Warning: This is looonnnngggg, I've just had this idea in my head for so long and I thought it was super cute so I had to put loads of detail in it!

☞

James had given up. It had taken him six years to figure out that Lily Evans would never agree to go out with him. So, he resulted to be moody for the foreseeable future; his friends had tried everything to get him back to normal but nothing seemed to work. Over time he got better, knowing that it was time for him to move on.

Him and the rest of the Marauders were walking to their next class when a girl with (y/c/h) hair, bright (y/e/c) and wearing (y/h) robes walked passed; laughing and joking around with her friends. James couldn't take his eyes off the girl as they crossed paths. The girl didn't even seem to notice that someone was staring at her, but if she did, she hid it well.

"Prongs."

"Prongs."

"James!"

"What?" James asked, turning away from the girl and towards Sirius, who was staring at him, arms crossed and a raised eyebrow; looking a lot like Peter's mother when she found his hidden chocolate stash.

"I asked you a question." Sirius huffed, to which Remus rolled his eyes.

"Sorry, Pads. What was the question?" James asked, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.

Over the next couple of days James noticed you more and more; he wasn't even looking for you but you always seemed to appear in front of him. Wherever he looked, you were stood there, with your friends, either laughing, joking around or in a deep conversation. Due to this, James just couldn't get you out of his head. He couldn't get your (y/h/c) out of his head, he couldn't get your brilliant (y/e/c) out of his head, he couldn't get your sweet voice out of his head and he defiantly couldn't get your beautiful laugh out of his head; it was driving him mad.

He noticed you again in the Great Hall during lunch, sitting at your house table, surrounded by your friends. Today you were reading a book, James couldn't tell what you were reading; occasionally you would look up and comment on whatever your friends were talking about.

"Who is that?" James asked his friends, gesturing at you on your house table; the other boys looked around at you then back at James.

"That's (y/n) (y/l/n)." Remus answered casually; James almost glared at him. All this time your name was so close to him and he had been struggling to find out for ages.

"How do you know that?" Sirius asked, clearly baffled by Remus.

"Because I asked her." Remus sighed, shaking his head at Sirius.

"When?" Sirius asked, Remus looked at him with confused expression on his face.

"In charms, I borrow her notes sometimes." He shrugged; James couldn't believe that it was that easy to talk to you, he would have been way too nervous to ask you.

"Why the sudden interest in her, Prongs?" Sirius asked, cutting up his potatoes with immense difficulty.  

"No reason." James shrugged, glancing at you quickly before turning back to his plate; unfortunately, Sirius noticed this.

"You like her." Sirius exclaimed loudly, pointing at James, a wide grin on his face; many students looked round at this sudden outburst.

"That's not-" James started, trying to cover for himself, but failed miserably. 

"Lies! I saw you looking at her." Sirius almost shouted this time, earning glares from some of the teachers.

You had looked up at this sudden outburst; your eyes scanned the Great Hall for the person making so much noise when your eyes landed on the four Marauders. Peter was giggling to himself, Remus looked fed up, Sirius had a huge grin on his face and James, much to your surprise, looked slightly embarrassed. Your eyes met James' for a moment, you smiled at him before returning to your book.

When your eyes met his own, James felt a sudden jolt that he hadn't felt in a long time. But when you smiled at him, his stomach clenched, his throat closed up and his heart seemed to leap out of his chest. 

"Yes, alright; I like her, now will you keep your voice down." James groaned, staring at Sirius in exasperation. 

"Well, go get her." Sirius grinned at James, who just shook his head.

"I don't want to mess this up like I did with Evans, I need to take a different approach; she's different." James sighed, looking down at his plate.

"Blimey." Sirius said, then he straightened up, a look of determination on his face that unsettled both James and Remus, "We'll help you, won't we lads?" He grinned, looking around at his friends; Remus and Peter nodded in agreement.

"You could ask her to help you study." Peter suggested, this wasn't a bad suggestion but James thought it was a bit boring and he thought you deserved something better; but before he could say this, Remus spoke up.

"She speaks French, you could ask her to teach you that." 

