"Why hello there, Miss Edwards."

James was grinning at Azalea as she sat down next to him in their booth at the library, holding the box. She rolled her eyes, but also resisted the urge to smile. This was one of the first times she'd seen him today, owing to the fact that he'd been in the castle doing homework and she'd been out in Hogsmeade with their friends.

It had been a week and a half since they'd started dating, and this was the first time they were looking at the box within that. Azalea had enjoyed every second of it, though. Every stolen kiss, every interlocked hand, every smile across a crowded room. It was amazing, and she honestly wished Lauri Krum didn't exist so she could start this year all over again, and date James from the beginning of it.

But she couldn't do that, so now she just grinned, saying. "Hey, how was your day?"

"Terrible, who knew potions essays were so hard?" James asked miserably.

"Everyone," Azalea shrugged with a smile. "But come on, we need to look at this box tonight."

"Can't I just look at you instead?" James asked with a smirk so endearing it took Azalea a lot to roll her eyes at.

But she did, muttering. "No, James."

"Fine," James rolled his eyes. "But first..."

He leaned in and kissed her softly, Azalea smiling against his lips. He pulled her closer to him, so much so that she was almost sat on his lap, as they kissed harder.

"James," Azalea said warningly, pulling back. "We have to do this."

"We could just say we did, and didn't figure anything out," James smirked.

Azalea rolled her eyes, looking down at the box and again, seeing the words embossed upon the top of it.

for this to open, you must answer what I ask
inside is a clue to your next task
i walk the plains with a patient stride
i hunt in silence, with my wits and my pride
when danger comes, my call shakes the air
who am i with a golden flare?

"Okay, what the fuck?" Azalea groaned. "We didn't need more riddles!"

"Tell that to dad, he probably made this," James rolled his eyes.

"Well, tell him to make it easier," Lea growled, letting her head hit the desk.

James just chuckled, a sound she could really use right now, and placed a hand on her back, rubbing it slightly. Azalea smiled gently into the desk, feeling her cheeks burn

"Come on," he said. "The third task is still a month and a half away, Azzie. We'll be fine if we don't figure it out tonight."

"That's nice to know," Azalea grumbled, lifting her head. "I just- I really wanted to beat Lauri, okay? He- he practically gave us what we needed to do the second task, and-"

"And nothing," James shook his head, looking her in the eyes. "Azzie, Lauri is an asshole, and I promise you we'll beat him in the next task. I promise."

"Thank you," Azalea smiled warmly at him, saying. "You know, I'm starting to come round to this idea of you entering us into the tournament."

"Oh really?" James said with a smirk. "Well that's good to know."

And no, they didn't get a lot of work done on the riddle that night.

But they did improve their kissing technique.

✾✾✾

Being in class was so normal yet so weird to Azalea at the moment. She was in DADA right now, though, a class she loved because it was with the whole gang (James, Alice, Fred and Louis) and because it was taught by Teddy.

But today, one of those things wasn't true. The gang was there, and Azalea was sat at her table with Alice whilst the boys were behind them. All five of them were talking and laughing about something stupid, but they were all overcome and it was hard to get out of that.

They were all too overcome with laughter to notice that the teacher that walked in was not, in fact, Teddy, but a small, stout, somewhat chubby woman dressed in a black skirt and a hideous pink cardigan.

She walked slowly up to the front of the class, tutting at all the students, but particularly at the five in the front row.

"Quiet, please," she said in the smallest voice ever when she got to the front. When no one was quiet, she raised her voice. "I said quiet, please."

The whole class was silent, looking confusedly at each other.

"Who the fuck is that?" Azalea mouthed at James, who knew everyone, and he shrugged.

But the teacher answered that question for them, saying. "As Professor Lupin is ill today, I shall be stepping in for him. I am Professor Delia Umbridge. You may heard of my mother, considering she taught here many years ago."

Azalea froze. She remembered James, ages ago, bringing up Professor Umbridge. She was the one who'd not let Harry and his friends do magic and had made them carve their hands. If this was her daughter...

And the others, too, seemed to share that sentiment, as they had all gone stiff with wide eyes.

"Now, could you all please close your books? I'd quite like to get to know you, first," said Umbridge, smiling warming.

Everyone was very confused as they shut their books, Azalea frowning at Alice.

"Right," Umbridge said once they had all done so. "So, we're going to go round the class, and one by one, you're going to introduce yourselves."

This feels like a primary school exercise, Azalea thought with rolled eyes.

"Okay, we'll start here," Umbridge pointed to Fred.

"Oh, er-" the boy said, an air of mockery in his voice. "I'm Fred Weasle.""

"Weasley? Yes, I've heard of your parents," smiled their Professor, before pointing at Louis. "And you, dear?"

"I'm Louis Weasley," said the boy.

Umbridge smiled before pointing at James.

"I'm James Potter," he said, his face a mixture of disgust and irritation.

"Oh, Potter, yes," smiled Umbridge. "And you're doing the Triwizard Tournament, aren't you?"

"That I am," James nodded.

"Okay, what about you, dear?" She pointed at the blonde next to Azalea.

"Oh, I'm Alice Longbottom," said Alice with a small smile. She was the only one out of the five willing to give this 'substitute teacher' a chance.

"Aah, Longbottom," Umbridge grinned. "That's a proud name you're carrying. Now, uh... what about you?"

And she was pointing straight at-

"I'm Azalea Edwards," said Lea, her voice stagnant.

"Edwards?" Umbridge frowned. "I don't believe I've heard of your paren-"

"No, you wouldn't have," Azalea said loudly. "I'm muggle born."

