DISCLAIMER: I don't own James Potter, Harry Potter, bets, ice cream, or chicken. I do, however, own Libby Fletcher and Jabby Baby. :)
When James Met Libby.
James Sirius Potter has no idea why he's telling the story of how he fell in love. He's not even romantic! Falling in love went against everything he believed in … but it happened. And he invites you to listen if you dare. :James/OC recommended reading with GIR and CGIR NextGen:
Chapter 37: When James quite spectacularly lost a bet.
Ok, ok.
We got through telling my brother. We got through the first ever scan. We got through the thought of having a baby actually hitting Libby and her promptly having an emotional breakdown. I could totally tell my dad! I mean, how badly could it possibly go?
I know what you're thinking.
Oh, James. You shouldn't have said that.
(March, 2030)
"… so are you sure you're ok, now?" I asked for about the thousandth time.
Libby and I had just ambled out of St Mungo's, after bidding goodbye to Bethany and currently clutching a scan photograph of our baby. It was something quite remarkable to see his or her little hands waving around! If I squinted, it was almost like they were waving at me!
"James, I swear I'm fine," Libby insisted, clutching at my elbow tightly as we held the photo together in front of us, barely paying attention to where we were walking down the London street. "Just you wait until it hits you!"
"What're you talking about? 'course it's hit me!" I said.
"Yeah, right," Libby scoffed, almost cooing with her finger at the tiny waving hands. "If it'd hit you, you wouldn't be so calm! Don't worry, I can wait."
I just scoffed, but to be honest, I have to say that I think she's right. I mean, I understood everything that was happening, and as utterly terrifying that the thought was, it at least meant that I knew I could handle what was coming. But as for it actually hitting me … not sure if that'll happen until my child is actually here.
"You know, your devious glee at the thought is kind of concerning me," I pointed out.
Libby just shot me that sparkling look over her shoulder. "Admit it," she said. "it's kinda hot."
I just rolled my eyes. "I have to say, it feels almost wrong to call you hot when you're pregnant."
"Excuse me?" Libby just halted mid-stride, right in the middle of the footpath.
Um. Why does she suddenly look like she's about to strangle me?
Libby quickly yanked her arm back, scan picture in her hands as she stuck out a hip, arms crossed in front of me. While a second ago she'd been all flirty and cheerful, she suddenly looked like she was about to snap and attack me! What in god's name did I say?
"Well, I – I only meant –" I stammered, hastily. "It's just – there's a baby inside you! And like, I can't call you hot, because it's like I'm saying you're sexy, and the baby's there, and–"
"Are you telling me that you don't think I'm sexy?" Libby glared.
"What?! No! Wait, yes – wait – oh my god …" I ran a hand through my hair in agitation. "Shit, what's the right answer, here?"
"Well, if you can't figure it out, then I can't help you!" Libby said, clearly trying to go for obviously-fake-nonchalance. "I might as well just head on outta here, tell my parents my baby has no father!"
"Merlin – wait – shit – LIBBY!" I yelled, reaching out and grabbing her hand. I yanked her to the side, out of the flow of pedestrians on the street, who I'd noticed were starting to shoot us annoyed looks at having to skirt around us. We huddled together next to a clothing shop, even the dummies in the window seeming to stare judgementally at me. Libby huffed and wouldn't meet my eye, but she at least still let me hold her arm, gently.
"Look, I'm sorry," I said, honestly. "Even though I'm still not really sure what I did. Are you seriously mad at me? 'cause I swear, I'll make you the best ice cream sundae this world has ever seen to make it up–!"
"Oh, James," Libby thankfully snorted then. She moved so that my hand on her arm slid down to meet her own, holding it tightly. "I'm kinda mad, but not ice cream sundae mad. Although, I could go for one of them …" she added as an afterthought.
"Then what's wrong?"
Libby sighed, shuffling her feet. "I … James, you always thought I was hot. You'd always tell me, even before we got together. Now …" she trailed off self-consciously, and that was when it finally clicked in my mind. I kind of wanted to laugh, but I figured that I'd probably caused enough attempted murders for one day – better not push it with another. Instead, I just tugged Libby towards me and threw my arms around her. I could feel the picture of the scan scratching at my shoulder as she hugged me back, and I grinned despite myself.
"Libby, you are beautiful," I said, squeezing tight. "and pretty and gorgeous and smokin' hot. I've seen you at the end of a long work shift, I've seen you dolled up for gala's, I've seen you first thing in the morning and even that time a kid threw up on you at Café Julio. You might look like you've swallowed a baby elephant at some point in the near future, but I couldn't care less. You'll still be beautiful. Ok?"
I'm not really sure what reaction I was expecting. I mean, we all know that I can be sensitive sometimes (c'mon, I'm adorable, here!) but it wasn't often that I just came out with something like that, and quite randomly, too! Anything could have happened, from tears, to hitting me, to leaping at me right there in the street.
Turns out, Libby went for kissing me. Nice.
"I'll – I'll forgive you," she breathed. "I forget sometimes that there's a closet romantic deep down in there."
"Ah, y'know," I shrugged with a grin. "I normally keep the door locked, but sometimes he just kicks the bloody thing down! I'm working on it, I promise."
"So I am sexy?"
