Chapter 42: The Not So Little Problem

None of them bring up what happened after the Quidditch Match. James never figured out that she saw him, and Cressida pretended to be relieved once he returned to the dorm later that evening. She was relieved, of course, but she feigned concern about his whereabouts. He told her that he was feeling unwell and went to the Hospital Wing. Apparently, he got kicked in the stomach during the game.

"I didn't even think to look there," she breathed at his excuse, letting him keep the lie. "Are you alright though?" James nodded, tiredly making his way towards the bed where she was sitting, curling into his mattress. She told Remus and Peter that he was fine when she returned, so they only gave her an odd look but kept their mouths shut.

"The final exam is going to be three hours long…" Cressida drowned out Flitwick's voice long ago. Her brain feels like it has memorised the history and practice of every Charm, curse and hex ever to exist. This is the one class she's prepared for.

Remus sits on her right, the pair perched near the back of the levelled classroom. "Rem?" The boy hums in response, eyes tearing away from his note-taking. "I was just wondering about you. You and Lily I mean. The Seventh Year Ball is coming up, and I thought you might ask her to go with you."

His blue eyes soften, shifting back away to the paper on his desk. Cressida waits patiently but unwavering. "I think I just want to go alone. Well, with you lot really. Peter's too scared to ask for a date, you're going with James and Sirius is going solo as well."

"Well I can't say I won't be jealous seeing one of my favourite people with someone else," she teases quietly, "but it's one night. If you think you'll enjoy it more just hanging around us then I'm not going to force you to do anything, but don't you think you'll enjoy it with Lily as well? Trying to ignore us teasing you from afar? Dancing?"

Without even thinking, he shakes his head. "I want to be with you lot. It's sort of… Symbolic in a way. Finish Hogwarts the way we started."

"Together," she laughs at his cheesiness. Remus nods with a blushing smile.

"Lupin! Hawthorne!" The teenagers' shoulders snap to attention. Flitwick stands at the head of the class, fisted hands pressing against his hips. "Do I really have to give you both detention in the last week of classes?!"

"No, sir," Cressida immediately responds, biting her lip to keep her smile at bay. Flitwick gives her a stink eye before turning back around to his blackboard. Their shoulders slump, Sirius sniggering at them from the seat in front. She kicks the back of his chair. "Look," she whispers to Remus, "I promised I wouldn't say anything, but Lily was under the impression that you might ask her. And if you don't, again—that's fine - but I don't want it to be because you're scared or something."

He shakes his head. "I'm not scared. I like Lily, just not like that."

Cressida purses her lips, then smiles. "Okay," she agrees. "Are you also… Alright with her knowing about your furry little problem?" At that, he shifts uncomfortably. She knows she hit a sore point. "It's not because of that, is it?"

Remus shakes his head. "No. I was surprised when she confronted me, but I trust her. That reminds me that I haven't apologised for how terrible I was to you that night. I hate trying to blame other things, but I really didn't have any sort of control even through the day."

"Eh," Cressida laughs under her breath, waving a hand through the air. "I bitched about you in bear grumbles all night, I'm over it."

The deep bell rings out through the castle, signalling the end of the seventh years' day. The rest of the school has another period left to go. "I'm going down to Honeydukes," Sirius announces as they stride out of the class. "Stock up for your birthday, Cress. We ate all of it on James and Remus'."

"I gained two pounds from that," Remus mourns, placing a hand over his stomach. "Worth it though. I'll come."

"Me too," Peter agrees.

"I'm gonna stay behind," Cressida denies, placing a hand over her bag. "I want to write some revision for D.A.D.A."

"I'll stay too," James adds. "Since I bought the last lot, Sirius can't pay this time." Sirius mutters under his breath. The three boys turn down a different corridor that will lead them towards the passageway straight to Honeydukes. James' arm settles around her lower back, his fingers pinching the waistband of her skirt.

A subtly smile rises to her cheeks, already having an idea where his mind is at. In her McGonagall impression, she whispers, "Mr Potter-"

James groans before she can even finish, throwing his head back. "Don't," he begs her. Cressida laughs, leaning closer into him. "Are you going to do that every time?"

"Every time of what?" she goads. "I haven't the faintest clue what you're talking about."

"Stop frustrating me," he continues, seeing right through her obliviousness. "I really don't want to hear our professor's voice whenever I'm thinking about you."

Cressida rolls her tongue over her lips, cocking her head to the side. "Why are you thinking about me? I'm right here." She twirls in her step, coming to walk backwards just a step in front of him. James stares at her, eyes running from her head to her shoes, then back up. He shakes his head. "Tell me. Go on."

"Things I've thought about for way too often," he finally answers, playing her just as she plays him.

"Getting a haircut?"

"I thought you liked my hair."

"I do, I'm teasing. Don't cut it."

