[This Could Mean Danger] James + Zoe

[James Potter]

Kissing Zoe, James honestly couldn’t care all that much what the others were going to think. Those thoughts were like some strange nocturnal beast, kept at bay by the light that was his ecstatic feelings of the moment. Sure, there would be some slinging of mud, rumors would fly, but it just didn’t seem to matter all that much in those brief moments they shared snogging their lives away.

But when their lips broke apart again, all of his worries came flooding back. Was she going to expect him to ask her out now? There were plenty of girls he knew that didn’t expect a full-fledged relationship out of a bit of snogging, but how was he to know if Zoe was one of those girls. He had never really noticed Zoe liking another guy, but then again he hadn’t always seen Zoe in the position of a girl—a real, full-fledged, snoggable girl. But here she was, kissing like a dream, exactly what he needed in that moment.

He didn’t think of her any less now, but rather was starting to see her in a new light. Like peering through different coloured glass, she had taken on a new shade—something more beautiful than he had ever seen in her before. James was far from a player, but didn’t know what he was supposed to do in a situation like this. Maybe she was just looking for a snog, and he had been happy to oblige. He felt almost helpless to the situation—the helpless, floating desire to continue what they were doing, and the dragging weight of guilt that Zoe might be looking for something more.

He inched his head away again, resting his forehead on hers like before. It let him lock eyes with her, making sure that she could see that, for once in his life, he was being serious. “Are you okay with us doing this? Just doing this…?” he inquired, raising a brow and looking at her. If she was fine with it, he would be as well. But he had to make sure that she wasn’t looking for more—if she was, he couldn’t just drag her along like that. He was still damaged goods in a way. But if this was to continue, James could see it being something more than just a random hook up. He just needed time, he told himself, allowing a moment for her to consider his question.

[Zoe Thompson]

It was said by an exceedingly smart muggle that that there was no such thing as bad publicity, Zoe pondered, but she felt dismayed by that statement. Clearly that man had never truly lived out his time as a teenager, felt the blows of gossip and secrets--or more likely, he'd hidden under the radar, writing rude comments about his peers in small journals that he stored under his bed, never to be viewed by anyone but him. In this instance, for example, getting 'caught' would just lead to more cruel gossip, the publicity /would/ be bad, as it would be painting a false image of her as a slut and a phony.

He was still worried, she realized, as a surge of exasperation shot down her spine, causing her to feel aggravated, even though that seemed slightly inappropriate for the situation that they were in. It wasn't as if a kiss was a marriage certificate, after all. True, she wanted him to feel the way she did about the kiss, that it was something beyond an anomaly, but if he didn't, the world wasn't going to spontaneously combust.

As a friend, she knew that pressing the subject would only cause unnecessary tension--if he wanted to ask her out, he would, simple as that. However, a little bit of recognition didn't seem out of place--unless, of course, he was using her for an easy snog, which she seriously hoped was untrue. If it was, though, she wanted to /know/--really, all she wanted was for him to say something. It was better to know now so that the disappointment didn't crush her along with the weight of the world, not before she could provide some sort of a meager defense for herself, no matter how puny or insignificant it was.

Still, with him next to her, the stars seemed to be shining brighter, the moonlight seemed to be enveloping them in a pale blanket. Embracing him, she looked up at him pensively. This night had been a dream, one that she wasn't entirely prepared to let go of yet. If he wasn't ready for her, well, the nightmares would return, but she'd be better armed.

He moved again, and then they were eye to eye, her heart thudding rapidly in a frenzied panic as she gazed into his eyes. The somber and serious expression that he carried was unsettling, almost disturbing, as it was entirely unlike him. Clearly, he meant business so she changed her own facial expression to match his, listening carefully to what he said, absorbing every syllable. 'Just' doing this? Did that mean he didn't want to be with her? This whole conversation was becoming too cryptic for her enjoyment, it was time to be blunt. "If it were up to me," she murmured to him, "I'd tell you. But you know it's not up to me, it's your decision. Whatever you pick, It'll..." her voice broke off, in spite of all the calmness she'd endeavored to infuse into it. Biting her lip, she finished her sentence, "...it'll work out."

