Chapter 11: Romance Central

After his date with Alice he arrived at his flat, used the Owlbliviate charm on his windows and slowly got undressed, hanging up his uniform with care. He laughed softly to himself as he thought about that charm, one that his Uncle George had come up with one day after enduring a long talk with Uncle Percy about how magical owls had unerring senses of location, specifically regarding people. The spell didn't actually obliviate the owls; instead it simply confused them for a few hours and played havoc with their internal locating magic. He knew the owls would come fast and furious the next morning, if previous history was anything to go by, and he wasn't in the mood for it. Instead he slid into bed, smiling what would be called a 'dopey' smile by most of his male Weasley relatives, and fell asleep thinking about Alice.

The knocking woke James up, something he should have expected. He fumbled around and found a dressing gown, threw it on and gave it a half-hearted attempt at tying it closed at the front. It was in that manner that he found himself looking at almost the last person he would have expected to see.

"Mols?"

"Morning, Jamie. May I come in, please?"

"Sure." He opened the door wide and watched his cousin enter in her usual no-nonsense manner. She wasn't exactly like her father, his Uncle Percy; instead she was more a mix of his efficient manner and his Aunt Audrey's Healer warmness. As he closed the door and scratched his stubble he watched her go to the kitchen, place a briefcase on the table, start the kettle and begin to look through his cupboards. "Go ahead, Molly, help yourself. Don't let me stop you." He yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "What time is it, anyway?"

"Half six. Rupert woke me up at an ungodly hour and told me to come over. He's in Bermuda, trying to sign that Keeper, so he sent me."

"Great, my agent's...I don't care, whatever." He closed his eyes and blinked again, trying to come to grips with the fact that he'd had less than six hours of sleep. "So what are you doing here, anyway?"

"Since I'm your cousin and an employee of the agency that represents you, and since Rupert is, as previously mentioned, currently not in the country, I get to apprise you of the giant mess of dragon dung you signed." She took out a sheaf of parchment from her briefcase and handed it to him. "I've marked the important parts. Now if you'll excuse me I really need tea and I think you could probably stand a cup as well."

He took the parchment from her but didn't bother to look at them. "What do you mean? What is this? I have Rupert review all my deals."

"No, not all of them. Obviously." Molly returned to her search. "Why can't you have any decent food, Jamie? Your contract is quite good, you know." She turned to look at him and huffed in frustration. "When you signed that contract for the endorsement of that wretched island you...what does Pop always say?"

Even in his half-awake state James knew exactly what she meant, as his uncle had drilled it into his head even before he actually put quill to parchment on his first contract. "Shit. Read the small print." He sat down at the kitchen table and flipped open the sheaf of parchment to the places that were marked. After a quick scan he put the parchment back into a neat stack, slid it across the table and sat back in his chair. "Fuck. Now what? I can't let that happen."

"Too late, what's Granddad always say, 'the boggart's out of the bag'?" Molly took out her Alice band and smoothed her blonde hair before readjusting everything back into her normal, perfectly groomed appearance. "The Leaky is an uncontrollable location, so I've sent Nigel to bring her over. We'll decide on a statement together."

"You've what?" James began to panic slightly, as he was becoming more and more awake as Molly talked, not to mention the fact that Alice would be over soon and he was only wearing a dressing gown and boxers. "And what'dya mean, a statement?"

As the kettle sang it's happy song Molly continued with the tea but kept her attention on James. "Let me lay this out for you, cuz. When you signed that contract you agreed, in the small print, that if you and Alice ever became 'involved' that the anonymity clause for her regarding your holiday on that island would become null and void. By appearing together last night as a couple you've done just that. Now they can use both of your likenesses for advertising purposes. Small print, James. Really, I may only be nineteen but sometimes I feel like I'm much older than you. Merlin knows I'm smarter but that doesn't take much." She busied herself with the tea and looked over to him, still sitting there as if he'd been stunned. "For Merlin's sake, Jamie, go put on some clothes. They'll be here shortly."

"Clothes. Right." James got up from the table. "Uh, Mols?"

"Stop that, I'm working." She handed him a cup of tea without milk or sugar. "Go. Get. Dressed."

He took the cup of tea from her and headed to his room to change, calling her a hag under his breath.

"I heard that!" Her voice echoed from the kitchen.

