Thanks for all the wonderful feedback :) I appreciate each and every review, follow, and favorite from all you lovely readers!
I just wanted to note that this story is planned to be four chapters and four chapters only, because that's the limit for the competition this is for :P So I am terribly sorry if this seems a little rushed or anything of those likes, but I'll still try to keep it as realistic as possible!
I hope you enjoy!
Julia's POV
It was in Charms, when Julia was in the process of gathering up her parchment, ink, and quills, that Albus Potter approached her desk.
"Hey, Julia," he said with the kind tone in his voice that had many of her friends mooning over him.
"Hi, Albus." She couldn't help but smile. He had that effect on people. It was something about his sweetness that other guys didn't seem to have.
Albus leaned in, his emerald eyes curious. "You haven't happened to have spoken to my brother, have you?"
She nearly dropped her ink jar onto the ground. "James?" she asked hesitantly.
"Yeah. He said he met you." For some reason, he sounded hesitant.
It had been a week since that original meeting in the library, and though they'd not sat down and talked, James had waved to Julia each time they passed in the hallway or in the Great Hall for meals. They'd even exchanged pleasantries (well, as much of pleasantries as he was capable of making) a couple of times.
Julia tried to shrug as if she wasn't internally panicking at the mention of James Potter, and stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "We talked a bit. Not much. Mostly about Quidditch," she added, rolling her eyes.
Albus laughed. "He's obsessed with it, isn't he?"
"You could say that."
He looked as if he was going to say something else, but refrained from doing so. Julia briefly wondered what it was, but shoved the thought away. It was probably nothing.
The two began walking out of the Charms classroom, trailing behind the rest of the class to the Great Hall for lunch.
As they rounded a corner, Albus suddenly called out to the group of people in front. "Scor! Hey, Scorpius!"
The young Malfoy's trademark platinum-blond hair glinted as he spun around and peered through the wave of students.
Albus weaved his way through the crowd, with Julia following him.
"Running off like that," Albus grumbled as the Malfoy spotted them. "You could have waited for me."
"You take forever" was Scorpius's short reply. He grinned at Julia and gestured to Albus with a rolling of his eyes.
She smiled at him in response. She and Scorpius had a slight bond, in the sense that they'd both unintentionally broke their families' traditions. The only difference was that his father didn't care. Her father… well. He was a different case.
She shook her head and brought herself back to the moment.
"I wanted to get back to the Gryffindor Tower to fetch something," Scorpius was informing them. "That's why I left early."
"Fetch something," Albus repeated with a slight smirk on his face. "Something for my cousin?"
Scorpius blushed crimson and punched his arm. "Shut up."
"You and Rose are lovely," Julia grinned. "Though I wish you good luck with her. She's a feisty one."
Scorpius grimaced. "Yeah, I figured that out." He suddenly brightened up. "Hey, Julia. You're friends with Rose, aren't you?"
"Yes, somewhat."
The Malfoy's grey eyes lit up. "Oh! Do you think you could possibly stall her for a little while? I promised I'd meet her in front of the Great Hall, but I need to go get her stuff first."
Julia nodded, suppressing a smile. The Weasley and Malfoy were really a cute couple. "Sure, I'll do that. She'll be in front of the doors?"
"Yeah. Thanks a bunch, Julia!" Scorpius said with immense gratitude.
"Say, what did you get her, anyway?" Albus asked curiously.
"Chocolate-covered strawberries," Scorpius shrugged. "I ordered them from this Muggle shop Mum recommended."
"Oh, is it a special day, or something?" Julia questioned.
"Nope."
"Oh."
Albus saved her from her embarrassment. "Scor likes to do this thing where he spontaneously surprises Rose."
"How sweet!" Julia couldn't help but gush.
"It's just something I like to do. At any rate, it keeps her calm." Scorpius peered around, and said confidentially, "Sometimes I swear that girl should have been sorted into Gryffindor like the rest of her family."
Julia nodded in agreement. "Don't I know."
"Do you remember how shocked Uncle Ron was when he found out?" Albus snorted.
"Didn't he send a Howler to her?" Scorpius pondered.
Albus nodded, smirking. "And then he felt so bad about it that he sent her bunches of sweets for the rest of that week."
