Unrequited

19

"Your sentences are a bit choppy," Asphodel pointed out as she read over Marlene's paper. "If you used a few connecting words here and there it would make the paper flow a lot better." She said and slid the paper back to Marlene. Surprisingly, besides the short sentences, the essay was extremely well written. It reminded Asphodel of James, as he was quite intelligent when he wanted to be. Especially in Potions. He didn't even look at measurements. He told Asphodel he just put "what he thought" into the cauldron and it somehow worked out for him. Asphodel looked to see him still sleeping. She wondered what he had really been doing last night, but she didn't want to invade on his personal business.

"Okay. I fixed it." Marlene said and Asphodel snapped her head back to her face before she could notice Asphodel staring at him, but it was too late. "Aw, you guys are really cute." Asphodel's whole face turned red and she snatched Marlene's essay to "revise" it and cover her face with it. "So, how come you know him so well?"

"My dad and his dad were business partners." Asphodel answered simply. Although Fleamont Potter became the more successful one, her father made good work while it had lasted and the few years of partnering made Asphodel pretty much set for life. But James had enough money for himself, his kids, and their kids, and even more after that.

"That's nice." Marlene replied. "That makes you two really close. Why not date already?"

Asphodel was caught off guard by the question and Marlene pried the paper from her finger tips, rolling the parchment and putting it in her backpack. Asphodel was a bit defenseless now from her red face being seen, but she calmed her nerves. It's not like Remus, Sirius, and Peter had asked her the very same questions before. And she always had the same answer. "You and I both know he's very focused on Lily. I wouldn't want to get in the way of that."

"But you wouldn't be opposed to the idea, yeah?" Marlene said and narrowed her eyes.

Asphodel gulped. She looked at James who seemed to be sleeping, but Asphodel couldn't help but wonder if he was secretly listening to the conversation all along. It seemed like a very James Potter thing to do. "If James is happy then I'm happy." Asphodel replied and Marlene slumped back in her seat.

"But think about it. Your best friend is one of the hottest, most athletic, tall, funny, popular boys in Hogwarts. Half of the girls that come to watch the Quidditch matches are solely there to watch him play and flex his muscles, Godric. And if you guys did ever decide to make it official, him getting off Lily's arse would only be a benefit." Marlene explained, waving her hands in the air as if she was using her hand movements to convince Asphodel.

"Just like James turns down all those girls at the Quidditch matches, I'll do the same on an offer to date him. He's into someone else." Asphodel said. And it was true. She liked him a lot, of course she couldn't deny that. But she was willing to sacrifice that all for the sake of his well being.

"Fine. Fine. I'll stop poking around then." Marlene said finally and crossed her arms. "I'm just so tired of seeing Lily go bloody psycho after everything he does. It puts a real damper on her mood and she lashes out on us sometimes. But after what I saw yesterday in Transfiguration where he was pestering her and you just came up and said his name... he just walked away and didn't even bother looking back. It amazed me. And to be honest, I'm envious of the fact you can do that. So I just thought if there was a way for that to be permanent and fix it, I would."

"By having me date him so he would get distracted by someone else. That sounds a bit selfish, if you ask me." Asphodel retorted. The sleep deprivation was slowly settling in, and she was getting moodier by the minute.

"That's why I didn't ask." Marlene snapped and Asphodel almost flipped the switch on her niceness. "Sorry, I didn't think before I said that. Anyway, since you're here and I gave you a bit of trouble, I was wondering if you wanted to go dress shopping for the Yule Ball. Alice needs one more person in order for the discount to be activated."

"Asking me to go dress shopping gives me a lot more trouble." Asphodel said. "Thanks for the offer, but tutoring is enough for me right now."

Marlene pursed her lips and she looked a bit offended. She probably had never asked someone that before, or been that nice, to say the least. "If you don't have a date, it's okay. You can still show up. Alice really wants this discount."

"I do have a date." Asphodel said and Marlene raised her brows. "It's James."