the 7th element ((open))

For once, James was glad that summer holiday was over. It meant more time away from his father's shadow. Why did he have to be born a Potter? He loved his mum, siblings, and cousins, but everything else that was a part of his genetics was a burden. It was rare when he could go a day without being asked about Harry by the underclassmen. Why don't they understand his issues with being the Potter heir? On the plus side...

James had been right outside of the prefects' carriage as his cousin, Louis, was crowned Head Boy. That could only mean it was the proper time for the inaugural prank of term: classic dung bomb. Sliding the door open slightly, he threw in the bomb waiting to hear a reaction at any moment. It was moments like this when being a Potter was sweet.

It felt strange to suddenly be in charge of a compartment full of students, although he was very glad to be sat next to Cherry Darling and have her support as Head Girl. As he beamed around at the others and introduced himself to them, the compartment door slid open briefly, and Louis looked up with a patient smile, ready to greet a late comer.

But something was merely hurled into the compartment. Louis watched the dung bomb break against the wall and encase them all with the rancid stench. A lot of prefects bolted. Some endured it. Louis, however, merely looked thoughtful. He had a good idea where it had came from.

"Let's open a window," he suggested cheerfully, sliding it open.

As they were all hit by the overbearing stench of festered bowels, Faye pulled up her jumper and held it over her nose in contempt. As a recognisable head of hair retreated from the scene outside the sliding doors, Faye was quick to her feet. So were several others. Despite Louis reassuring that he would 'have a quiet word' with the culprit later, Faye insisted on dealing with it then and there.

They had to assert their authority!

She was out of there in a heartbeat, looking at James Potter in fury. "You certainly have a lot of nerve doing that with every Prefect in the school sat there!" she fumed, exhaling through her nostrils. "And I suppose you think you can get away with it, what with your cousin sat in there!"

@James Potter

Seeing a whole lot of them evacuate, James busted out in a fit of laughter. It was such a simple, common prank, yet it never failed to amuse him. The smell didn't faze him after years of dealing with Fred's farts; there was a reason why it was one of his go-tos other than the lack of effort and planning involved.

His eyes were slightly bloodshot with his cheeks reddened. Turned out he was laughing just a bit too much. He didn't stoo. Faye's chastising actually made the situation even funnier.

"Pfft, yeah, it's a good one, y'know? Had to start my cousin off with a classic. Don't ya know how hard it is to get a reaction out of him?" James proceeded to flick her nose. That wasn't going to get him out of this, but he had to take advantage of her reaction. "Ya so cute when yer pissed." It was the lack of endowment.

@Faye Phiera

Faye rubbed her nose as it was flicked. Cute?! He was infuriating. As much as she realised he was trying to get a rise out of her, her cheeks were already flushed in rage. She wasn't like Louis. She couldn't just sit there and calmly go about things, or be patient with toerags like James.

"I expect he's got more than enough of your childish antics over the summer, just give him a break and go exert your energy in a more productive way, for goodness' sake!" As she flared at him outside the prefect's compartment, she briefly glanced at Louis. Some of the prefects had cast bubble head charms to withstand the stench. Louis appeared to be going on as though nothing had happened.

She looked back at James angrily. "I feel sorry for Gryffindor house, always being in negative points before they even set foot inside of the castle. I'll take ten points for that, and that's being generous if you ask me!"

@James Potter

"Do you ever get tired of prefecting?" James questioned trying to get a better look at her. "I dunno 'bout you, but the thought of acting too officious makes me want to sleep." Leaning against the wall of the carriage, he smirked. He'd never tried using his heartthrob reputation against a prefect before, but what better time than now?

Points? Eh, who cared? All those did was reinforce centuries of rivalries. "Ain't there something more important than some points? I don't remember who won the last house cup."

@Faye Phiera

Roxy could hear the sound of shouts coming from her down the corridor, and Roxy just rolled her eyes. Why did her class have to be so fucking annoying for goodness sake? It sounded like a shout of the Weasley, because after years of growing up in the Weasley-Potter clan, she knew trouble from a distance.