I rolled my eyes. "Of course!" I said. "It's just … I feel like I can't use that word around you. Like, I dunno, the baby might hear or something! Don't even get me started on talking about sex, that's just never going to happen."
"You know that you are a little bit ridiculous, right?"
"Oh, yes," I said at once.
Libby laughed, before wrapping her arms tight once more. We stood there together in the street for a few more moments, just watching the city of London whirl by. It was kind of crazy to think that thousands of people were just walking along next to us, and they had no idea why these two weirdoes were just standing, hugging next to a sign that claimed '50% off all winter stock!' London really was a marvellous place. It was home.
… this city was going to be where my child is born. Huh.
Eventually, we both realised that we were kind of stalling. I mean, there are still parents to tell and all that! Oh, would you look at that, I actually sound excited. Please, don't take that the wrong way. I certainly am terrified out of my mind. Honest! I think the urge to throw up had been around, oh, since I woke up this morning?
"Ok," I said once we'd finally broken apart and gotten the show back on the road. "You tell your parents, I tell mine, and hopefully by the time we get back home, we'll be able to go out for dinner without that shadow hanging over our heads! Agreed?"
"Assuming we're both still alive," Libby grinned. "Sure!"
"See you on the other side?"
Libby leaned in, pressing her lips to mine. "You make it sound like we're dying …" she murmured.
"Oh, no, I'm nothing if not positive! … but just out of curiosity, you don't happen to have a crash helmet, do you?"
"Heeeeeeey, Dad! How's it hangin'?" I practically yelled, strolling into my parent's kitchen roughly fifteen minutes later.
"James–?" Dad began, looking rather rightly confused (I mean, I did just burst in without warning).
"Hope you're good. I mean, I'm brilliant!" I cried, as Dad raised an eyebrow quizzically, and Mum snorted from over at the oven where she was clearly in the middle of making dinner. Shut up, Mum! You don't know anything. "More brilliant than a shining … er, brilliant thing! I did this awesome loop-spin-attack play at training today, reckon I'll be totally ready for the next match! That's in two weeks by the way, you want to come watch? You should come watch! In fact, I'll talk to our ticket bloke, see if I can squeeze you in! OOH, biscuits? Mum, you shouldn't have!" I snatched one up from the table and stuffed it into my mouth. "Lo – ve – buuuhhhhscuhhhhts! I – mean – biscuits. Libby says hi, by the way, she's doing great at work as well! She's pregnant, and did you know that they had this huge bake sale on at the Cursebreaker Offices? Emma made these brilliant muffins, they were more brilliant than–"
"OK!" Dad suddenly cut in over me. "James, take a breath and shut up for a moment!"
Oh, I shut up.
Dad was staring at me from where he was still sat at the table, apparently rather dumbstruck, to be honest. I mean, fair enough, I had been talking about a million words per minute. I think anyone would have been thrown.
Any chance he didn't hear that in the middle?
"James … you mind back tracking a little and repeating what you said about Libby?"
"Oh, right – she says hi!" I said, weakly.
"James."
"Ok, fine!" I cried. "Libby … look, Dad, I meant what I said. She's pregnant."
Over by the oven, Mum was shaking her head in exasperation in that way I'd seen so many times. To my utter annoyance, she appeared to be trying not to laugh! My dad, however, was a different story. He let out a large and shaky breath, before hastily pulling his glasses off to rub his eyes. Oh, dear. I don't think I've ever seen him this … agitated, before. I mean, there was the time I nearly got suspended back in my sixth-year at Hogwarts due to an explosion incident in the Owlery Tower (it was Fred, FRED I TELL YOU!) but at least then, my dad had glared in that I'm so disappointed in you way.
Now, he still hasn't said anything. It's kind of freaking me out!
Eventually, he replaced his glasses to turn and look at me. He grabbed the chair next to him and yanked it roughly out from the table. "Sit," he said.
I sat.
"James," he told me, voice hard. "First off, if this is one of your jokes again, I'm telling ya, I'll be cursing your arse off."
"Not a joke!" I insisted. "I mean, I guess it is a bit funny, right? Like, who could imagine! Ha, ha … ha," I trailed off.
Ahem. I mean, not the time, James.
Dad just rubbed his head warily, as Mum finally approached and sat down at the head of the table next to him. "Harry?" she asked, reaching out a hand and squeezing his shoulder. "You all right, in there? Speak to me, and I won't think you've lost it."
"Oh, for Merlin's sake," Dad said, shooting his wife a look. "You already knew, didn't you?"
Mum just grinned, slightly. "Sorry. Do you hate me, now?"
"Wait – was this why I caught you knitting the other day?" Dad suddenly asked. "Oh my GOD, I KNEW something was up! Coming from the woman who's only skill is in knitting rather large knots – I'd never seen Hermione so disappointed before," he added.
"Gee, thanks," Mum snorted.
"Dad?" I also threw in. "BIG PICTURE!"
Dad took a shaky breath, suddenly staring straight at me. I don't know why, but suddenly I was feeling like I was about 12-years-old again, getting told off for something I'd broken or done. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that I hung my head in shame; I certainly couldn't meet his eye at any rate. Was he going to actually say anything, ever? Dad was too much like Al; they try not to let their problems get to them, so they hold it all in until it spills over!
"Are you NUTS?" he suddenly cried.
