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chapter 6 || tough questions

We took the long way back to the common room, wanting to spend some time to just talk to each other.

"So, what are you going to do now that you're giving up on Lily?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"I don't know. I think I'm going to lay off the thought of relationships right now. I mean, I need to figure some things out before I think about getting in a relationship. Lily really opened my eyes. She made me realize that you need to be nice to a girl and not bother them and just ask them out all the time. You need to actually get to know them, not bother them all the time, have humility, and observe, not just look at them." He spoke.

"I'm glad you realize that now. I'm glad that you are deciding to take time to yourself. I think that is the best thing for you to do right now is take some time to yourself so you can figure things out about yourself before thinking about a relationship right now. However, you should probably apologize to Lily for your 5 years of torment. That will also help me and the girls because Lily won't be complaining about you anymore!" I said laughing. James joined in with the laughter before we both calmed down.

"Hey, Holly?" James said. I looked at him, confused. He never called me by my name. He always called me Leo.

"Yeah?" I said, confusion laced in my voice.

"Do you fancy anyone? I mean, you don't have to answer if you don't want to! I was just wondering." He ran his hand through his hair, telling me that he was nervous. I felt a blush rise to my face. I was about to answer when we got to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

I looked at James. "Um, yeah. I've fancied this one person for a while, but they don't like me back." I said, feeling a blush creep up my neck.

"How do you know that?" James asked.

"Because they were interested in someone else. But I don't know if they do anymore." I said, not looking him in the eyes.

"Well, how do you know they don't like you then? If they don't like the other person anymore, how do you know they don't like you?" He asked.

"I don't. But I doubt they would like me. There are so many other people here, why would they like me?" I said.

"If you think no one likes you, you're very wrongly mistaken. You have a fan club just like me, Remus, and Sirius. The more important question is what's not to like about you? I mean, your pretty, funny, kind, courageous, brave, you always put others first, you keep me and the boys in line, you're a very talented witch, you always make sure our pranks don't go too far, you make sure our pranks don't hurt anyone, you will help literally anyone who needs it, no matter their heritage, house, race, or gender. So, really, you should be asking yourself, what's not to like? Anyone would be lucky to have you." James said. Heat rushed to my face and I looked down at the floor, trying to hide my blush.

"Thank you, James. Really. You really don't know how much you mean to me. I really don't know how you manage to cheer me up or put me in an even better mood than what I'm in. You'll cheer anyone up and do anything to help your friends. Anyone would be lucky to have you too." I said. I saw a bit if red creeping up on James' neck and ears as we looked each other. His eyes held so many emotions I couldn't name. The portrait opened, ending our moment.

"Sorry to ruin the moment, but curfew was, like, 20 minutes ago. So, unless you want detention, I would come inside." Peter said.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I don't know about you but I'm getting pretty tired. So, um, goodnight, Leo." James said stuttering.

"Oh, yeah, me too. Goodnight, James, Peter." I said. I walked behind James, who was speed walking up the stairs to his dorm. I walked up the stairs to my dorm and walked in on the girls in their pajamas, sitting on their beds talking to each other. I walked in dazed and sat down on my bed.