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"Are you sure?" Josie hesitates.
"Josie, it's fine," Pandora reassures with a smile, her blond hair flowing down freely.
Later that day, Pandora isn't technically hosting a birthday party, but rather a casual get-together for friends, and Regulus will be there.
Josephine isn't keen on attending, and even though Pandora insists it's okay, Josie remains reluctant.
"Okay," Josephine sighs. "Then I'll see you... tomorrow or something. Happy birthday!" She gives Pandora a small hug before leaving the common room.
Now, she has to study with Barty and Evan, or rather, she and Barty have to coax Evan into studying.
Josie glances down at her hands as she walks to the library. Her hands are really damaged. Scabs adorn the area around her nails.
She'll admit that using nail-picking as a form of self-harm has become a habit lately, and it's taking a toll. Josie wishes her anger could overshadow the ache of missing Regulus.
Josephine only realizes someone is in front of her when she collides with them.
She staggers back, almost losing her balance, but the person grabs her arm to steady her.
Honestly, she probably wouldn't have stumbled if she had eaten something, but she has been skipping meals.
"Josephine."
Of course.
Regulus. His hand still lingers on her arm as he gazes at her with an unreadable expression.
His touch feels cold against her warm skin, as usual.
Josephine remains silent, taking a few steps back, allowing his hand to fall from her arm.
"Regulus," she utters.
His hair has grown longer in the month since they broke up.
His eyes hold an emotion she can't quite discern. As he opens his mouth to speak, she briskly walks past him.
She can't bear to look at his face for a moment longer, can't let thoughts of him kissing Priscilla invade her mind. She fervently hopes he hasn't, praying they haven't gone further, even though their parents have arranged it—knowing that, at some point, such things are likely.
Several hallways away, Josie pauses to catch her breath.
I'm fine, completely fine. She reassures herself, brushing off the encounter. Time is of the essence; she has to get to the library.
Upon arriving, she finds Barty and Evan already there.
"You're late," Evan teases with a smile.
"Yeah, sorry," she mutters as she takes her seat. "Let's get started."
Mostly, it's her and Barty helping Evan, especially with the two classes he struggles with.
About thirty minutes later, Evan groans and leans back. "This is stupid."
"Yeah, well, you have to pass," Barty insists.
"A break, please?"
Barty glances at Josie; she shrugs before he turns back to Evan. "Fine," Barty replies.
Josie chuckles before focusing on her book.
"So," Evan says, "how are you, Josette?"
She looks up with raised brows. "What do you mean?"
Evan leans forward. "I just mean with Reg—"
"I'm gonna go," she quickly interrupts before he can say his name. Josephine closes her book, grabs her bag, and leaves the library as swiftly as possible.
Can she go one day without thinking, seeing, or hearing about Regulus?
"Hi, Josie," James greets as she passes by him.
"Hello," she says, though she pauses before turning back around. "Are you busy?" she asks, already picking at her nails, prepared for the rejection he used to give her years ago.
James turns, a slight look of surprise in his eyes. "No, I was just going to meet up with Sirius."
She sucks in a breath. "Can I hang out with you two?"
James nods immediately. "Of course."
She walks up beside him. "Are you both planning to do some pranks?"
James laughs as they start to walk. "Sort of, we're planning the tricks we're going to do. It's our last year here, so," he shrugs, "we want to go all out."
She has forgotten that it's their last year. Honestly, it makes her sad. Josephine remembers when he first went off to Hogwarts. Her lips twitch at the thought of his first year.
"Can I help plan?" she asks. James turns to look at her. "Of course, Josie. We need someone with Ravenclaw smarts. Remus is actually studying, so we have no smart people."
Josephine laughs. They continue walking all the way to the Gryffindor common room.
James whispers the password to the painting, and then they are walking inside.
"Prongs, you're late—" Sirius stops his sentence once he sees Josie. "Oh, hello."
"She's helping us plan," James says. Sirius glances at James with raised brows, and James's smile widens ever so slightly.
"Alright then." Sirius shrugs.
All three of them walk to a table in the corner of the common room and start planning some pranks.
"You're taking this too seriously," Sirius says after they begin planning.
"Oh, whatever!" She rolls her eyes. "If I'm going to be involved in this, I don't want to get caught."
James huffs a laugh. "Mate, she's right. It is our last year, and we plan to try not to get caught up until the very last one."
Some part of her heals at the words "She's right" said by James.
They continue planning for many more minutes and are eventually joined by Peter and Remus.
Josephine stops paying attention to the plan when Peter asks to play wizard chess with her.
She mutters the instructions to the pieces under her breath. The piece obeys and smashes one of Peter's.
Peter groans. "How are you winning?"
She laughs slightly. "Strategy," she simply replies.
They continue with the game for a rather long time. Even the other boys start to pay attention.
Peter's eyes widen when he realizes Josie won. "How—" He cuts himself off.
A bright smile comes on her face as she leans back in the chair. "I win," she laughs. James claps as if she had won a big award. "Good job, though, Peter. Usually, the people I play with lose immediately. I can teach you some ways to win."
Peter nods with a smile.
"Now I need to get back to my dorm. I'll see you all later." She gives them a smile before grabbing her bag and going to leave.
James quickly follows after her. When they are by the entrance, Josephine turns. "Thank you for today," she tells him.
James smiles. "You're always welcome, Josie."
She gives him another smile before leaving.
~~~~~ school is actually going to kill me😍🙏🏻 ALSOOO 6 chapters again!!!
