Chapter 17: ── 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

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JAMES POTTER KNEW HE WAS fucked the moment Olivia Kinsley walked in the room that night. The same way he knows he's fucked now as he sat by her bed, his eyes studying the soft features of her face.

How absolutely idiotic of him to once again fall for a girl who could never feel the same way.

The night they spent together played in his head in a constant loop. Her words repeating again and again to remind him of the inevitable heartbreak that came with loving a girl unable to love herself. James revisits old feelings the way someone re-reads old books. He finds comfort in the familiar words despite knowing how the story ends.

They had already shared a few drinks, Olivia's arms wrapped around his neck and his own around her delicate waist. Her forehead touched his, their lips inches apart as James' heart hammered through his ribcage.

Isn't it beautiful? How our hearts can effortlessly fall in love with something as simple as a smile. How one single spark can inspire wildfires within us, and how the thought of forgetting how someone makes us feel is as absurd as thought of the coast forgetting the ocean, and the earth forgetting the sun. Isn't it beautiful? How ruthlessly we still hope and how beautifully we surrender to a feeling as temporary as love.

"Is this the part where I kiss you and we live happily ever after?" He asked cheekily, his hands travelling from her waist to her neck. The shiver that erupted from his touch made James' smile wider.

The grin that covered her lips would be his destruction. "I don't do love, Potter."

He knew then, as he knows now. She's the kind of girl to break his heart. She'd claw at his soul and consume every piece of him, and James would let her. With Olivia Kinsley came longing and temptation.

How many boys had fallen in love with the fire inside her, but not be man enough to handle a little burn? James welcomed her heat with open arms. He'd let himself be consumed by her flame.

Fuck, he thought as he leaned in, his lips brushing hers. He was a goner. She'd break his heart, and James would let her. He'd watch silently as she steps on it and shatters it to a million tiny pieces. And afterwards, he'd use those pieces to delicately glue hers back together. At that moment where his lips molded to hers, James could have sworn he held the whole world in his arms.

"I'd break my heart and use the broken pieces to fix yours," he whispered to her sleeping form, realizing just how fucked he is. "And that's my problem."

Perhaps that was it. Perhaps James has always been destined to fall for women way out of his league.

Olivia Kinsley is a fucking goddess, spat out by the heavens itself, none of them unable to handle the girl that held the universe in her eyes. It had taken a supernova to form someone as perfect as Olivia is in James' eyes.

"What are you thinking about?" A voice asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

He faced her, his lips breaking into a smile to see that the glow in her skin is back. Her lips had retained their flushed pink color and her eyes no longer looked weak.

"Nothing," he lied, reaching for the glass of water and handing it to her. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged as she took a sip. "Better."

"You scared the shit out of me," he admitted.

"Sorry," she says. "Aren't you supposed to be in quidditch practice?"

"Did you honestly think I'd leave you?"

"I'm in the hospital wing, Potter." She told him. "I doubt anything would happen to me here."

"I'm doing it for me, too. I would never be able to concentrate."

She met his eyes, her gray ones holding his hazel. "Don't stop your life for me. I can handle myself."

He shook her head at her again. He couldn't imagine what would have happened if he wasn't there. "It doesn't matter. I'm quitting anyway."

Even saying the words brought a certain amount of pain. Quidditch is a sport James adores. It's where his passion lies. He never thought he'd hear himself utter those words.

And it seems Olivia thought the same as her head snapped to his. "What do you mean you're quitting? James, you can't quit. You're the captain, for merlin's sake."

His mind was made up. Quidditch was once the most important thing in James' life, but now there are more important things that demand his full attention. Olivia and their baby come first now. They're the priority, and giving up a sport is a small sacrifice for his peace of mind.

"The captaincy will go to Sirius," he said. "He'll take care of the team."

"Sirius? James, I don't doubt Sirius' capabilities, but that boy has the attention span of a two year old," she says.

"I can't be at two places at once, mon amour." His voice firm as he says it, a sign to tell Olivia that his mind will not be changed. "It's just a sport."

