The Ladders Of Love: James Potter

23

antlers' birthday

INSPIRED BY JAMES' LYRICAL YET SLIGHTLY HORRIFYING POEM, CLARISSE CREATED SOMETHING SIMILAR FOR JAMES' BIRTHDAY. The poem was most definitely not romantic nor good, Clarisse mostly hoping that her boyfriend would find the comical side of it.

After sneaking into the boy's dorms, with help from Remus, the girl left a small birthday card with the poem inside next to his bed. Clarisse also left a chocolate frog and some muggle sweets that she recalled James liking.

The next morning when the boy awoke, he smiled gently at the card and confectionary before starting to read the poem.

To my Antlers,

Whose jersey is that? I think I know,
Its owner is unhappy though.
Usually full of joy like a vivid rainbow,
I want to watch him laugh, yet he cries and bellows.

He gives his jersey a shake,
And cries until his belly aches.
Gryffindor lost the quidditch match before Easter break,
Maybe after the holiday they shall awake.

The jersey is maroon, soft and deep,
I made it and it was quite a skill leap,
After today's cake and lots of sleep,
My promise ring he will hopefully keep.

He rises from his messy bed,
With thoughts of (hopefully) Clarisse Russo in his head,
He eats his strawberry jam with lots of bread.
Hardly ready for the day ahead.

Happy birthday my sweet, see you at breakfast <3

Love Reese.

"That was horrendously good." James commented with raised eyebrows as he rolled out of bed, jumping out of sheer fright as his best friend jumped onto him.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRONGS!" Sirius shouted extravagantly making Peter groan loudly from his bed where he was tucked comfortably under the covers. Peter mumbled a quick happy birthday, sending James a seductive kiss before flopping back onto his pillow.

"Happy birthday James." Remus smiled at the boy from Sirius' bed making the Potter heir wiggle his eyebrows cheekily. This created a bright red blush to flush around Remus' face, resulting in the boy to hide under Sirius' duvet.

"Whatcha got there?"

✤

"Where's Reese?" James asked Regulus confusedly as he strolled up to the Slytherins in the Great Hall, his eyes searching the green themed table to no avail.

Regulus grunted as he pointed at the empty seat next to him, a small inked card lying in her usual seat.

James raised his eyebrows as he picked it up, reading it once over with a small laugh.

Where is Clarisse? - one may ask,
This is James' birthday task,
To find his girlfriend and get breakfast,
In Clarisse's directions he must trust!

I'm in the place where most don't know,
Perhaps if you think it may show,
A lovely room that shifts locations,
Hopefully you don't run into an altercation.

James barked out a laugh as he jogged out of the hall leaving a disgruntled Regulus with rolling eyes but an absent-looking smile. The hazel eyed boy rushed up the indecisive stairs as he ascended onto the seventh floor, running to the absent wall.

As he paced in front of it, the boy began to think of his girlfriend, picturing her. Her wavy brown hair and her coffee brown eyes. The way she fiddled with her earrings when she was nervous or embarrassed, the way her nose scrunched up whenever she entered the Gryffindor boy's dorms because Sirius' side stank of cologne.

Slowly a door began to form, an oak patterned door with a golden knob. James excitedly twisted the knob, pulling the door open to see a green meadow and an angelic girl sitting on a picnic blanket.

"Hey Antlers."

The boy quickly strutted over before pulling the girl up into a melting kiss, a wide grin stretching onto his face. "Thank you so much, love."

Clarisse simply waved him off as she pulled him down onto the blanket that was displaying all of his favourite foods. "It's your birthday Antlers, I have to make a big deal out of it."

"Those poems were life changing." James dramatised with twinkling eyes as she laughed sweetly. "Not even William Blake could cough up poems better than that-"

"You know who William Blake is?" Clarisse asked surprised as she passed him a plate, serving him some of his favourite foods. "Is he not a muggle-famous poet?"

"He was actually a wizard." James commented as he chewed on a strawberry, collecting as many raspberries as possible onto his plate. "A muggleborn I think."

Clarisse raised her eyebrows. "No way!"

James nodded adamantly, his eyes showing clear amusement. "How do you think he had such a big fanbase? Best of both worlds, I suppose. William Wordsworth was also a wizard-"

"What?" Gasped Clarisse.

"And Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein." James finalised with a smug smile. "Loads of muggle-famous people are actually wizards and witches."

"This is insanity, how did I not know this?" James laughed at the look on Clarisse's face, his cheeks creating dimples. She looked like she was questioning her entire life, her eyes complexed with thoughts.

"Mariah Carey is a halfblood witch."

"WHAT?!"