Spring 2028

James was steadily improving throughout the fall, so much so that by the match in early March against Hufflepuff he was able to spend equal time studying for class and practicing for the match. It was the first time in a long time that he had been able to concentrate during a game that Sophie had attended. She had been the one who had kept him focused and taught him time management. Consequently, he had been at the peak of his performance and, to the joy of the vast majority of the school, Gryffindor obliterated Hufflepuff. This put them in second only to Ravenclaw. Provided Hufflepuff and Slytherin stayed in third and fourth, it was looking like the final match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw would decide who won the cup.

Previously, this sort of tension would have resulted in James obsessively working on his strategy and planning. But Sophie had helped him to get a good weekly schedule in place so that he didn't lose his head.

"You're sure I can't go practice tonight?" James had asked her as they met in the common room in early April.

"Yes, and don't use your birthday as an excuse. It's not until tomorrow anyway," Sophie said, cutting off his next argument before he could start it.

James just laughed as he sat down beside her and pulled his Defence textbook out of his knapsack, "You actually know my birthday off hand?"

She shrugged, "I'm good with dates."

"Oh yeah?" James asked with a suggestive tone and smile.

She paused from flipping through her book and glared at him, "Not like that, jackass."

"So you're bad at going on dates?" James laughed.

"Ugh, shut up," She rolled her eyes, "Tell me this, wise guy, what was the main point Professor Potter's lesson yesterday?"

James scoffed, "First of all, dad's class was two days ago. Secondly, the obvious point was that occlumency requires a great deal of concentration and training to block even the most mediocre attempts at legilimency."

Sophie glanced his way and smiled, "Well, look at you. Now, are you ready to practice?"

"But dad said that we don't need to practice yet, since that's what we'll be doing in our next class," James reminded her.

"I know," She clarified, "But wouldn't it be better to go in with an upper hand? Just like a Quidditch match, it's better to be a bit overprepared. Besides, he said it takes tons and tons of practice right? If you want to be a good auror, you have to be able to do this."

James sighed and shut his book, "Fine. Which do you want to do?"

"Legilimency," She said as she withdrew her wand. James leaned back comfortably against the sofa just behind him, quietly letting his mind run blank. "Shouldn't you, I don't know, concentrate more? You look like you're ready to take a nap."

James just shrugged noncommittally.

Sophie huffed before whispering, "Legilimens"

He could feel the magic flood into his brain, as if an invisible substance had been injected through his forehead and was flooding his neurons. But he fixed his sight on a black smudge on the wallpaper across the room and concentrated on his breath. Unbeknownst to him, Sophie was practically sweating with effort. She rifled through his brain, but was unable to uncover anything. It was like being trapped in a blank room full of mirrors. As soon as she thought she found something, it turned into nothing.

Finally, she put her wand arm down and huffed, "Oh fine. Your turn."

He snapped himself back to attention, "What was that?"

"You do me, see if you can get anything," She insisted irritably. She usually had no problem besting James when it had come to Defensive magic.

For once, he ignored the opportunity for double entendre and simply picked up his wand. He cast the spell verbally, since he was still struggling with nonverbal spellwork. His mind was instantly flooded with crystal clear imagery. A boy on a playground was taunting and mocking a little girl curled over on the ground. James watched curiously as the girl took the boy's abuse, until out of nowhere the girl leapt up and punched the boy square in the face. The boy went flying several feet, which ought to have been quite impossible. Instead of thudding on the ground, he seemed to bounce. The surrounding children watched in shock. A short Irishman that had been out of frame came running over.

The image quickly distorted itself into the common room. James thought perhaps she had pushed him out of her memories, but he looked around and found her standing across the room screaming at Maddie. He immediately knew what he was witnessing, but he didn't want to see it again. He tore himself out of the memory, turning his head away and lowering his wand.

Sophie was breathing hard, as if she had just run a marathon. She leaned against the table beside her for support, her eyes clenched shut.

"I — I'm sorry," James started hesitantly.

She waved her hand, dismissing his concerns. After a moment of silence she sat up straight. He couldn't help but notice a slight sheen of sweat at her hairline. She took a deep breath, "Try again."

"No, it's my turn now, right?"

She shook her head, "No, I need more practice than you do, obviously."

"I don't think it's a good idea, Soph —"

"I said do it, it's fine!" She snapped.

Rather than attempt to reason with her, James raised his wand again, "Legilimens."

