𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗹𝘆, james potter

-ˋ 53

CHAPTER FIFTY THREE
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-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH TIGER HAS BUTTERFLIES

. . .

There was an odd warmth that settled in Tiger over that day. And it remained there, in her stomach and mind until the next morning. A soft smile had replaced the frown that had been the permanent setting since Olivia's arrival, and it seemed to confuse most people who knew her.

The four marauders had put this down to Tiger telling James whatever she had done - it had taken so weight off of her shoulders or something. 

But truly, it was the thing that Tiger had heard the previous morning. She had woken up around the same time James had, but the difference was, her waking up had gone unnoticed, and the three best friends had solely focused on James until he left.

And it was the end of their conversation which had created this smile, the warm bubbly feeling that had stayed with the Howell girl for so long. 

It was given that Tiger would be joining at least one of the boys during the upcoming trip. And she was sure that it would have been all of them. Sirius still hadn't mustered up the courage to even begin asking Remus if he felt the same way he did, Peter was always with them, no matter what, and Remus had no other romantic interests that she was aware of.

James would have just been there, like he always would, ready to make the day rather focused on the friendship rather than romance. 

But apparently not, as Tiger found out when she overheard their conversation that morning. James had been planning - with Sirius at least - on how he was going to ask her. 

It made her feel a way that she hadn't for a while. When her and Leo dated, it just sort of happened. They kissed, they were dating, that was it. It made sense for it to go like that. 

Tiger hadn't even thought about everything else. The feeling of butterflies, the slight longing, the glances and the giggles and just the happiness of it beginning.

There wasn't that with Leo - they hadn't seen the need for it, obviously. She felt awful comparing her relationship with James to her previous lover, but that was all she had to go on. 

Unless younger her, aged ten or so, actually loved the boy she met in the summer, then her relationship with Leo was the only thing she could compare with. It might have made her feel awful, but it was truly all she could.

Lily hadn't apologised yet, even though one of the boys had mentioned she was ready to. And because of that, she felt awkward around Marlene and Lydia as well. 

She really needed to talk to some girl about this, and she had no idea who. And due to her not being able to, she had been hiding out in the library for a while, because she didn't trust herself around James.

Because the couple of times she had talked to James since finding out he was asking her out on Valentines day, she ended up messing up her words and blushing and was just a whole mess. 

"Good morning Twiggy." The familiar voice said, slipping into the seat beside her. "Everything alright?" James asked, when he saw that Tiger was avoiding his gaze, focusing on the table. 

"Yeah." Tiger quickly told him, glancing at him. "Sleep well?" She asked him, cringing. None of their conversations ever seemed to be this awkward, but yet, here they were. 

"Yeah.. fine." James replied, frowning as he watched Tiger take a plain slice of toast, nibbling on it as she waited for the bell for classes to start. It had never been awkward between them, but now, it was.

James thought maybe that Tiger was feeling awkward because she was worried that James still felt a certain way about what she told him. That he now thought bad about her because of the incident that went so so wrong at Ilvermorny. He would ask her later, reassure her that he still thought of her as the same person she was before. 

But as he came to this conclusion, the bell rang, and Tiger jumped up. "Come on, we'll walk to potions." She told him, and James agreed without even thinking about it, following Tiger down into the dungeons. 

"Hey Tiger?" Someone said as they reached the door into the potion's classroom. Tiger looked over to see Lily, who was clutching her bag to her chest and looking guilty. "Can we talk?" She asked, and Tiger nodded, telling James to go through into the class. 

"You don't have to accept it, but I'm sorry. It's no excuse but I was just really confused and yeah." Lily shrugged. "There's no excuse, you don't have to tell anyone anything, but I just hope that you can accept my apology and we can be friends again." 

"Oh, of course Lils." Tiger smiled, and the pair hugged. Tiger didn't even care whether or not Lily apologised - she just wanted to be friends again. She understood why the Evans girl had been upset completely, and really just wanted everyone to get along and not let Olivia come between them. 

"Let's go in?" Lily asked, and Tiger nodded, before hestitating. 

"Actually, I want to talk about something else. About James." Tiger started. "I understand if you would rather not, if it's awkward or anything." 

Lily instantly agreed, just wanting Tiger to trust her. Tiger then explained her situation, ajnd it ended with Lily smiling extremely wide, and Tiger blushing. 

"He finally got the balls to do it. I thought I would never see the day." Lily laughed out of disbelief, not able to stop smiling. "And don't worry, if James wants to ask you out he'll just end up coming out with it. He might plan something big, or he might figure someway to have it to do with fireworks or treacle tarts."

Tiger laughed, and the girls finally walked through into the potions room. "Did James spray some more of his cologne when he came in here?" Tiger asked, slipping into the seat next to her cousin. 

"What?" Remus replied, looking completely confused. "All I can smell is dog fur. Maybe cigarettes?" He stared at the girl for a few moments, confused. 

"Yeah, it stinks of that cologne and the prefect bathroom on the fifth floor's bubbles. You been in there recently?" Tiger said, knowing her cousin tended to visit at least once a month. 

"No-" Remus was about to tell Tiger that he hadn't visited since the first week back at school when Slughorn burst in, bustling over to the blackboard. 

"Sorry I am late." The man announced, reaching for a piece of chalk and beginning to write something out on the board, remaining silent until he had finished. "Today we will be learning about Amortentia." He announced, gesturing at the open cauldron in front of the class.

The silence was broken by Tiger and Remus almost falling off of their chairs out of shock.

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