the zodiac project. jsp

chapter 2

James

James woke up abruptly on Tuesday morning with his cousin Fred smacking him.

"Shove off Freddy, Merlin," he grumbled. It was too early for this. Fred grabbed his blankets and whipped them off, revealing a half-naked James curled up on his side. James cursed. "Have I ever told you that I hate you?" Fred grinned and skipped over to Ronan, who was sitting at his desk.

"Breakfast, mates?" Fred asked. Ronan nodded absentmindedly, sipping from a mug. He drank caffeinated tea constantly and almost never slept.

"Mhmm. Give me 20 minutes to finish this." He was bent over a Potions essay with one more paragraph to go, dark hair falling in his eyes. James got out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

"I second that. 20 minutes to shower, Fred, then we can eat." Before he shut the door, he heard Fred groan, throwing himself back onto his bed. James grinned. He loved his friends.

~

By the time the trio made it into the Great Hall, breakfast was half over. As they were walking in, a tall girl in a red tie was leaving.

"Fred and James!" she called out in passing.

"Dominique!" the boys responded, grinning at their older cousin. Dom was a 7th year Gryffindor and the captain of their quidditch team. She took after her mother, all Veela grace and beauty. She was blonde, with ocean blue eyes and pale skin. She and Fred shared their unstereotypical Weasley look. He had inherited his mother's dark complexion and equally deep brown eyes. Once the boys reached the table, they plopped down and started eating.

"So, Jamie, Allison Nicoletti?" Fred said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"What's that supposed to mean?" James asked, spreading butter on his toast. Ronan reached across him for a muffin. He tapped his wand against an empty mug, filling it instantly with his heart attack tea.

"I think he means what happened after we left you two alone," he supplied, before shoving the muffin into his mouth.

"Oh, that."

Fred grinned. "Uh, no. More like how do you feel being partners with Scarlett Pham and Archie Odom's famously intelligent yet mysterious best friend." James snorted.

"Shut up," he said. "How about you and Scarlett Pham?" Fred sighed.

"Dream. Come. True. I've been crushing on that girl since third year." Ronan and James looked at each other.

"You and everyone else, mate," Ronan said. James laughed.

"You can't say stuff like that, Ro! You have a girlfriend, remember? You and Hannah Longbottom. You two are practically married!" Fred laughed at that. Ronan groaned, but his gray eyes were bright. James and Fred loved to tease Ronan about Hannah, but they'd been dating for a year and were really good together. James turned back to his breakfast and Fred turned to Ronan.

"What about you and Archie?" Ronan shrugged.

"We've met him at parties before and he's always been cool. It should be fine. He was stoned out of his mind last night." Fred's eyebrows shot up. "So what did you and Allison talk about?" Ronan asked, ignoring Fred.

"What do you think we talked about, git? The project obviously." A voice came from behind James, and he whipped around to find his partner staring at him expectantly.

"Speaking of the project," Allie said, sitting beside James, back to the table, "I think it would make the most sense to start off by studying together. You have decent grades, so I assume you study?"