Opia {j. potter}

Schwellenangst

𝒮𝒸𝒽𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓃𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓈𝓉 (𝓃)
𝒻𝑒𝒶𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝒸𝓇𝑜𝓈𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝑒𝓂𝒷𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝑜𝓃 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓃𝑒𝓌

James Fleamont Potter is one of the most Gryffindor Gryffindors you will ever meet. He has all the key qualities you need, courage, chivalry, determination, and he basks in the spotlight. In fact, it is where he strives most, right at the center of everyone's attention.

Now James' courage can be seen in almost every aspect of his life from quidditch, to the classroom, and even in his love life.
Well, most of his love life.

If James' was to be honest the only time his courage ever falters is when it comes to one particular Ravenclaw girl.

He can still remember the day he first really noticed her. It was the first day back from winter break second year. The Gryffindors were paired with the Ravenclaws in Astronomy and the Marauders sat right behind the group of Ravenclaw girls. 

As per usual James began to space out, not really paying attention to the teacher and allowing his ears to wander the classroom, picking up on tidbits of other groups' conversations until he found one that interested him. That is when he landed on the voice of none other than Elizabeth Rosier. She was explaining to her friends that she didn't like any of the names of the stars and instead had come up with her own. The girl began to ramble on about each name change and her reasoning behind them. Some she reasoned with stories and others were just "I don't know that star just felt like a Catherine to me."

Her friends laughed along with her, not in a demeaning tone, but instead in almost a 'wow-that-is-such-a-you-thing-to-do-Lizzy' type of tone. 

Since that day James found himself unable to get her voice out of his head. Her beautiful, smooth, pretty, - NO STOP IT JAMES  - he would murmur to himself as his thoughts began to fill up with visions of her. 

At first, he thought it was just because he had found what she had said to be interesting, and maybe it was that... at first. But it definitely became something more because soon Elizabeth Rosier could be found running laps in James Potters mind at any given moment. 

He began to notice more things about her as time went on.
The harmless little pranks she would play never failed to make her giggle. Merlin, he loved the way she giggled.
The way her eyes lit up with a passion for knowledge every time the teachers began to talk about a topic that interested her.
The way he could see new ideas swimming laps inside her head when the classroom topic began to bore her. 
The way she used muggle pencils in class instead of quills
The way she wrapped her hair around her wand in order to pull it out of her face.

There is so much more, but if I attempted to name each and everything James Potter noticed about Elizabeth Rosier we'd be stuck here all day. 

He often caught himself staring at her, a fact she was always oblivious to, but one his friends caught on to soon enough. 

James' fellow Marauders have always been confused about why James never talks to her. Where does his courage go when it comes to Elizabeth Rosier?

It was schwellenangst to say the least. James was afraid. Afraid to enter a relationship where he knows that he will fall for her but fears that she would never even fall half as bad. 

So James kept his distance, he admired her from afar. Sirius mocked him each year, telling him how much of a stalker he was, but James never considered himself a stalker, neither did Remus. No, Remus just considered him a man completely in love with a girl he's never talked to... okay maybe Remus thought he was a little bit of a stalker, but he would never say that to James' face. 

It was now 6th year. The Marauder gang pile onto the Hogwarts express for another year of mischief and adventure when James' spots Lizzy on the platform. He could tell something had changed. Something was different in the girl. Sadder, almost. 

And James' hated it. 

The reoccurring scene caused a strain on his heart that he just couldn't find a way to shake. It wore him down until one day, 2 weeks into 5th year, he decided enough was enough. He needed to do something. 

He wanted to ask her what's wrong, but he was never very good at expressing his emotions like that, especially with Elizabeth. 

So James' did what he knew best, just trying to find a way to get that sad look out of her eyes and replace it with something else. Anything.