The breeze was cold and it was blowing right in Azalea's face as she made her way to Hogsmeade with James, Fred and Louis. Yes, that's right, she was heading in with those three. Alice wasn't heading in today because she had homework, and wasn't feeling like going in the cold anyway. Azalea was meeting Lauri in the village.

So for some reason, she'd decided it was a good idea to walk up there with the three boys she'd spent most of her Hogwarts life avoiding, but mainly it was because she had no one else to walk with.

"Jesus fuck, it's cold," Fred said, as Azalea pulled her bobble hat down over her ears.

"Now now, Freddie, don't swear," James said with a joking tone. "Don't want to hurt precious Azalea here's ears."

"Shut the fuck up," Azalea advised him, causing Fred and Louis to laugh.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," James shrugged. "She's been swearing at us since she met us on the train in first year."

"Er, I think what I actually said was that I wouldn't worship your ugly ass shoes just because of who your daddies are," Azalea shrugged, eyes trailing over the three of them and landing on James. "And then you told me I looked pretty when I was annoyed."

James could feel the tips of his ears burn, and was extremely glad the hat was covering them.

"Well, I've moved on from that now, and it's also extremely untrue," he said evasively, not looking at the girl.

(Because it was true. It fucking was-)

"That's nice to know," Azalea said, turning back to face straight on.

"Okay, changing the subject, do you guys feel like you're ready for the first task?" Louis asked, looking at Azalea and James.

"Yeah," Lea answered first. "I mean, I can't exactly say this experience is what I imagined for my last year of school-"

"I've already apologised for that-"

"-but it's actually kinda exciting," Azalea smiled, looking straight at Louis and trying not to glance peripherally at James. "Giving me something to concentrate on other than lessons."

"Yeah, it's hopefully gonna go well," James said with a grin at his best friend. "Mum even owled the other day and said she was gonna try and come to watch."

"Why wouldn't she? Everyone else is," Louis shrugged, as they entered the village, seeing Honeydukes sweet shop, Zonko's joke shop, The Three Broomsticks pub and, of course, far off across a couple fields, The Shrieking Shack.

Then Azalea saw Lauri up ahead, standing looking adorable in a wooly hat and scarf and a thick coat. Azalea felt her cheeks heat up immediately, her body suddenly feeling roasting under all her layers despite almost freezing two second ago.

"See you, guys," she said, a smile growing on her face as she waved bye to the guys before almost running over to Lauri.

She didn't notice James' jaw dropped expression.

"Mate, wipe that look off your face," Louis nudged him. "You literally just said you'd moved on."

"Shut up," James rolled his eyes, finally averting them from Azalea, who had just met with Lauri. "I have moved on."

But by the way he reacted the next second, when Lauri brought Lea in and hugged her tightly, Louis and Fred weren't convinced.

"You know what?" James' voice was bitter, but he was trying to hide it. "Forget Zonko's. I've got something better for us to do."

✾✾✾

"Hey," Azalea said to Lauri with a smile, walking up to him.

"Hey," he said, smiling, before doing something she didn't expect, and pulling her into a hug.

The redhead hoped she didn't let out a gasp as she melted into him, frozen for a second as she felt his arms around her. Her heart was beating like crazy, her mouth dry. Then she remembered where she was and what she was doing, and she hesitantly wrapped her arms around him.

"I've missed you," Lauri smiled.

Azalea was about to die from excess butterflies.

"Yeah, me- me too," she nodded, as they pulled away. She smiled at him again, her eyes bright and her cheeks flushed. "So, er... where do you wanna go? There's Honeydukes, and Zonko's, and then we could go see the Shrieking Shack and go to The Three Broomsticks?"

Lauri smiled gently at her, taking her gloved hand in his. "That sounds amazing, Lea."

They walked up the road to the sweet shop, intertwined hands swinging between them.

"So you told me about your family," Lauri said. "And about James, but what about your friends? I know Alice, obviously, but who's the other redhead that you two are always with?"

"Oh, that's Lily, she's James' younger sister," Azalea said with a smile. "She's one of my best friends, to be honest, and the stuff she comes out with sometimes is hilarious."

"That's nice," Lauri smiled. "I need to introduce you to Adrian one of these days, you know, my mate I'm doing the tournament with. He's dying to meet you, probably cause I talk about you so much."

