The new year and new term started with a relish, and by the time the first week was up, Azalea was feeling exhausted.

She'd been getting on with James, like, very well. (So much so that all their friends had started making bets on how long it's take for them to get together, but they didn't know about that). Not a day went past that they weren't laughing or smiling together, or playfully competing against each other.

It was... nice. But Azalea hadn't bothered to think that it could turn into anything more yet, because when she did she got scared. She'd spent years rejecting James, what if... what if he didn't feel the same anymore?

Regardless, that day found her and James on the bridge, red and gold Gryffindor scarves wrapped round their necks to protect them from the cold breeze as they chatted comfortably about the second task.

"We really need to get on to figuring out that inscription," Azalea was saying.

"You can say that again," James said with a grin. "I say we go to the library tonight, and look for a translator."

"Good plan," Azalea smiled. "We using that stupid cloak of yours, or...?"

"Nah, I only use it for stalking purposes now," James said, flashing a grin at her. Azalea couldn't help but giggle, her eyes lighting up and her rosy cheeks going even more rosy.

(God, she's beautiful, James thought, then quickly relinquished it. No, James. She doesn't see you that way, she's made that perfectly clear already).

"I am... sorry about that, by the way," he said, once the laughter had passed.

"About what?" Azalea frowned.

"You know, the er- whole stalking you thing," James said awkwardly.

"You seriously think you haven't made up for that?" Azalea asked, cheeks flushing again as she raised her eyebrows at him in amusement.

"Well, I never know with you," James shrugged. "You've punched me, what? Twice now?"

"Once," Azalea said with a coy smile. "And yes, James, you have made up for it."

"That's nice to know," the black haired, blue eyed beauty in front of her said with a smirk.

(God, he's hot, Azalea thought, her eyes widening slightly before she schooled her thoughts back into order. Calm down Azalea, he's not interested in you. He hasn't asked you out in forever).

And it was funny. Because he'd asked her out a thousand times, and she'd said no without even thinking.

Except this time, she wanted him to ask her out.

Because she'd say-

"Azalea, can I speak to you?"

Azalea tensed slightly, still leaning against the bridge, not even turning around before she said loudly. "Go away, Lauri."

"No!" Lauri objected loudly, causing Azalea to spin round, eyes filled with fire. "I- I need to speak to you, Lea-"

"Call me that again and see what happens!" Azalea snapped.

"Azalea," Lauri said. "Trust me, please-"

"Trust you?" James scoffed, standing behind Azalea and straightening up to full height. "Give her one good reason to."

"Stay out of this," Lauri shot at him.

"No!" James yelled, stepping out from behind Azalea and towards him. "If I had been thinking straight, you would've been a lot more than stunned when I saw what you were trying to do to her!"

"Oh yeah, cause you need to convince her you're the good guy, right?" Lauri demanded with an edge to his voice. "It's okay, we all know you're still in love with her, you don't have to get embarrassed-"

"Shut. Up-!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Azalea yelled over James, turning to Lauri. "Please just go away. I'm not in the mood."

"Okay," Lauri shrugged. "Your loss."

Azalea scoffed as he walked off, James just looking down at her, praying he wasn't blushing.

"Thanks," Azalea said, eager to brush over the 'still in love with her' comment as she looked at James. "I didn't need you to do that for me."

"Yeah, well I wanted to," James said with a smile. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, Azzie."

(Not when I've just got you back).

"Right, come on, we have potions and I can't wait to brew a better draught than you," she grinned at him, leading him as they walked back towards the castle.

James just laughed, chasing after her.

"Oh, it's on!"

✾✾✾

That night found two Potters, two Weasleys, a Longbottom and an Edwards in the library, pouring over translation books and passing about the golden key, which was currently right in front of Azalea.

She was reading it with a crappy magnifying glass she'd won in a Christmas cracker, looking closely at it under the candle light.

"What the hell is that?" She heard James ask behind her, and she laughed, turning round in her seat.

"It's a magnifying glass, I got it in a Christmas cracker," she shrugged, a teasing smile appearing on her face. "What, d'you not know what a Christmas cracker is, Potter?"

