The Art Of Falling/ JAMES POTTER

12

     "This is actually the first time i've ever been to the Hufflepuff common room." Cally told her friend, looking around and examining the room.

      "That's crazy, considering you have tons of hufflepuff friends." Callum said with his usual sarcastic tone. "When will you stop bullying me?" Cally threw her hands with frustration. "Read my mouth, never." he then laughed at his own joke.

      "No way, y'all got the most comfortable couches ever." she said, hopping on one. "Now you know why i say our common room is better." the boy told the girl, before sitting on the beanbag next to her.

      "Do you think i can like switch to Hufflepuff? You guys have no shared classes with Gryffindor except for potion right? That'd be perfect." Cally sighed. "I'm sure you'd make a great Hufflepuff, but it's too late for the sorting hat to change his mind. Now, will you tell me the reason why you're acting like the grim reaper is after you?" Callum asked the girl.

      Cally covered her face with her hands. She didn't want to see the boy's face as she told him her secret. "I kissed Remus."

      "What!? I thought you were over him?" the boy exclaimed in shock. "That's the problem. I am over him. But he- there was- so much tension. And he looked so good, Merlin. I was happy with my little crush on him, with how we were friends and all. But now i ruined everything." the girl whined. "Well, avoiding him won't make it any better i'm sure. But how did you give up so easily, what happened?" Callum genuinely asked.

       "I have no idea. I don't want things to change. I don't want him or his friends to hate me." Cally said. She had this weird complex of feeling like she had to be loved by everyone. "There you go again. It's not important what they think Cal. You just gotta choose the best for yourself." her friend scolded her.

       "James has been avoiding me." the Gryffindor let out. "Since when?" Callum furrowed his brows. "Since before i kissed Remus, so i don't even know what it is that i did, but i was just starting to think..." she didn't continue.

       "Think what?" Callum asked with an irritated voice. "Think we were getting along. I'm gonna be honest, I thought we were growing sort of close. But now he's avoiding me and we're back to square one."

     "Why is that bothering you? It'll be just like before, like it never happened." Callum asked mindlessly. "How dense can you be? He helped me with lots, so i care about him. Would you not care if i stopped being friends with you?" Cally asked with an offended attitude.

      "No of course i would care, i just found it odd that you suddenly started caring so much about him. I don't know how or when he helped you but if you say so." "He's also head over heels for Lily..." the girl blurted out.

      "What- No, why? First of all, Lily is clearly not interested in him and second of all, why do you care?" Callum questioned the girl. He didn't think the Potter boy was head over heels for the girl at all. He would know, since he had been spending lots of time with the Evans girl. And James never once appeared in their conversations.

      "He's always looking at her! And he basically ditched me the other day to do an assignment with her." the Gryffindor girl defended herself. "You mean the time he asked us about the history of the magic essays? I thought he was making shit up, boy was i right." the boy chuckled at the thought.

      "Us? You were there too? Why would he lie about the assignment? It just proves my point, he's avoiding me!" Cally exclaimed. She was growing more disappointed and annoyed by the moment.

      "Maybe it's not you he's avoiding, maybe it's Remus?" Callum suggested. "Bullshit, he's his best friend." she said before quickly adding "Why are we even talking about James? What am I going to do about Remus?"

      "You're just gonna take a deep breath in and let things happen the way they are supposed to happen. Have some faith in sister goddesses yeah?"

~•~•~•~

Cally was relieved when she realized the things haven't changed after the kiss. Well except for James Potter, but that was a whole another thing. She and Remus were as close as before and thankfully there was no awkwardness.

But the normal behavior didn't mean the teenagers feelings didn't change. Cally was growing more sure of her feelings, they were not there anymore. And Remus on the other hand, was more aware of his feelings ever since. He was now sure of one thing, he  definitely did fancy the girl.

Remus Lupin was afraid, scared even. He wanted to tell her how he felt, was willing to take the risk even if she didn't return his feelings. But what scared him even more was, the idea of her liking him back. With the lycanthropy he had ever since he was four, it didn't seem possible for the boy to be in a relationship.

Hell, he didn't think he would have any friends in Hogwarts before he started, but there he was, with his three friends that he would make many sacrifices for.

"Are you two dating now mate?" James Potter asked his friend. "No? Where did you even get the idea from?" Remus answered the question with confusion.

"Don't know, just wanted to ask. I know you would make the best boyfriend out of all four of us. And you guys seemed like you had something going on." he continued explaining. "We're no different from before. How come you don't notice?" Remus found his friends lack of attention to his surroundings odd.

"It's not important that I didn't notice, i'm asking you if you're gonna ask her out soon. Christmas is coming, wouldn't you like a new years kiss?" James grinned.

       "I can't, you know about my lycanthropy and I can't let anyone get hurt by being too close to me." the boy sighed. James felt sad for his friend, and he felt guilty too.

      "Come on Moony, cheer up! You deserve to live the life as a teenager just like everyone else. You can't always avoid things because you're afraid. Take risks, I'm sure Annie wouldn't even care about your situation. You can't live the rest of your life thinking what if and then regret not doing anything." the boy encouraged his friend.

       The words of encouragements seemed to do their jobs, because Remus Lupin was now smiling at his friend. "Yeah, you might be right. I mean what's the worst that can happen. Nothing happened till now, and i'll be careful in the future. I'll ask her out before Christmas, and it's fine if she rejects me. Thanks Prongs, I really appreciate you."

      "Of course mate, whenever you need." James told his friend, with the feeling of instant regret. He then scolded himself for it.

~•~•~•~

      Cally slammed her hands on the table, gaining the boy's attention. "I have no idea what's going on with you and why you're avoiding me. But since the Christmas is coming up, i still have to ask if we're still on?" she asked with an annoyed voice.

      James was startled by the girl. He had to gather the words together for a second before talking "Yeah no of course we are, I invited you after all."

      "Then why are you ignoring me James? Just tell me what i did so i can at least make it up to you." Cally whined in frustration.

       "You did nothing wrong, i'm not ignoring you i-" James' eyes met hers, he felt a bubble of uneasiness grow in his stomach. "I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you on Christmas break, is that okay?" the boy asked, scared of the answer.

       Cally sighed, she was ready to pour out all her anger on the boy, but the moment he talked, she knew she wasn't going to be able to. "It's fine. I just hope we won't be like this forever, i missed talking to you."

      James cussed himself at the girl's words. "We won't, i missed you too Cauliflower." he grinned. Cally gasped at the nickname, with an offended voice she replied "Oh so that's how we are? I see, i see how it is Flebag.".

      They kept bickering the whole afternoon. Which they both were grateful for, after not talking for such long time. Cally seemed to have forgotten about all the times he's avoided him at the moment. And James managed to push the idea of Remus asking her out to the back of his mind.