Chapter 6

No matter how much we badgered him, Al refused to disclose the name of the girl he fancied. Sometimes he'd make it a joke. "That's classified information," he'd laugh. But sometimes he'd become angry and shout, "It's none of your business!"

The whole time, even after we'd batted our eyelashes until we couldn't do it any longer, Orion and James totally ignored us. They were too busy seeing how many girls Orion could snog in one year. Of course, they never even considered Ella as one of his potential snog-ees. That simply encouraged her to try harder.

Because I practically stalked him, I began to realize that James wasn't very nice. He and Orion used the Marauder's Map to track first years they planned to prank, and they were always getting in trouble. I reported this to Ella, but that only made her like Orion more. She thought it was funny, and that it made him "even hotter."

I, on the other hand, decided that even though he was incredibly attractive, I no longer liked James. This occurred on the last night of school, right after the end-of-term feast. I saw him pull a particularly nasty prank on a first year girl. The two boys ran away, laughing hysterically. Feeling sorry for the poor girl, I took her to the Hospital Wing. I was so angry, I resolved that I would never even look at James again.

Ella and I visited Al quite often over the summer holiday. To my relief, James was always off with Orion when we were there. I suspected Al had a hand in separating Ella and me from them. He had said, more than once, that James and Orion weren't good enough for us. I hadn't believed him until I saw proof of it for myself.

"Why doesn't Orion ever come over when we're here?" Ella complained.

"I'm glad," I said, still mad at them. "They're both jerks."

"Since when?" Al asked. He didn't know I'd stopped liking his brother.

"Since I figured out they're mean and cruel to first years," I answered.

"Oh, Mae, it's perfectly harmless," Ella said, waving her hand dismissively.

"Harmless? Every one of their victims has to go to the Hospital Wing, and, most likely, they are mentally scarred for life!"

Ella rolled her eyes in reply.

Fifth year arrived. At the start-of-term feast, Rose, who was sitting by me, leaned over and whispered, "James keeps looking at you like he's wondering why you're not staring at him anymore."

"He'd better get used to it," I whispered back.

"That's just it," Rose replied. "I think he got so used to your attention that now that it's gone, he wants it."

"Well, that's just fantastic," I said, sarcastically. "He only wants what he can't have."

"Sort of like you did?" Rose said, raising an eyebrow. She left it at that.

In the girls' dormitory, Ella exploded. "Did you see how they were swooning over him?"

I knew she was talking about all the girls that were surrounding Orion, laughing at everything he said. One girl even managed to get the seat of honour on his lap.

"Yeah. It's kind of sad, really. Don't they have anything better to do?" I asked rhetorically.

"You're one to talk. That's all you did last year with James," Ella shot at me.

"You did the same thing! But that was when I was young and foolish," I said, shaking my head. "It doesn't matter now."

There were only three differences about fifth year compared to fourth year: I had gotten contact lenses over the summer so I could actually see, we learned loads of new spells almost right away, and James acknowledged my existence. Not that I wanted it anymore, but that's what happened.

Ella continued her quest to become Orion's girlfriend. There was another problem besides the fact that he didn't know who she was, and that was Orion becoming an ever-increasing girl magnet. It gave him even more of a cocky swagger.

One Saturday, after a Quidditch game, Rose, Ella, and I were waiting for Al to return with the team (they were having an after-game talk). The portrait hole opened, and in walked the Gryffindor Quidditch team with Orion in the lead. As he talked, he casually brushed aside his Quidditch robes, revealing that he'd taken off his shirt. There was a gasp from most of the girls in the room, and Orion grinned. "You're welcome, ladies," he said as he pointed both hands at a group of sixth year girls, who all giggled. He then turned and trotted up the boys' dormitory stairs.

Al, who joined us, rolled his eyes. "Git," he muttered under his breath.

"Ok, Ella, I don't like him at all, but I will admit he has nice abs," I said. Ella was still shocked speechless. "Ella? Ella! Breathe!"

"He… he didn't have a shirt on…," Ella said faintly. I fanned her with the parchment I'd been writing on. "Stay with us, Ella!"

"Too late. She's probably already off in her little la-la-land. I definitely do not want to know what she's thinking right now," Rose declared.

Soon afterwards, Rose and I decided to go to the library to get books for homework. Ella was too busy daydreaming to come, and Al was tired after the game. On the way there, James came up behind us.

"Hey, cousin," he said, glancing at me but then turning his attention to Rose. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"I'll meet you there, Mae," Rose told me. I went on ahead, happy to be away from him.

Moments later, Rose plopped down next to me at the table I was at. "I do not believe that boy," she said.

"What did he want?" I asked, not really listening as I flipped through a book. "Where do they talk about dragons in this stupid thing?"

"He wanted to know why you don't fancy him anymore," Rose answered.

"What did you say?" My attention was caught.

"I told him to ask you himself."

"What? Why would you say that? I don't want to talk to him!" I was almost yelling. The librarian shushed me.

"Relax," Rose whispered. "He won't do it."

"How do you know?" I snapped.

"I just do."

She was right. James didn't talk to me- he had his best mate do it for him. Several days later, Orion found me in the library. Ella was there, but she was a few sections away. Orion took the opportunity of me being alone.

"Hello, Mae," he said, draping his arm around my shoulders.

