𝕊𝕦𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕧𝕖. - 𝙹𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝙿𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛

𝒙𝒙𝒗𝒊𝒊.

AMELIA WALKS BACK to the castle alone. She was at Hogsmeade with Freya and Amos, but she wanted the give the two alone time. Ever since Amos had helped Freya the night of Sirius' party, the two hadn't been separate.
Amelia is happy for them but a part of her felt jealousy of the couple who obviously didn't aggravate each other, like her and James. Amelia crosses her arms, upset by the thought. How come everyone except her and James can figure it out? Maybe because James is an idiot. Maybe because Amelia is untrusting. Maybe they're just too different.
"Hey, Ginger!" Sirius shouts at the girl.
Amelia waves at the boy who has grass in his hair. She smirks, but doesn't say anything. He is standing in front of a shop with Remus and Peter. She notices the bottle in Sirius's hand and keeps going, not looking at them.
"Looking for Bambi?" Sirius keeps going when the girl doesn't reply, "He's in the hospital wing."
Amelia stops by them, annoyed, "I wasn't looking for him. I was heading back to the castle as one does."
"Don't worry, Mia. He's recovering." Peter assures her.
"I'm not worried. Madame Pomfrey is a great healer." She acknowledges.
"If you want us to send him a message or..."Remus offers.
"No, if I wanted to talk to him, I would." Amelia starts to walk away, "See you guys later."
Returning to her thoughts, she trudges all the way back to Hogwarts. Her mood gets worse with every step. The sun burns brighter, making everyone take off the light jackets they thought they would need. The heat strangles everyone Amelia walks past. The more she thinks of James, the more the warmth surrounding her enlarges. Amelia overlooks the hot temperature, deciding to study.
Sirius, still in front of the shop at Hogsmeade, turns to the Peter and Remus, "She was colder than usual."
"Well, she is mad at James," Peter informs the group.
"I think seeing us drinking here doesn't make us seem too worried about James' arm either." Remus continues, "Besides like Peter said, she is more pissed at him than us."
"We need to get them talking again." Sirius sighs.
"Well, if only someone had a plan..." Peter trails off.
They turn to Remus, who furrows his eyebrow. His eyes move back and forth between the boys faces. They look at him, expectantly.
"What?"
"You're the ideas man here." Sirius insists, "Give us some ideas."
"How about the idea that we should stay out of it?" Remus tells them.
"Oh, come on. They're our best friends." Sirius tries to convince Remus.
"We can't just let them keep fighting." Peter agrees, "Do you remember the last fight they had?"
"Well, that depends. They fight all the time." Remus argues.
"No, they bicker. It's adorable." Peter contends. "When they fight though, it's not as cute."
"Fine, I'll help." Remus gives in.
"Okay, what's your idea?" Sirius asks.
"I said that I would help. Not that I had an idea." Remus shakes his head.
"We should just lock the two in a broom closet and wait until they do it." Sirius slumps, out of ideas.
Peter looks up with an idea, "Yes! We should just lock them in a room until they make up!"
"Peter, I don't think-" Remus starts to disagree.
"It's perfect!" Sirius approves.
Remus facepalms as the two boys start to scheme about their friends. They start all walking back to Hogwarts. Remus walks behind the boys, annoyed. How the hell did they end up going along with a plan from Sirius?
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           "Sirius, why are you taking me to a broom closet?" Amelia questions.
           "Well, I have to tell you something, but not out here. It's not secure." He looks around, suspiciously.
       He grabs the girl and pushes her into the broom closet and shuts the door. He gives a thumbs-up to Remus, who then charms it to lock.
         "Sirius! What are you doing?" Amelia shouts.
        "Hey, Amelia. Nice of you to drop in." James greets the girl.
          She looks behind her at James, who is sitting on a cabinet, "SIRIUS!"
          "Yes, darling?" Sirius replies.
         His voice is muffled by the door but loud enough for Amelia to understand. She turns back to the door and tries to use the door handle again. Did her friends just lock her in a room with the person who makes her blood boil?
          Amelia bangs on the door, "Just what do you think you're doing?"
         "Well, Ginger. I must be honest, full moons are starting to get awkward, so just apologize and make up with James, and we will let you out." He informs.
         "Sirius, open the door right now." She demands.
           James shakes his head, "I have already tried everything to get out. I even bribed Peter with cheese."
           "We are a team. Unpenetrable." Sirius retorts. 
           "That's what she said." James laughs.
            Amelia starts to slam on the door again, "Get me out of here please!"
              "So as long as you live in the past, you'll never find your future," Sirius responds in his Dumbledore voice.
         They hear the boys start to walk off. Amelia keeps pulling at the doorknob. She gives up and turns to James. With a sigh, she slumps on the ground. Avoiding eye-contact with James, Amelia looks around the broom closet.
