TWO
SECOND YEAR: DETENTION & ARGUMENTS

"do you remember what is was like
when we were so young and foolish?"

Fred and James walked next to each other on their way back from detention with Slughorn, talking quietly amongst themselves as they matched each other's paces. Cameron trailed behind them, a frown resting on her face. She blamed the boys for her having detention, claiming that it was their fault. It was, actually, but James would never give her the satisfaction of saying she was right. Fred and him had been messing around with the ingredients for their potion, and really she had only been trying to save them from the disaster they had been creating. She'd gone to stop them before they could drop in the last ingredient, but she'd been to late. Unfortunately for her, her actions left her standing right next to their potion - which exploded only a few seconds after she'd called out their names.

James, feeling guilty, had gone to Slughorn after class to try and explain that Cameron had nothing to with it, but he dismissed the young boy before he could give the full story. But there was no way he would ever admit that to Cameron, or to anyone. Listening to her footsteps echoing from behind him, James wondered for the thousandth time since he'd met her why Cameron hated him so much. She hadn't liked him from the minute they'd met, and while James did admit that it wasn't the best of introductions, he didn't see why that meant she had to make it a priority to hate him. He was usually quite good with girls, which was part of why she puzzled him so much. Nonetheless, he decided early on that if she was going to hate him he would at least give her a few valid reasons to.

It wasn't uncommon that their friends got caught up in their disputes, considering how they shared many mutual friends and the fact that James's family members adored Cameron. It was no secret that everyone was highly exasperated by their constant fighting, but Cameron's friends were more supportive of her disliking of James than James's friends were of his behavior towards Cameron. She had Lana on her side, always, as well as Liz and Brenda. They were always prepared to listen to another James Potter rant. Meanwhile, James's friends more often than not supported Cameron rather than him. Tyler, who fancied Lana, jumped at any chance to agree with her. Austin was a muggleborn, and because of that he, Cameron, and Liz spent many a nights together talking about numerous things from their home world. Fred simply thought that James was stupid and found it amusing how frustrated he got when his friends turned against him.

"Oi, Kala!" He turned around so that he was walking backwards and smirking at Cameron, immediately earning a sigh from Fred. Cameron glared at the taller boy as he faced her, only making his smirk widen. "You know if Lana is free this Saturday?" She huffed and stormed past the two boys, causing James to laugh. He knew as well as anyone that Lana of all people was a sore spot, being Cameron's closest friend. He had no interest in her, really, but mentioning her always bugged Cameron.

"C'mon, really?" He turned to see Fred looking at him, almost disappointed.

"You've got to admit that it was funny." Fred only rolled his eyes as they reached the portrait and James laughed again. They recited the password to the Fat Lady and entered to find Austin and Tyler sitting on the couches in the common room working on some homework.

"Finally! What did Slughorn have you doing in there?" Austin asked, putting down his quill. James and Fred collapsed onto the couches beside them before answering.

"Organizing potions and things," Fred sighed, running a hand over his face. "The worst part was James annoying Cameron, of course," he added.

"Can't you lay off her every once in a while?" Austin questioned, raising an eyebrow as his friend. James just shrugged, smiling. Truth was, if it weren't for the fact that Cameron already hated him, they might have been friends. If he didn't go out of his way to annoy her, he might have been going out of his way to impress her. (Impress because he was aware, in the very back of his mind, that there was a box somewhere in his brain that he had shoved many feelings to over the years, half of which maybe revolved around Cameron. He made the deliberate choice to keep the box closed and never think about it too much.)

"Have you ever considered actually trying to be nice to each other?" Tyler spoke up, glancing up from his parchment. Tyler was, by far, the nicest and most innocent of the group. He was always one to offer up simple and peaceful solutions, but people were rarely simple and peaceful.

"I'll try when she does," James scoffed. His friends rolled their eyes, exchanged tired looks, obviously not pleased with his answer. But they didn't know that he wasn't lying - if Cameron Kala someday decided that she was miraculously going to be nice to him, he wouldn't hesitate to do the same. His friends and family were oblivious to the fact that James didn't actually despise Cameron the way he claimed to. He had never told anyone about how he sometimes wished that she didn't hate him the way she did, and so they were none the wiser.

"I don't understand why you have to make her miserable," Fred muttered.

"Because it's fun," he replied, before taking his leave and heading up to the dorm. His friends watched him go, but he ignored their gazes. As soon as he was gone they started to talk about their essays, with the occasional comment about how they would have to make Cameron and James friends before things got too out of hand.

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A/N
:)