James had woken up at six in the morning and had arrived in the Great Hall at around seven. He was wide awake and awaiting the post. It was too early for anyone to be settling into breakfast yet, so he was the only one sitting at his table. He'd already had a mouthful of bacon and eggs but they had tasted bitter and bad in his mouth.

He checked his wristwatch and groaned. It wasn't even seven thirty yet.

"You're up early," Rose said as she joined him at the table, grabbing a few slices of toast and buttering them. "I don't think I've ever seen you in here before eight thirty."

"Fred's snoring woke me," James lied, pushing another piece of bacon into his mouth, despite not wanting it at all. He found it hard to chew and gritty. He would have tried to play sick but it was clear he wasn't sick at all. He was incredibly nervous.

"Post doesn't come until at least eight, you know," Rose said in passing, as though it was of no consequence. James pursed his lips and shrugged. She bit into her toast and gave him a sideways glance, but he ignored it, instead choosing to pile his eggs and pour honey in the middle. Usually he did this with mashed potatoes, since breakfast was a time of day that was sacred to James, but there wasn't any way he was going to eat anymore of the food on his plate.

Rose looked at the honey flowing out of the top of the scrambled eggs.

"James, that's disgusting," she said as she bit into her own mouthful of eggs. Just to prove her wrong, James scooped up a fork full of the eggs smothered in honey and stuffed it in his mouth.

"I think I'm going to throw up," he said around the eggs, swallowing thickly.

"I told you," Rose muttered.

"It's not that," James answered. It was so quiet in the Great Hall anyone could have heard their conversation. But it was still too early for anyone of any importance to be awake, so they were very much alone in the wide open space. "The eggs are actually pretty good with honey. Sweet and salty. I can't take this waiting."

"It's not that bad," Rose said, setting her fork down and looking at her older cousin. When he gave her an incredulous look, she sighed. "Really. Delilah once gave a love potion to Martin back in fourth year. He followed her around like a lost puppy for a week. He was completely obsessive and completely crazy."

James failed to see her point.

"You're not crazy?" she offered before looking down at her plate and pointedly ignoring him.

It wasn't long before the Great Hall began filling up. James had cleared his plate off, the eggs and bacon long since gone cold. He leaned on his elbows and put his chin in his hand, tapping his foot against the stone floor. Fred had just taken a seat beside James when the owls began swooping in.

"Finally," he moaned, as students began to reach up to grab their respective parcels and letters. One fell promptly into Rose's lap and she looked at James and smiled.

"See? Not so bad!" she said triumphantly. She pulled open the packaging, sliding open the box and pulled out a small bottle along with a letter. She flipped open the letter and skimmed it, not bothering to share the rest. After all, no one else need know what it said. She handed the bottle to James. "Do you want to do this here or somewhere else?"

"I think..." James glanced around and his eyes landed on Scorpius who sat at the Slytherin table, pulling open his own packages from his parents. "Somewhere else."

Rose nodded and stood up, dragging James along with her. Just as they left the Great Hall, James caught Scorpius eye. The blond boy had a strange look on his face but James couldn't figure out what it meant.

They returned to the Gryffindor common room which was about as empty as the Great Hall had been in the early hours of the morning. There were still a few stragglers, some practically walking out of their dormitories asleep. James sat down on one of the large sofas and stared at the bottle.

Beneath Rose's watchful gaze he uncorked the bottle and brought it beneath his nose.

"It smells like ass."

"Just drink it, James," the younger girl moaned, collapsing onto the sofa beside him.

So he did. He put the tiny bottle to his lips and downed the viscous fluid in one gulp. It tasted just as disgusting as it had smelled. He wiped his lips for any stray droplets and stared at the bottle again. He closed his eyes. What would it feel like? Would it feel like anything at all?

"Is something supposed to happen?" James asked quietly, as though breaking the silence might break the effects of the potion.

"I don't know," Rose said, taking the bottle from him. "Um, think of Scorpius or something. How his hair looks in the sunlight or some hogwash."

So James did. And he felt pretty much the same as before. His stomach twisted, his heart fluttered - he felt like he was going to vomit again. He moaned and planted his face in his hands.

"It didn't work, Rose," he said, slumping into the couch.

"Oh, James," Rose sighed, resting her hand on his shoulder. "I thought for sure it would work. But I told you not to get your hopes up, didn't I?"

James nodded. He felt confused and lost and moreover, still attracted to Scorpius Malfoy. He wondered what Scorpius would say when he found out the antidote didn't work. He was going to have to put up with these ridiculous feelings for another two weeks. And he still had to be tutored.