"Fine. Whatever." James opened his bedroom door, took a sip of tea and sat the cup on his dresser. As he began to rummage through his clothing, trying to find something that was clean and wasn't wrinkled he kept thinking about what he was going to say to Alice. Sure, they were dating, but...and halfway into a pair of jeans he stopped. As he sat on his bed, one leg in a pair of jeans, he couldn't help but smile. He was dating Alice Longbottom. Something that if you would have told him three years ago would laughed uproariously, but it was true. Last night was probably the best night he'd had in ages, hell, probably the best date he'd had in ages. Being with Alice was just easy, it wasn't work at all. No trying to impress her, not that he hadn't fucked that up horribly with that car, but she didn't know about that, so that was ok.

It was while thinking of those dances, of saying goodnight to her, how she'd put her hands in his hair and brought him down for that kiss, it was while thinking of all those things that his bedroom door opened.

"Oh come on. Really?" Molly shook her head. "How long have you been like that? I mean, James, I had enough time to reverse your owl confusion charm, have a cup of tea and start making notes and that's as far as you...fine. Have a meeting in your pants, then, see if I care."

"Sorry." James stood up, put on his jeans and fastened them. "It's just...it's a lot to take in at this time in the morning." He went over to his dresser and rifled through his t-shirts. "How many owls?"

"I don't know yet, it takes a while after the spell's released. You just better be glad Bill put those wards on your place, too. Press would be all over you if he hadn't."

One of the things that James was thankful for was that his father, after being absolutely hounded everywhere he went after Voldemort's fall, had used the thankfulness of the Wizangamot to get legislation passed that made every member of the media registered as such. Anti-Press wards were not legal except around private residences, and one of the first things Harry had insisted upon when James moved to his flat was that Bill Weasley cast the strongest anti-media wards possible. The fact that his mum worked for Quidditch Weekly didn't count, though, as blood is thicker than quill ink, at least the wards were smart enough to recognize that. Wards that weren't possible at a public location like the Leaky Cauldron.

Before he could voice any concerns to Molly, though, another knock on his door echoed through the flat. James hurried to get the door, stubbing his toe on an ottoman and therefore half-hopped to see if it was Alice. It wasn't.

"Jamie-boy, well done!" Freddie Weasley, all six-foot three of him, beamed at his cousin. "Well done, mate! Come on, I'm getting you out of here before everyone goes mental. Thought I saw a reporter from one of those rags out in the bushes, so I hit 'im with a tickling jinx. Bastard's still laughing, come on, we've got some time." He reached in to grab James' arm but instead caught only air. "Whatsa matter?"

"He's not going anywhere, Frederick." Molly stood at the door, behind James, with her arms crossed."

"Oh bloody hell." Freddie wiped a hand across his face. "What're you doing here, Mols?"

"I'm working." She gave Freddie a scowl and turned to James. "I'm sure they'll be here soon."

"Oh, so it's a party, then?" Freddie took a step back and fired finger-wands at James. "Bit early, but it's your bust up. I'll go get supplies." Before James could say a word Freddie turned and Apparated away.

"Hopefully he'll splinch himself." Molly closed the door, reached into her pocket and pulled out a compact. After opening it up she looked in the mirror. "Status, Nigel?"

James tried to listen in but apparently the mirror communication things had been charmed so only the person operating it could hear what was said. After a few moments of worry he saw Molly nod and close the compact. "Well?"

"Apparently the press descended on the Leaky first thing this morning. Quite a madhouse, apparently. Nigel's going to pop her around to several places, leave a false trail and then he'll be here soon. That gives us time to plan, though." She looked away and closed her eyes in exasperation. "How long was that owl confusion charm on the windows?"

"Did it before I went to bed last night." James gave her a confused look. "Why?"'

"That's why." Molly pointed to his kitchen window, the owl mail delivery spot, as so many owls gathered around it was impossible to see daylight, only feathers.

"What the hell do I do now?" James went over to the window, afraid to open it. "Why's this such a big deal? I never got this kind of stuff before."

Molly's tone was quiet, but incredulous. "You really have no idea, do you?"

"None whatsoever."

Her normal businesslike demeanor melted. "Jamie, it was on WeasleyVision. All of it. You two coming down the red carpet, the dancing, you two watching people on the second floor railing, kissing, dancing again...they've been playing it over and over. All night. You, my dumbass cousin, are the lead story. The Potter/Longbottom romance for the ages. That's what they're calling it." She adjusted her shoulders slightly. "And even though we're not best friends, I like Alice. If you act like..."

"I won't!" He held up his hands as if trying to intercept her. "It's not like that, honestly!"

