Music Recs:
Space - 'The Female of the Species'
The Ronettes - 'Be My Baby'
Nina Simone - 'Here Comes the Sun'
Phoebe Bridgers - 'Kyoto'
Fleetwood Mac - 'Everywhere'
Lianne La Havas - 'Unstoppable'

The Art of Closing the Deal

Are you up for a cheeky drink? I've had a long day and I want to hear something other than depositions.

Ryan smiled to himself as he checked the mobile device from his Quidditch bag and saw the latest message from that saucy little minx he'd been blessed to meet last Friday evening. Muggle women came with a lot of necessary restrictions, but they also provided a challenge to actually remain interesting when they weren't aware of his sporting qualifications and rank – and made it far less concerning when they couldn't drug him with a love potion. And Naima had proven to be far more than a sexually attractive woman to him when he finally heard the nitty-gritty of her position and her future aspirations after a couple of nights meeting up in local pubs and occasionally finding themselves tucked into a deserted laneway, hands touching her warm dark skin and his nose brushing the rim of her glasses as he sunk himself into the smell of her pear shampoo when he moved to her neck.

She was way smarter than him and far more adventurous, and he loved it. Because for once, he was actually safe to explore it. And he was becoming addicted when they had met up two days in a row. Ryan had practically returned to training Monday morning in a smug stupor and it continued throughout to Tuesday evening as he was packing up his stuff after running drills and recuperative remedial massage therapy.

James dumped his stuff from his locker on the navy-blue bench beside his colleague and teammate, seeming quite unimpressed by Ryan after another day of texting with Naima, with some due hesitance in not being outright dirty because they hadn't quite crossed that barrier yet. Ryan wasn't sure how much he would need to conceal from his apartment to make it less of a Ministry nightmare and Naima had a housemate in the form of a Malfoy. While that shouldn't have been a problem, he had a feeling from previous engagements that Naima wasn't very quiet, or ashamed of that.

He knew why James was annoyed. And Ryan wasn't going to feel guilty as he clearly was too high on a very intriguing woman to care about James' lack of a similar scenario with Naima's squib housemate.

You're giving me a lot of open space to walk through some very inappropriate innuendo, but I am more than happy to oblige to be your de-stressor this evening. What haunt would you prefer?

'Well, aren't you a pent-up little demon today?' Ryan teased easily to James as he slid his phone into his pocket. James sucked in a breath harshly and turned to Ryan with annoyance clear in his demeanour.

'I'm not pent up. I'm just feeling like I'm in a losing battle.'

Ryan grimaced at James' very rare defeated attitude. 'You didn't exactly try to ask her out for a drink when we bumped into her at the bar on Friday night.'

'And why is that?' James accused him with a pointed glare.

'Just because my chemistry with Naima was too great for the gods to take, doesn't mean there wasn't an open moment for you to ask,' Ryan countered with ease.

James sighed and said, 'Maybe Al was right. It's just not right and I'm stopping any and all open windows because I'm subconsciously aware of it.'

Ryan turned to James with a very concerned frown on his face. It clicked for Ryan that James genuinely didn't see why it was going wrong and that he clung to some reason that wasn't connected to James' worries whatsoever.

'No. This isn't because she's Teddy's cousin, or Scorpius' sister – or that she's even a Malfoy, or a squib. You're intimidated by a new situation and maybe…because she stumps you more than the previous women you've ever dated.'

'She doesn't stump me –'

'You weren't the suave bachelor of the year I've seen slither out of you when you've approached other women, and you certainly wouldn't have let my instant connection with Naima bother you if you weren't stumped,' said Ryan as recalled literally any time James found himself attracted to a woman whenever the two were together and him barely taking a second to consider if it was worth the shot. James still appeared uncertain. It was Ryan's turn to sigh.

'Look, maybe all those factors do make a point in you being careful to approach her. Merlin knows that Scorpius Malfoy doesn't come off as scary but I can imagine that's different with his sister,' Ryan laughed at the image of that squirrelly little guy from Hogwarts squaring up with James, 'But I think it's because she's not what you usually go after and that maybe intimidates you more than you've ever felt. You've got all the motivation, and I know you want her…but closing the deal is hard because I think you might be self-conscious?'