[James Potter]

He did care—he wanted to assure her that, but didn’t know exactly how to do that. She was annoyed by how he kept pulling away, he could tell. She was hoping for something—they were friends before this all happened, and he knew her too well not to notice. He cursed silently to himself. Why did girls have to be so damn complicated sometimes? She couldn’t just come right out and say what she wanted? It would make his life a hell of a lot easier. But then again, what if she said something he wasn’t going to like? Damn it…

Nothing was more complex then the female mind, and her response to his question was equally confusing. As a friend, Zoe had never been all that complicated. They had chatted about Quidditch, occasionally chatted about school work and partied together. These were probably the reasons he had never actually considered her a ‘girl’ in the way that he had seen other girls around the school. But now that he was thinking about it, maybe this was perfect for him. Or maybe he was just confused and hurt by the news of Gia’s new blooming relationship. He didn’t really know.

He decided it was time to be quite frank, and he closed his eyes for a moment, trying to find the right words to say what he was actually feeling. “I’m not doing this just because it’s… I dunno, convenient or whatever.” He started, sounding less than eloquent. “I guess I’m just kind of confused at the moment, you know?” He thought it was kind of obvious what he was confused about, even if they hadn’t discussed it the entire night—he was more than certain that Zoe had heard about it. He bit his lip as well, sort of mirroring her own response.

“But it’s not like I didn’t like this.” He said, sliding one hand up to rest on her cheek and the other to gesture to the both of them. “Because this was really, really nice.” He said, allowing a small smile to come across his face. He had felt great while out here with her. It was quite amazing, actually. “But…” His smile fell a bit as he continued. “I don’t know if we should be anything, like officially I mean. Because if we do, we’ll get all that gossip crap and people talking about us. They’ll assume things that sure as hell aren’t true…” he tried to explain, rushing his words a bit in hopes that she wouldn’t interrupt him.

He moved his free hand up to her cheek as well, so that he was grasping both sides of her face and tilting them up so that their eyes could meet. “But soon. Once all this Gia bull shit dies down.” He said, pausing and glancing away for a moment, looking sort of sheepish before he continued. “Cause I do like you. Zoe. Like, a lot.”

James Potter, as eloquent as ever.

[Zoe Thompson]

She wondered if he was aggravated with her--if she'd somehow done something to upset him, which had honestly not been her intention in the slightest. Then again, it was probably better that they weren't being overly clear with each other, maybe it was an indicator that neither wanted to know what the other was thinking. In her case, it was out of sheer terror, but was his out of some macho protective male instinct? If /girls/ were supposedly the complicated one, why was James being so similarly complicated? She felt her nerves turning to jelly, her mind becoming putty in the tension and silence of this moment.

He was opening his mouth to speak to her, and she wondered if it would be a better idea to hit the ground running and disappear before she could possibly hear him. His words weren't ideal, but that, too, was not much of a shock. She wasn't allowed to have happy endings, after all, she was simply a poser, someone trying desperately to be one of the guys when she couldn't possibly do anything about it. After all, he wasn't talking to her as if she was a guy, but that was only temporary.

Looking at him, she sighed at his comments, feeling the misery seep over her, unable to save herself from the emotion. "I....um, yeah, that makes total sense. I guess I'm confused too." She hated herself even more for her lie, surprised by her dishonesty in a moment as important as this. She wasn't confused in the slightest, although she was confused as to why he was confused. Shouldn't it have been exceedingly obvious how she felt? The first part was confusing too--god, convenience wasn't the issue as much as the fact that they couldn't change time, unfix the tree of the past from its roots.

She couldn't help but smile at his hands' warm touch on her face. "It was nice," she replied with her usual goofy smile, happy that he'd at least enjoyed this night. She'd achieved Friend!Zoe's goal, but real Zoe felt slightly cheated, especially when he explained that he didn't want to be official. Of course he didn't--why would he want to admit to being with her? His explanation was entirely fruitless, wasted words that fell into thin air. He knew she wouldn't give a shit about gossip, which meant that he was lying to her, which she absolutely couldn't abide--

Wait. What?
The last part of his little speech stopped her heart entirely. "Soon. Okay, I can...I can do soon." Kissing him quickly, she bit her lip. "I like you too. Like, a lot more."

