- Chapter Seventy-One -
"See, I'm learning."

THE MORNING ARRIVED WITH GLORIOUS SPLENDOUR. The curtains must have been left opened overnight, as the girls in the beds were woken by the brightness of the day filtering into their room, luring their eyes open and forcing their bodies to awake. After a wild night at the Halloween party, the five of them had collapsed into their sheets as soon as they had gotten back. Three of them out of drunkenness, one out of tiredness and the other because she finally felt complete, on top of the world, untouchable. And for once, had fallen asleep without any potions helping her slumber.

Then she had woken with daylight. No squeaking voices, no pulsating headache, simple day coaxing her to rise. Eyes fluttered lightly open and with a deep sigh of wake, Sherry pushed herself into a seated position against her headboard, stretching her arms out and glancing around the dorm room that was revealed to her by her undrawn curtains around her comfortable blue bed. The rest of the girls were still asleep, but Sherry looked wistfully at her bedside table.

Goggles from last nights costume sat there plainly, looking at her and reminding her greatly of what had transpired the night before. The jersey was folded over the footboard of her bed, neat and unwrinkled because even though they were officially official, he would probably murder her if she caused any damage to it. Though Sherry would never do that, wearing it for the party had filled her with great joy and if she could pull it over her head and wear it every day, she would've done. It would've sickened fifth-year Sherry to be thinking of James Potter this way.

But something had happened. A switch had been flipped, a fire had been ignited, put out and then relit. Amber was correct, as always, that Sherry probably never hated James before the ridiculous prank he had apologised for one thousand times over. That became obvious once Sherry had been burned then healed, her vision clear enough for her to realise that the reason she picked on James so much was because she was extremely attracted to him.

There was absolutely no denying it.

Everybody from Sherry's old life had left her some way or another. Her father was the first, walking out on her in 1965. Unfortunately, her friends had been next, since she hadn't seem them in a year or so, she presumed that they had forgotten about them. Especially Stephanie. Then her own mother had left her abandoned on the Lupin's front porch, an empty promise circling Sherry's storm-ridden brain. After that, it was Matt, who Sherry had tricked herself into loving.

Going into her first year at Ilvermorny, Sherry knew she had lost herself that summer also. Both mentally and physically, 11-year-old Sherry would barely recognise the slim, confident, loveable teenager that she was now. Often Sherry thought back to that time, those dreadful years of being name-called, picked-on, and even though the opposite wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, it was much better than what she had been. Damaged and then repaired. Like a broken doll.

"Sherry," A voice made Sherry's head turn slowly to face Amber who had horrendous bed-hair but still looked beautiful despite it, she had just woken up and was looking at Sherry with a lopsided grin on her face. "You look like you're being taken by some sort of heavenly light."

"I feel high."

"High on love." Amber snorted, and Sherry smiled to herself at the loopy mood that her best friend often got into when she had just woken up. Once she had gone to the bathroom and tamed her mane, she'd be back to the usual Amber in no time. "I just cannot believe that actually happened last night."

"Stop, because I've been thinking about it since I woke up." Sherry ripped the duvet off of her body, letting her feet fall on the hardwood floor before she approached her friend's bed, sitting herself on the edge of it and looking close at Amber. "James Potter is my boyfriend."

"And Oliver is dating Mary Macdonald." Amber whispered back to her, shaking her head in disbelief, but Sherry's eyes only grew wider as she let her jaw drop. The girl in the bed scooted over to the side and flipped the duvet open so that Sherry could slide in. "You didn't know?"

"I was a bit preoccupied with making a big life decision, but what? Seriously?" Sherry laughed, putting a hand to her mouth and Amber chuckled a little before she nodded and settled her arms back on the duvet in front of her. "Woah, he's been trying that for like two years and all he had to do was get shirtless in some red shorts?"

"David Bowie has that effect on people."

"Agreed."

"Can you two be quiet?" Anna grumbled from one of the beds further into the room, popping her head out from where she had had it stuffed into her comfortable pillow. Sherry and Amber looked at her together, keeping their mouths tightly closed at the sight of her ruffled curls and her dead eyes. "It's seven in the morning."

"And breakfast is in half an hour." Amber huffed, narrowing her eyes at the girl in the bed who scoffed and slumped back down in her bed with a groan and a sniffle. Sherry poked her cheek with her tongue at the attitude that Anna had had with them, but she escaped from Amber's bed nonetheless, flipping the covers back over and standing.

With the creaking of the floorboards under her feet, Sherry woke the other girls in the dorm apart from Anna who was still restlessly trying to grasp more sleep, though everybody else seemed content with waking up to the morning sun. It greeted them like an old friend but pained some of the girls who had drank too much the night before, but not Sherry, Sherry felt enlightened by the bright rays shining in their window. It almost disgusted her, her body alive with the feeling of completion, of satisfaction. But then it didn't, because she knew who was at the centre of it all.

