The next two months were the best of James' life. He had an actual girlfriend. A girlfriend. And she couldn't get enough of him. Almost every evening, they would sneak off to the Shrieking Shack or the corner of the library or even the edge of the forbidden forest. There hands always moved quickly to undress each other, each breath filled with pure desire. They would drape the Invisibility Cloak over them, and it would be like they were the only two people in the world.

His grades dropped a little bit, he had to admit. It was hard to study when there was a beautiful girl to be with instead. He didn't see his friends much. He even missed a few Quidditch practices. James knew this was unhealthy, but he just couldn't stop.

"Potter," said a sharp voice behind him. He almost expected to turn around and see Evelyn, despite the voice belonging to a man. That was how much he thought about her.

"Terris. You scared me." James looked up at the caption of his team, Dennis Terris, whose face was wrinkled with frustration. He knew this was coming at some point; he just hoped he could have gone a little longer without the lecture.

"Did you remember we had practice this morning? I heard you were sleeping in."

"I...I had a late night. And I forgot about practice. I'll be there for the next one." He ran his fingers through his black hair, shifting his feet as he talked.

Terris slammed a strong finger on James' chest, getting close to him to hiss his dissatisfaction. "This is your last chance for next time. I've never liked you, Potter. You're an arrogant twat. Every time I hear you open your god damn mouth, I want to knock your head off."

"Ouch. That hurts, Terris. Truly it does," James snapped, giving his heart a sarcastic tap.

"Shut up. I put up with you because your damn good Quidditch player. But you can't be a good Quidditch player if you don't show up to practice. The Ravenclaw game this past weekend proved that—we barely won, despite your unearned victory lap at the end."

"But we did win. I'm allowed to have an off game now and then. I know in your eyes I'm pure perfection, but I do have flaws, Terris."

Terris fist twitched, as if he were about to clench it for a punch but thought better. "Last fucking chance, Potter. Last chance. I don't care who your father is—you're done."

James took a step closer to him, glaring at him with a deep rage. "I never used my father to get onto this team, and you know that. I'll be at fucking practice tomorrow afternoon. All you had to do was ask." He said the last line with a feigned sweet tone, spun on his heals, and turned away.

He stomped down to the lake, leaning against a tree when he reached the water's edge. Picking up a stone, he chugged it into the water in an attempt to skim it across the top. It hit once and plummeted to the bottom of the lake. He tried again, this time with a more gentle approach. It skipped once, twice, three times, before joining its friend.

"Nice," said a voice from behind him, this time causing him to smile.

Their lips met in a passionate kiss. "Ev," he said softly. He wrapped his arms around the small of her back, pulling their bodies together. She shivered; there was a chill in the cold, November air that hadn't been there just a moment before.

"I've missed you," her sweet voice sang as they landed on the ground together. She laid her head on his chest right when he let out a big sigh. He felt his fingers run though her hair, something as natural as his beating heart at this point.

"I've missed you too. You miss all of the fun of getting a right ear-bashing from Terris."

Evelyn laughed, and he felt his whole body shake. He loved that about her; she laughed with her whole being. "I'm sorry I missed it. What did you do?"

"Oh, missed practice. Again."

"You should quit. Then we could have a whole couple of hours alone while everyone else is at the games..." She traced her fingers down his leg and smiled up at him mischievously with her brown eyes twinkling. It was this kind of thing that drove him absolutely crazy.

"You do know Quidditch is my life, right?"

"I thought I was your life," she teased. As she sat up, her hair fell to the sides of her face, framing it perfectly. He felt desire slowly fill his body, and he had to take a deep breath to push it aside.

Mistaking his sigh for exasperation, she snapped "I was kidding, you twit." He loved how quickly her moods could change, like a summer storm.

"It's not that. I can't explain how I feel up on that broom. It's not the crowds, the cheering, the glory..."

"Oh yeah right..." Evelyn leaned back down on him.

"No I swear. I do love that stuff, of course; it's hard to resist it. But Quidditch gives me the feeling of being free. Not a care in the world, flying through the sky as if there is nothing I'm leaving behind."

"Until a Bludger knocks you off of your bloody broom."

He smirked as he kissed the top of her head. "Well, that just adds to the excitement, doesn't it?"

"Why of course. And speaking of excitement...we need to finalize a few things for our greatest adventure."

James groaned and pulled away from Evelyn gently. "We already have so much of it planned. Why do we need to talk about this now?"

"Potter. Christmas holiday is coming up in two weeks. There is a lot we still haven't finalized. Including you asking your mum and dad if I can come over for part of the break. Did you even tell them we are together?"

He shifted his position uncomfortably. "Well no. Because I know my mother...if she found out about you, she would start to pry into my life way more than necessary. Checking my grades, the number of practices I go to. I just don't want to deal with that."

"Well, for our plan to work, you're going to have to tell them. I need to be over there with you."

"Fine. I'll write to them tonight and ask them. Happy?"

"Very. This is going to work, you know that right?" Her eyes narrowed in on him passionately, so much that he had to look away.

"Yes," he said simply. And it wasn't untrue—the plan was good. They had weighed all of their options, thought of everything that could potentially go wrong and how they could prevent it. Even the dementors were less of an unknown monster, the more they researched and learned about the creatures, the more confident they felt about facing them.

One of the best things to come from all of this was James' newly acquired skill. It came out of nowhere, after weeks and weeks of practice. A light stag, flitting through the abandoned hallway where they worked in peace. His happiness, something he hadn't been able to pull from during those long practices with his father, ended up being something he hadn't had before.

Right now, his happiness smiled at him, weaving her long fingers into his.

oooooooooooooooooo

Dear Mum and Dad,

I miss you both and hope you're doing well. Lily is flourishing here. I do want you to note that her second detention was not my fault nor did it have to do with any sort of influence I have over her. She chose to set off the Firecrackers on her own. I did my duty as an elder brother and yelled at her for you. I was a natural at it—well I should be, since I've had 15 years of experience.

And I also want you to note that your eldest son, James Sirius Potter (remember me?), has yet to get detention this year. Maybe we can talk about that new broom now, since Christmas is close? (Sorry, Dad if you hadn't told Mum about that yet...). It's only fitting that your responsible Chaser of a son should have a fitting broom.

Also...hopefully you're in a good mood at this point...I have a small favor to ask of you. And it comes with good news! I have a girlfriend. You've met her, actually—Evelyn, from the hospital wing. Lovely girl, really reigned me in to keep me on the straight and narrow. For that reason, I feel as if we owe her a debt. Mum, how many grey hairs has this girl saved you from, when you truly think about it?

So here's where the small favor comes into play. Evelyn's mother has been nowhere near the shining light of kindness in her life that my mother had been in my life. She dreads going home every Christmas, to the point where she wants to stay at Hogwarts this year. I can't let the poor girl stay by herself in this castle; it loses its life and charm when the students go home. You can probably see where this is going...could she please, please please come stay with us for a few days over the holiday? I'm not asking for the entire time—just enough so you can get to know her and she can feel that she had a somewhat nice break.

I do adore both of you. Truly. Write back soon.

Love your treasured son,

James

Dear James,

While we appreciate you attempting to help Lily while we are apart, we can handle long distance parenting just fine, thank you. We've had plenty of experience. Although we are pleased that stunt had nothing to do with you (we'd had our doubts, truthfully).

Yes, we have both discussed the broom. I guess you will have to wait to see on Christmas morning. We will say no more than that.

We would love to have Evelyn for a few days. We will have the spare room made up for her. And the baby photo albums ready to go.

Love your kind and understanding parents. Fantastic parents really.

Mum and Dad