chapter eleven, open up my arms & give it all to you!

february 5th, 1977

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐃𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐘 𝐌𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐓 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐃𝐀𝐘 — tomorrow was Lori's birthday and the morning before the apparent-exceptional day welcomed her with an obnoxious alarm. Lori lifted her hand from the warm bed sheets to quickly shut it off. It took her a few aggressive tries but she was finally able to get rid of the annoying sound that was driving her half-insane.

Usually, Lori doesn't contemplate getting up because a productive morning is much more important than drowning in the comfy confines of her bed until midday. However, the pit in her stomach made her ultimately decide it's best to spend the entire day in bed.

I think we all know the reason to why. You remember this: James Potter held her face in his hand, painfully close and making her think he was going to kiss her. This was exceptionally cruel knowing Lori was building up the baggage of feelings for him, scared of hurting herself from liking a boy that is devoted to another. Then he dismissed that entire moment that almost left her flatlined as a joke.

It was a frustration like no other, not being able to realise her own feelings. She was trapped in her mind, and all because of James Potter? Utterly ridiculous! It made no sense; she should be ever-so-joyous knowing he didn't kiss her. Still, Lori's chest tightened, a sick feeling swirling deeper in her stomach.

Anyways, Lori was not excited for today because Ravenclaw had finally decided to throw a victory party— after days of planning and execution, an entire week, finally, everything was perfect. Lori decided she wouldn't let James make her cower whilst everyone was out and about, and enjoying their teenage years. So, she made a decision— Lori was stepping out of her comfort zone... which means going to a party. She trusts her fellow Ravenclaws to be sensible and not do stupid things, and she's part of the Quidditch team.

So, that evening, she was in a simple white, floral top with midnight-blue trousers. Tara put some glitter eyeshadow on Lori's eyelids and painted her lips a deep-peach shade.

"Oh my God, Tara!" Lori exclaimed in awe, "You look like Stevie Nicks from the Rumours cover!"

Tara—in her flowy, silk black dress with a slit down her knee—squealed loudly, "That's the best thing anyone's ever said to me!" She ran forward and locked

"Patil is staring at you," Lori whispered in Tara's ear who groaned.

"I've moved on, Lori!" Tara nudged her, making her bump into dancing teenagers, "I've got my third date with Marcus at Hogsmeade this weekend... he said Hot Saturn Boy is interested in you."

"The new kid? Really?" Lori stifled a laugh, she loves the gossip mill Tara is always on and the talk of the school nowadays has been this transfer student from Germany who is obsessed with Astronomy, "So, you're saying you wouldn't ditch Marcus the second Patil comes knocking down your door?"

"Shut up," Tara pouted, "Oh my God! Someone's puking in my vase!" she screamed, slithering through the crowd and shoving the boy who was throwing up in Tara's expensive flower pot that she brought as a decoration for the common room... leaving Lori alone, silent.

Weaving her way through the crowd in the common room— she swore the entire population of Hogwarts gathered for this party. Scanning through the crowd, Lori realised Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs also ended up at this victory celebration merely because Slytherin lost. Their loss is everybody else's victory. Stoners were splayed out on the sofa whilst the Quidditch team gathered near the fireplace, typical party kids surrounding the keg— the keg? She didn't realise they'd have a keg.

Lori shook her head, sighed, and took off towards the punch bowl. Curiosity won as she grabbed a red solo cup— after dipping it into the bowl, she brought the rim of the cup to her lips. She cringed when the liquor hit her tongue, nose scrunching, and eyes screwing shut. "God," she choked, sticking her tongue out. "What is this?"

"I'd stay away, if I were you," a voice spoke, startling Lori. The brunette spun around, making eye contact with a somewhat familiar face.

She squinted, "McKinnon, hi!"

The girl nodded, "Yeah, I just saw Black pour a bunch of orange juice in that just to mess with you guys, so," she sends a tight-lipped smile. "He acts like a five-year-old."

"I guess orange juice is more appropriate for him, in that case," Lori said, taking another sip of the drink anyway, "you look cute."

"Thank you," Marlene said with a large smile, "So, you and Potter, huh?"

Lori almost choked on the drink she sipped, "Potter— no, oh, absolutely not."

"Don't worry, I won't tell," McKinnon winks lightly, taking a cup of drink herself, "Besides, Lily's just happy Potter doesn't bother her anymore."

That sparked Lori's attention, "What?"

Marlene shrugs, locking eyes with her, "Yeah, he doesn't even talk to her anymore— though a friend tells me it's got something to do with you."

"What friend—?"

"Lori!" Lori's eyes widened at Tara's voice, and whens he turned back around, Marlene was talking away towards Mary Macdonald.

"Tara, how are you already drunk?"

Tara ignored her comment, "Have you met my friend Marcus?"

Lori wanted nothing more than to escape this situation. She cleared her throat, and pursed her lips. "No, I haven't," she shook her head, as a blonde boy came into the picture, a tight-lipped smile on his face, but when he opened his mouth to speak, Tara continued.

"He's the one I've been going out with, and the one who told me Hot Saturn Boy is interested in you," she bit her lip.