[James Potter]

Zoe had scared him for a moment. When he had begun talking, she had almost looked miserable, what with the sighing and the sad face. He almost felt terrible, not meaning to have hurt her with what he had said. In fact, he had thought she would have been sort of happy—but there she was, looking rather upset. He leaned forward, hoping to comfort her in some way, but suddenly her goofy smile was back on her face.

He wondered for a moment if it was just for show, though he did hope that she had enjoyed the night as much as he had. It had turned out to be a lot better than he imagined the evening turning out—he hadn’t won at Quidditch but the snogging had been equally wonderful. It was like the feeling of scoring the winning goal in a Quidditch match—exhilarating and adrenaline-pumping. He felt like he had all this cooped up energy now, but didn’t mind so much. He wanted to run through the halls, do a fucking cartwheel maybe, but for now he had to keep somewhat reserved.

But then her expression turned genuine—he could tell when Zoe was actually thrilled, and apparently the last couple of words he said had actually meant something to her. She gave him a quick kiss, and he smiled as she claimed that she liked him too. ‘A lot more.’ He shrugged off the comment, wrapping his arms around her in a nice hug. He sort of nuzzled into her, much like he had earlier in the day. He meant what he had said—once it was okay for them to start seeing each other, he’d ask her out—officially that was. For now, he could enjoy a little bit of snogging, couldn’t he?

After all, he didn’t imagine that Zoe was going to go around snogging other guys in the meantime, nor did he have any plans of snogging other girls in the future. He sighed contentedly, smiling into the top of Zoe’s head and chuckling slightly. “So that was a great Quidditch match, huh Zoe?”

[Zoe Thompson]

A part of her wondered if all of this was even happening, if she was going to wake up momentarily in the Hospital Wing, being told that she had fallen off her broom or tripped down a flight of stairs. Instinctively, she pinched herself, indulging in a childhood habit taught to her by her school friends, and yes, she was in reality. Wow. Happiness was the first emotion to take over her body, followed by mind-numbing shock. Screw all of her worries and her fears, this was the most amazing freedom she'd ever experienced, like falling off her broom knowing that she would land on something comfortable--an exhilarating freefall of sorts.

This was amazing, really, especially considering how this night had started, with a friendly little Quiddich match. She wanted to fly, wanted to scream joyfully into the air, what with all of the manic energy seeping its way into her bones. She also felt the need to snog him again, but that was hopefully just pheromones, she didn't want to give him the impression that she was a slut, quite the contrary, she wanted this to move at whatever speed seemed the best, considering the little predicament that the duo had now immersed themselves in.

Time wasn't really on her side here, but if he really was planning to ask her out, she knew that she would wait however long it was necessary. God, she sounded so...girly. Desperate, even. This was definitely uncharted territory here, they were going into deeper and deeper waters, but he was by her side--or to be more accurate, he was nuzzling himself into her, and she was reciprocating--so hopefully all of it would just sort of magically work itself out in the end.

"Oh, yeah, definitely...do you wanna play a quick round?" She asked with a wink and a chuckle. It might be fun to play for a little bit, get out some energy.

[James Potter]

Of all the things to happen this evening, James hadn’t quite expected it to turn out like this—snogging one of his best friends on the Quidditch field. He had expected some nice flying, had expected to win a quick scrimmage against Zoe as to distract him from the situation that had gone on the previous night. But this, this was a pretty damn good outcome as far as James was concerned. He smiled to himself, feeling his whole body warming to the thought of just a few moments ago. It was really rather nice, to have someone who felt the same way he did, for the most part.

Secretly, he wondered to himself if this had been Zoe’s plan all along, but quickly dismissed the idea from his mind. She couldn’t have possibly felt that way about him, or at least if she didn’t it hadn’t been for long. They had always been such good friends; it was weird to think of her now as something more. But he liked the idea—liked the thoughts of hugging, even holding hands, and definitely snogging. He felt like he deserved this now—after seven long years of being single as he could be, it was nice to finally have someone he could rely on, especially in an emotional, or even romantic sense.

