James stepped inside the shower for the fifth time that day. Rosalind had worn him out. He knew she would complicate things, but he didn't realise just how much.

It all started last summer. He hadn't told Livvy about it at the time, but in reality, his family didn't go on vacation to their in Malta alone — they went on a joint vacation with Rosalind's family, to her family's summer house. He also hadn't told Livvy that his and Rosalind's family went on that same joint vacation for the past three years, James had just skipped them in order to host Livvy for the summer. He Knew that she wouldn't have any other place to go otherwise, and his parents didn't exactly like it but they also didn't like all the mess he would cause on family vacations in the past, so they accepted it.

This last summer, for the first time, Livvy had the opportunity to spend the summer at a one-room apartment in London. It all happened thanks to Professor Linburn, the head of Gryffindor House, who knew about the complex situation of Olivia's family and managed to secure funding for a summer housing plan through one of the departments of the Ministry of Magic. At that time, the more Livvy talked about how excited she was to spend the summer in London and live the big city life, the more confident James felt about going on the annual family vacation and actually enjoying it this time around.

At first, he wasn't really happy about spending the entire summer with Rosalind. At the time he thought he had nothing in common with her, and she always seemed to be so spoiled and condescending. Livvy and James often ridiculed Rosalind behind her back (and sometimes to her face), but Livvy hated her with much more real passion. Livvy always hated condescending people—understandably, given that she was mostly the victim of this kind of behaviour. James, not having the same baggage, didn't feel threatened by Rosalind as much.

And as for later—well... It wasn't a secret that Rosalind was attractive. James knew it before their vacation, of course. He wasn't blind. he 'd noticed it back in his fifth year and heard the tales of how she's toying with almost every Slytherin guy in their year. But in Malta she almost never wore anything more than a bathing suit, and was much more exposed to him than ever before — the gloomy Scottish weather at Hogwarts didn't allow the girls to show much skin.

He knew she was interested in him too. James was never particularly clever, but he could tell when a girl was into him. Rosalind always tried to tease him because she wanted to get a reaction from him. and mostly, he enjoyed flirting with her when she tried to taunt him.

Livvy, of course, didn't like this kind of behaviour from him, so he tried not to do it as much in her presence, but in Malta there was no barrier. Also, during the trip it became apparent that she could also be nice when she wants to. So he didn't make a special effort to stay away from her, and they had a lot of alone time during the many times their parents were busy, or drunk, or just left them to do as they pleased.

The simple truth was that he enjoyed her company. She brought a sense of lightness to any interaction, and was charming and sweet. When his father would make his annoying remarks at dinner about how James should focus more on his studies, like Rosalind—something that usually led James to ruin the entire vacation with a petty prank —she would respond, "To be honest, Mr. Thompson, at Hogwarts people always bet that James is going to be the most successful Gryffindor of our year. He's a Quidditch star, after all." Of course, his father was not pleased with the very small chance James would actually make it as a professional Quidditch player, and even if that chance was not so small, he'd much prefer James to excel in a more 'serious' field. but out of politeness, the conversation usually ended at that.

And mostly they just left the old folks to their own devices and went together to the local market. He shared the gossip from Gryffindor's house with her, she shared the gossip from Slytherin's house with him. Then they would go to a abandoned beach and sunbathe on the sand. In the evenings, if they could, they would sneak into a bar. And by the fourth night of their vacation, he began sneaking into her room.

The sex was great — it was nice to sleep with someone that had as much experience as him — but it was more than that. She understood him—their families were alike, so they could talk about it. And she was calm, bringing ease to everything they did. To some extent, she even helped him tone down his impulsiveness and kept him out of trouble. He could still do stupid shit with her, get drunk and have semi-public sex, but she also knew how to retain him from drinking too much, or from getting into fights with groups of guys who looked at her for too long, or from endless arguments with his father.

