A/N: Sorry for the wait! I needed to do it right and it took some thinking. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter Twenty Four

Playing for Keeps

Kira liked to think of herself as a reasonable girl. Of course, at the end of the day she is a girl which meant that every once and a while (i.e. for five days every month) she was about as unreasonable as a person could be. Right now she was running through the hallway dodging all the Weasleys that tried to stop her. She didn't know why they wanted to stop her, but she assumed it had to do with how miserable James was.

Not a one of them thought that she might be responsible for their cousin's melancholy. But she knew. And she felt just about as guilty as was physically possible. James had a tendency not to think much before he talked when he was upset and Kira was certain that he hadn't meant to hurt her by saying what he did. Unfortunately knowing that didn't make her feel any better about it. His words still stung.

She had to deal with her parents not… parenting her everyday of her life. Sometimes seeing how much the Potters took care of their children just hurt. Her chest felt tight and often times when she saw Mrs. Potter hugging Lily or Mr. Potter wrapping a supportive arm around one of his sons she just wanted to cry. She hadn't seen her parents in person since Christmas her first year. Floo didn't count and it was the closest she'd gotten to her family in six and half years.

James didn't understand. How could he? His family was so close that he couldn't sneeze without every one of his relatives hearing about it or witnessing it. They all had their fingers in each other's business and ever since Kira had plastered herself to James' side his family had had their fingers in hers. For the longest time it was nice. Someone (lots of someones actually) cared what happened to her. If she was hurt she had tons of shoulders to cry on. When she succeeded she had tons of people to pat her on the back, she even got masses of letters from this Weasley or that Potter saying how proud everyone was of her. When she got caught breaking a rule she got angry letters from everyone it seemed, except for her parents.

She wasn't sure when her parents extracted themselves from her life, but she felt it more acutely with every kind, parental gesture she received from the Weasleys and Potters. On any given day Mr. and Mrs. Potter took a more active parental interest in her life then her own parents.

How was she supposed to come to terms with that? How was she supposed to deal with that? How was she supposed to figure out how to fix things between her and the love of her life while every Weasley/Potter in the known universe was breathing down her neck!

Kira ducked into Moaning Myrtle's loo and let out a contented sigh. Peace and quiet at last.

"Hey, Kira."

Kira jumped out of her skin and let out a squeal.

"That was embarrassing." Kira spun around to face Rose Weasley who was doing her make up in one of the cracked mirrors.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"The same thing you're doing here, I expect," Rose said, applying a thin layer of lip gloss. "Avoiding the family."

"Why would I avoid your family?" Kira asked.

"Oh, I don't know," Rose said, sarcastically. "Maybe because our family has no concept of personal space or perhaps the need to spend time alone? They're invasive, like a germ."

"Lovely," Kira mumbled. The two of them spent several minutes in silence. Kira wondered towards the tall windows at the back of the waterlogged loo, while Rose began primping her hair. "How good are you at keeping a secret?" Kira asked.

"Keeping my own secrets has been my job for almost a year. I can't imagine it'd be much more difficult keeping someone else's."

"I haven't seen my parents or any member of my family in almost seven years," Kira admitted.

Rose stopped primping and caught Kira's eye through the mirror in front of her. "Why?"

"It's not like we're not in contact with one another. We send letters and use the Floo, but… with all my siblings I just don't want to feel like a burden to my parents and it's just been so much easier on everyone to live with the Potters. And damn it! James just doesn't get it!"

"Of course he doesn't, Kira," Rose said. "He's never had to deal with something like this before. Plus he's not exactly the 'think before he talks' sort of bloke. Whatever he said, I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it."

"Which does nothing to make me feel better. Plus I've been ignoring him since we got back from break and even though I know just telling him I'm sorry would put everything to rights I just can't bring myself to do it."

Rose pulled her wand from behind her ear, flicked it at the mess of products on the sink, sending them all back into the overpriced makeup bag she got for Christmas. Rose took a deep breath and turned to Kira. "You've trusted me with a secret. So I'm going to trust you with one. One that you can't tell anyone! Not even James!"

"Okay." Kira crossed her arms and leaned against one of the stalls.

"Right before I idiotically dropped Stephen, I spent a few weeks ignoring him and the problem. All it did was make both of us miserable and more susceptible to my asinine logic. Luckily for both of us, Stephen managed to put me to right." Kira opened her mouth to ask the obvious question. "The only reason my relationship with Stephen works is because no one knows there is a relationship. I actually got the idea from Hugo. Hopefully when Mum and Dad find out, it won't be nearly as devastating…" Kira stared at Rose wide eyed, but didn't say anything. If anything it'd be more devastating when the news broke about Rose and Stephen.

"The real problem was that I didn't talk to Stephen about the issues I was having. If I had we might have never broken up in first place and all this sneaking around wouldn't be necessary. Maybe you should just talk to him about how you're feeling with your family. As cliché as it sounds, communication is the key."