"You talk about me with your friends?" Azalea asked with a smirk as they arrived at the Honeydukes door.

"No more than you seem to," Lauri countered.

Their time in the sweet shop was mostly spent abusing each other's choices. Azalea had no idea why anyone in their right mind would choose to eat cockroach cluster, and Lauri was just in despair that his date liked acid pops.

"They're good!"

"They're terrible, that's what they are..."

They left the shop high on laughter, Azalea giggling with flushed cheeks and still gripping Lauri's hand. She hadn't expected it to be this easy. When she was around him, she could just be, and she really liked that.

"So," she said as they started walking off to Zonko's for some jokes. "You've heard about me and my family, but what about yours? What's it like having Viktor Krum as a dad? Does he still even play quidditch?"

"Yeah, actually," Lauri shrugged. "But not professionally anymore, obviously, just games with me and Helena sometimes in the parddock in the back yard."

Azalea smiled. "And what about your mum?"

Lauri's face fell, and Azalea stopped walking as it did. She frowned at him, because he was stood there looking so sad, and before he could say anything she blurted. "I- I mean- I'm sorry."

"No, it's just, er... mum's not actually around anymore," Lauri told her. "She died when... well, I don't really remember her."

"Lauri..." Azalea sighed, squeezing his hand. "You don't have to tell me about this if you don't want to."

"No, it's... it's fine," Lauri told her with a small smile. "I mean- dad's amazing and all, and I'm so glad he's taken care of us the way he has, but... sometimes I hear Helena talking about mum and I... I get a bit jealous. Cause she has memories of her and I... I don't."

Azalea stopped their resumed walk just to hug him tightly, whispering to him. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Lauri told her with a small smile as they pulled apart. "It's fine."

Azalea smiled shyly back at him. "So, you play quidditch?"

The rest of their walk up to Zonko's was filled with quidditch chats, debates and arguments.

"Being a chaser is way better than being a keeper," Azalea commented, acid pop in her mouth.

"Ridiculous," Lauri chuckled. "A keeper makes the game exciting, you know, wondering whether they're going to score or not."

"But a chaser actually scores those goals," Azalea told him, very invested in this. "Take it from me. I would've been Gryffindor quidditch captain if the tournament hadn't happened this year."

"Oh, would you?" Lauri raised his eyebrows, smirking flirtatiously. "I think we need to play each other, Miss Edwards, and then we'll see which position is better."

"Yeah, we will," Azalea said back, cheeks flushing at the teasing way in which he was talking to her. "When I keep getting the quaffle past you."

"Sure about that?" Lauri smirked as they reached Zonko's.

And all Azalea really wanted to do was kiss that smug smirk off his face-

Wait, WHAT?!

Azalea hadn't even gone on a proper date before, and now she was suddenly envisioning kissing Lauri? What the f-?

"Azalea? Lea? You okay?" Lauri asked, just before they slipped inside the shop. Azalea had seemingly frozen, eyes wide, mouth gaping.

"Y-yeah," she nodded, snapping back to life. "I'm good."

"Then let's go," her date smiled, eyes twinkling.

Neither noticed the three pairs of feet peeking out from under an invisibility cloak, following them inside.

✾✾✾

Azalea and Lauri left Zonko's in high spirits, debating whether to go and see the Shrieking Shack or just call it a day and hit The Three Broomsticks.

"I'm freezing my tits off, I say we just go to the pub," was Azalea's comment.

Lauri grinned, leaning down closer to her and murmuring. "Well we wouldn't want your tits to fall off, would we?"

Azalea gasped. "Shut up!" She giggled, shoving her laughing date to the side as her whole face turned crimson.

"Come on," Lauri said with a smile, grabbing her hand again and leading her in the direction of The Three Broomsticks.

Azalea laughed, heading off with him, already half tasting the huge tankard of butterbeer she was going to get.

However, on the way down, she couldn't help but notice something.

It started with just a small glimmer in her peripheral vision, that she frowned at. However, when she turned, there was no one there, and she told Lauri it didn't matter when she asked what he saw.

But then it happened again. And again.

And by the time they were at the pub entrance Azalea was very confused.

Well, that is until she caught them right in the act.

Because just as they were about to go in, she turned and saw it. Three pairs of feet, with apparently no bodies to belong to, but Azalea had played this game before. She knew exactly what was going on.

