A/N: Thank you to my reviewers siriusblacklover (I'm a lover as well!!), dork-with-glasses, HorribleHolly, Ra-ra Kim, Taffyrose, Amaterazu Setsuko, fish and xxgabbyxx. I love you and glad you want me to continue!!
Summary: Who is James Sirius Potter? Well I really wish that was a necessary question to ask. Everyone knows who he is, and he knows that all too well. I just wish I could have kept my bloody feet on the floor, because Merlin knows I didn't want to fall for him.
Disclaimer: Really, if I owned Harry Potter, would I be writing this for free?
Almost Romantic by Spring Turkey
That's how it always went with me and James. Things with us were almost romantic, and I let my guard down for long enough for me to come smashing back to reality. The worst part about it was that I was sure he knew how he made me feel. So I always wondered whey he did that to me. But that just made me wonder why I did it to myself. Because, as Rose and my best friend, Jane, were always so quick to point out, I was the one who fell for it every time.
I sighed while knelt on my floor, finishing packing my trunk. It wouldn't close, so I was deciding which books to leave behind. Well, that's what I was doing before I picked up one of the books - my book of fairytales. Rose's mum had gotten it for me years before and it was one of my favourites.
"And they all lived happily ever after," I whispered aloud, reading the last line of Cinderella. I remembered being a younger girl and imagining myself as the princess and James as the prince. I stopped reading the stories the previous year. I used to have them in my dorm, under my pillow, and I'd read them every time I lost hope. I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I recalled the last time I had the book out.
"Eliza, there's something you should know about real fairytales," Jane said.
"And what, pray tell, is that, Jane Bennet?"
"Real fairytales don't have happy endings," she said, "because real love stories never end."
I sighed again, closing the book. I almost couldn't wait to go back to school, because at least there, I could force myself to think of other things. This year, I decided, would be the year I got over James Potter. And for the first time, I actually believed myself.
--
"Oh, he is an insufferable pig!" I seethed, slamming our compartment door behind me. It took me a second to notice that James and Albus were also sitting there with Jane and Rose, and all eyes turned on James.
"But James has been here the whole time," Jane said.
"Not him," I said, rolling my eyes. I wasn't that predictable, was I?
"Oh, Christopher!" Rose said, understanding dawning on her and Albus's faces, as they had been at the Prefects meeting fifteen minutes earlier. Jane looked at me.
"What about him?" she asked. I was vaguely aware that James was also paying attention, while attempting to appear disinterested.
"He's Head Boy!" I said. That caught James's attention very well.
"Christopher Sullivan? How in bloody hell did he make Head Boy?" he said, outraged.
"Why are you so mad?" I asked, mildly surprised. "I'm the one that has to live with that swine."
"Yes, James, why don't you share with us why you hate him so much," Albus said smirking and feigning stupidity.
"He gave me detention every other day last year for one thing," replied James. "And he's just a complete wanker," he said as if that ended the conversation. Jane chose to ignore the fact that they had spoken.
"Did he do anything specifically? Or are we just mad about his existence again?" Jane asked. If it'd been anyone but her, I'd have been very annoyed. But I knew Jane well enough to know how she meant it.
"I have to share rooms with him, Jane. I don't know about you, but I don't fancy listening to my ex shag countless girls," I replied with a glare. She laughed and returned her attention to the Transfiguration book she had been reading.
"I forgot about that," Rose said. "It won't be so bad, will it? I mean, he's pretty much left you alone since the break-up." I looked at her in disbelief.
"Rose, he pestered me until we got off the train in June," I corrected her obviously-misinformed series of events.
"Oh right. I must have been thinking of someone else," she replied. I pulled out one of my textbooks just to have something to do.
"Right, well I'm going to, erm, go now. See you lot later," James said before leaving. As soon as the door shut, I turned on Jane.
"What exactly were you doing alone in here with James?" I questioned her. She gave me the look she always did when she thought I was being crazy. "I mean, if us three were at the meeting, there was no one in here with you."
"We were just talking. He asked me about my summer and I asked him about his. It was a perfectly friendly, platonic conversion," she replied, once again returning to her book.
"Hmm," I answered. James and Jane were friends, in a much more civilized way than I was with James. I didn't understand why he didn't spend his time pranking her as well. She was, after all, the person with whom I spent most of my time.
"El, don't worry about Sullivan. We'll just throw lots of parties, so you don't have to spend time in that common room," Albus suggested brightly. As prefects, we enforced the rules. That didn't mean we followed them.
"Thanks, Al," I replied, resting my forehead against the cold window.
It was always situations like these where I realized how fast time seemed to go when all you wanted was to slow it down. Not long after that conversation, we had resumed talking and laughing as we had the previous five years on the train, but I was definitely doing it half-heartedly. It seemed like only five minutes had passed when the devil himself appeared at the compartment door.
"Well, Lizzy, I suppose we should start our patrol," Christopher Sullivan said. I looked up and glared. Rose, Albus and I were just about to leave anyways. And I hated being called Lizzy.
"Don't call me that, Sullivan," I replied, making my voice as venomous as possible. I could tell by the look in his eyes he knew exactly how much I despised him, and for some sick reason, it amused him.
"Of course, I forgot. Dear Potter is the only one-" I slapped him before he could finish what he was saying. It seemed like the world stood still for that second; I had never slapped Chris before. And the rest of the train seemed to have filed into the corridor at that exact second, to witness the Head Girl slap the Head Boy.
"Miss Wood, detention!" Professor McGonagall's voice rang through the train. I gasped and turned to face my livid head of house.
"Yes, professor," I replied automatically, feeling my face heat up. Christopher was smirking at me McGonagall shook her head and exited the train. I hadn't even realized that we had stopped, and as fast as everyone had silenced, they resumed their noise.
"Eliza, are you okay?" I heard Rose say behind me. I had been standing and glaring at the boy in front of me.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied, turning away. "Let's go, Sullivan, we have a job to do." I could just make out James, a few compartment doors away, looking slightly shocked out of the corner of my eye.
A/N: So there was chapter two.. I quite enjoyed writing this one actually! Suggestions are always welcome, and please remember - reviews = LOVE!!
PS: I am aware that Elizabeth and Jane are sisters in Pride & Prejudice, but not here...