"It's not just a sport," she told him, her own voice becoming softer. Olivia knows quidditch plays an important role in James' life and if she can help it, she'd want him to continue doing it. "It's a sport that you love."

He doesn't meet her eyes as he says the next words. "There are things I love more."

Oliva knows he meant their baby, and yet she can't help the way her heart fluttered. But Olivia will never allow herself to believe that she held emotions for James Potter that exceeds the line of friendship.

"You'll lose the house cup." She tried again. "You don't have to do this, James."

"I do," he says seriously, his eyes darting to the ground to hide the fact that his eyes had teared up. It's fucking ridiculous that he's crying over such a small thing, but Olivia is right. Quidditch was one of his first loves. At times he felt unsure of himself, quidditch remains the only thing he can count on. Yet, there are much more important things than quidditch now. It's reached a point where he's forced to choose, and if it came down to it, James would rather lose the house cup a million times than not be by Olivia's side when she needs him. He remembers the words his mother told him; you're going to have to grow up, James. It's not going to be easy. "We're not kids anymore. Sacrifices have to be made sometimes, baby."

Olivia wanted to fight harder. She wants to scream at him and tell him he's being ridiculous, but she knew it'd be no use. Perhaps out of everyone in that castle, she's the one who understands sacrifice well. She feels guilt clawing at her. If it wasn't for her then he wouldn't need to do this. "Are you sure?"

James smiled softly before standing up and planting a kiss on her forehead. "You're priority, mon amour."

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DAYS PASSED, AND AS OLIVIA expected, having to give up the sport James loved was truly taking a toll on him. Not only that, Gryffindor house seem to believe that she had forced him to quit and so wherever she went, glares are thrown in her direction.

She can't imagine what they'd do if she showed up in the gryffindor tower to see the marauders, which is why she refused to go there no matter how much Kat persisted.

"I'm sure it's not so bad," Kat says. "James wouldn't let anyone start anything anyway."

For the fifth time, Olivia shook her head. It wasn't that their judgement was getting to her. It's that she really didn't want to deal with it. "James had punched four people in a span of two days, and have gotten a month's worth of detention. If he does something again, he won't be able to play for his final game next week. I'm not putting him in a position where his anger will cause him to lose this one last thing."

Kat let out a sigh, knowing she's right. The whole castle seem to believe that Olivia is using a potion on James and had no problem voicing it the same way James has no problem deforming their face whenever he hears words thrown against the slytherin. James had agreed playing one more game against the Ravenclaws before he gives up his spot in the team and his captaincy and gryffindor is livid with losing their star player.

"The library then?" Kat suggested, not wanting Olivia to be once again cooped up in her room.

"If you want to go to the boys, it's really okay with me, Kat," Olivia told her. "I'm only going to be doing homework anyway."

Kat shrugged nonchalantly. "It's fine. I think I need a break from Sirius' ugly ass anyway."

Olivia chuckled. Kat and Sirius shared one weird relationship with Sirius often following the hufflepuff around and Kat denying feeling anything other than annoyance towards the boy when it's so painfully obvious that they share the same feelings towards each other.

Olivia's laughter immediately dies upon entering the library, her eyes instantly darting towards the laughing couple. Lily and James sat together, books around their table as they laughed at each other. Olivia felt her heart drop to her stomach, but she ignored it and quickly headed to a table far away from the two.

Clutching her quill, she ignores the feeling. Thankfully, she has no time to focus on the two's laughter as hissing sounds reached her ears. Her eyes darts to Kat who had started opening her books to work on their homework, her mouth shut.

"Mistress," whispered the hissing voice as if it's right by her ear. The voice was smooth and sinister and yet the way its word formed was so clear in Olivia's ears.

"Mistress."

"Do you hear that?" Olivia asked Kat as the voice seem to get nearer and nearer.

The hufflepuff looked up from her book. "Hear what?"

"Open the chamber, mistress," the hissing voice said again.

"That."

