"James…"

It's Sunday morning and I'm waking up slightly warmer than usual and my right arm is asleep. I hate that feeling.

Why in Merlin's beard is someone is breathing in my ear? It's probably only seven in the morning.

And why the bloody hell I am even awake? I feel like I could still sleep for a good six hours more. I'm just going to ignore everything and go back to…

"James…"

Ugh… I'm supposed to still be asleep and whoever keeps breathing in my ear is going to get their arse kicked if they don't leave me alone. I grunt in my most menacing manner… which ends up more like a moan at this early hour. I instinctively pull the warm thing causing my arm to be asleep closer.

"James, you lazy arse. Get up!" Hmm… why is Meredith here? Shouldn't she still be asleep?

My eyes shoot open suddenly as my brain finally wakes up enough to remember the night before. There, in my arms, is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life. Meredith: hair tousled, my t-shirt and pajama pants complementing her amazing body, and in my bed.

"'Morning, love," I mumble and nuzzle my face into her neck and hold her closer.

"James, I need to go," Meredith whispers.

"No…" I whine childishly hugging her tighter.

"Stupid prat," she laughs. "I'm going to be back in a minute."

I wince as her weight shifts off my right arm and blood flows sharply into the limb. I hate this feeling. Letting my right arm lie pathetically on the pillow, I lift my left arm to glance at my watch. 10:36 isn't so early, I guess…

I plop my head back onto my pillow and close my eyes. Nope. Still too early.

Meredith said she'd be back and I try to keep myself awake, but even with the pain in my arm I find myself dozing before Meredith returns.

Added weight at the end of my bed wakes me a couple minutes later. Meredith's at the end of my bed, sitting with her legs crossed and her hands in her lap. I lean myself up by my elbows and smile as her eyes wander across my chest and back to my face. "What's this? Ogling me openly?" I tease. "It's not like you haven't seen it before.

"True," Meredith concedes, then smirks and says, "but now I can openly show my appreciation." My shocked expression causes her to laugh.

"Meredith Blount," I say to her as I raise an eyebrow. "I never thought you would ever say anything that would possibly inflate my ego even more.

"I will only say these things when we're alone," she replies sticking her tongue out playfully. "If anyone else is around, don't expect me to be so generous."

I lift my hand and run it through my already messy hair and look around. Fred, Roger, and Phillip are still asleep, unsurprisingly, and Reid must have already gone down to breakfast. What an overachiever.

Meredith pulls her long hair out of her elastic and it falls messily around her shoulders and down her back. She runs her fingers through it absently, staring off into space, looking contemplative. I watch her, mesmerized. She is so beautiful.

"Was this awkward for you?" she asks suddenly, snapping me out of my reverie. She looks back to me, worried.

"Was what awkward?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to force myself on you," she added timidly, looking down at the quilt. I cringe at her wording.

I sit up and grab her hand, smiling. "No, Mer. Don't be sorry about anything. I'm really happy."

"I know that we've only just gotten together and I don't want you to feel like we're moving too fast or anything…"

"Are you kidding?" I say absently with a yawn, letting go of her hand to stretch. "I would have gladly done for a while, now." I add a little darker, "Bloody Corner…"

Meredith's gaze snaps up to me, her expression completely different. She looks wary; on the edge of furious. Damn it. Why did I have to bring up that prat right now? I feel like beating my head against a wall. "How long is a while?"

I cock my head, thinking. I guess I just better be honest. "About four months."

There is a tense pause. "Four months, James?" Meredith asks. Her suddenly stiff tone and posture throw me off. Any sign of being relaxed and comfortable are gone.

Four months. What does it matter that it's been four months? I thought she would be more upset with me bringing Corner into this. What does four months have to do with anything?

Meredith suddenly jumps off my bed and heads to the door. Before she walks out, Meredith turns to me and says coolly, "I can't believe I thought you would be any different than them," before walking out.

…

What just happened?

What did I say?

What happened four months ago besides my birthday? That's when I started to fancy Meredith, but that's the only thing of significance that happened.

I climb out of bed and rush out the door after Mer. This is more than a little thoughtless. I don't even know what to say to her because I don't even know why she's mad!

I take the stairs four at a time down to the Common Room and emerge just in time to see Meredith disappear up the stairs to the girl's dormitory. I stand in the middle of Common Room, shirtless and bewildered. I have no idea what I said, but apparently it was the absolute wrong thing to say.