          "So how are you?" James asks, trying to break the uneasy silence.
           She narrows her eyes, "You're an idiot."
           "Well, what do you want to talk about, Red?" James inquiries.
           "I don't care! I just want to get out of this stupid closet." She yells, banging on the door again.
             "Why are you really upset?" He implores.
             "I don't think you want to have this conversation right now, James." She warns. 
              "Well, now is a better time than ever."  James gestures around, "What else do we have to do?"
             "Fine." Amelia pauses, and then gathers her courage, "Why can everyone else figure out their relationship except us?"
            James thinks, "Everyone doesn't have as much history as us?"
         She sighs again, "James, my feelings for you are extensive, but do you feel like we aren't supposed to be together?"
           James moves to sit on the ground, across from Amelia, "Do you feel like that?"
           "I mean, yes." She looks up, "It's just there are so many couples around us and they are figuring it out, but we can't do the same."
       She was begging for James to deny it. Hoping that he would immediately deny it and tell her how they're perfect for each other. She wanted to jump into his arms and be happy, but alas, James agreed.
           "Yeah, I feel that too." James presses his lips together, "Maybe we should just be friends."
          "Friends?" Amelia says, shocked.
         "Not that I don't wanna be more, but-" James speaks rapidly.
       "No, I think it's a good idea." Amelia smiles as sincere as she can at him.
            "Then why do you sound surprised?" James asks with a light smile.
            "Because you came up with it." She feigns a laugh.
              "Ouch, Red." He puts a hand on his chest, "My heart is going to break."
"So friends?" Amelia holds out her hand.
"Friends, yes." James shakes her hand back.
           Amelia nods and stands, "Oh screw waiting for them to come back."
          She wipes her hands on her skirt and grabs her wand. James gets up, as well. He watches her point her wand at the lock.
          "Alohamora."
          "I don't think they would be dumb enough to -"
        James is cut off by Amelia opening the door. She holds it open for him to pass by her into the corridor. With a smirk, she follows behind him.
          "Must've not been Remus' plan."
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          "He told me he wanted to be friends." Amelia groans into a pillow.
"Okay, but you did say that you don't think you could work out. He just wanted to make you happy." Remus tries to defend James.
Lily agrees with a snort, "Yes, always trying to make you happy, potter is."
"Well, it just made everything so much more awkward." She complains.
Remus and Lily look at each other and then back to their struggling friend. The trio is in the boy's dorm, considering Remus had refused to get caught by McGonagall in the girl's. Lily and Remus are sitting in criss-cross style on Remus' bed. Amelia is on James' bed, digging her head in his pillow.
    "Well at least you're not fighting anymore." Remus offers.
    "Yes, that's a very good thing." Amelia agrees and then falters.
    Lily notices, "Isn't it?"
"I don't know." Amelia puts her head in her hands, "I've just never felt more repulsion and yet, attraction to someone as I have felt for James."
    "And you told him you wanted to stay just friends first?" Lily implores.
"Well, he brought it up first, but I feel like we both agreed on it," Amelia informs.
"I just highly doubt that he did it first," Remus tells her, thinking about James.
    "Remus, it's for the best." Amelia attempts to make him drop it.
"I just don't think that James would let it go that easy." Remus disagrees.
"He is like a dog with a bone." Lily concurs.
"Why can't we be just friends?" Amelia asks.
"Okay, did he ask you to be just friends or did he ask you to just be friends?" Remus queries.
"How does the movement of one word change the meaning of the statement?" Amelia doubts.
"No, I get it!" Lily explains, "To be just friends is the implication of nothing else besides that. It's like how you would friend zone a guy. To just be friends is like a settlement. It's like he's saying 'I want to be more but I'll come to terms with being your friend.' Do you understand?"
"I think you guys are reaching." Amelia states.
"Mia, how did he say it!" Remus exclaims.
"Remus, calm down." Amelia sighs, "He said to just be friends."
"I think this proves it." Lily nods.
"Proves what? How insane you guys are?" Amelia inquires.
"Mia, shut up for a second." Remus tells her, "We are trying to fix your relationship with James."
"Well, you are gonna fail." She shrugs, "I don't fancy James anymore, okay?"
"Liar!" Lily calls out.
"Wow, okay. I feel attacked but we will all take a deep breath and move on." Amelia announces. "You guys are making me want to start gossiping with Sirius and Peter."
"Oi, Peter is actually great at it." Remus informs.
"It's like you're picking your own replacement." Amelia muses.
Remus throws a pillow at Amelia, "Fine. He can be the one to tell you about Sirius and James."
"What's happening with Sirius and James?" Lily questions.
"Oh, nothing yet, but when James finds out that Sirius sent a letter home about him and Amelia, I expect a big fight." Remus notifies.
Amelia digs her face in the pillow she's holding, "That man's mommy issues are starting to affect me."
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