Chapter 37: Too Perfect to Be Real

Turns out, James doesn't need much dating advice from Sirius. Their mock version of it would be almost perfect. The only thing making it not so is that it's that – a mock. Rather than wade through that thought, Cressida focuses on simply enjoying the day out alone with him.

"You should watch where you're going," she warns him with a wide grin. Cressida shakes her head as James walks backwards in front of her.

"See that's the thing about being a Chaser. I've got eyes in the back of my head." He points to the back of his ruffled head of hair for emphasis, winking at her with his famous lop-sided smirk. Cressida raises her brows, waiting to see if he'll give in and look over his shoulder as they wander back down the long road to Hogsmeade from the Three Broomsticks. But he doesn't. Cressida leaps forward, her fingers grasping his sleeve with a sharp tug which stops him from moving. A pair of elderly wizards walk past James, deep in conversation. James' lips round. "Alright, maybe those eyes are sleeping," he defends cheekily.

"We do call you four eyes four a reason," she mockingly agrees. "Maybe God gave you an extra set of those instead of brain."

"Then how do you explain that I'm top of Transfiguration. And second in Defence."

Cressida can't construct an immediate answer, so she only rolls her eyes and brushes past him to continue back on their path. James jogs to catch up to her side, visibly waiting for her response. "The same way Sirius manages to do well in Potions despite being a complete moron in the class."

"How's that?"

"Fool's luck."

He makes a sound of dispute but doesn't argue further on the topic. "Alright, so Honeydukes first?" Cressida nods with an easy smile, happy to let him decide the way. "I'm craving chocoballs. I reckon I could eat at least five."

"Five?" Cressida laughs. "I've seen Sirius manage four but even that was a struggle."

James huffs dramatically. "I'm bigger than Sirius," he asserts in a voice slightly deeper than his natural.

Cressida hums, tipping her head to the side with an innocent smile. "Only in height."

His face morphs into obliviousness. "Yeah, that's what I mean. What else… No he isn't!" His jaw drops theatrically. Cressida laughs freely, head falling back to face the blue sky. "Pfft. How would you even know!?"

"Please. Sirius has no modesty. You think I've never seen him naked?"

James jumps back in front of her, but at least he doesn't attempt to walk backwards this time. He grips her shoulders. "Well there's the problem! You've never seen me naked. But I have, and so I can confidently say that I'm bigger."

Cressida purses her lips, giving his entire frame a once over than nonchalantly shrugs. "Whatever you say James."

"Let me prove it to you then!"

"James, this is a first date," she says in a mocking tone. "That's for the second."

He squints one side of his face. "Do I get a second?"

"Haven't decided."

Their banter continues all the way back to Hogsmeade, and Cressida can honestly say it's the best time she's had in a very long time. The bell rings on their entrance to Honeydukes, overwhelming their noses with an array of sweet scents. Cressida heads immediately to her favourite aisle where the sugar quills are. James grabs a stripey blue packet and fills it up for her. Whilst he takes his time picking out the best ones, Cressida looks over the colourful shelf, wondering if she should pick something out for the boys. And Lily.

"What's Lily's favourite?" she asks aloud once James stands over the back of her shoulder.

"Uh, I don't actually know."

Cressida hums in deliberation, pinching her bottom lip between two fingers. James waits patiently for her, a hand resting on her hip, thumb rubbing over the bone. Deciding that simplest would be the best choice, she picks out a few chocolate frogs for Lily. She picks out something for each of the other boys then follows James over to the Chocoballs he adamantly reminds her he wants.

There's a person with long brown hair standing in front of the chocoball self-serve containers who is reaching up to inspect a packet of something stored overhead. James takes a careful step forward, trying to see if he can reach around or wait but the person is too obstructive.

"Excuse me, mam," James says loudly to be heard over the general noise of the busy shop. The long hair swishes as the person looks down at James. Cressida's eyes instantly widen, but there are nowhere near as wide as James'. The mam is not a mam at all, but a youthful man with a thick but short beard. Cressida holds her hand over her mouth as James swallows, looking mortified as he quickly picks out his treat. The stranger only glares at James' back before going back to reading the package in his hand. James scampers to the counter to pay for their things then races back to her with tightly pressed lips. "Come on," he hurries her, pulling her out of the shop.

As soon as they are out of sight of the shop windows, Cressida doesn't bother holding back her laughter, one hand on her chest, the other blindly gripping at his arm. His groans mix with her chuckles. "In my defence, he had very luscious hair."

"Probably uses your father's potion."

Her laughter doesn't stop, making her weak in the knees and uses a nearby lamp to hold her up. A pair of arms slither around her stomach, holding their shopping bag of sweets and a head nestles into her neck from behind. "Don't you dare tell the others," he grumbles into her skin.

