Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I only own the plot for this story and some of the characters.

Just a heads up, this story is rated T for some foul language.

Chapter 4

James' POV

I walk into the Gryffindor tower and plop down on the red couch. I close my eyes and let myself relax. It was only the first day and I am already skipping class. That's got to be some kind of record…

I think back to the events that just unfolded in the corridor only moments ago. Ariana had been moments from jumping on that prefect and ripping him to shreds. Normally she just ignores things like that, so I don't know why she let him bother her so bad. I wonder what would have happened had I not been there…

My eyes flip open quickly and a smile spreads slowly across my face. I finally know who Freddie, Lorcan, Lysander, Al and I are going to prank! I jump up from the couch and scramble up the stairs to my room. I grab a piece of parchment and a quill and quickly jot Freddie a note.

Freddie,

Meet me in the RoR tonight at 11:30. I have a new potential pranking target… I want to see what you think before I suggest it to the others. I'm sure you will think I'm bloody brilliant though, I know it!

Signed,

Your best and favorite cousin

I fold up the parchment and place it under Freddie's pillow. This is where we put things we don't want anyone else to find. I put my quill away and sit on my bed.

We don't prank anyone unless the others agree. We are either all in or all out; there is no halfway. It saves us from having one person say they didn't agree with the prank if we get caught, not that I think anyone in the group would do that. I lie down and close my eyes.

Suddenly I hear footsteps and voices. I pull the invisibility cloak and throw it over myself. I strain my neck and listen intently. I have OBVIOUSLY been hanging out with that troublesome girlfriend of mine… I let out a chuckle and then quiet myself quickly so I can listen.

"…Yea, mate! Professor McGonagall caught her out of class and took her straight to her office!" the first voice says.

The second voice laughs. "Isn't she a prefect? I thought prefects were supposed to be great examples and stay out of trouble and such."

The first voice chuckles then says "I know! She's only been here a year but she's already well-known for the trouble she gets in!"

The second voice responds. "I'm not complaining though. She's hot and it keeps things interesting in Gryffindor."

There is a shuffling noise as the boys enter my room. I quietly readjust so that I can see who it is. One of the boys is Michael Wellington and the second is Darwin Needermeyer, Freddie's and my other two roommates.

Michael throws his books down on his bed and sighs. "I definitely agree with you about the fact that she is hot, but we can't let James know that. He would NOT be happy. Did you hear she broke up a fight and then almost started one? All within almost ten minutes."

Darwin snorts and flops down on his bed. "Yea! I heard James stopped her just before she attacked Landen Raghnall. I would pay good money to watch that fight."

Their schoolgirl gossiping continues for another ten minutes before I realize that I'm probably going to miss my second class too. I let out a sigh and move my sleeping foot slightly. The movement does not go unnoticed by my roommates.

"Hey Mike, did you see that?" Darwin says pointing to my bed.

Michael shakes his head. "No, mate. What did you see?"

Darwin gets up and slowly walks toward my bed. "I saw something move right…" He stands by the end of my bed and points to the spot where my foot rests. "…here."

He reaches an outstretched hand toward my foot. I am moments away from being caught. I hold my breath and try to find an escape. I can't see one anywhere and my wand is on my bedside table. Darwin's hand gets closer and closer. My stomach drops as he leans down with his hand and narrows his eyes. "I think I see something!"

Ari's POV

"Well Miss Brighton? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class?" Professor McGonagall says while tapping her foot.

I look up at her sheepishly and say "Sorry… I was trying to find my… contact! Here it is!" I reach down and place my finger against the ground. One time, my friend from Salem Academy had dropped her contact on the ground. I had watched her place it in her mouth to clean it, then put it back in her eye. I figured I could do that here. I place the pretend contact in my mouth and then pull it out of my mouth. I pretend to place it in my eye and blink a few times. I smile up at McGonagall and smile. "All better. I'll just be going to class now."

She holds up her hand. "Not so fast Miss Brighton. Follow me to my office."

I nod solemnly and she turns away, taking large, silent strides as she walks away. I follow behind her and mentally reprimand myself for being caught.

Ariana Elizabeth Brighton! How the HELL could I get caught? I NEVER get caught! Now McGonagall is going to give me detention for sure! She might even take away my prefect badge! All because I got caught eavesdropping!

She stops abruptly in front of me. I look up and realize we are at her office. She says her password, but I am too preoccupied with thinking about how she is going to punish me to hear what it is. We ascend the stairs and she gestures to a seat in front of her desk. "Please take a seat."

I had been in that very seat just last year. Well, sort of. Technically James was in the seat, but I was sitting on his lap, so that counts. I sit in the chair and fold my hands in my lap. "Professor, am I in trouble?"

She chuckles. "Not in the slightest Miss Brighton. I just wanted to talk to you about the fight that you broke up."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Oh. Well it was between Rodney Green and someone named Malfoy."

"Do you know what the fight was about?"

I nod. "Rodney said that Malfoy had insulted his mother; called her something like dirty blood, so Rodney went to jinx Malfoy. But Malfoy punched Rodney in the nose before he could say anything."

She nods and interlaces her fingers on top of her desk. "Were you the only prefect who was there?"

I nod again. I wasn't lying to protect Raghnall; I just want to see what exactly they are searching for. I can't do that if he isn't a prefect anymore.

She sighs. "Alright Miss Brighton, you may go. But please refrain from trying to start any more fights…" A small smile plays on her lips.

