In the World of Magic(Harry Potter Next Generation Fanfic)

Chapter 23 - In Denial

Amanda's POV

If I could I would've only drank butter bear. It literally was the sweetest thing in the entire world. James didn't really understand my obsession, even though he agreed that it was good.

The Three Broomsticks were quite filled with people and the sound all around us was calming but still quite annoying.

James and I had not said much about the halloween night. When we had first met in the morning we had only shared a few words about. We had agreed that our vision could have been effected by the alcohol in our system. It could have just been a wolf or something. After we had agreed on that we had dropped the subject, to both of our reliefs I think.

"I don't really have anything against him", I told James calmly before taking another sip from the delicious drink in my hand. James frowned and shook his head. I had to say he looked really good that day. His hair was very messy and he looked pretty roughed up in the face. It was probably because of the hungover, but for whatever reason he was looking quite handsome.

"I don't like him. I mean I can stand him at times, but something about him makes me want to punch him in the face", James grumbled which had me smiling. We were discussing the Finnigan twins. Neither of us had anything against Peter, the one that went to Muggle Studies with me, but apparently James didn't like Alex. I had no problem with him. He had only been nice to me. James had a completely different opinion on him.

"He's nice. I mean every time he sees me he says hi and smiles", I tried to convince James. If it did anything it was make James look even more bitter. He crossed his arms over his chest in a very child like manner and leaned back in his seat. I smiled teasingly at him.

"He's only nice to you because you're pretty", James muttered which made me want to laugh and blush at the same time. James had called me pretty, even though he hadn't meant for it to be a compliment, it kind of made it better. It was how I knew he really meant it. It was also funny because with that small sentence I knew that he was a tiny bit jealous. It was what made me want to laugh.

I bit my lip before leaning forward and giving James a quick peck on the pout he was currently sporting. As I leaned back in my seat I saw that the pout was gone and instead he had a small grin on his lips.

"I think I should feel offended that he has not officially introduced us yet", a young girl announced as she slid into the seat next to me. Her hair was red and her eyes were the same shade of brown as James'. The boy across from us had light brown hair and dark eyes. Both of the two had wide smirks on their faces.

"I'm sorry but if I wanted to show an over energetic lunatic I would have taken her to zoo and showed her the hyenas", James retorted after a loud groan. It was just then that I recognized the girl as James' sister that I briefly met during the chaos with the masked people. She had looked so much younger and innocent when she had been scared like that.

"I'm Lilly, that baboon's sister. My dear cousin over there is Hugo, I can barely tolerate him", the red headed girl joked. I smiled and chuckled a little.

"I like you", I announced with a grin. Both Lilly and I turned back towards the boys at the same time. They looked terrified.

"She's found a companion, and it's a girl", the guy Lilly had introduced as Hugo breathed out. James nodded and swallowed.

"I don't think I'll survive", James then stuttered. I rolled my eyes at the two boys and a certain person caught my eyes. The person gave me a slight idea.

"Well, I wouldn't want to kill you. Oh, look it's Alex", I said with an overly happy voice. James' eyes grew into slits as he saw what I was doing. I smirked at him evilly.

"Should we call him over?", I asked with raised eyebrows which earned me a warning look from James.

"I think that is an amazing idea", Lilly chimed in with just as mischievous as me. Hugo palm faced and groaned loudly.

"It's already started", he whined. I gave Lilly a glance and just after a second of our eyes meeting we burst out into laughter.

"Yes, you're good", Lilly gladly exclaimed.

•••

James and I were walking back from the small village together. Our hands were intertwined and I liked how we changed our hold from time to time. We were just outside the village when James stopped us. He turned towards me and looked a bit unsure of how he would say but he knew he had to speak.

"Do you really like Alex?", James finally asked. I took in his whole appearance. His shoulders were hanging slightly and he looked a little sad. I moved my free hand to stroke his cheek softly. I felt how he leaned into my touch and I calmly smiled at him. It seemed to calm him slightly.

"He's nice, as a friend. Not a boyfriend, not friends with benefits if he's into that. You're my boyfriend because I like, like you. I only think he's an okay guy", I explained and saw James' face turn slightly uncomfortable when I mentioned the friends with benefits.

"Really?", he asked which I sighed at a little. I released James' hand and hel his face between both of my hands. Then I looked him into his eyes with as much honesty as I could.

After that I leaned forward and kissed him passionately. At first James only took in the feeling of our lips touching. Then I felt his hands around my waist. I smiled into the kiss and I also felt his lips form a smile.

"Do you believe me?", I asked in a breath. He chuckled a little and as I looked at him I saw wink at me.

"Sorry, but I think I'm still a little unsure", he whispered. He could only see my eye roll for a second before I once again kissed him. We stood there in the open, acting very much like couples do. The only thing that hit my mind was how uncomfortable I would have been if I had been one of those people walking past us. I hated seeing couples being all cute and disgusting in public. I had turned into one of those people. It was disgusting.

The thought alone made me giggle a little and therefor brake our kiss.

"What is it?", James asked a little amused my sudden laughter.

"We're one of those public affection couples and we haven't even been together for two weeks", I exclaimed and kept on giggling. James only looked at me as if I was crazy. Of course he wouldn't understand my crazy thoughts. Patiently he waited for my laughter to die out before starting to leading me back to the castle. His arm was around my shoulders and I had my arm around his waist.

"I swear it was funny", I tried to convince James. He only smiled and nodded, obviously not believing me.

"it was probably hilarious", he then said which made me pout. With teasing eyes James turned to me and leaned forward. He pecked my pout but I refused to smile at him, or kiss back. It made his eyebrows raise in challenge. I only pouted a little more. That was until he started pecking my face all over. I wasn't mad for real, which made it so much harder to keep my face. When he started kissing my nose over and over I couldn't hold it in. Just as I started to laugh I felt something hit the back of head.

"You two are disgusting! I take back my approval", Christina whined at us as she and Allison passed us. Both James and I started to laugh at her disgusted expression.

"Christina!", I yelled as she turned away from us. She turned back around wondering what I wanted. I just smirked and then kissed James on the mouth.

"Ugh!", Christina gagged but I was only focused on laughing at her face expression. After enough laughing she also joined in our laughter. The day had turned out to be even better than the last trip to Hogsmead, which was quite amazing since I had been so happy after the first. I guess things had just started to get a little better overall. Especially since I was convinced that the animal in the forest had been just that, an animal. I was sure that it totally hadn't been a magical creature out to kill. Of course it had.