Both the boys snickered until Julia, stifling her laughs, shifted her bag from one shoulder to the other and said, "I'm going to the Great Hall now. See you later?"
"Yeah," Albus said. "We'll be down quickly. Or at least, I'll be. I don't know about this dolt," he muttered, which resulted in a slug to his arm.
"I'd never keep Rose waiting!" Scorpius declared majestically. He grinned at Julia. "But really, thanks. We'll be there as soon as possible."
"Anytime," Julia smiled back, and turned towards the direction of the Great Hall. She could hear the small bantering between the two boys behind her and couldn't help but marvel at the strange relationship between the Potter and the Malfoy. She wondered what was so different about Draco Malfoy that could make him so… accepting.
When she was about to turn the corner that led to the Great Hall, the first thing Julia heard was James Potter.
"Rose! Oh, my sweet Rose!"
His words were met with a toneless reply. "Shut up, James."
Julia was met with the scene of a few groups of students heading into the Great Hall for lunch, talking and laughing quietly. To the side of the doors stood James and a very irritated-looking Rose Weasley.
Rose spotted her first and immediately rushed towards her. "Julia!" she cried out in obvious relief.
"Rose," Julia greeted with a smile. Just as every other time she saw the Slytherin Weasley, she couldn't help but admire the way the redhead somehow made the green and silver tie just fitwith her persona. It seemed to complement everything about her.
"Have you seen Scorpius?" Rose asked. "Ravenclaw and Gryffindor had Charms just now, right?"
"Oh, yeah," Julia said, her brain whirring to think of what to say. She really should have planned this before. "He and Albus had to go to the loo," she blurted out. "They'll be here soon, though."
"Oh," Rose said, wrinkling her nose, and grabbed Julia's shoulder, leaning in. "Do you mind staying here with me until they come?" she asked hurriedly. "My cousin-"
A hand settled on Julia's arm and she flinched, shifting to the side.
"Julia!" James exclaimed. "Nice to see you again!"
She managed a small smile up at the sixth-year Gryffindor. "Yeah. Nice." She could only meet his hazel eyes for a couple of seconds before nervously flitting away and glancing at Rose.
"You know each other?" the redhead asked, then shook her head. "I'm sorry you've ever met him, Julia. Just know all of us Weasleys and Potters aren't as bad as he is."
"Hey, now," James said, slinging an arm over Rose's shoulder. "Don't be mean. Julia and I are buds, right?"
"Er," Julia blushed, unsure of what to say. Merlin, she needed to get a grip on herself.
James nudged her side. "You know, we had that talk in the library? Remember? And you were - what were you doing - studying for O.W.L.'s?"
"I remember," she said defensively. "But that doesn't mean we're automatically friends."
"Oh, but it does." He gave her a suggestive wink. "Anything to do with me automatically means we're friends. I'm just that friendly!"
Julia raised her eyebrows, but didn't trust herself to retort back. Who knew? She could accidentally blurt out something stupid that would completely throw James or even Rose off, and that wasn't typically the desired effect she liked to have on others.
"Yeah, yeah," Rose was saying. "Now stop bothering us."
James didn't stop bothering them, and Julia found herself liking that.
"So," the Potter said, "how are you, Julia?"
"Good. You?"
"Excellent."
She nodded awkwardly, then noticed Rose watching James suspiciously. James followed her line of sight, and frowned as he asked Rose, "What?"
The Weasley narrowed her eyes. "You're being too nice."
"Excuse me?"
"You're never this cordial, and you're being polite." Rose's eyes darted from James to Julia, who blinked in slight confusion.
James opened his mouth in indignation, but was cut off by a call from down the corridor.
"Rose! Hey, Rose!"
The three of them swiveled their heads to see Albus and Scorpius, with a dark brown box in his hands, waving to them.
"Ah, Scorp!" James said delightedly, rushing over to the Malfoy's side. "What've you gotten there?"
Scorpius grinned widely as he approached Rose. "Just a little something," he said a little sheepishly, handing the box to Rose, who had a tender smile on her face that was very unlike her.
"You've got to stop doing this," she said, shaking her head as she took the lid off the box. She gasped at the contents. "Chocolate-covered strawberries!" she exclaimed, her hazel eyes shining brightly. "Thanks, Scorpius, you're the best." She reached out an arm to hug him. As she buried her face into his chest, Scorpius quickly motioned at Albus, Julia, and James to move into the Great Hall.
