A Change of Heart [James Potter II]

Chapter 6: Corridor Crying

Corridor Crying

"OKAY QUINN, DON'T LOOK NOW but that James is totally looking at you," Carrie whispered to Quinn as they had breakfast in the Great Hall.

"And how is that any different from any other day?" Dominique pointed out, raising an eyebrow. She wasn't too fond of Carrie because she thought she was planning on stealing her best friend away from her.

"Dom's right." Quinn agreed, before pulling her curly hair into a low bun. "Besides, why would it matter anyway?"

"Because you like him now." Carrie reminded Quinn. "Shouldn't that make some kind of difference?"

"You're getting ahead of yourself." Quinn stated, making sure to look Carrie in the eyes. "I just had one nice night with him, Carr." With a smile, Quinn got up from her seat and made her way out of the Great Hall, humming to herself.

"Green Day." Quinn let out a shriek as she turned and saw a familiar head of ruffled hair and blue-green eyes. James was smirking to himself at the fact that he had succeeded in startling Quinn.

"What did you say?" Quinn asks, slightly breathless from being surprised.

"Green Day," James repeats. "You were humming a Green Day song."

"Oh." Quinn smiles. "Yeah, I love them."

"Really?" This stunned James. She didn't seem like the type to like punk rock music, at least not if you didn't know her all that well.

"Why the surprise, Potter?" Quinn asked, crossing her arms.

"You just don't seem like the type to listen to Green Day," James admitted. "No offence!"

"None taken." Quinn grinned, before walking further down the hall. "Especially since you don't seem like the type to listen to good music."

"Ouch!" James exclaimed, his hand over the right side of his chest.

"You know," Quinn began. "there was a time where I thought you were smart."

"There was a time I thought you might like me," James retorted. "but that turned out to be the opium haze." (A/N: WILL HERONDALE REFERENCE WASSUP) To James's pleasant surprise, Quinn laughed a gorgeous laugh. Her head was thrown aback and her eyes closed momentarily, making James practically swoon on the spot.

"Is that a sense of humour I sense?" Quinn teased, nudging James lightly.

"It is," James confirmed in a joking way.

"Walk me to class?" Quinn raised her eyebrow questioningly, and James complied without a second thought.

"Why the sudden nice attitude towards me?" James inquired after a moment of silence.

"Well," Quinn began, looking thoughtful. "you stopped with that ridiculous pick up lines and you no longer piss me off every time you see me."

"I guess we've both had a change of heart." James smiled charmingly at Quinn, who merely chuckled and nodded her head in agreement.

"We'll see what happens between us then, won't we?" Quinn winked before entering the Charms classroom, leaving James standing outside it for a moment, dumbfounded.

***

"James Sirius Potter!" Quinn shrieked, ducking under a Muggle water balloon he and the Scamander twins were throwing around the courtyard.

"Quinnity Faye Meredith!" James mocked, grinning cheekily before throwing another balloon at Quinn. This time, it hit her square in the chest, causing her white school shirt to become instantly see-through. Quinn gasped before crossing her arms over her chest to hide it.

"You did that on purpose." She accused, glaring at the boy. James's eyes widened and he shook his head violently.

"I-I swear that I didn't." James admitted, looking fearfully around. "Umm... c'mere." He grabbed Quinn's arm and dragged her away from the crazy fight, making Quinn only just catch a quick glance of a drenched Carrie squealing as she ran away from an equally soaking wet Lysander. I ship it. Quinn thought to herself, and James pulled the girl all the way to the Gryffindor common room.

"Wait here." He requested, holding up his pointing finger before sprinting up the stairs to the 5th year boys' dorms. Quinn furrowed her brows, but didn't have enough time to think it over since James came hurtling down the stairs all over again.

"Here." James grinned and handed over a jumper. Quinn sceptically took it in her hands and saw that it was red and gold.

"What-" Quinn cut herself off when she saw the bold red letters on the back, spelling out the name POTTER. "James..." now Quinn really was doubtful. "I can't wear this." She added, attempting to hand it back to him. It was James's Quidditch jumper.

She had often heard him tell Lysander and Lorcan how important it was to him. It was handed down from his father Harry, and it truly meant the world to him. James himself knew that giving Quinn his jumper was like confessing his love to her. He had never let any of his friends touch the jumper, let alone wear it.

"Yes, you can." James retorted a goofy smile back on his face. "Please. I owe it to you."

"Thanks, James." Quinn gave in after a while, pulling it over her head.

"No problem." James shrugged it off. "Wouldn't want any other guy looking at your rack." Quinn rolled her eyes at this, lightly shoving him, although she too was grinning.

"I don't know what to do with you, James Potter." Quinn sighed. "Sometimes I want to punch you in the face, and other times I just want to..." she trailed off, not really wanting to admit to herself what she'd want to do to James.

"To what?" James asked, eager to know.

"I don't know," Quinn repeated. Shaking her head, she let any confusing thoughts leave it. "We have a study session later today so... don't be late."

