CHAP 2: CHANGES AND MORE CHANGES
James had gone mad, there was no other explanation for his behavior.
If there had been any explanation for his uncharacteristic behavior a new word would have to be created to describe it.
James now wore his uniform how it was supposed to be worn, his hair looked like it had suffered a war with a comb, he smiled at Mr. Norris(yes that cat still lived).
He greeted Filch, submitted his homework on time, answered questions in class and even made proper Quidditch practices (Ones that didn't interfere with Willow's sleeping patterns).
Now he didn't spend his time charming witches, who'd giggle around him instead he was pursuing a more wise approach towards love.
An approach he called The Al approach, the approach he had laughed at for so many years.
The Al approach was simple, you let things happen instead of making them happen.
You be nice to everyone and go after the girls who have brains and don't always giggle, you treat girls with respect and make them feel special.
Unfortunately, this approach didn't suit him like it suited Al.
When Al used this approach, girls called him a Prince Charming or a Knight in shining armor, that was not the case for James.
You see, when Al tries to become James he makes a fool of himself and when James tries to become Al, let's just say it's far, far, far, far worse.
James didn't like being like Al, he liked being quirky, flirty, funny and crazy.
Thus, this whole situation he'd created for himself landed him in a very depressed, subdued mood.
Willow decided to do something about it.
Now, remember readers, Willow isn't shy, she isn't subtle and she is very straight forward.
So sometimes sentences are like arrows flying out of her mouth.
One day after school while the two friends sat beside the lake, Willow said "You suck at being Al"
James tried to ignore the pang of her arrow like sentence "I'm not trying to be Al"
Willow rolled her eyes "Well whoever you're trying to be stop being them"
He asked "Why?"
Willow snapped "Oh shut up, you hate this. Look it's okay to be yourself, just because you want to be a better person, doesn't mean you have to dress differently and change who you are"
He buried his head in his hands "Then what am I supposed to do?"
She sighed "That's quite simple, be yourself, do what you want, quit pranking, get good grades, focus on Quidditch but be yourself when you do it"
He smiled "Thanks Willow, you're right"
She nodded, then she put her hand in his hair and messed it up.
She leaned back and looked at her work "There, much better"
James grinned and then asked "What do you plan to do after Hogwarts, Willow?"
Willow felt like a boulder just dropped on her head.
She had never given her life much thought.
She had never planned her future, she always went with the flow.
And now here she was talking about the only thing she never thought about.
Did she want to become a healer? No, if she did everyone would die.
Wasn't she the one who made Madam Pomfrey believe that James had a fever?
Did she want to be an Auror? Um, if she did become one by fluke, then people would have to lock themselves inside their houses twenty-four seven.
Besides, it was too serious a job for her.
Could she become a teacher? No way, not even an option for so many reasons.
A Quidditch player? Yeah that would suit her, she was a good player after all.
But, was that what she wanted to do for the rest of her life, she didn't think so.
She could join the Magical Law Enforcement department? No, her Dad would fire her in a day.
At this point she felt jealous of James, they had always been together every step of the way but now he'd gone and decided his future and quit doing the only thing she considered herself good at.
She hadn't told James how much it hurt her when he proclaimed that he was done with pranking.
James watched as Willow drowned in her thoughts.
He put a hand on her shoulder "You alright?"
Willow shrugged his hand off "Leave me alone James"
James thought about the sudden turn of the conversation.
He asked "What did I do?"
She looked at him angrily "Why did you think about your future?"
James was shocked.
In all honesty, I think that question is the weirdest one anyone has ever asked James or any person for that matter.
James looked at her "W-what?"
He couldn't admit that he didn't understand her, coward.
Willow glared "Why did you have to go and grow up? Why did you become mature? When did you decide what you wanted to do with your life?"
Now we all know she's gone mental.
James looked at her, he didn't know what to do.
He tried to say something "Willow….I'm seventeen, I've always thought of my future and what I wanted to do with it"
Willow was even more hurt she asked "Am I the only one who hasn't thought of her future at all?"
There was no way in hell he could answer that question without guaranteeing a punch, and as far as he knew she threw mean punches.
So he tried something else "I don't think it's wrong not to think about it, it's just that one day you have no choice, either now or during graduation, it's for you to decide when. But I'll tell you this, I'll help you, if you want me to I will"
She looked up into his brown eyes "Thank you James"
Inside he was ecstatic, he hadn't been punched!
