"Listen boy
I'm sure that you think you got it all under control
You don't want somebody telling you
The way to stay in someone's soul
You're a big boy now, you'll never let her go
But that's just the kind of thing
She ought to know
Tell her about it, tell her everything you feel
Give her every reason to accept
That you're for real"

-Billy Joel


Flashback

"James! Linden's here!" he heard Lily call from downstairs. Perfect timing. He had just finished stuffing all the junk on his floor into his closet so he wouldn't get in trouble later for not cleaning up his room. He never understood why his mother made him clean his room when Linden came over. She never made him clean for anyone else, and it wasn't like he had a reputation for being the most organized teenager on the planet anyway. He was also pretty sure that his parents would not allow Linden up to his room, so he didn't see the importance in cleaning it. But he guessed it would be a nice touch for when he asked her to be his girlfriend after dinner tonight. If she tried to say he was too messy or something, he would simply show her the room that he had cleaned and she couldn't say no. Not that he thought she'd say no, but sometimes you just never knew with girls; or more specifically, sometimes he just never knew with girls. "Are you coming down or what?"

He turned out the light and closed the door before making his way downstairs. James loved the feeling of home that his house always had. There was always the constant sound of Lily's dog Gideon; whether he was puttering across their wooden floors, barking at something, or just moving around and making the bell on his collar jingle. At first James had despised Teddy for getting her the little fur ball, but Gideon had turned out to be a great addition to the Potter clan. It just wouldn't be a complete house without that dog. James could smell the food his mom was cooking in the kitchen, and could hear his dad and Al arguing over Quidditch stats and games, and heard Lily and Linden giggling in the sitting room about something or the other.

He really liked the relationship that Linden and Lily had formed. He honestly trusted Linden with Lily's life, and that was saying a lot. Lily really looked up to her, and he thought that was great because of the other choices of role models young girls at Hogwarts had these days. Linden was one of few girls more focused on school than boys, and she had respect for herself, which couldn't be said for a lot of girls his age. Then there was the added fact that Linden adored Lily. At first he had volunteered Linden to check on Lily because she was the only girl he knew that would do him a favor, but over time she had seemed to enjoy spending time with his little sister

"What are you two always giggling about? Are you talking about me?" he said as he entered the room.

"Get over yourself James," Linden answered, "Lily was just telling me about her summer and all that I'd missed since I last saw her."

"You guys covered all of that in the time it took me to close my door and come downstairs?"

"Yes." They answered together, before bursting into another round of giggles. He rolled his eyes before walking over to Linden and giving her a hug, causing Gideon to jump down and run off towards the kitchen. He hadn't seen Linden in about two months, and he was glad to see that nothing had really changed. Or nothing that he could see anyway. She had a tan that made her blonde hair look ever brighter, but she was still Linden. Very well kept, very pretty, very consistent. He liked that about her.

She scooted over on the couch so that he could sit next to her and he took that as a good sign, except the thought of being that close to her made him nervous and clammy. She patted the spot next to her on the couch and he tried to sit as casually as possible, trying not to hit anything as he draped his arm around her shoulders. She automatically leaned into him, and it was a good feeling that he could get used to. He looked over to make sure it was ok with her, and she smiled warmly at him in response. Linden had smiled at him many times since they'd known each other, but this smile was different. It made his stomach churn and his hands tingle, and he just wanted her to be his already. Now he was acting like one of those sappy dopes that couldn't keep his cool around a girl. Great.

"Aww, you guys are so adorable. I can't wait until a boy looks at me like that." Lily cooed from the arm chair she was seated in. He looked over to Linden who blushed uncomfortably, and moved his arm from around her.

"Hey people!" Al said as he entered the room. He mussed Lily's hair before doing some weird little handshake with Linden that they always did. The two of them were close as well, and Linden was one of few girls that could talk Quidditch and Academics with his dorky, yet somehow cool little brother. "How's it going Linden? I feel like I just walked in on a really awkward moment." Leave it to Lily to ruin a moment and Al to follow it up and announce it publicly.