Oh, yeah. There it is.
"Dad–"
"I just – no!" he cut me off hastily, quickly leaping to his feet and waving off Mum's hand. She watched him in exasperation as Dad began pacing the length of the kitchen, tugging on his greying hair and rambling. "You aren't ready for this, James! None of my children should be ready for this! Except maybe Al, but he's married – what were you thinking? No! Wait, I don't think I want to know what you were thinking! Oh, Merlin's pants, a BABY? Why, WHY would you not be safe, James?! I thought I raised you better than that–!"
"We always are!" I said, hotly.
"Well!" Dad spluttered, throwing an arm in my direction. "CLEARLY not!"
"It was a mistake," I ground out, hastily getting to my feet as well. "In case you forgot, we all make them! I'm pretty damn sure you've made thousands of mistakes over your lifetime, and I'm not allowed this one?"
"This isn't just a mistake, James!" Dad yelled. "God, do you even realise what this means? There's going to be a baby, you're going to have to look after it, there's no going back on this one!"
"You think I don't KNOW that?"
"James–!" Dad cut himself off, turning away as he rubbed his forehead, eyes closed. I kind of stood there, half angry and not really knowing what was happening. Then, I noticed Mum quickly getting to her feet, approaching Dad with a serious look of concern.
"Harry?" she said, voice quiet. I don't think I've ever heard her sound like that before. Like someone was about to confirm they had a terminal illness, or something. "Are you ok? Is it hurting?"
Dad's eyes suddenly snapped open, staring at Mum. "What? No – shit, Ginny, NO," He let his hand drop immediately, instead going for hugging Mum instead.
Erm, I feel like I've suddenly been transported to some private moment that I REALLY shouldn't be seeing. What the hell is going on, here?
Over Mum's shoulder, Dad turned and caught my eye. He squeezed Mum one more time, before letting go and facing me. "Look, James …" he said, voice more calm and quieter now. "Son, I'm incredibly sorry. I should not have yelled at you like that. Of course, people make mistakes. I should accept that. I just worry … and I should never have compared you to your brother," he added, ashamed. "That's unforgiveable. I'm so sorry."
I just shrugged. "You're right, though," I said. "Al should be having this baby, not me."
"James, don't say that–" Mum began, but Dad squeezed her arm and she instead glanced up at him.
Dad exchanged a look with Mum, nodding before stepping forward. There was still a hell of a lot of space between us, but at least it wasn't an entire kitchen table anymore! He gestured to the chairs hopefully and we both sat down once again, Mum apparently deciding that she ought to take a step back from this for a moment. She went back to making dinner, though it was pretty clear to tell that she was listening to every single word that was said.
"Your mother is right," Dad said, then. "You shouldn't say that. Just because your brother is at a different stage in life, it doesn't mean you need to put yourself down. I love all three of you, just the way you are, mistakes and all."
"Yeah, whatever," I tried to keep my wonderful cool, calm and collected vibe going on, but that was kind of made difficult by Dad's touching words. Damn, emotions! "Al's pretty jealous, though," I tried to joke. "Shoulda seen him when we told him!"
"Wait, who have you told?"
"Erm … Al, Bea found out from Libby," I began, awkwardly. "Rosie kind of found out on her own, she's a Healer, you can guess, and Scorpius, too. Emma knows now, as well, and a couple of other people from Libby's work … I mean …" I caught the expression on Dad's face. "I told you eventually, right? Right!"
"James," Dad shook his head. "That doesn't matter, ok? Just … I want you to really think about this. Have you decided what you are going to do about it? You are my son and I will support you no matter what, but if you're not going to keep it, that's going to be …"
"Shit, we're keeping it!" I yelped, hastily. "No, Dad – Jesus! – no, that was one of the first things we agreed on! We only found out ourselves a couple of weeks ago, we haven't exactly made a lot of decisions yet, but we do know that, for one. We're staying together, we're keeping it. We had the first scan today, actually," I tried for a smile (albeit, a small one). "Heard the heart beating and everything!"
"Oh, blimey …" Dad seemed to be simply stunned at this point, staring hard. "You're seriously … heartbeat?"
"Yeah! I mean, Libby found out quite late, she was already eight weeks pregnant and let me tell you, it was one hell of a shock! I swear, Dad, we are ALWAYS safe, but that was just one time when she was in Italy, and she came back for my birthday, and well, you can imagine–"
"Ok!" Dad cut in. "Yep, ok, I get the gist! You really are going to give me a heart attack one of these days. So you've really thought this through?" he asked me, then. "I mean, I know you, James Potter. You have all these bright ideas and thoughts in your head, but don't leave a lot of room left for what comes next. You do understand what this all means, right? Libby's going to have a baby, you'll be a father for the rest of your life …"
"I know," I admitted. "and it terrifies the crap outta me, but we talked. We've been over it. We decided on our future, and I'm ok with it! I swear, Dad, I've thought this through."
"I just need to be sure, ok?" Dad told me. "Hear it from someone who's had three kids himself! There's going to be so much to organise – where you'll live, whose name the baby will take, how to fit in the wedding on top of the pregnancy–"
"WHOA!" I cut in with a shaky laugh. "Don't worry, Dad, you can hold it right there! We won't be moving, we can decide on the name when he or she gets here, and there's no way we're planning a wedding."
