Hey guys, it's me! So thanks for all the follows, favourites and reviews, I really appreciate it! I hope you like this new chapter!

To:

Cap92A: love hearing from you so keep reviewing! I think you'll like this chapter because James and Maddie get a little close…

Tigs0701: thanks for reviewing! I'm all for jealousy and madness and dramatic stuff too! This chapter's a little more nice and sweet but there'll be lots of drama when Maddie stays with the Potters for Christmas!

Guest: Thanks for the Ship name, I like it! Thanks for reviewing!

I'm hoping that you'll get to meet Maddie's Australian friends and family soon so keep reading! Please keep reviewing, love you all!

THE OFFICIAL SHIP NAME OF JAMES AND MADDIE IS JADDIE COURTESY OF GUEST!

Chapter 13: Diggory Yule Ball Part 2

Maddie POV

What was James's problem? What happened? Why did he drop his plate? Concerned, I started to walk over when Roy's hand snaked around my wrist.

"No. Don't go," he asked, his voice hard.

Turning around, I gave him a reassuring smile. "I just want to make sure he's ok. Maybe something happened to Lupin or something," I said, shrugging.

Roy's grip on my wrist tightened. "Of course Maddie. A guy waits ages to kiss you and the moment he does, you want to run to the most popular guy in school, because he dropped something. That's what a guy wants," Roy sneered, his pale eyes dark with anger.

What the hell was he implying? That I would rather be with James than him because James was popular? Didn't he know I liked him and hated James?

Staring at him, I jerked my wrist free. "Yeah, well I like you Roy, not James, ok? Look, I just thought maybe something had happened. Sue me for having a freaking heart! What were you implying anyway? That I supposedly 'like' James because he's popular? Do you actually think I'm that shallow?" I said, completely offended he'd thought I would kiss him and ditch him, plus like someone just because of their status.

Roy shook his head. "You don't get it, do you? It's so obvious to everyone but you two!" Roy sighed as he walked away, leaving me stunned. Why would he just leave me like that? What had I done to him to offend him?

Now he was the one kissing and ditching.

But, what just happened? What did he mean it's so obvious to everyone but 'you two'? Me and who?

Hurt that he left me in the middle of the dance floor, I walked away, my hands clasped together and my eyes on the floor. Walking to an empty chair at an empty table, I sat and started humming 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables' from Les Mis under my breath, thinking through the events that took place only minutes ago. My lips could still feel his on mine – and I wanted them back. No doubt about it, I liked him and I wanted for us to be… something. Should I apologise? But for what?

"What just happened? I see you and Roy sharing a sweet kiss and then I see fighting. Wanna fill me in?" Jo asked as she sat down next to me, her eyes wide with confusion.

I sighed. "Let's just say, I ask for Roy to forgive me about me dancing with James earlier. He doesn't, so I drag him to the dance floor. We dance and he tells me I'm forgiven. He kisses me and we break apart when we hear a clattering sound. I see it's James and I think something's wrong so I start to go over to him when Roy tells me not too. I ask why and he gets all weird. I tell him I like him and not James, as if that wasn't obvious enough, but he says 'It's so obvious to everyone but you two'. What the hell does that mean?" I asked Jo, bewildered.

Jo stifles a laugh. "Wow. It really is obvious to everyone but you two. Ok, well I think Roy's being a wuss and you're being clueless," Jo said, her face filled with amusement.

I groaned. "Am I supposed to apologise for being clueless? Look, I really like Roy and I don't understand where he's coming from! I mean, I let him kiss me. If anyone else had tried that, I would've kneed them in the nuts," I said. It was true.

"I think you would've let a certain someone kiss you other than Roy," Jo said in a sing-song voice as she got up and walked away, a knowing look in her eyes.

"Who? And why'd you leave?" I called out to her back as she walked away.

Now what do I do?

James POV

He kissed her. He kissed her. He kissed her. He kissed her. He kissed her. He kissed her.

A tap shook me from my thoughts and I jerked my eyes away from Roy and Maddie fighting on the dance floor long enough to look at Alexia's annoyed ones.

"Huh?" I said. I'd completely blanked out and wasn't even paying attention to what she was saying. All my brain had capacity for was:

He kissed her. He kissed her. He kissed her.

Alexia sighed, exasperated. "Fine, I'll repeat what I said: Look, I really, really like you, James. And I was so excited when you asked me to the dance. It was like my wildest dream came true! You've no idea how long I've wanted to tell you this," her voice dripped sweetness and kindness and her eyes oozed need.

