he's the reason | james potter. remus lupin.

confessions

Shannon had to talk to Marlene when Lily wasn't around. She just felt like she was going to absolutely burst if she didn't tell someone how she felt about James, and that someone certainly couldn't be Lily. She knew Lily would feel awful about it, and Shannon didn't blame Lily for James liking her for all these years. Godric knows that Lily did not ask for that attention. She got her chance one night when Lily had to go on her rounds for her prefect duties.

"Marlene, I have to talk to you about something." Shannon whispered under her breath. They were sitting by the fireplace in the common room, and there were still plenty of Gryffindors spending time there. "Let's go upstairs?" She asked, Marelene agreeing. The two gathered their belongings and then headed up to their dorm. Shannon closed the door behind her carefully, before she looked at her friend. "I fancy someone." She told her, hating how she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.

"I knew it!" Marlene cheered. "I think he fancies you, too. So one of you has got to just say something to the other."

"Really?" Shannon asked excitedly, sitting down on the edge of her bed. She clasped her hands together, trying not to fidget too much. "How do you know?"

"Well." Marlene grinned and sat across from her. "He actually told Lily a while ago, at the start of the year. She swore me to secrecy for some reason. She wanted it to happen 'naturally'." She used air quotes. "It was so hard not to meddle."

"Wait..." Shannon thought. Her heart dropped. Marlene couldn't be talking about James. Even if he did like her, she doubted it has started at the beginning of the year. They had only become friendly more recently. "Who are you talking about?"

"Who are you talking about?" Marlene asked, looking confused.

The two girls stared at each other before Shannon looked away, feeling uncomfortable. This isn't how she wanted the conversation to go. "James Potter." She finally mumbled, feeling embarrassed.

"Oh!" Marlene gasped in shock. "Well, he, er. He might like you too!" She said encouragingly.

"Save it."  Shannon sighed and put her hands on her face. "I can't believe I thought you were talking about him. He obviously only likes Lily." She groaned. "Please don't tell her. I don't want her to feel bad every time he asks her out."

"He does ask her out a lot." Marlene said thoughtfully, before realizing she probably should've said something else. She moved over to Shannon's bed and wrapped an arm around her. "He might really like you though! He always looks so happy talking to you after Quidditch!"

"Yeah, sure." Shannon said quietly. "I don't even want to play in the game tomorrow." She added miserably.

"I don't think that's allowed. James would go mad." Marlene laughed.

Shannon nodded, thinking about the game. This time tomorrow, they could be celebrating their victory in the common room. She would have to get through it without showing how miserable she was.

"Don't you want to know who really, really likes you? I think it might cheer you up." Marlene finally said, breaking the silence. Shannon shrugged. She couldn't imagine who would like her. "It's Remus!" Marlene said, rolling her eyes at her friends reluctance to hear it.

"What?" Shannon asked, completely taken off guard.

"Honestly, I don't know why you're shocked. It's pretty obvious." Marlene said, Shannon immediately shaking her head at that. "Let's see... he always tries to sit next to you in the Great Hall, he organizes your little study dates, and Sirius is always making fun of him for it."

"Sirius flirting with you for no reason." Marlene rolled her eyes. "It's just to get a rise out of Remus. Maybe he's been trying to get Remus jealous enough to ask you out."

"Oh." Shannon blushed, thinking of all the situations she had misread. "You thought I liked him too?" She asked quietly.

"Honestly, yeah." Marlene said. "You two always get absorbed into your own conversations at the dinner table. It's sweet."

Shannon thought about Remus. It wasn't the worst thing in the world for Remus to like her. They got along very well, and Shannon always looked forward to seeing him. She just didn't know if she could ever completely fall for him the way that she did with James. It was then when the door opened, Lily stepping into their dorm. "What are you two doing?" She smiled at them, still sitting together on Shannon's bed.

"I was just telling Shannon how Remus likes her." Marlene said proudly, immediately dodging the pillow that Lily quickly swung at her. "She had to know eventually!" She laughed, launching back into her own bed.

"Remus was going to tell her himself soon!" Lily said, although she was laughing too.

"No way. He's too shy." Marlene shrugged. "Now Shannon can sweep him off his feet with a surprise kiss and they'll live happily ever after. Thanks to me."

Shannon was grateful that Marlene did not mention the first part of their conversation. "Well, I've got to get to sleep. I've got a big game in the morning, you know." She huffed, feeling self conscious from the conversation. The girls all said goodnight, and Shannon pulled the curtains closed around her bed. She laid awake, staring at the ceiling. Eventually she fell into a fitful sleep, but her mind would not stop conjuring up images of James and Remus for her to obsess over.

~

"I don't think I can eat." Shannon stared at her plate. She had a full plate of breakfast, but she had only ripped apart her toast.

"I felt like that before my first game, too." James told her. "But you really should try to eat something. Don't want my best player to pass out on me."

Shannon was staring down at her plate, trying to figure out which food would be most inoffensive to her stomach. She heard Remus get up and looked up in confusion. He came back a moment later, offering her a muffin. "I noticed you liked these, but there were none by where we are sitting." He explained softly enough for only her to hear.

It was an apple cinnamon muffin. She did rather enjoy them. "Thank you." She blushed at his kindness, and ripped off a part from the top, popping it in her mouth. She had eaten most of the muffin when James announced it was time for the team to head out.

Their friends all cheered good luck to them as they got ready to leave the table. Remus gently grabbed her wrist before she stood up. "You'll do great." He said, making eye contact with her.

"Thank you." She squeaked, the eye contact making her heart race. She pointedly avoided looking at Lily and Marlene. She raced after James, catching up and walking out to the pitch with the whole team.

The game was closer than they anticipated it being. The score went back and forth, which was frustrating to the whole team. Shannon, of course, wasn't necessarily looking for the Snitch, but she didn't think she saw it once. Shannon took out her frustration by whizzing the Quaffle through the goal post, barely missing their Keeper. "Good one!" James yelled and flew to be beside her.

"The score has been tied practically the whole game." Shannon complained to James.

"Let's change that." James smirked, flying into his position to restart the game. From that moment on, something clicked. Shannon supposed it was first game nerves holding them back at first. Once James and Shannon found their rhythm, they were unstoppable.

Shannon was so focused on flying toward the goal post, trying to get into an open position for James pass the Quaffle to her. She hadn't noticed the two Seeker's racing towards the Snitch. "Gryffindor catches snitch! GRYFFINDOR WINS!" The announcement came, followed by deafening cheers. At first Shannon was so caught off guard that she just hung in the air. She then saw her teammates all flying to the ground, so she followed. Her feet had only just touched the ground when she was flung into the air again. She screamed in surprise as James spun her around.

"You were incredible, Thompson! Now all there's left to do is celebrate!"