A/N: Happy Easter!

And to those of you who noticed (mad props to marycaity), I did indeed reference Dr. Who in the chapter Quidditch in the Rain. I also reference another show in this chapter, and will probably start doing that more often because it's fun.

Erm, I wish I could give people who notice things, but the internet doesn't work that way :(

If it helps, I am thinking really kind and nice things about you and want to hug you!

Anyways, thanks for reading, and Happy Easter if you celebrate it.

Even though it's not even technically Easter anymore but whatever.

Happy is happy.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

James had been upset, especially since I couldn't explain to him exactly what we had been doing. I had tried to make it up to him, though, by paying him attention at the party. He still sulked, but was less obnoxious about it. It was hard to keep him mollified, however, because we only had two days left before Easter break, and, subsequently, before we went home. It was especially hard because I wanted to uphold the tradition that held Carly, Georgie, Jane, and I had to have a compartment all to ourselves for the first half of the ride out of Hogwarts.

"Lin, just let him come in!" Carly groaned as she flipped through her potions textbook. "This is more annoying than the tradition itself."

Ever since the train had departed, James had been standing outside the compartment looking furious and dejected at the same time, trying to wretch the compartment door open. I ground my teeth together as I physically kept the door closed. "He has to stop acting like a child! He's only doing this because I said no."

"And you aren't?" Georgie mildly replied as she played Exploding Snap with Jane.

I frowned and released the door, causing me to laugh as James went flying.

"You get entirely too much pleasure of my pain, Lin." He winced as he sat down on the seat next to me.

I pouted. "You enjoy annoying me entirely too much," I retorted.

He sighed, but I wasn't stupid enough to think James had been entirely at fault. I rested my head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around my waist. I slowly became hypnotized by the lull of the train, and had started to drift off when Carly's shout jolted me.

"Merlin! That's perfect for-" Carly was cut off short by Georgie's hand, which was clamped in a vice like grip around her lips.

"What's perfect?" James snatched what I thought had been a potions textbook, but was really just a bridal magazine charmed to look like one on the outside.

Jane tried to snatch it from his hands, but James was too tall and too quick. I groaned and slammed the compartment door closed. "James…"

"What, are you and Jack engaged, Carly?" he asked incredulously.

Georgie was wise to remove her hand from Carly's face at that moment. "NO, YOU BLITHERING IDIOT!" She snatched the magazine out of his hands and sat on it. "Shove off, Potter, you wanker!"

He looked curiously at her. "Are you? Are you in love?" He laughed. "Oh Carly, wow, you're such a girl."

"Oh, sweet Jesus." I ripped the compartment door and pulled him through it, slamming it after us just as Carly hit the glass. She was snarling as Jane and Georgie tried to subdue her. I thought fleetingly of a cartoon dog named Spike.

"Idiot! You're such an idiot, James!" I scolded him as we searched for the compartment his siblings were in. "Why on earth would you do something like that?"

He shrugged. "She was asking for it."

"She was not!" I screeched and jabbed him with a finger. "This is why I need girl time! So you and the rest of your kind do not mess up my mental sanity!"

He looked equal parts amused, angry, and concerned. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, the compartment door next to us slid open. "Ah, Lin, thought we heard your dulcet tones. Care to join us?" Al scooted over so James and I could sit next to him.

I, however, chose to sit on his other side, next to Sally and the wall. James flopped down with a frown next to his brother. Scorpius and Lily were looking up at us nervously from the floor; we had interrupted a game of Wizard's Chess, apparently. Hugo, however, was glaring at a mousy-haired kid I belatedly realized was Rose's crush, Matt McGuire, though they were more concerned with James and I at the moment.

"Maybe I should go," Matt muttered as he stood up.

"Sit!" I pushed him back into his seat. "No, I'm leaving."

James stood up to prevent anyone from leaving the compartment. "No one is leaving," he declared.

"And who died and made you king?" I retorted, not backing down.

"Lin!" He dragged a hand through his hair, looking like he was pained and guilty. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry!"

I deflated a bit. "Tell Carly that!" I paused. "Actually no, don't do it now. Wait until we get to the platform."

Albus started laughing. "You ticked off Carly? Carly Hicks? How are you still standing?"

"I saved his dumb ass," I grumbled as I threw myself back into my seat.