"Good. Neville would kill you."

"Trust me, that's crossed my mind." He nodded his head towards the window. "So what about that lot?"

"Better let them in, I don't want to tell everyone that you're cruel to mail owls."

James went over to the window. "Ok, on three. One, two, three..."

Owls flooded in through the window, flying all over the flat, landing on everything possible, skidding into each other on the kitchen table and knocking over the tea, feathers everywhere.

"Bloody hell!" James lifted up his arms to cover his face. "Molly! Do something?"

"Are you a wizard or what?" Molly ducked as a tawny owl swooped too closely to her head. "Do the sorting charm!"

The sound of wings and hooting owls filled the flat. "The what?" He shuffled off to the corner of the kitchen as several owls began stalking him. "What charm?"

"Useless!" Molly took out her wand, flicked it about and suddenly all of the owls settled down immediately, flew over and congregated in the living room, perching on any available surface. "We use it at work when we get an owl deluge. Somehow they know which one would have been first and queue up. You're a crap wizard, James."

"Tell me about it."

-ooo-

James sat in his living room, on the sofa, the middle part in a Fiona and Jenny sandwich. Freddie and his father were in the kitchen, making sandwiches along with Granny Molly, while his mum sat with his Aunt Hermione and Rosie. Victoire Lupin had arrived not too long ago, her two-year old hellion of a daughter Dorrie wailing about something, so they were in James' spare bedroom trying to do nap time. From the continued noise it appeared that Vic was largely unsuccessful. Molly stood next to her father, as Percy read the contract for the umpteenth time. She'd owled him to consult on the contract, something that wasn't part of his job duties at the Ministry, but then again Percy's girls had always been able to get their father to do just about anything they asked.

Percy was the only one that had been asked to come to the flat, everyone else had just shown up on their own accord. Those that Freddie hadn't invited over, anyway. Lily and little Artie were in James' bedroom, as it was time for a new nappie, as they'd been invited by Freddie and were the first two 'party guests' to arrive. Shortly thereafter everyone else starting arriving, telling him 'well done' and 'it was so romantic' and 'don't screw it up like you usually do.' Fi and Jenny had even taken a portkey in, telling him that they 'weren't going to miss an opportunity to take the piss.'

When another knock on the door caused everyone to pause, as they expected Alice and the man from the agency at any time, James quickly got up. "I got it, I got it, ok?" He opened the door, hoping it was Alice, but, like all the other times, it wasn't. Instead Declan stood there, still in his Boer War uniform, and he looked like hell. "What the...why're you still wearing that thing? Are you just getting in?"

"Yeah, I am. Cap, I need th' name of a solicitor..." He took a step inside the flat and his eyes went wide. "...what th' hell?"

Freddie walked by. "Welcome to Romance Central, mate. Hungry?"

"Uh, yeah. I am." Dec nodded and looked over to James as Freddie made his way back to the kitchen. "What's goin' on?"

"Come on, I'll fill you in." James motioned towards the back of the flat and eventually opened a door. The room was dark, quiet and filled with half-emptied boxes. Bookshelves stood on the walls opposite of a desk, bookshelves that were mostly empty, with only one or two books on a shelf.

"What's this, yer office?"

"Yeah, that was the plan. As you can see I never use it." He sat down in the office chair and waited until Dec had pulled out a book, transfigured into a bean bag and sprawled into it as if he was utterly exhausted. "So why the hell do you need a solicitor?"

"I may or may not have gotten married last night."

"Wait, you don't know?"

Dec covered his face with his hands. "Bloody hell." He moved a hand away. "The twins, you see, one of 'em took a real shine to me, she did. And then we started drinkin' an' one of the twins decided she'd had enough, so she went home. Well, one thing led ta another, and the next thing I know I wake up starkers in bed with her and she's sayin' we got married. I don't remember a thing. Oh, even better, I dinnae remember which twin is which, so I don't know..."

"Fucking hell, Dec. Are you saying you don't know which one you married?"

"Allegedly married."

"Brilliant. Just brilliant, mate." James sat back in his chair. "I think I can find out, but you're not gonna like it."

"Fine, fine, just do whatever. And why the do you have a party goin' on in the flat?"

"Oh, apparently Alice and I are the lead story on everything. Romance of the century or some shit. Papers, magazines, WeasleyVision, you name it. Molly's over here because of this stupid thing I signed without reading, and her dad's over here to review it, but the rest of 'em just showed up."

