She's the Girl | A Marauders Love story

Chapter 5

The date

Hailey had been on edge the entire day. Going on a date, even with a friend, made you incredibly nervous. She could only hope she wasn't too nervous when it happened.

Finally, it was 6:00. Hailey flooed over to James's house and tripped on her way out of the fireplace. Luckily, and pair of arms wrapped around her waist and stopped her from falling to the floor. She turned around to see who had grabbed her and was pleased to see it was James.

"You're such a clutz Hails. You couldn't even make it a minute into the date without falling on your face."

"Whatever, you tripped and fell on your face in front of the entire school last month." Hailey made a mocking face at him and stood up.

The two made their way into the dining room, James leading them.

"Are your parents not at home?" Hailey looked around, half expecting them to pop out from under the table.

"No, they went out to dinner. I wouldn't expect them back until around midnight. For now, it's just us."

"Scandalous."

James laughed and pulled out a chair for her to sit in. When they were both seated, he looked back at her.

"Now I must warn you, you can't set this date as your standard, because no one will ever beat tonight."

Hailey laughed.

"Are you going to serenade me under the moonlight?"

James winked at her.

"The night will tell."

Hailey laughed again. She felt so comfortable and at ease with James, even though she felt like her first date was supposed to be awkward. Something about being around James made her feel safe and happy, which she had never experienced with someone else. Dinner passed faster than Hailey wanted it to, and James led her to the basement.

"Is this the part where you tie me up and keep me in here before eventually killing me?" Hailey looked over at James to gage his reaction.

"That was supposed to be a surprise. I bet Mum told you, didn't she?"

They sat down on the sofa in the basement and James turned the TV on. He put the VHS tape in, and sat back down next to her, closer than usual. Hailey gasped when the title came onto the screen.

"I love Chinatown!"

James chuckled.

"I know. That's why I asked what your favorite movies were."

Hailey sighed happily and snuggled into James's side, letting his arm wrap around her.

"Thank you, James."

James looked down at her.

"What for?"

"For making my first date perfect."

James looked back at the screen with a small smile on his face.

"Anytime."

~~~~~~

Hailey woke up to Mrs. Potter putting a blanket over her. She looked around and noticed she was still wrapped in James's arms. Blushing, she looked at Mrs. Potter again.

"I already told your parents you two fell asleep. You can have breakfast with us and go back to your house tomorrow morning."

Hailey nodded gratefully and fell back asleep, letting James's warmth envelop her.

When Hailey woke up again, it was morning. She was still snuggled up to James, not that she minded. She slowly sat up fully and rubbed her eyes. James stirred slightly but fell back into a deep sleep. Looking at him, Hailey had an idea. She slowly pulled herself away from him and crept across the room to where she had noticed a whistle the night before. She snuck back to where James was sleeping and got as close to his ear as possible. Then, she blew the whistle as hard as she could.

James woke up with a start. He looked around wildly for a moment before his eyes landed on Hailey, who was laughing next to him. He grabbed the whistle from her and blew it at her. Thus ensued a battle between the two of them, each one trying to blow the whistle into the other's ear. They continued this until Mr. and Mrs. Potter came down the stairs to see what the commotion was about.

James and Hailey stopped moving and looked at Mr. and Mrs. Potter.

"Breakfast is ready if you two would like to join us." Mrs. Potter was smiling at the two of them.

Hailey and James quickly stood up and followed the Potters up the stairs. James elbowed Hailey and grinned at her.

"It's going to be like this all month." He whispered.

Hailey couldn't wait.