"No," James rolled his eyes. "It's just, we get way better things in our crackers. Like, mini firecrackers and extra chess pieces, and other stuff."

"What?" Azalea chuckled. "God, there's still so much stuff I don't know about the wizarding world."

"True that," James grinned.

"Right you two, stop flirting and get back to work!" Lily said, rolling her eyes. "We're all working our arses off here!"

"Shut up, Lily," James muttered, tips of his ears going red as he sat back down next to Fred and Louis, trying to match the language to one of that in their translator.

Azalea, meanwhile, turned back and bent low over the key, continuing to search for clues with the magnifying glass.

If Lily thought it was flirting, then maybe... maybe it was.

But she wasn't going to get her hopes up yet.

✾✾✾

Her feelings for James only grew over the next week, and the second task grew nearer, now only two weeks away, meaning they were spending more and more time together. Azalea wanted to kiss him so badly everytime she was around him, but held herself back.

Because she wasn't sure if he (still) liked her.

That day, however, she had something else to think about as she recieved a letter from her parents.

Dearest Azalea,

Just writing to say that we're going to come up to Hogwarts for the second task! Professor McGonagall owled us the other day with all the details, and we're going to make it a trip. Sorry to say that your sister won't be joining us, she's away with friends, but she'll hopefully catch the next one.

We're looking forward to seeing you, sweetheart, and seeing you do magic, we've never really seen it much before. I just hope you manage to work out your clue.

Give Alice and the rest of your friends our love, and tell them I'm really looking forward to meeting them all, especially James.

See you soon, sweetheart,

Yours,

Mum and Dad xx

Azalea grinned slightly, walking out into the courtyard and running up to Alice, Lily, Rose, Fred and Louis who were all sat up against a big oak tree, enjoying a rare moment of sunshine.

"Guys!" She grinned, rushing to them. "Mum and dad are coming to watch the tournament!"

"What?" Alice asked. "They're coming to the second task?"

"Yep," Azalea nodded. "So James and I have to figure out this key th- what?"

Because, as soon as she mentioned James' name, all ten of their eyes were on her, all five of them looking the exact same.

"Oh, you know," Alice shrugged with a smirk. "Just that you blushed as soon as you mentioned James' name."

"What? No, I didn-"

"And that you totally like him," Fred grinned.

"No I do no-"

"And that you need to tell him how you feel now, because otherwise we're all going to die in anticipation," Lily finished.

"Oh shut up, you lot!" Azalea rolled her eyes. "I don't like James-"

"Yeah, right-"

"-and even if I did, I've missed my chance," Azalea sighed, looking down. "He stopped asking me out this year, and... he moved on."

Then all five of them were laughing their heads off.

"What?!"

"I'm sorry, it's just-" Louis grinned. "If you think he moved on, Azalea, then you're as deluded as he is."

"He's right," Rose nodded. "James still one hundred percent likes you, Azalea. It's obvious to anyone with eyes."

Azalea rolled her eyes, settling back against the tree.

"What's going on, Lea?" Lily asked hesitantly. "What's happening?"

"It's just..." Azalea bit her lip. "Say I did like him... how would I even approach it? I spent six years of my life rejecting him."

"Just ask him, what's the worst that can happen?" Alice shrugged.

"Um, he says no, our relationship becomes awkward, we possibly die or get hurt in the task because we can't work together," Azalea listed.

Everyone took this in, and Azalea pressed her lips together. "Um- hypothetically, of course."

"Yeah, yeah," Fred rolled his eyes. "And just so you're aware, Azalea, none of that's going to happen. James likes you, I promise."

Azalea sighed, sitting back even further onto the tree and pressing her hands into the ground.

Okay, so maybe that was true.

Didn't make it any less daunting.

✾✾✾

"Oh fuck off!"

"Azalea, I need to speak to you."

"No, you do not!" Azalea yelled at Lauri Krum in the corridor when she was on her way to meet James in the library a week later. They still hadn't managed to crack the code, and they were seriously short of time. "Now get out of my way, I need to go!"

