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BIG BOY PANTS

act two ━ chapter fourteen

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━ ANDROMEDA BLACK ━
september 1977

"BRONWYN, I'M SCARED."

"Oh don't be such a baby."

Being an athlete, James prioritises sportsmanship. He will never cheat, he won't sabotage his opponents, he will approach the game with maturity (it's about the only thing he can take seriously). But the same can't be said for the entirety of the Slytherin house. At least from James' point of view.

Dirty cheats, the lot of them, James says (Bronwyn included). They don't deserve his respect and so they definitely don't deserve the satisfaction of knowing that off the pitch, he is rather intimidated by a large group of Slytherins.

Which is why he hovered anxiously by the entrance to the Great Hall, halting Bronwyn mid-step.

"They'll eat me alive."

"Doing the universe a favour then aren't they?"

Bronwyn was growing increasingly frustrated (and hungry!) at James forcing her to stand outside of the dining hall as everyone else casually strolled inside, wafting the aromas of the delicious feast towards her ─ the feast she should be tucking into right now.

She understands that being a Gryffindor sitting at the Slytherin table would make him the minority, as it technically isn't permitted but happens anyway (the teachers grow tired of telling people to move these days) but Bronwyn can't seem to find any problem with her one close friend. So James shouldn't have one either.

"Don't be a prick. You're not exactly making this any easier for me."

Bronwyn noticed how his face had been gradually paling since they arrived in this corridor. And she doubted it was from the cold. "Not my aim, Potter."

"Be nice, okay?" He moaned, defeat almost taking over. "You're the one making me do this."

"You're paying me to," she countered. "And I didn't sign up for you to be a big baby."

Baby was among the two things James hated being called the most. And the other was chicken so he wasn't exactly enjoying sharing this particular experience with Bronwyn Ward.

"So, put on your big boy pants, calm the fuck down, and act like the perfect boyfriend you so desperately want to be. Got it?"

Bronwyn could have sworn she watched a lump make its way down his throat as he gulped. "Okay," he mumbled, allowing a big sigh to tumble out of Bronwyn as she finally was able to drag him out from behind the wall without protest.

She had never been more grateful to be capable to walk into the Great Hall without James whimpering from behind her. The candles lit the room in a perfect golden glow and the busy laughter meant that James' appearance went completely unnoticed.

But there was still one minor detail James still didn't like about all this besides the fact that he was admitting that being alone with a bunch of Slytherins was frightening to him. And that was anyone finding out. "Please don't tell Sirius about this."

James felt like a lost puppy as he hurriedly followed Bronwyn over to the Slytherin table. And upon seeing eyes starting to flitter over to the pair as they got closer, James started to feel very unsure about the necessity of sitting at the wrong table for dinner.

Nonetheless, he didn't have much choice and was uncomfortably perched beside Bronwyn surrounded by all of her housemates a second later, positioned in a way so that he could make an easy getaway if need be.

"Evening," Andromeda Black drawled over a spoonful of soup from the seat opposite them.

James wasn't able to investigate who exactly he was sitting with because in order for that to happen, he would have to make eye contact with the people glaring at him. It wasn't hard to miss Severus Snape sitting at the far end of the table, however. He was practically burning holes into the side of James' face at the current moment.

"Evening," Bronwyn said back, taking a seat beside and sending a quick smile to Freddie Novak, a friend from the year below, who was gossiping away with her friends. James felt too out of place to form words and so just nodded in acknowledgement.

James sat in silence for what felt like hours at first. In actual fact, it was around two minutes, while Bronwyn was busy talking to Andromeda. But when Bronwyn had finished her short conversation and straightened out ready to start eating, there was another disturbance.

"You wouldn't mind taking your business somewhere else, would you, Bronwyn?"

The question came from a few people down from Andromeda. Evan Rosier had his head tilted in James' direction and wore a look of half distaste half self-superiority. Bronwyn noted her teammate, Emma Vanity, looking on at James with the same look of disdain as if her food didn't deserve her attention anymore.

"I would mind, actually, Rosier," Bronwyn replied. "In fact, I reckon your intolerability might just be worse than Potter's over here. Do us all a favour and shut your cockhole?"

"Glad someone can shut him up," Freddie chuckled from beside Bronwyn. Bronwyn simply shrugged nonchalantly in the blonde girl's direction before checking to see whether James was still physically and emotionally stable.

James, for once in his life, was very glad to be defended by Bronwyn Ward. He even felt confident enough to glance over at Evan, who had turned a bright shade of pink. Regulus Black was trying to hide his amusement in the sleeve of his robe a few spots down from Emma Vanity.

