"Rose… say something…" I begged as I shook the thin frame of Rose Weasley.
Rose Blinked. "Er… I don't know what to say?"
This was bad… This was really bad. I knew Rose would take it badly. I'm such an idiot! I should've remembered how Rose and James didn't get along. I don't even… Urgh… Merlin! I'm such a dunce! I mean I should've known. Rose hated James. They were usually at it like Voldemort and Mr Potter. But without the actual killing part. I doubt they wanted each other dead, no matter how much they hated each other. So it was more like Mr Potter and Snape. But no matter what anyone says, Snape's portrait still creeps the hell out of me. Poor Albus Severus. Poor Albus Severus indeed…
Back to the topic in hand, apparently, all was fine till a couple of years ago. But back then, I didn't know Rose that well. She was just a girl in my dorm and Al's cousin and Scor's mortal enemy (yeah right!). But then she and Scor started becoming closer, which started our friendship and kind of ended the one between her and James.
James… what can I say about James. He is a Gryffindor to the core. I suppose his own blood is coloured red and gold. Some even believe him to be Godric Gryffindor himself reincarnated. He holds the same angst against the Slytherins that Godric Gryffindor did. So to no one's surprise he fumed, literally and figuratively fumed when he caught Rose snogging Scorpious. Harsh words and spells were thrown about and the entire Gryffindor common room was in chaos. James called Rose a stupid bint who thirsts for attention and she called James a pig headed swine who is only mediocre in quidditch. Now, it might not seem like much of an insult to anybody else, but to James it was as if someone had punched his mum. Finally, James asked her to choose between him and Scor and she chose the latter. They haven't spoken since then. And it has been almost a year and a half since the incident has happened, and family dinners are still awkward. But I have "seen" that all will be fine in a couple of months. I recently had a vision of Rose and James hugging it out.
"Er… are you mad at me?" I bit my lip as I stared as Rose's blank face.
Rose blinked and shook her head. "Nah… Why should I be? You can't help who you fall in love with, right?"
I blushed. "I'm not in love with James Potter per say…"
Rose rolled her eyes and patted my head.
"Well… it is obviously gonna change isn't it?" she smirked.
"Rose…" I blushed. I didn't want to think about stuff like falling in love and all that bullshit. Such nonsense was meant for people like Alice Longbottom. Oh my Merlin! Alice Longbottom is gonna eat this up like a double Swiss cheese and honey and bacon sandwich (don't judge. Honey and bacon is heavenly). That girl is a true Hufflepuff (way too preppy for anyone's taste) whom I had the unfortunate pleasuring of meeting when I briefly (very briefly) had a teensy tiny crush on her brother, Frank Longbottom who is in our year.
What I wanted was a peaceful sixth year with very little homework and very little drama, hopefully. But I could see that it would be hopeless to hope for such a hopeless thing like that.
"Oi, shut it you whiny brat!" She pushed me onto to the bed and chuckled at my state of distress. Merlin, I'm lame.
"Halligator! What is this I hear about you marrying my brother?" Al jumped on to Rose's bed and laid down next to me.
"Urgh…" I turned over and buried my face in a plush pillow so that no one would have to see my burning face. Curse you Ron. Curse you into the deepest pit of hell that Hades has to offer. Curse Legilimency! Curse stupid Aurors!
"Seriously? I thought that Mr Weasley was kidding!" Scor laughed his deep belly laugh.
"So that's what your vision was about!" Al muttered.
"Aww Hal… James will eat you alive." Scor patted my head.
"Sod off…" I mumbled swatting his stupid hand away. Stupid. Hands are stupid. Hands are so overrated.
"Look at her Rosie… She's so innocent and so vulnerable and… ah! So precious!" Scor picked me up and hugged me close.
"Do you have a death wish Scor?" I pushed him away and took my wand out of my pocket.
The git merely smiled at my wand. He knew I was too much of a chicken to use magic outside of school, even though I wouldn't get caught.
"I don't like you very much…" I mumbled as I stowed my wand away.
"Of course you don't. Your mind is all fuzzy with visions of shagging James in a broom cupboard."
"Merlin! Gross mate… Can you just… not? That's my brother you're talking about." Al gagged and then sighed.
"My brother and my best mate…" He gave me a pitiful look.
"Hey… don't blame me… Besides you know the future is unpredictable."
