Chapter 14
Springtime Quidditch

When winter slowly transitioned to spring in March, I started packing my thicker robes and sweaters into my trunk and welcomed the thinner gear I could wear on a daily basis. It hardly ever snowed anymore which was a relief. The first years were already starting to get on my nerves on the number of snowball fights they could have by the Black Lake in a single day.

Easter break was coming up soon so most of the Hogwarts students were excited to return home, even the heavy workload couldn't bother them as much. No one was as excited as my mum and dad though who practically sent me letters daily.

During one breakfast, I eagerly awaited their letters. Tallie flew in the flurry of morning owls and landed with a hoot next to my plate. She ruffled her feathers energetically and I fed her some treats for her hard work, knowing flying in and out of Hogwarts almost everyday must have been tedious for her.

When she stuck out her foot, I noticed she held three letters instead of the usual two. The third was a clean rosy envelope with my name written in cursive, handwriting I didn't recognize at all. Pushing aside my curiosity, I read through my parents' letters in the same order, starting with my dad's. I opened it and skimmed through his reply in messy writing, squinting to read the words properly.

Monica,

You've no idea how excited I am for you to come home, even if it's just for two weeks. Isn't it lucky your birthday usually falls on your spring break? We can grab dinner at the Lion's Head when there's a game on. Think your mother would be happy to join us. Gasser's always begging me to bring her anyway. What if he notices there's something off about her? I mean, not to say your kind is off in a bad way. Also, don't mean to say 'your kind' like that's a bad thing. Different? Is that a better word?

It always baffled me how he was able to ramble even in writing, because half of the letter was him trying to find a better word for the magical lot that didn't sound discriminatory in his standards. I shook my head affectionately and moved on to my mum's letter which was much more well-organized and half a page shorter.

My Monica,

I hope you're coping better with your studies now. I know the professors have been giving you difficult work, but you're a smart and hardworking woman! I believe in you.

Since you are so insistent in me giving updates, I want to assure you again that nothing out of the ordinary is happening in Diagon Alley. The closest attack was weeks ago by the Leaky Cauldron.

Although a few more stores have closed since then, Twilfitt and Tatting's is still up and going, and I've been promoted to an assistant manager after a month. They found my advice to our customers very helpful and I have nearly doubled our visitors per day because I knew so much about the French clothing line that they introduced in the new collection for spring. Now they let me assist on collection concepts and my manager usually loves my ideas!

I'm saving up a lot to buy you something nice for your birthday, but I'll take you with me so I won't get you anything you don't need. You'll let me get you a gift for your birthday, won't you?

Lots of Love,

Mum

When I put her letter aside, my heart was warm and a permanent smile was on my face. The thought of spending more time with her made me more excited than ever. It was a strange feeling.

I picked up the third envelope and eagerly ripped it open. I checked the signature first and found it was from Clara, who hadn't gotten back to me since my last letter nearly two months ago. I immediately read through her reply.

Mon,

This probably won't reach you for long. France is quite strict about owls coming in and out of the border. I'm surprised yours made it all the way here. I had to send this over to your mum through a special mailing system and I asked her to send it over to you with her next letter.

I want you to know that I'm really happy to hear about James. He must have felt quite bad with the way I reacted and I'm not proud of it. I shouldn't have blamed him but I was so ashamed. There are no hard feelings from my end and I hope to meet him and your friends again soon. They were very warm and accommodating to a foreigner like me.

You also asked about some updates on my situation now. My family wasn't happy when I came home and demanded things, so they gave me an ultimatum to get married. They seem a lot stricter now that Aunt Ella has left them and they think marrying me off will keep me from doing the same. I'm happy to tell you that I refused to do it, and they gave me a month to find a new place and a job.

By the time you're reading this, I may have already moved out. I'll try to update you soon on how I'm doing, but rest assured I'm safe and well. This is what I want, and you and Aunt Ella have inspired me to better myself and be happy.

I hope you're no longer drowning in schoolwork and please write to me again. I miss you!

