I can't seem to write properly right at the moment, I'm feeling all weird. If this sounds a bit jaggedy and mixed up, it's because I am. I wanted to get this to you guys ASAP though so…
Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own what I'm writing about. Except Jay.
PS: 28 views, only 4 reviews? COME ON PEOPLE, GET IT TOGETHER3
That summer passes in a haze of grey weather, thick socks and trying not to stare too much at Sirius' butt. Seriously. The guy wears his jeans so perfectly fitted, it's maddening. I bump into him outside my room one day, fresh from the shower. His hair is damp, falling across his stormy eyes. And he's forgotten to put on a shirt. Perfect. It's not a bad start to such an unreasonably early morning though, and I let myself check him out, just quickly... Just this once. I'd never make a move on him, my aunt practically thinks of him as a son. It would almost be incest.
"Morning," I sing as I skin past him on my way to the bathroom. He raises an arm - a perfectly toned arm - in greeting, and goes to his room. Presumably to put on some more clothes. He might make the bathroom extraordinarily messy, but living opposite Sirius definitely has its perks. I shake my head quickly to clear my naughty thoughts and jump into the shower, turning the water on full power. We're meant to be going down to London today, to get some stuff for school. I figure they probably have some wizarding mall, like back in LA. Aware of the time, I wash quickly and I'm showered in a record time of 7 minutes.
When I get back to my room, there's warm golden sunlight streaming through the windows, and for once the grass on the lawn doesn't have that wet sparkle to it. In fact, when I push open the window to breathe in the first real summer I've seen since arriving, the sky is an achingly cloudless blue and the air feels warm. In celebration, I pull on some jean shorts and a purple lace shirt. I'm barely dressed when Sirius ambles in, hands in his pockets. I scowl.
"I was changing. You should really learn to knock."
"Just wanted to know if you were coming down anytime soon," he shrugs. "We're leaving in 10 minutes, and you aren't even ready."
"Am too!" I put my tongue out at childishly at him and turn to the small mirror on the end table by my bed. I ring my eyes with smudgy brown pencil and dry my hair with a wave of my wand. "See?" I push past him out into the corridor and head for the stairs. "Are you coming?"
Less than half an hour later, I'm squashed between James and Sirius in the middle of a bustling wizarding street. It's not even 9 am yet, but shopkeepers and market sellers are already setting up. There are even a couple of kids on muggle rollerblades, weaving in and out of the early morning shoppers. I keep craning my head, trying to take everything in. We have wizarding malls in LA, and they sell all kinds of weird stuff, but I've never seen anything like this. Everything seems to have been squeezed wherever there was space for it, and shop fronts compete with each other for the most attention grabbing display. Everything is colorful and alive and buzzing.
"What did you call this place again?" I ask, stepping to one side to let a group of brightly dressed women pass.
"Diagon Alley," James replies, steering me around a bunch of kids dressed in muggle attire. "It's probably about the only place in London where you can get pretty much everything you need in one place."
"Clothes? I say hopefully. So far, I haven't seen a single store selling anything that could be considered remotely fashionable. James laughs, and raises his eyebrows at Sirius, who smirks back. "What? So I like to look nice, is that a crime?" Sirius pats my head sympathetically.
"No, little Jay. But we have a uniform at Hogwarts. You wont be wearing your own clothes all that much you know." I pout. Uniform? I haven't had to wear one once in my entire life. Even when I worked as a barista for about a month last summer, we could pretty much wear whatever we liked.
"Speaking of uniforms," James says, pulling out the list Aunt Amber gave him that morning. "You need to go buy one." I sigh. I figure uniforms probably aren't a negotiable element of attending an English boarding school, even if you are a witch.
"Fine. Which way?" I fold my arms over my chest. It's already gotten pretty hot, and I'm distracted by a large ice-cream parlor a few stores away. Sirius, who is evidently paying much more attention to pedestrian traffic, grabs my hand and pulls me aside to prevent me getting hit by a girl on a bike. He's not quick enough though, and next thing I know, I'm sprawled in the road. I sit up, a little dazed. It's just typical that on my very first day out in public, I manage to make a total idiot of myself. At least nothing hurts though. I shake each limb carefully, testing for injuries. Apart from my hip which is throbbing uncomfortable where it made contact with the floor, I feel fine.
"Oh my gosh!" The girl with the bike comes running over and kneels beside me, flaming hair tumbling over her green eyes. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you, are you OK?" She seems genuinely sorry, and I try for a smile. She might have just winded me with the front wheel or her bike but I don't think it was intentional.
"I'm fine."
"I am sorry," She smiles sheepishly, clearly embarrassed. I was in such a hurry to meet someone…" She trails off, squinting up. "Potter." Her tone isn't cool, but it's not exactly friendly either. I twist my neck to see James standing over us. He looks a little shocked, nervously mussing up his hair at the back. Sirius is standing a little way off. He looks faintly amused. I try to catch his eye but he's watching the red-head and his best friend intently.
"Lily Evans," James suddenly regains his cool, his normal swagger returning. "Need a hand?" The last part is directed at me, and I take his the hand he's offered. The girl, apparently Lily, straightens up. There are faint grey marks on the knees of her white jeans. There's a funny kind of tension between the two of them. I focus on the marks. They seem to have forgotten about me anyway. Unexpectedly, James wraps an arm around me and pulls me to his side. "Is there any particular reason you tried to kill my friend?" He asks. I don't miss the look Lily shoots me, not quite jealous but not quite friendly either. I don't want to be used in whatever game my cousin's playing here, and I shake him off irritably.