Wow. Intense. I missed all that? Any chance I can miss it again?

"Uh, that's cool," I said, my focus snapping back to Maddie and Roy. Roy just walked away looking pissed as Maddie stood there, her eyes down at the floor and her hands clasped together tightly.

I stood up. I needed to go to her. What if he'd hurt her? What if something had just happened and I needed to know?

"James!" Alexia screeched, her sharp voice cutting like glass. "Would you just listen to me for once? I really, really like you and you're off staring of into space! You know, I thought you were nice and friendly, but all night you've been the biggest arsehole!" Alexia choked as she ran off in a huff.

Oh man. Now she's angry at me.

I sat down, dejected, not knowing what to do.

Finally making up my mind, I was about to run to Maddie when I realised Jo had beat me to it.

Sighing, I looked around for Adam, needing to be cheered up. Spotting him, I made a beeline for him, pushing past people and shoving the dancing crowd away.

"Adam!" I called out as I walked up to him. His hair was mussed and he looked dazed. "Adam? You right?" I asked, frowning.

Adam grinned. "Yeah man! Never guess who just snogged me – Reyna Darren, the most serious Gryffindor, aka, my date!" Adam smiled, obviously proud of himself.

"Wait – Reyna kissed you? I thought the dare was to go with her to the ball, not snog her! Plus, you hate everything about her – especially her mouth, if I recall correctly," I said, disbelief lacing my voice. One day in charms, Reyna made a snide comment to Adam and Adam went on and on about how her mouth was 'her worst feature'.

"I only hate it when it's not on mine! How's Alexia going? Has she jumped your bones yet?" Adam joked.

Sighing, I shook my head. "She's pissed. She poured her heart out to me but I was… a bit, uh, distracted," I said, muttering the last part. Adam grinned slyly.

"By 'distracted' you mean staring at Maddie?" he asked. Scowling, I nodded. Adam laughed and patted me on the back.

"Oh man, you're covered in shite. Just try not to get any of it on me," Adam joked as he walked off.

Well that was helpful.

Not.

Now I was in a foul mood.

Maddie POV

"Roy!" I called out. After looking for him for ages, I'd finally found him sitting on the steps that led to the Great Hall.

He looked up, scowling. Running over to him, I felt a little bit of hope fire up in me. Maybe he'd forgive me… maybe we could be more than just friends.

"Roy please, listen to me! I don't know what you think but I'm here to tell you that I really, really like and I have for a while now and I was so excited when you asked me to the ball. Tell me what I did wrong so I can make up for it. And just so you know, I don't grovel to a lot of people," I added, smiling mischievously.

Roy hung his head and patted beside him. Sitting down next to him, I waited for him to say something.

"I honestly don't know why I'm so… I don't even know at the moment. Like, I kissed you and first thing you want is to run and help James. What am I supposed to think? I'm not an idiot, Maddie," Roy stated, his voice tired.

"Look, it's not like that. I wanted to kiss you and I wanted you to kiss me… and I wanted to help someone who might've needed it, ok? If it were anyone who'd dropped that plate, I would've done the same thing. James gets no special treatment, ok?" I insisted, trying to get him to understand.

"Ok, I get that. It's just… I really like you too, Maddie. But I feel like… I shouldn't be with you. At least for the moment. I mean, holidays start tomorrow and starting a relationship now is crappy timing. Plus, you're spending the whole holidays with the Potters. If you still 'really, really like me' after that, then I'd be way open to us," he said, his voice reasonable.

I hate reasonable. What is this shit? I want to live in the moment and grab every opportunity I can! I like Roy now and I want to act on it – that's who I am.

Trying to respect his decision, I nodded. "Ok."

"Well, I'm going to head to bed. It's getting late and I want to pack before I leave tomorrow," Roy said as he stood up and walked off, not waiting for a reply.

Sighing, I stood up and walked back to the ball. Music was playing, everyone was dancing and having fun. Hogwarts was pretty awesome. I'd hated it here when I first arrived and I desperately wanted to go home. But now… it felt like a home away from home.

A sniffle and a choked back sob startled me. Looking around, I saw Alexia huddling in a corner, crying, by herself. Not one of her friends was with her and she looked miserable.

I'm not an awful person. She looked like she needed someone. I didn't hate her, I didn't like her, but I went over anyway.

Walking over to her tentatively, I crouched next to her.