Beat.
Dad shot me a look.
Um … why do I feel like I just said something incredibly wrong?
Things had been going great so far! I mean, yeah, he initially blew up, that I kind of expected that; Harry Potter's the kind of bloke who keeps his feelings close. He's passionate about those he cares about, and he was bound to blow up, but that never lasts long! However, Mum had actually glanced back around over her shoulder, and Dad was giving me a look along the lines of brain does not compute.
"What do you mean?" he said, eyes narrowed.
"I … uh …" I floundered for a second. Man, he could be as bad as my pregnant girlfriend! Libby, I love you, but sometimes I really have no idea what the right answer is, here! "It's just … like I said, we talked about some things, and we decided pretty damn quickly that we weren't ready for marriage yet. Just because we're going to have a kid doesn't mean that we suddenly need to race for the alter–"
"James," Dad rubbed his eyes once more, clearly trying to keep his voice reasonable. "I don't think you quite get it – you need to provide stability for this child, and for Libby, too. I know you have your career, but let's face it, Quidditch doesn't last forever. What about when that ends, and you've suddenly got a young child to look after with no income? You need a house, a solid cementing in your relationship–"
"What we need is each other!" I suddenly scowled. "Dad! We're not getting married!"
"For god's sake, just THINK, James–!"
"I HAVE thought!" I yelled. "What does a child need, really? A warm, loving place to live, caring people who will unconditionally love them and look after them! This child is going to have their mother and father, and a place that they can call home! What else could they need? If we aren't ready for anything else, we shouldn't have to FORCE ourselves to be ready!"
"But if you aren't ready for marriage, what the HELL makes you think you're ready to have a baby?" Dad yelled, exasperatedly.
Mum slapped her forehead.
Ouch.
That stung. That really hurt, seeing the sceptical look on Dad's face. Screw it, I know he loves me, I know that he wants to protect me and look out for me, but shit! I already KNEW I was barely ready, I don't need him telling me that I'm an effing idiot for thinking I could do this! I'm already doubting myself and barely holding it together. I don't need him making it WORSE!
Dad seemed to realise the repercussions of what he'd said about a split second after he'd said it. His face utterly fell and he tried to reach out, but I just shrugged him off, pushing my chair back roughly and getting to my feet.
"Right," I said, bitterly. "because I'm just the screw up older brother who never has his life together. Clearly, I'll never be ready, so what's the point, right?"
"James–"
"No, no! You know what? I can't hear this – I need Libby, ok? I'm leaving–"
"James!" Dad yelled after me.
I disapparated on the spot.
I didn't go back home straight away. Instead, I climbed the stairs to Rose's floor. I considered dropping by and seeing her, but it would be blatantly obvious from my face that something was wrong, and I wasn't sure if I was ready for that yet. Guess there's lots of things I'm not ready for, right? Instead, I just continued straight down the corridor, until I reached the balcony at the end which overlooked the street corner below. I breathed in the cool spring air, leaning my arms against the balcony rail as London raced on by.
I knew it would be difficult for my dad to hear. I knew that Dad must always consider me the mess of a son who couldn't get anything right, but I hadn't ever expected him to say something like that. Expected him to say that I could never be ready for something like this, even though not ten seconds ago, it had seemed like he had thought that I could do it! Thinking that to raise this baby, Libby and I had to be that cute, mainstream family that lived with a white picket fence, two dogs and our children. What the hell? Sorry, Dad, but we're not YOU! We didn't have a sweet childhood romance, that just wasn't us! That's NEVER been us!
Think about it, Libby and I haven't ever been 'mainstream'. We met for the first time twice. I fell ridiculously in love, even though I never did that sort of thing. We slept together and for one of us it meant nothing, and the other, everything. We hurt each other, we made each other laugh, I risked my life and she made ice cream sundaes for me. We were crazy and wild and a little bit insane, but for some reason, we worked, and we didn't need a marriage or perfect house to 'fix' this. We were fine, just the way we were!
There wasn't anything to fix. We were having a baby.
We were having a baby, and damn it, if I wasn't excited about it!
"James?"
I glanced back over my shoulder to see none other than Scorpius Malfoy in the doorway to the balcony. He was holding it open with a curious expression, jacket still on and bag over his shoulder. He gave me a funny look before saying, "Thought I saw you come out here! Just got back from work … uh, what're you doing?"
"Ah, y'know," I shrugged, throwing him a grin. "Contemplating the vast insanity that is life!"
"Fair enough," Scorpius shrugged. "Don't tell me … shit went down?"
"Pretty much."
"Ah."
For a moment, Scorpius didn't move. Then, he seemed to make the decision and he let the door close behind me, moving to join me in leaning against the railings.
It wasn't as if it was that awkward. I mean, it's Scorpius! I'd known the bloke for far too long by this point. But to be fair, we didn't exactly hang out a lot with one on one time. He was Al's best friend, not mine. But we got on, Scorpius and I! Although I do quite vividly remember the first time I'd ever really hunted him down for the specific purpose of talking to him. Just me, Fred, and a bucket of slime! It was about a week after he and Rose had first got together, and let's just say that he'd taken us rather damn seriously after that!
I snorted at the memory, and he glanced over in confusion.
