lovesick || r. lupin

⁷owlery

"Bloody fucking hell, Pete, you practically broke the toilet from that huge dump you just took!" Sirius yelled across the boys dorm from the bathroom, dramatically plugging his nose as he fake gagged. He cursed again, muttering, "What'd you eat? Stinksap?"

"Oh, bug off!"

"I'm for real, Worms, I'm worried for your health."

"Maybe if you worried more about being late to class you wouldn't already have a detention," Remus sarcastically remarked, a smug smirk on his face as he shoved parchment messily into his bag.

Sirius groaned loudly and rolled his eyes as he stepped out of the restroom, holding a hairbrush in his hand, thrumming it against his leg. "Maybe if-"

"Have any of you seen my shoes?! I can't find them and I put them right there!" James was under his bed, his arm bend backwards in an awkward position, pointing to one of the chairs in the corner of the groups room.

Peter cackled, tying his tie, "How'd you already lose your shoes, its only the third day?"

James huffed, popping out from under his bed, his shirt askew and untucked. "I dunno, maybe I..." the dark haired boy paused, in a trance of thought and with in seconds he yelped, "Shit! I'll see you guys in class, I just remembered where I left them!" and shot out of the room, carry his dirt stained bag and having his sock covered feet slap against the floor.

-----

James couldn't believe he had left his shoes in the Owlery last night. He told himself that he wouldn't, he even had wrote a reminder on his hand for goodness sake, but somehow he did. The boy had taken off his shoes while writing a letter to his parents when trying to get comfy. It was early in year of course and did seem a bit ridiculous to be writing so soon but he wanted his mum and dad to know that everyone and everything was okay. He didn't need them worrying more than they already did.

James slammed the Owlery door open, letting it hit against the wall beside it. Owls fluttered in their cages, being startled from the loud crash while he scanned the room for his black, newly shined, Derbies. To his surprise, in the middle of the chamber floor, held a girl with honey blonde hair and dark blue eyes. Ayla. Grace's fondest, and only, friend.

Her cheeks where hinted with scarlet and her eyes were held wide.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just was coming in here to find my shoes. Have you see- Ah! There they are!" James walked to where his shoes were, lifting them with caution. They were covered in owl dung.

"Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry, I should have moved them, I-"

James chuckled nervously, furrowing his brows at the mess that his new shoes had become. "Don't worry about it, I should have remembered to grab them," He answered. He looked towards Ayla and gave her a crooked smile, attempting to not make her feel uncomfortable. He couldn't even imagine how embarrassed she must have felt when Grace had spilled that she liked him. He didn't mind. A handful of girls had confessed their love to him before so it wasn't new. But for some reason it did feel new. Something was different and James couldn't put his finger on it.

"So, what are you doing up here?" He questioned, lightly scraping his shoes on the floor to get them clean.

"Just..." James looked towards the girl as she paused. Ayla was looking at a pile of parchment with a quill on top of it. "Just writing to my dad."

James gave a smile, "Ah, I did that yesterday. That's why these bad boys were up here," he lifted the pair of shoes and laughed. Ayla gave a soft, though awkward, chuckle and a piercing silence followed suit.

James felt bad for her. He didn't want to leave just yet and make her feel embarrassed but he also didn't want to make her feel even worse because he wouldn't leave her alone.

Say something, he thought. She needs to hear that everything is okay. James didnt know why he was thinking that but without further questioning, he began.

"Hey. So... about the other day. I know this probably wont change things but I just wanted to let you know that... I don't know, just... you don't need to stress about it. I'm not going to say anything about you liking me to anyone because I know how you would feel if I did," James stopped speaking as he fiddled with his shoelaces, embarrassed of what he just said. He sounded like such a douche bag and he hated it. That wasn't him anymore and he didn't want people thinking he hadn't changed since fifth year.

Ayla gave a soft smile, looking to the floor. "No, its okay. Thank you," She raised her head and finally, in the first time since James walked in and looked him in the eyes. "I'm sorry about Grace. I don't know why she hates you guys so much."

James gave a hearty laugh, he felt like he's been laughing too much. "Don't worry about it, mate, lots of people hate us. And same for you, I'm sorry how we've acted. We've been absolute wankers... Okay maybe just me and Sirius have been wankers but still, I'm sorry for all we've done. We're honestly all tired of this fighting and we just want to mend things. I hope some day we could all get along, y'know?"

"Definitely. I was thinking the same thing."

"Yeah."

Ayla looked towards her letter, reaching a hand to grab it. "I better send this soon, class is about to start-"

"Oh yeah! Yeah, same, I should probably try to go find the boys. It was nice talking to you. I'll see you later in class!" James popped up from the floor, trying to shove on his shoes and as quickly as he could, he ran down the hall to where he hoped all his friends would be.