attached | james potter

seven: knight in shining armour

Chapter Seven

"And so....that... concludes.... the various.... uses.... of..... unicorn hair."

Brooklyn mumbled every word slowly under her breath as she wrote. She bit her lip as she finished the sentence with a flourish of her quill, stopping in her tracks to quickly examine the paragraph. She always had a bad habit of doing her homework while she walked, but in her opinion, it just helped to get it done faster, which left her more time to relax. Still, she was aware that if she continued with this habit, she would most likely need to start wearing glasses.

Not that she minded. Vision before vanity, right? Perhaps she could even get glasses like James Potter's, the circular black framed ones that made his hazel eyes twinkle so much..

Brooklyn paused in reading her essay.

Where had that thought come from? For the past few days, ever since that blasted night together in the kitchens, the lanky, messy-haired boy had been taking up more space in her mind than she would've liked to admit. For instance, sometimes when she was feeling rather bored during classes, she'd catch herself unconsciously wondering small, insignificant stuff about her fellow Gryffindor prefect. Things like what he had for breakfast, or whether he liked her hair better up or down..... Gah. It was getting rather strange, plus, it was driving her up the wall. She could barely seem to concentrate on anything.

Normally, she attempted to limit any thoughts about James Potter to an extremely small amount, and usually only witty insults and sarcastic remarks. Certainly not about how attractive his eyes were, no matter how exceedingly so....... Dammit, she was doing it again.

She set her essay down, closing her eyes momentarily as she repeated the words in her head like a mantra. 'Stop thinking about James Potter. Stop thinking about James Potter. Stop thinking about James Potter.'

Taking a deep, calming breath, she held the parchment up and started to reread it, continuing her journey to the common room as she did. If she had not been so immersed in her work, she would have noticed the sound of several pairs of footsteps trailing behind her ever so quietly. And she would have also not bumped into the very group of people that she tried to avoid at all costs.

Walking straight into Lucius Malfoy, she dropped her essay and the stack of books she'd been meaning to return to the library. They fell to the floor with heavy, thudding sounds, the pages flying open. Brooklyn felt her face go red as she hurriedly bent down to pick up her things, not noticing or acknowledging the person she'd collided with.

"Oi! Watch where you're going, you filthy mudblood."

She froze, lifting her head to look at a pair of cold, grey eyes that gleamed maliciously. Malfoy was flanked by three of his cronies, Snape, Avery and Mulciber.

"Sorry," she muttered hugging her books tighter to her chest and keeping her voice low in order to avoid any kind of trouble. Usually, she would stand up for herself and bite back with an equally scathing remark, but she was tired and not in the mood to have a scuffle in the middle of the corridors. If possible, she was trying to avoid any conflict at all. Obviously, that wasn't going to happen.

As she turned to leave, Avery stepped in front of her, blocking her way. "Where're you off to in such a hurry, darling?" He asked, his tone mocking, and she tried not to glare. Mulciber was leering at her, while, Snape, having some sense, decided to just stand there silently, probably worried that Brooklyn would complain to Lily if he participated in tormenting her best friend.

"Anywhere but here," she replied curtly, trying to manoeuvre past him, but with no luck. They were much bigger than her, and she could feel a chill creeping up her spine.