Magnetism

RLRB Fan Fiction

Harry Potter

ObsessiveDevil23

Chapter 14 -

Over a month slipped by uneventfully and things seemed to be settling into a rhythm. Remus and Sirius were still barely talking and were making every excuse in the book not to be left alone with each other, which shouldn't have been too difficult considering they both had partners, except they both seemed pretty intent on ignoring them as well. After one awful moment when it looked like they were going to use James as a human carrier pigeon and talk to each other through him, James had quickly decided to remove himself from the equation. It meant James had found himself much closer to Lily once more, when he jumped away from Remus and Sirius, and decided to join her study group one weekend, which she held with Mary McDonald and two Hufflepuff's named Bertha and Florence, in the library.

James had spent most of the group realising he needed extra help in Charms, and then reassuring Lily that Sirius was just being an idiot, there was no other girl, and he would come to his senses soon enough and stop ignoring her. He hadn't realised how insecure the girl was in her relationship, but had decided to berate Sirius about it if he didn't come to his senses before long. Then Florence had asked if he knew whether Hansel was interested in anyone, and James had said he didn't think so, and before he knew it word had spread that James was to be the gay-best-friend slash relationship advisor to every chick in the school. Since then he had spent most of his time answering questions about how men's brains worked to besotted young women; and then Freddy Prescott approached him.

James had always been a little wary of Freddy; they were friendly, and James had no issue with the guy, but he'd never quite moved past finding he and Remus making out in a supplies closet in their third year. Plus, Freddy was the most out-and-proud guy a school, who basically wore a Pride flag as a cape at the weekend and was always recruiting more people to embrace the pleasures of being openly gay. Which was in no way an issue, just it wasn't the type of guy that James was – he generally preferred to be more subtle. He hadn't put much thought into what openly dating Severus would result it, and that had turned out the whole Hargreaves situation. James wasn't in any hurry to repeat it.

He'd shot the boy's offer to run a gay men's singles night to the ground very quickly, but somehow ended up promising to attend the next meeting for the gay community within Hogwarts, and promising to attempt to get Severus to come along as well. James had left the encounter thinking Freddy was crazy for wanting Severus there, and knowing full well if he even bought it up Severus would laugh in his face.

It all boiled down to over a month passing without the usual distractions of his two best friends, and constant reminders of Severus – who was becoming increasingly busy with preparations for end of term exams, and the extra work he was doing on Wolf's Bane. The Christmas holidays were fast approaching, and James found himself sat in the common room, staring out the window at the snow that was piling up in the grounds.

He'd taken a perch on the window seat, and was attempting to ignore the stares he was receiving from the majority of the other Gryffindor's in the room. He knew why he was receiving them – the jumper he had decided to wear in order to keep the chill out was about as Slytherin as you could get – a deep green woollen round-neck with a big silver 'S' stitched to the front. James' mother had made it for Severus for his birthday back in January, the 'S' standing for Severus, but the boy had recently outgrown it, and so James had made it a habit of stealing the knitted warmth – mostly because every time he did it made Severus' smile. Now he was deep in thought about the last Christmas break they had shared together – how Severus had spent the holidays with them, how he had ordered James to touch himself in the cave in Broadsands Bay, how it had sparked a whole different direction for Severus' orders to go, and how he had seemed to be genuinely delighted in sharing Christmas with everybody.

James was mostly focusing on the cave though, and Severus' black eyes staring at him as he palmed his dick. He thought about how embarrassed he'd been, and how Severus' had touched him and ghosted his fingers over his entrance and James had come hard against the rock. Then he thought about how little over a month ago he'd come against Severus' leg when he'd been spanked in the Quidditch Pitch. He could see the stands of the pitch from his perch in Gryffindor Tower and every time the team went out to practice he was reminded of the punishment he had received there. He'd never really thought of himself as particularly kinky before he started his relationship with Severus, but the more they did, the more James realised how much he craved being ordered about by the man, or praised when he did something well – the spanking had just been another form of that; first Severus showed James exactly how easy it was to manhandle him and hold power over him, and then he praised James for taking it so well.

James pouted when he realised that even with the very first order Severus had given him, to make a love potion, James had strived to do it to the best of his ability, and had been disappointed when he'd done such a poor job. Had that all been because he had subconsciously wished to please Severus? He'd done every order to the best he could, and never slacked off a task even if Severus would have no way of knowing whether he completed it or not.

Severus' words came back to him again – I have always belonged to you.

James was beginning to think the same was true for him. Had he always strived to get Severus' attention? Was his bullying seriously the equivalent of pulling a little girls pig-tails?

He sighed at the thought. He had been very deep in denial if that was the case. He had treated Severus appallingly and he couldn't try and justify it now. He had genuinely found Severus' repulsive, and now he couldn't get enough of him. Either Severus aged like a fine wine, or James had matured enough to realise that looks weren't everything; and all it took was contracting a terminal disease to do it.

