fundamentals of love ; james sirius potter

8. french vanilla for two

Isla and I didn't become friends until we were fifteen.

You know, originally I thought she was an attention-seeking manipulative bitch that was going to peak at Hogwarts. She thought I  was some moody pretentious prude who was too obsessed with school and quidditch

It's clear to see that we were always destined to be best friends. 

But, how did we become friends? Well, that's a very simple story. Isla and I were paired together in a year-long Herbology assignment. At first, we barely talked. Then, we'd mumble sarcastic remarks and pop out little smiles. After I got my heart broken by my first boyfriend Jess and Isla helped me get through it. Then, her parents got divorced and I told her about my own unconventional childhood. 

We sort of helped each other get through these big life problems and by the end of the year, realised, there was no way we could go back to hating each other because we'd come to enjoy each other's company far too much.

I've thrown my arms around Isla as she enters our flat. "I've missed you."

"We can't ever live without each other," she mumbles into my shoulder. "We'd be miserable."

"Let's just buy a big house and make our spouses and children live there with us."

She leans back to smile at me. "There's no other way for us to survive in this world."

After our sentimental greeting, Isla goes into her room to unpack and I'm in the kitchen trying to ice the cupcakes I've just made. They're just plain chocolate with some pink frosting, everything from the store because I've never been able to bake from scratch. It's another reason I feel I'd be a terrible mother.

When Isla's finished her unpacking, she wanders into the kitchen while carrying Percy like he's some newborn. She sits down and continues to hold the little guy while examining the new bowls I've gotten.

Before she can even as I say. "Fran made them for me."

"I love Fran," Isla smiles, staring at how intricately she's designed the bowls and the fact they're in shades of pink, my favourite colour. "Hey, that reminds me. How did this James thing become so big in the week that I was gone?"

Because it's not real.

I'm shrugging, as I put a plate of cupcakes on the table before taking a seat myself. "I guess sometimes you meet people and you wonder what you were doing before," I say, not knowing how much of a lie it is. "It's kind of like you and me."

"It's easy?"

"I don't know. It's just different from Morgan, I was with him for such a long time and he was my first  . . . everything. I don't really know what to compare it to," I tell her honestly. "But all I know is that I want a relationship with him."

Isla tilts her head. "This doesn't have anything to do with the fact your exes are dating?"

"Surprisingly, not at all."

"Then that's good, as long as it's coming from a genuine place."

Oh, Merlin, I'm going to hell for all the lying I've been doing.

So, I take the attention off of me and aim it to her. "Now, tell me about this Fred."

The smile that lights up her face lets me know she's already head over heels for him. If I'm in a romantic comedy, then I'm the best character because Isla is definitely the cool protagonist of the film.

She's diving into the story. Fred was her tour guide around Cairo, they got lost in the desert at one point and she threatened to strangle him a few many times. A man with a magic carpet found them and took them in for the night, where they suddenly lived through some found family trope with the man's four kids and wife. Then the next day as they arrived back in the city and right before she went back to her hotel room, he kissed her.