She asked "What am I good at James, what can I do after Hogwarts?"
He thought for a moment "You could….I don't know…nothing really suits you, can you imagine doing any job at the ministry or becoming a healer? You'd suck at it!"
Wrong answer, BEEP!
And, punch!
I honestly feel sorry for him, he was doing so well up till then.
Tears streamed down his face, he held his nose groaning.
I can't get my head around the fact that she always seems to hurt James.
James yelled "Ow!"
Willow glared at him "You are useless"
She walked away muttering under her breath.
James lay in the grass rubbing his nose.
What was he going to do?
He still didn't know why his heart jumped every time she looked at him.
He didn't know why he had been having a strong urge to touch her face a while ago.
And how could he ignore the shiver he felt when she smiled at him?
He groaned "Willow"
Why did she do this to him?
Only if the stupid boy knew that Willow was thinking the same things about him.
After the little incident beside the lake, Willow made it her life's mission to find out what profession to choose after she was out of Hogwarts.
When her parents had received her letter declaring this, her Mum had fainted and her Dad had stared at the letter for one hour.
James steered clear of giving her dangerous advice because he would be sacrificing his bones and his teeth.
Unfortunately for Willow he liked his bones where they were and his teeth intact.
Willow was getting irritated with James's elusive behavior.
After doing homework together for one hour on a weekend she decided to something about him.
She took him by his collar and dragged him to the sofa in the common room.
She threw him onto the sofa and sat down beside him "What's the matter with you?"
James was two heads taller than her, yet he was completely helpless when she became violent.
James rubbed his neck and adjusted his collar "Nothing's the matter with me"
She stuck a finger in his face like she planned to pop his brains out through his sockets with it.
This thought made him jump away from the offending finger.
She said firmly "You promised to help me decide my profession, let me tell you something genius, YOU'RE NOT HELPING!"
He was horrified by her anger, he opened his mouth and then closed it.
She snapped "Say something!"
He squeaked "Sorry, please don't hurt me!"
She calmed down "Do I frighten you so much?"
James tried to look a little more dignified than he had a minute ago.
He hadn't noticed Al taking a picture of his expression when she had been threatening him.
Al had also planned to use it for blackmail later.
James coughed and tried to talk in his manly voice "You keep punching me"
Willow looked like she was going to get angry, but then she looked sad "Oh. I'm sorry"
James was confused.
Willow said "I don't mean to keep hurting you, but for some reason I do, I'm sorry"
James put a hand on her shoulder "I'll help you, all you have to do is ask, you don't have to keep raising your fists at me"
Willow smiled "I'll try to be a little less violent from now on"
James put on that cheeky smile of his "I think part of the reason why you keep punching me is because you can't keep your hands off me"
She didn't blush or anything, she stood up and started walking back to her homework "In your dreams James"
He watched her go feeling like he had accomplished a massive feat.
Willow was seen studying almost every day into late hours of the night.
She still didn't know what she wanted to do with her life.
James had gone back to being fun but he didn't break any rules.
Scorpius was still keeping tabs on them, he found the two of them entertaining.
Who wouldn't?
One morning Willow didn't turn up in class until the last period.
James asked her "Where have you been?"
Willow answered "Thinking in my dormitory"
James was finding this girl even harder to understand than before.
It was like she kept coming up with new ways to confuse him.
How was he supposed to reply to her answer?
He scratched the back of his head and asked "What were you thinking about?"
She told him calmly "What I'm going to do after Hogwarts"
After she said that he was eager to know more "So did you find an answer?"
She smiled "Actually I did, whatever I do should be a combination of Potions, Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms, it should be fun, interesting, loud and awesome!"
She clapped her hands together.
James shook his head "Willow, where are you going to find a profession like that?"
Willow stopped smiling "I don't know"
James sighed "Willow, what do you like to do?"
She put a finger to her chin and said thoughtfully "Eating, pranking, sleeping, running, talking…."
"Stop! Stop! Stop! That's not what I meant, I mean do you like to write, read, outdoor activities, cooking, what are your hobbies?"
She put her hand out in front of her "Those are my hobbies"
James didn't know what to say. How could he ever help her this way?
She said after a moment "But I do like cooking and I love to read"
James jumped about a foot in the air "You read?"
Willow's eyes narrowed "Yes, why do you look so surprised?"
James was completely thrown off balance.
"You read books, books apart from our textbooks?
She looked very offended "Yes"
He slapped a hand to his fore-head "Oh Merlin! Why didn't you ever tell me?'