"Private moment," he mouthed silently, which promptly made James snort.
Julia smiled encouragingly at Scorpius then beckoned the two siblings to follow her and leave Rose and Scorpius to their intimacy. Albus started to walk towards the doors of the Great Hall, but James was still rooted in his spot.
Huffing in exasperation, Julia made as to grab James's wrist to pull him towards the doors, but at that moment, James shifted his position and instead of landing a solid grip around his wrist, Julia's hand slipped into James's.
The warmth of his hand was surprisingly pleasant, and as James turned to look at her, wide-eyed, she couldn't help but notice how the curves of their hands just seemed to fit. Which sounded incredibly cliché, but also happened to be incredibly… incredible.
James had nice eyes. They were hazel, with flecks of green embedded somewhere in there. They were warm. They were staring directly into hers - oh, no, they weren't anymore, they were looking down at where their hands were entwined-
She yelped, releasing his hand, and jumped back about two feet, blushing furiously.
"Sorry!" Julia gasped, effectively causing Albus to pause in his tracks, and Scorpius and Rose to break apart to glance over. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!"
Merlin, she was blushing like a maniac. She backed away from James, who was regarding her with an expression that she couldn't and didn't really feel like deciphering - she was that mortified. "Sorry," she repeated, then looked over at Scorpius and Rose. "Sorry," she said to them. "I'm just… I'm just going to go into the Great Hall now," she said lamely.
Julia turned, her heart beating quickly as she clutched at the strap of her bag and stiffly began to walk towards the Great Hall. The span of ten feet had never felt so long. She could practically feel the burning of everyone's eyes on her back.
It made her tense up even more.
She forced herself to stay calm as she placed a hand on the door and pushed, allowing a trickle of laughter and conversation to reach their ears from within the hall. She slipped in through the crack and breathed a long sigh of relief.
She'd escaped. Thank Merlin, she'd escaped.
Smiling at the thought that she wasn't as red as a beet anymore, Julia started to the Ravenclaw table, where she could spot her friends laughing over plates of sandwiches. They looked up and waved at her, and she returned the gesture enthusiastically.
She grinned as she glanced over to the Gryffindor table by the edge. There was a beauty of the Great Hall that she'd never really appreciated until now: the tables were separated by Houses, which meant that she could completely avoid the Potter family (namely, James).
"Hey, Julia!"
Scratch that.
Julia was half-cringing, half-fighting the blush that was rising to her cheeks as she turned around in half-dread, half-terror to face a certain James Potter, who was walking towards her. His face was a mask of half-anticipation, half-confusion.
Oh, look. They matched.
"That was exciting," James said as he came to a stop in front of her. He wore a smirk, but his voice was quieter than she'd observed it to be for the past five years.
"Sorry," she squeaked. It seemed as if that was the only word she was capable of saying around him.
"It's not a problem," James said, waving his hand. "Anyway, I was just thinking of something else."
She tilted her head up at him curiously, mostly to force herself into keeping her eyes on his face and not somewhere off in the distance.
"For some reason, I find being in your company rather… enlightening." James scratched his chin thoughtfully, then laughed a little. "Let's meet up sometime later today."
James Potter thought her company was enlightening. He thought she was enlightening. A person thought she was enlightening. Cripes. What was this?
"Er," she said brilliantly. Oh, she was certainly being enlightening. She blinked a few times. "Oh. Yeah. Sure. How about after dinner? In the library?"
She glanced over to the Ravenclaw table, painfully aware of the fact that her two best friends were currently staring at her and James, their eyes large and intense.
She turned back to James, who was nodding.
"Sounds good, since I've got Quidditch practice after classes, anyway." He grinned slyly. "As long as you don't have to study for O.W.L.s or anything."
Julia hopped a little as she remembered O.W.L.s, and gasped. "Oh, yeah! I completely forgot! I've got this schedule," she explained, "and today happens to be the day that I've got to color-code my notes!"
James's mouth fell open and he stared at her, slack-jawed. After deciding she wasn't going to laugh and tell him it was a joke, he said, "I was kidding, but you're not, are you?"
She bit her lip, holding back a laugh. "Not quite."