"Well, you two were obvious, Cap. Saw ya kissing up there on the second floor. Hell, the telly lot even put a light on you two for a bit."

"Oh hell."

"So back ta me...can ya help?"

"Give me a minute." James got up and left the room. Shortly thereafter, though he reappeared with Molly. "You know Dec, don't you?"

Molly rolled her eyes. "Of course. Stingbent and Jones, right?"

"Yep, that's me agent. Old Jonesy."

"She couldn't write a decent contract to save her life." Molly rolled her eyes. "Apparently you have a problem? You know I can't discuss..."

James pushed her towards Dec as he headed towards the door. "I'm sure Declan's looking to change representation, Mols. Right Dec? Good? Ok, that's sorted, you guys have fun." He exited as quickly as possible and headed towards the impromptu family reunion when there was another knock on the door. This time he wasn't disappointed

As soon as he opened the door Alice looked at him with relief. "Thank Merlin, James!" She threw her arms around him and gave him a big kiss, uncertain at why he wasn't responding as he did last night. "James? What's wrong?"

"Uh..." James tried to think of what to say, but in the pause Freddie gave out a wolf-whistle and began clapping.

"Ohmygod." Alice buried her face in James' shoulder.

A rail-thin man in an expensive robe stroked his long beard. "Yes, well I believe we should continue this inside, please." He motioned towards the door and stuck his hand out to James. "Nigel Barton."

James reached around Alice's waist and shook the man's hand. "Nice to meet you." After letting go he leaned down to Alice. "We need to go in."

Her voice was muffled against his chest. "Don't want to."

Nigel gently moved them inside. "Too late for that, I'm afraid, too late."

As James and Alice walked inside Freddie tried to clap again but was smacked by Granny Molly with a dishtowel. For a moment James didn't know what to do; the faces of all his relatives beamed at him except for George and Percy, who were still engrossed in the contract. Finally, though, James made a decision. "Just...give us a few minutes. Please." Without waiting he took Alice's hand and made his way towards his bedroom. After closing the door he pulled Alice close. "Now let me do this properly."

This time Alice was much more pleased with her kiss. After they stopped she leaned into him. "I had no idea..."

"Told you it'd be mental, but I didn't think it'd be this bad."

"I was asleep when it started. Mum was downstairs getting ready for opening when they all hit. They were so loud Daddy came out of the bedroom thinking Death Eaters were attacking. Mum sent up one of the cooks to give us some warning, and I had just got dressed when Dad was there, looking like he wanted to hex someone, with that Nigel bloke. After that it's been one sidealong apparition after another, Liverpool, Leicester, Blackpool, I...I can't remember all the places we've been."

"I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to make it worse." James sat down on the floor, leaned against his bed and Alice sat down in front of him, resting her head against his shoulder, and he encircled her waist with his arms. "You know I signed off on that advert on the island, so they wouldn't know you were there with me? Yeah, that's why Percy and little Molly are here. I didn't read the small print."

After hearing James' explanation Molly shifted and looked up at him. "What's that mean?"

"I dunno. They're looking it over now."

"I saw the papers when I was popping around England with Nigel. James, we're on the front page of every one of them."

"Yeah, I know."

They were silent for a while until Alice sighed. "What am I going to do? I can't go home, they'll hound me. I thought about Gin but her place is so small."

"You could stay here." It was out of James' mouth before he could even think of what he was implying. "Wards. The wards, uh, yeah, anti-media wards. Can't get to you here."

"My parents would kill me."

"No, they'd kill me." James rested his head against the bed. "Maybe not your mum, she likes me, but your dad? No, they probably both would."

"I can't even go to work." Alice kicked off her shoes with her feet and wiggled her toes, stretching them as far as possible. "Mum would like the business, but not like that."

"Maybe she needs happy toes, too." James shrugged.

"Stop it. And what is it with you and toes? Do you have a foot fetish or something?"

"No, usually I think feet are weird and gross, but you have cute toes."

A soft knock on the door halted Alice's response. Ginny Potter opened the door and leaned in. "Jamie, your father is here. Alice, your parents are here, too."

"Damn." James closed his eyes and then opened up one. "How bad is it, Mum?"

After a moment or two Ginny gave him a weak smile. "You owe your father." Without another word she left, leaving the door still slightly open.