She'd been told once by Alice that muggle borns used to be hated by superior pure bloods. Being one had almost been worse than being a muggle, in Voldemort's eyes.

But Azalea, however, hadn't faced prejudice throughout her six and a half years being a witch. Sure, there had been an odd double take at the way her name wasn't a famous one, but no one had actively said anything about it.

That went out the window now. As soon as she said the words 'muggle born', Umbridge's whole demeanour changed. She straightened up, the smile disappeared off her face, and she swiftly moved on to the next person, smiling when they revealed they were half blood.

Azalea sat back, pursing her lips and rolling her eyes. Behind her, James clenched his fists in anger. Azalea was the best out of all of them. How dare Umbridge not treat her the way she deserved?

But as she continued to go around the class, not one other person said they were muggle born. Azalea stilled. No. No, she couldn't be the only muggle born in this class, there were loads in seventh year-

But it was true, because as Umbridge asked the last person their name, it became apparent that the only muggle born in the room, the only person this Umbridge would single out, was Azalea Edwards.

"Okay, well done class, that was illuminating," Umbridge said one everyone had introduced themselves, with a warm smile back on her face. "Now then, today we're going to learn how to do a stunning spell. Now, this may be a little adv- yes, Mr Potter?"

"We did stunners in fifth year," James told Umbridge rather rudely.

"Yes, I'm sure you did, but, er- other members of the class might not have mastered them yet," she said, with a small glance at Azalea. "Anyway, this will be a great chance to revise them, Mr Potter, what with the third task approaching."

James frowned, fists clenching at the fact that she was looking at Azzie like that.

"Okay," Umbridge said. "So, if you have learned how to do a stunner already, and have mastered it, please raise your hand."

Every single person in the class raised their hand. Azalea, of course, was among them, her hand raised proudly in the air.

When Umbridge saw her hand, however, she near about lost it.

"Are you quite sure, Miss Edwards?" She asked, looking quite shocked.

"Yeah, I put my hand up, didn't I?" Azalea said in much the same tone James had used earlier.

But Umbridge didn't react in much the same way. She snapped quickly. "I do not appreciate that tone, Miss Edwards. And furthermore, I find it hard to believe a student of your level would have mastered a stunner anyway."

"What, because I look stupid, or because I'm muggle b-?"

"Enought with the talking back, Miss Edwards-"

"No!" James yelled, outraged. "Azalea's the best at stunning spells, you've got no right to judge her based on if she's muggle born!"

"I am not judging her, Mr Potter. I am merely suggesting that I don't think a witch of her level-"

"How do you know my level?" Azalea yelled, tears beginning to appear in her eyes. "You'e barely spent two minutes in this fucking classr-"

"ENOUGH!" Umbridge shrieked, silencing Azalea and James and the rest of the shell shocked class. "Enough," she repeated, breathing heavily. "Clearly, Miss Edwards, you need to remember your place. I'd like you to sit out of this lesson and write lines instead. 'I must not disrespect my elders'. Two hundred."

Azalea sat back in her chair, the wood cold and stiff and unwelcoming as she looked down, eyes filled with tears. "Okay."

"What was that?" Umbridge raised her eyebrows.

"Okay," Azalea was threatening to burst into tears, but she kept her cool.

"What? No!" James yelled, standing up. "Azalea's the best at magic in this classroom! You've no right to judge her based on-"

"Be quiet, Mr Potter, you are very close to joining her," Umbridge told him. "If it wasn't that I knew your extraordinary use of spells, you would have already."

So, for the rest of the lesson, Azalea sat at a desk at the side, writing her lines with (thankfully) her own quill. She cried for the most of it, but wiped them away quickly before Umbridge could see.

But James did. James saw how broken Azalea was over this. He saw how she had the tears. He saw how her hand shook as she wrote.

And all the time, his rage only grew.

No one hurt his girl like that.

✾✾✾

She was crying when he found her.

She was sat on an empty staircase, curled up in a ball as she sobbed into her knees.

James ran at her instantly, dropping everything and wrapping his arms around her. Azalea knew who was hugging her before she looked up; it wasn't hard to guess.

And before Lea could say anything, James murmured. "Don't think of even a word of what she said."

"I know, I- I've just never been singled out like that before," Azalea cried, raising her head.

James' heart broke as he looked at her, lifting a hand up to cup her face and gently wipe the tears from her cheek.

"She was a bitch for doing that to you, you're the best in that class," he told her, looking straight at her.

"Didn't feel like it today," Azalea whimpered, James' heart breaking for her at how broken she sounded.

"Lea, who fucking cares if your parents are muggles? They're amazing people, and so are you," James said desperately. "Yes, there are some terrible muggles, but there are some terrible wizards, as well."

"James..." Azalea shook her head, tears back in her eyes. "You can try to make me feel better, but... you don't understand. Everyone loves you."

"Yeah, well, that is true," James said with a grin before his face softened again. "But they also love you. Azalea, I was the only one that spoke out today, but everyone was disgusted with how she spoke to you."

Azalea looked down, biting her lip.

"Listen to me," James said, tilting her head back up. "Listen to me, Azzie. You are amazing. And I'm not just saying that because I'm your boyfriend. I'm saying it because you are a kind, brave, beautiful, smart, amazing person, and I-"

He paused, eyes widening for a second before he continued. "I'm so glad to call you my girlfriend."

Azalea smiled slightly, nodding. "Well, I'm so glad to call you my boyfriend."

James smiled before leaning in and catching her lips in a soft kiss.

But that wasn't what what he was going to say at all.

It had only been a two weeks. Two weeks of them dating, and he already knew. He used to say it all the time, but right now, he was serious.

He was in love with Azalea Edwards.