Our first match was coming up in a few days and it was against Hufflepuff. James, of course, was pushing us hard and every moment we weren't in class or eating, we were at the Quidditch pitch.
"James, can we please go now?" Lily was whining. We all were exhausted and it was past time for dinner. The rest of the team nodded and James gritted his teeth.
"Just a few more minutes, come on!" he tried to reason but Ari, who had been patiently waiting in the stands for an hour, came stomping onto the pitch.
"Look, you can make them practice another time, James Potter, just let them go now! I need Al," she called out, dragging Al by his collar towards the changing rooms as he stumbled after her. James had no choice but to agree, and we all let out a sigh of relief whilst going to our lockers.
"You've done a good job you know?" I tried to comfort James, who was mulling over some tactics. "You've got us whipped into shape, we've got you as the best chaser in Hogwarts, and not to forget no one can catch a snitch faster than Al."
"But we've got to win this. You know, last year, sure I was captain and we won, but this is my last year. And there are scouts coming to these matches, so I really need to be in form. I know we have a strong team, I just…forget that sometimes, you know?" he gave a small smile, "Aren't you going to dinner? You must be really hungry."
"Yeah, starving! Coming to join me?" I grinned at him and he nodded, shoving his gear in his locker.
"Emily's probably waiting for me. Let's go."
We managed to make it in time for dinner. Lily and Aiden were already there, but stopped talking as we approached. I shot a look at her, but she just shrugged helplessly. James went and joined Emily at the Hufflepuff table and I watched in envy, as he gave her a kiss, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
It was surprising how these knotted twists and twinges of jealousy seemed to be growing and now, I tried to avoid looking at them. Aiden's foot suddenly knocked against mine and I glared at him in my frustration, before realizing that he and Lily were playing footsie under the table. Uggh, everyone was off being all romantic and couply. Thank merlin Al and Ari weren't around.
"My boy's been looking for you, Rosseau," a slick voice interrupted my train of thought. "Potter's got you working your ass off on the field? Hope it pays off."
It was Seth, and I didn't like the mocking voice he had on. I glanced at James, who was staring at us, his body tense and rigid. He didn't look too happy that Seth was standing next to me, being all smug and smarmy. Well, lucky for him, I was ready to show Seth a piece of my mind.
"Well, it definitely will. You should be afraid when you come play against us," I sad confidently, but Seth just laughed at me, which angered me even further. What did Emily ever see in this guy? "And what did Liam want to say to me?"
"Not sure, I'm just the messenger. The very trustworthy messenger," he winked at me, and I grimaced, turning to look at James, but he was no longer in his previous seat.
"Davies, you wanted something from my teammate?" James' cold voice rang out, and I let out a sigh of relief as he came near my side. Lily and Aiden were now staring at us.
"Oh no, don't worry Potter, no need to get all protective. Liam was searching for her," Seth smirked but James retorted back, "Well you tell Sanders to come find her himself. I'm sure he can do that without your help."
Oooh, burn. Seth's smirk dropped abruptly but I could practically see his eyes gleaming, as he inched forward and looked James in the eye, before saying, "Why so possessive Potter? It's not like I'm going to steal her, unlike you."
In a flash, James grabbed onto Seth's shirt and was about to hex him, before Aiden screamed, "Expelliarmus!" and deftly caught his best friend's wand. James glared at Aiden, who shrugged, but still let go of Seth and stormed out of the Great Hall. I quickly ran after him and found him angrily leaning against one of the walls of the corridor. Carefully approaching him, I said, "Are you alright? You know Seth's an ass – don't let it get to you."
"That's not the point, Lena!" he suddenly lashed out, "First of all, why are you even associating with people like him? And how could he even say something like I'm going to steal you? I've got a girlfriend and we're just friends! And I didn't even steal Emily from him – she dumped him."
I couldn't tell him the main reason why she dumped him, could I?
"Yeah, I know, I heard," I sighed, and a small ounce of pain tugged at my heart. There went all my dreams of something romantic with James. He was probably in love with Emily. Why would he even bother with me, the shadowy cousin?
"Sorry for taking it out on you, I didn't mean it. It's just that he makes me so angry and you're the first person I saw so…" he trailed off, not just looking al cute and stressed as he gazed at me sincerely. I gave him a warm smile in return and he said, "You know Lena, you're a good friend. To put up with all our stupid Hogwarts drama. And you listen, you never get mad!"
He suddenly scooped me up for a big bear hug and that tingling sensation came over my body once more. There were butterflies literally fluttering in my stomach, and I relished the feel of his warm breath against my shoulder until we heard a voice ring out quite loudly.
"Oh I see you two are getting along," Emily flashed me a not-so-sweet smile, "My cousin and my boyfriend. That's great!" Even though James may have fallen for it, I certainly hadn't. Her smile was too frozen and plastered and she kept on glancing at us to see if we were silently communicating or something.
It was then that I saw Liam there beside her. He was staring at James with a weird look on his face, then smiled tentatively at me.