Lily pouted. "Ah, Lin, you should've let her get him! Then I can have his bedroom."

"Yeah, well," I shrugged as I felt my anger starting to fade, "I don't know what I was thinking."

"What did you do, anyways, James?" Rose tucked a strand of orange hair behind her ear.

James turned red. "I- I teased her about Jack."

Every one related to him burst into laughter, but started berating him. Sally blushed and Scorpius and Matt just looked confused. "If you knew her," I tried to reassure them, "you would understand why that is the stupidest thing to do." But hearing everyone laugh, tease, and berate him in turns made me calm down exponentially faster.

So, by the time we exited the train and separated to head towards our respective families, I let him hold me back. He wrapped his arms around me. "I'm sorry," he mumbled as he dropped his head onto mine. "I was being stupid."

I stood on my tip toes so our height difference wasn't too bad. Now, I estimated, there is probably only a 5 inches difference between us. "I know," I whispered, rubbing my nose against his, "but you have to tell her that."

"Will you come with me?"

I fell back on my heels. "James, you're going to have to grow up sometime."

He frowned at me. "You know I'm more mature than to need having my hand held all the time," he bit back. I quirked an eyebrow, but he ignored it. "No, I'm afraid of Carly, and she's much less likely to kill me in front of you."

I rolled my eyes, privately agreeing with him. "All right. You make a compelling argument and," I pulled away from him to hold his hand and begin walking, "seeing as you are my boyfriend, I suppose I would be upset if something happened to you." I tried to act annoyed, but my smile would not go away.

He grinned and interlaced our fingers. It quickly faded, though, as we came into sight of Carly and Jack who were talking quietly as her parents mingled with whom I assumed were Jack's. Carly saw us first and immediately stopped speaking, a scowl on her face. Jack turned, too, and frowned.

I dragged James up to them and smiled brightly. "Hey guys!" I chirped. "Carly, James has to talk to you. Don't kill him. Jack!" I turned to him and dragged him towards Carly's parents. "These are your parents, yeah? Introduce me."

"I think I should stay…" He tried to turn around, but I tightened my grip on his upper arms.

"Jack," I hissed through clenched teeth, "James is trying to be a grown up, and I'd appreciate it if you let him sink or swim right now."

Jack turned to me with an amused look in his eyes. "Are you trying to get James to mature?"

"Yes," I answered and loosened my grip on his arm. "Well, actually, I'm trying to teach him common sense."

Jack rolled his eyes. "If James listens to anyone, he listens to you. Now come on." He pushed me in front of his parents. "Mum, Dad! Meet Caroline Benedetto, the seeker I was telling you about!"

I grinned and held out my hand. "Pleased to meet you!"

Jack's mom, a slightly plump but beautiful woman with shining blue eyes, shook hands with me first. "Ah, Caroline! Yes, Jackie's told us all about you. How have you found England?" Jack winced.

I beamed at her as Jack's father shook my hand. He, too, was handsome, though perhaps too skinny. "I really love it here," I said enthusiastically.

Jack's father regarded me carefully. "Jack's told us that you're the best seeker he's seen at Hogwarts. Are you going to try out for professional quidditch next year?"

I nodded. "Oh, most definitely, sir."

"What teams?"

Shit. Hoping I didn't offend them, I answered honestly, "Well, sir, I'm thinking of going with Puddlemere, but I've got a friend on the Harpies that has said the team's expressed interest."

His eyebrows stretched towards his hairline. "You do know they're feuding teams, right?"

I nodded. "It makes the decision that much harder."

"Well," he clapped me on the shoulder, "you seem like you have a good head on your shoulders. Too bad Jack here isn't making the choices you are."

I was taken aback. I turned to Jack as his mother scolded his father. "You're… not going into professional quidditch?"

He blushed and shrugged. "I've always wanted to work in the Department of Magical Games and Sports, actually. Keep things clean and all that rot."

I thought about it. Jack was never shouting at us to elbow or harm the other players in ways that would be sure to earn us fouls. "You would be good at it," I decided.

He beamed and clapped me on the back. "Thanks, Benedetto."

At that moment Carly and James joined us. James was sporting a black eye. He was forcing himself to smile while Carly was trying very hard to make herself stop. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Hicks," James greeted them.

"Is everything alright, dear?" Mrs. Hicks brushed her fingers lightly over his eye. "Oh my, that's rather fresh. What on earth happened?"