Love,

Clara

I furrowed my eyebrows together, wondering how long ago she wrote this. Had she already moved out like she said? Where was she working? Was she still in France? All the questions about her well-being flooded my head and I hastily pulled out parchment from my bag to scribble a quick response.

After writing three separate responses, I looked at Tallie in pity but she merely hooted and stuck her leg out. I quickly tied the parchment on her and patted her on the head.

"Sorry, girl," I whispered. "You'll get a break soon."

She flew off and out the Great Hall to do her duties and I proceeded with breakfast, adding another waffle piece on my plate at the stress of thinking about Clara. Lacey suddenly took the seat across me, blonde hair not properly brushed and pulled up in a bun as if she were in a hurry to get ready.

"Pass the waffles," she said grumpily.

I pushed the plate towards her, miffed by her lack of manners.

"What's up with you?" I asked.

"I thought I was late for Potions because I read the clock as nine instead of eight," she said, stabbing her fork ferociously into her food. "Then when I got to the classroom, imagine my shock when no one was there yet."

I snorted, covering my mouth to keep the giggles in. She shot me a glare and filled her goblet with pumpkin juice.

"Seventh year Potions better be in the afternoon or I'm dropping it," she snapped.

"You can't be a healer if you drop Potions," I pointed out.

"Don't care," she said. "I'd rather be a house elf than go through another year of Potions in first period."

"Could you be my house elf?" I asked jokingly. "I hate doing my own laundry."

"Magic exists, Monica. You can charm laundry to do itself."

"Then I'd have to self-learn a bunch of cleaning charms," I said, face twisting into a disappointed frown.

"I guess that's the catch when you grow up with muggles." Lacey tilted her head in thought. "My mum's been teaching me the theory of practical magic since the summer before fifth year. Like cooking and cleaning."

"Wish I knew," I muttered. "Though I think my dad would freak out if he saw my laundry hanging itself."

Lacey nodded thoughtfully as she chewed.

"How's Martin anyway?" she asked after a huge gulp.

I shot her a glare. "Didn't I tell you to stop calling him that?"

"Multiple times," Lacey said, uncaring.

I rolled my eyes. I reached for my goblet and took a sip then I waved the letters in my other hand.

"He's fine," I began, placing the goblet down. "My mum too. Nothing out of the ordinary in Diagon Alley according to her."

"That's great," Lacey commented lightly. "Have you told them about the Daily Prophet internship?"

My lips pursed and I avoided her eyes. "Er… Not yet."

She dropped her utensils which clanged against her plate and looked warningly at me.

"Mon, you'll have to tell them," she said sternly. "Diagon Alley's really dangerous now. They've got to know if you plan on working there this summer."

"I haven't even fully decided if I wanna do it yet," I said defensively. "It's just a thought. I'll tell them once I send in my application."

"You've got to though," Lacey said. "It's a great opportunity! You've always stressed about life after Hogwarts. I remember in third year, you were thinking of just working in the muggle world like your dad."

"It's hard to have wizarding ambitions when you're clueless, okay?" I snapped, feeling heat in my cheeks.

"Precisely, so this experience could really help!"

I bit my lip nervously and shrugged.

"The deadline's weeks from now anyway. I'll apply over the break and tell my parents then."

"Brilliant." Lacey grinned, satisfied.

She hurriedly devoured the last bit of her waffles and stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Come on, we've got ten minutes to Potions and I can't give Slughorn an excuse to make me clean first year cauldrons again."

I begrudgingly followed her lead out the Great Hall.

The best part of spring coming was actually being able to enjoy watching Quidditch without wearing anything too thick that I could barely move my arms. Gryffindor was playing Ravenclaw that weekend and Lacey was more than happy to come with me. She was much better to have around without pestering me about the Daily Prophet internship every five minutes, ever since I confided in her my plan to apply over the break.

Truthfully, I wasn't quite sure how I would go about it yet. I wondered whether it was right to tell my parents first before proceeding with my application, or just apply and let them know. I knew for sure they wouldn't be a hundred percent on board with the war going on, but it was too good an opportunity to skip out on.

