the girlfriend experience ━━ james potter ¹

xii. signatures and silent treatment

the girlfriend experience, james potter
𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟕

chapter twelve, SIGNATURES AND SILENT TREATMENT

✧ ━━━ · ✦ · ━━━ ✧

     JAMES COULDN'T GET TO SLEEP THAT NIGHT. He rolled around helplessly, tangling himself in his sheets until he admitted defeat, by which point he decided to pull the contract Bronwyn had given him out from his bedside table. James had read the same piece of parchment many times before ─ looking for errors and/or loopholes, passing the time, and inserting hope into his being that this might finally be the gateway to scoring a date with the girl he has been infatuated with for far too long. Now was his chance to finally sign it.

     When he had arrived back at the Gryffindor common room that night, his three friends had been up waiting for him, all squashed onto a singular armchair by the fire. They bombarded him with questions; Sirius practically doused in disapproval. James had decided against showing his friends the contract, partly because of Black's lack of enthusiasm. Sirius was his closest friend, someone James relied heavily on for support, comedic relief and for the most part, his blessing. And so, James had yet left the line at the bottom blank, rid of his signature.

     Until now.

     Their dorm room was flooded with darkness, serenaded with Peter's snores and the light whistling of the wind from the open window beside him. James quietly drew the curtains around his bed and fetched a quill and ink pot from the side of his bed. Out of respect for his friends ─ and because the entire point of him doing it in the dead of night was so their prying eyes weren't anywhere near this contract ─ James remained in the dark, choosing not to light the candle at his disposal.

     In witness of their agreement to the terms of The Girlfriend Experience as stated above, the client hereby affixes their signature:

     Without any more delay, James dipped his quill into the pot of ink, and then carefully placed the pointy spike onto the line requiring his signature. With a wriggle of his hand and a second later, a squiggle now set in stone their agreement.

     Printed name of client. Date.

     James wrote his name in block capitals and reached over to retrieve his watch from his bedside table to check the date. It was the early hours of the morning by this point, leaving the date required a day later than the day he had received the contract.

     JAMES POTTER. Monday 15th September 1977.

     Still not feeling tired enough to see himself falling asleep any time soon, James fished out the rest of the documents that were attached with the contract. It included Bronwyn's timetable, ─ James shared only a few classes with the Slytherin ─ a list of all her extracurricular activities, including the days of the week and the times they took place, and then finally, a guide to her business. James discarded all the papers bar the latter, clambered out of bed, and perched himself by the window, hoping that the moonlight would act as an effective reading light.