Chapter 6

"You're a little overdressed," James commented as he stuck his hands into the pockets of his coat, watching Nora approach him with a frown on her lips and her eyebrows furrowed.

"No, I'm wearing a dress," she scoffed, looking down at the dress that flowed to just above her knees, "a casual dress."

"Well, I'm taking it as you making an effort," he shrugged, a smirk on his lips as she rolled her eyes, rather annoyed with herself that she thought she wouldn't need a coat, "you're going to be freezing."

"Very observant," she tutted, pushing past him and on her way through the courtyard, "maybe you're just underdressed."

"I am definitely not underdressed!" he exclaimed, jogging ever so slightly in a best attempt to catch up with her, "I'm just dressed."

"Thank merlin," she responded casually, throwing him a look as she watched the wide smirk fall onto his lips, "now, have you got the list?"

"What lis- oh, yes!" he nodded, fishing out the note from his pocket and handing it to her, "dungbombs are a must when we don't have a plan and just see them."

"Very true," Nora agreed, handing him back the parchment so that she could pull the sleeves over her hands, seeing as the cold air was approaching, and It seemed as though today was the perfect day for the nippy weather to engulf Hogwarts, as well as Hogsmeade.

"You're cold, aren't you?" James asked, trying his best to keep the amused smirk off of his lips as he watched her lips chattering ever so slightly, her nose had turned pink, and her cheeks had flushed red as the cold weather blew right through her, and even though she had the long sleeves of the dress and the tights clad on her legs, she was still freezing.

"What? No!" Nora shook her head, definitely not wanting to give James the satisfaction that he wanted, "I'm perfectly fine!"

"Mhmm, you look it," James scoffed, watching her head snap back to the trail they were on, and soon after was the coat he wore now around her shoulders.

"Wha- James!" she exclaimed, ignoring the warmth that spread through her body as she turned to him, "what'd you do that for?!"

"Because you are clearly cold, and I have a jumper," he scoffed, gesturing to the jumper he had on, and soon was he guiding her hands through the sleeves when she wasn't doing it herself, "bask in the new-found warmth, Nora!"

"I was perfectly fine without it," she grumbled, shaking her head and watching the amused smirk fall onto his lips.

"Okay, then give me it back-"

"No!" she cut him off, shaking her head, "I'll just hold onto it for a bit, if its alright?"

"Perfectly fine," he chuckled, watching her wrap the coat around her tighter to keep in the warmth, "suits you," he shrugs, pushing himself down the trail in front of her, completely oblivious to her flushed cheeks that definitely weren't because of the cold.

Caden, remember Caden! She thought, grumbling under her breath that James Potter was nothing but insufferable as she jogged ever so slightly to catch up with him, "you walk too fast!"

"You walk too slow," he chuckled, shoving his hands into the pockets of the jeans he wore.

"No, I have little legs, I can't walk any faster!" she exclaimed, shaking her head with a pout, "it's just unfair."

"Hey, it's not my fault that you're a dwarf," he protested, "any more of your whining and I'll just carry you."

"That doesn't sound too bad, beats walking," she shrugged, watching him turn to her with a glare only did it narrow when she matched it with a grin.

"You really want me to carry you?" he asked, his eyebrow arched as he looked down at her, trying to mask his amusement as she stopped.

"Well, you don't need to," she grinned, "but it would be greatly appreciated," really, she would do anything to get out of walking.

"Alright then," he finally chuckled, crouching down and gesturing for her to jump on her back. she couldn't help but let out a laugh as she held onto his shoulders, jumping ever so slightly until her legs wrapped around his waist and her head leaned on his shoulder. He gripped her thighs so she wouldn't fall, stumbling ever so slightly until he stood up straight.

"You're a feather, Nora, you barely weigh a thing!" he exclaimed, turning his head ever so slightly to look at her.

"Suppose you can carry me everywhere then," she joked, tightening her grip around them when they got to the hill, a little wary that he was going to drop her, and made sure to wrap her arms around him, gripping onto the jumper he wore.

"I'm not going to drop you, Nora," he scoffed, "have a little trust, please."

"Who knows, James, you'd probably drop me and play it off as a prank," she teased, moving her head ever so slightly to see his eyes narrowed.

"Okay, that's it," he huffs, loosening his grip on her thighs, and grinning when she freaked out.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" she shrieked, her legs now fully around his waist as he threw his head back, loud laughter filling the sound around them, and attracting a few lingering stares to the two, "that was not funny!"

"It was pretty funny, Nora," James grinned, stopping on the hill to look at her, seeing her wide eyes blinking until they returned to normal and her arms hung around his neck, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"You are terrible," she huffed, "you gave me a heart attack, I could've died!"

"Apparently, I'm killing you a whole lot these days," he nodded, smirking as she mimicked the nod.

"Yes, exactly!" she whispered, shaking her head, "please let me live, I'm just a girl."

"I suppose I'll let you live," he tutted, "if you help me win Lily Evans heart?"

"Well only if you help me win Caden Duncan's?"

"I suppose I could."

­-

"James, Jam-James, James put it down!" Nora huffed, moving over to him and grabbing the five sugar quills from his hands, waving her finger in his face, "strictly supplies, who needs sugar quills?!"

"Excuse me, but I need sugar quills actually," James huffed, "and who's to say that I wasn't going to buy you anything?!"

"I don't need anything!" she exclaimed, grabbing the pumpkin pasties from his hand, "James, what is the point of coming here, we need to go to Zonko's!"