"Cousin," I correct hastily. "I'm his cousin, from California."
"Oh," her face softens, and she smiles genuinely. "I'm Lily Evans, I got to school with Po- James." She stumbles a little over his name. Curiouser and curiouser. I make a mental note to ask Sirius what the hell has happened between these two.
"Jay," I reply, returning her grin. "I guess I'll see you around school in September. I just moved here. Anyway, I have stuff to do, so I'll just…" I take a few steps in Sirius' direction. "I guess I'll see you two later?" I don't give them a chance to answer, and instead I grab Sirius' arm and pull him in a random direction until we're swallowed up by the crowds. The last place in the world I want to be is stuck in an awkward conversation with two people who may or may not have the worst relationship history ever. I figure it's best to let them work whatever it is that's making them bug out on their own. I tug Sirius down an narrow alleyway and out of the throng of shoppers, leaning against the wall.
"What was that?" I ask leaning back against the rough stone wall. "I've never seen James like that." I push some hair out of my face and crane my head up at Sirius. I'm not exactly the tallest person in the world, and he easily clears six feet.
"That's because," Sirius grins crookedly, leaning against the opposite wall. "He doesn't fancy you." I blink. I should hope not, we are related after all.
"So… he likes Lily then." I conclude. It's not really a question, but he gives me an answer anyway.
"Since forever. Only problem is, she hates him. Or used to anyway, he's grown up a lot lately." I raise both my eyebrows. James, grown up? I haven't known him all that long, but from what I have seen, he and Sirius can't really be considered the most mature teenagers on the planet. Sirius smirks at me, he seems to know what I'm thinking. I bite my lip.
"Actually, I wouldn't say he hates him, not now." I say carefully. Sirius looks at me a little too closely for comfort, and I shift awkwardly. "At least, it didn't seem like she did, back there." I gesture vaguely with one hand. He looks a little confused, eyebrows furrowed. Somehow, that looks good on him. "Anyway…" I cough. I don't want to get mixed up in my cousin's relationship issues before I even start school, so I hastily change the subject. "I um, need to buy a uniform?"
"Yeah," Sirius stretched languidly. "I'll take you to Malkins'."
Sirius and I have the shopping done in no time. James still has the list from my Aunt, but Sirius has his own and I really only need a few extra things. Like the uniform. Urgh. It's folded and wrapped, lying neatly at my feet. I wonder what kind of institution forces teenagers to dress in such ugly clothes for such a large part of their lives.
"Miss me?" James slides into the seat beside me, ruffling his hair unconsciously. I shrug, picking the nuts of the top of my ice cream. I hate nuts.
"Not really." He sticks his tongue out at me, stealing a pecan from my dessert. "Hey!" He just grins and takes another.
"What?" He asks when he sees me glaring. "You aren't eating them." At that moment, Sirius returns with two large chocolate ice creams in tall glasses. He slides one across to James and sticks his own spoon into the other. No nuts. I'm jealous. The sun has gotten stiflingly hot, and we're sitting outside the ice cream place, Fortescue's, I saw earlier. My ice cream has melted, spilling over the sides of the glass. I push it away after a few bites, suddenly tired. The smell of it has brought a fresh wave of homesickness. I wonder idly what my friends are doing now. Sleeping, probably. I can never quite wrap my head around time differences, I always get mixed up.
"So, you were gone a while," Sirius breaks the silence, resting his large combat boot on the table. My ice cream wobbles alarmingly. "What did you and Evans get up to?" He winks suggestively and makes a fairly obscene gesture.
"You are so gross," I mutter. My good mood has evaporated, and I'm easily annoyed. I stir the remaining slush of my ice cream into liquid, making 'soup' the way I used to as a kid. To my surprise, James shoots him a genuinely irritated look, and he shuts up pretty fast. I guess Lily Evans is a touchy subject for him. He must really like her, I muse, chewing on the end of a plastic straw. The tension between James and Sirius dissipates pretty fast, and I'm left listening to them babble on about Quidditch and next years house teams and other boyish things that I eventually tune out. I'm dragged back into the conversation however, when I catch both boys staring at me intently. They seem to be expecting some kind of answer from me.
"Uh, what?" I ask, swinging my feet idly under the table.
"I asked," Sirius sighs, rolling his eyes at me "if you knew how they were going to sort you." I must have looked baffled, because James pats my hand reassuringly.
"You know about the Hogwarts Houses at least?" He asks.
"Uh-huh. I guess I just didn't think about it. Maybe I just get to pick one?" I say hopefully. Since I don't know anyone else, it would be nice to be able to hang out with James and Sirius in my spare time.
"Maybe," Sirius agrees, combing his hair back from his face. His eyes are boring into mine, and I swallow. I'm really not looking for a relationship, I'll be back in LA within a year, but this boy is hot. I force myself to meet his gaze and flick my hair back from my face, smiling softly up at him. He blinks, a little stunned. This is after all, the first time I've allowed myself to show any interest in him. I'll admit, I enjoy his reaction a little too much. This could be fun. I might even get through the school year, uniform and all, if I have Sirius around.
Right, sorry, this is a pretty short chapter. Mostly a filler really, which I hate writing.
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