She looked up, her eyes swollen, makeup running and her cheeks red and puffy. She smiled faintly and wiped her hands with her arm.

"Hey. Look at me. I'm a mess," she said, laughing/ crying. Sitting down next to her on the floor, I leant my back against the cool, stone wall.

"What happened?" I asked, making my tone soft.

"James happened," surprised at her words, I looked at her sharply.

"What did he do?" Suddenly, I was a lot more interested in why she was crying.

"He's being a complete arse. He's ignoring me and spacing out and he's thinking of another girl, I know he is. He's always looking at her and I… I don't know what to do," she replied, her tone desperate.

Now I was confused. "Ok, I'm all for James Potter being an arse but him looking at another girl? I saw his face when he first saw you – trust me, he looked like he would've done anything for you. He's probably just nervous about being around someone he really likes," I reasoned. She looked at me, her eyes sad. I found myself jealous that James had looked at her like he'd die for her and Roy hadn't really said or done anything.

"I don't think he was looking at me."

My heart stopped. I completely froze. If he wasn't looking at her, who was he looking at?

Was it…

Nope. Don't even go there. You'll just torture yourself thinking about it.

"Maddie? You ok?" Alexia asked, her voice concerned. She really was nice even if she was a bit bland and boring.

"Yeah, I'm cool. Maybe you should… talk to him? Look, I just messed up things with Roy so don't believe anything I say," I joked. Alexia giggled and stood up.

"I better go and, you know, talk to him. I do really like him and not because of his name," Alexia told me as she walked away.

Sighing, I slipped my heels off. You know how sore your feet get after around two hours in those things? I leaned back against the wall and stretched my legs out in front of me.

Who was James looking at if not Alexia?

I groaned.

I wished this thing would just end.

James POV

"Hey James," Alexia said softly as she walked up to me.

"Hey," I said, surprised she was even talking to me.

"Look, I just want to say that I probably overreacted earlier. I mean… I was getting off vibes. It was like you didn't really want to go to this ball with me," she said, quietly, her face soft and unsure.

Shite. What do I say? That I only asked her because I told Maddie I would? Because Maddie told me no and I didn't want to be rejected again so I asked her, knowing she'd say yes?

"Uh… I just… it's that I only… well…" sighing, I decided to just tell her the truth. "Look, I asked someone and they said no. At the time, when I asked you… well, I liked you… but only as a friend. Sorry I kinda led you on," I said awkwardly. I hate having awkward conversations with girls. It's so… awkward.

Alexia nodded, smiley softly. "I got that impression. Well… maybe… if you give us a chance...?" Alexia asked, her face hopeful.

I shook my head. "Holidays start tomorrow. I can't… start something when I'm just about to leave. Maybe after the holidays. I'll think about us over break," I said, being as gentle as possible.

Alexia nodded quickly and looked at the floor. My chest ached a bit – I was hurting her. "Sure. I'll write to you over Christmas, kay?" she said as she quickly turned around and walked away.

Shite. What the hell did I just do? Did I just… break her heart?

Don't get me wrong, I've done that a lot of times before but I actually think Alexia's a decent person. I felt guilty. That wasn't an emotion I usually felt. I break hearts left and right, new girl every new week and I didn't think twice.

But now I was. Thinking twice, I mean.

Shaking my head, I spun around and planned to walk out of the Great Hall when I spotted Maddie sitting alone, her back against the wall, in a dark corner.

Without thinking, I started walking towards her.

She looked up, her eyes wary. She smiled faintly. "Hey James. I talked to Alexia – did you at least let her down easy?" Maddie joked.

Laughing, I sat down next to her, sitting the same way.

"How do you know I let her down at all?" I joked back, smiling.

"Oh come on!" she said, scoffing. "I saw the whole exchange! She ran off and you didn't run after her. It's pretty obvious, if I say so myself. Plus, same thing basically just happened to me and Roy. But he was the one running. And I mean, who could blame him?" Maddie joked but she looked upset.

I was worried for Maddie – she doesn't really let things get to her but this Roy situation had her freaking.

As well as worried, I felt like I could rip Roy's head off. He kisses her and then he leaves her?"

"What happened? Did he hurt you or anything because if he did, I'll make sure-"

Maddie laughed, cutting off my threat. "Only yesterday you were hating me more than usual and now you're willing to defend me," she said, smiling. Looking at her, I grinned too.

She was right. I'd been really mad at her yesterday but now… I'd just moved on, I guess.