James frowned. 'You think I'm self-conscious?'

Ryan smirked, 'I know you are. You looked like a tube rat coming across a freshly dropped kebab when you saw her at the bar, and you practically clammed up when it came to actually requesting her company in a private secluded, sexual manner.'

Ryan finished and James eyed him with fierce concern.

'I don't appreciate that you're alluding to her as a dropped kebab in the tube…but you might actually be right.'

Ryan smiled knowingly. 'Take the differences you have combined in stride, because you clearly don't care how much her family could have you murdered if things were to go awry. This is a golden opportunity, and I think you're fully aware of it.'

The younger teammate scowled and Ryan patted him on the shoulder. 'If anything, me getting to know Naima better should be making the chances you see Vela again very high.'

'I don't want you to chaperone me,' James said horrified. 'I'm a grown man.'

Ryan rolled his eyes and said, 'Naima is getting over it on her end. She asks about it occasionally and you seem to be losing heat here.'

'Vela asks about me?'

'No, she has more pride than that,' Ryan admitted. 'But you need to be making a move sooner rather than later, if you get me.'

'Well I can't exactly rock up to her apartment with you looking like a third wheel hoping to get some Ryan,' James exasperatedly explained.

'You don't have to. She works at the bookshop on…' Ryan paused as he pulled out his phone and opened the conversation to the relevant point, 'Wednesday.'

'But that's her day off, her boss said so,' James recounted painfully confused.

'Well it looks like her boss asked her to come in for a shift. I wouldn't ignore it over some possibility that she mightn't be there,' Ryan patted James' shoulder.

James slowly nodded as Ryan picked up his stuff and checked his phone again. His eyes widened somewhat, his grin becoming brilliant. 'And it looks like I'll be quite busy tonight.'

Bowtruckle's Haunt. And I was hoping you would for my benefit. It's been a long 48 hours, tiger.

Ryan wasn't quite sure what to make of the nickname, but he couldn't deny the effect it gave to his performance as both a perfect gentleman and hopefully soon the best lay she would ever come across in her life.

Naima bit her lip as she saw the response not two minutes later vibrate on her phone and felt quite giddy, she had to stop herself from doing a little jig on the spot. Vela had been playing a game of chess against a computer on her laptop on the leather couch in the living room while Naima was supposed to be napping next to her, because she couldn't be bothered to play Spit with her.

'Naima,' Vela whined, 'You're meant to be dead tired, remember?'

'Sorry, babe,' Naima said somewhat sincerely, 'He's just…oh god, it's like he knows he's as sexy as a half-naked fireman in a charity calendar but he's not grossly smug about it…I'm seeing him again tonight.'

Vela should have been more concerned when it came to her friend jumping into the sack with what she didn't know was a wizard – did he even know about condoms or were those more foreign than placing a quick spell on his penis prior to insertion? Regardless, she had to trust that he wasn't a total fucking idiot not to consider doing his research prior to having sex with a perfectly normal muggle, albeit a sexually curious one.

'I can't believe how quickly you got over Jordan,' Vela said surprised.

'Well to get over someone, sometimes it helps to get under someone else. A someone else who really likes my ass which I'm very hopeful for–'

Vela shoved her flat palm onto Naima's face and yelled, 'I'm so good not hearing you finish that sentence.'

'Why,' she asked as she plied Vela's hand off her face. 'It's never bothered you before?' Naima looked surprised in return.

'Connections to him make it a little harder to picture comfortably.'

Naima nodded understanding, sobering up a little bit.

'So, are you still waiting to find out whether Ryan's friend wants to get gropey on your thighs or whatever wets your caper?'

Vela's head fell back.

'Now you've just made it worse.'

'In a sexy way or in a please never call my clit a salty little caper way?'

Vela's mouth didn't move or open, but she still managed to scream.

Naima's eyes widened as she watched this occur and brought her phone slowly up to her face. Her fingers tapped quickly and sent a text to Ryan.