Nevertheless, the upcoming Gryffindor match was enough to keep my mind off it for a while, but it was a pity I had to watch Carter Robins play again, since I managed to keep him out of my head since I rejected him in the library.

We haven't had a normal conversation since and it felt like we were back in acquaintance terms before the Slughorn's party fiasco. It was a bit disappointing since I thought we could stay friends, but apparently rejection usually ended up that way, according to Lacey (who nearly flipped the table in the common room when I relayed the conversation with her). But admittedly, I felt more at peace after talking to him.

Thankfully, Lacey understood that the Carter situation was off limits to talk about unless she wanted to make me feel like shit. So she put most of her efforts discussing the Daily Prophet internship instead, making sure I would try it out for my own sake. She wasn't different from Sirius, who also liked to remind me about it every time we would pass each other in the hall or coincidentally meet in the common room.

The day of the match, Lacey and I overslept after a late night of studying for a written Potions quiz that Slughorn had a habit of setting every other Monday. I was able to convince her to start studying with me earlier so we could spend the weekend without a worry but this resulted in missing breakfast the next day and hurriedly pulling on our Gryffindor colors for the match.

Half an hour before it started, Lacey and I were the only ones left in the dormitory and probably Gryffindor tower.

"Hold on, let me get my scarf!" Lacey said in panic when I was hurrying out the door.

"Hurry up, Lace, we'll miss the kick off," I snapped.

"Kick off?" she repeated, confusion on her face as she wrapped her scarf around her neck.

"Quaffle off, throw, whatever, just the start of the match," I said in massive irritation.

"Okay, I'm coming," she said hastily.

She walked after me and we both jogged down the spiral staircase and emerged in the common room. I stopped abruptly at the bottom, making Lacey ram into my back. She stumbled backwards but the complaints died in her throat when she noticed whom I was staring at.

We managed to catch a brief scene of Sirius and Mary standing close to each other by the fireplace. Mary stood on her tiptoes and gave him a small peck on the lips, palms resting on his shoulders. It was so quick I almost missed it, because after the kiss, she turned away and briskly walked out of the common room.

She didn't notice Lacey and I watching, but when she left, Sirius caught sight of us both. The uncertain look on his face from the kiss turned into bashful surprise, the first time I'd seen him look embarrassed about anything.

"Did you guys see that?" he asked, tone high.

"Mhm," Lacey answered, head bobbing up and down.

I was still a bit speechless but I wasn't sure why. I felt an uncomfortable bubbling feeling in the pit of my stomach but I passed it off as hunger since I skipped breakfast. Sirius cleared his throat, left arm fidgeting to the exit then his head as if he didn't know where to gesture first.

"Shall we head to the match then?" he said, arm settling on gesturing towards the back of the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Lead the way," I said a bit sarcastically.

"Right," he mumbled then cleared his throat again.

He strode towards the exit and Lacey and I followed after him. As we walked down the hall, it took a while for Lacey to bombard him with the same question I had in mind. We turned a corner towards the staircase that led directly to the entrance of the Quidditch pitch and slowly the sound of the booming crowd overtook the echoing clicks from our shoes.

"So you're back together for real then?" Lacey piped up, looking expectantly at Sirius.

His eyes darted down to look at her briefly then sighed before offering a response.

"Not exactly."

"Guess it was a kiss goodbye between friends then, eh?" I said, sounding more snippy than I meant it to be.

"It's complicated," Sirius said hesitantly.

"How so?" I asked, eyebrows raised but staring straight ahead as we walked.

We reached the entrance of the pitch and briskly walked up the wooden staircase, noise too loud for Sirius to form a coherent reply. We spotted Remus and Peter waving us over. We excused ourselves to the other spectators in our way as we took the last few seats behind the pair of Marauders. I was sandwiched between Sirius and Lacey and Remus and Peter greeted us excitedly.

"Where've you guys been?" Remus asked. "The players are about to come out."

"Dormitory," Sirius replied a bit too quickly, side-eyeing Lacey and I to keep our mouths shut about what we saw.