She now glared at him warningly "What was there to tell?"
James winced "Sorry I didn't know you read"
She opened her mouth and looked at him.
He looked around for an escape.
She looked ready to hit him, but something changed her mind.
She took a deep breath, "It's alright, I mean it's not like you would know everything about me"
James gaped, his jaw hit the floor.
He had been expecting a rant at least.
She sighed "Anyway getting back to the point, yes I read. So continue..."
James was still too shocked to react.
She rolled her eyes and walked off.
Inside she felt bad, did he think she was so dumb and so utterly incapable of reading?
But why did it make her angry? It's not like she had ever read in front of him.
Actually James knew nothing about her, their friendship went only so far as pranking, Quidditch and food.
They never talked about anything else.
So why had she felt so angry when he didn't know that she read?
She loved to read, she read any sort of book she could get her hands on, was it so surprising?
And then she knew what career to pick, just like that.
It was so sudden, it started out like a little feeling in her stomach and then it felt like a train had hit her.
It was such a perfect career, such a perfect option for her, it was undoubtedly a career that would take her very far.
She could become a writer!
She would write forever and ever.
She could be a reporter as well, she'd write books, articles and she'd do humorous articles and ones on Quidditch. She'd write a book on pranking!
Okay, she had started dreaming in the middle of the hallway.
She had stopped walking. had a dazed look in her eyes, a lofty smile on her face and a love-sick look on her face.
She screamed "I GOT IT!"
She ran all the way to her dormitory, knocking aside everything and everyone in her way.
From the depths of her trunk she got a big notebook out.
It was leather-bound and black in colour.
It was thick and fat.
She opened it and marveled the feel of the parchment under her fingers.
She looked lovingly at the writing.
Ever since she was ten she'd been writing all her stories, poems, feelings, thoughts, everything in this notebook.
She picked it up and ran a hand over the first page.
She flipped the pages seeing how her dirty handwriting had grown neater and neater over the years.
And then she saw it, her last entry had been at the end of her sixth year,
Another year goes by
I watch stunned
I watch the time fly
All the laughter
All the joy
Slipped through my fingers
Like water
And before I knew it
It was all over
Gone is the year
And I sit here
Dreaming about it
Longing for another day
Of the same happiness
A new beginning awaits me
A new year calls out
But all I want is this year
Call me selfish
Call me silly
But I want to sit here
In this year
Rather than the next
No year could compare
To this carefree one
The next one scares me
It mocks me
Because that will be the end
Of all my years
It marks all my fears
Choices will come
Decisions will be for me to make
But all I ever wanted
Was a life with no inhibition
And now I'm stranded
Can't go back
Don't want to go forward
And where is that power
That had been with me?
For so long
Where is the lover
Who I never
Looked for?
Will I find it all in next year
Will I find
What I couldn't find in this year?
If that is the case
Then I want to go
Just to find my future
Just to find what I am looking for.
She stared at the page, had she really written that?
If she had then she couldn't explain it.
She must have been very nervous of her seventh year to have written the poem.
But she smiled, hadn't she found what she couldn't find last year?
Except for the mysterious Lover she had mentioned, she had found her future hadn't she?
When had she ever been bothered by love anyway?
What the hell was love anyway?
She had seen her parents around each other and it was obvious that they were in love.
But she knew that if she ever acted like her mother around whoever she fell in love with, she'd kill herself.
She had seen her numerous friends with their respective boyfriends, was that really love?
Snogging in broom cupboards, wearing large amounts of make-up, flirting, blushing, tripping, swooning, cheating, crying, was that love?
The only kind of love she believed in was the kind she felt for chocolate, pranking, Quidditch and her writing.
She did not have the time or the energy to moon over some boy.
If ever there was some boy in her life, she'd see what to do about it when the time came.
A horrible image entered her brain, one where she was living all alone in a rocking chair, no kids no grand-kids, fending for herself.
Fear struck her.
She had to find someone for herself, if that was the last thing she did.
She had to fall in love, with someone, anyone.
She would not die all alone.
What a foolish girl, I tell you.
Willow Simmons had conquered her career problem but was now facing another, she had to get a boyfriend before she turned thirty.
How would she find one?
She had to find Cindy, a major crisis had come upon her.
Willow thought about different boys, and started thinking about what sort of bloke she'd like for herself.
A boy who was tall, fit, funny, nice yes, good hair, all the usual demands that is.