Does he have a micro penis? Does it not function, is that it? Because I think she can work with whatever it is.

It was a warm day and James sipped from an iced tea from the now-closed coffee shop next door. He had stood contemplating how to play his angle like an inexperienced schoolboy for about fifteen minutes before he knew the shop would be closing for the day.

James dumped the empty cup and straw in a nearby bin and decided there was no point in waiting any more, placing his hand in his cotton trouser pocket and taking a deep breath, running his other through his hair – a nervous habit that made what was already fairly atrocious even worse, he grabbed the door handle and opened it to head inside.

He was met with an immediate filtered cool and any stray sweat could no longer be put down to the heat as an excuse. The bell signalling his entrance, he heard the squeak of another door open from behind the counter quickly and out popped the platinum blonde head of Vela Malfoy, who didn't look entirely thrilled as she fussed with her hair and a tie, putting it into a quick bun.

'Hello, how can I – James?' she asked, her demeanour immediately changing at recognising him.

'Hey,' he smiled at her confidently.

Where have you been?! he was forced to ask himself after a stupid amount of agonising and trying to relocate his nerve.

Vela chuckled nervously and brushed herself down as she approached the counter with far more concern to her movements, and particularly her eye placement. James had unbuttoned a couple of his shirt buttons based on the heat, but it might have been far more distracting than he had intended.

'What – what can I do for you?' she asked politely.

James hesitated for a moment and asked, 'Do you get off soon?'

She looked a little sceptical at his question and tried to ignore the dirty thought that arose from his specific choice of words. 'We close at half past five on Wednesdays – so in about five minutes, I will be.'

James nodded, content with her answer, before she interrupted his follow up question, 'Why?'

She was still sceptical.

'I was hoping we could get a coffee. Are you interested?'

Vela frowned at the offer. 'No, I don't think that would be good idea.'

James felt his whole world crash before him, and he begged for the building to collapse on this moment to at least follow through on his internal demise.

'You're crazy if you think we're getting a coffee on a day like this, James,' she continued, not having witnessed his brain's internal riot. 'This is a cold pint on a rooftop terrace kind of day.'

James felt immediately relieved and it was clear that she could see that too as her face fell.

'Oh Jesus, I really came off like I was rejecting the offer then, wasn't I?'

'A little bit,' James said through a grimace.

'I'll clarify – I wasn't,' she gestured with her index finger.

'You did have me going there at first.'

She nodded, looking embarrassed by her wording and turned around to go back into the room behind the counter and was calling out to him. 'I've shut up the register, could you turn around the sign on the door for me please?'

James turned to the door and flipped the sign and when he had fixed it to be righted, he turned around and nearly froze at the sight of her.

Vela wore a tight white baby tee with a pair of black shorts ruched on the sides that were so small it nearly gave him a heart attack. Her mid-riff was bare, and she again wore those slightly dirtied white sneakers. She had a forest green tote bag and had pulled out some sunglasses as well as her phone. Lastly, she fished out some light grey silky thing that she then wrapped around her hips and tied a knot in, as it slunk down to cover her legs and became a skirt.

'Sorry for the display,' she joked lightly, 'I used my lunch break to get some sun on my paper white skin in the garden out back, but it's not considered professional to wear a bikini to work.'

James just silently nodded, knowing whatever he could possibly say would probably make him croak out loud in a prepubescent way. She eyed him a little carefully and smiled as she said, 'Come with me, I know somewhere nearby that isn't ever too busy.'

'You know a pub with a terrace that isn't busy on a day like this?' James asked in disbelief, relieved his voice came back and was in fact a normal octave.

She opened the door to let him out and the keys jangled in her other hand, also still occupied with a phone and her sunglasses.

'Yeah, I do. It's near where a bunch of weirdo cults reside and no one wants to get mixed up in all of that,' Vela said seriously.

'Cults?' James frowned with concern to her taste.

'Yeah, it's way too close to Diagon Alley,' Vela spoke honestly and James eventually caught on and smiled as he did so as Vela responded with a sardonic grin.

James often forgot she was a Squib.

Sometimes he forgot that she was also Scorpius' sister.