"Hey, hope I wasn't interrupting something important there," I shook my head, "I just really wanted to find you. Seth kind of said he annoyed you and Potter, so I'm sorry if he said anything hurtful. I'm working on that with him."
I gave him a small, hesitant smile even though I wasn't really okay with Seth. But I just nodded and didn't relay any of that to Liam.
"Seth isn't exactly my piece of cake, no," I said, "but as long as he's not around on dates or taunting me, I'm fine with it." Liam's face lifted into a bright smile and we stood there for a few seconds, just foolishly grinning at each other.
After a few moments, I noticed James and Emily looking at us – James looked slightly guarded (what's new) but Emily looked slightly relieved? Probably glad I wasn't hugging her boyfriend.
The girl I used to know was a lot stronger, a lot less dependent on guys; true, I had not seen her in nearly a year, but this possessive = looking person didn't seem at all like my cousin. She was almost someone I could no longer recognize.
James excused himself to go take a shower and Liam decided he better go get ready for classes. Which left me with Emily. Yay.
"So Liam seems like a nice guy," she turned to me, with the same fake smile, "You must really like him."
"Well…I guess. I mean, yeah, he's great, but there's honestly no rush," I admitted but I guess that wasn't the answer she hoping for, because her lip curled up slightly.
"Why? Have someone else in mind?" Oh, you wanna play dirty, dear cousin? We'll play dirty/
"No one in particular. Just keeping my options open."
"Well I hope none of those 'options' have girlfriends."
"Maybe, maybe not." God it is so easy to tease her. I started to walk away before she hissed out, "Well look elsewhere. James is not an option!"
Okay she brought it up, not me. "Who said I was talking about James?"
"Well, who else could it be? You spend so much time together, between quidditch and stuff." Okay, I had to give her credit for that. My cousin is a smart cookie.
"Look, I am not interested in James, alright? He's yours!"
"Yeah, well, that hasn't stopped you before has it?"
What? What the hell did she mean from that? When had I ever taken something or someone from her?
"What do you mean? I have done nothing to you!"
"No, you've taken my friends away from you. Rose, she was practically my best friend. Now, all of a sudden, she wants you. Lily, Lauren and Ari? They used to come talk to me and ask for help. Now it seems that you deal with it instead."
"I didn't mean to take them away from you! I haven't taken them away from you! You grew apart. Rose is not your best friend anymore because you dropped her the second you got with James!"
"Oh, now you act like you've been here all these years! You have no idea what my relationship with James is like. And I didn't drop Rose or anyone! She just couldn't understand why he was suddenly spending so much time with me."
Was she serious? The amount of time they spent with each other, I'm surprised they had any time left for anyone else.
"Look, Emily, I don't want to fight. Clearly what's in your past is nothing to do with me. Rose, Lily, Ari, Lauren…they were just nice to me and became the first friends I made here. I have no intention of 'stealing' anything from you," I said, "And that includes James. I'm sorry if you thing that talking, practicing on a team, and a friendly hug is being flirty or interested. To me, they're not. Besides, I do like Liam, so you don't need to go all jealous- protective kickass on me. And it may be because I'm your cousin, but that was so not terrifying."
With that, I walked away briskly, feeling like a total badass. Maybe I shouldn't have said some of those things. Maybe it was wrong to tease her in the first place but I didn't care anymore.
All I did was hug him. Hug him. And she got possessive over that. I wonder how she dealt with all his fan girls. Ha, that would be a sight to see.
I found Rose in the library (no surprise there) and sighed loudly as I dropped into the seat next to her. She lifted her head with an amused look on her face and said, "What is it, Lena? Got some more boy drama?" Oi! I do not have boy drama!
"First, I have no boy drama! Second, I think I just made my life a living hell."
"Why, what did you do? Didn't hex a Slytherin, did you?"
"No, I'm not that stupid. Or bored."
"Well then what is it?"
"I got into a fight with Emily over how she thought I was after James."
Rose didn't reply; her face was a mixture of shock, amusement and pity. Clearly, even she knew I had practically declared war on myself. She put her quill down slowly and started laughing. Like not a cute, giggly laugh, but one of those crazy, stomach-hurting hyena-type ones.
"Oi Rose, what is so funny?" I shook her arm lightly, now a bit afraid of the psycho woman in front of me.
"You! It's amazing. Most new people slowly settle in, take their time to adjust, especially since you're from France. But you just walked in here and have totally owned the place. You've got a circle of friends, got a guy who likes you, and have even managed to get into a fight with one of the most popular girls in school – your cousin. How many people could do that?"
Now that she put it like that, it did make me think. I had never dreamed of becoming so involved in Hogwarts life; a part of me had always hoped this would just last a year and I'd be back in France, where I belonged. What I didn't expect was to actually fit in, but in the process, distance myself from Emily.
