hiraeth - james potter x OC

pure mindless vandalism

-fifth year

They were back at Hogsmeade Station for fifth year.

Lily and Marlene ran up to Elle, giving her crushing hugs before dragging her away from Sirius, Remus, Peter, and James.

Once in the Great Hall, James found himself staring at Elle. He got lost in her hazel eyes and in her smile. And this did not go unnoticed by Remus and Sirius.

"Who are you staring at, Jamesy?" Remus teased, although he knew the answer.

"No one," James stuttered, looking down at his plate.

"Right," Sirius said, raising his eyebrows. "Is that why you've been staring at Elle for the past hour?"

"I have not-"

"You have, actually," Sirius said, smirking. "I think ickle James has a bit of a crush!"

-

None of the Marauders (or Lily) missed the casual flirting between James and Elle. The two of them began hanging out more, and they were never seen apart.

Sirius thought it was the funniest thing ever.

"You fancy Elle! You fancy Elle!" he teased one night, jumping up and down on James' bed, who slapped him.

"Can you please stop?" James rolled his eyes.

"Not until you admit that you fancy Elle," Sirius said, smirking before jumping on the bed even harder.

"Okay, okay! Jesus, Sirius. I guess I do fancy her," James said quietly. "But it doesn't matter. It's not like she likes me back."

"First of all, when has that ever stopped you. Second of all, are you blind?" Remus asked from his bed, watching the conversation with an amused grin.

"Honestly, James. It's not that hard to tell that she likes you back," Peter said, joining the conversation for the first time.

"Peter even sees it!" Sirius exclaimed.

"But what if she doesn't? It'll completely ruin our friendship-"

"James," Remus interrupted. "You really think Elle will throw away your entire friendship if she didn't feel the same way? Sure, it might be awkward for a few days. But she'll still be your best friend. Elle's not like that."

James knew he was right.

"Besides," Sirius added. "It's always worth the risk."

-

Elle and the boys were out pranking Slughorn. They stole all of Slughorn's ingredients from his cupboard and hid them all over the classroom. Then, Elle threw a colorful smoke bomb in the classroom.

"What are you lot doing?" Slughorn's voice exclaimed from the doorway, and the five friends froze.

Elle turned around casually, trying to hide a grin. "It's just, pure, mindless vandalism."

The boys all laughed at her words, and Sirius spoke up. "Yeah, we actually have to get going. Got to finish our Potions homework!"

"Wait!" Slughorn called helplessly as they ran past him into the hallway. "You know, that was actually a pretty good prank. No detention for you."

Elle, Sirius, and James broke out into grins, while Remus and Peter's jaw dropped.

"Thanks, Professor! See you in class tomorrow. Hopefully we have all the ingredients," Elle said before taking off running towards the common room.

The five of them ran through the hallways, laughing hysterically. James caught up to Elle, almost passing her.

"Oh no you don't, Potter," Elle smiled, picking up her pace.

They made it to the common room, Elle barely beating James. "Ha!" Elle said in between her heavy breaths. "I win!" 

this ones kinda short sorryyy