"Yeah, we overslept," I said, giving Remus a tight smile that hopefully didn't look suspicious.

"Weird, you're always here first," Peter commented.

My left eye twitched as the pair of them turned forward and the Quidditch commentator started announcing the teams. The Gryffindors stood and cheered as they introduced James and the rest, the Quidditch players zooming out from below and flying full circle around the pitch.

I grinned and waved my mini scarlet and gold striped flag as they passed our area, spotting Carter within the group too. James led the team in waving and punching his fist in the air to get the Gryffindors to cheer even louder. I think I spotted Lily Evans a few seats down screaming with the crowd, a large smile on her face. I chuckled to myself, knowing she was definitely smitten.

Our crowd died down when the Ravenclaws came out and people started to take their seats again, excitedly chatting amongst their groups about the match that was about to start. The captains leapt off their brooms to shake hands and a moment later, the Quaffle was thrown up and James immediately took hold, zooming towards the Ravenclaw keeper. And the match began.

The Chasers were almost evenly matched, with the lightning exception of James Potter of course, who easily stood out from them all. His flying technique and expert plays made it difficult to find any fault in his game, so it was definitely a treat to watch for any Quidditch fan, no matter what house they were from.

The number of times James scored made me forget all the issues that have clouded my mind the past few weeks, including the weird situation with Sirius earlier. James led the Chaser score, shooting nearly three times as much as the Chaser in second place, causing the Gryffindors to leap out of their seats in cheers almost every five minutes because he kept scoring.

I don't think I'd seen him have a better game than this and he knew it. After each Quaffle he threw in the hoop, he high fived the other two Chasers and got back into the game like it was nothing. The frustration in the Ravenclaw Keeper's face was showing, frown twisting more and more each time he attempted to desperately block James' shots.

Forty-five minutes into the match, the Gryffindor crowd was cheering "Potter! Potter! Potter!" at the top of their lungs and I was fairly sure my tonsils were going to be swollen by the time someone catches the Snitch. One particularly nasty play was quick passes between Alex and James, which ends up with the third Chaser Harley Kane right before the rings. Harley Kane fakes a shot and drops the Quaffle to James who buries it in the lower left. I was pretty sure Ravenclaw's Keeper contemplated flying out of the pitch right then and there.

Frequently I'd check around for Carter, who was still flying above the rest in search of the Snitch. He had his game face on and I wasn't particularly worried he would mess up his game. Even if I didn't fancy him anymore, I still knew he was a better Seeker than anyone else besides Regulus Black.

An hour into the match, Gryffindor was up two hundred and thirty to a hundred, and Ravenclaw's only hope seemed to be with catching the Snitch. Neither Carter or Ravenclaw's Seeker had spotted it once, both zooming around the sides with their eyes darting in different directions for any sign of gold.

"Would be a bummer if Ravenclaw caught the Snitch, wouldn't it?" Sirius commented as James scored another.

"Not if they score a few more points," I said, quickly doing the maths in my head. "They need two-sixty to guarantee they'd win either way. That's assuming Ravenclaw doesn't score more."

Just as I said it, Ravenclaw scored and the Gryffindor spectators groaned.

"Come on, Carter," I muttered, watching him eagerly looking for the Snitch high up.

"You sure you don't fancy the bloke anymore?" Sirius asked, glancing at me as I looked up.

"Fairly sure," I said bluntly. "What makes you think otherwise?"

"You've been watching him the entire match."

"Because I love Quidditch," I snapped defensively. "Why does no one ever believe that I love Quidditch for the game and not the boys?"

"I didn't say that…" Sirius said lightly.

"Are you sure you're not together with Mary? Because she kissed you earlier," I shot back and he blinked in surprise.

I wasn't even sure what made me so irritated but I decided Carter was still a touchy topic that no one was safe to mention. I could tell Lacey could hear our conversation because she was eerily quiet.

"I told you it's complicated," Sirius said with a slight frown. "She wants us to get back together."

