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The Burrow was far out in the country side, which Ivy loved, the stars had never seemed brighter. It was a quarter past three and Ivy couldn't fall asleep, she must have ate to many pastries she thought to herself. She slipped out of bed trying her hardest not to wake Lily and Roxanne, whom she shared a room with. Although the two had said they were staying up all night, they quickly fell asleep at 11 o'clock, leaving Ivy alone in a state of boredom. Ivy opended the door quietly, she knew Mrs.Weasley was a light sleeper and would easily hear the young girl. She held in her breath tip toeing across the hall that led to the stairs, one by one she made her way down towards the kitchen for a glass of water. "Lumos." She muttered under her breath, not wanting to turn on the kitchen lights. She opened the cabinet in search for cup to pour water, as she was about to grab the cup a warm hand covered her mouth pulling her by the waist away from the cabinet.

She began to squirm against the grasp, a million worries began flowing through her head. Molly always left the door open, who knows who might have gone inside. As she continued to fight the figure she noticed laughs escaping his mouth finally letting her go. Ivy turned back and noticed the figure was no other then James. She gave him a quick kick on his rib cage out of rage, she still felt her heart going a hundred miles per hour.

"What the bloody hell Lennon!" James groaned hugging his wounded side. "That fucking hurt, why would you do that?"

"Are you serious?" Ivy whispered scared of anyone finding the pair, especially Molly, she would take the situation completely out of hand, completely. "Maybe next time don't try to give me a heart attack!"

"You should be thanking me."

"Why would I do that?"

"There was a prank set there for Uncle George, he's usually the first to wake up, so Fred thought it'd be funny to set off a smoke bomb when he grabbed the cup." James finished pointing towards the almost invisible rope that was attached to the cup she was about to grab.

"You're an idiot." Ivy mumbled under her breath. She walked towards the refrigerator pulling out a bottle of water still thirsty. The two stood in silence not knowing what to say. Although Ivy wanted to yell at him for being a ignorant jerk, she decided to keep her cool and ask the question she had been wondering since the night of the ball. "Why'd you leave?"

James looked up confused at the girl's question, he hadn't expected her to ask so bluntly. "You seemed to be having fun with Albus, it didn't seem as my presence was needed anymore." James said looking out the window not wanting to meet her gaze.

"He's my bestfriend James, all he asked was for a dance. I went looking for you right after, but your jealousy walked you right out of the doors." Ivy replied. Although she didn't think believe it at first, she soon realized James was jealous. The face he wore said it all.

"Get off your high horse Lennon, I wasn't jealous."

"Your actions suggest other wise." She said as a small smirk crept on to her lips. James Potter was jealous of his little brother, this couldn't get better. "You ruined my first ball James, the least you could do is apologize."

"I wasn't the one who went off to dance with other people, I'm not apologizing, in fact I'm the one who should receive an apology." James argued.

"You can't be serious right now?" Ivy said rubbing her temple, it was three in the morning why was she even arguing with him? "He's my best friend James, he's always been there for me. Must I remind you, you've been an annoying prick to me all my life. Just because you asked me to the ball, doesn't mean you're suddenly forgiven for the hell you've put me through."

"No one else was going to ask you."

"Actually James, I was asked plenty of times, but you managed to turn them all down for me. I was fine with it though, I was having a great time getting to know the James Potter that wasn't a dick, the one who actually talked with passion. I learned a whole new side of you I didn't know you had, but you had to ruin it all. I should have expected it, you manage to ruin everything with out even trying. I should have known better than to feel something for James Potter." Ivy finished out of breath. She quickly realized her last statement, she hadn't expected that to slip out, in fact she was beating herself up inside for revealing the secret to James himself.

James stood there in shock, he didn't know what to say, he was never good with words. He knew she was right, he always managed to fuck things up, it was in his nature. He never had girl problems, most of the girls he briefly dated only wanted to date him because of his last name, but Ivy was different. "You felt something?"

"Yes." Ivy replied. "Felt, past tense."

