As Gryffindor's penultimate match of the season approached, this year against Slytherin with the Cup on the line, James Potter narrowly completed another pass of the Quaffle before he was thumped hard in the lower back by a Bludger. Pitching forward sharply and narrowly maintaining his grip on his broom, he whistled the play to a halt as Maggie Brinkley's shot toward the left hoop was saved.
Whipping his head around, James saw his two Beaters shouting at one another. "Oi! Break it up!" he shouted.
Sirius scowled at his compatriot as James rapidly closed the distance between them.
"Bloody waste of our final play," the dark-haired Captain barked. "Which of you decided it'd make a brilliant finish to hit me in the back?"
Sirius crossed his arms and stared pointedly at Rafe.
"Spurling?"
The fifth-year shrugged. "Sorry…"
"Hell," James snapped. "What's wrong with you today? You've been a nightmare with a bat. I haven't seen you this bad since your first match."
"I don't know…O.W.L.s maybe…I've not got much sleep lately…"
James let his irritation ebb before responding. "Well just sort yourself out mate. We've got the Cup on the line. We can't afford these mistakes against Slytherin."
Rafe nodded, accepting pats on the back from James and Sirius before diving for the ground to join the rest of the team.
James turned to his long-haired best friend. "You wanted to talk after practice?"
Sirius looked away, his features uncharacteristically solemn.
"Well get on with it," James said tersely.
"I'm sorry, alright?" Sirius replied quickly.
"Excuse me?"
"I said I'm sorry," the Beater repeated. "You know, for the blowing up at you. For the past two weeks. I was in a bad spot and I went out of bounds."
James nodded slowly. "Appreciate it, Padfoot. But you know I'm not the only person you owe an apology…"
"I know."
"You're lucky she's cooled off a bit."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," James said pointedly.
"Well, I'll figure it out. Make things right somehow. Any suggestions?"
"Starting the conversation with I'm sorry is probably the best one. And don't make any excuses."
"Right. So we can put this behind us then? Get back to normal?"
"Course mate. That's all I ever needed to hear. I was getting a bit worried it'd drug on this long."
"You know how I am with apologies Prongs."
"You mean how you never give them?" James chuckled.
Sirius harrumphed.
"I do want you to do me a favor too…assuming Katie's okay with it," James ventured.
The long-haired wizard hung his head. "Do I want to know?"
"Course you do. It's nothing terrible. Just want you to double with us to Hogsmeade next weekend."
"I don't know…"
"And I want you to try and take it seriously. You know, put in some effort. Be a gentleman for once."
Sirius shot James a perturbed glare. "Who's the witch?"
"Don't worry about it. If it's on, Katie'll set it up."
"She'll set it up? The way she's feeling toward me, she might set me up with a hag!"
"All the more reason to be sincere when you deliver that apology."
"Right."
"It'll be good for you, Padfoot…" James said firmly, trailing off as he dove toward the ground.
"Yeah. Worrying about witches. Just what I need," Sirius deadpanned, shaking his head and exhaling before he swiftly followed suit.
After dinner, James found himself flopped out on the soft cushions of a couch in the Gryffindor Common Room. One hand held a well-worn book titled Ministry Manual for Quidditch B Badge Candidates, while the other rested comfortably on his girlfriend's hip. Katie was snuggled into him closely as she pored over their Defense Against the Dark Arts text. Even without seeing her face, he could picture it in his mind perfectly. Her pale blue eyes were doubtless laced with determination, her brow and nose slightly scrunched as she read the passages before her. Of course, the pages hadn't turned in a few minutes. Perhaps she was re-reading now, the left side of her mouth twitching in consternation at whatever part of the text was vexing her. Sighing he tossed the manual unceremoniously onto the table where it landed with a loud thump.
Startled, Katie sat up and closed her book. She looked back at James, who had seized the opportunity to slide into a more upright position, his arm now resting idly on the arm of the couch behind him.
"You were distracting me," he said with a shrug and a playful smile.
Katie frowned. "How was I distracting you? I was minding my own business reading when you threw that brick onto the table," she grumbled, gesturing toward the large manual laying before them. "Now I've lost my place," she huffed.
"Just forget it. You don't have to have that bit read for days."
"Easy for you to say. You're a master duelist. Some of us are actually sweating our marks in this little tournament Osorio's setting up."
"Let me help you then…" James insisted.
Katie sighed. "I've already told you–"
"I know, I know," James interrupted. "You don't want my help. You want to do it all on your own. It's not a crime asking you know…"
"I'm well aware," she replied tersely. "But I'm not going use my talented boyfriend to improve my marks."