"Nothing awkward here." Linden answered. "I'm so glad I get to see you guys again, it's been oddly quiet without you and Lily this summer."

"Hey, what about me?" James asked. He was beginning to think she liked his family more than she liked him. Not that he thought she liked him, but you know, he had sort of suspected that she felt something more than a connection with his little brother and sister.

"I'm glad to see you too, obviously, but I see you all of the time. I rarely see Al and Lily."

"Not true."

"True. We spend three fourths of our time together at Hogwarts and I see you at Hollis' every summer. That's a lot."

"A lot? Is that a bad thing?" he asked nervously. He didn't want her to think he was overcrowding her or suffocating her.

"Did I say that it was a bad thing?" she asked in that defensive voice she used to use when they would argue. "I was just proving a point."

"Fine. Point proven."

"Fine." No one in the room spoke after that and it was probably the first time the four of them had been in a room together and had been uncomfortable. He didn't know what his problem was, or why he was arguing with her. It just seemed like he liked her more than she liked him, and that made him feel a bit stupid. He thought that the two of them were making progress towards a relationship, not becoming great family friends.

"Look, I didn't come in here to start any trouble," Al said quickly, "I just came to say dinner's ready."

"You didn't start any trouble." Linden said easily. She walked out of the room behind Al and greeted his parents. He pinched the bridge of his nose frustratedly and made to walk into the dining room until he was stopped by his sister.

"What the heck are you doing?"

"Me? Lily, she's being –"

"Her normal self, you're the one acting like a weirdo. I thought you had decided you liked her!"

"I did, I mean I do, I just don't know how to act around her now that I've come to terms with it."

"Act normal, idiot. Don't screw this up."

"Yeah, cause you're the one that'll be losing everything here." He said sarcastically before joining everyone else in the dining room. His sister took a seat next to Al, leaving him to sit between Linden and his mother.

"This all looks so good!" Linden said politely.

"Yeah, it looks great mom."

"Thank you guys." Everyone began eating except for Linden, who looked a tad uncomfortable as she folded a napkin in her lap. "You'll have to excuse my family, they see food and attack it. I promise you they have manners somewhere."

"Oh it's no problem, Ginny. There's never a dull moment with you guys, and it's much different than where I grew up." Ginny? Since when did she get along with his mom?

"I'm sure." James replied, earning a stomp on the foot from his mother. "So Love, what did you do this summer?"

"Love?" his dad asked with a smirk, "I didn't know you guys were dating."

"We're not!" James yelled quickly. His dad was seriously trying to kill him. This was not a conversation to be had at the dinner table.

"We're not dating Harry, James has called me that since the first day we met. It's my middle name."

"That's a pretty name." His mom answered.

"Thanks, James has sort of made me forget how unique it is, he uses it so much."

"I don't call you that all of the time."

"When have you ever called her Linden?" Al asked.

"All of the time."

"Yeah, in your head."

James couldn't think of a good response and simply rolled his eyes at his brothers stupid comments. He had done a great job of making it look like James thought of Linden every waking second or something, which was not exactly true. Everyone went back to eating and James was thankful that conversation had ceased for the time being. He had no clue why he was being so uncool today. He was a smooth, easy-going guy, but ever since he had started liking Linden he had become agitated and jumpy. He had planned out 50 million ways to ask her out, or bring it up at all, and this was not how he'd expected this day to go. It was like everything about her was the same, except for the fact that he liked her, and because of that he was trying too hard to not let it show. Coincidentally, it had made him act like a complete ass.

"Ginny, I'm sure you get this a lot, but your hair is amazing! How do you get it so straight and shiny?" Linden asked, ending the silence in the room.

"The trick is to let it air dry halfway, put in produt, then use a blow dryer or your wand on cool to dry it the rest of the way. It makes it really shiny and locks in the straight style."

"Really? That's amazing, I've always thought you needed heat."