I feel eyes on me. Several girls are sitting near the fire gawking at my bare chest, and I can already sense a rumor starting as people start looking between the staircase Meredith just disappeared up into and me. It's pretty evident she spent the night in my room. My face heats as I realize that I'm dressed only in my flannel pajama pants. That's not going to help things, but that would explain the gawking. I turn and quickly climb the stairs back to my room.

I pace around the room, too confused and frustrated to even think about falling back asleep. My pacing doesn't wake the other guys.

That's probably a good thing. I don't think we need a repeat of what happened to Fred and I really don't feel like answering any questions.

I wouldn't be able to answer them if I tried.

I give up my pacing to pull on a pair of gym shorts, the first t-shirt and hoodie I can find, and my trainers. I'm going for a run. I need to sort out my thoughts.

I run the trail that ends at Greenhouse 5. The familiar feeling of the path under my trainers and my steady breathing is the only thing in my mind all the while. It's soothing. No thoughts are in my mind besides placing my feet and keeping my breathing focused. Four miles of the trail leads me to the secluded spot on the backside of the greenhouse where I found myself the day Meredith told me she broke up with Corner.

The day I complicated things with her.

I don't want to think about the problem I've created, but I practically sprinted the whole four miles of trail. While I would love to turn and run back on the trail on which I just came, I do need a rest. I pace a bit, allowing myself to catch my breath, waiting for my heart rate to decrease.

Sooner than I would like, I have to return to the reason for my need to escape: Meredith. I sit with my back against the greenhouse wall and replay the scene this morning in my head.

I was happily chatting with Meredith on my bed.

Meredith was openly appreciating my fitness.

I was trying to be less open in my appreciation of hers.

She got all serious and asked if her staying the night was awkward.

I told her that I fancied her for four months.

Then she left saying I was as bad as Corner.

What went wrong?

I squeeze my eyes shut and try to remember exactly how the conversation went.

"Are you kidding? I would have gladly done for a while, now. Bloody Corner…"

"How long is a while?"

"About four months."

Okay… I didn't actually tell her that I fancied her all that time. All I said was I would have gladly been with her for that long, which admittedly could come across in a bad way. I did mention Corner, but that didn't seem to be what set her off. It was the four months part.

What happened between my birthday and now?

Julia glaring at me with the ugliest expression I'd ever seen pops into my mind.

The reality of my statement hits me like the sound of a billion howlers all shouting "JAMES SIRIUS POTTER, YOU'RE A BLOODY IDIOT!" in Mum's 'angry voice'.

I'd told my mates, Meredith included, a hundred times that I was in love with Julia. There was only a month overlap of our relationship and the amount of time I have had feelings for Mer, but apparently that's enough for her to suddenly find me to be scum-of-the-earth.

But why? Why does she think that I would actually do something like that? I definitely could have explained myself better, but do I really deserve to be doubted that quickly?

I stand up and slowly walk back up to the castle. A quick glance at my watch tells me it's 11:45 and even though I'm hurt, angry and confused, I really don't want to risk missing lunch after skipping breakfast. I'm ready for food. I start shivering as I reenter the castle. My sweaty clothes and the November winds don't mix very well. I should probably take a shower first.

I walk through the castle, steadily making my way through the corridors to the Common Room. How am I going to fix this? Can I fix this? There has to be something I can do.

I pass several groups of students walking down the corridor heading to normal weekend activities. Heading out to enjoy possibly the last bit of sun in the year; heading to the library to study.

I catch snippets of conversations as I walk by and each one is like a punch to the gut.

"Blount ran out of the boy's dorm this morning and he followed…"

"…stayed there the whole night and came back crying…"

"…said that nothing happened, but I don't believe it."

"I bet he took advantage of how upset she's been lately."

"…know she already does. I'm thinking that she cut them off, finally."

I keep walking, trying to ignore to whispers repeating the same rumors over and over. I have just made things worse for Meredith.

I finally reach the Common Room, shout the password at the Fat Lady, and climb through the portrait hole. The room is mostly empty except for the most studious of the students (i.e. Reid and Rose) doing homework. I head towards the staircase to the boy's dormitories, but something stops me from ascending.