"Sorry – just remembering the first time we ever really spoke! Did you ever actually get all that slime out of your clothes in the end?"
Scorpius snorted. "I've still got that shirt. Let's just say it used to be blue."
"Oh, man! I'm not even sorry," I grinned.
"Rosie reckons I should wear it when we get married," Scorpius continued, pleasantly. "I told her no way in hell and she got pissed off for some reason."
"Ah, that's Rosie for you," I shrugged.
"Don't let her hear you saying that," Scorpius said. "She's stressed enough as it is trying to get a bloody venue booked. I tried helping, but all she did was end up punching me on the nose! To be fair, I don't think I've ever seen her sorrier."
"On the nose?"
"Rose Weasley is quite freakishly strong when she's angry!"
"Fair enough," I snorted.
"… so," Scorpius added, after a couple more moments of silence. "You ever going to explain why we're still out here, or will I have to extract it from you?"
"That sounds a lot more painful than I would hope."
"You know what I mean," Scorpius said.
I sighed. "Yeah, I do. It's … do you think we can do it?"
I don't think Scorpius even needed telling what I was talking about. I mean, what ELSE was there going on in my life at the moment? He seemed to contemplate, glancing out over the railings and down into the street. I think I might be going nuts, but I SWEAR, I've been seeing babies everywhere recently, and I noticed a young man with a child down on the corner. The man was probably about thirty, apparently talking to his little boy as he held him in his arms, carrier simply left at his feet. But the thing is, that scene didn't really scare me that much anymore. Yes, the thought of me having a child in eight months' time was insane, but imaging myself with that little guy, just like the father down in the street … it made me kind of excited.
"Sure," Scorpius shrugged.
"Well, that sounds comforting."
"Just sayin'," Scorpius carried on. "You and Libby have managed to make it this far. You're both insane, but you're about as near perfect for each other as you're gonna get, and I reckon that together, you'll be able to do it. Just my opinion."
"But maybe my dad's right," I muttered. "I really have no idea what I'm getting into. I say that I'm fine with it, and the idea is thrilling, but I don't think I've really quite grasped what this is all going to mean at the end of the day. I mean, I'll be a father. A father. Someone who has to look after this tiny baby and if I mess up, that child is going to be royally screwed for life!"
"Ah," Scorpius put in. "So that's what this is all about."
"Yeah," I said. "I told my dad. He didn't exactly take it well."
"Well, what makes you think that he had any clue what he was doing when you were born?" Scorpius pointed out.
I … well.
"I reckon you're selling yourself short, mate," Scorpius glanced back out into the street. "Hell, I've seen you fly! You're one of the effing best, no competition. Rosie damn near adores you and you somehow managed to convince Libby to fall in love with you. You've got a lot going for ya, is all I'm saying. Whether you'll be a good dad, I don't know. But whatever," he shrugged. "this conversation is starting to get far too pansy for my tastes."
"And at the risk of sounding pansy," I grinned. "Thanks, mate."
"Yeah, yeah," Scorpius rolled his eyes. "I think it's about time we go hunt some animals, eat some rocks – y'know, blokey stuff."
"Me James – James agree – James make fire!"
So, eventually, I got back home. You know, after all that happened. I yelled out Libby's name, slamming the door behind me, wondering if she would be back yet from telling her own parents, but I didn't get an answer at first. Truly hoping that they hadn't murdered her, I strode on down the hallway absently, until I reached our bedroom.
That was when I saw a rather incredible sight.
It transpired that Libby was home, since she was currently curled up in bed … with Emma … eating ice cream … and crying …
Oh, Jesus.
"J-James!" Libby called, noticing me standing probably in shock in the doorway. "You're back! Did you tell your dad? I – I'm – hang on–" She had to pause for a moment as Emma sat up, rubbing her eyes. Libby sniffed and hastily ate the ice cream that had been halfway to her mouth at the time. "Sorry – are you ok?"
"Are YOU?" I said, alarmed. "What – Emma – what's going on–?"
Emma just shook her head, fingers curled in her hair, warily. Libby glanced at her, eyes welling up once more. Then, she answered through the tears, "It's Emma – she started crying – then I started crying! I couldn't help it – I think it's the hormones–"
"Definitely the hormones, mate," Emma said, giving Libby a small smile as she looked up.
Blimey, my friend was a right mess! It was like she was trying to somehow hide behind her hair, and was doing a mighty fine job of it, considering how big it was. Her face was red and tear-stained, arms and legs practically hugging the carton of ice cream that she and Libby had apparently been eating out of. I took one look at my wonderful Emma, before pulling out my wand.
"What did Fred do, and how badly do I need to curse him?"
"No! No, James, it's not – I shouldn't even be cryin'–" Emma took a deep breath, before plastering on a smile. Libby had managed to tame her own tears as well, and she reached out then, throwing her arm around Emma's shoulders. "–and it's not Fred … or, well, actually …" she sighed. "Yeah, me and 'im are over, but whatever, right? Never meant anythin' anyway! In fact, let's stop eating this ice cream before we all get bloody fat and do somethin' fun, yeah?"
"Emma–"
"Look," Emma span back around, pausing in her efforts to clamber out from the twisted duvet and ice cream. "Just … please leave it, yeah? Sorry for cryin' all over ya, Lib," she added to my girlfriend. "and for, y'know, accidentally makin' you cry, too. I'll go put the ice cream away, all righ'?"