"Heat is the last thing your hair needs honey. I swear Molly is going to fry out all of that gorgeous hair if she doesn't quit straightening it." The girls giggled and chatted and James had no clue what they were talking about.

"This is riveting stuff ladies," his dad joked, "I can't wait to try out this new blow drying regimen."

"Maybe you should try it out babe, those grays are looking a little dull."

"Potter's don't gray Gin. Right Lily?"

"Right."

"Ugh," Al complained, "Enough talk about hair and stuff, it's so boring!"

"Oh shut up Albie, you're just mad because order has been restored and there's an equal amount of boys and girls in this house now."

"Order hasn't been restored, you've always been outnumbered. Especially when Teddy lived here."

"This is true." James added, finally relaxing. It was much easier to be himself when he and Linden weren't speaking to each other directly.

"Well maybe I should come over more often and even things out a bit." Linden said.

"Yes!" Lily screamed, "They're only behaving because you're here. We've never made it this far through dinner without a burping contest or at least one spitball or-"

"She's being dramatic, we aren't that bad."

"You are that bad! We definitely need more girls around here and this is a perfect start. If James would hurry up and ask Lindy out, we could see her more." Lily said. James dropped his fork but Linden only smiled. She was probably laughing at the thought of someone like him liking a girl as perfect as her.

"Lily, what have I told you about reaching?"

"Sorry, isn't it obvious though?" she asked, making Linden and everyone else start laughing for real. They were laughing at him in front of Linden. This was the worst. "They like each other, mom!"

"I don't like Linden, and we aren't dating! She's just a friend and we are not dating. Right Love?" he asked.

"Right." She said quietly.

"See? I'm glad we got that all cleared up."

"Me too. You know what? I should really be going."

"No, stay!" Lily begged, "I'm sorry I said all of that stuff, I was just joking."

"It's fine Lily, I swear. I know you were kidding, I just lost track of time."

"Where do you have to go?" James asked.

"Dinner was great Mrs. Potter, thanks for having me." She said, ignoring his question.

"Do you want me to walk you to wherever you're going?"

"No, it's too far."

"How far is too far? If it's that far I can't let you go alone-"

"Mr. Potter, could you apparate me please?" James didn't understand what had happened that was so bad that she had to leave, but his dad had barely agreed to apparate her before she was walking out of the door. James got up from his seat and followed them out of the front door, but by the time he got to the front step, the two of them had already vanished into thin air. What was his problem? Why couldn't he just be himself around Linden anymore? He yelled at her in front of his entire family and blurted out that he didn't like her. That was clearly not true, and she had to know that right? He wanted to ask her out, he just didn't want it all to go down with his parents in the room. She couldn't possibly think he really wanted to just be her friend; not after all they'd been through and all they had accomplished. She knew him better than anyone ever would and she was perfect for him, and he was just a huge idiot. He was about to kick himself until he heard a pop, but it was just his dad coming back.

"Is she ok?" he asked.

"She's fine James. Why don't we go back inside?" His dad squeezed his shoulder in that 'you really screwed up now' way that dad's do. He followed his dad back into the kitchen where the rest of his family was eerily quiet.

"James, you're a bloody fucking idiot."

"Language, Al." his mom said as she glared at the younger brother.

"I mean, I don't even know what the hell I did." His parents shared one of the weird looks like they knew a huge secret. He hated it when they did that. "What? I truly don't understand what I did wrong!"

"I know you don't," his mom said sympathetically, "Potter men can be hopelessly clueless when it comes to women. It will all work out in time, buddy. Don't worry."


