James looked up as his mother entered the house and shook her head at him.
"I'm going back to school" he said and his family gasped.
"But it's not even been a week yet" Rose whined and he looked at her then Albus and then at his other cousins.
"I know that Dallas isn't the nicest person on the planet but she is the reason why Lily didn't run off again. You are all such hypocrites. You wanted her gone because you think she's mean and rude, well you all chased her away by acting the way she did that you hated her so much for. I know that she has her mean moments but you have no idea what she has to go through every day because of her family. Rose, I get that you don't like her but she is the only reason why Uncle Ron wasn't fired and why Aunt Hermione still has a job" he snapped and they all looked at him.
"What?" they all asked and he looked at them, shaking his head.
"Scorpius' father knows about you two, Rose and he told Scorpius that if he didn't propose to Dallas that he would fire your father and make sure your mum lost her job. He proposed and Dallas didn't have a choice but to say yes. Now because she said yes, he can carry on seeing you if that's what you want but I lose her. Dallas said yes to help you and Scorpius and by doing that, she has cost herself her own freedom and her relationship with me" he explained furiously and saw them all look at each other guiltily.
"I am going back to school" he said and left and went home to get his stuff before he used the fireplace and went back to Hogwarts.
"Dallas? Dallas?" he called, running into the Ravenclaw common room and he saw Dallas sitting by the window, alone.
"Hey" he said softly and walked over to her and saw the tears in her eyes.
"What are you doing here?" she asked and he looked at her.
"I wanted you to come home with me, to spend time with you, can't spend time with you when you aren't there" he said.
"Plus, I'm furious with the family right now. They always tell us to be nice and that people aren't always what they seem but they just judge all the time" he said and she smiled softly.
"It's ok, I kinda deserve it" she said and he looked at her.
"No you don't" he said, honestly and looked at her.
"I kinda do, I mean I've never really been nice to any of them" she said and he looked at her.
"Lily told me what you said to her, you are nice when you have to be" he said and kissed her softly.
"Do you have plans tomorrow?" he asked and she shook her head.
"No, good. I will meet you at the fountain at 11am" he said and kissed her then left the room. The next day, James met Dallas at the Fountain and then dragged her to Hogsmeade.
"What are we doing here?" she asked and he looked at her.
"I will spend time with you no matter what, where do you wonna go?" he asked and she smiled softly and he took her hand and followed her around as they shopped and then bought their lunch and then they went to the sweet store and he bought her all of her favourites.
"Meet me back here at 7" he said and she nodded and he smiled and kissed her then watched her hips sway as she walked off to change.
Dallas walked to the fountain in the Transfiguration Courtyard and saw James there, looking very handsome in a shirt and black dress pants with a black jacket.
"Hey" she said and he looked at her and smiled.
"Hey, you look amazing" he said and she blushed and then took his hand and he helped her into the carriage they'd used earlier. She smiled as they walked into one of the only restaurants in Hogsmeade and sat down at a table. They ordered and then looked at each other and Dallas smiled softly.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked and she looked at him.
"How much I'll miss you" she said honestly and he sighed.
"Do you have to marry him?" he asked and she nodded.
"Yeah, I hate it but I have to. I don't have a choice" she said and he looked at her.
"I know but I love you" he said and she smiled softly.
"I love you too" she said and he kissed her across the table before they sat back down. They ate while talking and holding hands across the table and then the waiter took away their empty plates and they ordered a dessert to share.
"We should get back" she said softly and sadly and he nodded. He paid the bill and then they walked back to the castle, holding hands and then walking back to the castle, talking sometimes. Dallas looked at him as they stood against the wall beside the portrait.
"I'm not ready to say goodnight" he said and she smiled softly and took his hand and they went to the Room of Requirement. They walked in and she saw him look at the bed and then smile softly.
"Make love to me" she whispered and kissed him softly and then they moved back towards the bed. Dallas smiled, sighing contently as she lay in the bed with her head on James' bare chest, holding hands and laying in silence.
"I'm gonna find a way to stop the wedding" he said softly and she sighed.
"Unless you can suddenly become richer and more important that Scorpius' family in my parent's eyes, there isn't a way" she said and sat up when he moved.
"Not even if I love you?" he asked and she smiled sadly.
"Love isn't real as far as my parents are concerned. You could be the poorest man in the world and love me with all your heart and want to marry me, but they wouldn't care" she explained sadly and looked at him.
"So this is all we have? Stolen moments until you marry him?" he asked and she nodded, silently.
"There's nothing we can do?" he asked and she shook her head.
"I wish there was" he said softly and felt him kiss her hair.
"How long until you have to marry him?" he asked and she sighed.
"The week after graduation" she admitted and he sighed.
"How do you plan a wedding in a week?" he asked and she looked at him.
"Me and Scorpius have nothing to do with the wedding planning. Our mothers plan everything, even my dress" she said and he sighed.
"It doesn't even sound like a wedding" he said and she nodded.
"Because it isn't a wedding" she said and he kissed her and they went back to lying there in silence.
Time past and the 5th and 7th year students began studying for their exams, taking over the library and selected classrooms. The 7th years were allocated classrooms to practice charms, transfiguration and even given a potions room to practice potions. James Potter was acting as a mentor to help the 5th years with their studies and even acting as a referee for duel practice between 7th years.
"Who wants to go next?" he called.
"I do" Albus Potter said and James looked at him younger brother and nodded.
"And who…" he began.
"Addams" Albus cut in and James paused and saw Dallas turn and look at Albus.
"Albus, I…." he began.
"I'm in" she said and James sighed and looked at them.
"Get ready" he sighed and looked at them as they took their positions and faced each other.