James thought this over for a second. It was better than studying, you'd be able to talk properly and, after all, it was the language of love.

"Yeah, that's a good idea Moony. I'll do that." James grinned; feeling much more confident now that he had both a plan and an excuse to actually talk to you; and with that he rose form the table and walked over to where you were sitting.

Your book was very interesting, your mother had just sent it to you and you hadn't been able to put it down since. Just as you were about to turn the page, someone sat down in front of you. Looking up you were met by deep, brown eyes. It was James Potter; you knew of him. His curly, brown hair was as messy as every and his square rimmed glasses were perched on the bridge of his nose.

"You're (y/n) (y/l/n), right?" He asked, you smiled, placed your book down and nodded.

"Yes, and you're James Potter. How can I help you?" You asked, smiling warmly at him.

James was slightly surprised that you knew his name; he didn't think you had noticed him like he had noticed you. His heart picked up speed as you smiled at him.

"Well, my friend Remus told me that you spoke French, and I was wondering if you could teach me?" He asked, sending you a small smile.

"Yes, I speak French, and yes, I would be more than happy to teach you." You answered happily, "May I ask why you want to learn French?" You added, genuinely curious why he wanted to learn the language.

James panicked slightly, he couldn't just out right tell you that the real reason he wanted to learn French was to get to know you better and eventually ask you out. So he quickly came up with an excuse.

"I'm going on holiday to France over the next holiday and I thought it would be cool to actually be able to understand what people were saying." He came up with; you laughed, making James smile.

"Well, that's a fair point. How about I meet you in Hogsmeade this weekend?" You asked, picking up your book and getting ready to head off to your next lesson.

"Yeah, that's perfect. Three Broomsticks alright?" He asked, rising with you from the table; a wide smile on his face.

"Yes, I'll see you then." You smiled, unintentionally causing James to smile, "I am warning you, I am a terrible teacher." You grinned; James laughed and shook his head.

"I'm sure you'll be great." He smiled, watching as you returned the smile and walked out of the Great Hall.

James walked back to his friends who, unbeknown to him, had been watching the whole interaction. James couldn't wipe the smile from his face even if he tried; he sat back down with his friends.

"I did it, we're meeting up this weekend at Hogsmeade." He grinned at them.

"That's great." Remus smiled at him, patting him on the back,

"Damn Prongs, I don't think I've ever seen you so smitten. She must be special if she managed to get this reaction out of you; Evans never managed to do this." Sirius grinned; happy that his friend was happy.

"She is special." James breathed, slowing down his heart rate; but still not able to stop the smile on his face that lasted the next couple of days.

-

The walk down to Hogsmeade was relatively warm, it was spring so it was still chilly but you didn't mind; you loved the spring. Your friends joined you on the walk down to Hogsmeade but they would leave you once you arrived at the Three Broomsticks. You were excited to see James, mainly because you got to teach someone French; you had tried to teach some of your friends the language but they gave up quickly. You also wanted to get to know James; you knew of his pranks and that he could sometimes be a bit arrogant but you wanted to decide for yourself what James was really like.

It was much warmer in the pub, mainly because it was so crowded with students, teachers and other witches and wizards who wanted a drink. When you walked through the door, your eyes scanned the room for James, you spotted him sitting at a small table near the back of the pub; which you were thankful for since you would actual be able to hear each other over the noise.

When James saw you walking towards him, he smiled and straightened up in his chair slightly. He wanted to make a good first impression, he really didn't want to mess up his chances with you like he did with Lily. But he could tell that this time would be different; purely because you were different. 

"Hey." He smiled at you as you sat across from him, he slid a bottle of butterbeer towards you.

"Hello, you didn't need to get this for me." You smiled at him as you put your jumper over the back of your chair as you sat down.

"It was the least I could do, think of it as an apology in advanced; I'm a terrible student." He grinned, you laughed as you took a sip of your drink.

"I'm sure you'll be great." You grinned; James laughed, taking a swig off his own drink.

"So, what do we begin with?" He asked, leaning forward slightly.