Thanks to that tragic evening, the start of James' 5th year at Hogwarts had been bleak. This was supposed to be the year everything was perfect. He was supposed to have the friends, the status of being an upperclassmen, and the girl. His girl. Since he had invited Linden over to his house, the status of his friendship with Linden had been questionable. Mostly he was embarrassed about the way he had acted. He had completely frozen up around Linden and literally told her he did not want to be with her in front of his parents. Now they were one month into the school year and things couldn't be going any worse. He had barely seen Linden, let alone had the opportunity to apologize for being an idiot. She hadn't even spent much time with his brother and sister, so he couldn't ask them what was up with her or get their help. Even Hollis hadn't seen much of her and she was the last person James would ever ask for anything. Luckily, Carter was going to help him out.

"Mate, you really stepped in it this time."

"Please don't remind me, Thomas. I have the memory permanently burned into my brain. So is she going to come sit with us at lunch today?"

"Yes, Hollis is bringing her down now. She had to tell her you got food poisoning to get her to go so you better talk fast when she sees you walk in the door."

"Ugh, this is just like last time."

"Yeah, you yelled at her then too. You're going to have to get a grip on your emotions if you plan on ever getting out of friend zone with Linden. You do like her don't you?"

"Obviously."

"Then just be yourself! She likes you, so changing who you are to impress her makes absolutely no sense. You keep trying to act tough like liking her doesn't affect you, but it does and you should let her see that. Do that, and she won't be able to resist you." He said cockily, as if he was some sort of girl guru.

"How do you know that?"

"Who's the one with the girlfriend here?" Carter asked mockingly.

"You are."

"And who's the single idiot that keeps screwing up and getting his foot stuck in his mouth."

"Alright, alright, I'll be myself. This better work or you won't hear the end of it Casanova."

"I'm sure I won't. Let's go." The walk to the Great Hall was nerve wracking, but Carter was right. Why would he try to be any different than the guy he had always been? He just needed to relax and let everything happen naturally, after he got her to forgive him, which of course would be the hardest part of his whole plan. The two boys walked into the Great Hall and luckily no one made a huge fuss, so Linden kept her face turned from the door and didn't see him walking over. He looked a little further down to see Al dragging his finger across his throat menacingly, and Lily giving a thumbs up with the discretion of large moose. Those two might literally be the death of him someday. Linden noticed his siblings' strange behavior and looked his way right when he got behind her.

"Geez Holls, I'm so shocked that you and your nosy little boyfriend set me up again." She said sarcastically before throwing down her fork and making to leave. James stopped her by holding on to both of her shoulders. It took everything in him to not clam up, but he tried to remember to just be himself.

"Don't leave on my account Love, we've got a lot to catch up on, yeah?"

"Nope. I'm all caught up thanks to a very eye-opening dinner."

"Oh come on, you're not still mad about that are you? I was hopped up on Pepper up potion. I can't be held accountable for any actions. I hardly remember that night." She tried to move around him, but he had a firm grip on her shoulders. He would not let her walk away from him this time. When she tried to go left, so did he. When she tried to juke him, he was right with her. In obvious frustration she huffed and sat back down at the table. He was really happy that worked; she could have kicked him in the balls. He took a seat next to her and tried to ignore the insane gestures coming from his siblings.

"You're a buggering idiot, you know that?"

"I know, Love. But I could be your buggering idiot."

"Lucky me. I could have the most inconsistent, indecisive, insensitive guy I've ever met all for myself. You know you completely embarrassed me with your little outburst at your house right?" she asked. He knew she was going to have this conversation whenever. She didn't care that there was 100 other people around or that she was practically yelling. She didn't care what people thought of her.

"I apologize for that. I don't know what came over me."

"Neither do I, and it really makes me question what's going on here. I can't ever tell when you like me, or when you don't, and I don't know if I like that James. We were having a perfectly normal and platonic night, and then you had to go all crazy like being with me was the worst idea anyone had ever had.

"You know I don't think that."

"Do I? You are the one that put the thought in my head. Lily made a little joke and you couldn't even handle that. You acted like the thought of liking me was just outrageous."

