muggle summer // james potter

chapter four

JAMES' SELF-INDUCED IMPRISONMENT lasted exactly four days. It was not that the conflicting emotions that tore through his head and tied knots in his stomach were not enough to keep him trapped in his own world, but rather, that he was a fifteen-year-old boy and he was bored. Very, excruciatingly bored. It was this boredom that led him to literally roll himself out of bed the Tuesday after meeting Adelaide and hobble downstairs. 

He had read through every comic book and graphic novel on his shelves, and with his wand still confiscated, he couldn't sneak off and practice magic like he had been hoping to. In the past year, James had constructed the perfect plan to get Lily to finally agree to go out with him, and it all hinged on him impressing her. No matter how much time he spent in the gym, he knew that quidditch meant nothing to her. But book smarts meant everything. If only he could practice the spells and charms that he'd been so sub-par at last year.

With his perfect plan ready to be put in motion, how was it that with just a glance of Adelaide, everything had been thrown out of motion? Despite his parents' confiscation of his wand, he knew where it was and could most definitely borrow it to practice. But it remained in its super-secret hiding place in his mother's jewelry cabinet next to Sirius's. And thoughts of Adelaide remained in his mind. She was like nothing he had ever encountered. He was certain she was a muggle, but pure, unfiltered magic seemed to radiate from her being in waves. It had brought an instant smile to his face and chased away the grey boredom that had been blanketing him. She was new. She was interesting. And he was very curious.

That's all it was. James was just curious about this person whom he had never seen before. He told himself that it had nothing to do with the way the light caught her eyes and made them sparkle like crashing waves. It had nothing to do with the splash of freckles across her face as if the sun itself were peppering her with kisses. Absolutely nothing to do with the way her eyes had widened and her lips had parted in surprise as Sirius had abandoned his water gun and cannonballed into the water between them. And there was no way that it had anything to do with the way his mind just couldn't stop repeating all the moments she had thrown her head back and let her eyes close as her contagious laughter flooded out.

That's what he told Sirius as they sat across from each other at the breakfast table. Sirius may or may not have wandered into the house and witnessed James staring longingly out of the window as if he were a character in a teen rom-com. James desperately tried to claim he was just tired, but what kind of brother would Sirius be if he didn't tease James mercilessly about the faint blush on the tips of his ears. "Look, man. I know you think you owe Lily your undying love." Sirius suddenly paused his teasing. "But you don't."

"Don't I? I love her."

"You're fifteen and you've never even dated anyone." Sirius tried to soften the blow of his words with laughter but the message still hit home. How could James know what love is?

"But-" James protests were stopped as he watched Sirius dramatically shake his head, shaggy black hair brushing his shoulders.

"There's nothing wrong with making a new friend."

Oh. 

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yay i finally wrote dialogue! 

stay safe and stay sane y'all! <3