Ta-Da! Hope you enjoy the last chapter!
When James and Maria walked into the Ravenclaw common room hand in hand, Roxanne's eyes lit up. She squealed in delight and rushed forward, hugging Maria tightly.
"It's about time you two gits got together!" Roxanne yelled. She made to move forward, still hugging Maria, sending them both crashing to the ground. James, who was still holding Maria's hand, was also dragged down, and landed on the floor with a resounding thud.
"Bloody Hell, Roxanne," James muttered.
"I'm sorry," Roxanne laughed, "I'm just so happy for you two! So you have any idea how long I've been waiting for this to happen?"
"How long you've been waiting?" Maria asked, "I've been waiting longer than you have." Roxanne just grinned sheepishly. "And anyway, we haven't really decided if we're together yet…"
"WHAT?" Roxanne yelled, scaring a passing first year, "Are you mental? James finally gets some brains and dumps Alyssa, and you two still aren't dating?"
"That's not what I said," Maria replied, her voice calm, "I simply stated that we haven't come to a decision yet. It's not all up to me, you know. James has a say in this too."
James was about to say something when Roxanne interrupted him.
"Everyone knows James loves you, too, he just hasn't admitted it yet."
"Maybe if you'd let me speak," James muttered, looking cross, and then laughed. Maria looked up at him, and he spoke. "Maria, I want to tell you how I feel, but I really can't find the right words… 'I like you' doesn't seem to quite cover it, but I'm not ready to say 'love' yet….I mean, look where that word has gotten me recently…"
"I understand, James," Maria said kindly.
"But I want to tell you that I'm sorry," James continued, "For the way I've been treating you. The truth is…I do have feelings for you. Strong feelings that I've had for a long time, I was just too scared to admit it."
Roxanne watched the two, beaming with happiness.
"What I'm trying to say," James sighed, "Is…will you be my girlfriend?"
"I'll have to think about it," Maria said cooly, crossing her arms. She looked serious for only a moment before she grinned and threw her arms around James' neck. "Of course!" she laughed loudly.
Before James had time to reply, Maria had closed the space between their lips. She kissed him passionately, and neither of them pulled away until they needed air.
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," Maria whispered, hugging James close.
"You two are adorable," Roxanne said happily, joining the hug. James laughed and pushed her away playfully.
The next morning at breakfast, everyone noticed James and Maria walk into together. They gave each other a quick kiss and then went to their separate tables.
"Oooh," Lysander joked when Maria sat next to him, "You two love birds finally got together?"
Maria responded by flicking his ear and turning to her food. "If you must know, then yes," she said, although she was grinning.
"I heard something happened after our family Quidditch game last night," Lorcan said, his mouth half full.
Maria explained to Lysander, Lorcan, and Roxanne what had happened with Josh, Alyssa James and herself the night before.
"Wow," Lorcan said.
"Alyssa's a real nutter," Lysander said.
"I feel bad for Josh," Roxanne noted. The three of them looked over at the Slytherin table, and saw Josh laughing with one of his friends. Just then the morning mail came and Josh saw Lou-Lou soar down towards him, and his face lit up.
"I think he'll be okay," Maria laughed, "Everyone's happy now….well….not everyone."
At the Gryffindor table, Alyssa was sitting alone at the end of the table. She turned to a boy near her, but he just raised his eyebrows at her and turned away.
"I think Josh may have told a few people about what happened last night," Maria explained, "No one in Hogwarts wants to date Alyssa now…."
"Poor her," Roxanne said sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "Now how will she get shagged?"
The four Ravenclaws burst out laughing.
The end of the year came far too quickly for Maria's liking. She was not looking forward to spending the summer at home, where she had to pretend she was just an ordinary Muggle like her parents.
On the last day of classes, Maria was sitting in an empty corridor staring at the floor miserably, when James found her and sat next to her.
"Something wrong?" he asked.
"Well," Maria started, taking a deep breath, "For one, it feels like we've just started going out and we're already going to be separated for the summer. Second, I have to go home and pretend to be a Muggle, and I can't even really talk about magic at home. My parents don't really understand magic that much…it makes them uneasy, I guess."
"Is that why you've barely spoken the last few days?" James exclaimed, "Bloody hell, Ria, you had me worried! So worried, in fact, I never ask you my question."
"Question?" Maria asked, looking at him with her head cocked to the side.
"I was going to ask you if you wanted to spend the summer at my house," James said, "I wrote my Mum and Dad and they said it's alright if your parents don't mind."
Maria's face lit up instantly and she threw her arms around James' shoulders. "Yes!" she yelled out happily, "I'd love to! My parents won't mind. I've spent summers there before. Hell, they let me spend Christmas with you guys. Trust me, they'll be okay with it."
"Brilliant," James grinned, "So don't look so upset anymore."
He lifted her chin to face him and planted a long kiss on her lips. She kissed him back happily. When they pulled apart, she slapped his arm playfully.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"Well, if you had asked me that question days ago, I never would have gotten so upset," she said, sticking her tongue out at him.
"I was worried about you," James defended, laughing.
Maria playfully growled and fell into James' arm. The two of them sat together in the corridor until it was time to board the Hogwarts express.
Maria and James ended up sitting with Roxanne, Lily, Albus, Scorpius, Lorcan and Lysander. The eight of them were crammed into one cart, but were having too much that they didn't care. They joked about the year they'd just spent at Hogwarts, and talked about how excited they were to be going home for a few months. Maria lay back, cuddled under James' arm, and watched the conversation, contributing here and there. She couldn't help but think about everything that had happened. The year had started off miserably, but Maria decided that, given the option, she wouldn't have changed a thing.
REVIEWS! Also, do I smell a sequel coming along? Maaaayyyybbbbeeee! It depends if I can think of something to happen over their summer vacation...Anyhoo, review this last and final chapter of Everything You Want. I hope you enjoyed. :)