I catch a glimpse of familiar dark brown hair in my peripheral vision and turn to see Meredith walking across the Common Room towards the portrait hole. She hasn't seen me. Her head is tucked and she is wearing my Wimbourne Wasps sweatshirt and a pair of worn jeans.

Meredith raises her head briefly, sees me watching her progress, and tucks her head, again, walking faster. I have to say something. I have to do something. "Meredith!"

I run down the few stairs I climb and Meredith picks up her pace even more. "Meredith, please, wait!" She rushes out of the portrait hole and I race after her. By the time I'm out, Meredith is halfway down the hall in a full run.

I take a deep breath and run after her. I'm faster. I can catch her.

"Meredith!" I'm gaining on her.

She doesn't turn around. She just keeps running.

I finally catch up to her and grab her arm, forcing her to stop. "Let… go…" she pants.

We're both breathing hard. I shake my head and drag her to the wall so I can lean on it as we both catch our breath. "I'm not letting you go until we talk." I loosen my grip on her arm and she yanks is out of my hand and starts running away again.

"No!" I catch up to her easily and I push her back against the wall and place my hands on either side of her head.

"What do you want?" Her voice is low and she doesn't look at me.

"Please. Let me explain. You know I always screw up what I mean to say." Meredith doesn't say anything. I reach over and touch her face gently. "Please, Mer."

Meredith finally looks at me. Her beautiful blue eyes convey the hurt she feels, but also her desire to stay. She nods once and I tuck my head, breathing in relief. I remove my hands from the wall behind her and reach out and take hers. She moves so that I grab the air beside her. I purse my lips. "Can we at least go somewhere that's not in the middle of a corridor that's about to be full of students heading to lunch?"

Hesitating, Meredith nods again, and follows me as I make my way back to the Common Room. We climb back through the portrait hole and I grab for her hand, again. She wasn't expecting it this time, and I succeed, though she doesn't seem too happy about it. I lead Mer cautiously towards the stairs to the boy's dormitories and she frowns, but allows me to take her there.

I push open the door to the dorm. Only Phillip remains in the room, rummaging through my trunk. He looks up, alarmed, but upon seeing Meredith behind me gives me a knowing smirk and wink and walks out, leaving us alone.

I close my eyes and shake my head. Arse. I walk over to my bed and sit near the head. Meredith stands leans against one of the posts of my bed and I look at the oversized image of Wasps' mascot on her shirt. My heart lifts the slighted bit as I realize she's actually wearing my sweatshirt. She didn't immediately burn it!

I hope she still has my Puddlemere shirt.

Meredith sees me looking at her chest and looks down at the sweatshirt she is wearing. Her head shoots up and she looks at me with widened eyes before crossing her arms, covering the emblem on the front. "I was cold and I just grabbed the first thing I could find," she explains, looking away. "What do you want, James?"

"Before I start I want you to know that I haven't thought this through… like I ever do…" I pause, hoping for a smile. Meredith continues looking determinedly away from me. "But anyway, I just saw you in the Common Room and I knew I had to do something. We have to sort this out. If I just let this go, I'm afraid I'm going to lose you for real this time."

Meredith doesn't interrupt. Her gaze drops to the floor and her eyebrows and knit tightly together. Her mouth is set in a still frown. "If you couldn't tell, I went for a run after you left this morning. You know how it helps me think." A nod from Meredith confirms this. "So, after I stopped I thought about everything that was said this morning.

"I had no idea why you walked out before. Honestly, I had no clue. You know how thick I am sometimes." Meredith eyes flick over to me. "Okay, all the time." Her gaze returns to the floor. "After I started thinking I realized that I made it sound like I would have cheated and been with you before I broke up with Julia."

Meredith stiffens at this. Wow… I finally got something right! I look at Meredith and notice tears brimming in her eyes. "Mer, I would never do that! Not to you. Not to anybody. You know what I've been through, and, more importantly, I know what you've been through." Meredith's eyes dart to me warningly as if daring me to criticize her.

"I know we've both just come out of some pretty awful relationships and all I wanted to tell you this morning was that I lo…" I stop and Mer looks at me curiously. I don't think now is a good time to drop something that heavy on her. "I fancy you and I have for a while, now. Ever since my birthday party, I haven't been able to get you out of my mind." I run my hand through my hair. "It played a big part in why I broke up with Julia." I watch Meredith cautiously as she continues to lean against the post of my bed. She takes a few deep breath and rubs under her eyes, sniffing. "Do you really think I would do something like that?"