"Perhaps we should owl Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry? I'm sure they would pull you out of lessons for a while until this whole thing blew over," Rose offered. She was pulling desperately at straws for something to cheer James up, but he scoffed at the idea. His mum and dad would never pull him out of school for something so trivial. They would tell him to buck up and suffer through it because he'd caused the whole thing. And then word would get around to the entire family and it would be awful.

His dad would probably laugh at him, too. That was the last thing he needed.

"Maybe you should go to Hogsmeade for the day," Rose suggested, seeing the look on his face. "It's only Sunday and it's a lot nicer out today than it was yesterday. I promise I'll look up more on this and see if there's anything more I can do."

James smiled at Rose.

"You're a sweet girl, Rosie," he said, putting his hand on her head. "You're by far my favorite cousin."

With that, he kissed her on the top of her head and stood up, retreating to his dormitory to grab a coat. Maybe a trip to Hogsmeade was what he needed after all.

He didn't get a chance to see the stunned and smiling face of his younger cousin.

James sat in the Three Broomsticks drinking a butterbeer and reading the paper. Hogsmeade wasn't as busy as it usually was, which was unusual for the weather but not for the season. Everyone was probably at Hogwarts studying furiously for the coming exams that marked the end of the year. James hadn't been studying at all, and as he sat at the booth table he thought it might be a good idea to do when he got back.

He was still confident he would pass all his exams, but it couldn't hurt to review. Besides, if by chance he did fail one of his NEWTS, his mum was sure to murder him. He was the eldest, after all. They expected a lot from him. They'd all been a bit disappointed when he hadn't become Head Boy, but it hadn't been a surprise. Still, James suddenly wanted to prove that he could do something right.

"Thought you could get away, eh?"

James looked up and was startled to see Scorpius sliding into the booth across from him, book-bag slung over his shoulder. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, swallowing a bit nervously and trying to ignore how clammy his hands were suddenly getting. Scorpius probably expected that with the antidote, the effects of the love potion were gone. He would probably be amused to find out of that it hadn't nullified the ridiculous amounts of fluttering that was going on in James body, so James thought it best not to say anything.

He wondered how long he could keep up the charade that he wasn't under the influence. It was very difficult with Scorpius in such close proximity.

"Tutoring? Or did you forget?" Scorpius said with a shrug, catching the attention of a passing barmaid. He ordered a butterbeer before beginning to pull out his books. James was going to mention that he hadn't brought his, when he realized Scorpius had brought copies of both their texts. Fantastic.

"I guess I did," James answered with as nonchalant a shrug as he could manage. "How did you know I was here?"

"Um, Weasley told me," Scorpius said, receiving his butterbeer and giving the barmaid a rare smile. James tried hard to keep from smiling a little at it. He'd noticed Scorpius didn't smile often, but when he did it made him look a hundred times lovelier. It almost was enough to make James jump the table. But he gripped the edge of his seat hard and didn't say anything.

Scorpius eyed him as he flipped open his books.

"It didn't work, did it?" Scorpius asked, looking down at his books and not seeming to care very much.

"Rose told you?" James asked, a bit horrified. That blabbermouth! He had planned on getting her a gift for all her hardwork and trouble, but now he was debating whether or not he should get her something at all.

"Not at all," Scorpius said, smirking a little. "Don't worry, she didn't betray you. She's a cute thing, isn't she? I think when this is all over I might ask her out for tea sometime at Madame Puddifoots."

James gave him an even more horrified look and Scorpius laughed.

"I'm kidding," he said as he chuckled into his butterbeer. "I prefer brunettes."

James tried subtly to look up at his own hair - which was practically impossible since it was short and messy but rarely strayed into his vision. It was brunette-y color, wasn't it?

"It's pretty obvious, Potter," Scorpius said, leaning on the table. "You turn pink every time I talk."

James groaned and put his face in his hands.

"Can we not study today?" James asked into his hands, muffling his voice. He was completely forlorn and looked such. He didn't expect Scorpius to agree - why should he? He wanted to torture James for making a fool of him in potions and this was doing it. He didn't really blame Scorpius either. He probably would have done the same.

"Sure," Scorpius said, shutting his books and leaning back in his seat. James looked up in surprise. "What did you want to do then?"

"What do you mean?"

"We don't have to study but I'm not going anywhere," Scorpius said, looking serious as he packed away his books. "So, what did you want to do?"

James sort of stared blankly at Scorpius before grinning. He couldn't help but be happy about it. He couldn't stop himself even if he tried. He felt like a puppy who'd been offered a bone or a child given a piece of candy. He jumped out of his seat and grabbed a hold of Scorpius by the wrist, pulling the other boy out of the booth.

"You can help me find a gift for Rose," said James, looking very much the excited school boy.

"Fine," Scorpius said with a small laugh. As they walked out of the Three Broomsticks, he shoved his book-bag at James. "But you're carrying the books."

And James obliged.