Chapter Text
"I didn't know you even knew where the Library was," Amelie Renshaw said to James Potter when he found her buried in a mound of books. She was in the middle of studying for O.W.L.’s which were in a couple months. "I had detention in here one time.” Most girls would have loved the attention from James who was tall and muscular from years of Quidditch with untidy black hair, brown eyes, and of course, his glasses but Amelie wasn't most girls.
“Of course you did, you used the Map to find me, didn't you? Because no one has found my secret study spot,” She flipped her long, straight, ink black hair while her ice blue eye sparkled.
“I did but I more did because I wanted to make sure that none of your friends were around,” James smiled. “I still don’t understand how you pronounce your name Ah-Ma-Lee when it’s spelled that way.”
“It’s French, you git,” she rolled her eyes. “And you mean Lottie,” Amelie closed her book and set her quill in the ink because James’ whole demeanor changed. This was serious James and only a few people ever saw this side of him, mostly his family but then Amelie was more like his sister than a friend, probably due to the fact that his best friend on the planet was Amelie’s brother, Arthur.
“Yeah, especially her,” James sighed. “Take a walk with me?” He bit his lip, James had had a crush on Lottie since she was a first year, Lottie also happened to be Amelie’s best friend.
“Sure, I could use a break. Can we stop by the common room so I don't have to lug these books around?” She was sympathetic because she was in the same boat. They made their way to the Gryffindor common room talking about Amelie’s upcoming O.W.L.’s and his N.E.W.T.’s.
“You know what, I’ll do it for you,” James took her school bag when they got to the portrait hole.
“Thanks,” She traded him for the Marauder's Map, a map of Hogwarts that tracked the movements of everyone in the castle that was created by James’ grandfather and his friends while they were students. James happened to find it his dad’s desk before the start of his third year and it was rare for him to be without it. “Mischief Managed,” she said clearing the map off, but she had seen why James had stopped her from going in; Albus Potter and Keira Sellers were sitting together. Albus was James’ brother who was Amelie’s good friend that she also happened to have a crush on and he was dating Keira Sellers another fifth year and were constantly snogging.
“Sorry, I just didn't--” James started when he saw Amelie with her arms crossed, looking at the floor.
“I appreciate it,” Amelie assured him as they made their way outside. “You want to know if Lottie still hates you?” It was an ongoing conversation about James and his crush on Lottie which Amelie had discovered about six weeks into their first year when James called her Lottie for the first time. Charlotte Boothman was a muggleborn and her animal of choice to bring to Hogwarts was a cat--that cat happened to love James, it still did--but the cat jumped on James one too many times and in response, her called her Lottie as part of him yelling at her and it had stuck, two weeks later, everyone was calling Charlotte, Lottie.
“How do you do that?” James stared at her, still amazed at how well she knew him.
“Read your mind?” Amelie laughed as James nodded. “Because James, you love Lottie like I love Al.” Amelie had been in love with Albus for as long as she could remember and for a while, it seemed like he might like her too but then after Christmas, he had started dating Keira which no one, not even Scorpius Malfoy, Albus’ best friend, saw coming.
“Amelie--” James opened his mouth to say something but Amelie stopped him because she wasn’t ready to talk about her yet.
“Don't--but no, Lottie doesn't hate you. She never has, that's what I keep trying to tell you.” Amelie kept him on task, they were talking about him and Lottie, not her and Albus.
“She doesn't?” James released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.
“No, you prat, she thinks you're annoying and big-headed but she doesn't hate you.” Amelie shot a playful jinx at him that he avoided. “If you could keep your cool around her and show her that you can actually be serious, she might give you a shot.” Amelie raised her eyebrows, James was a complete and total flirt who rarely never serious with people he was not close to because his go-to move was to make everyone laugh.
“I can keep my cool around Charlotte Leigh Boothman,” James puffed out his chest, trying to prove he was tough enough.
“No, you can't, that's why you started calling her Lottie five years ago. I mean, Lottie fits her so much better than Charlotte, but in five years, you have yet to have a normal conversation with her,” Amelie leaned back against a stair rail, watching him. She was right, he just had to realize it.
“What--I--” James stuttered and sputtered for a minute. “Fine, help me.” He blew out a raspberry, Lottie was Amelie’s best friend after all. If anyone could help him figure out how to actually talk to Lottie, it was Amelie.
“I thought you’d never ask,” Amelie smiled, finally something to get her mind off Albus and Keira. Plus, this was something that she had been thinking about for years because she had dreams of her and her best friend marrying brothers.
“Where do we start?” James laughed as they found a spot in the courtyard.
“With you having a normal conversation with Lottie. She loves transfiguration and she’s good at it, like really good at it. She enjoys watching Quidditch, she claims to be terrible but I got her to play with me a couple summers ago and she always halfway decent. She loves Minerva but you already knew that.” Amelie listed off conversation starters for Lottie.
“A normal conversation,” James exhaled. “How do I that?” he asked genuinely.