Neither seemed to matter to him though. Especially as she took his hand and led him away from the shop.

Vela had been astute in her description of a pub somehow not being busy nearby Diagon Alley. Some of the best views of London were here, with lots of colourful flowerpots and plants surrounding them and old London charm from the heritage building. But she could never bring Naima, only her brother and Rosie, and occasionally his brother, because whatever spells the Ministry had insisted on keeping the shopping district separate were quite powerful, even on Vela as a Squib.

'It took some time to get used to, but I genuinely think it's a bit of a safe haven for me. Close to Scorp, still safe for me by Dad's standards,' Vela explained.

As James intently listened to her explain exactly those standards and everything else, she had to say for another ten minutes, she stopped abruptly.

'I'm sorry, I don't normally talk this much about myself,' she apologised, 'it's especially rude when you haven't said so much about yourself, and I haven't even asked.'

James shook his head, baffled by this statement as he leaned back in the padded garden chair and nursed his pint. 'I've probably retold my life story to many people thousands of times. I get interviewed a lot. And…well, everyone wants to know what it's like to be Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley's first born, since Lily and Al are incredibly private people.'

Vela nodded and sipped her cider as he continued, carefully watching her, 'It's genuinely refreshing not to have to talk for once. To find out about someone else's life that was always in the background but when I had the chance to listen, was far more intriguing than I could have believed.'

Their eyes briefly locked, and Vela was under the distinct impression that things were heating up, maybe not as rapid fire as they had between her best friend and his teammate, but something was happening. Vela wasn't sure she should continue on, knowing her bad luck with wizards, but she didn't want to stamp it out – especially when it could all be in her own mind.

'Well,' she swallowed, feeling a little too observed, 'I am a Gemini if that clears things up a bit for you.'

His face broke out into a handsome smile, a complimentary detail she hadn't noticed in their previous interactions.

'You would get along well with Lysander,' James mentioned.

'A friend of yours?' she asked before taking another sip.

'A family friend, my sister's Godmother's son,' James explained quickly, 'Lily also had a brief tryst with his twin in school, but I'm of the understanding that it might have been too many differences and mostly physical,' but James winced as he finished.

'Do you have a habit of walking into unfortunate memories?' prompted Vela with a teasing smile.

'Not often,' James admitted with mirth, 'this is why my family beg me to shut up sometimes, as it's often at their expense, but I haven't been smooth with you ever, so why try now?'

Vela pursed her lips. This wasn't completely one-sided after all.

Despite being the darker in complexion of the two, she couldn't help but notice the blush creep up his neck. She smiled, having now understood why Scorpius had found it so endearing on the darker freckled skin of his own partner.

'I hadn't realised you were trying to be smooth. You didn't seem very coherent when I left the wedding,' she had recounted aloud to his dismay.

James made a noise to indicate she wasn't wrong. 'Alice has given me hell for it ever since.'

'I don't doubt that,' Vela's eyes glinted with amusement. She almost felt as though she had the upper hand. It was a near shame that she felt her conscience trying to undermine her and shut it all down now. 'Although it makes me curious as to why you feel the need to be smooth with me. You weren't exactly my brother's favourite in Hogwarts for such masculine necessity with girls and from my understanding you didn't care much for his opinion.'

James blanched but refused to give in to a fake apology. 'I'm not sorry for it. He was asking for it half the time – the way he mooned over Rosie was enough to make even Lily ill, the one who read all those intense romance novels growing up.'

Vela chuckled but didn't have the gall to tell him it was also likely his sister's personalised porn stash.

'And I think I should take partial credit for what may be the making of a union between a Malfoy and a Weasley,' James pushed honestly, 'If I hadn't made it so bloody obvious, Rosie would still be under the impression that it was all just a lark and not sincere on his part.'

'To be fair, they were both quite oblivious to the other reciprocating their feelings. Scorpius thought that if he played it off as a lark, it wouldn't be so painful when she found someone less likely to cause a retelling of Romeo & Juliet,' Vela theorised of their conversations of those painful teenage moments between the two.

