after dark || James Potter

A.D. 1:7

"You are going through with it, right?" James Potter asks, as he jogs to catch up to Lucinda, who was on her way to the library from her last class of the day.

    She sighs, already having gone through this same conversation numerous times four days in a row, as both James and Sirius apparently took it upon themselves to convince the brunette to say yes to McGonagall's offer. They didn't seem to accept that she was still thinking about it, as, according to the pair, "what's there to think about?!"

    "I'm not sure, James," Lucinda replies, "I'm still thinking about it. It's a lot to take in, not to mention a huge responsibility."

    "Come on, Luce," he tries to persuade, nudging her slightly, "it'll be fun! We can run around in our animagus forms together!"

"And spend more time with you?" She scrunches her nose, "no thanks."

"Aw, come on, Lulu-Bear," James slings an arm over her shoulder, "you know you don't mean that!"

Of course she doesn't, but he didn't need to know that.

    Before they could reach the hallway that housed the library, James seemed to realize where they were going and was quick to steer her to the other direction. "Where are you dragging me off to?" She demands, narrowing her eyes at the hazel-eyed boy.

    "To the quidditch pitch!" James replies, grinning at her.

    It was then that she noticed the huge bag James was lugging around with him. "Quidditch season isn't until November, isn't it?" She asks, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yes, but tryouts are this afternoon," he replies, shrugging, "the new Captain told us last week."

"Why do you need to try out, then?" Lucinda asks, already having given up on the peaceful afternoon she had planned in the library, and was instead letting the tall raven-haired boy drag her outside.

At his confused look, she clarifies, "aren't you supposed to be the star player or something like that?"

He grins brightly at the brunette and she could swear it blinded her for a moment. She blinked up at him, once. Twice. Thrice. Then, she shook her head slightly, snapping herself out of whatever trance James Potter had her in. Luckily, it was at that same moment he decided to speak, so he didn't notice her shaking her head randomly like some lunatic.

"One, it's not stupid. Two, yes, I am the star player, thank you very much. And three, it's only for formalities, really. Jones says I'm in whether I try out or not," he smirks, "but I can't miss the chance to show everyone my skills, now, can I? I practiced every day last summer."

She rolls her eyes, grumbling about arrogant teenage boys under her breath. James didn't seem to hear her though, or he probably just didn't care, as he continued to drag the girl to the path that led to the quidditch pitch.

Lucy shivers as a cold breeze ruffled her hair slightly. Her scarf and school robes could only do so much against the October wind. Granted, it wasn't too cold yet as it was actually quite sunny this time around, but Lucy was convinced that she had the thinnest skin in existence as she couldn't tolerate the cold as much as the rest of her peers. Of course, if she only knew that she'd be dragged across school grounds to the quidditch pitch, she'd have come prepared. Or hid somewhere so James Potter would have never seen her. Either would have worked fine, really.

"You cold?" James' voice asks, snapping her out of her thoughts. She shakes her head, smiling a little to try and reassure the boy that she wasn't cold in the slightest.

But the world seems keen to betray her as it sends another breeze her way, and she shivers as goosebumps start forming on her skin.

James rolls his eyes at the brunette, wondering why she didn't just admit she was cold in the first place when it was so obvious. He stops in his tracks and opens up his bag, looking as if he was searching for something. A moment later, he was pulling out a Gryffindor jumper and handing it to the girl who was shivering slightly from where she stood.