Then she thought of the details, smart, good-natured, quirky and had a better temper than her.
She pieced together an image of a bloke in her mind, the completed image gave her the fright of her life.
That image wasn't supposed to look, wait for it, like James Potter according to her.
She gulped, this was wrong, this went against all her principles.
How could that boy look like him? Why did he have to look like him?
If James was the boy then why hadn't she felt it before? Why hadn't she felt anything remotely like love in his presence?
Then she laughed, the only reason why James had popped into her mind was because she needed a bloke like James, that didn't have to mean that James was the one.
Oh, she's in a mess already, don't you think?
She didn't love James, he was just her very good friend who she held as a reference for the boy she loved who was not James.
If she did love James, then…..she couldn't imagine what it would be like.
If she did love James then she'd be like all the other brainless girls who followed him like lost puppies, she'd be just as desperate as all of them.
If she loved James, she wouldn't have a chance, she was not like all those girls he dated, she wasn't as skinny, not as pretty, not as graceful, not as girly as they were.
He only thought of her as a friend, as a sister, nothing more.
She was not in love with him, and even if she had been in love with him, he didn't return the feeling and that according to her was the end of the story.
But, you and I both know that she is wrong, there is more to this story, a lot more than she could have predicted.
Nobody knew that James was still standing in that same corridor as still as a statue, with his mouth open and eyes as round as saucers.
Many people gave him concerned looks and when Albus found him, he prodded him in the shoulder "James? James? James! JAMES!"
Nothing seemed to bring James back to the world.
Al was surprised, confused and afraid.
Rose who was with Al said "He's not going to come back to us that way"
Then she raised her hand and slapped him hard across the cheek.
James jumped "OW!"
He glared all around him until he saw Rose and Albus.
His glare became much sharper once his eyes landed on the pair of them "Which one of you did it?"
Rose said carelessly "I did"
James asked her "Why in Merlin's name did you do that?"
She said calmly "You were standing in the middle of the corridor, your mouth was wide open, your eyes were almost jumping out of their sockets and apart from that you had gone off to La-La Land"
Al nodded.
James was still rubbing his cheek "You would have done the same if you had seen Willow a while ago"
Al asked eagerly "What did she do?"
James answered as if it was the hardest thing to believe "She reads! Not just textbooks, but books, novels!"
Rose rolled her eyes "Honestly, you came to know that just now?"
James looked at her "You knew?"
She sighed "Anyone who knows Willow, knows that she loves to write and read"
James felt embarrassed "Oh"
Al offered "I didn't know she read, up until now"
James smiled "Thank you"
Al nodded.
Rose asked "So that's it? You were standing like an idiot in the middle of the corridor because of that?"
She sounded so bored that it made James want to strangle her.
He said "No that's not it, listen. I was so surprised that I asked her stupid questions and she got angrier and angrier. So I started apologizing hoping to avoid a punch or maybe make a quick escape, but suddenly she calmed down and sighed. She forgave me without any warnings or hitting and left. Can you believe it Willow not punching or screaming or slapping?"
Al gaped "What? Are you serious?"
James nodded enthusiastically.
Rose piped up, this time very excited "That is just incredible! I wonder what made her stop hitting you, it must have taken her a lot of self-control. I mean she's never held back a rant when she had it coming. She's always had a very touchy temper. What made her stop this time?"
Al ignored Rose "Who cares about all that? She stopped and that's the point! Way to take the excitement out of life Rose"
James nodded beside Al.
Rose rolled her eyes "I live with idiots, anyway, enjoy yourselves. I'm going to try and find out what made her do it"
James smiled sweetly "Alright, I hope you have fun, and don't bother to invite us to your little research party"
Al smiled and nodded.
Rose walked off with one last glare in their direction.
What was going to come of all of them?
I can only pray that all goes well.
AN: Late update! A Very late update!
My apologies!
But, please review.
This story has been very hard to write, because, I have to make it funny and I've never written about James exclusively.
You have no idea how many changes this chapter has undergone.
Anyway, the inspiration for this chapter came from Florence and the Machine, the song Heartlines particularly.
Please review!
I think I'll perish otherwise, I'm telling you I will.
Mostly because, this story is giving me problems, I'm sure it doesn't seem that way when you read it, but it is, I'll tell you.
Thank you all for reading!
Hope to update soon, but don't bet on it.
See you soon(Hopefully)
SPHP20896:)
P.S. "Just keep following the heartlines on your hand!" :)