James waved it from his personal perspective, 'She deserves someone who is ass over tit for her, and he was the only one up for the job.'

Vela smiled warmly at the repeated saying of her great aunt and cousin, likely influenced by the more uncouth deceased Nymphadora Tonks. In remembering Andromeda's advice though, she was told to trust the process, but she wanted some clarification.

'James, what are we doing here?'

Said man was immediately taken aback by the question, because she wasn't rude or defensive, but she was certainly…a little tense.

'We are having a drink,' he mentioned carefully. 'Then, maybe dinner.'

'And what is the intention?' she urged with a slightly narrowed gaze. However, he was relieved to see that she couldn't hide the amused quirk of her mouth, likely from his mention of dinner.

'Okay, you got me,' James sighed unfortunately, 'I thought I would wine and dine you because I'm just desperate…for a discount at Todd's, his selection is just unfounded,' he finished, somehow perfectly.

When her face broke into an unstoppable smile, she eventually started giggling, which also started him up too, the easiness returning. But James could tell she had reservations, based on what he didn't know about her yet, and he didn't want her feeling reluctant for anything he did.

'In all seriousness, I would like to wine and dine you, but the perks aren't for discounted books.'

His honesty threw her off guard suddenly as her giggles slowed to a stop. James carefully approached the conversation topic once more, 'I'm not exactly the type to just grab your number and presto…apparently not with you, but I wouldn't mind a second date.'

Her eyes were large with reckoning at his forwardness. She gestured around herself, seeming serious, 'This was meant to be the first date?'

James was also caught off guard now, which broke her out into another smile. 'James Potter, I have been brought up to expect more – you can not assume that my being a squib makes me so chill!'

James bit his lip into a smile, holding back the beaming grin he had at hand but also the fact that she teased him continuously was clearly making him more foolish with desire and admiration for her.

'And I suggested the location!' she added which only made him laugh and put his hands up in mock defence.

'Okay, okay,' he laughed out, 'I will make it up to you right now.'

Despite her making a mockery of him, she didn't know how he could possibly rectify this sooner.

'How?'

James finished his drink and she followed suit, watching him with narrowed eyes. She should have had her reservations, but there was something so easy about him, about her willing he was to make her laugh and succinctly just as comfortable – while also being exciting. As she finished her drink, she followed him downstairs.

'I assume you're not a fan of side-apparition?' he asked.

'I do prefer the Floo network or a portkey over that nightmare of travel, yes.'

James pulled out his wand discreetly and hailed the Knight Bus. As the purple three-decker bus roughly pulled up, frightening her beyond what she thought possible, she found herself grabbing onto him for protection. She let go quickly after the two caught eyes after her holding him, casting her gaze downwards in pure embarrassment and James couldn't help but beam to himself as the door to the bus opened up.

He climbed and she followed as the ticketer, who clearly recognised James was handed a few galleons for his trouble and more to keep the ticketer quiet about their journey and the couple in question. Vela caught on to this and was appreciative that he understood her reluctance. She took a seat on one of the beds and he sat down next to her, after informing the driver of the location. They were almost immediately knocked about as the bus pulled off, though on the couple of occasions she had to use this form of travel, she knew to immediately clutch onto the nearest nailed down handle.

James seemed the most at ease out of the two of them, his legs moving with the buses ministrations. He then turned back to her, with something wonderful behind his hazel eyes that Vela couldn't help but lost herself in.

'What is your favourite dish, ever?' he asked her. She hadn't expected it, but Vela answered it honestly.

'Steamed pork dumplings – or any dumplings really. We rarely eat meat in the flat, so when I do, it's always dumplings and a bottle of red wine.'

James would file that away but also knew it would be useful for later on. He held up his index finger as he pulled out a small pad, and she watched him write it down, each letter slowly disappearing shortly after writing it.

'How different is muggle schooling to magic schooling…if you're okay with me asking that?' he finished sheepishly.