Rose tucked her makeup bag under her arm and said, "Trust me, talking to him will make it all better." She headed for the door and then turned back. "And remember, don't breath a word about Stephan and me."

Kira slid down the side of the cubical and groaned when her bottom hit the floor. She'd sat in puddle.

James was in trouble. He honestly couldn't say what inspired him to listen to Peeves. The pesky ghost… spirit… whatever! had convinced him (hadn't taken much really) to prank the Headmistress. A sort of "this is your seventh year, why not go out with a bang?" prank that would have him remembered fondly by mischief makers to come. If, of course, this prank didn't get him expelled. That was a damn big if considering the fact that he was hovering over the entrance to the Great Hall on his broom holding a giant tub of Flubber Worms with Peeves cackling in the corner.

"I am so screwed," James mumbled.

Truth be told James didn't want to be hovering over the Great Hall with a tub of Flubber Worms but without Kira's calming influence on his irrational mischievous side he was likely to be expelled by the end of the week. If, in a few minutes, he wasn't expelled for dumping a tub of Flobber Worms on the Headmistress. It was too late. Headmistress McGonagall was heading his way and hadn't a chance of seeing him due to his father's Invisibility Cloak. Thankfully for James (and Professor McGonagall) gravity finally had its way with him. The tub of Flubber Worms, which he had been holding for a good half hour, grew unbearably heavy causing James to lean backwards and tip over the back of his broom. He fell to the floor at the feet of McGonagall with a SMACK! closely followed by SPLAT! as the tub fell up ended directly onto James' head. The very crowded Entrance Hall was strangely quiet.

It was quite a sight, to be sure. Harry Potter's oldest son lying at the feet of the Headmistress covered in slime and worm. Fortunately this was not the most humiliating situation James had ever gotten himself into and on the bright side he probably wouldn't be expelled for dropping a tub of Flubber Worms on himself. He'd probably get a detention though, for the mess. Well, life wasn't without its trade offs.

James stood up and pulled the tub off his head as people started laughing. Playing to the crowd James grinned and waved. James had always felt it was better to be proud then ashamed.

With a flick of her wand, McGonagall had the Entrance Hall and James clean. "Oh," James said, surprised. "Thanks, Professor."

"Believe you, me, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall snapped. "It wasn't for your sake but for the chairs in my office."

James grimaced, but followed her down the hall to her office with the snickering of his classmates at his back. James settled himself in the chair before the Headmistress' desk. McGonagall glared at him over her glasses. James attempted to do the same but the world was so unclear when not seen through his glasses that he wasn't sure if he was glaring at her or her owl. That took a lot of the heat out of him.

"So…" James said. "What'll it be this time? Lines, cleaning the trophy room, walking through the forest with Hagrid?"

"I should think not, Mr. Potter," the Headmistress said. "None of those activities have worked in the past, so I can't see them working now."

"So, you're letting me off the hook?" An excited glint appeared in James' eye.

"No. No, Mr. Potter, I'm going to try to teach you an actual lesson… How much do you know about your namesake, James?"

James' forehead wrinkled. He'd never really thought much about his paternal grandparents. So, he sprouted what he did know of his grandfather. "He married my grandmother Lily, fought Tom Riddle and died to save my dad."

McGonagall waited almost expecting more. "Anything else?" James shook his head. "A lot came before that, James. When I first met you, when you were only a baby and your father told me what you had been named, I knew you had been named appropriately." James wasn't sure whether or not to be insulted. "Your grandfather came to Hogwarts with a bang. There was no question that he would be sorted into Gryffindor. He drew people to him like a magnet. Quickly connecting with three of his peers-"

"Remus, Sirius and…" James said, he knew this bit. Hadn't a clue who the third was though.

"Yes, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. They called themselves the Marauders. The mischief makers of Hogwarts."

"So that's how we're alike-"

"Hush!" McGonagall snapped. "Initially James allocated his attention to any girl, but that changed in his third year. He focused all his attention on Lily Evans, your grandmother. She was a redhead with your brother's green eyes. It didn't go… well at first. She despised him but he wouldn't give up on her. He pranked and hexed people to get her attention which of course never worked. Now eventually they overcame their differences and managed to work something out, but only after James stopped hexing and pranking people. He had to mature for her to see him as what he truly was. Every time they argued, James reverted back to the immature lad that he was before they became a couple. She was the reason he didn't act like an immature…"

"Prat," James offered. Though, the story wasn't really anything like he and Kira, he could see the parallels. He was acting like a prat now that he and Kira were fighting. The Headmistress was trying to tell him not to act like an idiot just because they were in a tiff. That was no reason to drop a tub of Flubber Worms on the Headmistress. Now that he actually thought about it James groaned at the sheer stupidity. "I'm sorry," he admitted, quietly.

