𝗽𝗶𝘅𝗶𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄, james potter

07. TRY-OUTS

CHAPTER SEVEN
✧
-: seventh year :-

─ IN WHICH JAMES'S
PURSUIT OF FORGIVENESS
CONTINUES

. . .

THE FIRST COUPLE DAYS OF LESSONS melted away and soon a week had passed of their final year. They were neither treasuring it nor throwing it away, but the masses of work that soon piled up quickly became a dreaded reality and no more were sixth years without a care in the world with no actual worries about having to pass an exam.

A week had passed and yet, still, James had made no progress whatsoever, which he deemed a complete tragedy considering that he was doing rather spectacularly in his lessons and was coming up with more and more pranks than ever before - him and Sirius had managed to scare enough first years into thinking that the Fat Lady could hear everything within the common room and reported to McGonagall that they all raced through up to their dorms and the poor woman had to put up a notice.

The little black on book Remus carried - because he was the only one responsible enough to keep it - containing each of their spur of the moment ideas was slowly becoming more filled with less blank pages and the four boys had made up their minds to fill it before the end of the year and ensure it got passed down onto worthy hands should they not complete it all.

With his school work going well and their prank planning become more and more easy to layout, as head boy and Captain of Gryffindor Quidditch team, the holes in James' life produced by the summer were no longer empty.

Well, except one, and that the one to remain was his failed crush on Lily Evans.

It didn't help with his cause that Matilda had gone completely unnoticed seeing as he was entirely blinded by Evans and the very moment she dyed her hair ginger suddenly she was everywhere. Not entirely unnoticed, of course, given that she was particularly vocal and had shouted at both James and Sirius on multiple occasions, but nonetheless, he had stood before her and not recognised her simply because of a small change, so who was he but to completely indulge himself in the game of penance.

And it really didn't help that every step of his way Lily was there to try and advise her, despite knowing he could truly be annoying relentless in his path, and just the fact that she had known him for the entirety of his education only proved to her that he was an utter twat.

He was only following what Sirius had said. The number one rule was casual conversation... if casual conversation was flirting and flirting meant harmless annoyance to the object of his new-found affection.

Speaking of...

He pushed himself up from the cold stone wall he had been leant against as the door beside him swung open, the class within being let out for the end of the day.

Matilda was one of the last to step out the classroom, holding a stack of books and her bag swinging from her shoulder, hair pulled back into something of a ponytail although ginger curls were escaping messily around her face. She turned towards him, no doubt to make her way back to Gryffindor tower, and upon seeing him let out a very audibly sigh.

"Arithmancy, huh? Sounds lovely." James announced as he fell into step alongside her. "Here, let me-" Matilda, now overly used to the treatment, felt the weight of her books lifted from her arms as he took them with ease, tucking them under his arm. "How did it go... didn't poke your eyes out with you quill, did you?"

"What - no, it was fine." Matilda shook her head. "What do you want this time, Potter."

"Not much, just thought I'd do a good deed." James hummed.