But he was getting ahead of himself—they weren’t dating, at least not yet, so the kissing would have to stay to a minimum, and somewhere where prying eyes weren’t going to see and spread throughout the school. That wasn’t what he needed right now, and was not the way he wanted to start the school year. But this was his seventh year; of course there was going to be a bit of drama every now and then.

It would be a challenge though, just like the one she was suggesting to him right now. “Finally…” he teased, stepping away for a moment to go fetch both their brooms, who had been abandoned in the heat of the moment. He needed a bit of flying, more to clear his head so as not to arouse suspicion when he went back to the common room. James Potter had a face like an open book, so it was better he didn’t walk back into the common room with a ‘just snogged’ attitude, or he would be looking for trouble.

[Zoe Thompson]

She couldn't shake the feeling that all of this was too easy. How could it be that she'd liked him for so long, and finally everything seemed to be working out? Sure, if this was the end of a crass over-commercialized novel, this phenomena might seem slightly more plausible, but she lived in a crueler world than that, a world where people suffered every day. Maybe the converse to her emotions would be found in his thoughts--in his questioning and assumptions about her thoughts and sentiments towards him, if she had been manipulating the terms of their friendship or trying to alter the way he felt about her to a more romantic inclination.

So she did the only thing she could think of to do, she turned her back on him after taking her broom with a smile and brief, "Thanks," jetting off into the sky on her broomstick, flying upwards nearly vertically. She was sick of feeling lonely, he seemed to be sick of not being in a relationship, all of the puzzle pieces had come together exactly how she'd dreamed that they would. After all, there was a comforting safety in walking down the hallway holding someone's hand, or snogging where anyone could see--as if you flew above everyone else on a plane of existence that only you two inhabited.

And yet, she didn't have that yet, it lingered somewhere beyond her, like the Golden Snitch that did its best to evade her, sometimes even succeeding. She was so close, terrifyingly so, but the game hadn't been won, no matter how much she wished that it had--that she could close the book on all of the fears and insecurities that constantly consumed her.

Laughing from above, she looked down, commenting, "We never did manage to get the Quaffle, did we?" A perfect little tie-in to the rest of the night, in her extraordinarily biased opinion.

[James Potter]

James had to admit, this had worked out pretty well. For the entire day, he had been so worried about so many things—not the way he had planned on starting the year, especially his final year at Hogwarts. But that, now momentary period of worrying had been demolished by a matter of minutes. James wasn’t the type to dwell on the past, especially particularly bad memories. He was quick to replace them with good ones, and was currently looking forward to making more good memories that involved snogging Zoe. Lots of new memories.

She had practically snatched the broom out of his hands and sped off into the sky, leaving him there to watch her go. He couldn’t help but grin—James Potter was just in that sort of giddy, post-snog sort of mood, he supposed. Not that he had ever gotten into the post-snog mood before, but he had always imagined this was how it would feel. For a brief, fleeting moment he wondered if he had felt this way when he had kissed Gia, but his mind doubted it and simply pushed the idea into the back of his mind. He grabbed the quaffle and then followed her into the air, waiting for her to zoom back down to where he was waiting.

He hovered in the air until she was at his level, and then pulled out the quaffle from behind his back. “Ta da.” He said majestically, like the muggle magician he had once seen a muggle birthday party he had been forced to go to by his father. He had found the whole thing quite silly, but had tried his best to behave, even though his father claimed he had thrown cake at the magician afterwards. He tossed the quaffle at her, and then sped off towards the goal, shouting behind him, “It’s on, Zoe!”

---

About half an hour later, James was exhausted. All the pent up energy that had been the result of their snogging had been burned in some rather intense Quidditch playing. He hadn’t really kept track of the score, and had just retrieved the fallen quaffle. Picking it up, he drifted back upwards to where Zoe was waiting. Giving a tired smile, he waved his hand, hoping she was as tired as he was. It was extremely dark now, and he was ready to collapse into his bed at this point.

“Ready to call it a night?” he asked her, floating up next to her so that he could rest his head on her shoulder, trying to show how tired he was. It had been a great match—she had obviously improved in some of her chasing skills, and he was thoroughly impressed. Now he had to train twice as hard to make sure he beat her in the next Quidditch match.