"I'd give you a rundown of everyone here, but you might as well avoid all of them," Bronwyn said to James. "I think being the biggest entitled prick is their collective goal."

"They give you a run for your money, Potter," Andromeda smirked.

"Will I ever not be a prick in your eyes?" James asked, fearful of the answer.

"No," the two girls said in unison.

"Got it," James said back, rigid as a wooden plank.

"You can eat, you know," Bronwyn swayed to the side so that James knew she was talking to him, her head hanging low. "I'm not going to starve you."

The idea of taking the Slytherins' food was particularly daunting but James wasn't going to let them stop him anymore. He was pathetic and silly to be scared of them (he was never going to forgive himself, that's for sure) and now very hungry.

Absentmindedly, and absolutely famished (Bronwyn trying not to seem disappointed that tonight's special was fish pie), the "couple" served themselves some dinner ─ Bronwyn some vegetables, a bread roll, picking out the bits she believed to be edible, deliberately missing the main dish by a mile. And James, reluctantly, ended up taking a large dollop of pie, but it was mainly just the potato as if he had avoided the fish altogether.

Her plate looking full enough for her, Bronwyn stopped suddenly. She watched, astounded, as the boy continued to dish out the food he wanted onto the porcelain plate in front of him. She took particular disgusted notice of one specific green vegetable.

"Now that I think is a game-changer."

James glanced down at the contents of the serving spoon in his hand, confused as to what it was he could have done to disgust her now. "Broccoli?"

"You're a maniac."

"Charming," he said, dropping the ladle back into the serving dish, his eyes trained on hers. "Not as though I'm shovelling brussels sprouts into my mouth, is it though? Then you could have detained me. Broccoli is harmless."

Not a day goes by when Bronwyn doesn't question James Potter's sanity. "I'd take brussels over broccoli any day, pal."

James pressed his mouth into a straight line. "Just so you know," he leant in a little closer and Bronwyn pulled a face as if she was about to be infected by stray broccoli particles, "I am your boyfriend now. Maybe leave the scrutiny until after."

"You're my boyfriend on a technicality."

Shrugging, James picked up his knife and fork, stabbing a tree of broccoli. He held it up for her to see and waited for her to visibly gag, before popping it in his mouth with a grin. "Good enough for me."

It seemed James got the hang of sitting at the Slytherin table. Ten minutes in and he had almost forgotten that every single student sitting in his vicinity hated him. The judgmental staring had decreased to a minimum and Sirius hadn't once bugged him about the circumstances.

And James really thought he had lucked out by the time his plate was left with but a few scraps of food. But one should never not expect surprises from Sirius Black.

Andromeda noticed the approaching dark-haired boy first when he appeared in the aisle behind where Bronwyn and James were sitting.

"Why hello there," she smiled up at him, putting her elbows on the table and resting her chin atop her hands.

Bronwyn and James were too distracted by their conversation at first, the loud sounds of the hectic hall covering up the arrival of James' friend.

Sirius looked down on the pair with repugnance, speaking gaudily to Andromeda with hopes that James would notice how uninterested Sirius was in him. "Good evening, dear cousin."

Andromeda grew tired of Sirius quite quickly and rolled her eyes at his obvious attempt at getting James' attention. She also questioned why on earth he would suddenly start calling her dear cousin. "Cut the bullshit, Sirius."

"No bullshit," he said. "Just wanted to check in with my favourite Black family member."

"Bar yourself?" Andromeda quirked an eyebrow.

"Bar me, correct."

It wasn't just Bronwyn and James who had now become aware of Sirius' arrival. But Sirius' brother too had picked up on some of the dialogue.

"Nice," Regulus scoffed in Sirius' direction, causing the eldest sibling to scowl.

"Piss off, Reg."

Sighing, knowing firsthand of her cousin's antics, Andromeda pulled Sirius' attention back to her. "So your visit has absolutely nothing to do with Potter?"

"Who?"

James could hardly sit idly by anymore and so turned on his seat and looked up at his supposed friend. "Just say what you came here to say, Sirius. I haven't finished my pie."

Sirius lifted his chin so he didn't lose any of his pride upon James' recognition. "Just wanted to say I hope you enjoyed your dinner at the shitty end of the hall and that your seat at the Gryffindor table has been suspended until further notice."

James faked a smile and Bronwyn decided then and there that she didn't want to be involved in any of this. "Cheers, mate. Love the support."

"He's just being an immature prick."

Remus Lupin had appeared at the side of Sirius, the same tired look on his face that James wore.

"Sounds familiar," Bronwyn said to Andromeda discreetly.

It was just then that the fourth member of their clan, Peter Pettigrew chimed in from where he had walked over to stand beside Remus. "James, ignore him."