"Late?" James exclaimed. "Me? I, James Potter II, am the vision of perfection. I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're so big headed!" Quinn cried out, unknowingly snuggling into James's jumper. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah." James smiled. "I'll see you."

***

Quinn didn't know when James started becoming bearable, but it was almost like an overnight thing. Abruptly, Quinn started looking forward to the studying sessions with James, and her friends didn't miss a beat.

"Where are you going?" Dominique asked with a grin on her face, looking over at Quinn. (A/N: Imagine James's jumper over the button up top)

"I have a study session with James." Quinn reminded her best friend, slinging her messenger bag over her left shoulder. "Don't wait up." She smiled and waved at her friends before leaving the common room and heading towards the library. She suddenly heard something as she did, and slowed her walk, trying to figure out what it was.

"Hello?" Quinn called after a moment, furrowing her brows as she looked around the empty and dark hallway. After a moment, Quinn realized that the sounds were quiet cries, and she followed the sound with a concerned look on her face. What she found surprised her to no end. Lorcan Scamander was sitting on the floor, leaning against a wall with his face buried in his knees as he cried.

"Lorcan?" Quinn whispered, but he didn't seem to hear her. Once she had repeatedly called his name a couple of times, she decided to just slide her back down the wall and take a seat next to Lorcan, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.

Her actions completely confused Lorcan. Lorcan was completely embarrassed, and hated the fact that it was Quinn Meredith that had to see him crying. But the reason it confused him was because he was very aware that Quinn wasn't apart of his fangirl club. It took Lorcan around 15 minutes to properly calm down, and he pulled away from their hug after a moment more.

"Why did you do that?" he sniffed.

"Because I'm not you," Quinn said, recalling that this sounded a lot like a conversation she had with James. "I don't point and laugh at people when they cry or get hurt."

"I guess." Lorcan groaned, buries his face in his hands. "I'm so stupid."

"Do you want to tell me why you were so upset?" Quinn inquired. She knew from personal experience that hearing 'Why are you crying' was annoying as hell.

"As stupid as it sounds, I feel like my life is falling apart," Lorcan stated, sounding incredibly ashamed.
"My grades keep getting worse, yet my parents don't seem to care at all. Then there's the fact that the entire school – apart from my ridiculous fangirls – think that I'm a complete tosspot and I'm starting to agree with them." Lorcan now furrowes his brows. "I don't know how it happened, but I just started freaking out. My chest tightened and I couldn't breathe properly. I-I can't explain it..."

"You were having a panic attack," Quinn explained. "I used to get them when I was a little younger. They're not fun, huh?"

"Not at all." Lorcan agreed, wiping his nose with the sleeve of his robes. It grossed Quinn out a little, so she reached into her bag and handed him a handkerchief with a chuckle.

"Here." Lorcan took it after thanking him and wiped his nose.

"Why are you wearing James's jumper?" Lorcan suddenly noticed, and Quinn looked down at it.

"Oh," she smiled a little. "James let me wear it today after he pelted me with water balloons." Lorcan grinned.

"No offence or anything, but it clashes horribly with your jeans." He commented, and Quinn gasped.
"How dare you!" she said jokingly. They stayed silence for a moment before they both laughed and Quinn gave Lorcan another laugh. "You'll get past this stage," Quinn told him. "Start spending more time going over the notes our Professors force us to take."

"I don't take notes," Lorcan admitted, smiling sheepishly.

"Okay, start taking notes." They both chuckled again. "Just start paying attention to more important things than gossip and popularity. Sure, you can have time for that, just don't make it the most important thing in your life." Quinn lectured.

"You know, you're not half as annoyingly smart as I thought you were, Meredith." Lorcan complimented.

"And you're not half as stupid as I thought you were, Scamander." And then they moved closer to each other, conversing even further.

***

James checked his watch one more time, before sighing and getting up from his chair. "She still hasn't shown up?" Madam Pince asked sympathetically.

"Nope," James confirmed. "I don't get it, she's never late. She's Quinn Meredith."

"Pardon me?" Madam Pince questioned, confused.

"I said she's Quinn Meredith," James repeated.

"Oh Mister Potter," Madam Pince smiled. "don't you think Quinn gets tired of hearing that? People define 'being Quinn Meredith' as being smart, punctual and all-around perfect. Don't you think that irritates her?"

"I guess." James agreed. "Actually, you're right. I'm going to go and fine her." James walked out of the library and walked down the hall, smiling. He loved knowing that Quinn put away time in her day to help him study. But as he made his way further through the castle, he spotted Quinn. And she was sitting with Lorcan. His Quidditch jumper was in a heap near Lorcan and Quinn was laughing at something he said, before replying vividly. And that's when James realized it.

Quinn didn't put away time in her day to help him study because she wanted to. She was doing it for extra credit. He meant nothing to her.

Little did he know that Lorcan and Quinn were talking about James.