[Zoe Thompson]

From her first year, Zoe had known that she wanted to leave Hogwarts with everyone knowing her name, knowing her reputation, and cheering her on. She'd forgotten aspects of her goal both on purpose and accidentally over time, and without her knowledge, it had modified itself into a simple goal: To leave knowing that she would never feel forgotten. At this point in time, she was feeling relatively unforgettable, in a proud way, as if being with James reminded her that she didn't deserve to go entirely unnoticed. It didn't hurt that he snogged fabulously well--which, in the more insecure depths of her mind, led her to wonder how many girls he'd snogged, although it was probably too late to worry about that--but also, it was about how happy she felt with him.

It had been strange of her to leave him behind, she realized, but she had, in her heart of hearts, been wanting to protect both of them from the terrors that were her thoughts and feelings--the ones that she'd done her best to get rid of. But luckily, he was unfazed, flying up to join her in the sky. Zooming down to meet him, she laughed at the sight of the Quaffle appearing from behind his back, "Impressive," she remarked, "but still, don't think I'll go easy on you or anything. Unless I get distracted by you or something." The forwardness (and awkwardness) of the last part of her comment cracked her up inwardly, but she did her best to ignore it.

----x---

He was a tremendous Chaser, of that, there was truly no doubt. His movements were that of the most graceful ballet dancer, and she struggled to complement his rhythms and movements, losing track of the score in favor of watching him play with a small and peaceful smile adorning her face, her eyes staying focused on the game. She felt as if she could play all night, and she would have, but he was looking tired, and she knew better than to push herself too hard so early into the year. As she raised her hand in a matching gesture, she felt a small yawn escaping her mouth and realized that she, too, was ready for sleep.

"Definitely," she responded, adding as an afterthought, "You were...amazing. Almost good enough to beat us, if that were possible." She hoped he realized the humor in her comment, hoped that he realized how, no matter what, she would love being his practice buddy and fellow Quiddich fiend, but she remained silent, keeping those thoughts to herself.

[James Potter]

James saw her yawning as well, and was grateful that he wasn’t ending the match too early for her. He honestly was exhausted—he had pulled out pretty much every trick he had learned over the summer, saving a few for the actual games. He didn’t mind giving her a little peak of what she and the Hufflepuff team had in store for the upcoming Quidditch season. Perhaps he was a bit of a show-off, especially when it came to Quidditch, but he didn’t think Zoe minded all that much. After all, they had been rivals for nearly six years now. That was just how things were now.

James smirked at her comment, rolling his eyes playfully. “Almost good enough to beat the entire Hufflepuff team by myself? That’s reassuring.” He responded, laughing a bit and nudging her with his elbow. If the snogging hadn’t happened only a little under an hour ago, he would have thought this was simply another Quidditch match between them. He liked that, thinking honestly about it. He didn’t feel pressured to be something else around her, like he had seen in other relationships. He had seen guys completely change once they started dating a girl, but James felt like this wouldn’t be like that.

He couldn’t help himself but smile, and he leaned over on his broom, pecking her quickly on the cheek. Gesturing towards the ground, he drifted slowly back down, reminding himself he would probably need a shower before heading back to the dormitory—he had gotten some angry looks from his dorm-mates the last time he had walked in after practice without a quick shower. He glanced up at the air, hoping that Zoe had followed. He sat down on the grass, stretching out on the ground, admiring how cool the grass felt on his over-exerted body.

-short post, sorry.-

[Zoe Thompson]

It was fun playing with him, but she knew better then to continue. Why push what had already been such a great night? Anyway, she could feel her bones aching, having been pushed too far, her body once more being what limited her mind and spirit from achieving greatness. Considering how well he was playing, though, she was going to need the rest--without catching the Snitch, it seemed like her poor Hufflepuffs would be doomed--James was going to annihilate them, in her entirely unbiased opinion. It was fun to watch him show off, especially since he wasn't doing it because of their snogging, but because they were friends too, and he still thought that was true--at least their little escapade hadn't changed that.

