Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, nor will I ever be. Therefore, I do not own Harry Potter or it's characters... Just wanted to make that clear... haha

This story is rated T for foul language

Chapter 27

James' POV

"I'll take James…"

Just the sound of her voice brings back all those horrendous memories from the Christmas party last year. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ariana cringe and then hear her say, "Who invited the ruddy likes of you?"

Landen laughs angrily. "Seriously Ashlynn, what are you doing here?"

Ariana, Al and I all turn around at the same time and I grab Ariana's arm instinctually as she takes a threatening step toward a sneering Ashlynn. She glances at me then repeats her question. "Ashlynn, what the hell are you doing here?"

Rylan Adonis steps out of the crowd of people and steps up next to Ashlynn, a sneer plastered on his face as he looks at Ariana. "She's here with me. Although, I'd be willing to give her up to James if I got to have a New Year's kiss with you…"

Behind us, Eli says, "Shit Ari! This guy looks just like you! Are you sure you're not related?"

Eli isn't completely wrong when he says that Ariana and Rylan look alike. They both have strawberry blonde hair, the same bright, piercing green eyes, the same slender nose shape and light freckles that sprinkle across their nose and cheeks.

Ariana rolls her eyes and walks away from Rylan and Ashlynn without answering. We all follow suit and walk away, losing each other in the crowd of people that fills the living room. Al is with me and, the last I saw, Ariana was off on her own, Freddie and Brittney were together, Eli was off with Spencer and Landen was following Roxanne around. As we walk around, Al sees a blonde Ravenclaw that he's had an off and on relationship with for the past two years. As soon as he sees her, he's off to try and win her back again, leaving me alone in the crowd of adults.

I walk into the kitchen to get another butterbeer when I hear, "Have you seen James anywhere?"

"Oh Ashlynn, yes I think I saw him go into the kitchen."

I grimace and duck out of the kitchen when I hear her walking into the kitchen to look for me. I see Alec standing in the living room so I walk over to talk to him. "Hey Darkbloom!"

He claps me on the shoulder with a grin. "Hey captain! Long time no see!"

I let out a laugh as I rub my shoulder. "You know you don't have to call me captain anymore, right?"

Alec nods his head and laughs as he claps me on the shoulder again. "You're always going to be captain to me, captain. By the way, you just missed Ariana. She's avoiding that Rylan bloke. She told me to hit him if I see him because apparently he's following her around."

I rub my shoulder again, a small grimace playing on my lips. Alec isn't very bright and doesn't quite know his own strength, but he's really nice, extremely loyal, and an overall great friend to have so I put up with the shoulder hitting and "Captain" calling. "Er, alright Darkbloom. Well, I have a favor to ask of you as well. Will you let me know if you see Ashlynn around?"

He looks around then smirks at me with a nod. "Is she still following you around? Doesn't she know you're with Ariana again?"

"I'm actually not with Ariana again, we're just friends, but yes, Ashlynn is still following me around…"

He seems a bit taken aback as he stammers through his retort. "O-oh… But I figured, when I saw you two at the Christmas party, that… Sorry for assuming, captain."

I shake my head, dismissing him, and change the subject. "It's fine. So how are things going with you and Rose?"

We stand in the living room and talk for about an hour and a half. That is, we talk until about 11:45, at which time Alec warned me that he saw Ashlynn approaching us. I quickly thank him then duck away and try to find a place to hide. After searching for a few minutes, I settle on hiding in a small coat closet. I quietly open the door and walk in; looking around to make sure Ashlynn didn't see me before I shut the door.

After sitting in the closet for what seems like a lifetime, I look at my watch. 11:57 pm…

Suddenly the door is flung open. I look up with wide eyes then breathe a sigh of relief when I recognize the face. "Oh, it's just you."

Ari's POV

After walking away from those tossers Ashlynn and Rylan, I take a seat on a couch. I kick off my heels and set them next to the couch then pull my legs up under me. I close my eyes and lean my head back, trying to forget that unpleasant encounter with Rylan and try to figure out how I'm going to master occlumency.

The couch cushion sinks down as someone joins me on the couch. "Why are you always sleeping at parties?"

I grunt and slam my hands down on the couch as I sit up and angrily glare at him. "Why are you so sodding creepy, Rylan? Why can't you just take a hint and leave me alone?"

He winks at me then smirks. "Because I know that I'm perfect for you. More perfect for you than that wanker James Potter…"

I roll my eyes and laugh cynically. "Seriously Rylan! Leave me alone!"

I go to get off the couch but he grabs my wrist. "I'm going to find you tonight and I'm going to kiss you. Then you will see that I'm perfect for you."

I clench my teeth and narrow my eyes as I jerk my wrist free from his grip. I flip him off and stomp off into the loud, chattering group of adults standing around in the living room. As soon as I push past the first ring of adults, I bump into Alec. "Oh hey Alec! Long time no see!"

He claps me on the shoulder and grins. "Oh hi Ari! How are you this evening?"

I look around for Rylan then look back to Alec and smirk. "I've had better nights. Would you do me a favor?"

"Yeah, anything."

I look around again. "If you see that twat Rylan Adonis around here, would you mind giving him a solid swing to the face? He's been following me around and I don't think he plans on stopping. It's getting a bit ridiculous, honestly…"

He nods as he looks around.

