A/N – A massive thank you to my reviewers! I love seeing alerts from reviews :) Oh, and this chapter is dedicated to my gorgeous mates, I love you!
My plan was completely messed up. It was supposed to be simple. Make James as jealous as possible, then, at Alice's birthday party, you'd set Alice up with Frank and finally get James. Yeah, that wasn't going to work. Because here I am, supposedly going out with a guy that should be perfect for me but isn't, and at the same time making out with an incredibly handsome quidditch-obsessed guy who I swore only last year that I would never go out with. And I was enjoying it. Then the changing room door opened.
"Oi, James, come on…Oh." Sirius yelled, bursting through into the room, almost knocking over one of the benches. Remus, peter and -oh no- Frank filled in behind him. "Well, this is awkward." Sirius grinned, running a hand through his hair. Honestly, did they all do that? I looked over at Frank after untangling my fingers from James' hair. His expression was a mixture of hurt, confusion and…oops. Anger. Maybe an unlocked changing room wasn't the best place to make out after all.
"Lils? What's going on here?" Frank asked, coming over to stand in front of me and James.
"Well, it's actually quite a funny story…" I laughed nervously.
"Oh? Really? Because from here it looked more dirty romance than comedy." He said flatly, turning on his heel and leaving. Remus and Peter followed him out, probably to convince him it was all just some big misunderstanding. James collapsed onto the bench behind us, with Sirius sitting down on the other side. He had his head in his hands. He looked up at me, but I turned away. This was all my fault.
"I'm just going to go apologise..." I ran out, leaving Sirius with James. I ran up the hill to where Frank was lying back on the grass. There was no sign of Remus or Peter.
"Hey." I whispered, sitting down next to him. "I'm sorry."
"Why did you do it? I really liked you, Lils. I didn't have you down as a cheater."
"Neither did I." He snorted, sitting up. "I'm sorry." I repeated, not being able to think of anything else to say. I didn't regret anything I'd done, of course not. And I'm pretty sure I never would.
"You know? I don't think it was going to work out anyway, was it?"
"I don't think so, no." He sighed, then looked at me curiously.
"Do you want to know a secret?" He smiled.
"Sure."
"I thought as much. See, I was thinking last night. And the thing is, when I pictured my future...it wasn't you I was standing next to."
"Was it Alice?"
"How did you know?"
"Lucky guess." I grinned, standing up and making to leave, before turning back. "Oh, and Frank?"
"Yeah?"
"Are we ok?" He thought for a minute.
"It wouldn't have worked out...and I would have done the same with Alice, so…sure."
"Awesome. And about Alice…go for it." I smiled, heading back up to the castle, leaving a very confused Frank sitting on the grass.
"5 minutes, girls!" I called from behind my closed curtains.
"Shut up! You know telling me the time makes me rush! I need to look perfect." Alice shouted from inside the bathroom.
"Oh, yes, because Frank will completely go off her if her mascara isn't perfect." Marlene teased, finally putting her stupid magazine away.
"Ok, finished. And no need to be so sarcastic." She grinned, shooting a look at Marlene and coming over to open my curtains and drag me from my homework, which I was desperately trying to cram in.
"Finally!" Emmeline sighed dramatically, coming over to us. "Everybody ready?"
"Yup, let's go." Alice beamed, eager to go down to her party.
"Oh my Merlin." Alice gasped, running down the stairs as fast as she could with heels on. I rolled me eyes. It wasn't that good. Multi-coloured balloons floated close to the ceiling, and rainbow coloured sparks feel gracefully down from the ceiling to the carpet, fizzing out gently if they touched a surface. A large banner hung above the fireplace, reading 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALICE!' with barely readable writing at the bottom reading 'I didn't get a gift, but I bought some firewhisky. No need to thank me.' Sirius, no doubt. Did that boy never stop drinking the stuff? A large buffet lined the back wall, and a disco ball hung from the ceiling and the latest magical world hits blasted out from unseen speakers. Many people were already there and it seemed that the party was in full swing. They all turned towards us when they heard Alice screaming. I looked around for James and saw him sitting with Sirius near the buffet, holding a glass of butterbeer and balancing on the arm of the chair. I blushed when I saw him staring back at me. We all separated at the bottom of the stairs, Emmeline and Marlene no doubt going to gossip with the other girls, who were huddled in the corner, giggling madly. Alice went of the chat to some of her Ravenclaw friends, and I smiled slightly when I saw Frank go over to her. Which just left me. With nothing else to do, I made my way over to where James was sitting, only to find he wasn't there.
"Hey, beautiful." I jumped when I heard someone's voice behind me and grinned when James' arms wrapped around me. I turned to face him, my green eyes sparkling.
"You don't look so bad yourself." I whispered, my lips inches away from his and coming closer.
"HOW DARE YOU STEAL MY BOYFRIEND!" We sprung apart and I spun around, only to be greeted with a rather amusing sight. Alexis was standing there, her face a deep red and she was clenching and unclenching her fists.
"Sorry to break it to you, hun, but he's not going out with you anymore." I smiled, turning back to James, only for her to continue with her tirade.
"YES HE IS! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT WE ARGUED IN THE FIRST PLACE! IF YOU WOULD HAVE JUST STOPPED TRYING TO FREAKIN SEDUCE HIM –"
"Sorry, seduce him? It was nobody's fault but your own that he broke up with you, Alexis. Now why don't you go back to your dorm and calm down?" I said calmly, trying to hold back a laugh.
"CALM DOWN! CALM DOWN! THIS IS YOUR FAULT! ALL OF IT! YOU KNEW BLOODY WELL HE WAS MINE, YOU SLUT!" And she walked right up to me and slapped me hard across the cheek, then flicked her hair, spun back around on her heel and left, leaving me with a stinging cheek and a room full of staring seventh years.
A/N – So there's the twelth chapter! I couldn't settle on how to write it, so I went for this route. Like it? Love it? Hate it? There's only one way I can find out! REVIEW! I takes less than a minute but makes my whole day :)
P.S. There is a link on my profile page to the girls' dresses, check it out :)