Pain; To Let Go
Theme 27: Muffliato


"Lils -" Things had warmed up between them and, this time round, James had been more than hopeful that her answer would be a yes. It shocked him, then, when she said no, said she could not possibly date him.

"Lils, listen -" he began. His voice was slightly higher than usual, but it did not matter - he had a cast silent "Muffliato" [a spell he had read in one of Severus Snape's books] at their surroundings before talking to her, and knew no one could heard their ongoing conversation.

"I'm sorry." Her voice had lost some of its recent, genial touch, and her tones were cool, a reminder of the times they had not gotten along at all - times when she had hated him too much for words, because she thought he was conceited, too selfish to cause any good. "You're a wonderful person, James, and any girl would be lucky to have you, but I'm sorry, I can't."

Later that night, she would wonder why she had spoken to him like that, want to rethink her decision but, for now James, knew none of it. In silence, he nodded; in silence, he let her go.