Study Date | James Potter

Chapter 24 - "Sixty-Four And Beyond"

Rose pulled James closer, their mouths colliding and hands roaming in the darkness.

He had intercepted her on the way to Potions and pulled her into a broom cupboard, and then they were kissing like it was the last time.

"James," she breathed, breaking away. "James what's wrong?"

He paused for a moment, then said "nothing's wrong. I just wanted to kiss you." He smiled slightly. "I love you."

"Oh," Rose felt her heart flutter in her chest, and a matching smile spread across her face. She leaned in to kiss him again, gently this time. "I love you too, but I don't think I can tell Slughorn that when he asks where I was." She picked her tie up off the floor from where they had been discarded.

"We're kissing and you bring up Slughorn?" James's face scrunched up in disgust and Rose laughed as she tied the tie around her neck.

"Sorry, but I really do need to get to Potions. I was already late to Defence the other day and there's only so many times they'll let it slide. They could even take my prefect badge away." She reached up and tugged him down for another kiss, lingering before she pulled back.

"Remember, we have to be careful. I'll see you tonight for patrol." She picked up her bag from where it had fallen and paused, looking back with her hand on the door. "I love you," she said again, then turned and walked out into the deserted hallway.

A few minutes later as she walked into the Potions classroom, Rose was bombarded by a series of aromas.

"Ah Miss Evans, there you are," Slughorn said, beaming as always, from behind a row of cauldrons. "Come and take a seat. Perhaps you could tell us all what you smell?"

Rose thought the request seemed a bit odd, as she took her seat beside Valentina, but then she saw the contents of the cauldron closest to her.

"Amortentia?" She asked, and he beamed again.

"Quite right, my dear. Five points to Slytherin for identifying it straight away, although I must ask why you're wearing a Gryffindor tie?" There was an amused glint in his eyes.

For a moment Rose didn't understand, then she looked down to see red and gold where there should have been green and silver.

"Oh! I- I'm not sure sir. I- it must be some kind of prank." Her face felt hot as she took out her wand and waved it over the tie, changing the colours. "I bumped into Black in the hallway earlier, it must have been him. Sorry."

"Not to worry, not to worry. Now, everybody else has had a chance to say what they smell, so the floor is yours."

Rose hesitantly leant over the cauldron and sniffed. "I can smell... toffee, I think broom polish, firewhisky, some kind of tree, maybe pine? And something else, a kind of clean, crisp smell, like... like fresh snow." She sat up, flushing slightly again as she realised that over half of those smells belonged to James.

"Interesting," was all Slughorn said, and for a moment Rose was scared that he knew about James and was about to reveal her secret to everyone - but how would he know of all people?

Thankfully Slughorn quickly moved on to the other potions in front of him, although Rose could barely concentrate on the lesson.

Not for the first time, she began to wonder if it was a mistake to agree to date James in secret. It had seemed ideal - brilliant, even - at the time, but now she was constantly paranoid over being found out and exposed, or worse, blackmailed and then exposed. Living among Slytherins, it was a very valid concern.

But then there were all the reasons to stay with him, most notably because he was James Potter and she couldn't imagine her life without him. It would only be a year that they had to keep sneaking around in any case, maybe two if they met up in Hogsmeade during the visits for her last year. Rose knew from experience that she couldn't love him from afar, and couldn't squash her feelings, however much she tried.