TWO OF HEARTS ♧︎ ᴊ . ᴘᴏᴛᴛᴇʀ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏᴜʀ

♣ NINE OF CLUBS ♣

"THINGS DIDN'T GO WELL."

"What do you mean? With you and Lily?" Nicolas looked over to James with a frown and furrowed eyebrows. The bespectacled boy nodded. Nicolas held back the urge to turn his laying body on its side to face James properly. "What? But I thought you two were doing really good?"

"She's been pretty stressed lately with school and how she's gone back to her family for the holidays, and we got into a fight. We, uh, fight a bit lately, but no one knows. 'Cept you now, I guess. She said that we should take a break for the time being. She says she can't deal with me on top of the other stuff right now. Says she's... Merlin, I don't even know. She's never... never asked me this before. And I don't know if she's just preparing me for a breakup or what."

James looked heartbroken to repeat the girl's words, and it was quite plain to Nicolas why. After pining after Lily Evans for so long, James finally managed to score a date with her, and the two began dating quickly after. Lily seemed to fall in love with James so soon, too, and their relationship looked to everyone like it was perfect. They were perfect. And now they were Head Boy and Girl together.

Nicolas nudged James with his knee, and he finally looked over. "I'm sorry, James... but I'm sure everything will be alright soon. Lily would be a fool to let you go so quick."

James smiled a little at Nicolas's words. "Thanks," he murmured. "I know she only wants what's best for the both of us. And... maybe that means no us."

Nicolas offered him another smile, then turned his gaze back to the ceiling. The soft sound of one of James's rock records filled his ears, and he closed his eyes, focusing on the musical piece and the hushed breaths from the boy next to him. Then, there was a shift beside him. James was moving.

"Nicolas," James whispered. The Hufflepuff cracked his eye open. James was sitting up, leaning across Nicolas.

"What?" He whispered back. He didn't know why; he was just following James's lead. A lazy smirk came over his lips as he stared at the boy, fully prepared to tease him if necessary.

"I wanna kiss you."

Nicolas paused. His smirk wiped away within nanoseconds at the quiet murmur that escaped the boy above him. Then he shot up, and James moved back as fast as possible to avoid colliding with the boy. Nicolas stared at him with an incredulous expression.

"What?" Nicolas repeated, still with a harsh whisper. "Are you kidding me right now? You just told me your girlfriend might be preparing to break up with you, and now you're telling me that you want to kiss me?"

"I mean," James shrugged, a hand rubbing the back of his neck as he looked elsewhere, "I wanted to do it for a while now, before Lily and I, but I just didn't know how you felt. And I don't think it matters now with Lily and me."

"You–" Nicolas caught his own words of rebuke before he could utter them to the boy beside him. He took a deep breath, his eyes shifting back to James. There were so many things wrong with the words that flew out of his mouth next, and Nicolas knew it. He knew it, and he hated himself. 

"Screw it. C'mere."

But having James at this moment made Nicolas witless with merriment.

Nicolas grabbed the front of James's shirt in both hands, pulling the boy closer. Nicolas firmly pressed his lips against James', savouring the soft feeling and the hint of peanut butter he could taste from Mrs Potter's sandwiches. James steadied himself with one hand on Nicolas's knee, the other palm pressed against the wall behind the Hufflepuff. They broke apart, both panting hard, desperate for air, but neither moved away from the other.