The Ladders Of Love: James Potter

27

after

"IT WAS SO COOL!" Sirius exclaimed loudly as he lazed on the Potter's couch. "The way she was like, 'hey burger' then socked her in the jaw!"

"I wish I was the one who did it." James grumbled underneath his breath. Remus nodded in sync.

"I'm never doing it again, or at least, not incorrectly." Clarisse winced as Carlo pressed the ice pack down onto her hand. It turns out, attempting to punch someone for the first time not only breaks their nose, but also breaks a few of your fingers. After Euphemia nursed her better, all that was left was bruises and a headache (from her parents' scolding). "It was great, but now it's on my record."

"Next time get them to hit you first, then it's self defence." Cosimo called from the couch as he flicked through a magazine. The man's job as an Unspeakable thankfully bailed the girl out as he had a higher status within the Ministry and law enforcement.

"It honestly makes me cringe now looking back on it." Peter mumbled making Clarisse nod in agreement.

"Yeah, it was so gross." She agreed. "I could've made it so much cooler and more dramatic."

James snorted as he pulled the girl half onto his lap, pressing a kiss to her cheek. He leaned into her hair as his lips hovered next to her ear. With a low whisper he said, "I thought it was hot."

The girl adjusted her position on his lap, her face heating up slightly. "Oh yeah?"

James hummed as he placed his hands onto her waist, squeezing her slightly.

"HEY! THREE FEET APART!" Cosimo screamed from the sofa, his hand making rude gestures in the air as the couple jumped apart from shock.

"Cosimo, stop terrorising your sister." Elliot called from the kitchen as he helped prepare lunch with the house elves, Fleamont and Euphemia. Elliot was always a good cook.

"I hope Regulus is okay." Clarisse mumbled as she leaned back into James. "He must be getting the brunt of what I did right now."

Carlo frowned slightly. "He knows where to find us if he's in danger, Claire. She totally deserved that punch."

Clarisse nodded but bit her lip anxiously. "Yeah."

James squeezed her hand to comfort the girl, knowing that she was anxiously thinking about it.

After the graduation situation, the two families picked up Clarisse from the Auror's department and came back to the Potter Manor for dinner, which was the original plan.

"You think they need any help?" Remus asked curiously as he heard a large smash in the kitchen. "It sounds like they need help..."

James shook his head. "It always sounds like that when they cook. Usually it's just mum smacking dad with a pan for being an idiot."

"Oi I can hear you!" Came the call from Fleamont, then a smashing noise. "Ow!"

"So why don't you guys have tv?" Carlo asked curiously as he slide next to this sister and pressed the ice onto Clarisse's fist with more force.

Clarisse rolled her brown eyes. "Not everyone has a tv, Carlo."

"But they're rich!" Carlo emphasised, throwing his arms all over the place.

"I don't even know what a tv is." James admitted.

"Shame." Carlo dulled. "I really wanted to watch the highlights of the match."

"There was a Quidditch match on today? Who was playing?" James and Sirius visibly brightened.

Carlo snorted. "Not Quidditch, football you dumbo."

"What's football?"

✤

James and Clarisse lay silently on James' bed, tangled up with one another and the sheets as they cuddled. James' hand was slowly stroking her head, and her finger was trailing up and down his arm.

"What are we going to do now?" James whispered into the darkness and Clarisse let out a breath.

"You'll be on your Auror training starting in September." Clarisse reminded him as she snuggled into him, their bodies curving together like two perfectly fitting shapes. "And I'll be starting my healer apprenticeship at St Mungo's in October, assuming they will still take me with my record."

"I know that my love, I mean where are we going to go from now with our relationship?" James asked as he pressed his chin into her hair. "You live quite far from me and if we will be both starting our work soon... I don't think we will see much of each other."

Clarisse frowned slightly as she tilted her head upwards, meeting his eyes. "Are you saying that we should break up?"

"Merlin, no!" James quickly backtracked, his eyes wide and frantic. "I was just attempting to induce the idea of moving into a flat or house together!"

Clarisse silenced at his outburst with a thoughtful look. They were only eighteen and had only dated for a couple of months, but she knew that she loved him and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Besides, moving in together was probably very practical and if it didn't work out it wasn't a permanent thing that she couldn't change.

"You want to move in with me?"

James blushed slightly, invisible to his girlfriend due to the low lighting, before nodding. "I have pictured us moving into a flat or a house together and spending every spare minute we could with each other."

Clarisse sighed dreamily.

"We would cook together, have loads of date nights, try and figure out how to work a dishwasher-"

"-you don't know how to work a dishwasher?" Clarisse giggled slightly, her eyes glazed with disbelief.

"-shut up-" James said with a cheesy smile and dazed eyes, "-we would watch movies together and spend every night like this. I'll even make sure Terry gets his own room."

He stroked her face with a loving look on his face. Clarisse smiled. "That doesn't sound too bad. I'd like to do that."

"And we'd have hot, wild sex every night." James added with a cheeky smirk that made the girl blush vividly and smack his chest.

"You wish you had the stamina for that!" She poked him, a dramatic gasp exulting from her boyfriend.

"Are you saying that I can't last?" He gasped when she nodded cheekily. "I'll have you know that I can last very long! I'm practically the master of lasting."

"I don't believe you." Clarisse murmured as she leaned upwards, his hands finding her hips as she straddled him.

"Well then, I'll prove you wrong." James smirked before his hands trailed up towards the clasp of her bra.

"You can try."