Loverboy

fall

James had considered just going to bed. Maybe he had actually just taken a nap between classes, maybe that girl was really just a weird dream. And everything about it seemed like some bizarre dream- she had just appeared, and seemed so disoriented, and she was so... majestic.

So, as James donned his Invisibility Cloak, just as the sun began to set , the only thing he could really see was that face. The tan skin, so much like his own, dotted with freckles. The pale amber eyes, the long, white hair. And the way she dressed was so odd, too. The choker necklace, the bizarre piece of fabric holding her hair back, the unkempt uniform, the heavy eyeliner. 

She didn't look like she belonged there. That girl was different, and James knew it. And he'd be damned if he didn't do something about it. So the minute Peter's snores filled the room, he took advantage of the loud noise to slip out of his bed and out of the dorm.

---

Early October was one of the nicest times at Hogwarts, or at least Ollie thought so. The trees around the campus had already turned magnificent oranges and reds and yellows, the weather was continuing to cool off, and something about the paths littered with leaves and the brisk winds just captivated her.

And not only the scenery, but something about the crisp air. So as she walked down one of those leaf-covered paths, her hair blowing in the breeze, she couldn't help but smile.

Or perhaps her excitement wasn't about the season- perhaps it had something to do with the Ravenclaw sweater she was wearing, or the fact it smelled like Pierre's cologne. Or, maybe, it was because she was walking to the courtyard where she was to meet him for another afternoon spent together under the cloudy sky.

And when she stepped into the little square with the tile floor covered in leaves, she didn't even bother trying to contain her smile. Pierre was sitting under the tree in the center, and so Ollie joined him.

Again, neither of them would say that was a date. Though, of course, it certainly felt like one. And to an outsider, it would certainly seem like the pair were an item, what with the way they were constantly sitting together in the halls and across the grounds.

They had spent so much time together over the past six weeks, and it was clear to anyone who would look on that they liked each other, so why were they so insistent that they were nothing more than friends?

Ollie wondered that every evening. They would sit together at dinner, they would hold hands between classes, they would go together to Hogsmeade and sit in cafes. For Merlin's sake, she wore his Ravenclaw sweater that day. And yet he never made a move to change their relationship.

Ollie was a romantic, you see. She wanted to write love letters, she wanted flowers. She loved the idea of a perfect teen romance, like what she would read about in those Muggle novels Remus lent her. And Pierre would be the perfect boyfriend, she just knew.

He would take her out on cute dates, he would give her bouquets of beautiful flowers, he would buy her chocolates just for the hell of it, he would do everything just right. Ollie could tell just from the way he treated her as friends. He would treat her the way she deserved, and she knew he would, and he had everything she could wish for.

And inexplicably, he had hadn't asked her out officially yet. Of course, neither had she, but Ollie had a feeling that he was going to any day now.

Well, Ollie thought it was inexplicable. Truthfully, though, it was a very simple reason. Pierre thought her heart belonged to another. Pierre liked Ollie very much, he really did, and he wanted to be that perfect boyfriend. But, in his mind, she already had that perfect boyfriend.

He saw the way she would lean against him when their friend group would hang out. He saw the smiles the two would exchange, and he heard the way he would talk about her when he thought she wasn't listening to the conversation.

Pierre liked Ollie. A lot, really. She was funny and sweet and charming and everything he could possibly ask for. But he wasn't the type of guy to step in on someone else's relationship. Yes, he had a huge crush on her, and he definitely showed it in his actions, but he would never overtly flirt with a taken woman. Ollie already had a boyfriend, clearly. And Pierre would admit, he was jealous, but Ollie and James just fit together so well, and he wouldn't want to interfere.

Despite being convinced that she was taken, Pierre wouldn't stop Ollie from leaning against his shoulder, or taking his hand. For a while, Pierre wouldn't return these small gestures, but seeing her other friends putting their arms around her, or show other gestures of affection changed his mind. So now, when Ollie pressed her blue-and-bronze clad shoulder against Pierre's, he leaned into the touch.

He assumed she did this with most of her friends, but of course, he was sorely mistaken. Pierre saw the occasional glance between Ollie and James, one of her best friends, but he didn't see all the times she would look at him just for the sake of looking at him. He saw the physical affection between her and her friends, but he didn't think anything of it when she would go a step above that.

Ollie had always liked fall, but sitting under that tree as the leaves were turning color, with Pierre by her side, she started to consider that maybe, just maybe, she was starting to love it.

---

hey sorry for taking like a million years lol, i got back from a trip and got distracted by summer work, and I'm taking two APs this year, which means more homework, which means less free time lol. I can't believe it's been over two years!! I think today is actually the one year anniversary of my publishing the first chapter for the first time! Thank you all for sticking with it so long, I wouldn't be able to do all of this if it weren't for you guys. All my love, atlas <3

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