Everything seems like a good idea when you're drunk. The drunker you get, the less you care about the consequences of your actions. Poppet woke up with her head on James' bare chest and tried to piece together what had happened the night before. Honestly, she couldn't remember hardly anything. From her pounding headache and the queasiness in her stomach she knew too much alcohol had been consumed and from the fact she was lying naked in bed with someone she knew that mistakes had been made.

"Good morning." His voice was husky and groggy and Poppet felt herself flinch when he spoke.

"What have we done?" Poppet said, exasperated.

"I don't know," James admitted.

"It's so... messy," Poppet said, removing her head from James' chest and lying back next to him in the bed. She stared up at the top of the four poster bed, her eyes tracking the patterns in the shiny mahogany. Poppet knew James was looking at her but she didn't give him the satisfaction of looking back.

"I miss you," James sighed.

Poppet paused. "I miss you too."

"I know I fucked up."

"You did."

"But I am sorry. You know that I'm sorry, don't you?"

Poppet paused again. "I know."

"I don't expect you to take me back but I would at least like us to be friends," James said, quietly. "I've done a lot of terrible things but breaking your heart is the worst thing I have ever done. Hurting you was the biggest mistake of my life and I'm so sorry."

"Oh, sweetie," Poppet said, with a sigh. She wasn't the kind of person who called people 'sweetie' often but it seemed like a sweetie moment. "I'd like that. I'd like us to be friends again."

Poppet had no idea what the time was but she knew it was probably still pretty early. The dorm room was empty apart from Poppet and James which was probably just as well as they were both stark naked in his bed. Dappled sunlight danced on the flagstone floor underneath them. Poppet found something almost romantic about lying unclothed in bed with someone she once loved.

"I'm glad," James said, slowly, "I fucking missed you, Hastings. I really did."

Poppet repositioned herself so she was cuddled into his side. Shocked, James hurriedly put his arm around her and she placed her head on his chest. It would be so easy to fall in love with him again. It could come as naturally as breathing. She hadn't thought about it, due to the fact that she had been so angry at him, but she really loved his company.

"Do you remember how this happened?" Poppet asked, suddenly.

"How we ended up sleeping together?" James replied.

"Yeah."

"No," James admitted, "I don't."

Poppet didn't say anything for a while. "Well, if we didn't remember then it didn't count as bonus night."

"Huh?" James was perplexed.

"You know, bonus night. You sleep with an ex for one night, no strings attached. That would have been last night for us but since neither of us remember it..."

Poppet didn't know what she was doing or why she was doing it. Maybe she was still mildly drunk, who knows? The thought of spending a Sunday morning in a warm dorm room between the sheets with James was so appealing to her.

"Poppet Hastings, are you suggesting that we engage in sexual relations right now?" Poppet couldn't see James' face but she knew he was smirking.

"Quite possibly, James Potter," she replied.

"But wouldn't that make the whole moving on thing a lot harder?" James asked.

"No..." Poppet grumbled, unconvincingly. "Look, to get over someone you have to get under someone."

"Yes but I don't think the person you're trying to get over should be the one you also get under," James laughed.

"Look, do you want to have sex with me or not because I can leave-"

"Ah, fuck it," James said, rolling Poppet off of him and climbing on top of her, kissing her neck and running his electric touch all over her body and Poppet hated how much she loved it.

"Where the hell have you been?" Florence demanded as Poppet sauntered down the stairs of the boys' dorms and into the common room, wearing nothing but a robe. She was in a dream-like state, where everything was ultraviolet. "Actually, you don't need to tell me where you've been because I already know. My question is now why?!"

Poppet shrugged, "I was drunk."

"You weren't this morning," Florence retorted.

"How did you know we had sex this morning?" Poppet asked, confused.

"I didn't until just now," Florence said, smiling smugly.

"I know I should feel terrible about what we did but I just had four orgasms and sadly I could not care less," Poppet said, sitting down on the sofa next to Florence and sighing heavily.

"Gross."

"You're one to talk, anyway! You were definitely making out with Blane last night!" Poppet exclaimed.

"Yeah but we didn't have sex, Pops," Florence said, defensively.

"Maybe you should've done and then you might not be so uptight this morning," Poppet teased.

Flo ignored her. "Have you talked to James about what this means?"

"Can't two people just have casual sex these days without having to think about their feelings?" Poppet said, exasperated.

"Of course they can, but not when it's you and James," Florence pointed out, "You tried casual before and remember how that turned out?"

"Okay, so you have a point," Poppet said, begrudgingly.

"Poppet, do you want to be with him? Answer me honestly."

Poppet paused. Her initial reflex response was NO! He manipulated and lied his way into this relationship. How could she forgive that? Yet, this morning it was so easy. It would be so easy to go back to him and tell him that she loved him and for everything to go on as it was before. Maybe he had changed. But what if he hadn't? Was Poppet prepared to take that risk with him? Everything with him was so good.

"I don't know."

"Don't pussyfoot around this, Poppet."

"I'm not! I honestly don't know!" Poppet exclaimed. Her cheeks were hot and red.

"Do you see a future for you both?" Florence pressed.

"Enough with the third degree!" Poppet snapped, more aggressively than she would have liked.