Al rolled his eyes and hummed.
"That's true Al…" Rose droned "Maybe James might've had a thought about how hot our Hallie is and then BAM she gets a vision. I mean it wasn't one of those really solid looking ones right? You don't have solid visions about stuff that far in the future."
I blushed.
"Err… but Rose, by the look on Hallie's face I guess it was a pretty solid vision." Scor poked my burning cheeks.
Sigh... I can't hide anything. They'll kick me out of Auror training on my first day. And I'll end up on the streets living off on half eaten Mc Donald's McSpicy Chicken burger. And I'll catch STD's because someone, most probably a muggle rapist, will kidnap (woman nap) me and then will probably throw me out because I was making too much of a fuss.
"Aw that sucks Hal… It was solid?"
I nodded.
"Aw… I pity you darling…" Rose squeezed me.
I rested my head on her shoulder as she stroked my hair.
"You know Hal… You will be the perfect Potter wife." Al pondered
Rose and I raised an eyebrow at him.
"The red hair Rosie… the red hair. We Potter men, well except for me 'cause I hate red, fall for red heads."
I blushed a colour rivalling my hair.
"True Al… Your granddad James married a redhead. Uncle Harry married a red head. And now James and Hallie…" Rose mused
I rolled my eyes.
"I think even dad's granddad married a redhead too… See… it's like a tradition. And you have an added advantage Hal…"
I raised a brow.
"Green eyes. James is a sucker for big green eyes. Something about how James the first married a redhead with green eyes. It's faith Hal… It's faith…"
"Rose… make him shut up."
"Silencio!"
"Err… Thanks I guess…" I said frowning at Al who was gaping like a fish, clutching his throat.
"Oh Merlin Hal!" Rose exclaimed.
"What now?" Scor was getting exasperated, even more than me.
"You're a muggle born! And you're like a potions wiz!"
"So?"
"It's like Lily Evans Potter all over again!"
"Rose… I will kick you. I will kick you until you break your tiny arse into teeny weeny little pieces." I said eyeing her skinny arse.
"Yeah right!" she pshted.
"Oh Merlin's Pants, really? Oh this is so good… Harry! Aren't you excited?"
A soft 'yeah'.
"Oh Merlin, I always knew she would end up with one of my son's. Her having that gorgeous red hair and all… You Potter men are obsessed with red hair. It is true that we all expected it to be Al. But then he hates red heads. But James!"
Rose and I shared a look as we heard Mrs Potter downstairs. Merlin! Did Ron and Hermione tell everyone?
"I am so sorry Hal… I don't know what's wrong with mum and dad. They are usually-"
I shook my head, interrupting her apology.
"It's alright…" I muttered. But in my head I was like- "KJGHGHWHFWSHFOWAHFOWHF MAY DAY MAY DAY"
"Hallie! Oh darling! Welcome to the family…" The door swung open and in came Ginny Potter nee Weasley who wrapped her arms around me and practically squeezed the living shit out of my body. Please ma'am, take my dignity too.
"Gin… You're scaring her." Mr Potter said from his position at the door. Hermione and Ron were beaming behind him.
Aw man!
"Er… Aunt Ginny… You're all making a big deal out of this. Hallie has visions all the time. You might be getting your hopes up a bit."
Mrs Potter let go of me and turned to Rose and hugged her.
"Oh no darling… I know all about prophesies and vision and how unpredictable they are, with the future changing always. I'm just happy that there is hope yet for our Jamie. Harry and I were so worried."
The thing is, with James the First being an all around popular guy amongst the birds, everyone expected James the Second to be exactly like him. But to everyone (that is including the teachers) James wasn't all that into ladies. And by that I mean, he never had any dates to Hogsmeade, he was never caught shagging anyone in any broom cupboards, he didn't give anyone any flowers for Valentine's Day, he was never seen holding any girls hand, and he was never even caught ogling at any girl. And to top it off, he apparently smelt only pasta sauce, broom stick polish and parchment in his amorentia last year. Pasta sauce, seriously?
But this didn't mean that girls didn't follow him. Oh, they did. The forbidden fruit always happens to be the sweetest. There were even rumours about Alice Longbottom starting a James Potter fan club. They had hope for James, but honestly, between you and me? I thought that he was gay. And I really did… well until today's vision that is.
I looked up to see Mrs Potter beaming at me. I gave her a small smile.