I pat him on the arm and smile. "Thanks Alec, you're the best!" I look around again and think I see him so I duck down and groan. "Shit… Well, this has been fun. We should do it again sometime… Maybe I'll see you later, Alec. Thanks again!"

I stay ducked down and walk through the crowd. Since I've never been here before, I have no idea where I'm going, but I continue to wander around, hoping I'll either stumble across someone I know or find a room that I can both hide in and eat in at the same time. I wander into the kitchen and internally cheer when I see platters of food all over the counters. As I stuff my face with food, Freddie and Brittney come in; laughing when they see my cheeks puffed out at the amount of food I have in my mouth. Brittney nudges Freddie's chest and laughs. "She looks like a chipmunk!"

Freddie grins as he removes his arm from around Brittney's waist and takes the remaining food from my hands. "How about you swallow what you have in your mouth before you try to stuff anything else in there…"

Brittney quietly spits out a "That's what she said", which causes me to choke on the copious amounts on food in my mouth as I attempt to laugh. After I finish the food in my mouth, the three of us stand in the kitchen, talking about what Rylan is doing and eating large amounts of fruit chunks, for a little over an hour and a half before Rylan makes his way in. My eyes widen as I swallow the fruit in my mouth then quietly say, "Can you two stall him? I'm going to go find a place to hide…"

They nod and bombard him with plates of food while I attempt to quietly make my way out of the kitchen without being seen. Before I leave, I glance over at the clock on the wall. 11:55 pm…

I hear Brittney and Freddie yelling something along the lines of "He's coming" so I stand upright and run out of the kitchen, almost slipping on the back of my skirt as I do. I see a closet door and decide that's going to have to be my hiding place for now. I grab the handle and fling the door open, only to reveal that the hiding place is taken.

"Oh, it's just you…"

I look around and run into the cramped closet, pulling the door shut behind me. "Yep, just me… Sorry Jamie, I didn't know this place was taken."

He shrugs his shoulders and quietly laughs. "That's alright, we can share it. Are you still trying to get away from Rylan?"

I nod as I take a seat on the floor next to him and groan loudly. "He just won't bloody quit! I mean, how many ti-"

James clasps his hand over my mouth and looks at the door. "You're not the only one hiding you know. If you give away my hiding spot, and Ashlynn finds me, I will see to it that Rylan finds you."

I pull his hand off of my mouth and glare at him. "You wouldn't…"

"RYLAN! ARIANA IS IN H-"

I slap my hand over his mouth and quickly brandish my wand. "Alright, alright. If you're going to be like that…" I wave my wand at the door and say "Muffliato."

James removes my hand from his mouth and nods. "Thank you."

I look at his watch and see that it is 11:59 so I turn to him and grin. "I want to see the fireworks. I'm sure George is going to make sure they are brilliant. Come with me please?"

He shakes his head. "Ashlynn is out there somewhere…"

I roll my eyes and grab his hand, pulling him up. "I'll protect you from the small girl. Please come with me?"

"On one condition…"

Suddenly the living room erupts into the countdown.

10…

I let out a sigh. "What's that, Jamie?"

9…

"You have to be my New Year's kiss."

8…

He smirks. "Better decide fast… It's almost midnight…"

7…

I roll my eyes again. "Well twist my arm…"

6…

"Is that a yes?"

5…

I nod. "That's a yes…"

4…

"A willing yes?"

3…

"Jamie! Yes! It's a willing yes!"

He grabs my hand with a grin and we burst out of the closet and take off for the already open back door.

2…

We push through all the people who are adjourning to the back yard, barely make it outside before they all yell "ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

James turns and looks at me, his hands tucked in his pockets sheepishly, and a big grin spread across his face. "Happy New Year, Ari."

I smirk at him then grab his face and pull him down, quickly pressing my lips to his. I pull my face away almost immediately, before it becomes anything more than a New Year's kiss, and smirk. "Happy New Year, Jamie."

He looks around with a smirk. "You see the fireworks too, right?"

Before I can answer, Landen walks by and drags us around to a trellis on the side of the house. Once we've climbed the trellis and are safely lying down on the roof with the rest of the group, Landen leans over and whispers with a smirk, "My lips may be sealed, but yours sure aren't…"

I playfully smack him in the arm with a laugh then roll my head to the side, so that my lips are next to James' ear, and answer his question from before. "Yes, I saw them too."

I see the corners of his mouth pull up into a slight smile as he silently reaches over and grabs my hand as he looks over and whispers, "You know I love you, right?"

I roll my head back up, looking at the fireworks going off above us, and nod. "I know…"

"And you know I'll give you whatever space you need, right?"

I give his hand a squeeze. "Thanks…"

We all spend the rest of the night on the roof, marveling at the beauty of the bright and colorful fireworks and enjoying the merriment the party brought with it.

Alright yall, I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter but I didn't want to keep you all waiting because I'm not sure about the chapter. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions about this chapter!

Also, as always, I would like to thank those of you who took the time to leave a review, those of you who added this story to your alerts, and those of you who are still reading my story despite chapters like this. I absolutely appreciate all of you and your support! :)

Thanks!

-Tx :)