RED - James Potter x OC

thirty six - grand gesture

Atla had a theory. Well, actually it was Isaac Newton's theory first. His third law went something like this:

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

And Atla agreed wholeheartedly with that. Every time something good would happen in her life, something bad always followed. It was just a fact.

Started to love going to school at Hogwarts and joined the Quidditch team? Mother died.

Finally kissed the boy she liked? He said he didn't think it was a good idea.

Played a killer game of Quidditch? Her boyfriend was being a twat.

But, if you follow this logic then it should mean that every bad thing that happened had an equal happy thing to come after. And since she'd argued with James last night, Atla held onto this shred of hope like it was her firstborn child.

But, as usual, fate had other ideas.

The morning after their argument, Atla awoke with a good attitude. Something good would happen today, she knew it. If Newton said so then it had to be correct, right?

Wrong.

Because when Atla woke up that morning?

She had a huge fucking spot on her cheek. And that was definitely a sign from the universe that Newton was full of shit.

"Come on, Atla, you have to come to breakfast!" Lily exclaimed, grabbing one of her best friend's arms and yanking as hard as she could. But unfortunately, Lily Evans was not as flawless as everyone said she was so she didn't have the strength to do it.

Atla had told Lily the entire story of the stupid argument when the redhead had stumbled in at 1:00 AM and woken her. And of course Lily, being the loyal friend she was (and also being a big drunk) said that James Potter deserved a good beat down.

So that was Atla's plan today, if she ever actually left the dorm. Except not in a physical manner. She was going to cold-shoulder him until he finally realised what he'd done wrong.

Was it childish? Yes, a little. But whatever.

When Atla walked into the hall that morning she was fully prepared. She avoided the eye contact that James made with her, choosing to sit at the other end of the table with Lily.

"So have you done the Charms essay?" Lily asked, taking a bite from her toast.

"I don't get why you bother asking, Lils," Atla replied, "you know I haven't. It's due on Thursday, so I'll probably just do it Wednesday evening."

Lily shook her head in mock disappointment, "You should take your studies more seriously, young lady."

Atla snorted into her cup of tea, "Oh, fuck off."

Suddenly, James appeared and slid into the empty seat next to Atla. She ignored him, continuing talking to Lily.

"Have you spoken to your parents recently?" Atla asked her.

"No not really," Lily replied, playing along with a smile toying on her lips, "I think they're too busy planning Tuney's wedding."

"Atla, can I talk to you?" James asked, to which Atla gave nothing.

"Already? But she's only nineteen!" she exclaimed to Lily.

"Yeah, but sometimes I think her only passion in life is to marry a moderately wealthy man and have moderately wealthy children," Lily sighed, munching on her toast again, "it's ridiculous. It's 1976! Women don't have to be housewives!"

"Atla," James said again.

Atla kept her head tracked on Lily, "I mean, if that's what she wants."

"I guess," Lily replied.

Atla suddenly realised that James was no longer in the corner of her eye, having disappeared a few seconds ago.

"Lily... did you see where James went?" Atla asked.

"No, sorry."

BANG!

A loud burst of sparkles exploded at the ceiling of the Great Hall, showering all four tables with scarlet confetti. Then, the massive doors were thrown open and out fluttered a swarm of butterflies, dispersing themselves throughout the room to everyone's amusement. A loud pop rang through Atla's ears and, upon looking down, she realised that a cake had appeared on her plate. It was green and blue with little flowers iced all over, clearly the work of some very talented house elves.

James reappeared, strolling down the gap between tables with a huge smirk on his face and making his way to his girlfriend.

"Atla, I'm sorry," he said loudly, "I shouldn't have acted like that last night."

Atla's eyes widened in shock as she took in the chaotic atmosphere.

"Do you forgive me?" James asked softly and, before waiting for her response, leaned in towards her and kissed he deeply on the lips for a moment. When he drew back, a grin was spread across his face but Atla's lips stretched into a thin frown.

Little sparks of red appeared in her eyes, barely there but definitely visible to James. She leaned forward and whispered harshly in his ear, "Come with me."

Atla stood up and solemnly made her way towards the exit of the hall, out into a corridor and into an empty History of Magic classroom. James joined her and took a seat on a table, his grin gone and his eyebrows creased as though he was confused.

"What the hell was that?" Atla asked furiously, almost shouting.

"What do you mean?" James responded, "It was a grand gesture!"

"You can't just kiss me and try to fix it!" Atla exclaimed angrily, "You could just try to listen!"

"I didn't -"

"Sometimes it feels like there's three of us in this relationship; me, you," Atla said, cutting him off, "and that giant fucking ego of yours!"

A flash of hurt crossed James' face.

"I'm sorry, Atla," he said, quieter this time, "I didn't mean to fuck it all up."

"You didn't fuck it all up, James, but you couldn't put your own feelings aside for one moment to be happy for me," she said, "do you think I want to be in a relationship with someone like that?"

"So you're breaking up with me?"

"No. I just... I just wanted you to think about how your actions might have hurt me," Atla explained softly, "especially when Regulus Black comes and taunts me about it."

"Regulus is bothering you again?" James asked, brown furrowed.

"This isn't about Regulus. This is about you and me. This is about us playing for the same Quidditch team and you having to get over the fact that sometimes I might play better than you."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Red, I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, his voice laced with frustration.

"I don't think apologies count if they're yelled, Potter," Atla responded coolly.

James' eyes widened and grew glossy while his face completely dropped. It had been so long since she'd called him 'Potter'. He used to love the way it sounded on her tongue, but now? Now it just sounded like poison.

"So that's how it's going to be, huh?" James asked, "Back to Harlow and Potter?"

"No, I just..." replied Atla softly, "I just need you to understand. We are both very competitive and it's one of my favourite things about you, but we can't be competitive with eachother. This'll never work if we are."

James stood quietly for a moment, taking in her words, before saying quietly, "Okay."

"What? That's it? Okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. Okay. I'll do better," said James with the whisper of a smile, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so... dramatic."

Atla smiled, "I think we're both guilty of that. But thank you, for understanding. And for listening."

"Always."