He made a show of rolling his eyes and said dramatically, "Well, then I supposeI'll be a gentleman and at least keep you company while you're color-coding your notes."
"Fine. Though I happen to like color-coding."
"Really, now?"
"Yeah, really, but I suppose it's alright if you come." Julia dug her fingernails into her palm. Was she flirting? What even was this concept of flirting, and why was she doing so?
Either way, it felt playful, and she felt coy, and she decided she kind of liked it. Even if it made her sound like a total girl.
"Excellent. So after dinner, in the library?" James grinned.
"As long as you don't mind that I'm going to bring all my notes with me."
He shrugged and winked at her. "It's a date," he said.
"A study session," she corrected, but smiled anyway. "See you around."
She turned to resume her path to the Ravenclaw table when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. "For the record," came a low whisper in her ear, "I rather like the whole hand-holding thing."
He was already meeting up with his friends at the Gryffindor table when she finally processed what he'd said and started up her uncontrollable blushing again.
As soon as she wasn't in the spotlight of the Great Hall anymore, her two best Ravenclaw friends, Madeleine Finnigan and Christina Fletcher, immediately hopped out of their seats.
"Who was - what - why - James Potter!" they spluttered out.
Julia laughed as she took her seat at the table, her two friends following suit. "Calm down."
"Calm down?" Christina repeated. "Julia Montague, I won't calm down until I know every single detail. So spill."
"Spill what?" she asked innocently, taking a sandwich from a large platter.
"James Potter!" Madeleine said a little too loudly for her comfort. "Did you meet him just now? What was that whole talk? Why was his mouth right next to your ear?"
"And why the hell are you blushing so much?" Christina demanded.
As Julia tried to fend off her curious friends (nothing compared to the persistence of two knowledge-craving girls), she couldn't help but contemplate Christina's question in depth.
Because honestly? What she would give to know the answer.
James's POV
After he'd met Julia Montague in the library, James found himself wanting to know more about the younger Ravenclaw. And James had ways of finding out what he wanted to know. This time, his particular way of discovering more about Julia was through Albus.
That very evening, he approached Albus in the Gryffindor Common Room. "Hey, lil' brother," James said, slinging an arm over his brother's shoulder.
Albus wormed his way out of his grasp, grimacing and turning red when James reached out to ruffle his hair. "What do you want?"
"Rude," James commented, grinning at Scorpius Malfoy and Ashlyn Wood, who were both smirking at Albus's obvious discomfort. "Anyway, I just wanted to ask you a little something. You mind…?" He trailed off, motioning to the empty side of the Common Room.
Albus sighed and told Scorpius and Ashlyn, "Be right back."
"That's my brother," James said, clapping Albus on the back.
"Yeah, yeah," Albus muttered as the two walked over to the other side of the room. "So," he said, "what is it?"
"Okay. This is purely out of curiosity, alright? I just want to know."
"Okay."
"It's nothing serious. I was just wondering."
"Get on with it."
"Okay, okay!" James ran a hand through his messy black hair. "Do you know anyone in your year named Julia?"
Albus raised his eyebrows in surprise. That had not been what he was expecting. "Er…Julia Montague."
The immediate recognition James exhibited upon hearing the name caused Albus to blink and say, "Er. Do you know her?"
James waved his hand, ignoring the tension in his shoulders. "Briefly met. She's a Ravenclaw?"
"Yes," Albus said suspiciously.
"Dark hair? Brown eyes?"
"Dark hair, yes. And I don't know about her eye colour. I don't pay attention to these things!"
"Tut, tut," James admonished. "You should. This type of information can be very useful in some pranks."
Albus rolled his eyes. "Yes, but you're the prankster, James. But why are you so interested in Julia anyway?"
"No reason," James shrugged, but then extended the depth of his questioning. "Do you see her often?"
"Well, we had a class with the Ravenclaws today. Every Thursdays before lunch. Charms," he added when James opened his mouth.
James gave his little brother a dazzling smile. "Perfect," he said with a snap, then reached out to ruffle Albus's hair. "Thanks, Al."
"No problem. Just what are you planning, though?"
"What do you mean?" James asked in surprise.
Albus furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, you've got to be planning something. You never ask for information unless you're going to use it."
