"He said what?" Kit's eyes were narrowed.
"So Albus Potter is a prick," Imogen said casually. "Nothing new there."
"Yeah, he sucked, whatever." I waved it off. "I just can't believe what James said."
"I can," Kit muttered.
"He probably didn't realize what he was saying," Jules offered.
"He's 22. He should know that not everyone has as much money as he does." Kit was unmoved, as was I. "What're you going to do on Monday?"
"Nothing. I still need him to pay me. And I need to figure out what to do for funding."
"Didn't you slap him once?" Imogen inquired.
"Yeah, but I don't think I can get away with it again," I said wistfully.
"Have you talked to Anderson yet?"
"I'm going to head out to see him now." I bit my lip. "How bad is it?"
"Professor Carlson and I met two days ago." Imogen looked grim. "She said the head of the department misused a lot of funds so the Ministry and the university have both withheld any funding until the investigation is complete."
"But that could take months." My heart sank. There would be no way for me to work on my research or go to France over the summer to collect rune samples as needed. Not to mention I couldn't pay for any bills.
"Carlson thought years."
Jules bit her lip. "That's awful. Is there anything we can do?"
"What about a writing campaign to Oxford and the Ministry?" Kit offered. "Show support for the program in the interim despite one bad egg."
"The bad egg is unfortunately pretty big, but that's not a bad idea. Thanks, guys. I'll see what else I can learn from Anderson."
My elderly advisor looked about ready to burst into tears. My heart ached.
"Professor Anderson," I sighed, not ready to look him in the eye.
"Jayne!" He grabbed my shoulders and squeezed so tightly I was worried for his thin arms. "I can't believe it!"
"I know, I never thought Dean Rogers could-"
"An incredible move!"
"Crazy to revoke the money," I agreed, patting him on the back.
"We can do so much more than we ever could under the old funding guidelines." His voice was thick with emotion.
"I-what?" I pulled away, slowly realizing he was shaking with delight.
"The news, Jayne, the news!"
When I did nothing more than blink back at him, Professor Anderson grabbed a piece of parchment from his desk and handed it to me.
DEPARTMENT-WIDE MEMO: Minister of Magic Hermoine Granger-Weasley announced a new partnership this morning with Oxford's Department of Ancient Runes. The details of this venture are still forthcoming, but Minister Granger-Weasley stated her intention is to provide full funding for Ancient Runes research. Minister Granger-Weasley, long a champion of higher education, has personally donated 7.5 million Galleons of her own fortune and will be actively involved in fundraising efforts, in addition to providing more government money for grants.
James Potter, the eldest son of Harry Potter and Minister Granger-Weasley's nephew, is a joint contributor and a new patron of the department. "Ancient Runes has a important role in cross-cultural exchanges, but its applications to other forms of magic has been incredibly underdeveloped," he said in an interview to the Daily Prophet. "One person's mistake shouldn't punish the rest of the people doing this great work. I'm excited to see where the Department takes this funding, particularly in the field of curse-breaking."
"Isn't it unbelievable?" I hadn't ever seen Professor Anderson so happy, not even when a new Hungarian rune had been discovered on a Japanese tombstone last year.
"Pretty unbelievable," I mumbled. "So what exactly does this mean for our research?"
"The Ministry will of course be heavily monitoring the use of our funds after the issues with the Dean's spending, but other than an extra level of approval from the higher-ups, we have even more funding than before. They earmarked a significant portion for cross-application with Transfiguration, Defense, and curse-breaking applications—exactly for your purposes! And since there aren't too many other researchers in that area, you can be sure to get a large portion of that funding as well."
"Wow," I managed to get out over the lump in my throat.
"I know, dear, it's still so overwhelming." He patted my hand. "Take a moment and enjoy your good fortune, because I expect to see proposals for grant funding on my desk by next Wednesday."
I wandered back to my desk, re-reading the memo over and over again.
"Jayne!" Nora, another student, popped her head in my doorway. "Isn't it amazing?"
"Definitely."
"Here, I got some mail for you from the front desk." She paused. "Nice that your new boyfriend was able to step in to save us."
She gave me a sly wink and left before I could protest. I had noticed the looks and the occasional lighthearted joke from other students in the past week about me "dating" a celebrity, but I hadn't thought about how a donation like this would bring my name forward as well.
I grimaced and tried to force away the turmoil in my stomach as I turned to my mail. I had received my own copy of the departmental memo announcing the funding. Nothing at all from James, but there was another note in a thick, creamy cardstock, my name written in a neat cursive on the outside.
Dear Jayne,
Thank you for your fascinating explanation of your work with Professor Anderson last night. James brought it to my attention that your vital work was left bereft of the proper funding and suggested a partnership with the university which I hope you find to be helpful for your research purposes. As someone directly working within the department, I'm sure you'll be able to work with us to let us know what changes are most needed.
We're so glad James has met you. I look forward to hearing about your accomplishments at the next family dinner.
Sincerely,
Hermione Granger-Weasley
Minister of Magic
Order of Merlin, First Class
I sucked in a breath. He hadn't reached out himself, but as far as apologies went, this was a pretty good one from James. I scribbled out a thank you note to Hermione, as well as one to the Potters for having me over for dinner.
The giddy smile on my face was wiped off fairly quickly however when I opened the final piece of mail I had. The message was to the point:
DIE BITCH.