"I will if he walks away within the next three seconds."

"Fine," Sirius spat. "Consider me gone." Straightening out an invisible crease in his robes, Sirius turned on his heels. "Good night all. Bar James."

Wincing, and whispering muttered apologies, Remus and Peter followed Sirius out of the hall, both very aware of the same level of stares from the Slytherins they were receiving that James too had had the pleasure of enjoying.

"And reply to your mum's letters for Merlin's sake!" Andromeda shouted out to where she could still make out Sirius at the end of the hall. Concluding that, even if he heard her, Sirius was never going to write his mum a letter ever again, Andromeda exhaled tiredly and said to Bronwyn and James: "I can't deal with any more angry messages from my aunt. My owl hates me."

"Speaking of owls," James said, turning to Bronwyn. "Mum wants to know if you got your card and present. She sent it a few days ago, wanted to make sure it was here for tomorrow."

Recalling back to a delivery she received the day before, Bronwyn nodded. "It arrived yesterday. Not an engagement ring on your behalf, is it?"

James pulled a face. "I cannot confirm nor deny that, unfortunately."

Out of her control, Bronwyn's face broke out into an unexpected grin. "Looking forward to it."

Maybe it was the thought of their mothers' never-ending attempt to get them together or maybe it was just post-dinner highs, but James smiled back and suddenly the room felt warm like a cold Christmas day by the fire just like how it was when they were kids.

Bronwyn's brain told her to stop smiling, it told her to get a grip ─ it wasn't that amusing. But for some unknown reason, she didn't stop smiling. Even as her eyes fell back onto the table, her elbows resting flat on the wood. Not until she made eye contact with a very suspicious Andromeda.

The dark-haired girl's eyes darted from Bronwyn to James and then back to Bronwyn, the pair of them sharing the same content smile. It was disgusting.

Sucking in a tight breath of air upon seeing her best friend's expression, Bronwyn finally got a hold of herself, shook off her smile and sorted out her posture. "Right, piss off then," she said to James, who's smile disappeared just as quickly as her's had.

"What?" He asked puzzled, his brows furrowing. "I thought I was going back with you to the Snakes-," James coughed to cover up his mistake before hastily correcting himself when he saw both girls' brows shoot up, "Slytherin common room?"

"Had enough of you," Bronwyn shrugged, discreetly snatching a glance at Andromeda to make sure all was right. "Social battery can't handle anymore James Potter."

"Not wanted. Got it," James deadpanned, before placing his knife and fork together at the edge of his plate and getting up from his seat. "Night." He could hardly wait for whatever grief was waiting for him back at the Gryffindor common room.

Bronwyn waited for the boy to be out of earshot before she snuck in a sigh of relief to herself while Andromeda watched the Gryffindor leave the Great Hall.

Her eyes were suddenly glued to the girl in front of her. Something wasn't right between Bronwyn and James. It was like they were kids again, almost friendly with each other. It was hideous ─ Andromeda needed to make sure her best friend wasn't going to cause the end of the world. "I'm watching you, Bronwyn Ward."

The seeker tried her best to cover up any blushing. "Creep."

"Just curious."

"Don't be."

Andromeda trusted her best friend more than her family. She knew Bronwyn would tell her if anything interesting or potentially dangerous happened in her life. And a growing fondness for James Potter was most certainly potentially dangerous.

And so Andromeda took Bronwyn's advice and didn't explicitly display her curiosity for this week's client's relationship with her close friend. Until she couldn't shake it anymore and waited until they were in the comfort of their dorm room to bring it up again.

Andromeda noted the content look on her roommate's face that hadn't left since the start of dinner.

"Why do you seem different?" She came out and said it just as Bronwyn was sliding under her duvet.

"I don't."

"You do."

It was times like these when Bronwyn was grateful for their lack of another dormmate. "I do not."

"You've never seemed like this after a job before. What happened?"

Bronwyn had nothing to hide. But that didn't mean she wanted Andromeda to come to conclusions on her own. "Had a nice dinner that's all."

"You hate fish pie."

"Because I'm not a psychopath."

"Tell me," Andromeda demanded.

Bronwyn was determined to not let her friend get any ideas whatsoever. "Nothing to tell."

"I will find out, Ward," Andromeda affirmed. "Whatever happened today, I will find out eventually."

Bronwyn didn't know what happened today either, so she hardly doubts Andromeda will find out. That didn't mean Bronwyn was any less unsettled by the fact she had smiled at James Potter ─ without a trace of sarcasm ─ and that he had smiled back.

"Glad we had that chat, Black. Good night."

But all Bronwyn got back as a response was a muffled "hmm" followed closely by a bout of snoring and a ruffling of sheets.

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