By the time they reach his dorm, their bickering has only fuelled itself. "You're already undoing your tie?" she muses with a sly smirk, placing her bag down on the floor by his bed.

"It's annoying," he excuses, tossing the fabric over his trunk. "You aren't going to take off yours?"

"I have no intention of getting undressed." Crouching by her bag, she pulls out some spare parchment and her D.A.D.A textbook. As soon as she stands back up, James is in front of her, fingers reaching for her tie. "I've got to study." James only smiles at her and unravels the material, tossing it over his trunk next to his own. "Don't let me forget that." His hands move to her arms next, gently guiding her with him as he walks towards his bed. He lies down first, chuckling at her rolling eyes.

"I just want to cuddle," he smiles innocently.

"I'm sure," she agrees with faux sincerity. She can play his game just as well. Following his lead, Cressida rests her knees on the bed, picking up another spare book from his nightstand to rest her parchment on. Placing a knee on either side of him, she lets her weight sink onto his stomach, and places her textbook near his shoulder, opening to the chapter she needs to work on. James watches her move about, a hand resting on either of her knees. Lastly, she places the spare book on his chest and her parchment on top with her pencil in hand. It is so much easier to use than a quill for informal things where she can get away with it.

"Really?" James drawls, staring at the book on his chest. His pillow props his head up, resting partially against the headboard.

Cressida leans forward to make herself as comfortable as possible, placing the tip of her pencil onto the parchment. "I have to study." James purses his lips, breathing deeply into his chest, making her words wobbly. "James," she moans.

"We're getting there." He bursts out laughing at her deadly glare and bright red face. He picks up the book and paper placing them off to the side on his nightstand and places her textbook on the floor. He pushes himself into a sitting position. Cressida slips down from his stomach to his lap. "I'm teasing you."

"I know you are," she smiles. "Because if you weren't, you would have put both a locking charm and a silencing charm on the dorm door when we first came it. But you didn't."

"Caught me," he winks. She feels his hands rise up along her back over her white shirt. His lips twitch into various forms of a smile. "I just wanted some time with you. Alone."

"With no dog, you mean?"

"With no dog, werewolf or rat."

Cressida smiles softly as his hands traverse back down her spine, circling once they reach as low as they can go and explore around her front and travel back up. She breathes into his hands, her own running along his upper arms. He plays with the buttons on her shirt as though about to undo them, but never does. Her hands run from his arms to his shoulders and then rake up through his curly hair, tugging on it close to the root.

His inhale is long and deep, the only sound heard in the entire dorm. His hands make their way back down to her hips, nearly pinching the bone, and push her downwards and closer. Cressida relaxes her weight even further, letting him move her as he pleases. She kisses his forehead, his lips brushing over her shirt material along her shoulder. She pushes him lightly and he leans backwards until his head reaches the pillow once more. She lies along him, knees still bent and up along her sides. "I have study to do," she whispers into his ear.

"Are you sure?"

Cressida's eyes nearly close with her broad, closed-lip smile. She nods, kissing a line across his jaw. A sharp gasp escapes her lips as her back is suddenly against the mattress and their position is swapped. Her legs immediately move to stretch out, but he catches one by the back of her right knee. Her stomach swirls at the feeling of his touch on her bare skin, feeling every centimetre it moves along the back of her thigh. The bottom of her skirt scrunches around his forearm.

He drops his body to press a kiss against her cheek, holding the back of her thigh steady as his weight now rests on her. As he finds himself busy peppering kissing under her ear, she whispers, "I thought you said you had learnt to hide it."

"I've usually don't let it get this far with you so close. But I don't think I have a reason to hide it anymore." He laughs to himself. "I remember one time in fourth year, you were trying to wrestle with me because I stole your good quill. You were basically growling like a feral animal at me. Your hair was a mess and your face was red and all I could think about was-" He cuts himself off with a mirthful shake of his head, lifting his body slightly and peering down between them. He looks back at her with a sigh. "But you need to study."

"I do," she laughs.

"I'll allow it."

Cressida raises her brows as though daring him to press on with 'giving her permission' but he only laughs and moves off her. Gathering her two books and parchment back up and re-propping the pillow against the headboard it had slipped on, she gets back on track with her original task. James lies on his stomach next to her, wrapping an arm over her stomach that acts as a resting spot for her parchment and book and lays his head on her chest, content to watch her write.

They get an hour or so of peace until Sirius is storming through the door, Remus and Peter on his tail. "We lost it," he bellows.

"What?" James demands, bracing his hands on the mattress to push himself up. "Lost what?"

Remus sends a sidelong glare at Sirius, who drops to his bed. "The Map."

James' mouth slowly drops open. Cressida only sighs, rubbing her forehead. "YOU LOST THE FU-"

Anyways, so how's y'alls' weekend? XD