Jinx jumped on to his lap and he stroked a hand through her long tabby fur fondly. He was feeling incredibly melancholy because of the cold weather and the lack of his two best friends, and seeing the tabby kitten made his heart clench painfully even as he revelled in her love and attention. He'd only asked for her because she was a cat. He had originally wanted an owl – he had had an owl before, and they were incredibly intelligent, useful animals, but when he was in the store, choosing a pet with his mother fussing about how he'd been made Quidditch Captain despite Cinis, Jinx; the non-magical tabby kitten, had stuck out to him.

Because she was a cat. And cat's catch mice.

He frowned. He really missed Wormtail. He was devastated that the boy had turned Death Eater, and didn't know what he would do if he ever actually saw the fourth Marauder again, but Pete had been a good friend, and always knew how to get them to stop fighting. James missed his witty comebacks and his ability to always have an excuse on hand, should they get caught playing a prank. He missed how awed he'd get watching James and Sirius play Quidditch, and how much he would gloat in Potions when Slughorn would begrudgingly tell him he'd done a good job.

James had spent a good portion of the summer holidays wishing he was just having a dream, or that Pete would show up on his door step with his signature cheeky grin and a 'Just kidding, in actual fact I was just spying on You-Know-Who and I got way too into character!'. But it never happened, and eventually James had had to admit that Pete wasn't coming back. So he got a cat. It was the only symbolic thing he could think of to drive it home that Pete was not a Marauder any longer, and now every time he looked at her he was reminded of that fact.

"I cheated on Regulus."

James shifted his legs to make room for Remus on the window seat and the werewolf sat down. The seat was technically too small for both of them and they had to squish up somewhat, but neither of them really minded. The Quidditch Captain frowned at his friend's confession, which had been whispered the moment Remus had come to join him. He glanced over at Sirius, who was sitting with Lily by the fire, where Lily was doing most of the talking. Remus should probably have counted himself lucky Sirius didn't seem to hear him – because it was one thing to secretly be dating the boy's younger brother, but a whole different kettle of fish if he had hurt Regulus in any way.

"That was a stupid thing to do." He finally replied. "You don't want to be with him any more?"

Remus frowned.

"Of course I still want to be with him." He shot back. James shrugged, looking out the window and hugging Jinx closer to his chest, who mewled.

"Then why cheat on him?"

Remus sighed, and ran a hand through his sandy hair, staring out the window.

"It's complicated." He responded after a short while. "I heard you're supposed to be some relationship guru now, what should I do?"

James winced at the comment. The girls were really taking his advice on guys way too far – he was in the most dysfunctional relationship going, he didn't see why the female population of Hogwarts thought he was some sort of expert. He levelled his friend a thoughtful look.

"Why did you cheat on him?" He asked again. Remus sent him a short glare, but sighed.

"I was swept up in adrenaline and something… I don't know, it was almost instinctual… some base need took over me and I slept with someone else." He explained, and James watched as his tongue darted out to wet his lips and he glanced towards the fire place. Suddenly everything seemed to click in to place and he puffed out an agitated breath of air as the puzzle came together. Remus and Sirius weren't talking, and they were ignoring their partners, and now Remus said he cheated on Regulus? Well, damn…

"You love Regulus?" James asked, testing the waters. "He's not some sort of… replacement."

Remus glared at him with full force and James only realised how scary the look was when Jinx leapt off his lap with an affronted meow where he had been squeezing her too hard.

"I love him. That's not the complicated bit. I've been crushing on him for about a year now, I'm very happy in our relationship." The werewolf confessed. "He's not replacing anyone."

James bit his lip.

"Well, this other person you slept with, it was a one time thing, right? If neither of you are interested in taking that any further then just… don't do it again, move on from it and stop taking it out on Regulus because he's confused as to why you're ignoring him." He advised, and then blinked when he realised Remus had squirmed when James surmised it was a one time thing. "Wait, this thing with Si – some other guy, it was just a one time thing, right?"

Remus shrugged.

"We slept together before, last year – we attempted to move on from it then and not mention it again but… like I said, something instinctual took over."

James re-evaluated his thoughts. There was no way in hell Sirius would have slept with Remus more than once. He could see the idiot doing it once, just to see what it was like or whatever, but Sirius was quite clearly not interested in guys, and there was no way either Sirius or Remus would have been able to keep that a secret from him for that amount of time… surely? Perhaps Remus was talking about someone else; it would make more sense, as James couldn't really see kind and studious Remus playing both the Black brothers.

"Maybe it's best if you just don't see that person then?" James suggested, but Remus shook his head. The werewolf didn't elaborate, and James decided not to push for more details. He shrugged. "Then get a hold of your instincts Moony, because if you really love Reg then you wouldn't cheat on him. I suggest you tell him what happened and get down on your knees to beg for his forgiveness."

Remus sent another look towards where Sirius and Lily were by the fire, and James realised he was only looking over there because Regulus was Sirius' younger brother, and there would be hell to pay if Sirius found out Remus had cheated on his darling little bro. That was definitely the reason.

