The Stag and The Harpy | James Potter

Harpy

Phoebe stands bundled up between Sirius and James right outside of Hogsmead.

"Prongs, I swear I can do it! I'm of age and I got my license!"

"Padfoot, I don't want to get splinched let's just take the train."

"Phoebe hates trains, and this is so much faster!!!"

James halts their argument and turns to phoebe.

"You're still scared of trains, Griffin?" He asks incredulously. She blushed and shrugs mumbling, "They're dangerous. Nothing should move that fast."

James snorts and shakes his head. He notices real nervousness when she hears the train whistle, sending her jumping closer to Sirius. James feels that weird ball of emotions again and relents, "Fine, we can apparate. But if I get splinched so help me, Padfoot I will end you!"

Sirius smirks and winks, "Duly noted, Prongsie."

Phoebe sighs at the nicknames, long ago having given up on understanding.

"Are we doing this or not?!" She cries, eyeing the boys. She was not excited to apparate as it usually made her sick.

James winks and grabs her hand. Sirius takes her other one and pulls out his wand. She shuts her eyes tight as they're sucked into a vacuums like space, feeling tugging and pushing behind her eyes. Suddenly she and the boys landed in a jumble of limbs on snowy grass.

"Prongs get your arse out of my face!" Sirius yells.

"I'm trying! Your sitting on my leg, Padfoot! Get up!"

"I cant, you git!"

Phoebe says boredly from her sandwiched position, "Whoever has their hands on my arse has 5 seconds to remove them!"

The owner of the hands squeezed, send her jumping, "What the hell! Get your hands off me!"

James snickers and she suddenly realizes that he is currently groping her backside.

"Dammit, Potter!"

She pushes and shoves until she's free of the dog pile and pins him to the ground, shoving snow in his face.

"Hey!" He cries while Sirius laughs hysterically.

"I told you to remove your hands from my ass and you thought it was a good idea to give me a squeeze," Phoebe yells indignantly, shoving more snow in his grinning face.

"Griffin, I hate to admit it, but you've got a nice bum! I couldn't help myself. Quit pushing snow in my mouth," James hollers back, rolling them as they wrestle so he can push a snowball in her face.

Unbeknownst to the squabbling pair, Sirius stands next to Euphemia Potter on the front step. The woman watches in amazement as her son wrestled with the blonde, saying quietly, "I think I love her."

Sirius snorts and walks over to his snow covered mates. He grabs Phoebe around her waist and pulls her away from James. She yelps indignantly and struggles to get back to the smug boy. James grins and sticks his tongue out, saying cheekily, "Better luck next time, you harpy!" He knew the name would bother her. And he was right. Rage makes her blood boil.

Phoebe gasps at the insult and shouts, "I'll show you a harpy you bloody tosser!"

"James, that's really quite rude," A sweet voice interrupts Phoebe's ranting.

James smirks when Phoebe freezes at the sound of his mother's voice and says happily, "Hello, Mum!"

The Veela flushes furiously when Sirius sets her down in front of a much older woman. She has salt and peppered hair and tortoiseshell glasses balanced on her nose. Phoebe instantly recognizes James' hazel eyes, making her blush harder at the thought.

"Mrs. Potter I'm so sorry," Phoebe rushes out, dusting the snow off her legs. Sirius shakes with laughter from beside her. "I'm truly ashamed by my behavior."

James' mom laughs heartily, surprising Phoebe, "Oh my. No apology necessary. I know what a pain James and Sirius are. You must be Phoebe."

Phoebe smiles nervously and extends her hand for a shake, eyes widening when the woman pulls her into a hug. She couldn't remember the last time an older woman had hugged her.

"James mentioned you were pretty, but he neglected to mention how absolutely stunning you are," Mrs. Potter gushes. Phoebe's eyes widen slightly at her words and she looks over the woman's shoulder to see James rubbing the back of his neck, grinning bashfully. Phoebe felt herself blush again.

"Thank you Mrs. Potter. And thank you so much for letting me crash your holiday," Phoebe says nervously as she pulls away.

"Nonsense," The woman says, ushering the kids into the warm house. It was significantly larger than the home Phoebe grew up in, but surprisingly warmer. There were knickknacks and pictures and art work that her own mother would die before allowing in her house.

"And call me Mia, dear. I'm not old enough to be Mrs. Potter," The woman says cheekily, winking at the Veela. Phoebe knew instantly that she liked the woman very very much.

Sirius tugs on Phoebe's sleeve saying in a whiny voice, "Come on Pheebs, let's go."

"Sirius, don't be rude," Phoebe scolds, looking nervously at Mia. She half expects her to explode like her mother would. The woman just smiled brightly and says, "Go ahead with the boys, I'll have Winky bring up your bags."

Phoebe went to protest but Mia waves her away, smiling happily at her boys and their new friend. Sirius tugs her up the stairs, James already three steps ahead.

She's whirled into a room full of Quidditch posters and banners. Phoebe smiles a little when she notices that Sirius has his own bed, above which hangs a wicked sisters poster.

James watches her observe his room and finds himself wondering what her bedroom looks like, what her house is like. He nearly asks but is interrupted by Sirius pulling out his game of Exploding Snap.

"Care for a game, prongs?"

"You're on, Padfoot," James says eagerly, joining his friend on the floor.

Phoebe hovers nearby nervously. James notices that she's tapping on her leg rhythmically, like she had in the hospital wing.

James clears his throat and scoots over slightly, making room for the girl. She blinks at him before slowly sitting down next to him, facing Sirius. Sirius, completely enthralled with setting up the game, doesn't notice James leaning over and asking the girl quietly, "What are you playing?"

Phoebe grins a little, shocked that he remembered. She shakes her head and mumbles, "you wouldn't know it."

James is hit with the strong urge to hear her play for real, wanting to know what songs she practices by tapping on her leg.