"Eh, I moved on," I said, recalling the reason why'd I'd been so mad at her. I guess it still stung, but it wasn't all consuming, like it'd been the past few weeks.

"Ok, I have something to get off my chest – I hate you, but I like talking to you. Plus, I'll be staying with you for the holidays so I think we should be friendly," she proposed, grinning from ear to ear.

Sounded good to me.

"You wanna be friends?"

"Don't get too excited! I hate you, remember? We're being friend-ly," she emphasised the 'ly' as I nodded.

"Right, of course. Completely my mistake," I said seriously as I held a hand to my chest.

Maddie laughed and soon, I joined in.

For a while, we just sat and talked about nothing and everything. Family, friends, experiences, funny stories, hardships and dreams.

"Did Roy really just walk away?" I asked, incredulous as I listened to Maddie's Roy situation. She nodded grimly.

"At least you didn't break his heart. Trust me, that sucked," I told her, thinking of Alexia.

We stayed talking until the Diggory Yule Ball was officially over. In other words, we stayed until Filch kicked us out.

"Did you see his face?" Maddie giggled as I imitated Filch's face as he told us to go bed. We were walking down a corridor, slowly, just taking our time.

Maddie's hair had gone flat, her makeup was a bit smudged, her bare feet padded on the cool, stone floor and she held her heels in one hand.

She looked even better than when I'd first spotted her on the staircase.

She looked over at me funny. "You right there?" she asked, her Australian accent so prominent and cute. I love her accent – it's so cool. It makes her so different and makes her stand out from the crowd.

Realising I was still staring, I nodded my head sharply. "Yeah, I'm cool."

We stayed in a comfortable, easy silence.

When we'd reached the corridor that led to the dungeons, we came to a stop.

"Look, I had a really, really great time tonight, James. I thought it was gonna end crappy because of Rot, but it didn't. My first and last Diggoy Yule Ball was pretty amazing, thanks to you," Maddie smiled.

I smiled back. "It was pretty memorable for me too."

Her expression turned mischievous. "Now, we go back to hating each other and being at each other's throats tomorrow, got it? We have a reputation to uphold," she said smugly.

"Can't it wait til after the holidays? I don't think I could handle ignoring you when you're living with me," I joked, smiling.

Maddie pretended to think. She sighed heavily and dramatically. "Fine, if we must."

Silence followed.

It was like neither of us wanted our night of talking and friendship to end.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Maddie asked as she started to walk away. Disappointed she was leaving, I took a step forward. At her questioning look, I walked even closer to her until we were inches apart. Her forehead made it to the top of my nose – I realised she was pretty tall for a girl.

"James," Maddie whispered as she looked at me with those bright, blue/grey eyes.

"Mm," I sighed as I played with loose strands of her hair.

She smiled at me. "What are you doing?" she asked. Good question – what was I doing? It was like someone else was controlling my actions.

I shrugged and tilted my head. "Who knows? Just roll with it," I whispered playfully as I dropped my hand and walked backwards, her eyes never leaving mine. "See ya tomorrow," I said as I smiled, turned around and walked towards the Gryffindor dorms.

What the fuck did I just do? Why did I do that? I was blurring the lines between us hating each other and being friends.

Maddie POV

Oh. My. God.

What just happened? I had the best night ever with James! It was so natural and fun to just… talk, you know? And then that thing where he played with my hair? My heart's still racing.

Ok, I don't wanna admit it, but… I think, I think, my heart stopped when he was that close to me but only for a few seconds! I swear, no tingly, butterfly, romance novel crap, I swear!

Ok… maybe, maybe, some tingling and shivers running through my arms… but it was cold back in that corridor. I was not shivering from being in close proximity to James Potter.

Just thinking about him made my head hurt.

It wasn't the same shivers I got with Roy, though.

It was hard to explain because with Roy it's fun and friendly and with James it's natural and tingly. But… why am I comparing James to Roy?

I mean, it's not like I like James… do I?

Hahaha, I don't like James! What a silly thought! I like Roy and when I get back from the holidays, I'm telling him.

Now, what to wear tomorrow? I am meeting the most famous, amazing, legendary, heroic, brave and courageous wizard of all freaking time who saved the world multiple times for the first time. And, oh yeah!

I'm living with him.

And his son, my best friend.

And his other son, my best enemy.

Hey guys! Thanks for reading! Please review and I might be able to get it up in the next 3-4 days! (I'm super busy for a few days)

Lots of love,

Kat xx