Chapter 4: Come Again
Elizabeth woke up on November 15th to the cacophony of four boys singing in the hallway. Annoyed, she opened the door.
"Oye, what's going on?"
The boys turned to face her.
"Darn, how can you wake up and not James?" Andrew asked.
"Because James has a lead head," she answered, "Ever thought of opening the door."
"Of course not." Frank answered shamelessly.
Elizabeth groaned and crossed the hallway and opened the door. The boys walked through; Chris stopped in the door frame and said "Stay, he would appreciate it."
As Elizabeth approached the footboard of the bed, she found that all the boys were silently sniggering at the sleeping figure. Elizabeth looked at them; Eric motioned not speak. James tossed and mumbled, "Lizzy, don't leave. I love you." Elizabeth's eyes widened and she blushed when she realized her company. Andrew began laughing, which caused James to wake up with a start.
"What's so funny?" James asked sitting up reaching for his glasses. This made all the boys laugh. Andrew came up behind Elizabeth and said "Lizzy don't' leave. I love you," and began laughing again. James and Elizabeth both blushed and avoided each other's gaze. Suddenly, Elizabeth felt herself rising; she looked around and saw that Andrew and Chris had picked her up and were grinning like Cheshire cats. Elizabeth began screaming in protest, but it was too late. They threw her onto the bed. She landed on top of James. Her head hit his hard chest. She looked up to see an embarrassed James giving her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear.
She didn't reply. She simply rolled off of James. She could still feel her heart going a mile a minute and didn't trust herself to speak. The boys picked up James and carried him downstairs. Elizabeth went back to her room to get ready for a very long day.
In the Great Hall, Elizabeth and Alice were silently eating breakfast when Katrina plopped into the seat in front of Elizabeth and asked, "So what is this I hear about you waking up in James's arms?" On that note, Alice spit out the pumpkin juice in her mouth onto the second year girl in front of her. Mumbling a quick apology and "Scourgify." She immediately rounded on Elizabeth, who recalling the morning's events was blushing.
"You slept with James?"
"Are you bloody insane? I woke up due to the cacophony of your brother. Wood and Chris unceremoniously threw me into bed with James."
Katrina smirked. Elizabeth's wyes narrowed, "Get your mind out of the gutter, Katrina. Honestly Charlotte's right, you've been spending too much time with Wood."
"I don't spend that much time with Andrew."
"The time you spend snogging him counts as time spent with him, Katrina." Elizabeth said exasperately.
Charlotte plopped into the seat next to Elizabeth. "What is this I hear about you sleeping with James?" Jackie who just arrived promptly questioned her, "You slept with James?"
"I DID NOT SLEEP WITH JAMES POTTER! WOOD YOUR DAYS ARE BLOODY NUMBERED TO ZERO!"
The entire hall went silent. Everyone was staring at her. Except Wood, who was laughing like an idiot. On cue, James stood up and confirmed Elizabeth's statement. Throughout the day, Wood found himself attacked by birds, bats, owls, and at one point a snake.
The one class that all of ten of them had was Muggle studies, which had become a required class soon after the war. Professor Carter was an enthusiastic teacher and on this particular day she was more on edge than usual.
"So class, today I would like to inform you that Headmistress McGonagall, the governors, and the Minister have agreed to introduce this project." With a flick of her wand a chart came down titled Muggle Me. "So you will be assigned a partner, and both of you will be living in the same house for two weeks in Muggle London during your winter holidays. At the end of two weeks, a ministry official will come and inspect your living quarters and your hospitality. He or she will be with you the entire day, so be sure to have something planned. To the Muggles, you will be a married couple. You will have to come up with a history with your partner. Your ages are 21. You will be receiving electricity, water, and rent bills we have set up an account that will be given to you in order for you to pay your bills. There are protective spells on the house, so don't try any funny business. Now onto selecting partners. Could the ladies come to my right and the gentlemen to my left. When I call your names please step forward."
There was a shuffling of feet and names began. After a few names.
"Frank Longbottom and Jacqueline Cromwell." Alice unsuccessfully stifled a giggle.
"What's so funny," asked Elizabeth as Frank and Jackie exchanged rings.
"He fancies her," Alice whispered.
Elizabeth looked back at the "couple" and sure enough Frank was blushing. They picked a house in Ealing, and stepped to the side. The next pairs went by rather quickly.
"Eric Masters and Alice Longbottom."
It was Alice's turn to blush. Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, but Alice quickly stepped into the middle to avoid Elizabeth's questioning glance.
After another several pairs, "Christopher Richards and Charlotte Grey."
Elizabeth looked over at Charlotte who looked relieved to get her boyfriend as her partner.
The pairs had surpassed the amount of "single" students, but there were still a handful to go.
"Andrew Wood and Katrina Andrews."
They both stepped forward and exchanged rings and then Andrew unexpectedly pulled Katrina in and planted one on her, not that Katrina minded. Elizabeth looked over at Professor Carter, who looked completely dumbfounded. Elizabeth giggled and met James's eyes; he was laughing along at the scene that Andrew created.
"Elizabeth Sexton and James Potter."
Well this should be easy, thought Elizabeth, I already live with him
Later that night Katrina, Alice, Jackie, and Charlotte awaited Elizabeth in her bedroom for a "meeting." Elizabeth walked in surprised at her assembly.
"And to what pleasure do I owe this meeting to?"
"Are you okay with it?" Alice asked.
"Okay with what?" Elizabeth asked back.
"With James being your partner?" Jackie asked.
"Ya, of course, what's wrong with it?"
Katrina blinked at her. Then tentatively put her hand to Elizabeth's forehead. Elizabeth just looked quizzically at her. "Come again"
Elizabeth skeptically repeated, "What's wrong with it?"
"I think you're ill." Katrina declared.
"Come again. What do you mean ill? I'm in perfect health; I'll let you know."
"If this was three months ago, you would be kicking and screaming; cursing James to hell and back." Katrina stated laughingly.
Elizabeth was silent. Her mind was doing back flips.
"Don't go back to hating him, now that you've realized that you like him as a person." Alice said reading her mind.
"Unless you've fallen for him, then definitely don't go back to hating him." Katrina joked. Elizabeth looked up and caught Katrina's gaze. "You have fallen for him." Katrina said as her eyes widened.
"No, I haven't," Elizabeth said convincingly. Although she doubted that anyone believed her.
Katrina was going to protest when Charlotte said, "Don't think on it too much. We'll leave you to your thoughts." With that they all bid her a good night and left.
Elizabeth sat down fingering her ring. Her mind was churning. She replayed every interaction with James from the last couple of months in her mind ending with this morning's events. She sighed and decided to go to bed; unable to convince herself that her heart had not been racing a mile a minute when thrown onto James's bed this morning.