𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐏A𝐑𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐄, jp

Ignoring.

Two weeks had passed since the party, and it's safe to say that James Potter was confusing the living daylights out of Isabella.

He'd pass her with a smile whenever he was with Remus, but he wouldn't say a thing to her. Yet whenever he was alone or with just Peter, he'd spark up a conversation and find different ways to flirt with her. It was exhausting, and annoying.

She decided she'd ignore him for the sake of saving her sanity. She needed to focus on her school work anyway, so she was drowning herself in text books and notes, trying to focus on school and catching up.

As soon as James realised she was ignoring him, he quickly came to realise he didn't quite like it.

"How are you, Bells?" He asked one morning in the Great Hall when Remus wasn't there.

"You're talking to me now, hm?" She quirked an eyebrow up at him, her eyes focusing on a letter her mother had sent her.

"I'm always talking to you," he replied, reaching across from her so that he could grab an apple from the bowl next to her, making a point to brush past her as he did.

"Not when you're around my brother," she said in a sing-song voice, still not looking up from the letter. She wasn't even reading it anymore, she was bored of her mother reminding her to stay positive around Remus, especially around the current time, which was the full moon, when Remus was usually the crankiest he could be.

Izzy liked to pretend that she didn't keep track of when the full moons were, however, a teeny-tiny part of her did because she still worried for Remus and what he went through, the other part of her did because she worried for herself when around him at that time.

"I don't know what you're talking about," James said with a smirk that told her he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Of course you don't," she finally met his gaze, and he was staring right at her with a look of pure adoration on his stupidly handsome face. Why did he have to look so good? It made it so hard to ignore him.

"You didn't answer my question," he said with a soft smile, "how are you?"

"I'm fine, Jamie," she replied, finding the nickname suited him. She didn't quite understand the whole 'Prongs' thing, and had decided that Jamie was much nicer than whatever that was.

"From barely paying attention to me the past two weeks to Jamie, you'll forever confuse me, Bells," the smirk returned to his face.

"Leave off, Potter, you're the one that started ignoring me first!"

"I disagree."

"You're stupid."

"You're the one failing classes, miserably, might I add."

"Shut up."

"I could," he said, "or I could help you get better at them."

"You could," she picked up the fork she had abandoned on her plate as soon as she received her letter, "but you're too scared to talk to me in front of my brother, so how would that work out?"

"I'm not scared, I just want to keep the peace," he corrected her. "Besides, Moony doesn't have to know, we'll go to the library."

"That's his favourite spot."

"Oh," he paused, "you're right, but we can find somewhere, I'm sure. If you need my help, that is."

"I don't need your help," she decided, "you want to keep the peace with Remus, so we will."

James frowned. "I don't want you failing your classes, though," James said again, his voice quieter but insistent. "And I don't want us to never talk. I like talking to you, you're interesting."