ᴅᴀᴛᴇ ғᴏʀ ғᴀᴋᴇ → ᴊᴀᴍᴇs ᴘᴏᴛᴛᴇʀ

↳ 22: 7.3 SECONDS

THE GREAT HALL WAS BUZZING with students excited and not excited to be back at Hogwarts after the holidays. Freya sat in her usual seat next to Lily and with Alice, Marlene, and Mary in front of them. The five were catching up with their holiday gossips and whatnot when an unfamiliar face sat himself to the other side of Freya.
 
          "Freya,"

          Freya looked to her right and the half eaten hash brown fell from her mouth as she saw the person. "Oh, dear, Henry?"

          The blonde man smiled widely and within a second, Freya was engulfed in a hug by the man. And how convenient it was that they hugged the moment the Marauders entered the Great Hall. And the greets to the famous foursome was ignored when James zoomed in on Freya hugging the dude.

           "Oh, hell, no!"

           Remus saw what James was suddenly screeching about and held his shoulder back. "Don't create a scene the first day of back to school, Prongs."

           "But that bloke is hugging my girl —"

           Remus rose an eyebrow at the word 'my', knowing definitely that Freya Merse was not his girl. Beside them, Remus also saw Sirius staring dangerously at the same direction and the werewolf couldn't help but just sigh.

           "Kind of understandable though," Sirius mused. "Look at his robes — he's a Slytherin."

           Back at Freya's spot, her and Henry had started talking. "Why didn't I see you at holidays, girl?"

          Lily, Marlene, Alice, and Mary exchanged looks at the man's sudden girlish tone but decided not to ask. Freya pouted. "Oh, sorry, hun, I spent Christmas at Mom's with Froyce."

         The man's eyes shone at the mention of the name and he smirked. "And, where is, dear, Froyce?"

         Freya rolled her eyes with an amused smile. "Stop fancying my brother, it gets on my nerves!"

         "But he's beautiful!" And at that moment, the four other girls in the table understood the new person.

         "Whatever." Freya stuck her tongue out, making the lad roll her eyes.

         "Well, I just wanted to check on you, it feels like forever." Henry said. "This whole Slytherin and Gryffindor rivalry is so frustrating."

         Freya huffed. "Oh, tell me about it."

        "Yeah, well, I'll be seeing you in summer here in Britain, right?" Henry asked, raising an eyebrow, and Freya nodded.

         "Of course." Freya grinned.

         "Oh, splendid!" Henry squealed. "Well, I'll be off now, don't want any Slytherin nor Gryffindors looking at us with murder."

        Henry pulled himself up the chair. He smiled one last time at Freya, "See you, love."

        Freya giggled, "See you, hun."

        And what a (un)coincidence it was that James had arrived the moment the two were saying their goodbyes. Henry didn't seem to notice the shameless glares of James directed towards him as he passed by him. Having been following Henry with her gaze, Freya then only realized that James was standing in front of her. "Oh, hey, James."

         James looked very offended as his face scrunched. "Seriously?"

         Freya looked at her friends — and the four all looked as confused as she was — at the table confusedly then back at James. "What?"

         "You call me, James, and you call him 'hun'?" James asked as if it was the most heinous crime in the world. "That's your pet name for me, Frey!"

         Freya rose an eyebrow at the distressed looking boy in front of him, "You mean, Henry?"

         "Oh, so, Henry is his name?" James asked sarcastically. He placed his hands on his hips and looked disappointed that Freya kept on getting confused.

         "I'm sorry, I'm confused. What's happe —"

         "James, leave it be." Remus suddenly arrived, placing a hand on James' elbow and pushing him backwards. "I'm saving you from embarrassment."

         "No," James said childishly and stubbornly, shrugging off Remus' hand and making the lad roll his eyes. "I want to know who and what were you doing with that man."

         "With Henry?" Freya asked, still very much confused.

         James rolled his eyes. "Yes, with Henry." James said the name as if it had diseases. "I want to know why you were hugging him for 7.3 seconds."

         "Here we go." Remus grumbled, grabbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

         And as Freya stared at James with his hands on his hips and with Remus grumbling about over reacting, Freya knew the answer. With a smirk, she answered, "He's my neighbor at my dad's place. And he just wanted to know why I didn't spend holidays with my dad."

         "And why would he want to know that?"

         Freya couldn't help but be amused James being sassy. She shrugged, feigning nonchalance, as she answered, "Because he's my friend."

         "A guy friend does not hug you for 7.3 seconds!" James exclaimed, not even minding that people were starting to look at him.

         "Oh, you would know all about that, won't you?"

         "Yes, I do." James said stubbornly. "And I know, to a fact, that he's got more than friendship on his mind."

         Freya stared at James very amusedly — especially the way he was fuming in a very childish, spoiled, brat, way. Her smirk went wider and she asked, "James, hun, are you jealous?"

         "Of course, I am!" James bursted that it momentarily caught Freya off guard by how blunt he was.

         Still, it made Freya giggle, "You're my boyfriend, James."

         "But you hugged him for 7.3 seconds." James said annoyed in tone.

         Freya rolled her eyes and everyone watched — Marlene and Mary in gushes, Alice and Remus both rolling their eyes' but still smiling playfully, Lily with face scrunching, and the rest of the students that were near them that witnessed — as she stood up and settled in front of James. James only remained frowning at her. Not, until, she wrapped her arms around James' torso and squeezed him, settling her head on his shoulder.

          James quickly melted in her touch. The hands that were on his hips were retreated and he then wrapped them around Freya's neck, pulling her closer. "Don't ever hug someone like that again."

          "He's gay, James." Freya muttered on his neck, making James shiver slightly.

          "Still. No one touches my girl."

          And James didn't knew how ecstatic those words made Freya feel.