James was going to use it, alright. He was going to use it by filing it away in his mental profile of Julia Montague, because James was kind of, sort of very interested in getting to know her, and for that to happen, he would need to interact with the Ravenclaw.
But telling Albus that would probably not go so well, so James settled for grinning and saying, "A prankster never tells all his secrets."
James was anxious.
His fingers soundlessly tapped on the wooden table. Sure, he was in Herbology, where his favorite professor, Professor Longbottom, was currently talking about some snapping plants from Bulgaria that could mimic human sounds, but for some reason, he couldn't focus.
Although that might have had something to do with the fact that Alison Fletcher was relentlessly batting her eyelashes at him.
And maybe had a little, teeny tiny bit to do with the fact that it was Thursday.
James heard a slight snicker from his left, and turned to glare at his friend Marcus Jordan, who was rapidly flicking his eyes from Alison to James.
"Shut up," he said sideways, through his gritted teeth.
Marcus nudged him and replied, "I think you ought to go with her to the next Hogsmeade."
"I'd rather lose a Quidditch game," James muttered. "Actually, scratch that. I wouldn't."
"See?" Marcus, who was Gryffindor's other Beater and understood James's undying love for Quidditch, said triumphantly. "Besides, it isn't like there's any other girl you're interested in at the moment."
James's fingers froze mid-tap and a shiver ran through him. "True," he said calmly, quickly resuming his taps and stared up at Professor Longbottom, who was discussing the biology of the snapping plant.
Apparently, his recovery was not as speedy as he'd hoped, because when he glanced at Marcus, his friend wore a devilish smile that gave the unspeakable hint he was completely aware that James was lying.
"What?" James questioned innocently.
Marcus sidled up closer to him and whispered seductively in his ear, "So who's the lucky lady?"
"No one." James pushed his friend away in playful disgust.
"What House is she in?"
James involuntarily glanced over at a group of Ravenclaws at the front of the greenhouse. The blue in their ties seemed to complement their surroundings.
Unfortunately, Marcus was one who was perceptive (which was a good trait to have when they were on their pranking sprees and on the Quidditch field, but that was about it), and his dark eyes followed James's to rest on the Ravenclaws.
"Aha! Ravenclaw!" This loud remark from Marcus caused Professor Longbottom to stop mid-sentence and the entire class to glance at the two.
"Yes, you're currently in my class along with your classmates from Ravenclaw." Neville Longbottom's eyes sparkled kindly down at them. "Now, Mr. Jordan, Mr. Potter, now that we've established that, would either of you care to explain how the mimicking of noises work for these plants?"
James grinned cheekily, glad that for the halt in his conversation with Marcus. "I would, Professor, but I don't know the answer."
"Mhm. And do you, Mr. Jordan?"
"No, sir," Marcus said meekly.
"Then I advise both of you pay attention, yes?" Their professor smiled. "Or if you'd prefer, I could place one of the plants in front of you and have them repeat everything you're conspiring back there."
The entire class, including the two troublemakers, chuckled, and a few girlish whispers of "He's so cool!" swept across the room.
"Why thank you, Ms. Hendry," Neville said, grinning, "but alright, back to the plants!"
For the rest of the class, James honestly did try to pay attention, but it was slightly hard to, since he could see Marcus mentally taking note of every Ravenclaw girl in the room while glancing at James every so often - probably to compare their personalities to his.
Fortunately for James, the Ravenclaw he had in mind wasn't exactly in the room at the moment.
As soon as class was dismissed, James and Marcus headed to the Great Hall for lunch. As they entered the castle, James spotted a head of red hair against a wall.
"Rose! My favourite cousin!" James exclaimed as he darted around a group of first-years heading into the Great Hall.
Rose glanced at him unenthusiastically. "Hi, James." She smiled at a space behind him. "Hi, Marcus."
"What's up, Ginger?" Marcus asked, giving Rose a high-five.
She shrugged, leaning against the stone wall. "Waiting for Scorpius. He and Albus said they were going to meet me here. Don't call me that, by the way," she added severely.
"Aww, you and your boyfriend are just so cute," James cooed, reaching out to pinch Rose's cheeks. She slapped his hand away.
"Star-crossed lovers! Gryffindor and Slytherin!" Marcus called out, turning a few heads.
Rose glared at him. "Oh, shush! It's happened at least five times in the past years I've been here."