James sat there with Alice, unsure of what to do. He knew that he'd have to face the Longbottoms eventually, especially after last night, but he was hoping he'd have a day or two to figure out a plan. Instead, with Alice in his arms, struggling to put on her shoes without using her hands, he decided the hell with it. "Come on, then." He half-picked up Alice and steadied her with his hands on her hips and then took her hand.

Hand in hand they made their way out into his living room where Neville sat in his chair, Hannah behind him. Next to them, standing together, were his parents. Everybody else seemed to ignore the awkwardness of the situation and milled around, but not Granny Molly, as she stood right there front and center.

"Oh James, you two looked so sweet last night." Granny Molly came over and kissed him on the cheek. "And Alice, that was a marvelous dress."

Neville cleared his throat. "Yes, it was a good dress."

Molly moved away and surprisingly Alice drug James over to her parents. "Daddy, Mum, I'm dating James Potter."

"Obviously." Neville nodded gravely.

James recognized that tone, and it wasn't a good one. That was the 'I'm very disappointed and I'm really angry but I'm not going to show it' tone. He'd heard that often enough. "It was our first date, and I had her home on time. Headmaster..."

"You're not in school anymore, James." Neville started to say something but Hannah put her hand on his shoulder. After looking at his wife for a moment he turned back to the couple. "I can't say that I'm exactly happy about this, but..."

"But nothing." Hannah smiled at her daughter. "You might have given us a bit of warning about the chaos, though."

"It's never been this bad before." James blurted out, immediately regretting his statement.

"Melody says they had a run on parchment, all those papers and special editions, if you can believe it." Lily smiled as she held her son and nodded at her parents. "It was worse when you two got married."

Harry nodded. "Don't remind me. And that leads to our little problem. I had to send Aurors out to clear the Leaky, and we can't put up the wards to keep them out. I had a little discussion with Neville and we've come up with some options, just to keep them away until it dies down a bit."

"Options?" Alice squinted her eyes at her father. "You're giving me options?"

"Just until it quiets down, Alice." He sat back in his chair, sagging, as if he'd used up all his anger. "Augusta said..."

"Oh no." Alice shook her head. "You're not leaving me with her. What am I going to do all day? Sit around and...no, no that's not going to happen."

"Told you." Hannah patted Neville's shoulder. "Another option, thanks to the Potters, is Grimmauld Place. Al..."

"Could come back at any time, and that's his house." James shook his head. "Doesn't feel right."

"Next?" Alice looked at them. "Well?"

"I offered our place." Simon stepped out from behind Harry. "But it's kind of dangerous right now." He looked at the confused faces. "Pregnant, cranky, and if you say the wrong thing Rose gets stabby with the knitting needles."

After the nervous laughter died down Alice glanced up at James and simultaneously squeezed his hand. "I'm staying here."

"That wasn't an option..." Neville looked up to his wife. "Help me out here, Han."

"Neville..." She leaned down and put her lips close to his ear. "She's older than we were. Let it go. If you fight it you'll make it worse for everybody."

Harry glanced at Ginny and raised an eyebrow. She nodded quickly, so he stepped forward. "Nev, I know we talked, and everything's ok right now, but I've got something that might keep you from going grey. KREACHER."

With a sharp crack the elderly house elf appeared. "Yes, Master Harry? Master Harry needs Kreacher?"

"Yes." Harry nodded. "Kreacher, I need you to stay here with James and...his guest. I want you to make sure that they..." He looked around and then bent down, pulled the elf's ear close and whispered.

James watched as a worrying gleam came into the elf's eyes. Finally, after Harry stood back up, Kreacher walked over to James.

"Kreacher will watch, Kreacher will. Master Harry said to make Master James behave and Kreacher will, yes Kreacher will."

In the background George elbowed his son. "Oh, that was brilliant. Look at James' face."

-ooo-

As the impromptu party continued into the early evening James sat at a transfigured table in his office with Alice as Percy, little Molly, Neville, Hannah, Harry and George passed the contract parchment back and forth. Neville had been initially angry about the whole advert mess, but when he found out exactly why James had hurriedly signed the contract he began to calm down. Hannah even caught him looking at James with something of a surprised look, as if he would have never expected Playboy Potter to have done such a thing.

Of course the whole story of their trip to Bluebeard's Island came out then, and while the others discussed Hermione's possible Granger relatives James leaned over to Molly. "So, is Dec really married?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, he's not. Turns out that Swedish bint was using him against her father. Apparently she's engaged to some bloke her parents love but she hates. Arranged thing. She's been trying to get out of it anyway possible."

James didn't miss her smug expression, though. "New client, I take it?"