"You're lucky, you know. You may complain, but atleast Liam's interested in you." Rose continued, her eyes now downcast, "Scorpius doesn't even give me a second look. I'm just a friend to him, his best mate's cousin. Nothing more. Do you know how hard it is to see him around school with these stupid girls?|
"Same way I feel about James and Emily." We both sighed simultaneously, taking everything in before I suggested, "Want to go get ice cream? Might do us some good."
She nodded and we slowly got up and packed our things. walking to the kitchens. However, things didn't exactly go so great when we walked by a broom closet, and we heard some noise from within. Rose, being the dutiful prefect, wanted to check it out but I told her it was probably just a couple snogging. She wanted to check anyway, so she blasted the door open and out fell two people.
So I was right. Except those two people were Lily and Aiden. And Rose's face was slowly matching her hair.
"Are you INSANE? What are you TWO doing together? She is two years younger than you, and you, Wood, you…are a manwhore! That's what you are! And you're taking advantage of your best friend's sister. What an idiot! And Lily, don't get me started on you. You are so lucky Al is sucking face with Ari and James has gone Quidditich Nazi because if I was them, you'd be confined right now. How did this even happen? When did it happen?"
"Well Rosie, it went a bit like this….we suddenly found ourselves attracted to each other and then we just started kissing, again and again." Aiden is such an idiot, did I ever tell you that?
"Aiden. shut up. Do you want to piss Rose off some more?" Oops. My mouth seemed to be working on its own. Rose noticed I wasn't exactly freaking out like her and rounded on me.
"Why are you just standing there? Did you know about this? Oh my merlin, you did, didn't you? Why didn't you ever tell me? What sort of friend does that? My baby cousin and Hogwarts' biggest playboy, seriously?|
Let me tell you one thing: I never want to be found guilty by Rose Weasley again. She was actually scaring me right now, with her wide blue eyes darting angrily between us three, and one finger pointing directly at me. Seriously, Emily should take a lesson from her in how to scare a person. She'd really learn a thing or two.
Even Aiden looked slightly frightened now; I could only imagine what it would be like for him when James and Al found out.
"And just because I'm not hexing you Aiden does not mean I'm okay with this. I'm giving you a warning; my family won't go so easy on you. James is the most protective of them all. He will cut you off as a best friend, I'm telling you. But if you want to take that risk, fine, go ahead," she said simply, before leaving to walk away.
"You won't tell them, would you?" Lily cried out, her voice etched with worry and panic.
Rose gave her a slightly disgusted look and shook her head before walking away. I didn't follow her immediately. Lily slumped against the wall in dismay whilst Aiden rubber her back soothingly. It was sort of strange to see him all sweet like this.
I didn't' know what to say to them. It wasn't as if I felt differently to Rose on the subject. But she was Lily's cousin. So I shrugged helplessly and followed the angry redhead who had stomped off just a few minutes ago.
I found her at the kitchens, furiously scooping out the ice-cream we were supposed to get in the first place.
"Seriously, Lena, I mean how could you not tell me? Lily is my baby cousin and we all know she's a big fan of boys, but surely you could have told me that she was having a thing with Aiden. Aiden Wood! Most other guys, I don't mind. I mean I love him and all, but how am I supposed to hide this? Especially when I don't support her decision. Aiden will break her heart, you know that. He will cheat on her or something equally stupid."
Okay, now she was just being inconsiderate. And I really wanted to show her a piece of my mind.
"Rose, stop it! You don't even fully understand their situation and you're just making fucking assumptions about them. Whether you like it or not, Aiden cares for Lily. Maybe you're just jealous that whilst Aiden has done something about his feelings, you haven't gotten anywhere with Scorpius."
I knew the moment I said it, I regretted it. Wow, I really seemed to have a big mouth today, didn't I? First with Emily, and now with Rose. I didn't think she could believe what I had said at first and stared at me in shock, before glaring at me and stomping out again. So I don't think I was going to be talking to her anytime soon.
I was about to leave the kitchens when Al and Ari stumbled in, giggling and arms wrapped around each other. Well, it's nice to know some people were happy. Uggh, he even gave her a kiss on the nose. How disgustingly cute. I slipped out, without interrupting their little love fest, and walked moodily back to the tower. Then I realized that I was sharing a room with a friend who wasn't talking to me, her cousin who she was mad at and said cousin's best friend. Great.
Okay I'm guessing some of you probably have some complaints about this story. I was away on holiday and couldnt' update, but hope this was satisfying enough! To be honest, I'm sort of annoyed at some of the characters as well. Up until now, I quite liked everyone but I guess I've become like the rest of you *sigh*. Yes, Lily is being a bit whiny and needs to face up to what she's doing, Rose is being a bit of a drama queen, Emily's being a bit of a bitch and even Lena's got a mean streak. I guess this is all part of making a long story; your character develops more flaws along with the plotline. I hope you guys are enjoying this story so far, I think that in maybe 4 chapters, I'll be about halfway I hope. But let's see. Thanks for being amazing readers and please review! - Vanillaberries