"You're right." Remus said, and made to stand up – James assumed to go find Regulus and shower him in diamonds for being such an idiot and sleeping with someone else, but as he stood a certain seventh year ex-beater approached them.

"Nice jumper Potter, suits a traitor like you."

Remus growled.

"Hargreaves." He greeted coldly, stepping between the seventh year and James, who had stood up at the ex-beaters words. Hargreaves rolled his eyes.

"Calm down Lupin, I'm only here to ask Potter to step down as Quidditch Captain."

Sirius and Lily had crossed the common room in a flash the moment they saw Hargreaves with James, and the rest of the Gryffindor's were looking on with trepidation, having seen a few scenes like this since the school year began. James huffed.

"Why would I do that, Aidan?" He replied. "I told you before, I'm not giving Sev any information, and the team are happy with that. You're not even on the team any more, by your own choice, so leave me alone already." He added, feeling braver than he felt. He took comfort in the fact that they were in the common room, and surrounded by people – Hargreaves might throw a punch, on an insinuation, but he wouldn't touch James untowardly.

Hargreaves snorted.

"Can't very well have a Captain who can't fly though." He replied. James opened his mouth to protest, but Sirius beat him to it.

"James can fly, that was one blip! He's flown in every practice since, and could fly circles around you." He protested. James smiled at the encouraging words. Ever since Severus had basically told the team to keep his confidence up in their first practice, Sirius had been making it a point to tell James on regular occurrences how good he was on a broom.

Hargreaves, however, just sneered.

"I doubt it. But fine, we'll have a race for Captain – an obstacle race to test both skill and speed." He suggested, as if he had just come up with the idea, but James got the impression they'd just been lead in to a trap, and a bombshell of self-doubt hit him in the chest. He wanted to say yes, but what if he didn't win? What if he had another blip and couldn't even get off the ground? He was just as well to hand the Captaincy over then and there.

He gulped.

"I… I don't need to prove myself to you." He replied. Hargreaves rose an eyebrow, and fished an envelope out of his pocket. He handed it to James with a smirk.

"Agree to the race, Potter." He commanded, and the tone sent a shiver down James' spine. He opened the envelope and shook out what was inside, but as soon as he looked at it he pushed it back in, paling considerably.

"How did you get this?" He asked. Hargreaves only continued to smirk.

"Stuck around after I left the pitch and watched the practice from the sidelines, but I saw everything. You know I've got copies and I will spread them about should you say no to this race."

James could feel humiliation coursing through him, and curls of anger in his stomach. The photo Hargreaves had produced this time had been developed magically, and showed James over Severus' lap, ass bare as Severus' spanked him, and the flushed look of arousal on James' face as he cried out was unmistakeable. What was worse was that Hargreaves had been there in person, and had witnessed everything, and taken photos. James felt dirty and violated at the thought. Something that should have been private between he and Severus had been witnessed and was now being used as blackmail. And Merlin knows what else Hargreaves was doing with the photos in private.

He wanted to curse Hargreaves and demand he give him every copy of the photo, but he also wanted to go and give Severus a piece of his mind for convincing him that they should do that in a public place. He had known at the time it was risky – and now he knew that they had been watched by a perverted, blackmailing ass-wipe.

"How do I know you wont just keep using this against me?" He asked, ignoring the questioning glances he was receiving from his friends and other Gryffindors. Hargreaves held out his hands like he was being gracious. He grabbed a cardboard box full of parchment a first year had been using for doing some homework, and shook out the paper. He then pulled out wads of more photographs from his robes and placed them in the box. James recognised some as the photos he had used to make out that James was a man-slut, and others he had the decency to turn down, but James had glanced at them long enough when they were being placed in to realise they were from the Quidditch Pitch, and hoped nobody else was looking too closely.

"I place these pictures in the box as symbolism of all the blackmail material I have on James Potter, and swear that should I loose the race, they, and all they symbolise, will burn to ashes." He stated. "Now Potter, you put in your wager."

James had seen this type of magic before: betting magic. You put your wager in the box and said the words, and the box would make sure you held your end of the deal. He nodded. This he could do. He pulled the captains badge from his robes and placed it in the box with the photos of himself.

"I place this badge in the box as symbolism of my claim to Captaincy, and swear that should I loose the race, it, and all it symbolises will belong to Aidan Hargreaves." He stated. Aidan placed the lid on the box and it glowed gold before sealing itself shut. No one would be able to open it until the race was over and victor was proclaimed.

James clutched the envelope with the blackmail in it close to his chest, this suddenly felt like a very bad idea.

Hargreaves smirked, looking around at the assembled crowd of Gryffindors.

"Great – I'll see you on the Pitch this Friday, before the holidays."

James bit his lip.

"F-Friday?" He asked. Hargreaves nodded, and Hansel stepped forward from the crowd.

"Friday's your potion day." He stated to James, like the Quidditch Captain would need reminding. James was always weaker on Friday's than any other day, but he also knew that Hargreaves could set any terms for this race, because he had all the blackmail he needed until James won. If James won.

He nodded.

"Friday. See you on the pitch."