He was rocketed into another memory and immediately hated it. He didn't want to be invading these memories. Why wasn't she resisting this more? He could almost sense the very memories that she was trying to hide, but in doing so she only highlighted them, making them impossible to avoid. He found himself in the Great Hall. He glanced at the staff table and noticed his dad was nowhere to be seen. He realized he was standing just by the Gryffindor table and looked down at the students around him. The banners above the table let him know the sorting ceremony had just taken place, it was the first day of classes. But what year was it?

A small hand reached across the table for a jug of pumpkin juice.

He only vaguely recognized the young Sophie. He remembered, once he saw her small face again, that she had been on the same boat as him as they had crossed the Black Lake in their first year. Little Sophie wasn't paying enough attention to what she was doing. Her eyes were fixed somewhere else and she miscalculated how much force to use in lifting the jug. Consequently, the juice spilled all over the table. A few older students around her scowled irritably before quickly cleaning her mess up. She turned beet red and apologized profusely, glancing in the same direction where her gaze had been a moment ago.

A young James was chatting amicably with Arnold and Clarence. Upon closer inspection, he could see that this was actually their second year. His tie was less sloppy than it had been that first year and his younger self was undaunted by the moping Nearly Headless Nick that sat across from him.

A girl seated beside Sophie nudged her side and asked her what her deal was. James vaguely recognized her as one of the girls in his year, one he had only vaguely been aware of for the last seven years. She wasn't on the Quidditch team and she wasn't a mutual friend, so he had had no reason to remember her name.

"What's your deal Sophie? You're going to make the sixth years hate us, as if they don't already," The girl murmured.

Sophie's blush did not fade as she looked down at the table, "S — sorry."

"Well? What's got you all distracted? I wouldn't think it's that hard to lift a jug."

Sophie tilted her head in James' direction. The girl pieced two and two together quickly, "Listen, if you want to get him to notice you, spilling juice isn't the way to do it."

"I don't want him to notice me," Sophie insisted, bristling at the suggestion.

"I should hope not. It's not like he's worth anyone's time, he's just a jock. Y'know, a classic 'bro'? He doesn't care about anyone outside his friend group and he never will. You're better off looking elsewhere for friends," The girl sagely advised her before turning her attention back to her own friend group, utterly ignoring the girl who could use companionship.

James felt himself being lurched forward into a new memory. He could barely see for a moment but he heard familiar voices.

"Can I tell you something?" Sophie's voice whispered through the dark atmosphere.

"Of course," Maddie responded from somewhere in the black.

"I used to have a really bad crush on James Potter-Malfoy," Sophie laughed, "Oh Merlin, it sounds so embarrassing to say out loud."

Maddie giggled with her,"That's okay, I think a lot of other girls had a crush on him at some point."

"Yeah, I figured that out a couple years ago when all the other girls were gossiping about him and fawning over some haircut he had at the time. That's when I realized I didn't want to be like those silly girls. It's not like he's anything special, he's just a guy."

"Yeah, but he's a good guy. Better him than, say, Nick Hallish. He's an actual jock with no ounce of brain in him. Have you seen him? There's a reason that boy's a beater," Maddie suggested with a cackle of laughter as James' eyes adjusted to the scene he was in. The room was an almost identical replica of the boys' dormitory, but he knew it had to be the girls'. He turned away as soon as he saw them. The girls were lying mostly naked in a tiny twin bed together. He put his wand down quickly, no longer willing to invade her memories like this.

The noise of the girls laughing slowly faded into mere echoes as James came back to present reality.

He shook his head and blinked rapidly, trying to get a grip. He pinched his arm and breathed a sigh of relief. He looked up and found Sophie leaning back on her hands and looking up at the ceiling, her long hair flowing behind her and nearly touching the carpet.

"I'm not doing that again," James said quickly. "It's not a good idea. I don't even know if doing that in class is a good idea."

"Shh," Sophie hushed him sharply.

He hadn't expected this. He shifted silently where he sat, watching her nervously. He hadn't wanted to see those things. He hadn't meant to. It was as if the memories had insisted on being seen, drawing him in like a magnet.

After a moment, she spoke again, "When I was fighting with Maddie last year and she mentioned that I have loved you since first year, what was the first thing that ran through your head?"

James looked away just as she sat up properly to face him. He couldn't bare to look at her right now, it felt too shameful, "I don't know."

"Yes you do. Spit it out, whatever it is," Sophie insisted.

"I thought it was a joke, or a lie," James said, "But Maddie told me it wasn't. I figured it was just a childhood crush and I didn't really think much of it. I swear to god, Sophie, I haven't had any intention to pursue you since that day. You are your own person. You made it perfectly clear you don't see me like that and I have accepted it, honestly."

