For Jealousy's Sake
She was really good at being sneaky. It had something to do with the fact that she was so pretty, so that no one suspected her of anything bad. She roamed the halls well past midnight almost every night, just because she knew she could. Filch never caught her – not even his little patchy cat did.
She usually wandered without aim, but she was heading to the Gryffindor common room at the moment.
She could not even believe what was happening. When she had attended the Gryffindor Quidditch practice weeks before, she hadn't hoped for such results! She thought that maybe she would be able to distract one of the players a little, make them fall off of their broomsticks. That always made her feel pretty. And of course, she'd gone to watch James Potter on his broom. But she hadn't hoped to get his attention. Such luck, she thought, was beyond her grasp. Yet here she was, lucky as could be.
Hours earlier, she had sat in the Halloween feast and flirted with Scorpius Malfoy until she didn't think she could stand it any longer. You see, flirting was very tiring business when the one you're flirting with doesn't respond. Still, she always flirted… she didn't know why anymore.
But she was getting off topic again. She ran over the events in her mind yet again.
She'd left the Great Hall once again, like every night, feeling rejected and worthless. She chewed on her lip as she headed toward the dungeons where she could slip into her bed and forget the stupid Slytherin that had her heart and didn't even notice.
But she was interrupted, and not all that rudely either.
"Antoinette," said a voice from behind her. A rather deep voice, she noted. And one that she wasn't familiar with. She spun around slowly and saw James Potter.
And not a terrible sight to see, she reminded herself giddily.
"I umm… I was wondering what your plans are for tonight," he said slowly, but surprisingly confidently.
She chewed her lip more. She knew how she would take this.
"What do you mean?" she asked innocently. "I was just going to turn in for the night. It's already almost nine o'clock…" She smiled in the prettiest, most blameless smile she could.
He grinned at her and she almost swooned. He had a very nice smile, very masculine.
"How would you like to meet me?" he asked, lowering his voice as a couple of sixth years walked by.
She smiled innocently again, but in her mind she was beaming. "I don't know, James," she said skeptically. "It's already rather late."
He stepped closer, making her take a step back until her back touched the wall lightly.
"Please," he said earnestly.
She bit her lip. She was only teasing, of course she would meet him. A third year never passed up a chance to tryst with a fifth year, especially not one as good looking as James Potter. And especially not when it might give her the chance to make Scorpius Malfoy jealous, and make him realize his own feelings for her.
Not that we will be trysting, she reminded herself sternly as she whispered the password to the Fat Lady, who swung open with a skeptical look on her face.
"James," she said quietly. He was sitting with his back to her, watching the fire flicker in the fireplace.
He turned and saw her, and a wide smile spread across his handsome face. "I'm glad you came," he whispered.
She smiled. She didn't know exactly what to say. She sat next to him on the sofa and looked up into his swimming green eyes. He really was striking.
"Antoinette – have you ever kissed someone before?" he asked, keeping eye contact with her.
She shook her head slowly, smirking a little.
He wants to kiss me! He wants to kiss me! her head screamed. She was very pleased by that. Not only would she get to kiss a very handsome boy, but she would probably be able to make Scorpius jealous at the same time! It couldn't get any better.
"I haven't either," he whispered. "Not yet."
She expected him to move in just then, so when he didn't she was very surprised. "Would you… would you like to kiss me?" she said, trying to sound as sexy as she could.
James grinned. "Of course I would," he said. "But not yet…"
She frowned. "Well why not?" she asked, forgetting to keep her voice down.
He clasped his hand over her mouth, and then to her utter shock she heard a voice from upstairs.
"James? You down there?"
James jumped on top of her and covered them with some sort of liquid-like fabric. She gasped when she saw Albus Potter appear at the top of the stairs.
Oh Merlin, she though, I'm going to get expelled.
But then, Albus stopped. He stared in their direction, but didn't seem to see them.
She was breathing so deeply and her heart was beating furiously. She watched with a mixed sense of confusion and dread as Albus looked around the common room.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he spun on his heel and left.
She breathed a sigh of relief and noticed for the first time James' weight on top of her. Not only did she notice that she felt the weight, but she noticed that she rather liked it.
Their eyes caught and she felt her heart beat race even faster, if that was possible. He was holding himself above her, and she could see the muscles in his arms out of the corners of her eyes. She felt his hot breath on her, and strangely enough, she enjoyed it.
Time seemed to freeze. She stared up at him, both of them unblinking. In that moment she saw something that she had never seen in anyone before. In his eyes was a crazy mixture of desire and need and determination, and she was taken aback just as much as she was intrigued.
