Enchanted | James Potter

Chapter 24: Mystery Girl?

Flora read the letter a few days later and she was in tears. She was gonna do it. She was gonna meet James Potter. She was scared but she was gonna do it.

The Hogsmeade weekend soon arrived and Flora came up with a good excuse to not go with her friends. She was jittery and anxious throughout the day. As the time to leave came closer, she put on the chain of her necklace which had the other hand.

As she made her way to The Three Broomsticks, her mind was in constant battle. One part was saying that she didn't have to do this. She could turn around now and no one would know. The other part was calling her a coward. You can't even face him? How are you in Gryffindor? 

Flora walked on and reached the pub. She put her hands on the handle of the door and pushed it open.

James was firm in his decision that if the mystery girl does not show up after the letter, he would stop obsessing over her. He went to the pub and sat alone on a table near the door. He had to sit there a while. He looked up whenever the door opened in hope's of it being his mystery girl. 

It had been almost half an hour, when the door opened again. A girl came in. She was looking sideways and had a hat on. As she turned around, James saw who it was.

Flora opened the door and started looking around for James. As she turned to look on the other side, her eyes locked with James's. He was already looking at her although he had a confused look on. She approached him nervously and after a moment, sat on the seat in front of him.

"Flora. It's nice to see you here but I'm kinda waiting for….." he stopped mid sentence.

"Mystery girl?" He said and then noticed the chain around her neck. 

"James," she whispered. They both stared at each other as if seeing each other for the first time.

He got up from his seat, took the chain Flora had dropped from his pocket, and put it around Flora's neck. The two chains met and it was like the two hands were holding each other again. 

Flora felt a tear drop from on her cheeks. As James sat, he noticed her crying.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Please don't say that." 

She was still crying. "Are you upset that it's me?" She repeated the question he asked her during the ball.

"No. Never" he said as took her hands in his.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah" he smiled.

James really was not upset that it was Flora. A lot has happened between them since the last two years. Him and Flora had a complicated relationship but he was glad that she was the mystery girl. He wouldn't have it any other way. They talked for a while, not about the diary, but about anything else. They talked about Quidditch and their lessons till it was time to leave.

They were both happy after the encounter. Nothing remotely romantic had happened. They did not kiss or even talk about their feelings but for now, it was enough. They did not need to rush their relationship.

The final Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw was soon upon them. After the Hogsmeade trip, Flora and James had become good friends. All their friends were surprised whenever they saw Flora and James having a normal conversation. Sirius and Remus had started teasing James about liking Flora and he would always become red in the face and start denying it. Mathias and Peter had a good laugh at that.

It was the morning of the match and Frank was having a fit. He was going around giving every team member an individual speech about winning the game.

Madam Hooch blew the whistle, and the players took off the ground. The game was extremely interesting and fun and Flora was excellent as she scored many goals for her team.

After hours of trying to catch the snitch, Mathias finally caught it and the entire Gryffindor team got off their brooms and started running towards each other.

James was running towards her and she thought he was gonna hug her but he surprised her as he came and immediately kissed her. The pitch was in a bit of chaos and thankfully not many people saw that but those who saw, especially their friends were extremely surprised. No one expected such a turn of events.

James was too excited after they won the game and his only thought was Flora. He had promised himself after the Hogsmeade trip that he was gonna take it slow but after the match, maybe it was adrenaline, but as soon as he got off his broom, he ran to Flora and kissed her. 

He hesitantly backed off as he realized what he was doing to see Flora smiling. He gave her a grin and before anything else could happen they were engulfed in a group hug by their team.

The entire team was in the changing room, talking showers and getting changed. The Gryffindor common room was preparing for the arrival of the team by organising a big celebration.

The players started leaving one by one whilst James waited for Flora. As Flora got back after shower, she saw James waiting for her.

She needed to talk to him about what happened. She approached him and they started walking towards the Gryffindor common room.

 They had reached the staircase when Flora suddenly said, "I think we should be friends first, James." She said "don't get me wrong, I… I liked the kiss but…. I think we should start with being friends with each other." She rambled.

"Okay." James looked at her and smiled.

"Okay?" She repeated.

"I'll do it the right way, this time." He said as he gave her a dreamy look. "and then we'll get married one day." he completed.

"and there he is." Flora said as she rolled her eyes.

Flora and James reached the common room a little later and were engulfed in hugs by everyone as they attended them on their backs. She saw Mathias wink at her from a distance away. 

Her friends ran up to her and demanded answers. Did James just kiss you? When did you guys become friends? Are you in love with him?

She hushed them. She didn't  know the answers either.