Marcus grinned. "Whatever you say, Ginger." He spun to face James. "You going in?"
James waved him ahead. "Nah. I'll accompany Rose until Al and Scorp come." And possibly Julia. Possibly Julia. Didn't Albus say they had Charms together
right before lunch?
As his friend darted into the Great Hall, James sidled up to Rose.
"Hey, Rosie," he said sweetly.
"Stop it," she replied.
"Fine." Not five seconds later, James morphed his facial expression and said, "How doth my lady do?"
Rose raised her eyebrow. "You're so weird," she muttered, shaking her head.
James put on a devilish grin. "I can be weirder." He knelt down on one knee and declared loudly, "Rose! Oh, my sweet Rose!"
She flicked her eyes at him and said monotonously, "Shut up, James."
James got up and opened his mouth in indignation, but before he could speak, Rose broke into a relieved smile and said, "Julia!" She rushed past him.
His heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name, and he shushed the voices in his head screaming for him to do something.
"Rose," he heard Julia say. He turned around just in time to see her brown eyes dart away from his face, and had to conceal a grin.
Lost in his thoughts, he couldn't focus on the exchange between Julia and Rose, instead, focusing on controlling the urge to immediately delve into a conversation with Julia. Patience was key.
When he did not think he could stand still any longer, James surged forward.
"-staying here with me until they come?" Rose was asking. "My cousin-"
Without thinking, James reached out to touch Julia's arm. It sent a spark up his own arm to his shoulders to his legs, and froze him on the spot. And then she was flinching away, and he brought his senses back to life.
"Julia!" he boomed with a smile on his face, though he was slightly discouraged by her sidling away from him. "Nice to see you again!" He flashed what he hoped was a winning smile.
Unfortunately, she did not seem to notice it. "Yeah. Nice," she replied, barely looking at him. James's mood sank a little more. She did not sound very interested in him or his presence.
Rose gaped. "You know each other? I'm sorry you've ever met him, Julia. Just know all of us Weasleys and Potters aren't as bad as he is." She shook her head, but sent a small grin to James to show she was joking.
"Hey, now," James said. "Don't be mean." He took a deep breath. "Julia and I are buds, right?" He was rather proud of the fact that, at least as far as he knew, he did not sound anywhere near as nervous as he felt.
Julia's cheeks tinged pink, and it was all that James could to do avoid smiling in triumph. "Er," she said shyly, in neither an affirmative or negative way.
James took a risk and nudged her with his arm. He wasn't sure why he was so aware of everything he was doing and saying to the fifth-year. "You know, we had that talk in the library?" he prompted. "Remember? And you were - what were you doing - studying for O.W.L.'s?"
"I remember," she said hotly, finally meeting his eyes. "But that doesn't mean we're automatically friends."
Encouraged by her eyes on him, James gave her his best wink. "Oh, but it does. Anything to do with me automatically means we're friends. I'm just that friendly!"
He was slightly crushed when she didn't continue the banter, instead, raising her eyebrows at him. He took an awkward breath, turning to Rose. His cousin was watching him carefully, but when she saw him looking at her, she immediately said, "Yeah, yeah, now stop bothering us."
He almost did, because his nerves were starting to get the better of him, but James decided this was too good of an opportunity to get closer to Julia to let go of.
Taking another deep breath (Merlin, this girl was just taking the breath out of him, wasn't she?), he said winningly, "So how are you, Julia?" He wanted to start simple. Even though he wasn't normally for formalities, maybe she was into that type of stuff.
"Good," she replied. "You?" This was a nice sign. She was responding.
"Excellent." Say something else, you dolt. But for once, James was a total loss for words.
Luckily, Julia chose that moment to glance at Rose. James followed her eyes until he settled on his cousin, who, this time, did not cloak the suspicious look on her face.
"What?" he asked defensively.
Rose narrowed her eyes at him, and he was sure that he'd been caught trying to be subtle. "You're being too nice."
James closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he tried every possible way to tell her to shush. This was not leaving a good second impression on Julia. "Excuse me?" he managed to say.
His cousin ignored his silent pleads. "You're never this cordial," she continued, "and you're being polite."
James gave the tiniest, nearly imperceptible nod towards Julia and watched as Rose flicked her eyes between him and her friend.
