Chapter Text
This is really it, mused James, while sitting at his airport gate.
He was surprised he was even this early, considering the plane was to arrive in 3 hours, and his hate for airports was deeply rooted into his childhood. This flight, however, was too important to miss- this was the flight that would take him all the way to his dream- Hogwarts University’s architecture program. Quite possibly, the best architectural masters program in the world.
He lazily raised his arms in the air, proceeding to slide down in his seat and blowing at a stray piece of hair on his forehead.
Airports were truly the bane of his existence.
He looked across the gate area, scanning for potential children that might ruin his flight experience, when he spotted a girl with bright red hair on the other side, drinking from a Starbucks cup .
Coffee. That sounded amazing, but in all honesty, James was too tired to get up and find the nearest coffee stand. He focused back on the redhead, who was currently distracted by her phone. She was pretty, like a character from one of Remus’s fantasy novels. If Sirius was here, he’d probably have noticed James staring, and would have called out to her across the room in an attempt to get him a date.
Thank God he wasn’t on this flight.
Surprisingly, there was only 1 hour until the flight took off, which meant he had around 15-20 minutes to spare. Enough to get something to drink and stretch his legs, all the way to the closest Starbucks stall. By the time James’s order was ready, they had made an announcement that his flight was about to board. Not wanting to be the last one, he hurried back to the gate, chai tea latte in hand. Often times, he was described to have tunnel vision, which was true in this case, because he most definitely did not see the girl in front of him, crashing into her and spilling his drink on her.
“Oh god, I’m so sorry about this I’m in a rush and I wasn’t looking…” James said trailing off, while looking at the poor girl.
Oh shit.
It was the pretty redhead from before, who was currently staring at her clothes in disbelief.
James panicked. He yelled, “Gotta blast!” and ran away from her, towards his gate. He groaned, mentally thinking, God James, what the actual fuck are you doing? Are you an idiot? Is that what you are?
He kinda was. And he was really hoping that the girl was nowhere near him on the plane.
He slid into the boarding line, taking out his phone, texting Sirius he was on his way. James turned around skimming the line for the girl, hoping that she wouldn’t be looking for him.
“Excuse me sir, I need your ticket,” said a voice, pulling him out of his thoughts. James shuffled awkwardly to the counter, handing his ticket, and began walking towards the plane. He took a sip of his drink and nearly spit it out. I am never ordering chai from Starbucks ever again, he thought. He entered the plane, and quickly found his seat, storing his carry-on, and sat down. He kept track of all the passengers who walked past him, keeping his eyes out for the redhead. Soon enough all the seats were filled, except for one in the aisle next to him. Fuck.
Just like he expected, the poor girl he had ran into took the seat near him, looking around at her surroundings, and when her gaze fell on him, she scowled.
James swore he felt fear pierce his heart at that very moment, and shuddered.
This was going to the longest flight of his life.