Love with No Regrets (HP NEXT GEN)

Chapter 4: The Woods

Jillian stared up at the oak tree, tempting her with its long twigs. "I will reach you!" She grabbed a low branch and hauled herself up. She looked at her hands, a little scuffed from the bark, but not too bad. She stood up, using the branch above to balance herself. "Why can't there be tiny shrubs in these woods?" She sighed and continued to climb higher until she found the jackpot. A sturdy branch led to a bunch of other sticks perfect for roasting.

She crawled to the end, right before the branch stared to narrow and yanked at the sticks. She had collected at least 3 until she heard a noise underneath her. She froze, straddling branch and one arm keeping her balance.

She heard muttering, but saw no body. Last time she checked, nobody had followed her to the woods. That Voldemort dude her parents told her about was gone, so she was fairly safe. The person hadn't moved for awhile and probably wasn't going to. She made herself comfortable, wrapping herself in her sweatshirt and curling against the tree.

Almost 20 minutes had past and the person still rested at the bottom of the tree. Jillian had dozed off a bit, her eyes getting heavier by the second. She shook herself to stay awake but that only made her sleepier. Her head fell and her leg had loosened around the branch. She woke up, a bit too quickly, and bam. She fell right into the strangers lap. Blue met hazel and she knew they were no strangers.

"I knew you'd fall for me," James chuckled. "But not quite literally."

"I just fell fifteen feet off a tree and I'm great. Thanks for asking." Jillian got up, wincing at the pain in her ankle. She began hobbling away, further into the forest. "I guess I'll see you at the house."

"House is the other way!"

She turned the other way and glared at him. "I knew that!" She began limping her way past him, ignoring the laughs. "It's not nice to laugh at the injured and needy."

"I'm not going to let you wander around here crippled to get eaten by wolves." He reached in his pocket for his wand, finding nothing there. "I must've left my wand." He bent down in front of her. "Get on, Gillespie."

She stared at him for a moment, but decided to get on his back. Her ankle throbbed as she jumped, but once off the ground it began to feel better. She could already tell it was swollen by the black and blue marks but mostly because it was the size of a melon.

At first, Jillian tired to stay as far as possible from him and avoid all conversations. But, the constant motion of bobbing up and down as he walked made her eyelids heavy. The warmth his body gave off made her want to curl up and take a nap. She refused to sleep, forcing her eyes open and shaking her head to rid of the feeling. But that only made her more tired. She rested her head on his shoulder, her breathing becoming more even.

"Must be nice to sleep," James commented. "But I have to travel through the woods with an extra hundred pounds on my back."

"I'm not that heavy!" Jillian exclaimed. "Who said I was sleeping anyways?"

"Even breaths, body getting heavier, and soft snoring."

She hit his shoulder. "I do not snore!"

James laughed, "Sure... You know, maybe you're ankle is better now and I wont have to-"

She covered his mouth. "Shut up. Something is here." She whispered, barley audible in his ears.

There was a rustle of leaves behind them and then a branch snapped. They could barley see anything in the dark, only the light of the moon to help them. James led them to a tree, hiding behind it while they waited for the thing to pass by. Nothing ever did. It had to have been five minutes of standing in pure silence.

James ran a hand through his hair. "There was nothing! It was probably just a fox or something." He came out of hiding, and continued their trip back home.

It was silent again, neither of them talking. Jillian wasn't tired anymore, but studied him as he walked. He had dimples, she never noticed that before. His hair stuck up in many places like his father, and hazel eyes like his mother. She had heard many stories about the Potters, some almost to wild to believe.

She noticed the chain on his neck, his turtle necklace. It was handcarved and its mouth hung from a black and brown beaded chain. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to the turtle.

"McGonagall gave it to me. She said she confiscated it from my granddad when he used it to lasso something in class. Apparently its a family symbol meaning, 'Potters always get back in the current'."

Jillian nodded, thinking of what that meant. It wasn't long before they saw the house. It was still far, but at least they were getting somewhere. "I didn't even go very far into the woods, though."

"These woods change. Even when you don't go too far, it rotates and then you're on the other side. It would be much quicker if we had our wands and just accioed my broom."

"Yeah well neither of us brought them." There was another pause of silence. "So, I heard you and Lucy broke up."

She felt James tense underneath her. "Yeah, we did a while ago," he gritted through his teeth. She nodded, not wanting to push anymore buttons. "I don't suppose you're friends with her?"

"No, she's kind of a bitch, no offense. She's so rude to people and doesn't care who she hurts. She was hexing a first year! How could anybody hurt a poor innocent kid." She sighed, slumping her head back on his shoulder. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

He shook his head, "I don't care. Aren't you dating that Writer?"

"No, we broke up...or he dumped me."

There was another awkward silence. This time it lasted the whole way back to the house. They walked through the gate to see the fire still going but nobody around. They must've gone to bed. They walked all the way into the living room before he set Jillian down on the couch.

"It's already ten-thirty!" Jillian exclaimed. "We spent an hour in the woods."

"I'll get you some ice for your ankle." He walked into the kitchen, looking for a bag to put the ice in. When he came back, she had propped her foot on a pillow, examining it. "That looks bad."

"It's just sprained. The swelling will go down with the ice and the bruise will be healed in a week." She took the ice he handed her and laid it on top of the bruise. "I'm studying healing. Thanks, for carrying me and for the ice. And for letting me crash on the couch."

"It's nothing." He bid her goodnight before disappearing up the stairs. He walked into his room and saw Fred playing with his snitch. "Hey."

Fred turned around in the swivel chair. "You're back!" He exclaimed. "What took so long? I though you were mauled by a wolf or something." He stood up, reaching in his back pocket. "Here's your wand. You dropped it on your way over the fence."

James snatched it, tossing it on his bed. "Thanks."

Fred put the snitch back in the glass container it came it and sat back in the chair. "So, is Gillespie here?" James nodded. "Did you make a move on her?"

"No."

"I'm this much closer to ten galleons!"

James shut the lights off, crawling into his bed. "Night Fred," he said.

Fred transfigured a mattress, "Night J." He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

James, however, stayed awake most of the night thinking of their bet. Tonight wasn't terribly horrible. Her company wasn't that awful but nice to have around. Talking was definitely better than fighting the whole time. He stared at his ceiling, his last thought of bright blue eyes staring back at him before he fell into a deep sleep.