PERFECT // JAMES POTTER

27. Milkshakes

The next couple of weeks seemed to pass by quickly. During the run-up to Christmas, Scarlet had been working at the cafe with Jane and Lex. It was a week before Christmas and Scarlet and Alexis were working their final shift together of the year.

As Scarlet came back behind the counter after serving a friendly old man, Alexis leaned on the counter, both girls having nothing to do.

"So, those four boys who came in during the summer..." Lex started, causing Scarlet to look at her with raised brows.

"Yeah, what about them?" She asked with a smile.

"How have they been?"

Scarlet immediately flushed as a certain hazel-eyed boy entered her thoughts. Lex noticed this and a massive grin took over her face.

"Ooh, what happened?" She asked eagerly.

"Well, one of them is now my boyfriend..." Scarlet sheepishly smiled.

"Which one?! No, no, wait, let me guess!" Alexis squealed, "Okay, let's see... I'm saying it's the one with the dark messy hair and those gorgeous hazel eyes."

Scarlet faked glared at the girl.

"Hey! Paws off!" Scarlet grinned, playfully hitting her arm.

"So it is that guy! What was his name again? Jack? Jake?"

"James."

As if he had some super physic power, at that moment, James and Sirius walked through the door and into the quiet cafe.

"That's them!" Alexis beamed as she saw the two boys.

James caught Scarlet's eye and over-dramatically winked at her. Scarlet suppressed her giddy smile and masked her chuckle as a sigh. Lex basically squeaked and hide to go into the cloakroom to mask her giggles. James stood up from his chair and walked over to order.

"Hey there hot stuff," He started, "Can I get a chocolate and a strawberry milkshake?"

"Sure thing, pretty boy," Scarlet teased back, winking, "That'll be £3."

James flushed at her unexpected response and timidly gave her the muggle money. He walked back to the table, where Sirius was almost crying from laughter.

"Real smooth there, Prongs." He said as he wiped a tear away.

"Shut it Pads."

Meanwhile, Scarlet turned her back to the boys and smiled as she filled a cup up with milk for one of the milkshakes. Alexis emerged from the cloakroom with a grin on her face, having heard the encounter.

"Pretty boy?" She laughed.

"Oh shut up." Scarlet grinned back, "Can you make the strawberry milkshake?"

Lex nodded and got to work. After only about five minutes, both milkshakes were done and Alexis handed Scarlet the strawberry milkshake.

"Go and give it to pretty boy and his friend." She winked with a laugh.

Scarlet pulled a face at her, yet took the drinks anyway to the table. Having known both boys for over five years, Scarlet knew that the strawberry was Sirius' and the chocolate was for James. Since they were the only customers in the cafe, Scarlet pulled up a chair and sat with them while they drank their milkshakes. 

After a while, they announced that they were going back home and Scarlet joined Alexis behind the counter, waving at them as they left. The cafe was still dead so Scarlet sat down on the stool behind the till and sighed, waiting for the hours to pass so she could go home.

-=+=-

Christmas finally arrived and Scarlet woke up on that snowy morning to James and Sirius frantically banging on her door. She pushed herself out of bed and pulled on her fluffy dressing gown, before scooping up Cleo and opening the door. On the other side, stood her boyfriend and one of her best friends, both also in their pyjamas. 

"Merry Christmas." She smiled lazily at them, still a bit dopey and sleepy.

"Merry Christmas!" They shouted back at her, before racing each other down the stairs. Scarlet wiped the sleep from her eyes with one hand, while the other still held her grey, fluffy cat. She found the boys downstairs, huddled around the Christmas tree, trying to count their presents. Scarlet yawned as she joined Euphemia in the kitchen, greeting her with a smile and wishing both her and Fleamont, who was sat at the table reading the Daily Prophet, a merry Christmas.

"Merry Christmas, dear. Why don't you join the boys in the living room, breakfast will be ready soon." Euphemia smiled.

The raven haired girl nodded and made her way over to living room, where she sat down on one of the sofas. Cleo jumped on her lap and kneaded the girl's legs before she settled down, curling into a ball and purring contently.

A little while later, Euphemia came into the room, balancing three plates of steaming scrambled eggs and bacon. Scarlet thanked the woman and started eating, feeding tiny pieces of bacon to Cleo every now and then. In the span of five minutes, all three plates were polished clean and Fleamont had joined everyone around the tree. He sat down next to Scarlet and began to gently scratch Cleo behind her ears.

"Shall we get started then?" He asked.

Both boys scrambled to the tree and began to dish out the presents. Scarlet found a nice collection of neatly wrapped presents in front of her. She received some big, comfortable jumpers from Fleamont and Euphemia, a box of Honeydukes chocolate from Remus, some pumpkin pasties and licorice wands from Peter and a make-up palette from her dorm mates. When she got to Sirius and James' presents, they both stopped what they were doing and looked at her with eager eyes.

"Open mine first!" James recommended.

Scarlet smiled and picked up the present with James' name on the tag. She delicately opened it and found a box within. Curiously, she lifted the lid from the box and found a shining, Polaroid camera in front of her. She gasped and gently picked it up, thanking her boyfriend profusely.

Sirius seemed eager for her to open his present so she did. Inside the wrapping paper was a large, leather covered book. Raising her brows, Scarlet opened the cover and looked at the title page. In Sirius' neat calligraphy, it read:

The Marauders

1971 - 1978

After turning a few more pages, Scarlet found photos of herself and the boys from their first few years at Hogwarts. They had all been taken on a wizarding camera, so they were all moving around, chasing each other or jumping on each other's backs. The last picture Scarlet found was taken rather recently, on Halloween of their sixth year. There were many empty pages after that, waiting for future pictures and memories to be stored in.

"We thought that you could carry it on with your new camera." James explained.

Scarlet felt herself tearing up and smiled at the two boys. She lifted Cleo off her lap and stood up, moving forward to hug them.

"Thank you." She sniffed in a shaky voice.

"You're welcome." They chorused, wrapping their arms tighter around the girl.