ᴄʜᴀɴɢɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀᴛʜ sᴇᴛ ɪɴ sᴛᴏɴᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏsᴇᴠᴇɴ ↬↣↫ ғᴇᴇʟɪɴɢs

⋄⋄⋅⋅✺⋆⋄•☽❁☙❁♥︎❁❧❁☾•⋄⋆✺⋅⋅⋄
Authors note; still can't upload gifs. >:(
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⋯℘☠︎❧♥︎☙☠︎℘⋯
❝I am still me.
You are still you
In the same place
Isn't it strange . . .
How people can change.
From strangers to friends . .❞
⋯℘☠︎❧♥︎☙☠︎℘⋯
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"JAMES, CAN I SPEAK with you?" asked Olive, pulling her curly hair behind her ears. It was the morning after the destruction of the diary and the tiara and with the them now destroyed, Olive could focus on other things, things like James Potter. She was in much higher spirits now and ready to face her other problems.

James looked at her for a second, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape. They had just finished their first class of the day, Transfiguration, and had fifteen minutes until the next one.

"I — I can't." He said, his voice breaking. He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his messy hair, an action she had seen happen many times when he was nervous or in distress. "I need to get to class."

"But —" he was gone before she could utter another word.

The next day, determined to set things right, Olive tried again. She spotted him walking towards her, or rather towards the Great Hall for breakfast, along with the rest of the marauders. She waved at him with a small smile, trying to get his attention.

James stared back at her, a conflicted expression on his face. Without a word, he turned on his heel and disappeared into the throng of students, leaving Olive staring after him, feeling a pang of guilt and frustration.

Her heart sank as she watched him go. Sirius watched with a sigh of disappointment and then stepped closer to Olive, offering her a reassuring smile. "He'll come around, you know," his tone was gentle. Olive knew he was trying to ease her worries but it didn't really work. "James can be a bit thick-headed sometimes, but he just needs time to figure things out."

"We miss having you around," Remus spoke up. "It's not the same without you at mealtimes. Why don't you come sit with us now? James is gone and we could all use a bit of your charm right now."

"Yeah," Sirius agreed with a big grin, "the lack of it is making me have withdrawal symptoms." He pretended to shake violently, which made Olive chuckle.

They were trying so hard to make her feel better, to remind her that she wasn't alone. It warmed her heart but despite the comfort their offer brought, she knew she couldn't accept it, not just yet.

"Honestly, I really want too . . . but I think James needs you guys more than I do." She sighed, "please try to talk to him for me. I just wanna talk, that's all."

The boys nodded and they parted ways. By the time dinner rolled around, she had resolved to give James some time, perhaps a few more days for him to think. Olive instead sat down with Lily and the others, silently glancing down the length of the Gryffindor table. She caught sight of James at the Marauders' in their usual spot, laughing as if nothing had changed. But things had changed. She could see the strain behind his eyes, the forced cheerfulness in his laughter.

She also saw Sirius and Remus glancing her way almost every other second. She missed them and sent them a little smile. They returned it.

Unable to bear it any longer, Olive decided to seek solace elsewhere. She quietly said goodbye to her sister and left the hall, making her way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, the one place she felt she could let down her guard nowadays. As she entered, Myrtle floated over, her face lighting up at the sight of Olive.