I was surprised he even answered the question, given how obviously sarcastic I was being since he was accusing me of lying about my own feelings. The bubbles in my stomach resurfaced and I reminded myself to visit the kitchen after the match for an early lunch and lock myself in the dormitory afterwards. The strange feeling in me made me want to disappear and isolate myself from everyone.

Suddenly the crowd around me roared and I turned my attention back to the match. Both Seekers were flying at breakneck speed close to the ground. I'd lost track of the score at this point but my mind was focused on cheering on Carter. I glanced up at the Chasers who were still flying with the Quaffle because they didn't have the luxury of watching the Seekers when the scoring was so close.

It was difficult to tell who was leading between the two since they were almost a blur to my sight as they flew with their arms stretched out. Both Seekers suddenly flew up in unison to dodge a stray Bludger and in the commotion, someone seemed to have caught the Snitch as the whistle blew around the pitch.

The Ravenclaw Seeker flew further up with his arm stretched out and his fist gripped the Snitch, but the cheers didn't come just yet. My stomach dropped for Carter who returned to the ground and threw his broom to the side. The players in the sky and the spectators on the stands eagerly waited for the commentator, who grabbed the microphone and announced the scores.

"Ravenclaw catches the Snitch, but the score is two-eighty, two-seventy to Gryffindor! Gryffindor still wins!"

The Gryffindors howled in relief and ecstasy, jumping up and down and hugging everyone around them, friend or not. I blew out the gust of air that I held in and hugged Lacey who was screaming and hopping on both feet.

"Bloody hell, I thought we were out of the cup!" I laughed, overjoyed.

"Me too!" Lacey exclaimed. "I couldn't tell the score when I was watching the Seekers but James took advantage of the diversion and scored a couple more. Just enough to keep us in if Carter didn't get the Snitch!"

"Carter must feel terrible," I sighed. "He didn't catch it last time either."

"I wonder what's gotten into him," Lacey said sadly. "I heard he was most likely to be captain after James left too."

"I don't think that'll change," I assured her. "He just needs to work on his mentality."

The Gryffindors slowly left the stands in groups, chattering happily amongst themselves. Gryffindor was now second to Slytherin in overall points and they needed a massive win against Hufflepuff in May to secure the cup. Everyone was sure Slytherin would smash Ravenclaw anyway, since Regulus Black could catch the Snitch against them in less than thirty minutes.

I turned back to Lacey and said, "I'm going to the kitchens for an early lunch. Then I'll head back to the dormitory to sleep."

"We've slept long enough, don't you think?" Lacey said, surprised.

"Not really feeling too well today," I admitted. "My stomach's been turning all morning."

"Has it?" Lacey said, with a tinge of suspicion in her tone.

"Yeah, figured I was just hungry," I said, feeling weird under her gaze. "Anyway, I'll go ahead now yeah?"

"Okay, sure, I need to catch up on some Potions readings anyway," Lacey said, looking guilty. "I didn't tell you but I actually fell asleep around eleven last night."

"You said you slept at three like me!" I exclaimed accusingly.

She gave me a sheepish grin then gave me a final wave and hurriedly made her way downstairs. I sighed, frustrated by her cramming as usual.

I turned around to bid the Marauders goodbye but they'd already left as well. Feeling the uncomfortable bubbling in my stomach, I headed straight to the kitchens to finally get something to eat.

The house elves were more accommodating than I needed as usual, giving me a full course meal and a pitcher of pumpkin juice as soon as I sat on one of the stools by the fireplace.

I had to wave off a second serving of dessert that one of them insisted on and I was pretty sure I made the little house elf cry when I kept denying her food.

Just as I was about to pack up and leave, my ears perked up at the echoing sounds of voices by the door, and I curiously walked closer, wondering if it would be awkward to come out now and excuse myself to whoever was outside.

The voices were raised and it sounded like two people arguing. It must have been a result of me being around Lacey for six years straight because I moved closer to the door to figure out what they were saying.

I jumped out of my skin when I felt someone tug my sleeve down, and when I checked the culprit, one of the house elves was offering me a drinking glass.

"Glass helps to hear better," the house elf said politely.