His jersey sat folded over the footboard of her bed, her fingers trailing over the red material like it was a delicate glass sheet crafted from the embers of natural earth. It burned into her skin and left her with a smile whilst she tucked her short hair behind her ears and rummaged within her drawers for her uniform.

Amber walked past, crossing the threshold into the dorm bathroom and Sherry waited a couple of silent seconds before she heard the exclamation at the sight of Amber's own hair, which was swept into an unflattering style. Under her breath, Sherry snorted a little as she took her cut cloak into her hands and jumped onto her bed, closing the curtains around it so she could change whilst Amber was in the bathroom.

Some little part of her was anxious about what the day would be like, how would she act around James? How would he act around her? They had barely seen each other since their confession, let alone the exclusivity of a relationship. Whatever it would be like, Sherry knew she could handle it. He breaks her heart, she'd have been through it before. He showers her with love and attention, even better for Sherry. Something told her that his behaviour wouldn't be a problem...the problem was Sirius Black.

Sherry despised him and he despised her right back. Not only had she taken his dear locks from his head, but she had also proved him wrong on many occasions, gotten him beat up by Remus, poured ink over his head and stole his little pranking buddy for her own personal vengeance. He may have been too drunk to have noticed it last night, but Sherry and James were official and if he didn't like that then it wasn't her problem. Their friends were all mild and mutual with one another, Black was the only problem. Even so, she hoped he'd be civil for at least a morning and that was all she could ask.

"Sherry, are you ready?" Amber's voice, less groggy and more alike to her normal distinctive tone, echoed out from behind Sherry's curtains. The blonde girl, now dressed and pampered but without makeup, popped out from them with a nod and a smile. "I know you're excited to get down there."

"So excited that I'm even doing my makeup in the Hall." Sherry said, showing off her large bag filled with products. Amber widened her eyes and scoffed, watching as her friend pulled her school shoes on and bounded over to the door, ready to leave. "Don't look at me like that, you encouraged this."

"And I love it." Amber rushed over to the door, the two of them linking arms as they exited to a chorus of goodbyes from the other girls within their room and another groan from Anna. Sherry slammed the door closed with another eye roll. "She's such a bitch."

"I know." The girl groaned as they started their trek back to the common room, they were light on their feet and practically speed walking with their eagerness. Louis and Oliver would tag along in the Common Room and then their entrance in the Great Hall would be met with glory. "Wait until she finds out about me and James. I can't wait to see her little beady eyes pop out of her skull."

"It'd certainly be a sight." She pushed the door open with her hip, leading Sherry into the Common Room where Louis was lounging with his bag on his lap and Oliver was snoring in one of the armchairs. At the sight of them, Louis groggily waved but was snapped into action by Amber's military tone. "Up and at em boys, we're heading straight to the hall, double time, double time."

The two of them laughed to themselves, arms still linked as they walked past the door and the riddling knocker which surprisingly didn't make a snide comment at the sight of it's American friend. Meanwhile, Louis was forcing Oliver out of the chair, dragging him by his arm to attempt to catch up with their friends who were most likely already descending the first staircase. Despite Oliver's own strength and sturdiness, Louis was still able to hoist the boy up over his shoulder, successfully waking him as he carried him out of the Common Room.

"You'd almost think they were a couple." Sherry asked Amber, nodding back to the two boys further away from them as Oliver punched Louis to try and put him down, but the Quidditch Captain was simply laughing at his friend's futile attempts.

"Louis could do better." Amber shrugged her shoulders, her eyes straying to the two boys cackling to themselves whilst Louis let Oliver down and adjusted his ruffled cloak with the gleam in his eyes shining brightly. "Oliver deserves to die alone."

"Sibling love." Sherry deadpanned as the two of them reached the entrance to the Great Hall, the doors were wide open like they were every morning for students to walk through and grab their breakfast. Although the idea of choosing where to sit had now differed. Usually there was no question, the for of them would take their usual spot on the Ravenclaw table and wait for people to either join them or come and grab a conversation.

Now, Sherry didn't know whether to go and sit at her usual space, or sit with James. If she sat with the Gryffindors, she might be intruding on a conversation or forcing her friends to sit somewhere that they didn't want to. But if she sat at the Ravenclaw table, then James might think that she didn't want to sit with him which wasn't true in the slightest, at all. What to do, what to do, she contemplated as she stood outside the Great Hall and Oliver and Louis finally caught up to them.

"Guys, where do I sit?" She asked quietly, eyes scanning the room. Eleanor wasn't down for breakfast yet so nobody was waiting on them at the Ravenclaw table, and when her eyes swept over to the Gryffindor one she found plenty of people sat there. The Marauders, as they like to call themselves, and the girls from sixth year sat beside them.