At some point, their parents had figured out that they were enjoying each other's company, and gave them some space. James and Rosalind still tried to be discreet, of course, but they were on a two-month vacation—at some point, it was hard to hide it. But it seemed that it didn't bother them. At the end of the vacation, his father told him, "I'm happy we had some quality time this summer, son. I'm glad you came this time." Needless to say, those kinds of remarks from his father were rare. He knew his parents thought Rosalind was a good influence on him. And Rosalind's parents didn't care about her too much at all—as long as she maintained an excellent academic average and a perfect reputation.

When the return to Hogwarts was near, Rosalind asked him, "So how is this going to work?"

He felt embarrassed when he asked, "Maybe we should still be low-profile for a while?"

"It's because of Olivia, isn't it?" she asked immediately, disappointed.

"It's not just that..." he tried to argue. "Will your parents be thrilled about you dating a troublemaker like me? I mean, not in secret and all."

"You're from the right family. I don't think anything else will matter to them."

He had no other excuse.

"Rosie, let's keep this between us," he finally requested. "Just for a while... okay? I promise."

He should have known it wouldn't be"that easy. Rosie loved getting what she wanted—he found that out during the trip, when she always got them into every restaurant, bar, or club, regardless of how exclusive or expensive it was, and of course, regardless of their age. He already knew her other side—the manipulative, calculating side. She could be either sweet and seductive or cold and manipulative to get what she wanted. And although he wasn't happy to admit it, he liked that about her. He had fallen into her trap too.

The first month at Hogwarts was full of hiding, sneaking together and fucking in hidden corners of the castle. "When are we going to be official?" she would ask him with doe eyes, and the more rejected she felt by him, the more she tried to get him and Livvy in trouble.

He knew there was a limit to how much he could string her along, That he would eventually have to tell Olivia the truth. But he didn't expect Rosalind to pull this stunt in response to his delay.

At first, he couldn't stop thinking about sex. He kept looking at Rosalind from across the dining hall, and she would feel his gaze upon her, and he knew she liked it. Then he would grab her in the middle of the day, whenever he could, and fucked her senseless, and she was ready for him each time. To avoid stinking of sex all day, he would pop into the dorms for a quick shower, and of course, with that kind of schedule, he was barely making it to classes. And even when he did, he struggled to focus since his attraction wasn't exclusive to Rosalind. He felt generally full of lust, and Hogwarts in September, the time when the girls still wore their skirts shorter without any tights because the weather allowed it, is a dangerous place to be when you're horny all the time.

And yet, even though he felt his desires much more intensely than usual, he wasn't worried. Rosalind was a talented witch, and he could guess she had probably cast some sort of spell on him that was harmless enough.

The only time he began to feel that something might be wrong was when he realised Livvy was avoiding him. At first, he was too busy chasing after Rosalind and the fleeting satisfaction her body gave him to pay much attention to it. He still saw Livvy occasionally at meals, always from far away. He didn't see her in classes, but as being said, he wasn't present much in classes as well.

He understood something was wrong when she didn't show up to Quidditch practice.

"What do you mean, 'what's going on with her'?" Eleanor stared at him. "She's been sick for a week. you seriously don't know?"

"So she really is sick?" asked Polly, one of their team's chasers, curiously. "I saw her in the girls' dorms; she looked fine."

Eleanor was as protective as always. "It's really none of your business. I only told James because he's our captain."

After practice, he approached Eleanor. "Hey, when we get back, can you do me a favour and ask Livvy to come down to the common room for a moment? I want to see how she's doing."

Eleanor looked at him with a strange expression. "Can't you ask her yourself?"

"If she's in the girls' dorms, then no, I can't."

"She comes down occasionally. Talk to her yourself."

"Eleanor, I'd really appreciate—"

"Look, James," she cut him off. "I care about Livvy. You know that. And I care about you, you're a good friend and a good team member and all. I wouldn't want to ruin my friendship with either of you —"

"'What does that have to do with anything?"

"All I'm saying is - I really don't want to get in between the two of you. Okay? And I won't pass her messages from you, if you can't find her yourself, send her an owl."

Then she walked to the girls' lockers, not looking back.