Sophie sighed and he could tell she was shuffling toward him. He still couldn't look at her. He didn't know what she was doing and he had no idea what would be a bad or good thing to do in this moment, so he stayed totally paralyzed.

She sighed and poked his arm, "Will you just look at me?"

He turned to see her sitting beside him. They stared at each other for a moment. He had never really paid much attention to her eyes before. They suddenly seemed all consuming. He had truly let go of his feelings for her and moved on, he had. But being that close to her, seeing that look in her eyes — it was torture for the poor boy. It was like staring directly into the sun.

"You once thought that I was going to ignore you until graduation and then never talk to you again. I never had any intention to do that. I just — didn't know how to act around you after that blowout with Maddie. I didn't really want to help you study, actually. It was just a favor to Professor Longbottom. I thought you were going to hit on me again. I was worried you were still too busy being hung up on me to give a shit about your own life.

"James, you should know by now that I think you're a good guy. You're way smarter than you give yourself credit for, and you're persistent to say the least. You didn't give up on Quidditch, despite messing up in tryouts over and over again. You've really gotten your act together. I know you're going to pass that Auror exam with flying colors. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm glad that you took a break from your fixation on me in order to focus on yourself. But — don't necessarily give up on me. I — wouldn't be completely opposed to seeing you after graduation."

"What are you saying?" James asked hesitantly.

Sophie rolled her eyes, growing frustrated, "I dunno James. I guess I'm more willing to give it a shot. Just not now. You're bad at timing. If there happens to be good timing and we're both single — why not?"

"You would actually go on a date with me?" James asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, the only reason I didn't say yes in fifth year was because you literally asked me out the week before our O.W.L exams," She laughed, "Maddie just waited until summer."

James shook his head, "Sophie Finnigan, you are an enigma."

She smiled, "And a terrible occlumens apparently. I'll have to keep practicing. At least now you've seen some of the most embarrassing memories so it can't get much worse."

"Are you kidding? There's got to be worse in that evil little head of yours, and I'm going to find it," He teased.

She shoved him playfully, "Oh shut up. I've had enough for today anyway. We'll keep practicing tomorrow night, okay?" He agreed as they collected their things and stood. She turned to head up the stairs to the girls dormitories but paused momentarily. She turned back to him and smiled, "Hey, thanks for being a good sport about all this."

He shrugged and returned the smile, "Yeah, well, you would have done the same for me."

...

For once, the final Quidditch match of the year had occured after the N.E.W.T exams had taken place. James had done his best, and he was fairly certain he had actually obtained good marks, he felt more confident than ever that he would do well on his Auror exam that he would be taking in six months. With the stress of his final year totally out of the way, all James had to focus on was winning the Quidditch cup for Gryffindor.

When the day arrived, he felt an overwhelming sense of conviction and certainty. He had no idea why, but he was completely convinced that the day was going to go in his favor. When the team made their way out to the pitch in the late afternoon, they were unsurprised to find the entire school had come out for the match.

Half of the audience was a sea of blue with ripples of bronze among them. The other half was like live magma: crimson and gold shifting and flowing. It seemed to be an even divide. Hufflepuff was rooting adamantly for Ravenclaw while Slytherin was rooting for Gryffindor. It was very backwards from the usual stances.

As he and his team stood in the middle of the pitch, waiting for Madame Hooch to join the field with balls, James had a quick huddle to remind his players of their primary strategy this game. Some of them had been a bit reluctant when he told them about it at the last minute that morning, but had agreed nonetheless. Shortly after he confirmed the plan to them, they all mounted their brooms and the game began.

As James soared through the air, dodging a bludger as he went after the Ravenclaw chaser, he couldn't help but hear a familiar voice in the stands. Later, when he had a chance to sit back and assess the situation mid-game, he noticed his entire family was occupying a full row in the stands. His twin sisters had come out with their boyfriends, and he even recognized his aunt Hermione and uncle Ron with them. He chuckled to himself as he rejoined the game. This was going to make his plan even more entertaining.

Unfortunately, he had not accounted for Ravenclaw's offense being stronger than the last game. They had presented such a fierce defense before that it was all he had initially planned for. He realized how quickly the situation was devolving when Ravenclaw suddenly was two hundred points above Gryffindor. He knew he had to end this game sooner rather than later. After making a couple solid scores to help bridge the point gap, he retreated. Nobody seemed to notice as he floated above the crowd toward his seeker, Cally.

"I really don't think now's a good time to try this," She insisted.

