The Art Of Falling/ JP

7

Cally didn't know why Remus didn't make it to the library on monday. She didn't know why he didn't show up on tuesday too. Then Wednesday, Thursday then the whole week.

The boy looked very tired, looked like he hardly made it to the classes. Whenever Cally would ask, he would try to give her his brightest smile and tell her not to worry about it.

But she did worry. There was only nothing she could do about it. After their last study session in the library, James seemed to be the one to replace Remus for the week, not that it bothered Cally.

She asked the boy multiple times the same questions to get the same exact answers every time, so she thought she'd drop it till next time. Instead, she nagged at the Potter boy.

"So you're telling me, he cornered you and Sirius with a large group of Slytherins?" Cally asked, laughing at the image.

The boy rolled his eyes, "Yes, and it wasn't funny. I thought i was gonna die, it was very traumatizing." said the boy, only for the the girl laugh harder. Cally apologized with a guilty smile after she finally stopped laughing.

      "How's Remus today? Is he ever gonna be okay again?" Cally asked suddenly. James smiled at the way she was worried. "Yeah he'll probably start joining us on Monday. You could just say i'm boring you too." he said.

      "If I didn't want to, then I promise you i'd find a way not to, trust me." she replied to the boys joke. He threw his arm around the girl's shoulder, leaning against her head. The sudden weight made the girl almost fall before trying to push the boy away, failing at the attempt.

     "Stop worrying about others too much Annie. If I didn't know, i'd think you were a hufflepuff. Instead, you should focus on yourself and ask for help when you need it you know?" James stated not letting go of the girl.

     Cally was dumbfounded by what James just said. He sounded kind and genuine, it almost made the girl break down in tears. But she didn't do that. Instead, she expressed her confusion "What do you mean?" she asked softly.

     "I mean it's okay to be upset with things and i'm always ready to listen to your problems, everyone is."

      "Thank you, James. I really appreciate it." was all she could say. They walked in silence for a while. Cally was the one to break it when she finally spoke "I'm tired of being the bad guy between Lily and Zelda. They're pretending like it's my responsibility to smooth things over between them, and yet when i do try and fix it, they're blaming me for picking sides. It's so frustrating."

     "That's still going on? Do they not realize how they're not only hurting each other but you too?" James asked, looking at down at the girl. "Maybe you should just let them be. This way, they might actually understand how harmful their stupid grudge is to you." he suggested.

     "I could try, only hoping for the best. There's so many other things going on in my head and dealing with the girls is driving me over the edge." Cally said, regretting her words immediately.

     "What else is going on in that beautiful head of yours, tell me Annie?" the boy asked softly once again. He was noticing how drained she would look at times, that she'd get quiet randomly and nobody would notice, except for James. He desperately wanted to help the girl who helped him more than she took credit for over the years. She would always pretend to be annoyed by the boy so he wouldn't have to thank her every time.

     "Nothing important really. Just all the classes and the cold weather you know?" Cally replied, hoping he wouldn't ask no further questions. He simply nodded at the response, not wanting to overwhelm the girl.