"Katie…" he started, fixing her with a reproaching stare, "it's hardly using me when I'm offering."
She sighed. "I know…I just…I need to be able to do it on my own. We've been over this and you've said you'd accept it," she warned.
"Alright!" he exclaimed, raising his hands in surrender.
Two hours later, Katie was lost in her third time reading about the comparative advantage and disadvantages of the Serpent Pose when she heard a light snore. Easing herself out of James's light grip, she closed the book and sat up, turning her head to check on him. The arm holding the manual was now hanging fully extended off the edge of the couch, the binding of the book itself nearly touching the stone floor. Her boyfriend's glasses were slightly askew on his face, his hazel eyes hidden behind closed eyelids as he lightly dozed. Slowly she reached up and eased his silver frames off his face, folding them carefully and laying them on the table. Leaning down, she gently extracted the manual from his hand and set it next to the glasses. Still, he slumbered on.
Katie rubbed her own eyes. She could hardly blame him. It must be terribly late by now and with practice earlier in the day and her promise to catch up with Marie and Renee before studying, they had gotten a late start. She smiled contentedly, wondering how she had gotten so lucky. Of course, that drew her thoughts right back to the earlier conversation. For so long her friends had been happy for her about James, even if they were a bit worried around the three month mark. Now though, they seemed to have cooled. To Katie, their relationship was better than ever and just before summer they would celebrate six months together. Still, it was exactly that milestone which Marie and Renee claimed gave them pause. And tonight wasn't the first time they had said so. While she had hidden it well, their concern had been niggling at her since it was first voiced a little over a month ago. Nervously, Katie looked around the common room and was pleased to find it empty. She gently shook her boyfriend by the shoulder.
"Wha-a?" James asked groggily. He scrunched his face momentarily before rubbing his eyes.
"I'm sorry to wake you," Katie said softly. "I just…there's something I wanted to talk about before going to bed."
Shaking his head clear, James grabbed his glasses from the table and planted them back on his face. "Okay."
Katie paused, unsure how to begin. She fidgeted on the couch, adjusting her position and then her skirt.
"Hey," he prodded, "what's wrong?"
She looked away. "It's…ugh!" Katie groaned. "I told them I should just let it happen naturally…"
"Them?" James asked, scratching his head.
"Oh…Marie and Renee."
James inhaled deeply. "Been talking about me have you?"
"Some…don't let it go to your head though," she warned.
"Me? Never…"
"Cheeky git," Katie said, swatting his shoulder.
"And I take it that this mysterious 'it' is what you wanted to talk about?"
"Sort of. I guess it's just that summer's almost here. And I know things are different for us because we live in the same place, but I do still wonder…" she trailed off. "Merlin. I sound like such a typical witch right now…"
James let the short-lived silence fill the air as he watched his normally composed girlfriend fiddle nervously with her hair.
"I guess I just need to know where we stand," she said finally. "And where we're headed. We've been together almost six months now, and next year is our last at Hogwarts–" she rambled on.
"Katie," James interrupted. "Slow down."
Katie looked down briefly as she felt her face flush. "Right. Sorry," she said sheepishly, raising only her eyes to meet his.
"Don't apologize," he said gently. "Where do you want me to start?"
"Where we stand, I guess?"
"Well…I hope you know by now I think you're brilliant. Independent. Witty. And of course beautiful…"
"I'm not looking for flattery James," she said, crossing her arms. "This is serious."
"I'm being serious!" he defended.
"Well I want to know about us. Not me."
"Fine!" James replied quickly. "I mean…I can't speak for you, but I think they've been great. Better than ever lately. More times than I'd care to admit, I've faded out on girls when we got into more of a routine. You've been…different. It's like…comfortable has been better this time."
"What do you mean?"
"Like tonight. We were both laying here, but we were doing completely different things. It would've driven me crazy before, but with you I actually enjoyed it."
Katie's nerves started to ease a bit. "I liked it too," she said quietly. "Between our friends, our homework, and Quidditch we don't get much quiet time like that. Not just us anyway."
"Yeah…I suppose that's mostly my fault…"
"It's fine James," she reassured him.
"But you want more nights like tonight?"
"Maybe a few more here and there…" she offered.
James nodded. "Alright."
"So what about summer?"
"Well it'll be great right? I mean, we can see each other as much as we want…assuming your dad lets us. And Sirius doesn't act like berk."
"Don't say that name to me," Katie said sharply.
"Hey! I told you he's going to apologize!"
"And when he does, you can bring him up again," she grumped.