"Oh… you would be perfect for our Jamie… Wont she Harry?"
Mr Potter chuckled seeing how uncomfortable I was.
"Gin... The poor girl has never held a conversation with James. So things won't be that easy."
I blushed as Mrs Potter's face fell. "Oh… but the vision…" she mumbled.
"That's what we've been trying to tell you." Rose cried exasperatedly.
"Sweetheart… I know you can help James… Please. I know that the vision wasn't completely meaningless. Please tell me you'll talk to James?"
She looked so miserable and heartbroken, it was hard to imagine her as the woman who went total Voldemort's inferi like on Al when he tried to kill Lily's cat Patricia. Al, besides having an irrational phobia of red hair also hates cats and cheese. He bloody hates cheese. And he isn't even lactose intolerant. He also puts pineapple on his pizza. Pineapple! Have you ever tasted a baked pineapple? It tastes like a flobberworm flavoured Bertie Bott dipped in something warm and bleh. Fruit shouldn't go anywhere near a pizza. What were the Hawaiians thinking? Now, what about a good old pizza with lots of cheese and barbeque chicken? Wizards don't know what tastes good and what doesn't. I should seriously quit my inner monologues. They're getting weird. So… yeah! Er… back to the topic at hand.
"Mrs Potter… I… Err… sure?" I can talk a mile a minute in my head. But when it comes to making an actual conversation I turn into a blubbering flustered stupid mess. And she expects me to talk to James. James Potter, son of our bloody freaking saviour. James Potter, who doesn't even spare a second glance at any non clanner with two X chromosomes, aka people like me! I mean he hardly looks at Isobel Creevey from Slytherin. Even girls ogle at her! Girls! I myself is guilty as charged. She really is pretty. But don't worry, her skankiness makes up for it.
Mrs Potter beamed and kissed both my cheeks as I blushed.
"Thank you love… And it's Ginny alright? I would say that Mrs Potter was Harry's mum, but she died when she was too young. So I doubt whether she wanted to have been called that too."
"Where is James by the way? He is not with Freddy, because George was here earlier." Hermione mused.
Al started mumbling and waving his hands about. Oh! I forgot about him. I guess Rose still hasn't removed the spell. Whatever, he deserves it.
"Honestly mum? I can see all of your minds whirling. You're thinking of setting Hal and James up aren't you?"
Al started to make more noise. Oi shut it!
Ron winked at me. "Well I don't think we have to do any 'setting up' Rosie. Hallie seems to be willing enough, little bugger!"
Dear Ronald Weasley, Let me bring to you the top ten reasons why I'm not avada/crucio-ing your arse just about now. Number one, you are a gabizzilion years older than me. Number two, you might be way better at wand work than me. Number three, you are my best friend's dad. Number four, you are friends with my parents, and they would kill me in their own little muggle way if I kill you. Number five, you like my cooking and you said so. Number six, what you said might kind of maybe somewhat sorta true. Number seven- I don't have any more reasons.
Yes, reason number six surprised me. I mean, I swear on Circe, I've never thought about James that way ever in all the five years I've known him. I thought he was gay, remember? True I always knew that he was devilishly handsome and he had freakishly good looks. He was a quidditch player for Merlin's sake. He ran a thousand laps around the pitch every day. The quidditch gods owed that much to his body at least. The jet black messy, slightly curly hair which looked way better than Al's which was kind of floppy. He also had really nice hazel eyes. They look different depending on the angle at which you look. And no matter what anyone says, they're just as sparkly as Al's. And he had this really nice strong jaw structure. And really soft looking li- Oh no!
i "Hey Hallie…" James called to me as he entered the common room back from quidditch practice.
"What?" I asked not looking up from my homework. I was still so freaking frustrated by him and his actions.
James bit the corner of his lips and ruffled his hair. He squeezed his eyes shut and puffed his mouth and blew out air.
"I guess I'll leave you to your homework then. I mean sixth year was difficult. I see you're doing Potions. I would've helped you, but you see-"
"Don't feel bad or anything, Potter. It's just a question. I'm a bit curious as to just how long are you going to treat me like I'm infected with dragon pox?" My voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"W-what? What do you- What do you mean? I don't treat you like you have dragon pox!" James defended as his voice cracked a bit.