Realizing that she'd just insulted him, James opened his mouth to retort, but was promptly cut off by Scorpius Malfoy's voice.
"Rose!" the Gryffindor called out. "Hey, Rose!"
James, Julia, and Rose all turned to see Albus and Scorpius rushing down to meet them. There was a box in Scorpius's hands, and James smirked. The Malfoy was rather a nice match for his cousin. He knew how to handle her, in any case.
He abandoned his spot next to Julia to greet his brother and Scorpius. "Ah, Scorp," he said with a genuine smile, "What've you gotten there?" He gestured towards the box with a suggestive wink.
"Just a little something," Scorpius said. There was a shy, slightly dreamy smile on his face as he approached Rose. A quick glance at Rose was more than enough to confirm that the two fifteen-year-olds were most certainly in love.
"You've got to stop doing this," his cousin said. She took the lid off the box and gasped. James peered over. "Chocolate-covered strawberries!" Rose said.
"Thanks, Scorpius, you're the best."
The Malfoy was engulfed by Rose's arms in a hug. She didn't see Scorpius wave at James, Albus, and Julia to go into the Great Hall. "Private moment," he was mouthing.
James snorted, thinking to himself that it was extraordinary how evidently fitting Rose and Scorpius were.
Perhaps that was why Draco Malfoy hadn't completely blown up at his son when he started dating a Weasley. The daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley, no less.
Out of the corner of his eye, James spotted Julia gesturing that they should enter the Great Hall. He was about to oblige when he paused, an emotion that he could not comprehend washing over him. He recognized it as the same one he felt every time his mum got angry at him or his siblings.
James froze. Fear. What did he have to fear? He panicked, immediately coming up with the answer. But why? Why would he fear a petite girl with big, innocent eyes and dark, silky hair - what did he have to fear from Julia Montague?
He shifted uncomfortably and was on the verge of spinning around to face his fear when quite suddenly, he found himself holding his fear's hand.
The first thing he noticed was the size of her hand - it was only about two-thirds of his hand, and he was certain that each of her fingers were an inch shorter than his. It was also warm. Her hand was warm and comforting and James was reminded of a fire burning in the night.
Or maybe the fire was burning his ears, because he could literally feel the heat from his ears on his cheeks.
James's eyes made their way to Julia, who looked just as surprised as he felt. She was blushing lightly, which he found to be rather charming. Her dark brown eyes held a depth to them that riveted his attention.
He sent a quick glance down at their hands, briefly marveling at the fact that they fit together extraordinarily well, like Scorpius and Rose fit together, except better.
And then the moment, which couldn't have lasted longer than a few seconds, ended when Julia promptly released his hand and scampered back. Half-amused and the other half of him still ensnared in the image of her dark eyes, James watched as Julia completely panicked.
"Sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" she rambled, her face bright red. As she backed away towards where Albus was standing (and watching the entire scene, as were Scorpius and Rose), part of James wanted to come up with some witty comment to smooth the awkwardness, another part suppressed a smile at Julia's flustered outburst, and yet another part of him just wanted to reach out and grab her hand again because it had felt so nice.
"Sorry. Sorry," Julia was repeating. If it was possible, she turned an even darker shade of red. "I'm just…I'm just going to go into the Great Hall now," she stuttered before turning towards the Great Hall entrance. Her dark hair flew over her shoulder on its own accord and James could see every tense muscle in Julia's neck and shoulders.
After she walked into the Great Hall, Albus, Rose, and Scorpius immediately whipped around to stare at James.
"What?" James asked defensively.
"What was that?" Albus asked, wide-eyed.
"Yeah, mate, you two were ogling each other like-"
"Shut up, Scor," James said loudly. He added, "You and Rose aren't much better."
Scorpius grinned, tightening his arm around Rose's shoulder. "Fair point."
"Really, though," Rose said. "What was that?"
James fought to keep his heart steady. He hadn't even noticed how quickly it was beating until Julia left the entrance hall. "I'm not quite sure," he said truthfully.
Apparently it wasn't actually a question because Rose continued, "It was like you two were in your own little world. I could practically see the fireworks above you."
