"James! I got it!" First thing on the ninth day of Zoe's disappearance, Leslie had finally returned from her mental break. And from how giddily she gulped down her oatmeal from Fred's lap, she had good news.
Long overdue in James' opinion.
"What do you have?" Leslie finished chewing and unrolled the map they had been using to track the castle.
It was so worn from the constant usage that the names of each area were all smudged now. But they knew precisely what everything was.
"We've scoured every inch of this castle. Because your brother couldn't have possibly apparated outside the castle" James' jaw clenched and his eyes hardened.
"He's no brother of mine. Get to the point" Leslie sighed, taking another spoonful of oatmeal before proceeding.
"We didn't account for anything outside of the castle" James opened his mouth to speak, but Leslie's glare shut him down.
"And before you try and say there's no way out without alerting any of the numerous aurors positioned everywhere. Remember Pettigrew" James' eyes grew wide, they really had not considered that possibility.
Oblivious to the previous exchange they just had, Melody slid into place next to Leslie and Fred, the red strawberry in between her fingers almost the same shade as her lips.
"Who's this Pettigrew fella?" Leslie sighed, finishing up the last of her breakfast in one swift gulp.
"Peter Pettrigrew. Deserter of the order of the Phoenix. Helped Voldemort come to power the second time" Fred plucked a strawberry from a nearby basket.
"He also was my uncle Ron's rat" Before Fred could even try and take a bite out of the sweet berry, Leslie beat him to it.
"Sirius Black caught him in that disguise and chased him into-"
"Sirius? James isn't that your second name?" James sighed once again, pinching the bridge of his nose.
He didn't know why he was wasting time in explaining what was going to Melody'. But he did owe it to her considering she had been helpful on occasion and also one of Zoe's best friends.
"Yeah, Sirius was my dad's godfather. Could we get to the point of the story so we can leave already?"
"Sure. Sirius chased Pettigrew all the way into the shrieking shack down in Hogsmeade through a passageway at the base of the whomping willow, which was created for Remus Lupin to safely transform into a werewolf every full moon.
The passageway is secret enough that only close members of the family would know about it. It's also not guarded by any aurors and Cedric could've easily slipped past the whomping willow with Zoe without getting detected" Melody's mouth hung open, some remnants of the strawberry stuck between her lower teeth.
"If it's so secret, how do you know about it?" Leslie shrugged, leaning back into Fred's chest with a proud smirk that he replicated.
"My dad told me. I told her" Leslie bit her lip, cupping his cheek.
"And this is exactly why I like you" He smiled brightly and littered her face with kisses.
James couldn't bare to watch, every time he saw someone do any semblance of romantic behaviour, he only saw Zoe and those moments they had spent together.
Maybe he didn't regret the moments they spent together, but he did regret how they acquired those moments.
If only he could tell Zoe.
"Plan Z is to search in the shrieking shack? Might as well, it's not like we have anything better to do" James nodded, standing up as quickly as he could. Secretly slipping a banana into the pocket of his robes.
"I'll go gather the rest of the team. Meet me at the whomping Willow before sundown"
"What is this? A drama movie where everything interesting happens at sundown or sunrise?"
"We have school Mel"
"Oh right. I forgot about that"
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a/n: And the countdown to the end begins 🥲
5...
I love Melody she's me at 8 am were I don't even know what day it is 😂
Vote & comment for our darling Mel, and the new ship of Leslie and Fred (suggestion ship names are accepted)
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Black Roses {James Potter x OC}
Fanfiction-"No wonder you don't have a girlfriend with your trollish manners" "I'd call it more of a tedious rom-com Lily has forced me to live"- Zoe Wood and James Potter had an odd relationship. They had known each other since the moment they came out of t...