She chuckled, "If I'm not playing, at least." Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say, but humility and modesty had never been her allies in the war that seemed to be her life. If she changed, all of a sudden, it would have been for him, which seemed to be a bit too much pressure to put on the exhausted boy. If he wasn't ready for her, in all of her insanity, that would be acceptable--but it had seemed like, for a second there, there was something more between them, something she'd wanted for longer then she would care to admit to most people--even Roxanne didn't know.

Her face flushed slightly as he brushed his lips on her cheek, but the dark night shrouded her face as she followed him towards the ground, a part of her wondering if she was too sweaty or something disgusting like that, but she joined him on the dew-soaked grass, laying down next to him, her blonde hair splayed out around her. "That was fun," she said quietly, lacking the energy to speak louder.

-this was awful, sorry-

[James Potter]

James laughed loudly. Honestly, things didn’t feel entirely different, despite the generous amount of snogging that had occurred just before their scrimmage. They were still joking like they always did, and things felt the same—no, better maybe. “Sure you won’t be distracted by my nice arse?” he asked her jokingly, rolling over on his side to get a better look at her. “I’d hate for that to distract you from the snitch during the game.” He added, smirking in a boyishly mischievous way. James really did like it better this way; it was just easier, and he didn’t feel confined to be something else or someone else entirely.

She mentioned that she had enjoyed herself, and he nodded as well, feeling equally as tired as she did. “Yeah, it was.” He replied, adjusting his body so that he could rest his head on her shoulder. There were a lot of stars in the sky tonight; it was quite a clear night. James loved nights like these, and despite how terrible the day had been, the night had erased all of those negative thoughts the day had brought. James sighed contentedly, closing his eyes for a moment, as though trying to figure out if what was going on was real or not.

By now, most of his dormitory would probably be asleep. He wouldn’t have to worry about sneaking into the dorm and people asking him where he had been. Even if they had been up, he could simply dismiss it as Quidditch practice. He was known for staying out late for practice like this, and so it wasn’t unheard of. He would probably have some questions in the morning, but he would worry about that when the time came. James sort of wanted to say something about that, about dealing with questions that may arise depending on their actions, but he didn’t want to have to worry about that for the moment.

[Zoe Thompson]

A lot of people, Zoe pondered, her eyes immersed in the twinkling night sky, would press the issue. Surely James was going to get some crap for this, and that did make her feel slightly guilty--but then again, he didn't seem to want anyone to know. Was he embarrassed by her? That was a terrifying prospect, but then again, he was still being his usual jokey self, if he was feeling differently, she would easily be able to see it in his face. The boy was certainly an open book, in all of the best ways. "Well," she laughed, "if I am, I'll make sure to let you know. Otherwise, try not to get too distracted by my nice arse."

She couldn't sort her emotions out, at the moment, so she did what she knew best, letting them float away into the dark night, her favorite shade of pitch black sky where the stars seemed like little polka dots gleaming amongst the large spacious area above her. The sky, she reasoned, was her home away from home away from home, as Hogwarts was truly her home away from the hellhole that she resided in during her summers. But being amongst the flickering lights, she found herself feeling more alive than ever, gaining strength from the night.

It wasn't as if she'd get in trouble, hopefully. It was easy enough to avoid Violet, and she doubted that Shayne would actually fulfill his title, so she would make it into her dorm unnoticed and unquestioned, just as she preferred it to be. Nobody would bother her--most lived in fear of the proud and loud girl, but she worried for James. "So...if we're not..." she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, instead skipping the rest of it to continue, "we're going to need a cover story, I guess?" Maybe it would make him feel a little more confident--although she was curious what Ben might say (she doubted Roxanne would be surprised).

[James Potter]

James grinned, nuzzling into her neck and chuckling lightly. “I probably will be. But I guess I’ll just have to try my best and focus on beating your keeper’s ass.” He closed his eyes, sighing contentedly so that his breath lightly brushed against her neck. He was exhausted, and he could have probably fallen asleep at this point. It took all his will power to stay awake, and her moments of silence didn’t help all too much.