“Pretend she’s me or Lily or Rose, don’t try to impress her. Just be yourself, not the funny guy or the flirt, just James Sirius Potter.” Amelie encouraged him. “You can do this.”
“Thanks, Amelie,” James hugged her as the bell sounded for dinner. They walked into the Great Hall with everyone and went their separate ways, Lottie waving Amelie over. “See you at Quidditch.” James went to sit with Arthur, knowing he would see Amelie later. James was Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and one of their chasers along with Amelie and Natalie, a third year. Natalie’s brothers, Harper, a six year and Lowe, a fifth year were the beaters. Lily, James and Albus’ sister was their seeker and Hugo, their cousin was the keeper.
“Where do you go? I came to the library to study with you but you were gone,” Lottie asked when Amelie sat down.
“Sorry, James needed some advice on something,” Amelie shrugged, this wasn’t the time or place for that conversation.
“We can study tomorrow, I need your help with transfiguration.”
“What about tonight? I was hoping you could look at my Potions homework,” Amelie’s skill was Potions, she and Scorpius were the top of their year.
“I have Quidditch after dinner, final next week, remember?” Gryffindor was playing Hufflepuff for the Cup but they had lost to them in earlier and the team was still rattled by it so practices were rough and necessary.
“Merlin, I forgot about that. Okay, I’ll ask Scor. I want it done so I don’t have to think about this weekend.” Lottie hated potions, she had since first year so Amelie didn’t blame her for wanting it done, she felt the way about her homework.
“That sounds like a great idea because, by the time Quidditch is over, I’m just going to want sleep,” Amelie laughed. “But study session Sunday, tomorrow is the last Hogsmeade day of the year and we have three-hour practice.” Amelie rolled her eyes, she was dreaded that practice but she knew it was necessary.
“I can’t believe this year is almost over. Last Hogsmeade, Quidditch final, and then O.W.L.’s,” Lottie sighed, they only had about six weeks left in the term.
“Me either,” Amelie sighed, she wasn’t ready for the year to be over but unlike Lottie, she actually enjoyed being home.
“Speaking of, where are Rose and Scor?” Amelie looked around for her friends but spotted them further down the table with Albus and Keira. “Nevermind,” Amelie swallowed. “I need to go change before practice.” She wasn't in the mood to deal with Albus and Keira so she left Lottie sitting in the Great Hall and made her way to Gryffindor tower. She threw all her energy into practice and was exhausted when she fell into her bed.
“Amelie, wake up,” Lottie shook her next morning. “Amelie, get up. You have Quidditch at 2 so if you want to go to Hogsmeade, we need to go.” Lottie had let her sleep as long as possible but it was getting late.
“Okay, okay, give me fifteen minutes and I’ll meet you in the common room,” Amelie muttered as she climbed out of the bed. She changed and headed down to the common room to meet up with Lottie, James, and Arthur.
“You almost made us miss Hogsmeade and this is my last one,” Arthur said, completely serious but Amelie knew her brother well.
“If you were really worried about it, you would have left me,” Amelie pulled her bag over her shoulder. She didn’t want to think about Arthur not being at Hogwarts with her next year, he and James were planning to start Auror training this summer. They started making their way to Hogsmeade. “You didn’t leave without me because of Lottie, right?” Amelie asked her brother as they walked out of the castle. Arthur shot her look that let her know she right and she shook her head. Two steps ahead of them, James and Lottie were laughing at some joke James had made. They enjoyed their time in Hogsmeade and savored all their usual haunts because the boys wanted to go as many places as possible. James was beginning to let Lottie see the real him and at lunch in the Three Broomsticks, James had his first normal conversation with Lottie.
“Are you really going to be an Auror?” It was something that Lottie had been wondering about.
“That’s the plan,” James smiled. “It’s terrifying but I’m excited about it, it means getting to work with Dad someday, maybe.” James had always wanted to be an Auror like his dad, the famous Harry Potter.
“And there’s me, don’t forget about me,” Arthur whined and Amelie shook her head.
“And Arthur, of course, I wouldn’t want to do without my best friend.” James clapped a hand on his shoulder.
“Still, isn’t that like really dangerous?” Lottie was concerned, they had been friends for years but life after Hogwarts had always seemed really far away but now two of their friends were about to finish.
“It can be but my dad has been an Auror for longer than I’ve been alive and it’s only as dangerous as where you get assigned. What about you? What do you want to do after Hogwarts?” James asked Lottie, this was his chance.
“I don’t know, something to do with Transfiguration, I love it and I’m really good at it.” Lottie laughed, she didn’t know what she wanted to do but she was by far the best in their year at Transfiguration.
“You could write for Transfiguration Today,” James suggested, it was something he had been thinking about since he and Amelie had talked the night before.
“I hadn’t even thought about that,” Lottie paused and began to mull it over. “That’s a really great idea.” Lottie looked at him, confused at how he was able to figure her out so well. After lunch, they headed back to Hogwarts so James and Amelie could make Quidditch practice.
