Dorothea - James Potter
Summary: James Potter thinks back to the memories of his best friend, and the girl he was once in love with before she ran away to follow her dreams.
Warnings: lots of angst, no happy ending basically
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Hey, Dorothea, do you ever stop and think about me
James knew he shouldn't have done it, he should've left the “past in the past” as everyone liked to tell him, but the fire whisky was too strong and his emotions were too out of control, so here he was pulling down the box of your belongings out of the top of his shelf, not knowing what he was about to rediscover.
When he set the box down on the wooden floor he removed the dust from the top with the sleeve of his gray jumper to reveal two words that made his heart absolutely sink.
Y/n + James
James internally cringed reading her name but nether the less opened the box of memories, dust flew out of the box when he initially opened it, but it soon cleared out to reveal the first thing, a polaroid of him and you in the boy's dormitory in 4th year, insanely pissed out of your minds.
He remembered that day all too well, you had brought up fire whisky you nicked from Filch’s office to share with the boys, and towards the end of the night, you asked James a question that determined your dreams for the future.
-
It was 1:04 am in the morning, Peter was passed out on his bed with tiny popcorn crumbs littered around his head, and Remus was sound asleep in an upwards position as Sirius was sprawled out into his lap, leaving James and Y/n.
“James?” Y/n asked, barely conscious as is.
“Yeah dove?” he replied, looking at the girl.
“Do you think I’ll make it big one day?” she asked in a whisper.
James stared at her, studying the girl's face, of course, he knew what she meant, ever since the girl was a child doing silly beauty pageants her mom forced upon her, she dreamed of more. She dreamed of moving away from England and flying down to Hollywood to make her acting dreams become a reality.
Of course, they were just dreams, no one thought she could actually pull it off.
“You have the talent and passion for it Y/n/n I don't see why not,” he said with a grin.
Y/n smiled, truly smiled, if the whole world didn't believe in her she knew James Potter did and that's all that really mattered to her, she grabbed the polaroid that was beside her and flipped it so the camera faced the two of them.
“Smile!” she said.
-
James smiled fondly at that photo, It was the peak of their friendship before things (in his opinion) went downhill. He continued to rummage through the box until he found a ring hooked onto a chain to make a necklace, he had gifted it to Y/n the day he asked her to be his girlfriend.
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It’s never too late to come back to my side
The stars in your eyes shined brighter in Tupelo
-
It was late December during your 6th year, you and he were just lounging in his living room watching crappy muggle television sitcoms when he popped the question he has been meaning to ask you for weeks.
“Hey, Y/n?’ James asked nervously fidgeting with the box he was hiding behind a white throw pillow.
Y/n turned from the television to him with a smile, only it dropped seeing the anxiety written all over his face.
“What’s up? Are you okay?’ She said scanning his face for any injuries of sorts.
James pulled out the red box with a white bow on it and handed it to her, her face morphed into one of confusion. She took the box and opened it to reveal one of James' own rings (that she absolutely adored) wrapped around a silver chain.
“Happy Christmas Y/n/n,” he said with a smile.
“Oh, James this is so thoughtful! But I can't take this, this is yours,” She said with a frown, as she looked up at the boy.
“No, really take it, you've always loved it more than me anyhow,” He chuckled. Y/n looked up at him with sparkling eyes that could rival the stars and hugged him.
“Y/n can I ask you something?” He stuttered, damn those stupid nerves.
“Of course anything!” she said as she slipped on the necklace.
“Will you be my girlfriend?”
-
James Potter stared longly at the necklace wondering when everything went wrong. He wished he could turn back time but not to redo anything or make different choices, to relive his time with Y/n. Yes, he dated and loved the girl, but she was his best friend first. The person he would go to after a rough day, and the girl he spilled all of his secrets to. The day Y/n left he didn't just lose his lover, he lost his best friend.
Jame quickly shoved the necklace back into the box only to return with something much more hurtful,
the proposal ring.
-
And if you’re ever tired of being known for who you know
You know you’ll always know me
-
James, Y/n, and the rest of their mates had all graduated from Hogwarts nearly two years ago, it was truly crazy how fast time flew when you were with your best friends nearly every day.