"I know, it's completely insane, but you haven't spotted the snitch yet have you?" James asked her as he stared down at the stands below them, eyes darting around quickly.

"I have, but I keep getting caught off guard by one of you lot getting in the way. That's why I'm all the way up here," She explained.

"Well then, I'll give you some time to look around in peace then."

"James, I don't —" She started to repeat, but he zoomed off before she could express her concern.

He flew back into the foray and spotted the Ravenclaw chaser with the quaffle. He nodded toward Jack and Noah. A few moments later, both bludgers came hurtling toward the Ravenclaw chaser. At the same time, Arnold rocketed up from beneath the chaser, barely missing the tip of his broomstick. The chaser leaned back to avoid hitting Arnold, losing his grip on the quaffle. James swooped in and caught it just in the knick of time.

"Catch ya later!" He taunted to the easily fooled chaser as he zoomed off. He could practically hear the Ravenclaw seething with rage as he followed.

Instead of flying toward the Ravenclaw goal posts, however, James veered quickly left toward the bastion of red in the crowd. The fans hollered in delight, momentarily, before realizing that he was aiming directly for the stands. Some of the students screamed in fright and jumped back in shock as James swung his broomstick alongside the stand, bringing it to a full stop right there. Jack and Noah had moved in his direction and fended off the Ravenclaw beaters. He had turned himself into a sitting duck.

The Ravenclaw chaser was close behind, but he ignored him entirely as he smiled toward the girl that stood stock still in the front row of the stands, looking totally dumbstruck.

"Hey Soph," He grinned, "How's your day going?"

She opened and closed her mouth like a puzzled fish.

"Oh, hang on a sec," James apologized as he suddenly blasted upwards into the air as the Ravenclaw chaser caught up with him. He gripped tight to the quaffle as he spun in a corkscrew through the air above the stands. The Ravenclaw chaser tried to keep up with him, but appeared to only get dizzy and went off in the completely opposite direction. The rest of the Ravenclaw team turned their attention toward the Gryffindor captain. So long as James was holding the quaffle, the game was more or less stagnated. Arnold and Roxanne acted like back up beaters, using various distraction techniques to keep the opposing team at bay as they tried to swarm him. His entire team was blocking him from being touched.

He lowered his broom back down and turned back to Sophie, "Now, where was I?"

"James Potter-Malfoy you are completely mental," Sophie said, her pitch rising in terror as she spoke. She hated to admit it, but she desperately wanted this Quidditch cup. She didn't want to be held accountable if they lost.

"Yeah, but hopefully you can overlook that," He shrugged with a little laugh. "Listen, I've been thinking about what you said a while ago when we first practiced occlumency. Were you serious?"

"Now is not the time!" She cried out. Hadn't she literally said his whole problem was that he was bad at timing?

"There's never going to be a good time," James explained. He glanced behind him. Sure enough, all eyes were on him. All of the players were after him, and all of the students and staff were watching in shock. He smiled when he saw Cally zoom across the field. He had to act fast.

He turned to her and she felt her heart stop. She had never seen him look so sure of himself. He may have been arrogant at times, but this wasn't arrogance. This was nothing but pure confidence, self-assurance. He was practically glowing in that evening sun.

"Sophie Finnigan, will you go out with me?"

"Yes, I'll go anywhere with you. Just win us the game!" She shrieked.

"Deal," He assured her before zooming off. He rarely used the intense speed on his broom, but this time it was warranted. He dove under the wall of players that had crowded him and in the blink of an eye he had made it to the goal post. He feinted left before throwing the quaffle straight past the keeper into the main hoop. He looked up and grinned as Cally tore the snitch straight out of the sky above them.

"THAT'S 160 POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR ALL TOGETHER, PUTTING THEM 10 POINTS ABOVE RAVENCLAW AND WINNING THEM THE MATCH," Clarence screamed into the megaphone system. The stands erupted in raucous cheering.

James let go of a breath he hadn't been aware he had been holding. The Ravenclaw keeper beside him cursed him out and flew down to the pitch in blur of blue. James just laughed and touched down on the ground shortly thereafter. His team stormed on him and Cally, congratulating them both.

"I can't believe that actually worked!" Roxanne cried in delight as she hugged James. The rest of the team echoed her sentiment as some Gryffindor students flooded down from the stands onto the field. Before James knew it, he had been lifted onto shoulders and was being passed over heads to chants of, "KING JAMES!"

Just as he was starting to enjoy it, he was torn out of someone's hands and landed clumsily on the ground. He looked up and faced his fathers directly. He grinned shyly, "Hey guys, you see the game at all?"

