Chapter 3: P.S. I love you

Laura was not happy. Thirteen hours ago she had kissed James on platform 9 ¾ and she had been incredibly happy until the reality set in once she got to London's airport. Now she was sat in the car her parents had rented until theirs came in the morning. All she could do was think about James and the other people she had left behind. She wished she was still back in England. Its not that she hated America, she actually loved to go there on holiday, but that was the problem… this wasn't a holiday, this was her new life. A life she knew she wasn't going to be happy in.

She sighed as they pulled into the drive of a big house with a perfectly kept lawn and swimming pool just visible in the back garden. She dragged herself out of the car moodily and walked up to the white door.

This is it… this is my new hell.

She stepped inside the house and looked around at the bare furniture in a couple of the rooms before walking upstairs with her mother.

"This is your room, sweetie," she said opening the first door she came to on the right.

The room was almost twice as big as her old one but that didn't matter to her, it didn't feel like home. In one corner was a double bed that looked lost in the large room. Next to it was a bedside table and on the other side of the room was a desk and wardrobe.

"We are going to redecorate over Christmas so that it will look more like your old room." Laura just nodded and walked over to her bed before collapsing on it.

I am never going to get used to this…

A few moments later her father brought up her school trunk and some boxes of belongings that she didn't take to Hogwarts.

"Honey, tea will be ready in ten minutes," he said gently. When she didn't reply he sighed and sat down on her bed. "Laura, I understand that a new school and a new country is going to be overwhelming for you but can you please at least try to make an effort?" Laura remained silent. He sighed again and walked out of her room.

Why do my parents think they know everything when they don't? It's not just that, I have left everyone I ever knew and loved back there… I have no idea how to handle the massive gaping hole in my heart.

I wish I had something to keep with me… she thought. Then she remembered something… James had given her something on the train! She leapt off her bed and opened her school trunk. She took out the square package from the top and sat back down on her bed.

She ripped the paper off to find a beautifully made photo album. On the front was a picture of her and James on her sixteenth birthday and underneath it were the words, little book of memories. She opened the front cover to see James's neat handwriting.

'Laura, this is a book for all the happy memories we had, not just us but Scott, Fred, Holly and Charlie too. I hope you enjoy it and treasure the memories forever. See you soon, James. P.S. I love you.'

Laura read the passage over several times, each time bringing more tears to her eyes. She turned the page and saw that the photos started when they were around seven and, flipping forward to the last photo, finished when they were kissing each other at the party last night. How did he get a picture of that?

She flipped back to the first picture and looked at it. She noticed that James's arm was in a sling in this picture. Oh, that must have been when I pushed him off the climbing frame at the park and he broke his arm! Oops. She smiled at the memory of that, even though she had been very upset and worried at the time.

She flipped through the next few pages. The pictures went from when they were seven all the way up to James's tenth birthday, all the pictures had a little bit of writing on it to say where and when it was taken. She remembered the times when they went on holiday together to Spain, when she had punched James because he dropped her doll in the pond and the various birthdays they had. She loved those times, she was carefree and had plenty of friends and wasn't scared of anything. Now it was a completely different story.

"Laura, tea is ready!" her mum shouted up the stairs.

"Okay," she said reluctantly leaving the book on her bed and walking down the stairs to eat the takeaway they had bought from the Chinese down the road.

They mostly ate the meal in silence with her parents making a little bit of small talk. Laura ate as fast as she could so that she could go back upstairs and continue to look at the photo album James had given her. After she had finished eating and ran back upstairs she sat down on her bed and began to look through the photos again.

After around forty five minutes of fun filled memories and photos she reached the end of them. On the page opposite was James's writing again.

Hey, again, that's it from us for now but if you have noticed there are more pages left to be filled. This is for you to add anymore memories we make or you and your new friends. Good luck, love, I promise I will write. Now turn to the back page to find your early Christmas present. P.S I love you.

Laura quickly turned to the back page to find a beautiful white gold chain taped to the page. Dangling from it was a heart shaped charm with a small diamond inset into it. She carefully took it off to get a better look at it. On the other side was an inscription:

I love you

She unclasped it and put it around her neck. She tried not to cry, she didn't want to cry. She needed to stay strong in order to make it through the day. Instead she made her way to her trunk and found out a piece of parchment and a quill. She sat down at the desk and began writing her letter to James.

James,

Thankyou so much for my 'little book of memories' it certainly held a lot of good memories. Especially from last night. What I want to know is how on earth did you find all those pictures? It must have taken you more than a few hours… did you by any chance start making it before you found out about me leaving?

I also want to thankyou for the necklace. It is beautiful and I really appreciate this James, I really do. I have only been in America for a few hours and already I am missing you more than you could ever imagine. I wish that we could have had longer together. I also wish that you were here right now. And everyone else, of course, but especially you.

I know that this letter probably won't reach you for a few days; by then it will almost be Christmas. So, merry Christmas and a happy new year. I hope you have a good one. Say hi to Scott and Fred and everyone. Smiles all around.

See you James xxx

P.S. I love you too

Laura folded up the letter and gave it to her owl that had just woken up.

"Hey, snowy, can you deliver this back to England to James for me?" the owl nodded and allowed Laura to tie the letter its leg. She carried it over to the window and let it fly away into the darkening sky.

Laura watched her go until she was nothing but a tiny speck in the distance. She then walked back to her bed and collapsed on it. Within two minutes she was fast asleep.


James went straight upstairs when he got home. He couldn't stop thinking about the way Laura had kissed him. It was so passionate yet gentle; she was saying goodbye in a more intimate way. James had not complained once but now he craved for more. He loved her so much and it hurt him to see her so defeated. He wanted to hold her in his arms again, to kiss her again, to make love to her again. That one night was the best of his life and he had never wanted it to end. Yet, here he was lying on his own bed at home remembering what a wonderful night it was.

He took the photo she had given him out of his pocket and wondered when she would see her photo album. He knew that it wouldn't be tonight as she wouldn't even be in America until around five/ six o'clock in the morning. He watched the photo play itself and smiled at the memory of them together when they were eleven. Even back then Laura had an anger management problem. It wasn't that she was violent she just had a problem keeping her temper under control.

James set the picture on his bedside next to one of them and the rest of their friends on Laura's 16th birthday. They were all so care free then, there was nothing to worry about, apart from the OWLs.

Stop it James! Stop it! It's not like you will never see her again. You will! He thought trying to convince himself. At that moment he vowed that he would never loose contact with her. He vowed that they would be together some day.


AN: hey again :) what did you think good, bad? please review ;