I sighed and got up from my chair. James gulped at the look in my eyes. I was acting completely out of my character. But sometimes, you have to spell out certain things so that dunder heads like him can understand.
"You know me! You know how horrible I am in expressing my feeling. But after I asked you to Hogsmeade, I thought that would have been sufficient enough evidence into my intentions. But no, you're just as dumb and clueless as ever."
"I didn't… I am… hey, I don't appreciate you calling me dumb!"
"Oh sorry… How about mentally ill? Is that alright?" I glared up at him. Man, I was short!
"What have I done? I don't understand at all? I thought- I thought I was doing okay? I'm trying so hard to, you know, make sure you're happy. You know this is the first time I've done it. I'm bound to make mistakes. I just wanted you to be happy. I didn't want you to hate me."
"Hate? Honestly James? Hate? And how were you planning to make me happy? By shaking my hand? James I'm a sixteen year old girl, do you think that is going to cut it?"
"I… What?" I had him flat back against the stone wall of the empty common room.
I let out a sigh as James ruffled his hair.
'Do I have to spell it out for you Potter?' I asked looking up into his eyes.
James' eyes darted around their surroundings in thought.
"For god's sake Potter. Snog me! Dammit, have your way with me! Stop making me feel like a totally sex crazed loony! I swear, one more day of not touching you, I'll personally tie you up to something and have my way with you!" I breathed hard
"But! But you don't understand! I- I'm not trying to- You're just- It's- You're Hallie Collins. You don't just snog Hallie Collins. You- you worship her!" My heart started doing cartwheels at the sight of James looking like a love sick puppy.
"YOU ARE AN ABSOLUTE IDIOT, JAMES POTTER!" I poked his chest with an emphasis on each word. James chuckled as he caught my wrist in his hand.
"I know I seem weak all the time. But don't forget that I didn't get selected into Gryffindor for nothing. I know I'm quiet. I know that I am a flustered mess most of the time, but lately with you, I've become better. And you treating me this way isn't going to do any good to my self confidence. I'm not some girl that needs to be protected all the time!"
"I know you're strong and tough and all that stuff. But, can't you understand that- to a guy, no matter how tough his lady is, she's something he wants to protect?"
I rolled my eyes at that.
James continued "And I've wanted to kiss you for ages. So, now that it's a possibility- it's, I don't know scary."
My heart, which remains completely unresponsive at most times, other than to pump blood to my cheeks, felt like it was turning into goo.
I glared at him one more time and then I reached up and pulled his face down to my own. My first kiss…
James gasped at the sudden intimacy and his arms flayed out awkwardly. He certainly hadn't expected me to do that. I smirked briefly against his lips and pressed him up against the wall. His arms slowly inched further down until they became limp by his sides.
I slowly snaked my arms around his neck and caressed the back of his head which made him gasp and participate in the kiss more hungrily. His hands came around to rest on my back and he pulled me flush against him as the kiss deepened.
I finally pulled away for air. But he wouldn't have any of that. He placed a kiss on my cheek. Then my jaw. My' head lolled back as he continued and… /i
"Hallie!" Mrs Po- I mean Ginny interrupted.
"Err… sorry… I tend to do that a lot. Sorry…"
She smiled. "Don't be… I've heard of how difficult it is."
"Usually I can control it. But it goes bizarre when I'm constantly thinking about it."
Ginny and Hermione gasped. "Wait! You had another vision about James?" Ginny beamed.
I cursed myself silently. Great, I've gotten her hopes up now.
Al made funny noises again.
"Err… Rosie… What happened to Al?"
Rose briefly turned to flick her wand at her cousin.
"Meh… I silencio'd him."
"James texted me five minutes ago, you dunderheads! He's dropping by." Al gasped as he clutched his throat.
"Gin, Harry, get out of here! He'll wonder what you guys are doing here. He'll be suspicious."
"We are going to tell him about Hallie's vision right?" Ginny frowned.
"Honestly Ginny, you're so daft." Ron pushed her out of the room. "Certain things have to take place in the natural way." Then he added softly so that I wouldn't hear. "But we can give them a push along the way."
Harry turned and bid me farewell, but not before his wife kissed me goodbye.
"Don't worry Hallie. James won't know a thing. It'll be our little secret."
It should've made me feel better. But it didn't. What happens in Vegas might stay in Vegas. But what happens in the Weasley household wont really stay in the Weasley household.