She waved away any awkwardness he might feel about it, 'Honestly, my experience wasn't terribly different, except I could go home on weekends when I requested. And I was surrounded by very posh people, far wealthier than some of the pureblood families at Hogwarts. But you can't get by on a high school education alone in the muggle world, and Dad insisted I try for the crème de la cream of schools for my undergraduate…which is an extra three years on top of what is sixth form education…and you're confused,' she finalised with a knowing laugh.

James was admittedly confused, but he was still quite invested. She couldn't quite understand his enthusiasm, but she entertained him nevertheless.

'Anyway, I went to Cambridge.'

'Is that like a really good school?' James asked genuinely unaware which caused her to laugh past what he had ever seen her do, as she recollected something. James was wonderfully bewildered by it.

'One of the first things that drew me to Naima was this thing she would do to men who used their school as their badge of honour…when they said they went to Oxford or some crazy elitist school, she would pretend not to know of it. It would infuriate them.'

James shook his head and said, 'And now you're letting her get involved with the biggest shit-stirrer I've ever known.'

'I wouldn't have let that happen if I had a choice, but I am not one to deny her of her sexual appetite,' Vela spoke reflectively. 'She's…taught me a lot.'

James' head tilted at this comment, she shook it off and said, 'It wasn't all entirely appropriate. But let's just say she is a wise woman.'

She went on to continue to explain that her strength was in mathematics and that she had graduated the prior year after taking a break in between her education to go travelling. James too had been travelling but not to the extent Vela had taken. 'I had to hide all the photos of me backpacking because my parents would have had me hauled back in a second if they knew I was roughing it in some quite dangerous areas.'

The bus stopped at a halt and they both felt their imbalance taking over as they both slid from the bed, having been too caught up in the conversation to tighten their grip on their respective handles. James helped her up quickly and she sprung up, brushing herself off rather embarrassed.

'One of these days, I won't fall in front of you,' she said almost infuriated with herself.

James just smiled in response, which caused her to quirk her eyebrow at his expression. Before he could say something so ridiculous in his admiration, he was gratefully interrupted by the shrunken head.

'Are you getting off or what? We've got other passengers you know!'

The two turned around to look at the other passengers around. What looked to be a banshee had settled on one of the beds and was snoring loudly. They turned around and left out the door. They were at a small dock on the Thames and James brushed past her to quickly descend the wooden stairs before the dock. Before she could reach the bottom behind him, she nearly collided into him as he turned around to face her suddenly.

'Do you prefer light ambience or a festival-like atmosphere?'

'Light ambience?' Vela answered, uncertain of what these questions were leading to.

'Perfect, you can tell me more about yourself,' said James rather delighted, which she made her frown at his mysteriousness.

She followed him down the dark dock and when James surveyed that the area was clear, he pulled found the boat he was after. Pulling out his wand, and again, careful to see if anyone else was around to observe, he started casting non-verbally. Large bulbed lights on the boat fired up and the anchor floated to the surface, as he did an awkward gesture with his wand to seal against the boat. Vela watched thoroughly impressed that he did so without needing to verbalise.

The small ferry boat pulled itself in closer to the dock with James' magical manipulation and he turned around to see her curious expression.

He hopped in with the ease of an athlete and spun back to look at her.

'The food will get cold if you're not quick,' James mentioned, flicking his wand behind his back and showcasing the table that was transfigured from a bunch of equipment and the two pillowy looking chairs that were converted from the buoys on board. She could see the steam coming from the covered basket and two empty wine glasses beside a bottle of red.

Vela's mouth opened slightly before she could maintain it. She hated to admit how pleasant it made her feel, that he could revel in providing the best night for her. Her eyes flicked from the dinner set up to him as she quirked her brow, his carefree grin still very much so inviting. 'You're quite a crafty wizard, aren't you?'

'McGonagall both loved and loathed me,' James commented, his grin widened.

She watched him for a brief moment before offering her hand out gently, so that he could help her inside.

Vela felt his grip, calloused by his position on a broom, but he was gentle and felt his thumb brush with her hand as he helped her get in.