I slowly accepted it from her and she skittered away to return to her duties. I wondered if students eavesdropping from the kitchen was a regular thing.

Following her directions, I placed the tip of the glass firm on the wall and stuck my ear on the other end.

"I just don't understand, Evans. We were doing so well!"

I lost grip of the glass for a second and I managed to catch it before it fell into pieces on the floor. I hastily placed it back on the wall and listened.

"...just don't think it's the right time," I heard Lily speak. "We're totally different and there's a war going on—"

"This is the best time, Evans!" James said, exasperation in his tone. "After we leave Hogwarts, we've only got each other. You, me, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Marlene, Dorcas—"

"I get it!" Lily cried. "But I'm just…"

"Evans… Lily…" James said, voice softer as he said her name. "I think I've made it perfectly clear how I feel about you. How I've always felt about you. And this year has been amazing for me. I grew up a lot and we finally became friends. And when you kissed me in Hogsmeade last weekend—"

My eyes grew wide.

"That was a mistake," Lily said, voice hard.

"Alright, it was a mistake!" James laughed but he didn't sound amused. "I guess I'll just have to accept that's all I'm going to be to you, is it?"

"James…"

"No, Lily, you have to understand how hard this is for me," James said, sounding desperate. "You've given me mixed signals all year and when I try to talk to you about it, you try to get out. Why? Why are you doing this to me? Is it because I tormented you all these years? Because I bullied Snape, is that it?"

"No, James, I know you've grown up from that," Lily cried.

"Then what is it, Lily? Because I'm going mad here! I know I deserve it if you're trying to get back at me but these feelings are real! We've got a connection that I know even you can't deny. You feel it too, don't you?"

It was silent for a few seconds and I briefly thought the glass had stopped working for me. There was probably a spell that made this possible without having to stick my ear in a bloody cup but damn Lacey and her practical spells. Sometimes the muggle way could suffice.

"I guess silence could count as an answer," James said, pitiful disappointment laced in his tone.

"James—"

"Lily, just take your time, yeah?" he interrupted. "Really, I'm fine. I've done a lot of things that I'm not proud of and maybe you're hesitant because of that. I'll wait for you. I really will."

I could hear Lily sniffling so she must have been crying by now. Feeling guilty I was listening to such a raw conversation, I removed the glass from the wall and returned to my seat. I figured they would both leave eventually and I could slip out then.

As I waited, a loud creak echoed in the kitchen and my head turned to the door. James walked in alone looking gutted and didn't even notice I was there until he lifted his head up halfway through his walk towards the table.

He jumped in surprise, hand gripping his chest. He was still in his scarlet Quidditch robes and his hair was pushed back lined with sweat. His hazel eyes blinked in bewilderment behind his spectacles as he registered by presence.

"Monica," he said softly.

"Great match, captain," I said, trying to lighten his mood. "If the Quidditch scouts had seen that, think you'd have a job offer by morning."

He chuckled bashfully, hand shooting up to his hair.

"I felt good this morning," he admitted. "Guess that matters, eh?"

"You were epic to watch," I said. "Imagine scoring that much, Ravenclaw couldn't even beat you with the Snitch. Ever thought of a career in professional Quidditch?"

"I've considered it," he said thoughtfully, taking the stool across me. "But with the war and all, Auror's a bit more relevant."

I nodded. "Sirius did mention you wanted to work for the Ministry."

"Well, I wanna make a difference," he said. "Sirius and I have got different goals on how to do that. But I think we're both on the right path."

"That's fair," I said, unknowingly smiling at the thought of Sirius' radical ambition to work for the Order full time and take down Voldemort.

"You heard all of that, didn't you?" James said, jerking his head towards the door.

"I mean, you weren't exactly whispering," I chuckled.

"Well, I didn't really expect it either." James looked down at his hands, eyes full of hurt. "I came down to get Carter some lunch. He said he wasn't coming down since he still feels bad about the Snitch so I thought I'd get some food for him."

"That's nice of you."