The sounds of the night filled his ears in her silence, sort of like a natural orchestra. He could hear crickets a ways off. The wind, less than it had been while he was on his broom much further up, still whistled in his ears and rustled his hair a bit. He smiled into her neck, then rolled back onto his back, opening his eyes to glance back up at the sky. The moon was only half-full, but shone rather brightly regardless. It lit the Quidditch field in a pale grey light, making everything seem black and white in his eyes.

When she spoke, he turned his head, his ear getting wet from all the dew that was still on the ground. He blinked, a little shocked, but then smiled at her question. “We were playing Quidditch, weren’t we?” he asked, smiling mischievously, before gently brushing his lips against hers again. “Besides, no one’s going to be up now anyway, right?” he asked, pretty sure what he said was accurate. “Unless you think we need a better cover story than that?” He was fine with just saying they were just playing Quidditch, though he might tell someone like Ben.

[Zoe Thompson]

His honesty, too, was endearing, and she couldn't keep the satisfied grin off her face as she responded, "I'm sure my darling Keeper would enjoy that, after all, they deserve to get some too." She made a mental note to train the hell out of her Keeper, but let it float to the back of her mind, his breath encircling her neck, mingling with the puffs of cold air escaping from her mouth. Strange, she hadn't even realized that she was cold, but she was. Moving closer to him, she smiled, enveloped in his warmth, which she found to be quite safe and comforting.

It was unlike her to be quiet, but she felt that even the slightest movement she made would be a travesty, interrupting the melodies playing into their ears. The silence, she reflected, was probably because they didn't need to be one of those boring...couples (Was that the right word?) who talked all of the time about absolutely nothing, still expecting the other to faithfully listen. The moon, even, seemed to be smiling at them, she'd always loved half moons.

Giggling at the feeling of dewdrops in her fair, she bit her lip nervously before saying, "Well, yeah. I mean, just...if people ask. I don't wanna put you in any kind of a situation or anything." They were dancing around the point she wanted to make, and her stomach was protesting loudly at the lack of knowledge that she possessed.

Was she just a rebound? Was she okay with that?
This was all becoming confusing, she realized, and decided to respond to that thought by pressing her lips to his after his left hers, hoping that if she kissed him, there might be some sort of an easy answer to all of this.

[James Potter]

She looked quite happy about his comment, and by the way she snuggled up to him, he knew that she was simply joking with him. He was sure that she would make a note to whip her Keeper into shape, but for now, they weren’t competitive Quidditch captains. He slid his arm around her for the moment, smiling a bit as he did so. Damn, why did this feel so right at the moment? She seemed a bit chilly, and he hoped that he could warm her up a bit. It was a bit chilly on the field—the dew drenched grass certainly didn’t help either.

James looked a bit puzzled for a moment, tightening his arm around her for a moment. He then grinned, figuring he could have some fun with this for a moment. “Well we could tell them…” he said, obviously taking a moment to think of something good to say. “We could tell them we got abducted by aliens. Or that we had to fight off the Giant Squid.” He suggested, grinning broadly despite the fact that she probably couldn’t see his face in the dark.

However, it took him a moment to realize that wasn’t what she was looking for. His smile faded, and he took a moment to think about what she really wanted. He couldn’t think of anything, so he figured it would simply be easier to ask. “Zoe… What do you mean?” he asked carefully, leaning over to her so that he could try and meet her eyes. He wanted to kiss her again, but he would wait for her answer first, brow furrowed a bit.

[Zoe Thompson]

It was fun throwing the Quiddich freak side of her away for a bit, and looking at him, he seemed pleased, wrapping his arm around her. She nuzzled her head happily into his shoulder, smiling up at him. This was how things were meant to be, the two of them next to each other. She loved him for trying to keep her warm, which she thought was insanely sweet, hopefully, she'd do a successful job warming him up also, as she could feel the moisture from the ground seeping into her veins, chilling her to the bone.

But he looked confused, too. Maybe she wasn't being as consistent as she should have been with her emotions, but she couldn't honestly keep herself from flying all over the place, both in joy and shock, confusion and insanity. "Maybe that we decided to go on a Hippogriff ride for the night? Or camp out in the Forbidden Forest?" She couldn't get the smile to disappear from her face, her unalienable cheer at the moment was almost eerie, inappropriate for the behind-the-scene happenings that she worried that she was going to have to soon face.

