fundamentals of love ; james sirius potter

2. be cautious of bathroom hookups

The shock wears off pretty quickly.

I'm standing up, wincing with each step because this dress was so nice. It was a too expensive bridesmaid dress that Vonnie and I had searched half the world for. We'd thought the colour the dusty pink looked great on my colouring and that the fabric was heavenly to touch.

James is right on my tail. Spewing out too many apologies and trying to convince me he can fix it and then complaining about how much his head hurts.

When we finally reach the washroom, I pause wondering if I should do it or not. I'm glancing up at James who looks so sad as he states at my dress so I grab his arm and pull him in. So, we can try and fix this together because if he's gonna get my into this mess, he can at least get me out of it as well. It's the least he could do honestly.

It's a few moments of us trying to say the spell but the awkward angle of it being near the floor isn't helping us at all.

He looks at me, his hands tugging the fabric of the dress. "You gotta' take this dress off before I can do anything for you baby--"

"Do not call me that," I whisper, scrunching my nose at the sound of that. I put my hands on his shoulders, then turn him around. "Stay like that or I'll kill you."

"I'm a total women respecter," he tells me. "Don't worry."

"It's the bare minimum," I say, trying to reach for my zipper, "I'd hope you're able to at least do that."

"Why don't you just kick me out?"

I pause. Why don't I just kick him out? It'd be much easier and I'm just making it harder for myself by having him in the bathroom with me. I'm about to tell him to leave but then I remember the guy that he's drunk and he's so sad and . . . all my life I've taken care of people.

Maybe, the favour hasn't been repaid many times but that's not the point of being a good person. It's never about expecting people to do the same to you, it's just doing good because it's better than leaving things as they are.

"You can leave if you'd like," I say, starting to pull it off.

I examine it, it's not that bad really. He mostly aimed for the ground, so it's mainly on the bottom portion of the dress. My wand touches the fabric and I whisper, scourgify a few times. Waiting a few seconds for it to all disappear and look brand new again.

But nothing happens. So I'm saying it a bit louder. "Scourgify. Scourgify. Scourgify."

It's not coming off.

"Ellie," James calls out, hesitantly. "You need some help?"

I hate a lot of things, asking for help is very high up on that list.

"I'm basically naked."

"I've seen many girls naked before, it's not--"

"Well, I'd rather not be on that list, no offense."

He doesn't reply for a moment. Then, he's shrugging his blazer off and tossing it at me. "Put it on and then I'll try and clean the dress."

I put on his grey blazer and I've gotta admit, he's got decent style. It's better than a basic black one and the fabric is extremely soft. His quidditch salary must support a very nice wardrobe because this must be worth at least a hundred galleons.

James takes the dress and pulls out his own wand, though he's still very inebriated, he's managed to sober up just enough that he's more aware of what's going on. He takes his own time to examine it before whispering something inaudible.

The stain disappears.

My jaw goes slack. "Holy Helga."

He smiles at me shyly, handing it to me. "I come from a messy family, so simple cleaning spells don't do the trick for us."