"Uh, I'm not Marcus," the boy spoke slowly, and Tara and Lori both swiftly turned to look at him with a puzzled look on their faces, "I'm Martin."

Lori blinked, and turned to Tara, "Did you grab the wrong guy?" Martin was still standing there, half-scared, half-confused.

Tara, with widened eyes and gaping mouth, just stood there and burst out giggling, "Lori, I'm so drunk."

Lori stepped forward and wrapped her arms around a slurring Tara before she stumbled and fell, "Sorry, Martin, Tara gets all blind when she's drunk." Lori helped Tara towards the sofa with all the stoners, and sat her down. "What is going on, Tara?"

Tara hesitated for a moment, thinking to herself, "They're, like, the same person, pretty much. Marcus, Martin, who gives a fuck?" she shrugged. "Only thing that matters is that Saturn Boy has a thing for you."

"There's our star player!" A series of chortling and exclaiming echoed, and everybody cheered up Tara who truly was the star player of the match— preventing Slytherin's Seeker Regulus Black from catching the snitch, and five seconds later, Ravenclaw caught it.

Lori grumbled as one of the girls almost fell right on her, and she pushed past the surrounding crowd, heels clicking against the wooden floor. She smiled a little when everybody started to chant Tara's name, and then gasped when her best friend pulled Marcus—the real one, this time—into a long kiss. Shaking her head, her legs led her outside into the balcony, she deeply inhaled.

Her earthy brown eyes glued to the starry sky. The air smelled of smoke, alcohol, and an unnecessary amount of testosterone. With her head tilted up, her gaze shifted left when a large pair of boots stepped their way beside her. Her eyes moved up, slowly but surely, eventually finding their way up to Akash Patil's face.

"What're you doing out here all alone?" he muttered, looking down at Lori. She fiddled with the rim of her solo cup and shrugged, moving her gaze back down.

Lori spoke. "It's nice out," she said softly. "And it's stuffy in there."

He chuckled, "Well, it's a party."

"Why are you out here, then?"

"I can't spend another second in there having to look at Tara with Martin, Marcus, whoever the fuck," Akash defeatedly shrugged, a melancholic look around him.

"But you're not together anymore," Lori raised a brow, "you never were, properly, I mean."

"Well, I was in love with her, so," Akash shrugged.

Lori swiftly turned to look at him, "In love?" She queried in a puzzled manner, "I didn't know it was that serious."

"It was for me, and I thought I'd moved on, you know, pretended like I didn't care," the boy told her, biting the insides of his cheeks. He was slurring his words, slightly, "Nobody holds a candle to your best friend."

"Well, you know, she is a star," she grins, "if you want her, go for it, Patil... but you can't just hold off on asking her out and start moping when she finds a new shiny thing."

He gave her a deadpan look, "Shiny thing? Is that how you see us, objects? Boys have feelings too—"

"Oh, you're so lame!" She laughed. The girl looked back up at Patil, not sure if she was glad that he was the one keeping her company, or not. Before either of them could speak, something in the corner of Lori's eye caught her attention. She whipped her head right and squinted at the scene a few yards away from her, watching as James Potter rushed down the stairs of Ravenclaw tower, hand covering his face.

"Excuse me, Patil," she mumbled, moving past and following him down the stairs but when she turned around for a glance at whatever, she caught sight of Sirius Black storming out of her common room. When Lori stepped out of the tower out into the courtyard, her brow furrowed at the sight of James. No matter how much Lori hated him at this moment, whatever went down must have been devastating.

In her whole life, she had only seen two men cry. One, was her father—in the dead of night, right after her Mum left. His wife was gone and he was a mess; he tried holding on the entire day for Lori's sake. It was an unforgettable scene, watching her father sob, while she had tear-stained cheeks herself. The second was Chase Salvatore, her next-door neighbour when she accidentally revealed to him when they were five that the tooth fairy wasn't real. She had never seen such horror in someone's face.

But, Lori could now add James Potter to her list of men she'd seen cry. He wasn't ballistic, he wasn't sobbing— just subtle heartbreak. He stood there, glasses on the edge of his nose as he put his hands on his hips. James was so deep into wallowing in his own misery, he hadn't even seen her approaching— but when he did, he wasn't happy.

A frown tugged on her lips. "Potter?" she spoke. "You okay?"

"You're gonna remind me what an arrogant asshole I am?" James was defensive, almost immediately, "Jokes on you, I already know that, which is why I pulled that shitty stunt on you yesterday— I'm a shit person, there, I admitted it."

Any other day, Lori would snap and threaten to shave his head, but the way he stormed out of the party told her that something was wrong with him— James Potter never left a party early.. Leaning forward, she repeated herself. "Are you okay?"

Lori knew she had a lot of empathy, but she was also loaded with awkwardness. The type of awkwardness that made it difficult to comfort people in situations like this— she was worried how they'd react to her hugging them, or how they'd react to her standing like an absolute mannequin. But, she knew James, and she knew that he wouldn't cry, not unless something was actually wrong.