"Aw, but I have to," she pouts. "It's a rite of passage to announce the stupid actions of other Marauder members. Remember, that was one of your own rules."

"I take it back."

Her cheeks press her eyes into thin slithers. Cressida rests one of her hands over his forearms, the other circling up to run her fingers through his hair that tickles her cheek. She contently lets him stay there, enjoying the feeling of being so close. She can feel his chest pushing into her back with each breath.

"You know what, I think I owe you an ice-cream as repayment for the entertainment."

"Choc chip mint?"

"Any flavour you want," she smiles to the air. "Except for bubblegum. That's horrid and I won't spend my money on that stuff."

They stay in the same position for a few more minutes, settling down from their high. Cressida happily pays for two never-melting ice-creams. Neither one really leads the other anywhere else, letting their feet do the directional work as they talk. Even still, it's not surprising that they end up on the path that leads towards a lookout over the Shrieking Shack. Though he doesn't say anything, Cressida can see him wincing every now and then, and a hand caressing his wounded leg. There's a bench seat about halfway that they fall into and James begins his challenge of eating five chocoballs.

Cressida watches in amusement, sucking on her own sugar quills as he eats his way through his third. "Looking a little full there," she taunts as he slowly chews the last bite. "You still have two more left."

He glares at her, but the effect is lost at his chipmunk-like cheeks. "I'll 'et 'here" he declares through a full mouth. Cressida grins, poking his cheek. James sits on the seat in a normal stance but Cressida has taken a sideways approach, with an arm resting along the back that her side presses against and her knees tucked close under her. He pulls out the fourth with a sigh.

"Why don't you save it for later."

"I don't back down from a challenge."

"Nobody challenged you."

"Details and logistics."

To his credit, he manages to eat it all, but holds his stomach at the end, not even looking at the last one still in the bag on his lap. Whilst he tries to convince himself he could eat more, Cressida saves him the effort and snatches the last one out of the bag, quickly taking a large bit out of it.

James' mouth falls open, longing and grief filling his eyes as he watches her. "Please," she laughs, "you weren't going to manage it."

He holds up a finger to her face. "You're lucky you're pretty," he mutters slowly. "If you were Sirius, I would've punched you by now."

Cressida only grins, tipping her head to the side in a display of innocence. "I know you're a straight man, but you can't lie and say Sirius isn't pretty." James purses his lips inwards with squinted eyes. "Just look at him objectively."

His head tilts to the side. "I kinda see it." They both chuckle lightly. "So. This isn't a bad way to spend your day, is it?"

Cressida shakes her head. "No," she coyly agrees. "Thank you. To be honest, I don't even know why I went out with him in the first place. I'm sort of glad it all happened." She offers what remains of the cake to him but he only shakes his head, stretching his arms out along the back of the bench.

"Do I get a kiss then?" Cressida watches his face. His jaw stretches out and downwards as he stares right back at her before resting again. At her silence, he adds, "My father said that when dates go well, you might get to kiss them."

She manages a small laugh, eyes fleeting away. "Well, it was the best date I've ever been on," she plays along. "Even if it did start off with someone else." Her head snaps back to smile at him. "Thank you, James." Gathering every ounce of Gryffindor courage, Cressida wraps an arm around his neck and presses a kiss on his cheek, as close to his mouth as she dares. Under her lips, she can feel his cheek pull into a smile and the arm along the bench moves to her back and up to the base of her neck.

It becomes too much for her small heart to take, knowing that all he had to do was turn a few degrees. This is play. This is fake.

But maybe there is a possibility.

Her own lips pull up in a ridiculous smile at how just… just surreal the entire day has been. "We're going to miss the carriages," she murmurs, resting her forehead against the height of his cheekbone.

"You sure you don't want to stay out a little longer?"

Cressida shakes her head, leaning back and sitting on her legs. The hand on her neck loosens and falls back onto the back of the bench. "I hate having to walk back. Come on." She slides off the bench first, holding her hands out for James. He sighs tiredly, taking her help but before he stands, his mouth parts slowly.

"Cress…"

There's a nervousness in his voice. His throat bobs and his eyes divert to the ground just behind her. Cressida smiles meekly. "I know Lily said she'll talk to you," she begins, having an inkling where he was going to go, "but I'll talk to her as well. I'll make sure you get a do-over date."

His hands tighten around hers, lips pressing together in a small smile. "Thanks." He barely uses her strength to haul himself up. "What sort of mischief do you reckon Sirius has gotten into without us?"

Cressida tilts her head close to her shoulder, tongue poking cheek. "I bet a galleon that he's managed to get into a fight."

"I can't even bet against that," James grumbles, but ends with a short laugh. He stuffs his hands in the pockets of his pants. "He's been getting worse since last year, have you noticed?"

"I have."