Chapter 3

It was six o'clock when the three friends, Teddy, James and Hugo returned to the big lopsided house at the edge of Godric's Hollow. The sun was setting, and already laughter and conversation drifted out of the garden as guests mingled with their friends and family.

"James, when is James?" Ginny looked around nervously. He was always late, even for his own parties.

"Don't worry Aunt Ginny, they'll be here soon." Victorie peered out from behind her mask.

Ginny sighed. "I do hope he's not hurt or something, it'll be just like him, going off and ruining the day like that,"

"Honestly Aunt Ginny, if James got hurt, then they'd be here by now. Teddy wouldn't let James ride a broom back injured, they'd apparate. No, they're just enjoying themselves too much to notice the time." Victorie readjusted her hair and strode to the table to help herself to some punch.

Then three vague specks began zooming towards the garden. "Urgh, finally!" Ginny breathed in and got ready to scold the boys…

"JAMES, ARE YOU SURE WERE GOING TO SURVIVE YOUR MUM?" Teddy bellowed over the howling of the wind.

"NAH, SHE'LL GET OVER IT. ANYWAY MUM WONT MAKE A FUSS IN FRONT OF ALL THESE PEOPLE!" James yelled back. It was his fault that they were late. He was the one with the watch, and he had forgotten to look at the time. It felt good, the wind rushing through his hair, the exhilarating dives he dared to take, the incredible speeds he rode with ease. "It is all part of the experience, James, flying makes you free," James' father once said, ruffling James' hair. He could understand that. Flying was in his blood. It was a part of James.

They swiftly made a turn around the garden then landed smoothly behind the bushes, hoping that nobody had seen them. The pals hid their brooms in the shed nearby and quietly sneaked out, heading for the middle of the guests, where their absence would be least noticed. They didn't get very far…

Mother stood in front of them with a furious expression on her face.

"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER, TEDDY LUPIN AND HUGO WEASLEY, I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN DOING IN THE LAST THREE HOURS!" Mother hissed.

"Sorry mum, we must've forgotten the time," James gave an anxious look at the guests to warn mum that now wasn't the time.

"Oh you forgot the time did you? Well, you'll definitely forget the time after you've cleaned up the guests mess after the party, as a punishment." Mum stated curtly and marched off.

"Damn it, James, your mum really knows how to make a person have a bad time when she's angry," Hugo looked at James and Teddy. They just shrugged.

"I'm going to go find Victorie, see you later," Teddy grinned and casually strolled away, keeping an eye out for Victorie. Hugo saw Uncle George and ran to say Hi. That left James on his own, vaguely wondering what he should do.

A tall willowy girl with dark red hair and dark green eyes gently tapped James on the shoulder. He turned to see who it was and was greeted by a freckled face beaming at him.

"James! It's great to see you. I realised you weren't here at the start of the party and thought 'He'd probably be flying'!" The couple hugged each other and laughed.

"I got you a present. I really hope you like it," she opened her purse and, with some difficulty, pulled out a fairly sized object wrapped in brown paper. "Here, open it before Colin sees it and starts asking for one himself."

James smiled and gently unwrapped the delicate paper. Inside the neat packaging was a watch. It was new, and the times, days and dates were placed at their precise points. What was really unique about the watch was that there was miniature moons intricately carved into the gold inside of the watch.

"Bryony! It's beautiful! Where did you get such a thing?" James gasped with delight.

Bryony shrugged and said, "I thought it would suit you."

James looked into Bryony's emerald eyes, so like his own. That's what made him fall in love with her from the first moment he saw her. Only later did he realise how brilliant she was. They stared into each other's eyes for a few moments before a lively song was struck up by the band, causing the magical spell to break. James took Bryony's hand and dragged her to the dance floor, where they started to dance happily, like all the other couples there too.

The clock showed midnight, but the party was still going strong. Now, the band played a slow, love song, which encouraged couples to idly turn around in circles, wrapped in their own love story. Bryony had donned her owl mask and was now searching for Colin, who was also best friends with James. James was sitting at a table; his eyes following the couples spin around, making him feel dizzy just watching them. Finally, he stood up and went in search of Bryony, hoping she would dance with him. He dodged in between the lovers, and spotted a girl about Bryony's height with an owl mask on her face. He walked up towards her, pulled her mask off, and without checking who it was, pressed his lips against hers, thinking it was Bryony.

"JAMES!" Teddy's voice echoed around him in disbelief. James broke the kiss, startled. He looked at the face he held in his hands, and realised with shock that he had made a terrible mistake.

"Victorie?"

Victorie wiped her mouth with her sleeve in disgust and glared at him, "OF COURSE IT'S VICTORIE! WHO DID YOU THINK IT WAS!?" she spat at the ground and fled to Teddy, who pulled her into his arms and stared at James. A look of horror spread across James' face. He knew what was coming next.

"James. I thought you were my friend. How could you?" Teddy whispered.

James gawped, "I thought she was Bryony! They're wearing the same mask!"

Teddy shook his head, "I don't know James. You've really hurt me. And you could've checked who you were kissing. "

Mother and Father came rushing in to see what had happened.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Dad said.

"James just kissed Victorie."

Mum gasped and stared at James, "JAMES! HOW COULD YOU?"

"James! I thought you knew better! Why would you do this to Ted?"

James had had enough. "I DIDN'T MEAN IT! BRYONY AND VICTORIE HAVE THE SAME MASK. I DIDN'T CHECK, OKAY! WHY DON'T YOU ACCEPT THAT! JUST LIKE WHY WONT YOU ACCEPT WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE!?" James let out all his fury, stunning everyone who heard him, which was everyone. Bryony pushed through the crowd and ran up to James. Colin followed her. James turned to them and said, "I'm leaving. If you want to come with me, then grab my arm. If you want to stay, then go and join the rest."

Immediately, Bryony and Colin took hold of James' arm. They swirled and vanished, apparating to goodness knows where James was thinking about at the time.