Delicate | James Potter

1.12

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But Alice ended up seeing Davey many more times before then. She wasn't complaining, however he did have a tendency to appear unexpectedly out of nowhere just as she was finally getting some free time with Dorcas and June. He'd appear outside her classrooms and offer to carry her bags, or slide in beside her at mealtimes in the Great Hall. He even joined her and Juniper on their Tuesday evening study date in the library. Dorcas had prefect duties that night, but June made sure to fill her in on every single little detail about Davey and the way his legs always tilted towards Alice the next morning. Still, there wasn't exactly much to complain about when he was as charming as he was. Though his watchful stare had not yet decreased in its intensity and was just as unnerving as on their date.

Free time itself was becoming a bit of a rarity these days. She missed the summer term days of fourth year before they really had to worry about their O.W.Ls. Alice knew the exams were important, but Merlin were teachers were obsessed. She couldn't go a lesson without being reminded of their impending future and the impact their results would have on it. Dorcas was doing her best to reassure them that O.W.Ls weren't actually that bad, according to her mum, and repeated multiple times that apparently it was N.E.W.Ts that were the important ones. The piles of homework that got given to them all didn't do much to lighten the mood, however.

By the time Friday drew around, Alice was utterly exhausted. Quidditch practice had been cut short the previous day- much to James' dismay- and yet she still ached all over. Her broomstick was getting old and twitched slightly to the left each time she got on, which of course left her drifting said direction when she needed to be stationary. Consequently this meant more strength was needed on her side. Alice was hoping desperately she'd be able to get a new one for her birthday, but the month of June was still far away.

"We can't even see the stars right now, and I don't get how this helps with anything." Dorcas was currently sat with her head in her hands by Alice's side, elbows resting on the table which held her blank astronomy essay. Occasionally she would groan loudly, despite the fact they were in class, or kick the table leg with a burst of frustration- which annoyingly shook the whole surface; Alice now had a nice little collection of smudges upon her own parchment.

The Gryffindor girl sighed and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. She'd plaited it this morning and somehow parts were still falling out. "You don't need to see the stars for this one." She reached over to her friends work and took to it with her own pen. "See look, Jupiter has over 70 moons you can write that in there."

"Ugh my dear, dear Alice. You are a lifesaver." The Hufflepuff lifted her head slightly so she could see her friend scribbling the answers down quickly. "Remind me to throw a fit more often. Maybe you can do all my work."

"Europa is covered in..." She paused then lifted her head with a small smirk. "What do you think D?"

The girl's face morphed into one of horror. "I can absolutely say I have no clue." She hesitated. "Nor do I care. I thought you were doing it for me."