"Anyway, I'm looking forward to it. We'll do loads of great stuff. No class, no homework, just free time–"
Katie scoffed. "Well some of us do have obligations, you know. I don't have a house elf," she said loftily.
"I suppose you'll just have to borrow me then."
"You're going to help me with housework?" she asked skeptically.
"Well, to be honest I don't know much of anything about it. But maybe I'd learn something, right?"
Katie laughed. "You're enough of a dolt to volunteer to do housework. I'd say you've got a lot to learn."
"A dolt?!"
"Don't be sore," she soothed, leaning forward to kiss James tenderly on the lips.
The dark-haired wizard harrumphed, crossing his arms and donning a fake pout.
"Poor thing," Katie teased, kissing him again, this time on the cheek he had turned away from her. "You may be a dolt, but you're my dolt."
James relented, turning back towards his girlfriend. "I suppose there are worse things to be…"
"Yes…you could be an occasionally immature prankster who's always winding up in detention..." she jabbed.
James scowled.
Katie giggled, her concerns far away from her conscious mind as she enjoyed their playful banter. She laughed louder as James turned away from her again. When he failed to respond to her verbal entreaties, she reached around with an arm, trying to pull him toward her. "Hey you! Come back!" she demanded.
James stuck his nose in the air. "Why come back where I'm clearly not appreciated?"
"Fine then, two can play at that game," Katie shot back, picking up her forgotten book and opening it to read further. For a minute or two she watched James out of the corner of her eye, waiting for him to do something, but when two minutes grew into three, she decided he was testing her. If he wanted to see who would break first, she could be stubborn…
Suddenly, she was laughing again as her boyfriend's fingers tickled her ribs mercilessly.
"Hey! Th-a-at's not…tha-t's not…f-fair!" she yelped between fits of uncontrollable giggling.
"Say you're sorry," James smirked.
"I…I…n-never!" she protested.
The tickling increased and her book flopped onto the floor with a loud thump. "Ja-Ja-mes! S-st-st-op!" she insisted.
"Say you're sorry," he repeated firmly, pressing his arms in closer as she tried to ball herself up to protect against the onslaught.
"Let me…le-et me br-breathe then!" she gasped out.
As soon as it had begun, the tickling stopped, though she could feel James's fingers were still close enough to strike again. "I'm sorry," she said, putting on her most innocent and contrite face for him. "Besides, you know I love you."
For Katie, time immediately stood still. Her cheeks, already flushed from tickling, burned as she felt heat rise to her face. What was she thinking? How could she have been so stupid? She had been careful all night, even during their conversation and then to let it slip out like that. Her eyes immediately searched James's. He was surprised at her spontaneous confession. That much was clear. But almost immediately that emotion was replaced by another look she didn't recognize. His mouth broke into a broad smile.
"I love you too," he said simply, using his strong arms to pull her up and into his waiting kiss. When they broke apart, the two Gryffindors simply stared at one another for a moment before Katie eased herself into her boyfriend's arms, resting her tired head on his chest. Together they shared a blissful silence, enjoying the feeling of what each could now freely call the other's loving embrace.
A/N: First of all, my sincere apologies for the lengthy delay in updating. Earlier on in the year I took on two writing challenges whose deadlines recently passed or are about to do so and in order to finish them on time and do them justice, I had to prioritize those pieces for awhile. Still, I think that those of you who have been enjoying this story will ultimately reap the benefits of that effort and this wait, because the challenges really pushed my writing ability and forced me to grow in a number of areas that I think will serve this piece too.
The challenges also explain why this chapter is a bit shorter than the last few have been. While I had always planned to write these two scenes next as I felt they were both due, I wrestled with both of them and did a lot of writing, editing, deleting, and re-writing in here as I tried to strike the proper tone and progression and as I tried to transition back into the style of this piece. That also made me decide to split the chapter I had originally planned here into pieces, leaving the next three or four scenes until Chapter 26 where they can be more fully developed and hopefully more impactful.
Thank you all for your patience and for your continued support of this story during the time I stepped away. It is still crazy to me that this has managed to get over 6,000 reads and I owe all that to you! Accordingly, my hope is to resume the previous updating schedule for this story of about 3-7 days per chapter. We will see how that goes, but rest assured that I am going to keep going with this until it is finished, though that is obviously a long way off. Despite a raging idea for another novel that just won't leave me alone, I will also unequivocally promise that I will not even start writing that until this one is finished, just because I owe you all that debt of loyalty. So stay tuned for more Evolution and more rapid updates in the near future!