"Maybe you should sit with your boyfriend who looks like a lost puppy waiting for you to come in." Louis placed his hands on her shoulders, pointing over to the part of the Marauders that had empty spaces next to them. James was one of them, his eyes wide and almost glazed as he looked around the room hopelessly and then at the seat beside him. "We'll join you."

"Yeah, speak for yourself." Oliver pat Louis on the shoulder as he bounded into the hall, straight over to the Gryffindors where he placed his hands over Mary's eyes and then when she had turned around to see who was there, placed a big kiss on her lips which she accepted gracefully with the whoops of her friends.

"Okay. Gryffindor table it is." Sherry breathed and began to strut into the hall, hand clinging to her bag and hoping nobody noticed her lack of makeup before she had a chance to layer it onto her face. At the arrival of Oliver, James perked up like a chipmunk and looked around even more eagerly until his eyes met his beauty, walking over to the table with Amber and Louis behind her.

Every tensed up, expectant muscle in his body melted into a calm, relaxing demeanour as he eyed her every move in her approach. The finger that tucked short blonde strands behind her ear, the eyelashes that fluttered every time she blinked, the heels she always wore that clicked against the ground with her walk. Nobody could've distracted him form the confidence and grace that she walked with.

Coming into the Great Hall this morning, James hadn't been sure where to sit. Whether he sat at the Ravenclaw Table with Sherry and her friends or at the Gryffindor table with his own, but when Sherry hadn't even been there when he arrived, he settled on the latter and hoped that she would be there sooner or later. Preferably sooner, but Sirius had kept him mildly distracted with his outstretched plans for his birthday that was in just two days. His drone still continued, but it settled into a white noise as Sherry sat beside James slowly with a smile.

"Hi." She said, that same old voice that he had once claimed to hate but now accepted his love for. It brought an immediate grin to his face as she looked at him, her eyes the magnificent shade of blue that he admired so much and...something made her look different. Still beautiful, but different. An amazing type of difference.

"Hi." He replied, a little too high-pitched for his liking but as Sherry raised her eyebrows in the way that she always did, he cleared his throat and repeated his greeting in a lower octave which drew that beautiful laugh that James wished he could bottle up forever. "You look beautiful."

"Don't lie, I haven't even done my makeup." Sherry scoffed, although her cheeks fanned a blushing red that made James smile to himself as he took a sip of his orange juice. It was a shock to James that she wasn't wearing makeup, as she always did, but she still looked the same now, just with smaller eyelashes and lighter lips.

James watched her pull out a hefty bag from her school bag and place it on the table with a thud, it made his cutlery and crockery clatter but he simply eyed it amusedly as Sherry began to take out different products, tons of bottles and pallets and brushes that James could not guess the use of if he tried his hardest. Intrigued and curious, he picked up a bottle of skin-coloured liquid and looked it over with furrowed eyebrows.

"What is this?" He asked with a laugh, taking the cap off and grabbing a napkin to put a little drop of it on, maybe to inspect it closer. Sherry, with her hands rubbing moisturiser over her face, smiled largely at his narrowed eyes.

"That is foundation, it's like a base for makeup it kinda covers imperfections and brightens you up a bit." She explained, snatching it from him with a smirk whilst he grabbed another contraption. He played with it a little whilst she painted the foundation on her face, her brush spreading the liquid over her skin.

"What the fuck is this?" From the fascinated expression he had watching Sherry apply her makeup base, his face contorted into one of disgust as he played with the metal contraption that closely resembled some type of scissors. "What does it do to you?"

"It curls your eyelashes." Sherry laughed, pausing in her application a little to grab the curlers from his hand. When their hands brushed, sparks ignited in both of them and Sherry just grinned to herself again whilst she raised it to her eye, deciding to demonstrate it before she needed it.

"What the- ugh!" James shuddered whilst she used her curler, arms shivering and mouth grimacing as his girlfriend snorted and let it clatter back down to the table, grabbing the concealer next. "Do you not get scared it's gonna like poke you in the eye or something?"

"Can you hold this for me?" Sherry asked him politely, handing him a mirror and James gracefully accepted it, holding it up for her as she leaned in close and dabbed on the next liquid she had used. He was in some sort of trance, watching every slick movement of her routine. "And no, I'm not scared of eyelash curlers, mascara is more likely to poke you. Or eyeliner."

"What's mascara?"

Sherry nodded to a tube of something still on the table and holding the mirror with one hand so Sherry could still blend her face liquids, James grabbed the tube and looked it over curiously. Remus beside him grabbed the tube and opened it for him, presenting the black stick before putting it back into the tube. James' face was priceless and Sherry couldn't keep her eyes on herself in the mirror with the expressions he was making.

"Is that why your eyelashes are always dark?"

"Bingo."

"See, I'm learning."

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A/N: sorry about the month break, guys!