The tenderness and genuine tone in her voice made the pit in James' stomach grow. His chin sunk lower as he nodded his head, keeping his mouth shut. He sent her a squinted look. James was suspicious, "Why are you being nice to me?" he shook his head.

Lori squinted her eyes back, caught slightly off guard. "What?"

Inhaling, he lifted his shoulders with a shrug. "You're usually an ass whenever I do something wrong— why are you being nice right now?"

"I'm the asshole?" Lori scoffed. "Listen, Jameson, I think it's time you take a look in the mirror and get an ego check," she rolled her eyes and started to walk off, "Can't just be a nice person, I guess—"

He stifled a chuckle. "Lantsov," he grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her arm so she wouldn't leave. "I'm messing with you."

Sending him a squinted look, Lori leaned forward. "Aren't you heartbroken right now?" she scoffed. "You'd really mend your heart, just to fuck with me?"

Nodding, James grinned. "Oh, yeah," the boy said, his hand still looped around her wrist. "It always makes you smile in the end, so... well, except yesterday's incident."

Lori pursed her lips and broke eye contact, sighing, so all the air left her lungs. "You are impossible, James." A warm feeling twisted in Lori's stomach, and for a second, she thought the alcohol was catching up to her. When she glanced at James, though, the feeling was enhanced. Maybe it was pity, or something else, but it was painfully unfamiliar.

He explained he got into a row with Sirius for being a "stupid, stubborn bastard" at the party. Harsh words were exchanged as Black crudely told him something similar to what Lori said last evening, and James tells her that he thinks she was right— his people-pleasing personality is rooted to him seeking excessive validation and when Sirius called him out, a day after Lori called him out, it burnt.

Reaching over, she gently wrapped her arms around James' neck. Bringing him in, softly, Lori rested her cheek against his shoulder. First, he was hesitant— but James felt his chest unwind, and he melted into her touch. With his arms looped around her waist, he let his hands rest on the small of her back. It was cold out, and his body was warm against hers. She adjusted her face, so her chin was pressed to his shoulder, the sides of his hair grazing her skin.

She pulled away and her eyebrows twitched when she inhaled.

She gave him a squinted look, "Your hair looks messier than usual," she spoke, gesturing towards the heap of locks that lay on his head. She did not forget his cruel, "humorous" prank, not to mention he didn't even express his apologies yet, "ugly, even."

"What was that—? You adore it?" He tucked a piece of hair behind his ear, smiling at the grimace she sent his way.

Pursing her lips together, she bummed. "Mmm..." she shook her head, eyes scanning him up and down— "Seriously, you'd win an ugly hair contest."

A moment passed— James observed her, spring sun leaving a glow on her face. It illuminated her features; big, hazel eyes, freckled cheeks.

"I'm sorry." He sincerely apologised.

"For what?"

"For teasing you," he said, "when you seemed proper ready to kiss me the second I touched your face."

Lori arched her brow at his arrogance, it really sunk deep in her chest, swirling into unfamiliar feelings. She merely folded her arms, tilted her chin up and glared, "you made an incorrect assumption, Potter."

"Nope," he shrugs, quite confident in his demeanour, "I think I truly caught you by surprise. You just don't like surprises."

The Ravenclaw sighed, "you know, if I did kiss you back—which I'd never—you'd be surprised too."

"Less of the surprised part, I'd be more focused on kissing you right back."

Lori laughed slightly, a sarcastic chuckle leaving her lips. "Nonsense, you wouldn't be able to handle it if I kissed you, Potter."

James raised a brow at her sudden rise in confidence level, mouth gaping a little. Lori does catch him by surprise more times than he would admit, then... the words tumbled out before he could help it, "If I kissed you, I don't think I'd be able to stop."

A moment passed— this time, Lori observed him.

His pupils dilated when she held onto his biceps for balance and tip-toed... except, when he slightly leaned in, her lips—instead of touching his—hovered over his cheek before eventually pressing a kiss to it. Her touch sent a chill down his spine. Even worse, her nose slightly brushed his glasses and consequently left it askew so she leaned forward again and—instead of, again, kissing him—merely fixed his glasses. He had to snap himself to snap out of it and realise that she's taunting him, realise what the hell is going on.

Lori Lantsov and the small smile tugging on her pink lips, the cold hair nipping her cheeks, consumed his mind, as he blinked in an attempt to sort her own thoughts.

Lori pursed her lips and her shoulders raised slightly, momentarily before turning on her heels and walking away towards the entrance of the castle, leaving James Potter behind.

"What the hell, Lori!" He exclaimed lightheartedly upon finding his senses once again. He sprinted after her as she had her back turned on him, still walking but the smile on her face enlarged every second. He caught up to her, and held her bicep to stop her from going away—he never wanted to let go, so he gripped her arms in his hands and looked into her eyes with a gentle laugh, "Lori, my heart!" He fake-clutched his heart by holding his chest.

"I thought you said I was too uptight for humour," She mocked before escaping his arms and stepping away once again, her laughter echoing through the courtyard.

"Lorelei Lantsov!" James yelled out, "What are you doing to me!"