She let go, rather slowly, before heading toward the seat laid out for her. James dipped away for a moment as he freed them from the dockside and pushed off into the Thames. With some quick footwork and respectively, wand work, the boat was powered for a slow cruise, down the straight and narrow. He then cast a few spells that she knew to be concealment purposed from Scorpius' studying years before during his final years at Hogwarts. She watched as a faint blanket like sheen covered the boat, muting some of the noise of London either side of them. A soft tune of a guitar, violin and humming of a songstress started to play over a set of speakers meant for more safety reasons but James didn't give the impression that he would lose control of his set up any time soon.

'Light ambience –' he started before plopping himself the in the opposite seat, which caused the table to rattle and the bottle of wine to fall before Vela caught it, 'is a lot easier than creating a festival atmosphere,' James said, with a sigh of relief that the work was done.

Vela planted the bottle back on the table, James plucking it back from the spot and twisting the lid off before pouring it into her glass and an equally healthy amount in his glass.

James looked back to see her staring at him in a way that he knew would make his thoughts run wild.

'Is it way too much?' he finally questioned.

Vela picked up her wine glass and swirled the contents around habitually before taking a deliberate swig. When she swallowed, she looked back to him, with a renewed gaze of interest.

'You threw a piece of lit up dynamite to what was my puddle of expectations, James Potter,' she replied honestly, her eyes catching to the lights and the soft music playing, the sense of privacy while on the fucking Thames.

James nodded slowly, thinking he may have ruined this or at least come off as incredibly exulted.

'I love it,' she finished, to his growing relief.

He was finally able to sit back and relax, as she pulled off the lid to the dumplings and picked up the chopsticks, handing over the spork to him.

'Excuse you, you shouldn't assume my magic upbringing makes me inept at using chopsticks!' James accused jokingly, throwing the spork back on the table mock offended, which caused her to laugh harder than he had ever been blessed enough to witness. He picked up the chopsticks and placed them in the correct position, and so Vela knew for certain he was telling the truth.

Vela was going to be very torn by the end of the night, as she was always going to be when dating a new person. But there was something different with James that felt like he would rather figure that out along the way and probably communicate the way she had failed with others in the past. After enough self-reflection and work, she secretly hoped that she was ready for this one, because he felt like a winner.

'By the way, why do muggles wear trainers with everything?'

She burst into laughter again at James' pure confusion and realised that this night was far easier than she had once anticipated despite how high the stakes felt now.

The night had cooled down immensely as the two walked back from the docks, having returned the boat in its original condition and spot. James and Vela chose to take the Tube home after she declined a trip on the Knight Bus again. When they got on to her line, she bumped into him accidentally, and he held her briefly for a moment. Instead of moving away though, she stayed in that position with him, standing up in the busy tube car.

When her stop was called, both felt far more daring, spurred on by liquor and even better moments to admire of each other in their memories, as he took her hand in his with very little hesitation and the two left the Tube line like so. As she led him to her flat a few blocks from her station, the fear of feeling vulnerable wasn't so potent as her bravery picked up.

It wouldn't have seemed that way based on how the peace of quite settled amongst them.

Vela, regrettably, it would feel, stopped shy of a late-night liquor shop, where it conveniently lit them up in a fluorescent glow of blue, green and orange from the bright signage, a slight breeze covered the warm and sticky evening. While everything about the conditions of the day should have made her feel gross, there was something that forbade herself from coming down from the strange high of what was one of the loveliest outings of her life, and all by a chance.

'This is my place,' she pointed to the older building, a light on in the top window she knew to be her living room.

'Do you regret bringing me to where you live?' James quietly joked.

'It's not the best idea, but I figured it would be easier if you were having trouble reaching me at work again,' she poked fun at him as she looked up at his slightly taller figure.

James didn't feel her hand drop from his as his head pulled back to react from that clear blow to his ego and level of prowess.

'I was never good with my –'

James was forced to silence as he tilted his head down at just the right time and slowed down as her hand on his shirt drew him closer, her lips pressed against his. He didn't waste much time with his invitation and placed his hand on Vela's neck to pull her in as close as he could get her, kissing her firmly in response, his other hand supporting her back.

