true loves poison • james potter

24

"He thought I was joking." Lorelei vented for what had to be the hundredth time about James's revelation two days prior. She had spent the weekend in her dorm playing with her new self-shuffling playing cards. Her favorite to play was Solitaire.

Finally having to leave the comfort of her room for the first day of classes in the new year, all her confusion and frustration bubbled up again.

"You're going to have to forgive him eventually." Melissa said, calm listening to Lorelei's plight again.

"I- It's not that I'm upset, I just don't understand how he thought I was joking from directly asking him to join me for the party."

"Look." Liz cut in, "Either you move on, forgive him, and stop thinking about it or you keep talking in circles and drive yourself and us crazy."

Lorelei sighed. "I know."

Walking into potions, Lorelei got back into the comfortingly familiar pattern of schooling. The break had nearly driven her crazy, and she was ready to have things to do other than playing solitaire and reading.

The first day eased by at a happy pace, leaving Lorelei satisfied with how much she learned but also dreading the mountain of homework that was now piling up in her bag.

"They want to prepare us for NEWTs." Lorelei reminded Liz as she complained about the workload.

"What's a job I can get where I don't have to know things?" Liz asked.

"Working at the ministry?" Melissa suggested, making Liz snort.

"Journaling for the daily prophet?" Lorelei suggested, making Liz and Melissa both snort.

Liz heaved her eyes to the ceiling, "I'm serious!"

"So am I!" Lorelei doubled down, "It's just writing bullshit, anyone could do that."

Sitting in the couches in the common room, Liz rested her elbow on the backrest, "But you still have to make something up, which is too much brain usage."

Plopping onto the floor in front of the coffee table, Lorelei pulled out her potions essay. "Making things up is easy."

"Says the girl who loves essays so much she formats her life in essay format."

Smiling, Lorelei started writing, "Exactly."

"No, that means you don't get a say because you have said the essay format so many times I have it memorized." Liz said drolly.

Melissa threw her legs over the armrest of the seat, "Speaking of, how's your project going Lorelei?"

"Oh Godric." Lorelei grumbled, finishing her sentence before setting her quill down. Shrugging, she answered, "Poorly, I think would be the best answer." Chuckling softly, she continued, "I just... It's hard making a plan to follow when I now know him, you know? Playing with his life feels a bit more sinister now that we are like, almost friends."

"Oh come on, have you forgotten how much he tormented Lily? I know he apologized, but he still pulls cruel pranks on people." Liz reminded her.

"But," Melissa added, "if you don't want to do it anymore there's no one to check you. You know, no one can force you to play the social game."

Biting a hangnail, Lorelei thought about the situation. If she continued and succeeded, getting James romantically interested in her and then crushing his heart, she would be hurting someone who was now her friend. But, if she called it all off and just became friends with James she would be abandoning her original goal.

"I don't know." She finally said. "I don't want to hurt James, really, but I also think that playing into the social game is not only entertaining, but I think could make a difference. I mean, I haven't heard a single embarrassing rumor about anyone who isn't James, his friends, or me."

Fiddling with one of the pillows thrown on the couch, Liz suggested, "Maybe you could see if you can hook Potter, play flirt or whatever because then at least you're keeping the social body interested in you. The rumors would be entertaining, but then you could still keep a friendship with Potter."

Picking her quill up again, Lorelei answered, "Wouldn't that be using him? Or worse, what if he asks me out or something and interprets the playful flirting as an actual flirt? What if he listens to the gossip?"

"Okay, okay." Liz said, sitting up straight, "First of all, Potter doesn't listen to rumors. It's a well known reason why people gossip about him so much, because he doesn't care at all. And second, you could choose to gently let him down and hope your friendship stays intact, or just go with it and see what happens. If you don't feel the same way, you can crush his heart like you initially planned."

"Or you could fall in love." Melissa added casually.

Mulling over their words while flipping Melissa the bird with her left hand, Lorelei started writing her essay again. "I'll think about it."

Melissa and Liz challenged one another to a game of wizards chess, leaving Lorelei to finish her essay by herself.

After finishing, she set her quill down and shook her hand. Grabbing her things she wandered up to the common room so she could set her essay out to dry. As she set her paper on her bedside table, she heard a clinking noise by the window. Looking over, she saw a brown owl pecking at the window.

Thinking it to be slightly unusual for her to be getting post so late, she opened the window anyway. The graceful animal flew in and perched on the end of her bed. Grabbing a spare treat from Elizabeth's stash, Lorelei gave it to the owl before grabbing the letter from its leg and letting it back out.

Unraveling the parchment, thick letters stared back at her, reading:

Lorelei, fancy a midnight stroll? If yes, walk to your common room door.
(Important: Do Not Leave your common room. I will come get you.)
- JFP

Reading the parchment four times, Lorelei didn't understand how James would know when she made it to the door, but curiosity got the best of her and she walked back down to the common room.

Everyone else had already gone to bed, leaving Melissa and Liz as the only ones still down there playing chess.

"Where are you going?" Liz asked as she watched Lorelei walk to stand by the door.

Flapping the parchment through the air, she answered uncertainly, "James asked me to go on a midnight stroll with him."

"Is that a good idea?" Melissa asked, one of her pawn pieces moving forward.

She shrugged, "Who knows. He probably has a glowing ball or something that shows when others are nearby."

A quiet knock sounded on the door. Pulling it open, Lorelei saw... An empty corridor. "James?" She whispered uncertainly, poking her head out to look at each side to see if he was hidden somewhere.

Suddenly, a head popped out of the center of the air. "Come on."