"I thought we'd start with simple greetings first, as those are the best things to start with." You smiled at him before explaining the difference between formal and informal greetings.

"So, you would say bonjour, which means good morning, to someone you've just met." You started, James nodded.

"Bonjour." He repeated, causing you to smile.

"Yes, and if you were meeting a friend you would say salut." You added.

"So since we're friends, I'll say salut to you." He grinned; he then realised that he probably sounded stupid to call you a friend despite not really knowing you for that long, he was adamant not to be too forward; but luckily, you laughed and smiled.

"Exactly. Just don't say the 't' at the end of the word." You smiled; James could feel his cheeks burn slightly, he prayed that you didn't notice.

For the next hour you taught him the right pronouns to use and a couple more greetings; the two of you taking it in turns to get the next round off butterbeers. You continued to talk to James about verbs and nouns before he asked his first question.

"How come you speak French?" He asked, genuine curiosity in his tone.

"My mother is French and she taught it to me and my siblings when we were younger." You explained, taking a sip of your butterbeer.

"That's so cool." James smiled; his brown eyes meeting your own.

"Thanks." You chuckled.

As you continued to talk about the French language, James hung onto your every word as if it was the most important thing in the world; which to him it was, he loved the passion you had when you talked about French and he loved how your French accent rolled off your lips as you spoke.

"Okay, let's put you knowledge to the test." You grinned; James laughed at your enthusiasm. 

"Alright, but you have to promise not to laugh at my terrible accent." He grinned, holding up his pinky finger; you laughed and linked your pinky with his, sending a jolt through his arm.

"I promise." You smiled, slowly letting go of his pinky; James frowned slightly at the loss of physical contact but pulled himself back together before you noticed.

"Salut, comment ça va?" James asked; smiling you replied.

"Salut, je suis très bien, et toi?" 

"Bien." He smiled, running a hand nervously through his hair, making it even messier. 

"Comment tu t'appelles?" You asked, sipping your drink.

"Je m'appelle James, et toi?" James asked, not being able to wipe the smile off his face as he watched you speak.

"Je m'apelle (y/n)." You grinned.

"Et c'est un beau nom c'est." He smiled, you laughed; James smiling even wider as he heard your laugh.

"Très agréable, tu as été excellent! Et ton accent Français était parfait." You smiled, James raised an eyebrow to show he didn't understand a word you just said, not that he really minded, "I said, you did great, and your French accent was perfect." You smiled, taking his hands in your own and giving them a quick squeeze; causing another jolt of electricity to shoot up James' arms.

"Well, I had a great teacher." James smiled; you rolled your eyes but laughed anyway.

"Oh stop it." You grinned, letting go of James' hands to drink the rest of your butterbeer.

"Shall we head back up to the castle?" James asked; nodding you both stood up and left the pub together.

-

After your first session with James the pair of you met up every weekend in the overly crowded pub to continue your sessions. You and James got on like a house on fire, when you weren't reaching him French the two of you talked about your families and your plans for after Hogwarts.

James wasn't terrible at French but he wasn't the best either. Whenever he messed something up he would blush a little, which you found very cute; you would just laugh along with him and encourage him to keep trying. So now, whenever the two of you passed each other in the corridors you would have a short conversation in French, which often ended with you correcting James, but not that either of you minded. To you, James was kind, loyal, caring, charming, funny, sweet and very good looking, but to you, that was just an added bonus. Soon, you found yourself craving more than just friendship with James; just like he did with you, but you just didn't know it yet.

Over the next couple of weeks your sessions in the Three Broomsticks and short interactions in the corridors became longer. He would walk you to your classes, which you assured him you could manage yourself but he insisted; you would often sit together at lunch and chat the hour away before hurrying off to your next lessons.

James had surprised you, to say the least. His eagerness to keep up the sessions with you in the pub only inspired you; and you were very glad that you decided to make up your own conclusion about James, instead of acting on what others said about him. 

"What's up with Prongs?" Peter whispered, looking from James to Sirius and then to Remus.