Walking out of her compartment to give people a piece of her mind, and once she got the compartment in the distance. She had stood with her arms crossed to see who it had been between. "How am I not shocked to see the unfortunate presence of Faye, and now I'm kind of regretting coming to someone's aid." sighed Roxy.

She hated Faye with a passion and started to not feel bad for coming to stop James.

@Louis Weasley @James Potter @Faye Phiera

"No, I don't," she said rather firmly.

Faye eyed him leaning against the wall, enjoying every moment of her squirming. She felt a hot flush of anger at the sight of him, annoyed by his arrogance. He knew he was good-looking, and that's one of the many reasons why she couldn't stand him.

"Are you asking me for a detention?" she scoffed, then her eyes moved beyond James to another approaching from the end of the carriage. Faye smiled sarcastically at her. "That's very nice of you, Roxanne, but unless you want detention as well, I'd turn and walk the other way. Neither of you have any reason to be up this way."

@James Potter @Roxanne Weasley

James could never understand why someone like her would want to be so authoritative. That was a waste of her... What was it? Before he could figure that out, his dear cousin, Roxy, just had to butt into something that didn't involve her. He loved her a bunch, but he loathed that aspect about her. "Roxy, can't ya just shoo? I'm tryin' to score! I didn't ask for reinforcement."

"Sorry 'bout her," he stated as he turned back to Faye. "Roxy's bit of a fly sometimes. Don't know when she ain't needed."

@Roxanne Weasley @Faye Phiera

Roxy didn’t intend to take any orders from Faye or James. She glared at Faye first, “I don’t think I’ll ever be serving a detention issued you by yourself.” she commented since it was an abuse of power. “I’m only trying to state a point, and it’s not breaking a rule.” she said spoke unimpressed.

“Don’t tell me where I can’t and can’t go.” she butted at Faye. Looking to James, “You really aren’t trying to set a score with Faye, are you?” she asked. Since Faye and James were a terrible match. “You don’t need her, and quite personally she’d be too busy sucking Narks dick to care.” shrugged Roxy.

@Faye Phiera @James Potter

Trying to score? What was he talking about now? Before she could even make sense of it, she was saying giddily: “Oh it’s not a problem...” Wait - where did that come from?! She was supposed to be telling him off! Faye shook her head and opened her mouth hurriedly to go on about the importance of good behaviour, when Roxanne interjected.

“Well.”

Was it that shocking that something like that came out of her mouth? She felt as though she didn’t really need to say anything to settle the case there - Roxanne had just dug her own hole.

“Seeing how you just stood there and blatantly insulted me, I have more than a enough reason to give you detention. I’ll just let Professor Riddle know you’re on the list. Or... do you want me to fetch him for you?” Faye smiled smugly. That’s right - she had the back up of the teachers being on board this time. It was about time too. This sort of rubbish always seemed to happen on the train ride to school.

@Roxanne Weasley

Success! He had managed to let Faye get initially caught by his flirtation web. If he's able to keep that up, he may get himself out of any consequences. Now all James had to do was channel Louis...

While his cousin was being chewed apart, James brushed some of Faye's hair back. Out of the corner of his eye was Narks fuming through the compartment opening.

"If there's one person that can put Roxy in her place, it's you. See what I mean by how she always puts her nose in where it ain't needed?"

@Roxanne Weasley @Faye Phiera

If someone had told her that this would happen today, she wouldn’t have believed them. James’s touch was surprisingly gentle. Her expression was stuck somewhere between annoyed and bewildered, but after a while her cheeks changed colour. She couldn’t look at him directly in the eyes.

“James...” she murmured quietly, hearing her heart pound inside of her ears.

She’d temporarily forgotten about what he’d done, until it came back to her. This time, however, she couldn’t bring herself to be angry at him. “Just... don’t do that again. Okay? I don’t want to have to keep giving you a hard time...”

@James Potter