Limerence |James Potter|

Eleven

"I try to refrain, but you're stuck in my brain."

ϟϟϟ

As it turns out, it was anything but fine. It had been a week, one whole blasted week, and all Selene saw of James was short glimpses in crowded rooms. Every inch of cells in her body missed him, craved him.

At first, the rest of the Marauders pretended like everything was fine. "He is busy with organizing pranks, you know that they aren't made up overnight" they would say. "Oh, he's running late. Detentions, you know?" they would say. They even had the nerve to say, "He's focusing on school." Selene called bull on each and every single one of their cover ups.

Eventually, they stopped trying.

It was like James had fallen off the face of the Wizarding World. He was not at meals, showed up late for classes and left early, and was never in a public area during free time. Selene had heard rumours that he had thrown himself into practicing a new position for Quidditch, but whenever she went out to the Quidditch Pitch he was nowhere in sight.

Selene's former roommates noticed her aloof status immediately. Mary lectured her for being a "slum in the dumps" but all it did was make Selene even more self pitying. Lily tried to cheer her up, but did not know why she was sad so was not successful. Alice told her fairytales, but all it did was remind Selene of how utterly lonely she was.

Sirius would try to cheer her up but could not reveal where James was, like the good friend he was. He would tell her lame puns - ranging from "I think I saw him over deer" to "I heard that he is having a stag party". He was, needless to say, no help. But she did admit that she felt a surge of pride that her terrible sense of humour had rubbed off on him after six years of tormenting him with puns.

Despite their attempts, Selene remained completely and udderly miserable.

"Selene, dearest, pass the salt. I believe I will need to spray Potter with it as soon as he swings by," Mary said one day casually at the table.

Selene's head perked up at the mention of James' last name, earning her a pitying look from both Mary and the nearby Marauders. Selene may not have told Mary that James was the reason why she was so gloomy, Mary had predicted it would happen sooner or later.

From their distance apart, Selene could still make out Sirius making a lasso sound, indicating that she was whipped. She shot him a glare while handing Mary the salt.

Mary smiled at her before narrowing her eyes at the air behind her and sprinkling salt over a spot. Selene frowned in confusion, maybe Mary was seeing a resident ghost. They had a nasty habit of turning themselves invisible and popping out of nowhere just to scare students, particularly Peeves. Luckily for Selene, she only encounters the rambling poltergeist at night time (and then has to proceed to tell a caretaker about any mess that he has made).

The air seemed to shake behind Mary as if insulted that it got sprayed with salt. It was a distorted sight to look at, hurting Selene's eyes to look at to the extent that she had to look away from that spot.By the time she looked back, the air was normal again and saltless.

"I'm going to the Quidditch pitch," Selene said while standing up. "I can see that it is a lovely day outside and it would be a shame to waste it studying indoors."

Mary nodded and let Selene leave their spot on the table. She almost made it past the Marauders side of the table when she noticed Sirius giving her a mischievous smile that had become infamous. The smile held all the witty questions and comments that he was dying to ask about James and Selene.

"Shut it," she murmured as she passed, to which Sirius raised his hands in surrender.

"I didn't even mention James this time," Sirius muttered, the smile still on his face. He moved his surrendering hands into a wave as he watched her go.

ϟϟϟ

Selene found herself alone at the Quidditch Pitch and definitely not for the first time this week. For possibly the fiftieth time, she watched the skies and grounds for any signs of her former best friend. The cold air caused steam to form whenever she breathed, but the cold could not keep out her hopes.

She watched diligently as birds flew in the distance, migrating back from their vacation during the winter months. There were a few clouds blocking out the sun's radiant beams, causing the chilly day to seem even more gloomy.

She slumped on a stand. What she wouldn't do to get James back.

ϟϟϟ

A/N:

This chapter was originally supposed to be long but I decided to break it into two parts so I could have the inappropriate scene take up the next chapter occur without having a huge WARNING sign midway through.

Do not read the next chapter if you are innocent minded. I will not be held responsible for scarring any minds, nor do I want to set the bar for smut. (Although that bar will be low because I am horrid at it, despite rewriting it multiple times). If you want to skip it, you can with no consequences of missing plot.

As Steve would ask: "Are they.. Do they... Fondue?"

To which I would say: "Yes, yes Selene and James do."