Over the next two days, apart from a note from Louis requesting we catch up for lunch so he could "get all the tea" from me, it was complete silence from the Potter family. On Monday, I eyed the clock with dread as it got closer to when I was supposed to go over to his place.
His extravagant gift to the university unsettled me. I didn't like feeling indebted to him. We had always been on unequal footing, but I had thought that we were finding a new balance lately. Such a large donation upended all of that.
I tensed as I went to Floo directly to his flat, wishing for the first time since he added me to his Floo network that I had a few extra moments outside to gather myself before I went in.
James was waiting in his living room, hands in his pockets.
"I didn't know if you were going to show up," he said, eyeing me cautiously.
"I signed a contract, didn't I?" I kept my eyes on my supplies as I took them out of my bag.
"Right. Have you, um, been to see your advisor?" He coughed, and I couldn't help but snicker at his lack of subtlety.
"Yes, James." I hesitated, sobering up, finally looking at him. "Thanks. That was…very generous of you. You didn't have to do that."
"Yeah, I did," he said simply. His deep brown eyes held mine for a moment too long, and I awkwardly turned away under the guise of pulling out a quill. "Besides," he continued. "My Aunt Hermione loves any chance to expand her higher ed initiative, and after she heard about your work, she was all in."
I smiled despite myself. "Really?"
"Yeah, she was way too interested in your research. Kept telling me how smart you are, not that I didn't already know. And like you said, I have the money; I should do something with it. You're the better person to spend it." He shrugged, not looking at me anymore. "So…Defense today?"
I pulled out my wand. "Time for practicals."
He stood up, pulling out his wand too. "If you wanted to see my Patronus, you could've just asked," he said smugly.
"Oh, I have no doubt Harry Potter taught his kids how to cast a Patronus. I need to see how you duel."
I'd finally caught him off guard.
"You want me to duel you?" James' eyebrows shot up.
I twirled my wand. "Scared, Potter?"
His eyes narrowed. "You wish."
Right as we raised our wands, Fred Weasley Apparated into the living room with a flashy pop.
"Lovers' spat?" He grinned, not at all concerned that our wands were pointed directly at him. "Nicely done at dinner by the way, tutor. They all love you."
I raised an eyebrow, but huffed out a small smile.
Well," he amended. "Most of them. Albus and Rose…they'll grow on you. And if not, you'll be gone before long anyway."
"Fred," James said in a low voice.
"What?" Fred asked around a mouthful of biscuits he picked up from the table. "Oh, did you ask her yet?"
I tilted my head, looking at James questioningly. He scratched his ear, giving me another charming smile I'd come to recognize when he asked me for something. "Right. It's my birthday next week."
"Happy early birthday." I raised an eyebrow at him, sure there was more coming.
"I'm having a party here Saturday night. Would be great if my girlfriend could make it."
"Of course." I smiled, hiding my panic. What on earth was I going to get him as a present? James brightened up considerably, and Fred ruffled my hair as he left the room.
"You can bring any of your friends." James assured me. "Louis will be there too, if that's any better. And I have another quidditch game on Thursday, if you want to come to that one too."
"Right. Yeah, no, that should be fine." It was a little embarrassing how I really had no plans.
"You haven't seen me play well yet, and you need to catch up on years of no quidditch anyway." He paused, hesitating a little before continuing. "Is there, uh, anything I can do?"
"The tickets were easy to find last time; if you just leave them at the box office again, I should be fine."
"No, I mean, anything I can do for you? Any events or anything? No presentations I should come to cheer you on at? Feels like I'm slacking a little as a boyfriend."
I laughed. "Just get me those quidditch tickets and you're golden."
"I knew it," he said smugly. "You had fun."
"I told you I did-"
A crack signified the arrival of another person in James's living room, this time mercifully by the fireplace instead of near us.
Initially on opposite sides of the room as we prepared to duel, James and I were standing inches apart when the intruder entered, and I instinctively jumped away from him.
Albus Potter rolled his eyes at me.
"As much as I appreciate the PG version you're trying to show me, I can see you were with my brother just now, MacPherson."
"No, we were-" I stopped halfway through my automatic denial, remembering I was in fact supposed to be dating James Potter. It never got less weird thinking that. James' head whipped towards me, eyes panicked. "Erm, I mean, yeah, you caught us."
"Whatever. James, where's my Tornados jersey?" Albus wandered into James's bedroom without a second glance at me.
"In your own apartment, you dick." James looked at me apologetically. "Sorry he's so rude. I'll talk to him."
I snorted. "If I could handle you when we first met, I think I can deal with him."
"I apologized for that, didn't I?"
"Barely," I said, amused.
"Ah, well. You're with me for my charm, not my manners," he said loudly enough for Albus to hear in the other room before lowering his voice. "I'm not sure I can kick him out fast enough. Can we reschedule for tonight?"
I hesitated, mentally going over how to reshuffle my schedule before nodding. "Sure. Just come over to my place?"
"Owl me the address," he said, bending down to give me a kiss and going after Albus before I could react. It seemed that just like dating James Potter, kissing him also wasn't something I was going to get used to anytime soon, if the way my heart traitorously flopped was any indicator. That was ok though—he was just handsome and a good kisser. It didn't mean anything more, I told myself.