"Now, that I believe," the Headmistress said. "Now off to lunch, young man."

James grumbled angrily at himself as he shuffled out of McGonagall's office. He wondered gloomily down the hall towards the Great Hall, not paying attention to who might be in his way. Most people (used to James Potter wondering down the hall not paying attention) knew to stay out of his way. He would walk right into you without apologizing or stopping and perhaps he would even step on you if you didn't scurry out of his way fast enough. It wasn't that James was intentionally inconsiderate, just that he often got so wrapped up in his own head that there was a very small chance of anything breaking into his stream of consciousness.

One thing that certainly knew how to get his attention was Kira. She had just stumbled out of a bathroom, not paying much attention to who might be in her way because she was so focused on waving at the smoke coming from the back of her skirt (drying charms weren't her forte). Well, as can be expected, Kira ran headlong into James. The two of them tumbled to the ground, tangled in each others' arms. James ended up on top of Kira, his nose pressed against her cheek. They stayed like that for a while. James savoring the feel of her beneath him. Some part of him wondered if he would ever feel her there again.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear.

James' head snapped up. That was not what he'd been expecting. Unless of course she was apologizing for running into him. Or perhaps because she was about to break up with him. James could feel his heart splitting in his chest. "Nothing to be sorry about," he muttered, rolling of her and sitting up. "If that's how you feel, I-" James choked on his words.

"But James!" Kira exclaimed sitting up. "I was just so worked up and I—I snapped. Then I felt foolish and kind of like you deserved it. Honestly your lack of forethought is a chronic problem. That being said… It doesn't mean that I…"

James' eyes went wide as understanding set in. She wasn't breaking up with him then. "Doesn't mean, what, Kira?" he asked, bemused. James thanked Merlin he wasn't usually an emotional roller coaster, it was exhausting.

"I love you, Jamie," she whispered, blushing fiercely.

"Gaahhheee…"

James stared at Kira wide eyed. Suddenly she was more beautiful than she had ever been before. While James had known for awhile that he loved Kira Fitzsimmons with all his heart, it had taken her saying the words to him for him to realize just how beautiful their relationship was, just how beautiful the world was, just how beautiful life was. Just knowing that he wasn't the only one who felt that way was so wonderful, James was literally so fill with wonder that he didn't realize his barely articulated "I love you too," had been (very easily) misconstrued by his lady love.

Kira's eyes were filling with tears as James stared blankly at her. He only snapped out of it when his beautiful, wonderful, glorious Kira vanished from his sight. He scrambled to his feet as she ran down the hall crying. "Kiki! Kiki, wait!" he yelled.

She swooped into a girls' toilet. James didn't even stop. The love of his life was in there and she was crying. Besides the very real possibility of getting expelled hadn't stopped him from attempting to dump a tub of Flubber Worms onto the Headmistress, the worse he'd get for this would be a detention or two and that was only if he was caught. James was a firm believer that you could break almost any rule if you weren't caught breaking it.

"James!" Kira snapped, furiously wiping the tears from her eyes. "What in Merlin's name are you doing in here?"

"It'll take more than a sign to keep James Sirius Potter from the woman he loves. Loves more than anything in the world. Even more than Quidditch and cake. Combined! And you know how much I love Quidditch and cake. Eating cake while playing Quidditch would be divine, but not nearly as divine as you are!"

"This isn't a joke, James!" Kira exclaimed.

"I know that!"

"Well then don't treat it as though it is!"

"Kira, I'm an idiot-"

"I managed to figure that one out on my own thanks."

James sighed. He was buggering this up. "I may be an idiot, Kira but I'm certainly not stupid enough to not realize how much I love you. How much I've always loved you. I'm just not as… sharp as you. Which you should bloody well know by now. When the woman I'm in love with tells me she loves me… I dunno… I went kind of catatonic or something." Kira was still frowning at him. Tears clinging to her eyelashes a bit of mascara smudged underneath one eye. Still she was so beautiful to him.

"You are so beautiful to me, Kira Fitzsimmons. And, if I have it my way, someday you'll be Kira Potter," James blundered on even though Kira began to cry freely again. "Someday I'll put my babies in you. And- And- And hold your hand while they wiggle their way into the world. I'll cry with you over their first bumps and bruises. I'll kiss your fears away when they head off to Hogwarts and I'll be there with you, for you, every step of the way. And then one day many, many years from now I'll lay down in bed with you and I'll die with you, Kira. I'll-"

Kira flung herself at James, wrapped her arms around his neck, so that when he lost his balance and fell backwards she fell with him. Kira was kissing him all over his face, covering them both with her tears that continued to fall even as she kissed him and laughed.

By the end of that day, James had gotten a detention. This one was new, though. Never before had any boy gotten a detention for being half naked in the girls' loo.