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chapter thirteen; halting bloody hearts
Amaya was getting better at pretending the kiss didn't happen, at least around James, but she apparently couldn't keep quiet about it as well as she thought.
She'd received the letter Lily had told her to wait for, delivered by a pretty grey owl. The girls had invited her to wait up for the guys at the flat, to see if they got home safe, and Amaya had said yes, her decision solidifying after seeing James' grin at the mention she'd been waiting for him.
"You care," he'd teased her and Amaya had rolled her eyes.
"About Sirius and Remus? Yes, I do."
He had only laughed.
That was how she found herself sitting on the armchair at the flat, with a blanket over her bare legs—as she wore her denim shorts and a jumper—and a glass of vodka coke in her hand, a drink Lily had prepared that had a lot more vodka than coke. She'd been laughing all night with the girls and finally, they'd gotten to the James issue, and Amaya's lips loosened with the particular drink it seemed.
"Come on, Maya," Lily said with a giggle, "I know something happened between you two at the pond. James was looking at you like he wanted to devour you."
Marlene cackled. "He always looks at her like that."
"I'll know. He never looked at me that way," Lily said with a laugh, and at that moment Amaya's smile felt forced. The redhead grimaced. "Not that—I meant—"
"You meant what he had for you was a silly little obsession," finished Marlene with a laugh.
Lily rolled her eyes. "And it's over. It was over long before you got here," she assured Amaya and that did little to settle her nerves, even when Lily didn't have to assure her of anything in the first place. James could have feelings for whoever he liked, it was none of her business. "Tell us please."
"We might've kissed," Amaya admitted with a smile verging on a grimace when the girls shrieked in harmony.
"I knew it!" said Lily.
"So?" asked Marlene.
"So, what?" Amaya shrugged. "It meant nothing."
Lily and Marlene merely shared a look. The latter rolled her eyes. "It always means something. Even if it's bad."
"What about you and Sirius?" asked Amaya, not so subtly changing the conversation, and though that got her eye rolls it worked. She sipped her drink, thankful for it.
"It's complicated," Marlene said and suddenly she looked focused. "We agreed to fool around. Not get attached."
"And how's that working for you?" teased Lily and the blonde girl shrugged helplessly.