Sunday afternoon, Lottie and Amelie were studying together in the library. They worked on the vanishing spells which Professor Vance said were sure to come up and went over every detail of Polyjuice Potion. Amelie still wasn't entirely confident on the Vanishing spell but Lottie felt better about Polyjuice Potion.
“That was so helpful, thanks,” Lottie said as they walked to dinner. “Are you going to get Al to help you with Charms?” Lottie wasn’t sure what her answer was going to be she knew things had been weird since he started dating Keira.
“If I can unglue his lips from Keira’s long enough,” it came out more spiteful than she had intended.
Lottie busted out laughing before looking woefully at her best friend. “Amelie, I’m sorry.”
“It's fine, Al can date whoever he wants,” Lottie hugged Amelie. “I don’t want to talk about him.” Amelie couldn’t deal with it.
“I’ve noticed you hanging out with James a lot lately.” Lottie kicked at the ground.
“When did we start talking about you?” Amelie narrowed her eyes, her plan was working.
“We didn’t, you just said you didn’t want to talk about Al,” Lottie shrugged and Amelie shook her head.
“Lottie Leigh Boothman, you like James, don't you?” Amelie scoffed, she knew it would work.
“Every girl likes James Potter, what makes me different from any of them?” Lottie said as they walked into the Great Hall. Amelie knew there would be no more talk of James, there were too many people who could overhear them, including James himself. Lottie disappeared with Rose after dinner so Amelie headed to the common room with James and Arthur.
“Amelie!” Albus called when she climbed through the portrait hole. “Where have you been this week?” he waved her over and she surprised he wasn’t with Keira.
“Studying and practicing Quidditch,” She shrugged, she had been avoiding him but she wasn’t about to admit it.
“How’s Quidditch going? Are we going to kill Hufflepuff?” Albus grinned, wanting to know about practice was a totally normal thing.
“Hopefully, we still have some work to do but I have a feeling we’ll be up to snuff in time.” Amelie sighed, James was a great captain, he had to give him that.
“Good, are we going to study for Charms next week?” Albus asked he knew how much she depended on him.
“Yes please, I need your help,” she smiled. “What did you think about Career Advice?” Part of the end of fifth included Career Advice and they both had theirs this week. Amelie wanted to be a healer, she had since she was seven and went to St. Mungo's for the first time. She spent a lot of time working with Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing when she wasn’t busy with her prefect duties.
“I guess it was helpful, but I’m pretty sure Flitwick already has a fancy charms job lined up for me. What about you?” Albus was a Charms prodigy, he was talented and Flitwick knew it, he had been helping Albus since he was first year.
“I know what I have to take to be a healer and it’s not going to be easy but--” Amelie sighed, her dreams coming true were going to take a lot of work.
“If anyone can do it, it’s you. You’re going to be an awesome healer.” Albus assured her, Amelie smiled he had always been able to calm her nerves about anything.
“Don’t worry about Flitwick, he wants you to have his job. You're going to be great professor and headmaster someday,” Amelie watched as the shock of what she just said registered on his face. She had been waiting on just the right moment to play that card, one when Keira wasn't around, and it was worth it. “Good night, Al.” Albus had never actually admitted out loud that he wanted to be a Hogwarts professor and eventually the headmaster someday but Amelie knew, she had known for a while.
“What was that?” James grabbed her arm just before she headed up the stairs, he had heard the whole thing.
“The first step in my plan,” she said through gritted teeth, not wanting him to ruin the movement.
“Your plan? We talked about my plan, not yours.” James whispered, not letting her arm go.
“James Sirius Potter, go talk to Lottie and let my plan work its magic,” she disappeared up the stairs thankful he couldn't follow her because if he tried, the stairs would turn into a slide. She pulled the curtains around her bed because she didn't want to deal with Keira when she came up. She was studying by wand light when she heard the door open again.
“Amelie, I need to talk to you,” Lottie stood in front of her bed. “She's talking to Al.” Amelie opened the curtains and when she did, Lottie sat on her bed. “James and I actually had a conversation where he was real with me.” They had had a conversation alone for the first time, apparently.
“That’s what I've been trying to tell you.” Amelie laughed, her plan worked just like she knew it would.
“I think James might like me, I mean, he was--I've never seen him like that,” Lottie gushed and blushed, she wasn’t sure what to think.
“Lottie, if you like James, you should go for it,” Amelie told her best friend because she knew that James liked her too.
“Oh, Al got weird after you left and got into a fight with Keira,” Lottie said as a smile slowly spread across Amelie’s face.
“What are you up to?” Lottie knew Amelie well enough to know she was plotting something.
“I can't tell you that, plausible deniability, besides you like Keira.” Amelie shrugged, she was keeping the plan a secret for as long as possible because the fewer people that knew, the less likely it was to get back to Al.
“I tolerate her--because she and Al are constantly snogging these days, I don't know how Rose and Scor put up with them.” Lottie shook her head.
“Good night, Lott,” Amelie pulled the curtains back together and fell asleep with a smile on her face. Phase one was complete and it had worked just like it was supposed to, she had been right about her plan.