Meredith finally sits down at the end of my bed and slouches across her legs. "No," she admits. Her voice is thick. I can tell she is fighting the urge to cry. She takes a few more deep breaths. "I didn't mean what I said. I know you're not anything like Travis and definitely not like Brenden." She straightens up and faces me. "I'm so, so sorry that I caused you more pain." Her eyes wander to the quilt on my bed and she picks at a loose thread. "I've been hurt so many times… I guess you could say I have my guard up. I just don't want to be hurt again."

I scoot down the bed closer to her and take her hand again. "Meredith, listen. This is our last year and I want every moment to be memorable. I want to make every second of this year, of the rest of our lives count. Sure, I don't want any of it to be marred by my stupidity," Meredith smiles a bit and I continue, "but Mer, you also have to trust me. There's only so much I can do, but you know me. I'm the same James who lost splendidly to you in Defense in fourth year and who jumped into the lake to retrieve a Quaffle fifth year and who led you to a Quidditch Cup victory last year. You trusted that James. Please trust me, now."

Meredith squeezes my hand and turns, throwing her arms around my neck and letting the tears come. I hold her close as she cries and don't press her to say anything. I know she'll talk when she's ready. I rub Mer's back gently and whisper soothing words and eventually, she calms down.

She looks up at me, wiping her wet face. "James," she starts, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You're right. I should trust you. You have never given me a reason not to." Meredith sniffs and takes a few deep breaths. "I'll do my best, James. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. It wasn't fair to you."

"Mer…"

"Will you promise me something?" Meredith asks quickly. I nod and she continues, "Will you always come after me?" She squeezes my hand, again. "I don't know what's going to happen, but if I run, I need you to come after me."

I pull Mer close again and wrap my arms around her frame. Kissing her head I answer, "I promise."

We sit on my bed for a while in silence. I'm not entirely sure how much time has passed, but Meredith suddenly pulls away, wrinkles her nose, and says, "You stink."

I pretend to pout, but can't keep from laughing. Meredith joins in, her brilliant smile illuminating the room. "Fine… I'll take a shower and then we'll get something to eat." I look at my watch: 1:26. "Nooooo…" I groan flopping over on my bed. "Lunch is over already and I didn't eat breakfast." I lay my arm across my face dramatically. "I'm going to waste away to nothing."

Meredith throws my arm off of my face so I can see her. "Stop it, you drama queen," she commands with a laugh. "We could always go to the kitchens."

I sit up cheerfully. "I like the way you think, Mer."

Mer rolls her eyes and throws a pillow at my head. "Hurry up and shower, or we'll both die of starvation pretty soon."

"James, you can't have chocolate for lunch." I look at Meredith as the House Elf in front of me bows low and walks off to fulfill my request.

"Aw, c'mon. Why not?"

Meredith seems to think this over before replying, "I have no idea. Chocolate it is!"

The House Elf returns with my desired chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and Meredith and I sit in a comfortable silence munching on our sweet meal.

I'm staring at Meredith, again, as we eat. I'm trying to hide it, but I can't help it. I think Mer's making this hard it on purpose, actually. She keeps licking frosting off her fingers and watching me.

She's so beautiful… and she's mine. I'm never letting her go again.

Meredith has more frosting on her finger and I try to watch her out of the corner of my eye. I turn my head slightly towards Mer and end up with a cheek smeared with chocolate frosting. "Gah! Meredith!" I recoil and nearly fall off the bench in surprise Meredith is laughing hysterically.

"That's what you get for staring."

"W-what?" I ask in faux-confusion.

"You are terrible at hiding it," Meredith scoffs. "I know you haven't been able to keep your eyes off of me all week."

"Oh, you didn't want me to look?" I reply with a cheeky smile. "You could've fooled me."

Meredith jaw drops in mock disbelief. She licks the remnants of frosting off of her fingers and says, "You know, James. That's a really good look for you."

I smirk mischievously. "Thank you, Meredith. I admit I never would have reached this level of sex appeal without your help. Please let me show you my thanks." I stand and walk towards Meredith, gesturing for a hug.

"Oh… Oh no… I don't think that's necessary." Mer backs away, edging around the table with her hands behind her as I approach. "I just do what I can to help those in need."

