Getting a drink

Summer so far had been dismal. Alli had spent most of her time ignoring people and engaging in a little retail therapy. Fourth year was looming on the horizon and she wasn't looking forward to going back to Hogwarts. It just meant that she'd have to spend more time with people that she didn't feel like talking to.

She went to Diagon Alley armed with some money and the phrase "bill the Walkers" to do some serious damage to her parents' Gringott's account (not that anything she could purchase would actually put a dent in it). Stopping at The Leaky Cauldron, she ordered a butterbeer and took in to a table in the back, silently drinking it and trying her best to pretend that she wasn't bothered by being there alone.

"I'll see you guys later!" James called to the group of loud nearly fourth year guys as he entered The Leaky Cauldron. He agreed to meet his parents there shortly, and James had a habit of being late to these parental meet ups. To avoid getting on his mother and father's badside before they spent any money on him, he decided to get there a tad earlier so that he couldn't possibly be late.

James ordered a Butterbeer from Tom and looked around for a place to sit and wait. Looking around, James deemed that he picked a really bad time for a drink, seeing that nearly every table was full or getting that way. He saw a table only occupied by one girl with her back to the bar and he wondered if he would be intruding if he asked to sit with her. He could get a little closer to see if she was a Hogwarts age or not. That would definitely make a difference whether he sat with her or not.

James walked that little bit closer and immediately recognised who it was; how could he not? He hadn't spoken to her for a good three months, both of them avoiding each other like the plague for the rest of their third year. James wouldn't have bothered her if he wasn't so desperate to not stand there looking like a idiot with a drink in his hand, and nowhere to sit.

He stopped at her table, and looked down at her. She looked the same to him, albeit, she had an expression on her face that he wouldn't describe as overjoyed. She looked bored, if nothing else.

James cleared his throat nervously. 'Erm... Hi."

Alli looked up when she heard a voice, certain that her mind was playing tricks on her; there was no way that it could be who she thought it was. Somehow, it was. She sat in stunned silence for a moment. They had even so much as looked at each other in three months, let alone said something.

When she finally snapped out of it, she straightened slightly in her seat. She didn't know whether she should be prepared for an apology, an argument, or an awkward conversation. "James, hi. What are you doing here?" she asked.

James waited by the table's edge for Alli to respond to his greeting. He let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding when she finally spoke. Speaking was a good sign to James, but by no means were they past what happened last year. He half expected her to turn her back on him, something she mastered the previous year when they avoided each other.

"I'm supposed to be meeting my parents," he said. "I'm a little early though." He looked around the busy pub and smiled awkwardly. "What about you?"

Alli wasn't sure how she felt about talking to James after all but refusing to acknowledge his existence after he walked away from her in Hogsmeade the year before. She wanted to be furious at him for how he'd acted but, for some reason or another, she couldn't do it. That wasn't to say that she wasn't still a little angry and hurt, because she was, but there was something stopping her from hating him, as much as she tried.

"Going shopping. Mum's been shoving money at me like it's going out of style so I figured I might as well put it to good use," she shrugged. She realized that he was still standing at the edge of the table and before she knew what she was doing, she asked, "Do you want to join me?"

James nodded and took a seat down opposite her. He smiled inwardly at the irony of the situation; them both being in a very public place, having a drink seemingly together.

"Thanks," James said, truly thankful for the seat. He half expected her not to grant him the privilege, but was glad she did. He didn't fancy sitting at the bar with the adults.

"Shopping's good," James remarked, thinking that he should check out Quality before the day was over. "Bought anything good?" Small talk was always the death of him, but he preferred that to the alternative; bringing up what happened in Hogsmeade.

"I haven't bought anything yet," Alli replied. She'd only just arrived in Diagon Alley and wanted to have a drink before she hit the shops. She was already regretting wearing the new shoes that her mother had bought for her. She could tell that her feet were going to be killing her by the end of the day, thanks to the fashionable yet not at all comfortable heels.

"I'll probably start with my school things and then move on to the fun stuff," she said. "What are you meeting your parents for?"

James sighed. "My brother's going to seventh year this year, so my parents are taking him shopping for stuff and will probably end up buying him something awesome just because he's doing his NEWTS." James shrugged. Phil was always getting special attention for one thing or another. The perk of being the eldest child, James supposed.

"I'm supposed to meet them here to get some money for my own shopping," he commented.

Alli listened quietly, sipping at her drink. She always forgot that James had an older brother. He sounded a little unhappy at the thought of his brother getting something special for his NEWTS. Alli had never experienced anything like that, considering she was an only child, but she imagined that it was difficult being the younger sibling.