"… that girl is not fine," Libby said flatly the moment Emma had gone out the door.
"You think?" I raised an eyebrow.
Libby just leaned back into the headboard with a deep huff. "Oh, geez," she said, giving me a half-hearted grin. "Today's just been a mess!"
"Yeah, what in god's name actually happened here?" I pointed out. "'cause I certainly didn't expect this when I got home!"
"Erm, yeah, about that," Libby gestured for my hand and I gave it to her, letting her hold it with both of hers, playing absently with my fingers. "I got home and just found her sitting outside our front door. She told me what happened and she keeps trying to just brush it off like it doesn't matter, but like you saw before …"
"Bloody hell," I said.
"Bloody hell is right!" Libby nodded. "From what she said, I've kind of gathered that there was an argument of some kind, in which Emma dared Fred to say that he didn't have feelings for her. Needless to say, he probably didn't give the right answer."
"What the hell is the right answer?" I said.
"Search me," Libby answered, rolling her eyes. "She said there was heaps of yelling, and long story short, they decided to stop seeing each other – broke up – whatever you want to call it, seeing as they were never really together in the first place. I could just tell she was trying not to cry, so I hugged her, and THAT was about when the waterworks started … I think the baby's gonna be real compassionate or something, because I just started bawling, too!" Libby shook her head. "Sorry you had to see that, by the way."
"It's fine," I insisted. Then, I glanced back over my shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of the hallway. "She's not gonna do a runner, is she?"
"If I know Emma," Libby smirked. "She'll be sitting in the kitchen, still eating that ice cream."
I really had to try not to laugh at that one. Thing is, I could picture it perfectly! I shifted more comfortably next to her on our bed as I asked, "So did you actually tell your parents, you know, before the apocalypse?"
"Ohhhhh, yeah," Libby answered. "I must say, I don't think I've EVER seen my mum go that white! Thought she was about to keel over! Funny thing, I think my dad was more angry than she was, which I didn't expect. Mum just started crying and hugging me, but I think Dad was just really worried. I am his Libby-Bear, after all," she added.
"Well, that's better than my dad, at any rate!"
"What happened?"
"Well, I'm not sure what to really focus on," I mused. "When he was basically screaming at me, or when he told me that we had to get married for our baby to have at least any chance in this world."
"That's dramatic," Libby snorted. "Even for you!"
"Libby, I'm serious."
"I know – I'm sorry," Libby leaned forward then, raising a hand to rest against my cheek, firmly. "Are you ok?" she asked, softly.
"Ehhh. I'll let you know," I shrugged. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the feel of her hand warm my skin. "Talked to Scorpius for a bit when I got back – for a bloke who was a bit squeamish about all this at first, he's certainly getting on board with the whole supportive thing! Not that bad at all."
"Yeah, funny that," Libby took me off guard by suddenly kissing me in that moment. It was a firm, comforting, press of lips, and I grinned into hers, despite all that had happened today. It might have had the potential to get out of hand; lord knows that we'd barely touched each other ever since she found out she was pregnant, and I know that I was at least having a hard time with that. But with Emma not too far away, this was hardly the time. So I was forced to simply kiss her back for several moments, before pulling away, trying to stamp down on the crazy heat that was rising.
"Erm–" I stammered. "You – Emma?"
"Huh?" Libby gasped.
"Emma."
"Oh – shit! That's right, Emma!" Libby leaned back so she could exchange a half guilty, half flustered look. We quickly established that we needed to get back to her, so I instead grabbed her hand and pulled Libby to her feet. And minus a rather hard and fast snog against the hallway wall (there may or may not have been some over-clothes touching and groping involved) we were quick to try and shake any of those thoughts out of our heads!
Besides, Emma kinda needed us now, didn't she?
Sure enough, she hadn't gotten far with the ice cream; she was sat at the kitchen table at least as she ate straight from the carton. She caught my look as we entered the kitchen. "Don't judge me!" she exclaimed with a laugh, pointing at me with her spoon.
"I would never!" I snorted, collapsing next to her. "Though I'm telling ya now, you eat all that, it'll go straight to your hips."
"Screw you," Emma grinned.
I rolled my eyes. "So seriously," I said, as Libby thankfully confiscated the ice cream. "you're not ok. If you were, you'd be shagging someone else by now."
"For the last time!" Emma said, exasperatedly. "I don' care!"
"Okaaaay."
"James," Emma glared. "Look, I … oh, you SUCK!"
"It's what I'm here for," I said, cheerfully.
"Libbyyyyy!" she whined.
"Hey, I'm not sure I can handle anymore crying," Libby raised her hands in defeat after slamming the freezer door shut.
Emma made a frustrated sound, but eventually, it seemed that she was giving in. "Normally I'm makin' fun of you!" she told me. "How'd this 'appen?"
"Magic," I announced.
Emma snorted with laughter. "Oh, all righ'," she said, finally. "There's a chance – a miniscule chance, mind! – that I might be a bit upset over this. But I mean," she added, hastily. "that's only 'cause I'll miss the sex. That shit was hot."
"Mmm-hmm," I mused. "Exactly what I thought. Would you excuse me for a moment?"