"I don't know, I reckon aliens, what do you think?" Sirius answered, raising an eyebrow at Peter.

"Definitely." Peter agreed; Remus rolled his eyes.

"The alien can hear you, you know?" James chuckled, as he scribbled down more notes into his note book before glancing back at the book in his lap.

"Why are you reading?" Peter asked, sitting down next too James, trying to see what he was working on.

"I think the better question is, what are you reading?" Sirius asked, snatching the book out of James' lap and inspecting it closely.

"Give it back." James groaned, grabbing the book out of Sirius' hands and reading from it once again.

"Why are you reading a French dictionary?" Sirius asked, evidently very confuse.

"Isn't it obvious?" Remus sighed, opening his own book.

"No." Sirius and Peter said together; Remus rolled his eyes and closed his book.

"James is trying to learn more French to impress (y/n)." Remus explained, raising his eyebrows at Sirius and Peter.

"Oh." Peter said, furrowing his eyebrows as if he was still contemplating what Remus had just said.

"How are the love lessons going then?" Sirius asked, plopping into an armchair next to the fireplace and looking at James.

"Their great, you should hear her talk in French, it's intoxicating." James laughed, ignoring the disgusted look Sirius had just given him.

"Have you made a move yet?" Remus asked, now ignoring Sirius completely.

"No, but I'm about too." James grinned as he put his book and note pad down before walking out of the common room.

You were sat on a windowsill in an empty corridor, your legs stretched out in front of you and a book open in you lap. It was a French book of poetry that your mother had sent you. You were so engrossed in the book that you didn't hear the footsteps walking towards you.

"Salut." Said an all too familiar voice; smiling you looked up and met James' eyes.

"Salut." You smiled in response.

"Voulez-vous sortir avec moi?" James asked, his eyes not leaving your own.

"J'adorerais." You smiled; James grinned and you could see him physically relax as he sat down next to you on the windowsill.

"I have a confession to make." James grinned; laughing you replied.

"Oh? And what confession would that be, Mister Potter?"

"I'm not going on holiday to France over the holidays." James admitted, turning to face you properly.

"Oh?" You asked, raising an eyebrow; James shook his head.

"I never was, that just my excuse to talk to you; I've liked you for a while and I didn't want to mess up my chances with you, so I asked Remus what to do and he told me you spoke French, so I made up a reason to talk to you." James smiled, taking your hand in his and interlocking your fingers slowly.

"You didn't need an excuse to talk to me, James." You chuckled, gently rubbing his knuckles with your thumb.

"I just didn't want to mess up." He admitted; you could see that he really meant what he said.

"You could never mess up around me, James." You smiled and gently pressed your lips to his cheek. You could feel him smiling as you pulled away.

"Yeah, but I could've." He grinned; you laughed.

"You're just trying to get more kisses, aren't you?" You grinned, raising an eyebrow.

"No..." He smirked; causing you to laugh again, "Is it working?" He asked, leaning closer to you so that you were almost nose to nose.

"A little." You teased.

"What about now?" He asked, still smiling as he tilted his head a little, your lips almost touching.

"Now it's working." You admitted; James' lips ghosted over your own, gently brushing them together.

"Don't tease me." You smiled.

"Sweetheart, you've been teasing me for months." He whispered before finally kissing you.

James' lips were soft and gentle on yours. He pulled you closer to him by your waist so that his back was pressed against the wall and you were straddling his lap. James' hands were wrapped tightly around your waist, one of your hands was placed gently on his chest and the other was in his hair. James' hands slowly crept under your shirt and traced shapes on your hip bones, pulling you impossibly closer to him.

"Stop teasing me." You smiled, pulling away a little; James laughed.

"You love it." He smiled; leaning forward and pulling your bottom lip between his teeth; you groaned.

"Unfortunately." You whispered; James laughed against your lips and pulled you into a much longer, passionate kiss.

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That was soooo long; please tell me what you thought!

Index

Et c'est un beau nom c'est = And it's a beautiful name.

Voulez-vous sortir avec moi? = Would you like to go on a date with me?

J'adorerais = I'd love to