Stella said that night as they were sitting in front of the fire. James was feeling pleasant and sleepy as they just sat there hand in hand and enjoyed one another's company.
"Mmm?" he said.
"I was thinking…" Stella whispered. "About what your friends said today... About us not being a good couple?" James looked at her, startled.
"What on earth are you talking about, Stella?" he demanded.
"I just… it seems like no one is happy for us, James, and Eddie's right, you could have any girl you want. I know I'm a little odd, and people… people will start looking at you oddly too, and I don't want that for you! I-I shouldn't hold you back." James saw a tear slide down her face.
"Stella, what are you saying?" he sighed. "Would I have asked you out if I didn't like you? And what are you doing taking Eddie seriously? Penny and Selan are right; Eddie needs to get over himself. And you," he said, gently brushing away her tear, "need to stop worrying so much. I like you, you like me, and I don't care who has a problem with it."
"Really?" Stella said, looking up at him hopefully.
"Really," He assured her, and then gave her a small kiss. She grinned shyly at him, and then leaned her head on his shoulder, satisfied just to be with him, whether it be for just a moment or forever.