She'd stopped breathing altogether, and when she realized it she opened her mouth and let out a small sigh.
Before she even knew what was happening, James' mouth was on hers and his hands were in her hair. She was so startled by his intensity that she couldn't even kiss him back for a moment. His lips moved on hers so powerfully and yet so softly at the same time.
Suddenly it occurred to her that he'd been wanting to do this for a long time.
Something shot through her, some burst of lightening, and she began to move her lips at last. She pressed herself hard against him, from her lips to her thighs. She felt the heat exuding from him, and it was both a comfort and a stimulus. Her head began to swim as she deepened the kiss, allowing his tongue to slip into her mouth urgently. She returned the gesture, emanating a pleased sigh from somewhere deep in his throat.
There under James Potter in the Gryffindor common room, she kissed a boy for the first time in her life.
And Merlin, did she kiss him.
Lily Potter was a Ravenclaw. The year before, when she'd first been sorted into the house of brains, she was horribly disappointed. But now, a whole year later, she was rather proud of the position she had. She was the only Weasley descendant to ever be in a house other than Gryffindor for as far as anyone could remember. It set her apart, and when your family makes up about a fourth of the Wizarding population of Britain, that was something to be excited over.
On the other hand, it did have its downsides. She hardly ever got to spend time with either of her brothers, or her cousins for that matter. It worried her when she heard things all over the school and she didn't even know for sure if they were true or not.
Of course, this time she was fairly certain it was not true, but who could tell? James could very well have seduced the prettiest girl in school and snogged with her in the Gryffindor common room.
She laughed at the thought. No, it was not possible.
Scorpius was rather thrilled to be able to eat, for once, without the constant chattering of the Larson girls making his head throb. It didn't even bother him all that much to put up with the sorry glances from his fellow Slytherins, or from the whole school in fact. He even was able to deal with her sulking apologetic stares in his direction, if it meant he could live in peace for once.
The thing that did bother him, though, was the fact that it was James Potter. Really, he wouldn't have minded if it was anyone else. But James Potter?
Scorpius asked himself over and over if he was better than James or not. Better looking? Definitely. Better at Quidditch? Most likely. Smarter? Well they weren't in the same year, so of course James knew more, but Scorpius was sure that he was more intelligent over all.
So then why?
"Why?" he muttered.
"Will you just leave her alone, Scorpius?" Cosette shrieked. Antoinette looked like she might cry.
Scorpius frowned. "Sorry," he muttered again, although he wasn't sure exactly what he did to offend her.
Antoinette looked him in the eyes for the first time all day. "Scorpius, if you're jealous, then maybe you should have taken action sooner." There was a note of bitterness in her voice that he was actually a bit fearful of.
"Jealous?" he asked, bewildered.
"Yes, Scorpius, jealous!" Cosette said shrilly.
"Antoinette, I'm not jealous," he said calmly. He realized immediately that it was the wrong thing to say.
Her bottom lip started to shake and he saw tears well up in her eyes.
"How could you not be jealous?!" she screamed. "I'm the prettiest girl in the school! And I loved you since the day I saw you! You had me wrapped around your finger! Does that mean nothing to you?!"
Scorpius was stunned. So stunned that he couldn't speak. He just got up and left the table, wondering how in the world he could have upset everyone this much without having done anything.
He let his feet carry him down the halls and to the last place he thought he would seek out for comfort. As he stepped into the Library, the dusty smell of old paper filled his nostrils and somehow seemed to relax him. He lowered himself onto a hard chair and sunk his head into his hands.
Rose glared at the Slytherin table throughout the whole evening meal, but for once it was for a different reason.
She had known something terrible would happen since the day when that little conniving princess had shown up on her Quidditch pitch.
She was practically a Veela, stealing all of those boys' affection and never returning it. But now that she had decided to return it, it had to be with her cousin. Her favorite cousin! Not that she would have admitted so.
Ugh, the Larson girls. Always hurting James over and over again.
Rose loathed them. And now, watching Antoinette yell at Scorpius Malfoy as she admitted her feelings for him, she hated Antoinette Larson even more than the rest of them.
Her chest clenched as she saw Scorpius rise from the Slytherin table and walk out of the Great Hall. She was practically seething with hate for Antoinette.
And with one glance at her love-struck cousin, she knew that she was the only one.
"James," she said through her teeth. "I can't believe all of the trouble you've caused."
He didn't even flinch.
Great, the Veela has enchanted him too, Rose thought with disgust. She made to leave the Great Hall. There was no way she could sit in the same room, no matter how large, with the girl who stole all men's affection away.