"Yeah, and Lily somehow found out where I was going," he continued. "And when she came, she looked really happy. And told me good job and she wanted to talk to me about something that happened last week, I dunno if you'd heard that part. But anyway, she told me that she'd like to stay friends and she regrets what happened."

"I don't know if I should tell you this," I said hesitantly before he could say more. "But she made a deal with Sirius that she would tell you she fancies you if he tells Mary to stop pursuing him."

"Yeah, I know that," James said lightly. "Sirius told me."

"So you know? That she does fancy you?"

"Lily's not as simple as that," James sighed. "Even if she says she does, she'll think over what she should do about it. And for now, I guess she feels it's best for us to just stay friends."

"You said you wouldn't give up though," I reminded him.

"Yeah, and I won't," he said, looking determined. "I know she feels the same way but I have to give her some time. I'll probably apologize to her tomorrow for how I reacted."

"You really fancy her, don't you?" I said, curious about how that felt.

The way he talked about her and after witnessing their conversation, I couldn't doubt the feelings he had for the girl. It was mesmerizing because he constantly put himself out there in the face of getting hurt, and he'd just pick himself up to try again and again. Anyone else would have probably given up by now, but James didn't give me the impression that the thought of it ever crossed his mind.

James let out another deep sigh and propped his elbows on the table, burying his face in his hands. After a few seconds, he lifted his head up and looked me in the eye.

"I'm in love with her, Mon," he said clearly. "Madly in love."

"You never think it's stupid?" I asked bluntly. "What you do and put yourself through for love?"

"Merlin, no," he chuckled. "She's worth it."

It made me smile, even if it wasn't something I fully understood.

"You ever been in love, Mon?" he asked, smiling back. "Please share so I don't feel like the only idiot in the room."

"I don't think so," I admitted. "But I'm an idiot in general so if you'd like me to share about my life, I'd be happy to."

He laughed and straightened his posture, looking much better than his state when he entered. It baffled me how different I perceived him to be before I met him.

In general, I assumed he was a big-headed narcissist, but he was living proof of growing up to be a better man. Lily was incredibly lucky to have a guy like him waiting for her, and remembering how she cheered for him this morning, I knew it was only a matter of time before she would finally let him in.

"You and Carter then," he said, eyes narrowed and filled with curiosity. "That's not happening, is it?"

"Definitely not," I snorted. "I'm sure you've heard."

"Sirius told me," he said. "But I don't understand. How come you didn't try it out at least? I mean, you've liked the guy for years."

"I just have a lot of things to figure out for myself. Things have changed for me this year and I think Carter's just part of the past that I need to let go."

"So it's not because you fancy Sirius then?" he asked daringly.

My eyes grew and I shook my head furiously.

"No, no, no, no," I said quickly. "I don't like him like that. No."

"Really? Five no's?" he laughed.

I glared at him. "We're friends."

"Okay, Monica," he said good-naturedly. "I got it."

"Good."

He nodded. "Brilliant."

"Fantastic," I said, feeling more and more stupid and uncomfortable at how defensive I probably came off.

James rolled his eyes but the grin never left his face. I wanted to say more to get whatever thought he had about me and Sirius out of his head but I willed myself to stay silent to not induce more damage.

He called over a house elf and relayed the packed meal he wanted to take to Carter. Another house elf returned not even ten seconds later with his food. He bowed to the elves with thanks and received the package.

"I'm off," he said to me, vacating the stool. "Hey, you don't usually have plans on the weekends, yeah?"

"Er, no," I answered, frowning at the sudden question.

"We'll take you and Lacey to Hogsmeade sometime. We brought Lily and her friends last week."

That answered my question about their supposed kiss. Of course they snuck out to Hogsmeade. There was no official trip scheduled that day.

"Sure." I smiled.

"Cool, see you around, Mon."

He gave me one last wave before walking out the door.

A/N - Pretty short chapter in my standards, but I think it transitions to the next part of this story that I'm so excited to share with you all. Think we're more than halfway through now and I'm nearly done with chapter 18, so I think I'm able to update at least twice a week now. It's awesome how motivating your words are, and I really hope to hear more from you guys. :)