Unforeseen Consequences ☞︎ A James Potter Fan Fic

{30} Not Gonna String Him Along

That evening after the library had closed, James had walked Holly back to her common room. He went up to her to make things right. Finally.

They had been silently walking for awhile now. James had helped Holly put away her books and had offered to walk her back to her common room. All she was able to do was nod as she wasn't doing so well with the whole talking thing.

"I'm sorry," James blurted our randomly. Holly jumped, she looked over to him and stared in shock.

"F-for what?" She asked quietly. He looked over and sent her a look. She sent one of her own; a look of confusion. He sighed.

"I didn't mean to avoid you so cruelly. I just..." He trailed off.

"Yes?" She asked after he didn't say anything for a few moments. He forced himself to perk up and look down at her.

"I was just confused about something. I needed time to figure it out. Not just from you either, the boys partially as well. I just needed space." James explains, exhaling deeply. Holly had immediately grown concerned for him. She worried about his peace of mind and well-being. Her brows furrowed as she shuffled closer to him as they walked.

"Well is there anything I can do to help?!" Holly asked, maybe a little too eagerly for two friends. James looks down at her with a soft smile on his face.

"No, I think I can manage. I'm still... heavily confused and most likely in denial, but I'll figure it out. I am pretty smart." He explains, his smile turning into his usual cocky smirk. Holly scoffs, lightly pushing him.

"Well, alright then. I forgive you," Holly says. James makes a 'phew' sound and wipes imaginary sweat off his brow. "But we really need to stop avoiding each other for days on end." Holly notes. James chuckles in response.

"I guess that's just our friendship." James rebuts

Of course Holly being Holly could not take that as an answer and she would frequently ask what was so wrong that he needed to avoid her for so many days on end, and every time, he would answer like this:

"I just needed space to figure out my mind. It's a confusing thing." James points out. Holly's face would always drop.

"But James, now that it's over, why can't you just tell me." She says back.

"I did tell you." James would state.

"Not really." Holly would always say back. Because he hadn't really. He just always gave the same excuses. Just like the lads said he was doing to them. At least he wasn't ignoring her anymore...

After she said that, James would stop. He would turn to look her deep in the eye. He would hold out his arms as if wanting to do something, but would squeeze his fists instead.

"Can't you just enjoy the fact that we're spending time together again? I know I am," James would say, a forced grin on his face every time. Holly couldn't help but smile, and she would nod. His grin would turn into a full-blown smile, he would always swing his arm a around her shoulder and he would walk them forward. Then he would end up close as he looked down at her and say, "Care to cause some mischief?"

It was now Friday and it had been a long week. Even though everyone had become friends again, things were still difficult with lessons and school work. Holly still didn't understand all her spells. Though James was helping with that. This renewed sense of friendship caused everyone to be happy; the happiest person would have to have been Peter. He was ecstatic. Whenever someone would see him, they would see a smile on his face.