Poppet stepped out onto Platform 9 ¾ and scanned the crowd of parents. It felt weird not to be looking for her own parents. James stepped out onto the platform behind her, dragging both their trunks. Poppet felt kind of bad that she'd made him carry hers – especially as she was seventeen so could levitate it in front of her – but he'd offered and to be quite honest, she was a complete sucker for chivalry. Harry and Ginny were nowhere to be seen in the vast mass of wizarding parents. Poppet waved goodbye to Florence as she made her way back out into King's Cross, promising that they'd spend loads of time together the following week. Flo was mildly miffed that Poppet wasn't going to be around for the whole week, especially as she now didn't have Blane to fill her time with, but she never voiced her grievances about it. Poppet could just tell from her demeanour.
The crowds dispersed and finally James and Poppet could see Harry and Ginny. James was tense and Poppet was confused as to why. Ginny greeted her with a huge hug, mumbling something about her being part of the family now. Harry offered a sheepish smile. Poppet returned it. Lily and Albus were already with their parents and so the six of them set off towards the gate. Harry told everyone that they'd be apparating back to the Potter cottage to collect their stuff (apparently Jennifer and Douglas had dropped off a trunk full of home clothes for Poppet at their house two days previously, any excuse to visit the Potters) and then taking a port-key to Shell Cottage just in time for supper. Poppet's least two favourite methods of transport. Great. She'd passed her apparition test first-time pretty much as soon as she'd turned seventeen, so she would be escorting James in a side-along apparition as he wasn't seventeen until Wednesday.
"It's so useful to be able to apparate," Ginny said, as they walked through the gate and into an abandoned waiting room inside the main station, "as soon as James turns seventeen, he's taking that test."
"He should probably practice first," Albus commented, "I dread to think the whining we'll have to endure if he gets splinched."
"Shut up, you arse," James snapped.
"Boys," Harry warned.
"James, don't use foul language please," Ginny sighed. It seemed like Albus-James spats were not a rarity in the Potter household.
"All I said was 'arse', mum," James said, indignantly, "I could have said much worse."
"Say any worse and Poppet goes home," Ginny threatened, whilst throwing an apologetic look at Poppet who smiled shyly. She was used to James and Albus having brotherly quarrels but it was awkward with Harry and Ginny there to reprimand them on their language and behaviour. James was usually quite the potty mouth. "Now, let's apparate home before you and Albus can irritate me anymore."
Poppet grabbed James' arm and her trunk and concentrated really hard on the Potter's cottage. She thought about the daffodils lining the front path, the wildflowers scattered on the front lawn, the roses creeping up the walls and she willed herself to be there. She suddenly felt as if she was being squeezed through an incredibly small hole, underwater. Blood pumped in her ears. She was only half-aware of James who was gripping her right arm. The pair materialised on the front lawn of the Potter property. Poppet smiled to herself.
"Nice job, Hastings," James remarked, as Harry and Albus suddenly appeared in front of the house.
"Thanks," Poppet smiled at him, "I'm impressed with myself."
"Is that your first side-along?" Harry asked, as he unlocked the front door to the cottage, allowing Albus to rush in. Lily and Ginny had just appeared a few feet behind them.
"Yep," Poppet said, popping the p. "Did I do okay?"
"Well, you're both here and neither of you seem hurt," Harry smiled kindly at them both, "I would say that you did a superb job."
Poppet nearly exploded with pride. Harry Potter said I did a superb job. She wondered if the sheer awesomeness of being complimented by Harry would ever wear off. It probably wouldn't, she concluded. Poppet and James walked into the house and Poppet saw her familiar polka-dot suitcase at the foot of the stairs, ready to go along with five other suitcases which she assumed belonged to everyone else in the family. Ginny whisked their school trunks upstairs whilst Harry explained to them about the port-key they were going to be using (a wicker washing basket was a very odd choice, Poppet thought) and about how to be safe when using one. Finally, Ginny arrived back downstairs and the six of them were whisked, by port-key, to Shell Cottage on the Dorset coastline.