"I'm just looking!" he grumbles, finally having enough of her grabbing everything from him which resulted in him lifting his hand above his head, a victory smirk on his lips as he looked down at the glare she was giving him, "you like chocoballs don't you? I see you sneaking them out in class all the time."

"I love chocoballs, actually," she spoke, taking the chocoballs from his hand and placing them back on the shelf, "we need to keep our money for supplies," she whispered in a hushed tone.

He couldn't help but laugh, loudly actually, rather obnoxiously, if she was honest, "we have plenty of money to buy stuff, Nora!"

"No we don't, I only have enough for what we need, I can't afford anything else or I'm dipping into the savings I have for Aubrey's Christmas present, as well as Caden's and I can't do that because Aubrey has been wanting this record since the end of time, so I need to get her it-" James cut her off as he placed his hand over her mouth, watching her wide eyes narrow ever so slightly and her eyebrows furrow.

"There is two of us, Nora," James whispered, "you don't need to spend a thing."

"But- no, that's completely unfair!" she protested, watching him grab the jar containing the chocoballs, as well as the five sugar quills he had previously had and soon was he walking towards the counter, gesturing for a large bag of the chocoballs, and soon did he turn to her.

"It's not unfair, I have plenty of money and nothing to spend it on," he shrugged, casually running his hand through his soft hair, "at least this way it's not wasting away in a drawer."

"Well you could always save it," she shrugged, her voice quiet as she lifted her eyes to stare at him, "maybe use it wisely."

"Meaning?"

"Some of my friends in fourth year, I've known them for a while, actually, they're like me in the sense that we need to work to save money, and I'm not saying that you having money is a bad thing or anything, but they saved their money and just there at summer they went on a trip to France for the summer, said it was brilliant," Nora sighed, it didn't take James long to realise that she was jealous.

"Themselves?" asked James, his eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"Well, yeah," Nora nodded, a grateful smile decorating her lips as he handed her the bag of chocoballs that he bought her, "they train hopped until London, and then got like a cheap ticket at kings cross."

"Train hopped?"

"Yes!" she laughed, "merlin, James, you haven't lived!"

"What is a train hopped?!"

"When you're poor like I am and have to save money, or can't afford a train ticket, you train hop, so basically, say I needed to get to London, I'd hop between trains, but it has to be cargo trains or you'll get caught," Nora pointed out, "it's great, you meet so many people, some people do it to live, Isaac told me about this boy he still keeps in contact with, he train hops to stay warm and then busks for food."

"So, he's homeless?" asked James, holding the door open for there as they walked into the cold streets."

"Well, yes," she nodded, "it's not that bad, sleeping on a train, it's a simple way to get somewhere faster, although the bottom of cargo trains is either wood, or metal, so it can be pretty sore."

"Wait, why do you need to sleep on trains?!" he asked, his frown deepening as he turned to her.

"Because I'd rather sleep in a train than my own house," she scoffed, "it's an adventure, sometimes I'll meet Aubrey in Manchester, or go visit Caden in Wales, but it's pointless, I just stay for a day or so, but Aubrey's family hate me, so there's not much point going there, and Caden's not really adventurous, so, I suppose it's just me, but I did meet Isaac and Blair one day, that was pretty fun."

"It sounds fun," James nodded, "so do you do this in summer and winter?!"

"Oh no," she shook her head, "I stay here during winter, at least I'll have shelter, and food, and the hufflepuff common room is extremely cosy at Christmas."

"You don't spend it with your family?" he asked.

"Well, no," she shook her head, "not much point, they're not so keen on me," she chuckled, keeping the door to Zonko's open for James.

The two spent the majority of the time in Zonko's either arguing over what they needed most of, as well as Nora telling James the many adventures she had been on, both of them laughing when she told him of the time she had gotten the train to London, and somehow ended up in Glasgow. She told him of the many places she had been in Britain, and how her dream was to go to Spain, or Paris, or even America, somewhere with a new scenery for her to explore, something she loved deeply, she had always wanted a camera to document her adventures, but that would have to wait, she had told him.

He couldn't get it out of his head, her adventures, the fact that she didn't have a good relationship with her family, even though she hadn't told him why, he knew that it was a secret he wished to uncover. She was so full of surprises, really, and it intrigued him, she intrigued him, she was a closed book who looked so willing to share things, but really, it was surprising when any new information came to light.

The fact that she had slept on the floor of trains before, barely had a home to herself, unless she missed music, she had told him she was in love with music, that she'd endure her family for a few days if it meant she got to listen to her records, she had informed him what records where when he asked, a small smile on her lips as she talked of the many bands that she loved. She said she liked music from years ago, too, someone called Neil, he was sure, who was big in America, and managed to find his music at a rundown record shop in Wales one day when she visited Caden.

But what annoyed him was that he wished she would visit him during summer.

"We should get some butterbeer, I want to hear more," James joked, gesturing to the Three Broom Sticks, and when she nodded rather excitedly, loving the fact that someone was actually interested in her adventures, James couldn't help but smile.

"Your coat is so warm, I forgot how heavy it is," Nora scoffed as she took of the jacket, hanging it on the wooden chair of the seat she was just about to sit at when James scoffed. Her eyes trailed around the small pub, her smile wavering ever so slightly when she caught sight of Caden and Lily, snuggling close together in a slight booth like seat, laughing when the cream of the butterbeer decorated Caden's top lip.

"Y'know," James whispered, seeing her eyes on the two, rather longingly, "we just got dungbombs, we have to test them out," he sent her a wink, watching her eyes find his and soon did the small smile twitch onto her lips.

"After butterbeer?"

"After butterbeer."