"Wands at the ready" he said and looked at Dallas and then his brother and hated to admit it but he silently put his money on Dallas.
"Bow" he instructed and saw them both bow.
"On 3" he said and stepped out of the way as the other students watched.
"1, 2, 3" he counted and they began duelling. He watched, worriedly, as the two duelled and coloured lights flashed and streamed towards each other. He gasped and then watched as his brother was blasted backwards after being disarmed. James looked at Dallas and saw her smirk.
"I won" she said and stepped off the platform and started talking with her friends. James watched the hall slowly start to empty then turned to make sure everyone was gone, then paused when he noticed Dallas sitting on a bench. He looked at her in her uniform and walked over to her.
"Hello beautiful" he said and she smiled up at him.
"Duel with me?" she asked and he looked at her.
"What?" he asked and she smiled.
"Come on, please?" she asked and he grinned.
"Promise you won't blast me like you did with Albus?" he asked and she smiled.
"I only did that because he was cocky and thought he could beat me and make a fool out of me" she said and he nodded.
"I know but I couldn't stop you without the other students knowing" he said and she nodded and smiled.
"So will you?" she asked and he nodded and they walked onto the platform and he looked at her.
"Ready baby?" he asked and she grinned.
"Absolutely" she said and he smiled at her and stood ready.
"1" she counted.
"2" he said.
"3" they both said and began duelling. James gaped when Dallas disarmed him and then rushed her and lowered her to the platform as she giggled and smiled at him.
"What kind of training is this?" she asked and he grinned.
"None, as your mentor, I'm advising a relaxation period" he said and smiled down at her and then leaned down and kissed her, hungrily. He wrapped his arms around her waist, arching her body and he almost groaned when he felt her body pressed against his.
"What do you have planned now?" he asked, huskily and Dallas smiled up at him from under her sexy dark lashes.
"Nothing" she practically purred back and he closed his eyes, forcing calm.
"Room of Requirement?" he muttered and she nodded.
"10 minutes" she said and he nodded and let her go and watched her hurry out of the room. He waited a very long 10 minutes and then almost ran to the Room of Requirement and saw Dallas sitting on the huge bed. He paused when he saw her clothing…or lack thereof. She sat on the huge bed wearing nothing but her uniform, black, lace-top stockings and her hair bow. He leaned down to kiss her, hungrily and then slowly lowered her backwards onto the bed. James walked into the Great Hall the next morning and tried not to look obviously at Dallas as he walked to the Professor's table. He sat down and began talking with Minerva McGonagall and then glanced to the right and saw Dallas looking at him. He smiled then winked at her before they both turned back to their conversations.
Dallas sat down with Savanah and Bailey and began having breakfast.
"Mail's here" Bailey smiled when they heard the hooting of owls. Dallas turned and paused when her mother's owl dropped a thick letter in front of her. She sighed and pushed it aside and flinched when the owl bite her finger.
"Bloody stupid bird" she scowled and the owl hooted and then flew off. Dallas turned and looked at Scorpius and he looked back and held up a similar letter and she sighed.
"Open it, get it over with" Savannah said and she sighed and opened it up and saw her mother's writing.
Dallas,
The following are the details, guest lists, schedule and pictures of the dresses. You can pick your own bridal party and rings but everything else has been arranged.
Do not ruin this Dallas
Mother
Dallas sighed and put everything back into the envelope and saw Savannah and Bailey frowned.
"Why didn't you look at it all?" Bailey asked and she sighed.
"It is wedding nonsense" she said and shoved it into her bag and then looked at them.
"Class?" she asked and they nodded and left the hall and headed to Transfiguration class.
"I can't believe we've only got two weeks left" Savannah said excitedly as they sat with a large range of their friends, smiling and laughing. Dallas forced a smile as they cheered and talked about what they were going to do after Graduation. It hurt to think that after graduation she wouldn't be doing anything but getting married to a man she didn't love, spending the rest of her life bringing up children and making sure she never had a hair out of place and never did anything to disgrace Scorpius or their families.
"…gonna be a Healer…" she heard one of the girls saying and sighed.
"I'm not feeling too good, I'm gonna go for a lay down" she lied and then walked out of the room and headed to the Slytherin Common room. She looked at the portrait and then softly said the password and then walked in.
"Where's Scorpius?" she asked a group and they pointed to the male staircase. She nodded and went to his room and walked in and paused when she saw him with just his boxers on.
"Dallas, what's wrong?" he asked and she looked at him.
"I can't do this" she said and he looked at her.
"What?" he asked and she looked at him.
"Marry you. I can't do it, I mean I don't want anything to happen to Weasley but I can't. I have been thinking over and over why am I exhausting myself to get good grades on my exams when they aren't going to matter? I'm going to be a housewife for the rest of my life, stuck in a marriage that I didn't want with a husband who I know is in love with someone else. I can't…I can't do it. My head's all messed up and my chest hurts and I feel sick. I can't do this, I just…." she ranted, starting to cry about halfway through her rant and then began sobbing when he hugged her.
"I know, I know" he said softly and she clung to him, tightly.
"What do I do? My chest hurts" she cried and felt him kiss her hair.
"I don't know" he breathed back and she clung to him.
"Drink?" he asked softly and she nodded and let him go and sat down on his bed. After three glasses each of Fire Whiskey and sad, contemplative, defeated silence, Dallas looked at her husband-to-be.
"You know, James said that he used to envy us. The money, the prestige, the power…I told him that the world he sees is only visible from outside, inside it's just…empty" she commented, lowly, sipping her fourth glass of Fire Whiskey.
"And lonely" he replied and she looked at him as he looked back.
"And meaningless" she whispered before they kissed.