"… um, ok?" Emma stared after me, while Libby just groaned, moving to stand next to Emma.
"James," she said. "What're you gonna do?"
"Something worthy of the name POTTER!"
Bang, bang, bang.
"FRED!"
BANG, BANG, BANG.
Bastard wasn't answering.
I glanced behind me warily, before reaching out and trying the doorknob. Locked. Well, that was no problem! With another safety-checking look, the wand was out and I was through the door within five seconds. "FRED!" I yelled once more, storming into his lounge.
He glanced up from the sofa.
"Oh, hey!" he said, pleasantly. "How's it?"
I almost wanted to laugh. At least he was wearing a shirt this time, although he was still in his underwear otherwise. He appeared to be lying down on the sofa, eating what looked like fried chicken, as he watched some crazy soap drama on the P.V. (which I was definitely not interested in, despite what Rose might tell you!). I just folded my arms, staring at him, witheringly.
"Oh, you know," I shrugged. "Want to tell me why I've got a crying Emma in my flat?"
"She's crying?" Fred sat up then, plate of chicken going tumbling to the floor, though he didn't seem to care very much. In fact, now that he was staring at me, his face was unfortunately rather difficult to read. I mean, this is Fred, who ALWAYS makes his thoughts known, even if you didn't want him to! He wasn't one to shy or hide away.
It was about time he met his match.
I didn't answer him. Instead, I simply waved my wand as I crossed the room, gesturing for him to move his legs. I sat down, directing the plate of chicken to land neatly on top of the cluttered coffee table. In the background there was some P.V. bitch fight going on, but I muted that as well, so there was nothing but our breathing and no doubt my best mate's frantic thoughts. Man, what I wouldn't give to be inside his head right now!
Actually, on second thoughts, maybe that wasn't the best idea. Never mind.
Ew.
"James," Fred eventually said, refusing to look at me. He stared hard at the now-silent people on screen, one girl punching another across a table. "How … how do you know when you're in love?"
I knew it.
"Ohhhh," I shrugged. "They throw up on you at two in the morning and you don't care."
"Yeah, I wasn't asking how d'you know when you're in love with Libby Fletcher, I was asking in a more general sense."
I just snorted. "Look, mate," I said. "If you're having to ask … you're in love."
"Yeah," Fred screwed up his face. "That's what I thought … shit."
We were silent for a few moments there, while I watched the show with no sound and Fred no doubt had an internal nightmare. I mean, I can only imagine what kind of havoc he must be going through. He was a man with a plan, and nowhere in that plan did it include falling in love. He had no interest in the idea. He was perfectly fine on his own, with a bunch of lady friends simply to entertain him! See? No need for love, there! But suddenly, here was Emma Terry. And I think it's fairly safe to say that you don't get a lot of choice in who you fall for.
"… soooo," I warbled after several moments. "Is that it? Because I owe Rosie like, 20 Galleons now, which I should really go and try and get her to forget about, seeing as I'd better start saving my money for nappies and stuff, really–"
"MATE!" Fred complained.
"What? Just sayin'!"
"You BET on me?"
"Of course!" I snorted. "Although I'm quite disappointed I lost! You just HAD to go and fall for her, didn't you?"
"What – I never said I – wait –" Fred suddenly cut himself off. He snapped his head around to stare at me. "Nappies?"
Huh? What did I say? I glanced at Fred quizzically, but I still didn't – ohhhhhh.
Bollocks.
I forgot I hadn't told him, yet.
"Um, didn't I mention that?" I said, weakly. "Libby's having a baby!"
Fred looked like his head might explode. "No," he said, flatly. "No, you did NOT mention that! SINCE WHEN?"
"Since my birthday, apparently, but we only found out a couple of weeks ago."
"HOLY SHIT, MATE!" Fred yelled, practically jumping to his feet as I watched in bemusement. "YOU'RE HAVING A BABY? WHY WAS I NOT TOLD THIS?!"
"Well, to be fair, we were a bit more worried about telling our parents," I said, hastily moving to stand up with him. "I would've told you! Erm … eventually?"
"James," Fred gaped for several seconds. Then, he leapt forward and threw his arms around me.
Ok, I will admit that I had been expecting probably anything but that. I mean, this is Fred! FRED! I was half thinking that he would disown me as a best friend or something, and my arms flailed slightly as if they weren't sure what this whole 'hugging' thing was. But I got it together pretty soon and hugged him back, because hell, my best friend seemed to be more mad about me forgetting to tell him than the actual news itself. It was kind of … surreal.
But I don't think I've loved my best friend more.
"So does this mean you don't think I've ruined my life?" I asked from over his shoulder.
"Oh, I think you're nuts," he told me after pulling back. "Absolutely crazy! I mean, it was an accident, right? I can't imagine you doing this on purpose, I mean, you've been together, what? Two seconds?" He snorted to himself at that. "But I know you, mate, and you're not crying over it, so that means you must be throwing yourself one hundred per cent into it. If I don't support you, I'll lose you as a friend again, and there's no way in hell I'm doing that."
Bloody Christ on a cracker.
"Fred … that was actually sentimental," I said in awe.
He just shrugged. "I've learnt a lot the last few months."