"No really. Let me show you how grateful I am!" I lunge at her, grabbing her into a tight embrace and she shrieks as I rub my chocolate-covered cheek against hers. "See? I just think what you did was the nicest thing anyone's ever done for-"

Chocolate cake fills my ear and Meredith wiggles out of my clutch, laughing. "That's what you get when you don't pay attention, sucker!"

I wipe what cake I can off of the side of my face in time to see Meredith sprinting out of the kitchens. I grab a handful of the leftover cake and race after her. Rounding the corner, I see her slip into a secret passage behind a nearby tapestry. I know that passage leads to the sixth floor, and I head in the opposite direct to a shorter passage I discovered with the help of the Marauder's Map last year.

I race down the passage and get to the end, open the passage, and receive another faceful of cake. I clear my eyes with my free hand. "You underestimate me, Potter." Meredith sticks her tongue out at me. "You forget will always be one step ahead of you. I know you too well."

Mer stops laughing and her eyes widen as I hold up the cake still sitting in my other hand. "Maybe," I snicker. "But you're not coming out of this unscathed."

Turning on her heel, Meredith dashes down the hall and I follow close behind as she climbs the stairs and runs up the next corridor towards the Gryffindor Common Room. I shout a triumphant war cry as I close the distance between us.

I catch Meredith as she reaches the Fat Lady and tackle her, rubbing the cake in my hand on as much of her exposed skin as I can reach. We end up lying on the floor laughing until our sides hurt and tears were streaming out of both of our eyes.

The portrait swings open several times while we lie on the stone floor, unable to control our laughter. Many a bewildered Gryffindor stares at us before shrugging and walking off… or in one case walking backward a couple of steps before breaking into a wild run. Multiple times, one of us calms down enough to look over at our companion and we both are quiet before simultaneously breaking into another fit of laughter.

The portrait swings open once more and reveals none other than Reid, Roger, and Rose. They stand over us looking concerned for our sanity as we calm down and sit up against the wall. Rose looks down at the pair of us and shakes her head. "I was wondering what happened to you two," she exclaims. "You would not believe what everyone's been saying about you!"

I'm still not composed enough to speak without losing it again, but Meredith seems to have found her composure enough to reply through gasps of air. "We were… in the kitchens… James and I… were hungry…"

Fred walks up behind the trio in front of us, looks down at me and Meredith and simply says, "Guys… I'm sorry, but this is just too good an opportunity to pass up," before holding up a camera. Meredith and I look at each other and as the flash goes off, we dissolve into uncontrollable laughter again.

"They're hopeless!" I hear Rose exclaim, and the four of them walk away from us leaving Meredith and I, on the brink of insanity, covered in chocolate cake.

Eventually, Meredith and I pull ourselves together enough to clean ourselves up the best we can and enter the Common Room. A hush falls over the room as we enter. It feels like every single eye in the entire room is on us. Meredith grabs my hand and I look over to see her nervously surveying the people in the room. Julia is in the corner looking smug. I squeeze Meredith's hand and intertwine our fingers to give her some comfort. Meredith grips my and hand I lead her towards the boy's dormitories and start up the stairs.

The room goes from silent to deafening by the shear amount of hushed conversations started by my action. I guess I didn't think that through too well. I really just don't even care at the moment. I look over my shoulder and see Julia now looking furious, Harris close by sharing her expression. I flip them both off for good measure.

"So…" Meredith begins upon entering my room (FTW!). "We're back here again." She wanders across the room and flops face down on my unmade bed. Her brown hair is everywhere; I can't see her face. "Mphhhmm mphmm phhmm?"

I laugh at her incomprehensible question. "I'm sorry, what was that? I don't speak bed head"

Meredith pulls her face out of my pillow, turns her head towards me and sticks out her tongue before repeating, "Don't they have anything better to talk about?"

"Of course not! I smirk and sit down on the bed next to her, careful not to crush her legs. "I am basically the most important person in this school." *Smack*

I fake-pout and rub the back of my recently slapped head. Meredith rolls her eyes and turns over on her back. "You forgot about me, you goof!"

"Of course!" I enthusiastically concede. "You are much more important, amazing, and spectacular than I will ever be," and I lean forward to place a kiss on her beautiful, smiling lips.