"I fell," he grunted, while Carly winked at me.

Mrs. Hicks looked skeptical, but I interrupted quickly. "It was so nice meeting you, Mr. and Mrs. Hicks, but James and I have to go."

James agreed and soon we were swallowed up by the slowly thinning crowd. Once we were out of their eyesight, I reached up and brushed a thumb over his cheek. I bit my cheek to keep myself from laughing. "Poor baby."

"Once again," he said sourly, "you are enjoying this way too much."

I let a giggle slip before I looked him in the eye. "What happened?"

"She accepted my apology, but punched me," he held up mock quotations in the air, "on principle."

"It could be worse," I pointed out as we neared his parents. "She could have kneed you."

He winced as his parents greeted us enthusiastically. His mom, in fact, threw her arms around me before I could say a word. "Oh, Linny, I am so happy he's finally asked you out-"

"Mum," James hissed at her.

"-talking about you for so long-"

"Mum!" James hissed a little louder.

"-I mean, to the point where I had to charm him to be quiet-"

"MUM!" James shouted. "You're embarrassing me!"

Ginny tried her best to look dignified. "Well, I'm your mother. It's my right."

"Okay, let's not scare her off, now," Mr. Potter chuckled as he stepped between his son and his wife, "he's talked about her for so long, it'd be a shame now!"

James turned bright red. "DAD!"

I laughed and high-fived Mrs. Potter. James just rolled his eyes and joined his dad to search for his younger siblings. Ginny regarded me with a spark in her eye. "You know, I really like you. I hope you won't stop coming 'round the Burrow if he," she jerked her thumb towards her eldest son, "does something stupid."

I blushed. "I'm honored, Mrs. Potter, that you-"

"Like I've said before, it's Ginny." She grinned.

My blush deepened. "Thanks, Ginny."

She grabbed my hand and walked over to her husband. "Harry," she took a hold of his hand, too, "Lin is going to introduce us to her parents."

"I am?" I asked in alarm the same time Harry asked, "What, now?" as he tried to smooth down his hair. I noticed. Maybe it's a family trait?

She nodded firmly and looked at me expectantly. I sighed and walked towards my parents, the three of us making a sort of chain. I was sure my cheeks would be permanently stained red after this.

"Linny!" my mom cried as she rushed forward. "Jane already brought us your things, and…" she trailed off, looking behind me.

I turned, too. "Oh, yeah, um, Mom, this is Mr. and Mrs. Potter. You know," I gulped, "James's parents?"

My mom clapped her hands together with a squeal. "Oh, it's so nice to finally meet you! Lin has told us so much about James, you know."

My dad walked over from the spot where my stuff was. "Are these the Potters?"

I nodded. "Harry, Ginny, these are my mom and dad, Robert and Karen Benedetto."

Hands were shaken and pleasantries exchanged. "So, I don't mean to be rude, but why have you never come to our New Years' parties?" my dad said bluntly.

I turned beet red while Harry turned to Ginny. "Parties?" He turned to my dad. "We didn't know we were invited!"

Ginny smacked her forehead. "Harry, I told you to read the invitations he gets," she hissed. She turned to my parents with a nervous expression on her face. "How many parties have we missed?"

"Two," my mom quickly cut in, "but please, don't feel under any obligation to-"

Ginny smiled. "No, it's our fault. James probably didn't want us to scare Lin off."

My dad laughed. "Yeah, well, Lin has been known to do a few things like that, too."

My mom turned to my dad. "Oh, like remember that time back when she was 10 and she had her first crush?" Mom faced Ginny and Harry. "It was on this poor boy who-"

"OKAY, BYE!" I shouted as I ran as far away from that conversation as possible.

I ran smack into James, predictably. He looked irritated. "Al's still with Sally, but I don't know where Lil ran off to."

I snaked my arms around his waist. "Our parents are meeting."

"What?" He sounded panicked as I buried my face in his chest.

"They're trading embarrassing stories," I moaned.

"Shouldn't I be there, then?" he teased as he nudged my face up with his hand so our eyes could meet.

"Trading, James," I repeated. "They're trading stories."

He turned red. "Oh."

I sighed. "Well, this break will definitely be interesting, if nothing else."

He wrapped his arms around my frame. "I have a feeling you're right."

I groaned and buried my face in his chest once more.