Her hair was so unbelievably soft by his fingertips and his scent of summer sweat and hours old cologne had her reeling for the masculine presence of this moment. James angled himself slightly which allowed Vela to deepen the kiss to his absolute pleasure, her other hand raking through his dark locks as their tongues brushed gently together, connecting with a touch of heat that Vela hadn't expected to stir so suddenly. It was a slow and deliberate kiss, the way Vela had intended for his efforts being so relaxed and also warm. All James wanted was get her body as close to his, as his hand scrunched the back of her tee in hopes this message was conveyed. Vela pushed herself flush against him, his hand becoming a firmer support for her and their hands angling to the side as her hands moved up from his shirt to his neck. Vela felt the sinking feeling of a greedy thirst settle from her heart beat, through her lungs and in to the pit of her stomach, James feeling equally crazed internally.

Eventually, they disconnected, with but a few parting pecks, not wanting to leave the embrace quite yet. Vela let her hands feel their way down his body as she pulled away enough to look into his face. He was slowly, blinking his eyes open before her and smiled shyly at his gaze.

'I'll see you around then?' she asked in a whisper.

James almost dumbly nodded before he leant in again and grasped her firmly, lips reaffirming the message tenfold. She smiled against him, happy to oblige another kiss.

He let her go one last peck and smiled, a little punch drunk.

'It might be less creepy to contact you on your phone?'

She nodded in realisation but was a little shocked by the revelation. 'You have a phone? I thought I heard Albus complaining that his twat older brother refused to answer it.'

James rolled his eyes, 'I don't like random numbers call me.'

'So, you just never saved his number?' clarified a knowing Vela.

James shrugged slyly, 'It winds him up. I can't help that I'll be doing that until the day he or I die.'

Vela tried to look unimpressed but couldn't help feeling amused. James then slid out the slim phone his sister had bought for him the Christmas past. He had some family members there, and a couple of friends, as well as work numbers that were called as a last resort in his contacts. James knew it would be quite important to have it on him, as she easily plucked it from his grasp and put her contact details in, noticing about 6 in total amongst the contacts. She put an emoji next to it and confirmed the editing process finished before she handed it back.

James checked it and said, 'Huh, a white sneaker, funny.'

'I'm sorry you don't understand how quickly fashion cycles here,' gestured Vela teasingly as he came back in for another embrace.

'It's wasteful is what it is, Vela,' James pointed out, half-joking, as her head tilted up to look at him.

'No one would disagree with you there,' she whispered before his lips were planted on hers again and she found herself using her hands on his body for support, feeling his fingers dig into her hips tantalisingly. Vela allowed herself to feel the sting for the pleasure it offered before she pulled away carefully from his mouth, and while she wanted his full attention, she also didn't hate how he moved to her neck.

'Considering our links, we better make something certain first.'

James stopped kissing her neck gently and she almost wanted to pull him back, but remembered that she wasn't a savage woman about to dry fuck Teddy's Godbrother in the middle of her street – the title itself bringing her some cold, cold, reality, but not enough to become concerned.

'That we should maybe keep this between us until we see how things filter out in say, a month or so?' James suggested carefully, before placing another kiss on her neck.

'Mhmm,' she said in response.

'With the exception of being your muggle best friend, my teammate and my accomplice in getting us food tonight, being Alice?' James offered a second.

Vela nodded and came back to a second reality, holding him slightly away from her, 'Yep, that's realistic,' before she brought his mouth back to hers, just as wanting as the first time.

Again, their kiss eventually slowed down its progression and Vela found herself lighter from the experience, James feeling a limp like affect take to his knees, his shoulders sinking with lack of control, as she let her hands fall down his arms, stepping away tactfully.

'If you heard that it's cool to text a week later, don't believe it,' Vela advised with an underlying smile.

James smiled, aware that he knew there was going to be nothing cool about his interactions with her based on how corny he could be in front of her.

She then turned and went inside through an unlocked wooden blue door between the convenience store and a now shut dry cleaner.

James couldn't help the manic grin that spread over his face as he turned to head toward the nearest alleyway he could disapparate from to Alice's building. Before disappearing, James simply said one final word.

'Timing.'

Please R&R

Fadinggx