Kat stopped reading to try and listen but all the hufflpuff heard was the muffled talking of the students around them. "I don't hear anything, Liv."

Olivia must be losing her mind . The voice is clearer than ever as it whispered again; "free me. Open the chamber, mistress."

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JAMES POTTER IS EVIDENTLY EXHAUSTED. He spent the night before in detention from McGonagall after punching his fellow gryffindor in front of the whole class.

"You look like death," Lily says as he took a seat, just wanting to get the whole thing over with.

James grimaced. "Thank you, Evans, for that wonderful observation."

"You're welcome." Lily grinned, but it dropped upon seeing the bags under the boy's eyes. "How's Olivia?"

James eyes suspiciously darts toward the redhead, his shoulders stiffening and taking a protective stance. James seems to be on alert whenever the woman is mentioned, and Lily immediately regrets asking.

"She's fine," James said curtly, his tone immediately closing off. After the things he's heard his fellow classmates say about the girl, it's only natural that he'd assume Lily would say the same thing. It didn't matter that James used to think the world of the girl. When it comes to Olivia, it doesn't matter who it is, he'd fight for her honor. "Why did you ask?"

"Uh," she started awkwardly. "I heard you guys talking about how she's not feeling well."

"Oh," he said, his body posture finally relaxing. "She's okay."

"That's good," she says as she laid out the books she found. "So I was thinking we should start first about advantages and disadvantages then let's emphasize on the importance."

James nodded as he brought out his parchment and quill. A year ago, if you told him he'd be sitting with Lily Evans, actually talking to her, without his heart wanting to beat out of his chest, he would have laughed at your face. However, things are different now. Lily Evans' attention no longer held significance in his life. And truth be told, it hadn't held significance for a while now.

Ever since he met Olivia, Lily had nothing been but a conquest to help repair his damaged ego. He had been so annoyed to see her with Amos Diggory all because it was hard for his pride to accept that a woman he's been chasing for years was able to be swept off her feet by someone she met a few nights ago.

But he knew now that even if Lily had said yes, they wouldn't have worked out. Olivia had left an impact on him that night. No matter how hard he tried, he was never able to wash the scent of her off his skin. He couldn't forget her no matter how hard he tried.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out, making Lily turn to him with confusion.

"Sorry for what, Potter?"

"Everything," he says. "I should have respected your decision when you turned me down. I shouldn't have bothered you or threatened the guys you took interest in. But most of all, I'm sorry for that last month where I used you. I was more persistent than ever to get you to say yes not because I still wanted you. I wanted to use you as a band-aid for my damaged ego when Olivia ignored me. I know I put pressure on your relationship with Amos, thinking I had any right or say in your life."

Lily sat stunned from James' sudden apology, but James continued on. "I stopped chasing you as soon as Olivia entered my life again, because I realized that you deserve to be chosen undoubtedly, over and over again, not merely considered. I had to stop using you as a safety net and I'm sorry I even thought of you as that."

Lily smiled sadly. "You really like her, huh?"

A soft smile appeared on James' face at the mere thought of Olivia. "Probably a lot more than I should."

"I forgive you," she says. After weeks of wondering why James Potter suddenly did not care about her, at least now she has the answer. James found someone else, just as Lily used to tell him he would years ago. "I'm happy for you."

He offered her his hand. "Friends?"

With a dazzling smile, Lily shook his hand. "Friends."

And yet, as she and James finally focussed on their work, her heart ached. Not because James Potter no longer had feelings for her, but because he feels so strongly for the same girl Lily feels so strongly for.

Fate truly is a bitch. Perhaps if Lily made a move years ago instead of watching her from afar the she'd be the one able to hold Olivia Kinsley's hand.

𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲:

Our main plot's finally

unfolding :') James is so in love

hehe. To those who'll say that it's

farfetched for James to be as in

love with Olivia as he is when

he's only known her for a little

while, y'all gotta  remember that

James chased the same girl for

years after deciding he loved her

when he was like 11 or 12.

Tho those who guessed that

it's actually Olivia Lily liked,

good job!