Lyra shoved past her fathers and held her brother by the shoulders, "You're next level. I am so proud of you." She laughed and hugged him tight. James was not surprised in the slightest.

"Did you ever think for a second the poor girl didn't want to say yes to that but she felt forced to?" Draco snapped at his son angrily.

"Dad, she wanted to go out, I just needed to ask her. Trust me. I checked," He reassured his dad.

"You could have cost us the cup!" Harry cried, making it clear where his priorities were, "You ended up a hundred and fifty points behind! How did you know she wouldn't catch it before you got the quaffle in?"

"I didn't," James shrugged, "I just trusted her. Besides, the Ravenclaw seeker wasn't paying any attention. They were all just fighting to take me down."

"You have to hand it to him," Ron said as he walked up to Harry and put a hand on his shoulder, "It was a ballsy move, but he pulled it off."

Harry shook his head with a heavy sigh but smiled nonetheless, "I don't know why I expected anything less from him."

"As lovely as this little reunion is," James started, glancing away from the growing crowd of extended family toward a blonde girl at the periphery of fans, "I've gotta go."

Before anyone could object, he ducked out of their way and into the thick of the pack. He kept his head down to avoid being lifted back up and barrelled his way through the students until he finally found himself standing in front of Sophie again. Except, this time, a second crowd was blocking him. A bunch of girls were gabbing away at her.

"Oh my god what did you say? I didn't hear you from where I was! What was it like?" A girl nagged her. James vaguely recognized her as the dismissive girl from Sophie's memory.

He wasn't sure how to interrupt the posse surrounding her. He tried to clear his throat. One girl glanced his way and widened her eyes. She smacked another girl's arm, starting a chain reaction as all the girls looked toward him and grinned stupidly.

For the first time all day he felt embarrassed, "Hey, can I have a moment?"

The girls giggled profusely and murmured things toward Sophie that he didn't quite pick up on as they dispersed. James glanced around, noticing several other people looking his way. He tried to smooth down his hair on the back of his head as he looked down shyly from Sophie, "Hey, sorry about all the attention. Wanna get out of here? Y'know, away from the crowd?"

"Yes, please," Sophie insisted.

James beamed, reaching for her hand as they walked off the field.

...

Caelum saw someone sit across from him at the table in the Great Hall from the corner of his eye. He turned away from Neil and noticed it was Daisy. He smiled, "Oh, hey. What's up?"

Daisy glanced at Neil momentarily before looking back to Caelum, "Oh, not much. How about that crazy game though?"

Caelum laughed, not noticing as Neil slowly scooted a few feet along the bench away from them, "Yeah, well, James is a bit unpredictable."

"Who did you even root for?"

"Oh, Gryffindor of course. I'm kind of glad Ravenclaw lost to be honest. I didn't want my whole family to give me shit about it for a year, y'know?" He shrugged, "What about you?"

"Hate to say it but I was fully supporting Ravenclaw. Your stupid brother obliterated us and put us in third for the rest of the season," She teased with a small smile.

They exchanged an amused look and awkward silence. Caelum broke the silence first, "Man, it feels like I haven't seen you all year. How've you been?"

Daisy frowned, "Really? I've been trying to spend time with you all year."

"You have? I'm sorry. I've just been so caught up in —"

"The exams, I know. Did you even know I was dating a sixth year Slytherin for most of the year?" She asked.

Caelum glanced around, as if expecting this Slytherin to appear from nowhere, "Uh, no. Congratulations though. Who is he? Or she? Or they. They. Who are they?" He asked, stumbling over pronouns.

She laughed, "Oh, nobody important. It wasn't really working out. He was a little too much of a brute. Sort of two dimensional, and none too bright." She sighed and rested her chin on her hand, "I've decided only Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs are worth dating."

Caelum smiled sadly, "Well, I'm sorry it didn't work out with him. Better luck next time though, or something like that. I'm not really sure what to say."

She snickered, "I know what you mean, don't worry."

He frowned, "Listen, I'm sorry. I probably seemed like a total ass. I genuinely didn't even realize you wanted to hang out with me this year. Why don't we catch up this summer? Make up for lost time or something?"

Daisy grinned brightly. She had lost hope on him awhile ago, but had decided she would give it one more try before the year was over. This was hardly what she had been expecting. She thought all this time that he must have hated her. It was reassuring to know that they were still friends.

"We could meet up in Hogsmeade or something," He added unnecessarily.

"It's a deal," She quickly agreed.