The cottage was smaller than the Potter's home and very desolate. It was near the edge of a cliff, which gave way to the churning, grey ocean below. Apparently, there was a footpath down to the beach. The wind was bitter and bracing and Poppet wished she'd brought a coat. Hastily, the group made their way to the front door of the cottage and Harry opened it. Everyone flooded through the doors and were greeted by a hallway. At the end of the hallway was a set of French doors that opened up into what looked like a kitchen diner. To her right, Poppet could see a narrow staircase. To her left there was a doorway to which Poppet assumed would reveal a living room. The hallway had a very nautical theme. The walls were white, decorated with pictures of shells or blue anchors or boats. The floors were wooden but were a very light wood, almost as if they were representing sand. It was very clean and the hallway hardly looked lived in, almost as if it were a holiday home. Once everyone was through the door, Ginny suggested they take their cases up to their rooms.
"Speaking of rooms, mum," James positioned, "I am going to be allowed to share with Poppet, aren't I?"
Poppet almost choked. She didn't think about that. So far, everything in James and Poppet's relationship had been very PG. They'd only been dating a month, after all. The most heated it ever got was after Quidditch practice one night. Poppet helped James pack away all the equipment again and hands had wandered. Poppet had only ever had sex once before and that was with her ex-boyfriend and it was most unpleasant and uncomfortable as neither of them really knew what they were doing – it was hardly unsurprising that almost the day afterwards he had gone and fucked someone else. However, she was very aware that James was a master of sex and had entertained Jeanette on more occasions than she could count on one hand.
"Your father and I have been talking about that," Ginny huffed, "and we have come to the decision that you two can share a room but if I hear of any funny business... well, you'll be in with your brother, James."
James nodded and then turned over his shoulder to give Poppet a coy smirk. Her stomach fluttered. She was actually nervous about this. Getting intimate with James was something that she thought about on a regular basis, she'd admit. A few weeks before Blane and Florence split up Poppet heard her slope back into the girls' dorms at three in the morning. She knew exactly what they'd been up to, especially when she saw Blane walk with a certain recognisable swagger at breakfast the following morning. (She knew this was a regular occurrence in the boys' dorm rooms and knew that they were aware of charms to make sure that nobody heard or saw them doing it. It couldn't happen in the girls' dorms as the stairs were charmed. If a boy tried to enter their dorms, the stairs would pretty much kick them out. So, the boys' dormitory was a breeding ground for teenagers. Literally. ) Poppet had wondered at the time whether James would ever invite her up to his dorm room at night and how soon. She was excited by the thought of sneaking around like that.
"You two can stay in the spare room. Lily will have Dominique's room. Albus will have Louis'," Harry said, drawing his wand from his pocket and moving it in a circular motion. All the cases flew up the stairs. Poppet heard doors opening and closing from upstairs.
"Can I take down Louis' Wimbourne Wasps posters? I don't think I can sleep with those in the room for a week. I might wake up one morning and be sick at the sight of them," Albus whined, as Ginny led them all into the kitchen with the promise of a cup of tea.
"Don't be so melodramatic," Lily grumbled, "it's just Quidditch." This comment gained her five death glares from every other person in that room.
"Just Quidditch?" James was almost in disbelief, "I literally refuse to believe you are my sister. Mum, did you pick up the wrong baby at the hospital?"
"I know you all love it," Lily snapped, "I just don't get it."
Albus and James groaned. Ginny even looked mildly offended. "She's definitely my baby," Ginny laughed, "we don't all have to like the same things, James. Being unique is what makes us human."
"Mum, with all due respect, I don't need to be lectured with stupid quotes that you read in Witch Weekly," James objected.
"Don't talk to your mother like that, James," Harry sighed, turning on the kettle, "I think it's nice that Lily has her own opinions on Quidditch. She's a strong, independent young lady, just like her mother."
"Thanks, Dad," Lily grinned up at her father who ruffled her hair and then set about getting out six mugs for everyone and plopping teabags into each one of them.