Y/n and James had gotten a flat together in the middle of London on top of a busy cafe, the best part of that were that a lot of every day they were given free coffee (and sometimes pastries if there were leftover ones).
James Potter had it all planned out, today was the day he was proposing, he had asked her parents for approval, he made sure it was clear with her friends, and everyone assumed she would say yes.
James had set up a nice picnic in a flower garden area they would regularly visit for dates, this time no different, except he had a ring hidden in his left pocket awaiting to be placed onto a finger.
The night was perfect, dinner went off without a hitch, and the couple was just soaking in the night. They had just finished eating chocolate-covered strawberries when James finally determined it was the right time.
“Y/n..” James started.
She looked up from her strawberry to see her nervous boyfriend, she smiled at him to hopefully ease his nerves.
“I have to ask you something,” y/n stayed silent, only nodding for James to continue.
James stood up and got onto one knee, he pulled out the velvet black box from his pocket and opened it up to reveal a beautiful diamond-rimmed ring, sparkling from the night sky. Y/n gasped looking at the ring and then back at James.
“Will you marry me Y/n Y/l/n?” He said with a smile so bright. She had tears in her eyes, but not the good kind.
“James,” she croaked out.
The hesitance in her voice made James panic, he slid onto both knees taking a hold of her hands, as she looked away crying.
“I can’t James, I'm so sorry,” She cried out, taking her hands away from his, leaving him empty.
“But why? I thought we were good. I thought everything was great. Please Y/n” He begged, was it too soon? Was he in the wrong?
Y/n stood up and started making an exit out of the flower field, James not too far behind her. She suddenly stopped and turned around to face James, tears streaming down her face.
“I'm so sorry James, I love you I do but I'm not a wife girl? I can't settle down, not yet at least we are both so young!” She wept, whipping her tears.
“Then let's wait! I love you Y/n/n and I will wait forever for you,” James hurried to her front, taking his hands into hers.
Y/n looked up at James with tear-ridden eyes
“I think we should take a break James, ” she said finally.
“What no? Please don't do this Y/n I'm so sorry I asked you to marry me we can pretend this never happened!” He pleaded.
“I'm going to America James,” She bowed her head in shame, “ I didn't tell you because I was afraid of how you would react and I didn't want it to ruin anything we had, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner,” she rambled.
James was the one this time to shake her hands off of his, he wasn't sad anymore no, he was angry, he was mad.
“What?” He uttered, “Were you planning on packing up and leaving me next week with a note to say you were going to live out your fantasies? Were you even planning on telling me at all?” He voiced, he was hurt, sad, angry, and all of the above.
“Of course, I was, I'm not a monster! And it's not some fantasy James it's my dream you know that!” She cried out.
“Fine, Y/n go to America but don't think that this is me being supportive, not after you just broke my heart and stomped on it a million times,” James replied.
Y/n folded the cream cardigan that was in her hands and stared at the boy she once called her best friend, and turned to walk toward her car. As she was just about to enter she looked back at James, who was already looking at her.
“Goodbye James Potter,” she said to him as she entered her car.
James watched as she drove away, he watched as her white car went from visible to microscopic, he wiped his tears and turned away back to the picnic to clean up the mess that had happened.
“Goodbye Y/n Y/l/n” He whispered as he stuffed the forgotten ring back into his pocket.
-
James shoved that box to the corner of his room in frustration, no wonder he didn't go through it, too many painful memories. He regretted everything he said that night, he let his anger take control of his actions and because of that he never got to wish his best friend good luck or give her a proper fair well.
He rubbed the tears off of his face and went downstairs to make some half-ass dinner for himself, probably just a frozen meal Remus got him when they went on their weekly grocery trips.
He put the meal in a muggle microwave and sat down to turn on the television, just to his luck an awards show was happening at that time, alas it was only the red carpet looks so he was barely interested.
He got his meal and sat in front of the tv, only using it for background noise, as he ate his rough meatloaf and soggy mashed potatoes.
It was only when a familiar name was called that he dropped what he was doing and looked up at the screen.
“And here is the ‘it girl’ herself, Y/n Y/l/n! Wearing a stunning gold dress tell us who it is by?” the reporter asked.
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Dorothea
Dorothea