"Okay," Lauri shrugged, stepping aside so she could walk past him before telling her. "Just so you know, you're wasting your time."

Azalea spun on her heel, clenching her fists. "What did you just say?"

"I said you're wasting your time," Lauri repeated. "You won't find a translator for the language on the key in the library."

"No, we will," Azalea snapped. "The library has a translator for every human language in the world, so why wouldn't we find i-?"

She stopped, eyes widening as Lauri nodded.

"It's not a human language, is it?" She looked up at Lauri, who was smirking. "Don't look at me like that, just tell me what you were going to."

"Okay, well, I have a translator here," Lauri said, handing her a small book she hadn't even realised he was carrying, named 100 Creature's Language Translations.

"Oh my god," Azalea said, looking up at Lauri. "This isn't gonna fix things between us, by the way, so if that's why you're giving this to me, you might as well take it back."

"That's not why I'm giving this to you," Lauri said. "I just... want a fair fight."

Azalea just shrugged at him, nodding before she walked past him and practically ran to the library to meet up with James.

When she got in, she wasted no time in running to the corner they had claimed, finding James there (just James) and running up to him, squealing in excitement.

"What is up with you?" He asked, as he saw the girl running up to him.

"Okay, so I just saw Lauri, which was obviously terrible, but he gave me the translator we need to figure out this key!" Azalea said with a grin, putting the translator down onto the desk before him.

James read the title with a grin, looking up at her. "So it's a creature's language we're trying to find! That makes so much sense!"

"Exactly," Azalea said, grinning as she sat down next to him and brought the key from her pocket, bringing it up to her eyes so she could see it.

"Right, come on," she said with a sigh. "There's a hundred languages in here, and we need to find the one that inscription is written in."

James nodded. "Right then, Edwards," he smirked. "Let's go."

✾✾✾

under the water is where we're found
in a cage your prize shall be bound
an hour long you'll have to be
if you don't find it, you'll never be free

"Holy shit," Azalea said with a smile as she looked down at the words she had written down on her paper.

"What?" James asked, looking over from his goblin translations to see Lea with actual words written on her page.

"I- it's mermish," Azalea said, showing James the translation. "It's mermish! It's the mermaids in the Black Lake that have this 'prize' in a cage! We have an hour to find them!"

"Oh my god," James covered his mouth with his hand, eyes widening as he read the small passage. "What's that bit at the end? 'If you don't find it'-"

"- 'you'll never be free'," Azalea finished, nodding. "Listen, I- I don't know what it means, specifically, but- unless it means we're gonna be... trapped there... if we can't unlock the cage with this key."

James looked at her, biting his lip. "Don't worry about that right now," he eventually said. "What we really need to figure out is how we're going to breathe underwater for an hour."

"True that," Azalea nodded, pressing a palm to her forehead. "I mean, is there any potion that we can brew, or- some spell we can d-?"

"Wait a second," James said with a small gasp. "There was an underwater challenge during the tournement when my dad did it, and he used gillyweed."

"I'm sorry?" Azalea said with a giggle. "What the fuck is-?"

"It's a plant that gives you gills for exactly one hour so you can breathe underwater," James said.

"A plant?" Azalea demanded. "Is there not another solution you could have to this, Potter?"

"Shut up," James said, though a smile was pulling his lips upwards. "We can ask Neville for some tomorrow. He's bound to have some, he's our herbology teacher."

"Brilliant," Azalea said, grinning at him. "You're brilliant, James."

It had just slipped out without thinking, but as soon as it came out her mouth, she froze, eyes going wide.

Shit.

"I- I mean-" she stuttered, cheeks going red. "I'm-"

"Relax, Edwards," James said with a grin, getting up and handing her the translation booklets. "Right, come on, otherwise we're gonna be walking around like zombies tomorrow."

And yet, as they got up, walking towards the exit, James still grinned at her, leaning into her ear and whispering. "You're pretty brilliant yourself, Azzie."

She grinned, cheeks burning and butterflies swooping.

(And yeah, she was definitely gone. There was no point even denying it anymore.

She just had to pray her friends were right).