The kitchen at Shell Cottage was very homely. It led on to a dining area with a large round table with a vase of pink and yellow flowers in the centre of it. The theme of white walls and light wooden floors continued into the kitchen and dining area and more pictures of shells and other assorted nautical items littered the walls. Behind the table was a large, wooden fire place which matched the floors. Large French doors led off the side of the kitchen to a very well kept garden. Harry thrust a cup of steaming hot tea into Poppet's hands and she thanked him, taking a grateful sip and burning her tongue in the progress.
"I'm making pasta for dinner tonight and I'll serve it in around an hour," Ginny explained, pulling cans of tinned tomatoes, chorizo, an onion and a huge bag of penne pasta out of a shopping bag that was left on the counter with a note. Presumably, Ginny had planned the week's meals and asked Fleur to get in some groceries accordingly. "James, why don't you take Poppet on a tour of the house?"
"Okay," James said, chirpily, as he took Poppet's hand and led her out of the kitchen. She followed him, silently, down the hallway until they reached the staircase. "Do you want to start upstairs, or downstairs?"
"I honestly don't mind," Poppet said, looking around at the corridor around her.
"Well, there's only one other room downstairs so I guess we'll start there," James shrugged. He opened the door to the living room and it opened up in front of Poppet. It was larger than she would have expected. There was a large, white rug on the floor with a coffee table on top of it and the cream sofas were all centred around a large, flat, black square which was mounted on the wall.
"Is that a-?"
"Yep, a muggle telefission! It's so cool! Uncle Bill bought it from a real muggle shop with muggle money! You can watch all these entertaining muggle programmes. It's awesome," James gushed.
"Wow," Poppet was impressed. The Wizarding World was often very ignorant towards muggles and even though advancements in muggle technology were sky-rocketing, most wizarding families didn't tend to have things in their home unless they were wizard-made. But, to be honest, wizards were behind the times. Computers made by wizards were only a very recent thing, whereas muggles have had computers in their lives for decades now. Wizarding ignorance was a huge problem that Poppet had only been made aware of because of Florence, who preached about it every other day.
James led Poppet upstairs. The landing was carpeted and the cream carpet proved very soft underfoot. James pointed out to Poppet the various rooms without entering, probably out of respect for his family's privacy. He allowed her a glimpse in the bathroom, which was very large with a free-standing bath-tub before opening up the door to what he called the 'pièce de résistance': their bedroom. It was strange – she thought – to be sharing something with James that wasn't a mutual attraction. He opened the door in an overly-dramatic fashion and stepped aside so she could enter. It was a nice room. There was a king-sized bed with a blue and white striped bed spread, more pictures of shells on the wall and a window which overlooked the garden and the sea behind it. A slightly ajar wooden door revealed an en suite shower room. Poppet and James' bags lay neatly at the foot of the bed. Their bed.
"This used to be Victorie's room but she moved out to live with Teddy," James explained, "so now it's just a spare room." He flopped out on the bed, sprawling like a starfish. "Nice, isn't it?"
"It is nice," Poppet said, taking a seat down on the bed next to him. She could smell Ginny's pasta sauce wafting up the stairs and along the corridor and her stomach grumbled. That pumpkin pasty she'd had a lunch time seemed as if it were light-years ago. James laughed, clearly hearing her stomach growling and sat up, wrapping his arms around her.
"We're going to have a great week, Hastings," he smirked, resting his chin on her shoulder. "I have a great day planned for us tomorrow."
"Oh, really? What crazy adventures will you be taking me on?" Poppet asked, relaxing into James.
"Ah, now that would be telling," James said. Poppet couldn't see his face but she was almost one hundred per cent sure that he'd winked as he said that.
"I don't like surprises," Poppet reminded him but James just laughed.
"Come on," he said, removing his chin from her shoulder and pressing a light kiss on her cheek, "We better go and see if Mum wants any help with dinner."
Poppet followed him down the stairs, curious about how this week would turn out. She knew it would be fun; she just hoped it wouldn't be too dangerous.
AN: Sorry it was short or whatever. I hope you all like the new update schedule. It's working well, I think. I may have to reduce it. Since I've been back to school I've written 2 chapters. How pitiful. Please follow, favourite and review!