"Give me some credit, it's us we're talking about! We hated each other from the time we were 11-"

"But we're not 11 anymore James, are we? Stop trying to blame other things on why you can't just muster up the courage to ask me out. You couldn't even tell me you liked me, I heard from your mom, dad, brother, sister, Carter, McGonogall-"

"Me? What about you? When have you come up to me and expressed anything more than friendly feelings towards me. I'm not a bloody mind reader."

"Look at us! We're arguing about whether or not we like each other! Maybe this is all just a big disaster waiting to happen."

"Oh come off it, you know we're perfect for each other. The sooner you realize it-"

"Because I'm at fault for us not being together-" she yelled, standing from the table. He stood too, and cut her off from her rant.

"If you want to get technical, yes."

"Ugh! I hate you James Potter! You're arrogant and pig-head and obnoxious and -" Somehow James had completely messed this up. He couldn't find the right words because when he was around her things just didn't make any freaking sense. She made his blood boil in more ways than one, and it was hard to control all of those hormones and emotions when they were together and that hostility fueled most of their problems. He liked her, a blind idiot could see that. He liked every bloody thing about her from her hair, to her smile, to her preppy style, to her loyalty and kindness, to her laugh. He liked how responsible she was, and like when she nagged him about doing his homework, or going getting enough sleep. He liked that she had the balls to yell and him and that she looked bloody good doing it. He liked everything about this girl and he wanted her and everyone else in the world to know it.

Clearly, he couldn't say that to her right now, but he could show her how he felt. She clearly noticed that he hadn't been listening to a word of her rant, and pushed him in frustration. She tried to push him again, but he caught her arm and pulled her as close to him as physically possible. James didn't know how to verbalize his feelings at all, but he was hoping that now, as he kissed Linden in the middle of the Great Hall in front of the entire school and their teachers, that she would finally get what he'd been trying to say for the last 2 years. It took her a few seconds to realize what was going on, but much to his liking, she responded to the kiss. This was really happening. She couldn't deny how he felt now.

He pulled back from her and couldn't help smirking as he took in the sight of her with her chest moving up and down heavily while she touched her lips. He thought she would have been yelling at him again by now for interrupting her, but she just stood there silently. He could see Lily jumping up and down in her seat and most of the other students whistling or giggling.

"You just kissed me." She said breathily.

"Yes, I did."

"Why?" James could think of ten thousand sappy reasons so he settled on telling her the truth.

"Because I like you Linden." He said, making her blush. "And because I wanted to."

"And you just do whatever the bloody hell you want right?" she asked. He noticed she wasn't mocking, nor did her statement have the usual edge it does when she's scolding him. She sounded...sweet.

"Now you're catching on." James winked at her and saw the corner of her mouth turn up in the tiniest of smiles. "Linden Love Greengrass Nott, would you be my girlfriend?"

"Maybe." She said, sporting a smirk that looked oddly like his own.

"What? After all we just-" Now it was her turn to shut him up with a kiss. She walked up to him and kissed him even harder than he had her. She always had to try and one up him, but he wasn't going to complain. She pulled away with a smile and wiped the chapstick off of his bottom lip.

"You really need to learn how to take a joke James Potter." She said before grabbing her things and walking out of the Great hall. James let out a huge breath of relief, not believing that Linden was officially his girlfriend. Clearly everyone else in the Great Hall agreed, because they burst into around of applause that was fit only for two people as cool as him and Linden. He sat back down with his friends and family, smiling like an idiot.

"About time, bro. You could've spared us the PDA though." Al said.

"Oh shut up Al, I thought it was sweet." Lily added. "I'm so happy for you J!"

"Gosh Lily, you're such a sap."

"It's called being a romantic, maybe you should try it on your girlfriend."

For once, he could care less about Lily and Albus' bickering. He had finally gotten what he'd always wanted, and he had done it in a way that only he could. This was going down in his books as one of the best days he'd ever lived to see.


A/N: I'm finally done editing all of the chapters and updating the ages for this story and it was a lot more than I expected, but I'm all done and ready to get back to updating! Thanks for sticking with me, y'all are great!

-Jazz