Chapter 4 "Roses and Sapphires"

James jogged outside to go find Mandy. He looked everywhere he thought she might be and still couldn't find her. Then it came to him. He didn't look in the rose garden. He ran around to the other side of the castle. By now it was getting pretty late. There it was, the rose garden. It was so beautiful. He walked up and down the paths looking for Mandy then he found her. She was sitting on a bench by the castle wall. The only way you would even see this bench was if you were looking for it really hard or just happen it stumble upon it by accident. "Hey Mandy, I was looking all over for you. Bobby said you might be out here," James said as he sat down next to her.

"Yeah I like to take walks," Mandy said looking James in the eyes. Her eyes were now the color of sapphires.

"I have a question. How do your eyes keep changing colors?" James asked.

"I'm really not sure. They always have. My mother says they change to what mood I'm in. Like when I'm happy they are deep purple and when I'm excited they are Bright Green," Mandy replied.

"So what does it mean when they are sapphire?" James asked.

"It means I'm sad," Mandy said and looked at the ground. She knew her eyes would be sapphire.

"So why are you sad?" James asked. He didn't want Mandy to be sad.

"I'm not sad," Mandy said defensively.

"Well, your eyes look like sapphires, so that means you're sad. You know you can tell me. Maybe I can help," James said. Mandy started to cry. "What's wrong?" James asked.

"It's just…I really like you but you don't even have a clue. I can't stop thinking about you. I think I might even love you but until now you had no idea. The worst part is you probably don't even care," Mandy replied between sobs. She looked back at the ground. She was a little embarrassed. Well, she had every right to be. She just spilled her heart out.

James put his left hand on Mandy's right. She looked up at him and he kissed her. Then he leaned back and wiped away her tears. They just sat there for a while just looking at each other. Then they kissed again but this time the kiss came from both of them. She laid her other hand on the side of his face. She felt a little stubble. They kissed for a long time. He put his other hand on her leg. She took her hand off the side of his face and put it on his hand on her leg. Then she felt something hit the side of her cheek. It was ice cold. She pulled away from him. "What?" James asked. He was afraid he hade done something wrong.

"I felt something. It hit the side of my face," Mandy said.

"Like what?" James asked.

"I'm not sure, but it was cold," Mandy replied. James leaned in to kiss her again and she let him. They were kissing and that's when it happened. It started to pour down rain. They stopped kissing. "I told you I felt something," Mandy said in a teasing way.

"What time is it?" James asked.

"10:30. We'll have to sneak in," Mandy said after checking her watch.

"Can you keep a secret?" James asked. Mandy nodded. James reached in his bag and pulled out a silvery cloth. "This is an invisibility cloak. I'll put it around us and you'll have to be real quiet. When we get to the fat lady we'll take off the cloak, then I'll say the password, then we'll put the cloak back on real quick just in case and professors or prefects are in the common room. Okay?" James said this all very fast.

"Okay," Mandy said as she got closer to James so he could put the cloak around them. He put the cloak around Mandy and himself. They walked back up to the castle, through the doors and up the stairs. They reached the fat lady. They dropped the cloak.

"Password?" the fat lady asked.

"Slytherins stink," James said. Then as it swung open they picked up the cloak real quick and put it back on. They walked into the common room and walked over by the fire. They didn't notice Sirius and Remus sitting in their chairs by the fire.

"Do you see that?" Remus asked Sirius. Remus was pointing to the water dripping from nowhere.

"James," they both said at the same time. Sirius got up and reached out to pull off the cloak. James and Mandy were by the fire trying to warm up.

"Oh, hello, I didn't even see you two there," Mandy said.

"Me either," James added.

"Where have you to been?" Remus asked.

"We were outside. Duh. Why do think we are wet?" Mandy said.

Wow this is the first time I heard Mandy say anything sarcastic, James thought.

"What were you doing outside?" Sirius asked.

"Taking a walk and talking," James said.

"Talking about what?" Sirius asked.

"Taking about you" Mandy replied in a smartass kind of tone.

"Good or bad?" Sirius asked. No one knew this but Sirius liked Mandy as well. He liked her because of her since of humor and, well, she did insult Serverus.

"Bad," Mandy said.

"Oh, you're trying to be funny," Sirius said. "Well, you not very good at it."

Mandy laughed. "I'm just joking. We weren't even talking about you," She said to Sirius.

"Oh. Then what were you talking about?" Remus asked. He was now curious too.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Mandy said. She obviously wasn't going to tell them.

"It's okay, James will tell us later," Sirius said. "Come on Moony, let's leave these two alone." Sirius and Remus went up to the boy's dormitory.

"Well, it is getting late so I'm going to go to bed. Good night," Mandy said. Then she gave him a good night kiss. It was just a little peck but it meant more to James than the world.