For some reason, these words sent him up in a flurry of panic, and James quickly said, "Don't think too hard about it, Rosie. But in the mean time, I'm hungry and I think I'm going to scram. Have fun, kids!" He dashed off towards the Great Hall doors before the three fifth-years could process his words. He slipped through the doors just as Albus called out, "We're only a year younger!"
As he entered the dining hall, a huge wave of student conversations washed over James. His eyes involuntarily darted towards the Ravenclaw table, and on the way, he spotted her making her way to the table.
He replayed Rose's words in his mind: "I could practically see the fireworks above you," she'd said. "Me too," James murmured quietly. A tiny smile crept onto his face. "Me too."
It was perhaps this confession to himself that made James call out, "Hey, Julia!"
As soon as she turned around to face him, her cheeks still pink, he regretted calling her name because his own face began to flush, and he had to wipe his hands on his robes for all they were sweating. He was pretty sure that his face was scrunched up in anticipation, and found it immensely relieving that she also looked a bit nervous.
James bravely put on a smirk, and the only reason why he was able to do so was because he was so familiar with how to shape his mouth and didn't need to think about it. "That was exciting," he blurted out as he stopped in front of her.
Julia hesitantly smiled. "Sorry," she said again, her voice high-pitched.
"It's not a problem," he said. "Anyway… I was just thinking of something else." He'd just thought of it, actually, but this made him sound as if he hadn't been going crazily out of his mind for the past two minutes.
He took a deep breath, nervously watching for her reaction. "For some reason," he started, "I find being in your company rather enlightening." Merlin. 'Enlightening'. Couldn't he have picked a better word? "Let's meet up sometime later today."
The last sentence popped out of his mouth without his approval and James could only rewind and hear the echo of his words in horror as he realized what a spontaneous offer he'd just given. And, he realized with growing anticipation, he'd stated it in a way that practically forced her to say yes.
Julia cleared her throat. "Er… Oh. Yeah. Sure! How about after dinner? In the library?"
He really hoped she didn't hear him let out a breath of pure relief. "Sounds good, since I've got Quidditch practice after classes, anyway," he said, already feeling much lighter and more comfortable. He joked, "As long as you don't have to study for O.W.L.s or anything."
"Oh, yeah!" Julia said with a bounce. "I completely forgot!" She leaned in seriously and James was suddenly met with the scent of vanilla. "I've got this schedule, and today happens to be the day that I've got to color-code my notes!"
His mouth dropped open in horror. Not only was this girl willing to stay in to study on a perfectly nice day, but she was also more than happy to color-code her notes. That was it. Aunt Hermione would love her.
"I was kidding," James said slowly, "but you're not, are you?" He suppressed a grin.
"Not quite." Julia's eyes sparkled mischievously, and James could almost feel himself gravitating towards her and her gorgeous eyes.
Exaggerating his movements, he rolled his eyes. "Well, then I suppose I'll be a gentleman and at least keep you company while you're color-coding your notes." The flirt was creeping into his voice and into his stance and he found himself smiling freely.
Julia sighed. "Fine, though I happen to like color-coding."
"Really, now?"
She grinned up at him and he realized how much taller than her she was. She only came up to about his chin. "Yeah, really, but I suppose it's alright if you come." James was certain that the tone in her voice was flirty.
With what he was sure was an arrogant smile, James said, "Excellent. So after dinner, in the library?"
She nodded. "As long as you don't mind that I'm going to bring all my notes with me."
"It's a date," he replied with a steady wink. It gave him pleasure to watch her blush, knowing it was his actions that made her do so.
Julia shook her head. "A study session," she said with a twinkle in her eyes. "See you around!" With that, she spun around, but James must have had a rush of hormones or a rush of something, because his hand darted out and tapped Julia's delicate shoulder.
Before she could turn back, James lowered himself to her ear, saying quietly, "For the record, I rather like the whole hand-holding thing." He heard her breathing quicken for a moment, but didn't want to linger any longer, lest she turn around and see how quickly he was breathing.
As he sauntered towards the Gryffindor table, in a much better mood than he had been before, not to say that he'd been in a bad mood, it crossed the deep, dark, very-hidden part of James's mind that he was completely and utterly smitten with Julia Montague.
Unfortunately, it was far too hidden for him to realize that until it was a little too late.
Hope you liked that! :) If you've some time, please tell me how this double POV thing is going - I'm worried it might be a little too repetitive.