"Yes. Twelve percent."

"Shark."

"James." Percy held out the parchment. "I believe we can renegotiate the clauses, but it won't be easy. We'll have to offer them something in return."

"Maybe you and Audrey need a holiday? It's pretty private."

"With my schedule?" Percy shook his head. "Out of the question."

"Ah, wait a tic, there." George held up his hand. "So they want advertising, right? Besides the fact that there might be some financial considerations, the Triple W might be able to help. Maybe an exclusive line of senior-themed items?"

"They don't need toffees that turn them into birds, George." Percy shook his heads. "They want guests, and using a professional Quidditch player brings guests."

Alice leaned forward. "Well, what if we give them Quidditch players?" Everyone looked at her oddly. "There's four more in the flat besides James. Make an agreement with them that, oh, I don't know, Jenny and Fiona stay there, and maybe Simon and Rosie. If one player's good, how about a bunch more?"

"Dad?" James looked over to his father. "Maybe Mum could put something in Quidditch Weekly, say it's a great place to escape the pressures of Quidditch or something."

Harry blinked and exhaled. "For a minute I thought you were going to say your mum and I should go there."

George clapped Harry on the back. "Splendid! Great idea! Boy Who Lived beats Quidditch players any day of the week. Ok, Perce, let's go send an owl."

As George and Percy left Harry looked over at his son with an exasperated expression. "Did it to myself, didn't I?"

"You did." Neville smiled at him. Then, after a few moments, he looked over to James. "I appreciate what you tried to do for Alice. Next time, please read the small print." With that he and Hannah got up to leave, but before they did Neville looked over to his daughter. "You're my good girl, Alice, remember that."

James noticed that his father stifled a laugh but let it go. After the Longbottoms left he looked over. "What? What was that about?"

"Nothing." After a while he couldn't help himself. "Just remembering what they were like at your age. All right, then. I suppose I'd better go back into the office and see what mess they've left me."

-ooo-

Later that night, after everyone had gone, James and Alice sat on his sofa while the WeasleyVision played. It had been one hell of a day, that was for sure. The owls finally trickled down to a minimum, Molly had drafted a contract to the Bluebeard's Island people, Harry had informed Ginny of their new holiday destination, Fiona and Jenny had been merciless in their teasing but had agreed on setting up their own reservations.

Kreacher had been busy as well, as Alice's things now resided in the spare bedroom. Not only that, but James' cupboards were actually full of food. James had thought things were looking up until Kreacher sat in the chair directly across from them and watched them like a hungry hippogriff. When Alice had leaned into James that caused Kreacher to clear his throat. And then, when James had put his arm around her, the old elf scooted his chair even closer. The last straw, though, was when James went to kiss her and the old elf snapped his fingers, sending Alice all the way to the other end of the sofa. One owl later Ginny arrived, spoke to Kreacher in the kitchen and then left them alone.

The coverage of the Ephemera ball played in the background as the presenter started going over things again, unfortunately deciding to give everyone a history of James and his women, as a succession of images began flitting across.

"Oh bloody hell." James shook his head. "Why'd they have to go and do that?"

"Ignore it." Alice snuggled into him. "Why would you want those tarts when you can have me?"

"Exactly." James glared at Kreacher for a moment and then gave her a kiss. When they broke apart he looked over and saw the old elf with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face.

A tapping at the window caused Kreacher to finally get up from his chair, go over and let the owl in. He came back moments later with an envelope and handed it to James.

Flipping it open James took a look, read it, read it again and then handed it to Alice. "Here, told you."

"What?" She took the letter.

James,

It was wonderful to see you on WeasleyVision last night, they had the feed up backstage. I told you that it was different with her, but you didn't believe me. Be good to her, James. You deserve someone to make you happy.

Thalia

"See?" James pointed to the WeasleyVision, which had a picture of him and Thalia playing. "I told you that you had nothing to worry about with her. We're friends, really, that's it."

"I know. Now." She smiled and stretched. "It's been a long day."

"That it has. Like how it ended, though." James got up and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, then." They walked down the hallway, stopping at the spare bedroom door. After a long, lingering kiss he smiled. "Let me tuck you in."

The moment James tried to set foot in the spare bedroom he was physically thrown against the far wall.

"Oh." Alice held out a hand to help him up and noticed Kreacher right there next to them, arms folded.

"Kreacher watches, he does. Kreacher promised." He pointed to James' bedroom. "Master James sleeps there."