"Give me a minute," she told Lauri, who was looking at the three pairs of feet as well.

As Azalea marched forward, she saw the feet start to back away, but she was too fast for them. Lunging forwards, she seized the invisibility cloak in her hand she wrenched it off the three of them, revealing James, Fred and Louis, all looking massively guilty.

"You creeps," Azalea snapped at them. "Care to explain why the hell you were stalking me?"

"We weren't stalking you," James shot back, but he wasn't meeting her eyes. "How do you know we didn't just want to be invisible in Hogsmeade?"

"Because I know you, James," Azalea told him. "And as much as you love that cloak, you don't love it that much."

This isn't exactly what James had in mind when he envisioned being known by Azalea Edwards.

"Okay, so we were stalking you, but it's only because we wanted you to be safe," Fred said.

"And we think you deserve better than Lauri," James muttered under his breath, kicking the ground hard with his heel.

"I'm sorry, what?" Azalea demanded, looking straight at him.

And maybe it was the way she was yelling, or the way she was looking at him, but something inside James snapped. He looked up, raising his voice before saying. "You deserve better than him!"

"James, this is ridiculou-"

"You deserve someone that'll treat you nicer, that'll make you happie-"

"Shut up! I'm actually really happy with Lauri, which you would know, given your stalker activities," Azalea snapped. "And also, who exactly would treat me better than Lauri? It's not like Hogwarts is swarming with guys that want to go out with m-"

She cut herself off.

She cut... herself off.

And by the look in James' eyes, she realised that what she was thinking was right.

"Oh," she said, coming to the realisation. "Oh, so that's what this is about. You know, James, when you said you were going to stop asking me out this year, I really thought you meant i-"

"I did, but he-"

"Why can't you just accept it?" Azalea asked him, her tone sort of... disappointed. "I've tried to get you to understand for years, James, and you just don't listen!"

James looked down, both his best friends doing the same. He wasn't going to cry, but he also needed to get away from her looking at him like that-

"So let me lay this out for you, plain and simple," Azalea told them, looking straight at James, despite him not looking at her. "I will never go out with you, James Sirius Potter. Because I just don't like you like that."

And maybe she was a little harsh, as James looked as though he'd been slapped when she told him that, but she didn't really even register it.

No, she turned on her heel, headed back to Lauri to enjoy her time left with him in Hogsmeade.

And James was left with his two best friends, and a burning feeling of jealousy permanently implanted in the pit of his stomach.

✾✾✾

He didn't speak to her.

The next day, after the trip to Hogsmeade, Azalea went up to James asking whether he wanted to do some practice for the first task that day, due to the fact that it was less than a week away.

James had completely blanked her, giving a non committal answer, not looking her in the eye, and just ultimately seeming very very sad.

They didn't practice that day, and Azalea was sure their performance in the task was going to suffer because of it.

She really shouldn't have been shocked at this fact he was ignoring her, though, given that she told him right in the middle of Hogsmeade that she'd never go out with him, or like him. She knew she didn't have a right to be anything but ashamed of herself, which she was, but she was feeling other things too.

And when she brought it up with Lily, her friend gave her the tough love.

"You rejected him very publicly in the middle of Hogsmeade, and now you're expecting him to just drop everything and run back to you?" She raised her eyebrows at her friend. "That's not how life works, Lea."

"Yeah, but I've rejected him a thousand times," Azalea said. "And on top of that, he told me he wasn't gonna ask me out this year."

"Lea, he didn't ask you out," Lily sighed. "Listen, you need to look at this from his perspective. Because first off, it's pretty fucking obvious he still likes you."

"No he doesn't, he's just bloody infatuated, he never actually liked me," Azalea sighed.

"Second, seeing you with Lauri is gonna make him jealous-"

"That doesn't give him a right to st-"

"-I'm not saying what he did was right, I'm just saying you can see why he reacted the way he did," Lily cut her off. "And third, you have to think that at the very least he thought being champions would pull you two closer together, but now it's only pushed you further apart."

Azalea digested this, her eyes flitting down and then back up, down and then up.

Then, finally, she sighed heavily and said. "I've really fucked this up."

"Well, lucky for you you have six days to fix it," Lily smiled. "Oh and by the way, if you tell James I stuck up for him, I will kill you."

Azalea laughed. "I wouldn't dream of it."