"Maybe they'll get you something once you make it to NEWT level then," she said. She didn't see why he wouldn't, unless his parents didn't make any effort to be fair to him and his brother.

She didn't say anything else, but she could feel the topic of what had happened in Hogsmeade looming over them like an omnipresent cloud of awkwardness. She was considering leaving just to escape it but, as much as she hated to admit it, she still liked being around him.

James shrugged again. "Yeah, maybe." This notion didn't make him feel any better about the matter. He was always the second thought. We'll get this for Phil, oh, and I suppose James as well, so he won't feel left out. He was just feeling particularly sorry for himself this afternoon.

"Anyway, I don't want to bore you about it all," he said. He looked at her, noting that her hair was longer than last year and he realised that he really liked it at this new length. James' face flushed slightly at the thought and he glanced down at the table quickly, aware of the silence crowding in.

"Alli..." James began, glancing back up at her and then back down to the table. "I've had some time to think over the holidays. Shocking I know, me thinking," he smiled, in spite of himself. "And..." he paused and took a breath, trying to gather his scattered thoughts so that he could form coherent sentences but he only really wanted to let her know one thing.

"I... I miss you."

Alli listened in anticipation of what he was going to say. I've been thinking about how you were really awful to me and I want to pretend like we never had anything going on seemed like a very possible statement, yet by some miracle by Wizard God, it was not even remotely close to what James actually said.

I... I miss you.

It was infinitely better than what she'd been expecting, but it had surprised her so much that she couldn't do anything but sit in stunned silence for a few moments. "I miss you, too," she said finally. "But... you just... walked away," she continued, thinking of what had happened that day in Hogsmeade. She should have known that they wouldn't be able to speak to each other without addressing the subject somehow. "I watched you and you just walked away and left me there," she said sadly.

Hearing her say she felt the same allowed James to release the breath he didn't know he was holding. He forgot momentarily that they were in public and reached out and placed his hand on top of hers.

"I was angry, Alli. I knew that if I didn't walk away, I would have said something I didn't mean. Hell, what I actually said was bad enough." He looked at her. "I know that doesn't excuse me leaving. I shouldn't have, but at the time," James shrugged, "I didn't know what else to do."

Feeling James' hand on hers made Alli's heart race. She'd gotten so used to avoiding even looking at him that any sort of physical contact was foreign to her, though it felt rather nice- like nothing had ever happened and they were just two people who really liked each other out and having a drink together.

"I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "For everything. If I hadn't been so worried about what other people would think none of it would have ever happened."

James shook his head. "Don't be sorry. If anyone should be sorry, it's me. I was selfish, and I realised that you have every right to care about what people think. You have to live with them after all." James smiled lightly. At the time of their argument, he really didn't give much thought about how Alli's Slytherin life would be if they all hated or thought differently of her. She would have been miserable.

James looked around and smiled. "Funny how things happen though. Here we are, in public."

Alli laughed to herself. "Yeah, public. There's so many people in here that it wouldn't matter if we jumped up onto a table and did a tango. Nobody would notice us," she said. Everybody seemed pretty off in their own little worlds.

She had to admit that it was really nice to just sit with him and have a drink without fear of what people were going to say about it. Perhaps she'd grown out of the little part of her that worried about what other people thought, or at least she'd realized that she could get away with pretty much anything, even (gasp!) being seen in public with a Gryffindor.

"So... what does this mean?" she asked, deciding to directly address the issue that was pestering her.

James smiled at the imagery provoked by Alli's statement.

"No worries about that happening. I can't dance." Dancing was not James' strong point, in fact, if there was a list of the things that James did well and what he was appalling at, dancing would be negative five billion the last one on the list.

James raised an eyebrow. "Us being in public or...?" James was slow on the uptake, something that hadn't changed over the holidays. He had a feeling that she wasn't referring to the fact of them being there in public, but he wasn't going to make assumptions and make a fool of himself.

The familiar feeling of frustration came flooding back to Alli at James' question. She'd forgotten that, although she found most of his clueless questions to be endearing, sometimes he could be downright stupid. She gave him her best you have got to be kidding me look. "What do you think?" she asked, her tone even, since she was unable to decide if she was more annoyed or amused that he was still the same lovable idiot she'd gotten to know so well.

James tilted his head, taking in her expression. He should have gone with his gut feeling. James wasn't all that bothered by it. Alli already knew he was dumber than two planks of wood, so her expectations of him shouldn't be effected. Hopefully.

He smiled slightly, and shrugged. "I wouldn't be against coming up with new ways of deceiving our housemates to think we're single again, if that's what you want to do." James had to admit, it was fun having a secret like that, though he remembered why it annoyed him in the first place. James just had his priorities in place now.