"Sorry," Florence mumbled, "I just think you can't mess with his head like this. It's all or nothing. You have a decision to make, Poppet."

Poppet scowled. Florence was right. She wondered how confused James would feel about this morning. Poppet was confused about her own actions herself. But she didn't know what she wanted. This morning with James had been so lovely and had reminded her that she did still have feelings for him, no matter how hard she tried to cover it up. Why was she not going back to him? Out of pride? "I'll go and talk to him."

"You might want to put some clothes on first," Florence commented.

"I have a robe on. I'm fine."

"Put some clothes on."

"This is clothes! I'm covered!"

Florence rolled her eyes as Poppet turned away from her, walking towards the boys' dorms. What would she say? She wasn't sure. When she saw James, she hoped she'd know. She knocked the door before she entered. James was hesitant about letting her in. When she entered, she knew why. He was in just his boxers. His hair was messy from sleep. His eyes looked sleepy and glossy. Poppet sighed. Merlin, have mercy on me.

"We need to talk, I think," Poppet said, slowly. She felt awkward.

"I think we do too," James said, quietly.

"First of all, I'm sorry for this morning. It must've been confusing for you. I didn't mean to mess with your head or anything like that and it was selfish and impulsive of me," Poppet said, with a sigh. She sat down on James' bed and he sat down next to her with no hesitation. Her hands were in knots on her lap. James watched her facial expressions carefully, as if he would be tested on her face after this conversation was done.

"That's okay," James replied after a painful pause.

"Is it?" Poppet questioned.

"Yes," James said, firmly, "I was confused but it was worth it. To have you back in my life is worth a bit of confusion."

Poppet shuddered. He knew all the right things to say. Whether he meant them or not, they worked a treat on Poppet. She'd never felt so out-of-touch with her feelings. Without sounding cliché, her heart was saying one thing and her head was saying another. Confusion split her soul like a Horcrux.

"Where do we go from here?" Poppet whispered, not looking up at him.

James shifted on the bed. "Well, that's up to you. I know what I want. It's whether you want it too."

Poppet asked a question that she already knew the answer too. "What do you want?"

"You. That won't change."

Poppet wasn't sure if she wanted to hear that or not. Lucas Smith had been right. James was still hung up on her. She felt as if she were being annoying, prolonging her decision making on purpose for dramatic effect but she had to weigh up the options.

"Look," he said, suddenly, "I know that I did a really bad thing but I never meant to hurt you. All I want is for you to be happy. When I sent that letter, you being happy was no my main goal. My main goal was to get you to be mine. Then I fell in love with you. I realised that your happiness created and fuelled my happiness. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to hurt you, or lose you. Hurting you was never my intention. You have to know that. What I did was purely self-interested. I don't think like that anymore. Not since I fell in love with you."

Every single word was a punch in the stomach that Poppet thought she'd never recover from. Poppet couldn't deny that he had a way with words. James looked at her with hopeful eyes.

"I don't-"

"I need to know now if there's no chance for us, Poppet. I need to know. Because if not, I'll move on. I'll stop hoping. I'll stop praying. I'll stop crying. But if you think there could be, if you're still in love with me... Tell me. I need you to be honest with me. Don't hold back. I don't want you to worry about hurting me. At this point, I just need to know."

"I'm so confused," Poppet admitted, "I – I want to forgive you but I don't know if I should."

James sighed, "What I did was inexcusable. I understand that. But what you're doing to me now is not ideal."

"I know," Poppet mumbled, her head in her hands. "I'm sorry for being so annoying."

James laughed, "It's fine. I'm used to it by now."

"I just worry about what everyone else will say. I don't want to be called weak for taking you back," Poppet looked up at him with shining blue eyes and he looked away.

"This isn't about anyone else. It's about you and I."

Poppet remembered way back to March, when Darling had given her advice on her relationship. Your personal happiness is valued above everyone else's when it comes to your relationship. And, if they're decent people, they will see that. Darling was right. James was – she hated to admit it – right. She needed to stop worrying about everyone else and make decisions based on what she wanted. James was the only person who could truly make her selfish and impulsive and she needed to utilise that here.

There was silence between the two of them for a while. Poppet felt that this conversation would ideally not have happened on a day when they were too hung over to really think straight. Ideally. Nothing was ideal in Poppet's world. Ideally, she wouldn't have had to move schools at all. Ideally, she wouldn't have fallen in love with her best friend's cousin. Ideally, she wouldn't have aided him cheating on his girlfriend. Ideally, none of the events that had happened to her in the past nine months would have happened. But that's life. It's all very well and good to wish for something to be ideal but this had happened now and it was time to pick herself up off the ground and deal with it. Life is not ideal. That's just something you have to accept.

James finally broke the silence by taking her left hand lightly in his and holding it. "I don't want to pressure you, Pops."

"No," Poppet said, quietly. "You need to."

"Are you sure?" James asked.

"Positive. Ask me."

James faltered for a second before finally biting the bullet. "Okay. Do you want to give this another shot?"

AN: Sorry for the cliffhanger! Last chapter is the last EVER! Will she give it another shot? Won't she? Predictions in the reviews are loved! Thanks for all the support, by the way. I have only ever finished one fanfiction before and now this is almost over. Just the epilogue to go!