I smirk. "Yes professor." Then I turn and walk out of her office. I walk back down the corridor I came from and hear the two slytherine prefects talking again.

"Wena, I guess we are just going to have to target someone very close to her; such as her bloody prat of a boyfriend. If we get him, then we get to her."

I can feel the blood drain from my face. I can't hear anything anymore. I turn away from them with wide eyes and run. I don't know where I'm running, I just want to run. I want to run away from the fact that there is always going to be someone for them to take from me. To get as far away from the fact that nobody who stays around me is safe, and that's never going to change. I find myself at the quidditch pitch and sigh. I pull out my wand and say "Accio Firebolt 2.1"

Ron and Hermione had gotten me a broom for my birthday. Apparently James had let it slip to them that I enjoyed quidditch and flying, so they bought me the latest model. I was definitely warming up to Ron. I hadn't been too fond of him last year, but he seemed better at my party.

My broomstick comes whizzing toward me then stops sharply in front of me and I can feel myself smile. I climb on the handle and push upward. I rise into the air and pull myself through a few circles, rising higher into the air with each loop.

The higher I fly, the more clear my head gets. Flying is one of the few things that can clear my mind. It has this calming effect on me, making it easier to understand everything and make an informed decision rather than a rash one.

I am now almost even with the tops of the viewing towers. I lean my body forward and guide my broom around a wide loop, the wind lightly blowing through my hair as I do. I press my body tighter against the broom to which the broom responds with greater acceleration. I tighten my grip on the handle as the broom speeds up. I tilt the handle down and the broom heads into a nose dive. I get a few feet from the ground and pull upward on the handle. The broom jerks into a horizontal position and hovers for a moment, but only for a moment. Once again I harshly tug the handle upward. The broom responds without hesitation and flies straight up into the sky. My hair blows wildly behind me and my eyes water as I fly up into the sky. I pull the handle toward me again and flip the broom so that I am upside down. I see a small figure walking onto the pitch waving to me. Shit… I've been caught once again…

I flip myself around and point myself into a nose dive again. I plummet toward the ground and the figure as fast as I can; only pulling up on the handle when I see it's the last possible moment. I swing my leg off the broom and jump down. I prop the broom up against the wall and sit next to it. I am now facing the figure from before. He has his hands in his pockets and he is looking at me sheepishly. "James, what's going on?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "Oh nothing. I just wanted to see what happened with McGonagall."

I look at him with a raised eyebrow and tilt my head to the side. He lets out a chuckle. "I hear things…"

"Oh okay. Well as long as you aren't vague! To answer your question though, nothing happened. She called me in to her office to ask about the fight." I say with a shrug.

He looks at me, confused. "If nothing happened then why are you out here?"

I sigh heavily. "Just trying to figure out what to do about some things I overheard, that's all."

"You want to talk about it?" he says while crossing the pitch and sitting next to me.

I shake my head. "Not until I've figured out what to do." Truth is, I already knew what I had to do. I just don't know how to do it. I don't want to do it, but I don't see another choice that doesn't put more people in danger. The very thought of it makes me want to crawl into a hole and die. It will take away any and all of the happiness I have finally found, but I have to keep him safe. I have to break up with James…

James' POV

Darwin's hand is now dangerously close to me, just inches away from revealing my secret cloak. I lightly cringe away from him.

Suddenly a broom flies through our room and out the open window next to me. Darwin forgets what he was doing. He and Michael run out into the common room to see where the broom came from. I take this opportunity to pocket my cloak and look out the window. I see the familiar Firebolt 2.1 broom zooming toward the quidditch pitch. That broom is Ariana's, I know it. I walk out of the room casually and stroll into the common room. I sneak past my two occupied roommates and into the corridor. I am about to run outside when I run into Mental Monroe. (That is the nickname Ari and I gave her during the summer.)

"James? Fancy seeing you here… You ditch that nasty slut yet?" She says with a mischievous grin.

I smirk and say "Yea, right around third year. Now please move so I can go find my girlfriend."

Her mouth drops, but she doesn't move. So I push past her and continue outside. I run closer to the pitch and see someone flying around up high inside the quidditch arena. I walk in and wave to her. She is up really high but when she sees me waving she points her broom down and races toward me. She stops just a few feet from the ground then jumps off her broom. She walks over to the wall of the pitch and leans her broom up against it. She sits down next to it and says "James, what's going on?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Oh nothing. I just wanted to see what happened with McGonagall."

She looks at me with a raised eyebrow and tilts her head to the side. I let out a chuckle and say. "I hear things…"

"Oh okay. Well as long as you aren't vague! To answer your question though, nothing happened. She called me in to her office to ask about the fight." She says with a shoulder shrug.

I look at her, feeling confused. "If nothing happened then why are you out here?"

She lets out a weighted sigh. "Just trying to figure out what to do about some things I overheard, that's all."

I walk over and sit next to her. "You want to talk about it?"

She shakes her head. I stare at her for a bit, but she is zoned out. I look at my watch and realize that my third class is about to start so I turn to Ari. "Hey, I'm going to head to class now. I will see you tonight at quidditch?"

She nods but doesn't do anything else, so I kiss her on the forehead and leave the pitch.

Okay first off, I'm so super sorry it took me so long to update! Summer semester just started and the professors decided that it would be a great idea to pile on the homework. I guess thats what happens at university, huh? Haha I will definitely do my absolute best to update as often as possible. :) Love yall!

I hope yall liked the chapter! Let me know with a review!

Thanks! :)

-Tx