She bit her lip nervously as she watched the smile fade from his face, his eyes meeting hers with an unfathomable emotion. She wished that she had something witty to tell him, something interesting or cute, or even a good lie, but in this situation, she did the only thing she could. Kissing him again, she positioned herself so that her arms were around his neck, "It's fine...I'm just being paranoid," she responded, letting herself get lost within the moment. They didn't need a title...that was overrated, right? It had to be, she reasoned, after all, she'd seen people be together without having to have a name for themselves, no cute little moniker. Whether she wanted one or not was a different story, but she would be okay with whatever he wanted.

[James Potter]

Thinking about it now, James realized it was probably stupid to have lain on the grass like this. While it had felt nice against his hot skin right after coming off the broom, he was pretty much freezing now. But ignoring the temperature of his body and his desire to shiver, he was quite comfortable with his arm wrapped around Zoe. She was a bit warm—not cozy blanket or fire-side warm—but not enough to make his dew-drenched clothes dry.

He would have to move soon, to change out of these wet clothes and snuggle into his nice warm bed up in Gryffindor Tower. For a moment, he imagined snuggling up in that bed with Zoe, then pushed the idea out of his mind. He didn’t want to press his luck. After all, they had just started snogging, he didn’t want to get ahead of himself.

He smirked at her suggestions as well, noting they were probably more likely than his had been. They had certainly never seen the giant squid before, and aliens were simply some made up muggle story to explain weird things the muggles didn’t understand. A bunch of other ideas jumped into his mind, but he knew he had to push them aside for now. It wasn’t really the time to suggest troll-fighting escapades or centaur-riding adventures.

He figured she was trying to reassure him in some way when she pressed her lips against his again. He had to admit, it did a bit, but her response just arose more questions. “Paranoid?” he echoed, brow furrowing, a small pout appearing on his lips. “Do you think I’m not going to actually ask you out or something? Cause I am. I said I would, and I don’t break my promises if I can help it.” He responded honestly, shrugging a bit, noticing her arm wrapping around his neck.

He didn’t want her to worry about stupid things like this—well, stupid in his mind at least. He didn’t think it mattered all that much if they were official or not. It wasn’t as though he didn’t want them to be, but they were enjoying themselves and they were each other’s when they were like this. He wasn’t going to go about snogging other girls while they were like this. And sure, they would have to be less than obvious about it all for a bit, but that didn’t matter to him. It was something great, in his mind, and he wanted it continue.

[Zoe Thompson]

More layers would have been a smart idea, in retrospect, but the weather had never been a deterrent to the naturally athletic girl, who gained heat through exercise. But with him, she felt as if she was sitting on the edge of a fireplace, feeling the happy warmth received after being out in the snow all day playing. It reminded her of her childhood, one of her only really positive memories, which made her stomach lurch slightly. She never really remembered how much anyone knew about her family, as she was not overly forthcoming with the details of her past (and some of them were lies).

But she was losing herself in another universe, she realized, one that was sheltering her from the practicalities that she would have to indulge in--leaving James, a warm shower and change of clothes, and sleep. True, leaving James sounded slightly upsetting, but she'd already pushed her luck for the day, more than she ever thought that she would be able to do, and she was absolutely loving it.

It was fun making up all of these fantasies, and for a second, she imagined them all being true--the two of them doing all of these amazing and adventurous things like James' family used to do, supposedly. It would be fun to try to experience some of those things, to meet fake aliens, to walk on water and never sink, all of these things that seemed so impossible to her throughout her life.

He wouldn't let the issue drop, though, which made her heart thud in her chest. But when he began to talk, her entire body seemed to almost get drunk with pleasure, every bone in her body approving and loving what he had said. "You're pretty frickin' amazing, you know that?" She said with a smile, looking straight at him. The inevitable...wow, it was now inevitable that they would be going out soon. Crazy.

Maybe she /was/ too caught up in technicalities--neither would be snogging anyone else, and all of this was a fun and easy secret, something she didn't mind keeping too much.