Ivy felt her eyes began to feel heavier due to the silence that so rounded the pair, she looked over the clocked reading that it was nearing 4 o'clock. Throwing away the water bottle she held in her hand, Ivy made her way out of the kitchen, but before she could reach the steps she heard James whispering her name. She turned around watching him inch closer quietly.

"If I was... better, would you feel something for me?" James questioned hopefully. If you would have told him last year that'd he'd try to be better for Ivy Lennon Blane he would have laughed in your face.

Ivy looked curiously at the boy, she wasn't sure if he were being serious or not, after all it wasn't in his nature to be serious. Ivy hadn't planned on answering, but the gaze they held gave her a tiny bit of hope. "Maybe." She simply replied. Giving James a small smile she tip toed up stairs back to her room trying her best not to wake the rest of the house hold.

Maybe. James repeated in his head. Maybe James last year would have laughed in your face, but now he was going his hardest to win the heart of a certain girl.

*

"Fred Weasley and James Potter!" A voice downstairs yelled causing the three girls to wake up from their peaceful sleep. Lily and Roxanne gave each other a confused while Ivy let out a laugh, they events of the previous night flooded through her mind. After getting dressed and brushing their teeth the trio went downstairs, they were greeted by a cloud of red smoke that still hadn't left the kitchen. In the living room they found George Weasley covered from head to toe in red. "Ginny why aren't you scolding your child!" George complained, but Ginny was to busy dying of laughter. Although she told James to limit the pranks, seeing her brother painted red made her day.

"When I said I'd teach you everything I know, that didn't mean to use it against me!" George exclaimed at the two teenagers who tried their best to keep in their laughter.

"I told you all the pranks would one day come back to haunt you." Molly announced making her way into the living room. "Karma is a bitch."

The girls laughed at Molly's choice of words, but weren't surprised. They heard the phrase every time George was a victim of the boy's pranks. Ron and Hermione along with their kids entered The Burrow, they were a day late due to Ron's job. "Blimey, what happened?" Ron questioned as they looked over at George.

"Fred and James." Ivy replied.

"Thank Merlin Hugo didn't get the pranking Weasley gene." Hermione said noticing the mess that surrounded the family.

"James and I are leaving Hogwarts next year, Hugo will be our replacement, we already taught him most of the necessities of being the best prankster at Hogwarts." Fred said ruining Hermione's happiness.

"Sorry Aunt Mione, you'll be receiving tons of owls next year." James said with a chuckle.

"Over my dead body." Hermione replied while rolling her eyes.

After what felt like hours of cleaning, the family managed to get rid of all the red smoke and dye that surrounded the kitchen. Unfortunately for George, it didn't seem as it was coming off his face for a while. Just as the family sat down to have breakfast after the tiresome start to the morning, the door was opened by a blonde haired boy.

"Scorpius?" Albus and Rose questioned at the same time.

"What are you doing here?" Albus asked. "With your trunk?" He asked once again taking notice to the trunk with the Slytherin crest on the side.

"My Grandpa just died, and my dad is going crazy. Can I stay here until we go back to Hogwarts next week?" Scorpius asked, but to Ivy it sounded almost as a plead. She knew Scorpius' home life was a bit hectic, especially after the passing of his mother in their third year.

Molly stood up from her seat going to greet the boy. "Oh you must be Scorpius! You're the one who took Rose to the ball if I'm not mistaken." Molly said pulling him into a hug.

"You're the one who took my daughter to the ball?" Ron questioned looking at Scorpius up and down.

"Er... Yes sir." Scorpius replied.

"Dad seriously?" Rose groaned.

"This is going to be interesting." Ivy said whispering towards Albus.

"Twenty galleons he's going to hate him." Albus said placing a bet.

"I actually think they'll get along, so deal." Ivy said shaking his hand.

From the other side of the table James tried his best to control himself. "They're just shaking hands James, be a better man." He kept repeating in his head. He could do this... he hoped.

~