"Ugh, get off me," I said, removing his arm and continuing my search for a book on Hippogriffs.

He backed away, raising his hands innocently. "Oh, hey, sorry. A bit irritable, now, are we?"

"What do you want?"

Orion lowered his voice, as if to say something important. "I want to know if you fancy James."

"Why do you care?"

"Why shouldn't I? He's my best mate. Got to watch out for him, don't I?"

"He sent you in here; look, I can see him," I said as I pointed to where James was sitting, near the door, with his back turned.

"Doesn't matter, just tell me!" Orion demanded impatiently.

At that moment, Ella rounded the corner with an armload of books. Upon seeing Orion standing there, she squeaked and almost dropped her books. Orion didn't even spare her a glance. He was staring me down. I stood my ground, arms folded.

Finally, he said, "Well, since you won't tell me willingly, I suppose I'll have to find other means of finding out."

"Whatever," I replied coolly.

"Hi, Orion!" Ella said breathlessly as he walked past her. He winked at her, and she nearly fainted.

I watched Orion, annoyed. "I do not know what you see in him," I said, turning to the bookshelves again.

"I can't believe you talked to him! What did he say?"

"James made his best mate do his dirty work," was all I said. I glanced and saw James look up hopefully, then frown when Orion shrugged. As they walked out, Orion turned around and pointed at me. I made a face at him.

"At least someone likes you," Ella complained.

"Yes, but I don't like him, so it's pointless."

Orion tried to convince me that I did fancy James. Of course, it didn't change my mind. When that didn't work, James himself tried to persuade me to like him. We had done a complete 180.


The professors warned us to study hard all year so our OWLs would be easier. Rose and I diligently studied and did our homework; Al and Ella mostly copied our work until we wouldn't let them anymore. We were so busy, we barely noticed the changing seasons.

My sixteenth birthday passed, and soon the Christmas holidays arrived. The Holiday Party at Al's house was now a tradition for Ella and me. Al's family was still extraordinarily kind, and we were exclaimed over at how much we were "becoming so grown-up!"

I was having a great time. I was even tolerating James. That is, until he "just so happened" to be in a doorway with mistletoe above it, and I needed to get through.

"Move, James," I said, folding my arms.

"Make me," he teased, not moving. For a split second, in the way he looked at me, I remembered why I had liked him. But it passed as soon as it came.

"Just move!"

"No!"

"Fine, I'll go all the way through the other room. But it would be easier if you would've just moved," I said, turning to go.

Suddenly, he grabbed my arm and pulled me close.

"Let go of me!"

"Mistletoe," he murmured, his lips inches from mine. He would've kissed me if Lily and Hugo hadn't been running around on a sugar high. Lily shoved Hugo, who stumbled into James. The distraction loosened his grip enough for me to pull away. I heard him swearing at his sister and cousin as I ran to find Ella. I could feel my face burning red.

Ella was in the living room, actually having a conversation with Orion! I was so surprised, I almost forgot about "the incident." I decided to leave her alone and searched for Rose instead.

Rose was talking to her uncle, Harry. "Hi, Harry, can I borrow Rose for a second?"

"Yeah, sure," Harry said. He left to join the others in a card game.

When he was out of earshot, I said, "Rose! You will never believe it!"

"What happened? Why is your face so red?" she wanted to know.

I told her the story. "And then, when I went to find Ella, she was talking to Orion! Really talking!"

Rose gasped. "You can't be serious!"

"I'll show you," I said, pulling her along. We hid behind several plants and watched Ella, looking quite marvelous in her holiday dress and deep in conversation.

"What are you doing?"

I yelped. "Al! Don't scare me like that!" I hit him in the arm.

"Ow! Sorry! But what are you doing?"

"We're watching Ella talk to Orion, if you don't mind," I whispered.

"Looks more like spying," Al said, grinning.

"It's a girl thing; you wouldn't understand," Rose told him.

"Hmm. Well, see you later, then."

As we watched, James appeared. "Hide me!" I said, ducking behind Rose. When I peeked again, James and Orion were gone, and Ella was standing there with a huge grin on her face. We popped out and asked her how it went. She promised to tell us later.

That was when Orion reappeared and practically shouted, "You snogged James-y poo?"

"What?" Ella gasped.

"No, I didn't! He tried to snog me. Emphasis on tried," I protested. Then I had to tell Ella the whole story.

When we finally decided to go to bed, Ella made good on her promise and gushed about Orion for the rest of the night. She told us in every detail what they'd talked about.

"We're never going to hear the end of it, are we?" Rose asked me. I shook my head.

On and on Ella talked. She finally finished with, "And, well, that's about when James showed up and stole Orion away, and then you two came out of nowhere."

"'Stole Orion away'?" I asked, grinning.

"Yes, stole him away," Ella said matter-of-factly. "I was slowly inching towards the mistletoe, and I was really close, but then he left."

"Don't look at me like it's my fault!" I told her.

"If you'd have just snogged James, maybe I could've been snogging Orion!"

"Maybe I didn't want that prat taking my first kiss," I shot back. "Or any kiss, for that matter!"

"Alright, fine, you've got a point," said Ella, "but I wanted my first kiss."


I hope you've enjoyed the story thus far. Please review! All Harry Potter characters belong to JK Rowling. All other characters (aka Ella, Mae, and such) are mine.