Victoire/James

Prompt: Afterlife

Afterlife

October 14, 2016

The Gryffindor Common Room was almost empty on that Friday night, except for one second year boy, sitting in front of the fire. His head rested on his hands as he watched the flames twist and snake about the wood, spitting sparks of golden embers into the air. As Victoire entered the room, with a satisfied grin on her face, she paused as she noticed him.

"James?"

He looked up at her, his expression strangely serious for such a light-hearted boy. "Oh, hi Victoire."

She sat down next to him and took her hair out of its ponytail, letting it cascade around her shoulders in elegant, honey blonde waves.

"What are you still doing up?" she asked him with a disapproving frown.

"I could ask you the same question, Prefect," he jibed with a mischievous smirk. Victoire smiled; there's the James Potter she knew.

"I was out with Teddy," she told him, a secretive smile pulling at her lips. "He came to visit me in Hogsmeade." James made a disgusted face and screwed up his nose.

"If you think I want to know about you two snogging..." he began, shaking his head. Victoire laughed at him and shoved him playfully.

"Come off it," she told him. "What were you think about? Seeing you with Freddie makes me worried for your health."

James rolled his eyes at her and then turned back to the fire. His face turned serious again and Victoire frowned as she watched him. It was so unusual to see him look so solemn, when she had become so used to seeing him with a permanent smirk.

"Have you ever thought about life after death?" he asked after a while, drawing his knees up and resting his chin on them. Victoire was taken a little by surprise. His question was so deep for an twelve year old.

"I guess I've never really thought about it," she admitted.

"Why are there ghosts?"

Victoire furrowed her eyebrows and stretched out her legs. "Well, Daddy always told me that people become ghosts if they're afraid of going on."

"But what is that? Where do they go if they don't become a ghost? Do they stay in a hotel? Or maybe a place like Hogwarts, with dormitories and kitchens and house elves."

Victoire smiled at him. "I don't know, James. It could be anything."

He was silent again, frowning a little as he contemplated just exactly what it looked like; it being the place where you went when you died.

"So, Nearly-Headless Nick... he was afraid of going to that place where dead people go?"

"I guess he was," Victoire told him, shrugging her shoulders.

"Why?"

Again, Victoire shrugged. "I don't know, James. Everyone is afraid of something. He must have been afraid of dying."

James scoffed, as though the idea was ridiculous. "Afraid of dying? Hah. I'm not afraid of anything."

"Right," Victoire smirked, rolling her eyes. "So if I told Professor McGonagall that you snuck out to visit Hagrid last night, you wouldn't be afraid?"

His face paled and shot her an accusatory glare, almost challenging her to tell. "How did you know?" he demanded.

She laughed and ruffled his messy black hair. "I know everything, little cousin. Now, hop along to bed. It's too late to be up, thinking about death and horrid things like that."

James nodded and beamed at her. "Thanks, Vic," he said. "G'night."

She smiled after him. Little boys were so strange, sometimes. "Night, James."

A/N: This was another strange prompt, so hopefully I did it justice. Just a short one; James is having one of his rare, serious moments, thinking about the afterlife and what happens after you die.

Ages: Victoire (17), James (12).