"No kidding …" I sat back down then, gesturing that he should do the same. He did so, reaching out then and offering me a piece of chicken. I figured that if Libby could eat ice cream with Emma, I should probably extend the same curtesy.
"I'm sorry you just randomly found out like that," I mentioned. "but don't think I haven't forgotten why I came round in the first place. Or why we're sitting here, eating break-up chicken."
"For god's sake," Fred grumbled. "we didn't break up, we weren't together."
"You're still eating chicken in your underwear," I pointed out.
"Your point?"
"You fell for Emma, didn't you?" I said, taking a large bite. "Hard, I'm guessing. Tried not to, but let's face it, my Em's a catch! So you dumped her, and she got pissed."
Fred refused to answer for a moment, just sat in stony silence. Then, he threw his chicken bone back onto the plate and ground out,
"It wasn't pretty."
"I'll bet," I replied. "so go on, tell me everything. What exactly happened?"
"I … don't even know, really," Fred shrugged. "I told her that I wanted to stop seeing her. And I might miss some of the more subtler things in the world, but it was pretty effing obvious that she was gutted over it, though she pretended she wasn't. I clearly said the wrong thing, 'cause she dared me to tell her that I didn't have any feelings for her, and I … it all went spectacularly wrong from
there," he admitted.
"Well, did you?" I asked. "Tell her you had feelings, I mean."
"Hell no! Why'd you think it went wrong?" Fred exclaimed. "Bloody hell, it doesn't even matter! That's all over, I'm never gonna see her again, so let's just leave it, ok? Concentrate on you and that flipping baby of yours! Is it a boy or girl?"
"We won't get to find out that for at least a few months," I rolled my eyes. "but no, no way we're just 'leaving it'. Fred, Emma cares about you a lot. And you quite obviously care about her. I know it's not your thing, but why not at least try? Just give it a go, see what happens?"
"Because I don't want to!" Fred huffed. "Jesus, not everyone needs a relationship to be happy!"
"I'm not saying that," I told him. "I know you can be perfectly happy without that kind of relationship. But you've got this opportunity just sitting there, and you don't even want to try it out? It's like tasting a new food! You'll never know if you don't really like it, unless you try it!"
"You're not seriously comparing this to food, are you?"
"Hey, bear with me and my weird analogies, ok?" I said. "You're saying you've learnt a lot, recently. Well, learn a little more! You're Gryffindor, aren't you?"
Fred didn't answer then, and after a couple of seconds, I turned curiously to try and meet his eye. What's weird is that at that statement, he suddenly seemed utterly determined to avoid it. Something about what I'd said bothered him, but I couldn't think what …
Blimey. It hit me like a freight train.
"You're scared."
"What?" Fred glanced around.
"That's it!" I said, gleefully. "You genuinely like a girl for the first time, and you're TERRIFIED!"
"Am not!"
"Don't even bother argue, I'M TOTALLY RIGHT!" I punched the air in triumph. "Yes! I am the KING!"
"This coming from the bloke who spent four years pretending that he wasn't in love with Libby?" Fred pointed out.
"And look how THAT turned out!"
"Whatever, fine, bad example," Fred grumbled, leaning an elbow on the arm of the sofa. "Look, James – yeah … ok, I might be a little scared. A lot scared. Because I saw what happened to you, you were a mess! Libby broke your heart at one point, and I refuse to let that happen to me! This has never been me anyway, never been what I do, and it's FREAKING ME OUT, BECAUSE SHIT, I MISS HER!"
I just grinned … probably a little manically, but still.
"What?" Fred said, warily.
I just pretended to wipe my eyes. "My baby grew up."
(October, 2030)
Rose shot me a look, then.
"Yeah," she said. "You STILL owe me that twenty bucks."
A/N: Bear with me. There's lots to say in this one.
I know, HARRY. The idiot we all know and love. I was originally going to resolve that in this chapter, but as always, I got carried away. If you think about it, every set of parents he knew were married (whether they were good parents or not is debatable, but point is, they were still married). And since he and James are so different, Harry was bound to clash with him on this level. Not everybody in Jabby's life could be totally on board, so I hope I did his reaction justice!
And Fremma. Ohhhhh, Fremma. I think it's safe to say that their spin-off will eventually happen, one day, in the far off distant future. I love them, almost as much as I love James and Libby, and that's saying something.
Kinda important: So YAY, a chapter finally! You guys have honestly been my rocks, my everything, the butter to my toast ... anyway. I really try not to talk about my personal life too much in these things, but this is a case where it may affect my writing. It probably never seems like it, but I actually have very high anxiety. I stress and I worry and I get so anxious that even talking about it makes me anxious. I've had an extremely stressful and hard month, and I'm anxious all the time and I'm sorry this chapter took so long, but yeah. Thought you guys deserved to know so you understand why the updates might be a bit sporadic now.
But I finished practicum, and now, I only have two months left of my course. In two months, I will officially be a qualified teacher! So I'm going on record saying that updates could be anywhere between 1-3 weeks. Sorry about that, but ultimately, my degree and ME comes first. Please remember, though, that this story will not be abandoned. It means too much to me.
AND I GOT OVER 400 REVIEWS! WHAT IS THIS MADNESS? You guys are honestly incredible with your support. Please, let me know what you think of this one!
I love you guys. x
Sorry for the insanely long A/N. Until next time -
- Moon. :D