Diary of a Reluctant Ruler

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Neither Philippe nor James seemed to be speaking to me.

Not too good…

Well, I don’t mind Phil not talking to me.

And James?

*bursts into tears.*

Ah.

I attended etiquette, a portrait sitting, languages etc. all perfectly on time. There was no gorgeous boy to sweep me into a broomstick cupboard and make me late, not to mention pregnant. Not that I’d have gone that far…!

Broomstick cupboard sounds like Hogwarts…

We have broomstick cupboards here.

I sighed over meals, taking sneaky glances at James when I could. He seemed to have a permanent frown on his face when I was in the vicinity. I was able to endure this about two days, until I found him in the library, reading a book and decided to sneak up on him.

Tiptoeing over I accidentally toppled myself over the chair, into his lap, and quickly managed to recover myself in order to shoot him an upside-down smile.

His eyes widened with surprise, as I watched him from my weird viewpoint.

“Why are you so mad at me?” I asked, trying to use the element of surprise.

“I’m not… mad. At you,” he replied, shifting in his seat uncomfortably.

“You so are,” I said, sitting up.

“Ok, so maybe I’ve been a little…”

“Preoccupied?”

“No!”

“Angry?”

“No.”

“Frowning?”

“No.”

“Liar.”

“I’m just…”

“Jealous?”

“Yes. A bit,” he mumbled.

“What, why?” I asked, twisting so that I was cross-legged on his lap.

“You know why.”

“Is it ’cause I beat you?” I asked, grinning like an idiot.

That really doesn’t become me…

James rolled his eyes at me.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I smirked.

Silence…

“You look pretty when you’re angry… kind of intense. Brooding,” I whispered, “Like Heathcliff.”

“Don’t compare me to that bastard!” James cried.

“Sir!” I blinked, “You’re talking to a lady.”

“Ladies don’t pounce on gentlemen when they’re attempting to read.”

“Well, this one does.”

“Don’t call me pretty either, it’s not-”

“Masculin enough?” I butted in.

“Stop finishing my-”

“Sentences?!” I laughed.

James growled.

Did he actually just growl? Am I imagining it?

I laughed.

He growled again.

That is really turning me o-

Woh! Censored!!

“Forgive me?” I asked.

James took my hands in his.

“No,” he said, “Forgive me? I’ve been a complete ass.”

“Again sir! Language!!”

“Sorry,” he smiled.

“That’s ok,” I smiled back.

“Looking forward to college next week?” he asked.

“Not really,” I sighed.

“Why not?”

“I have to go through the new-school-new-people thing all over again,” I grumbled.

“I get it,” he said, “If it helps, I’m the same.”

“It doesn’t really help, but thanks for the thought.”

“Glad to be of service,” he replied.

I smiled, and took a peak at the book he’d been reading.

“The Gift, by Alison… Crog-on?” I mumbled over the surname.

“Alison Croggon,” he said easily, “It’s very good – fantasy.”

Huh…

Any dragons?

I found I’d asked my question out loud.

“No, no dragons,” he laughed.

“Oh, ok,” I replied, then, thinking; “Can you imagine having a dragon as a pet?”

“What, like you’d have a pet dog?”

“Yeah! Wouldn’t it be awesome?”

“Well, first off, dragons are fictional. Second, they’d be far too wild to tame, and thirdly, they’re too intelligent to be kept as pets. Even if they were, they’d burn you house down in seconds. Take Hagrid and Norbert from Harry Potter.”

“Oh,” I mumbled, feeling suddenly rather stupid.

James noticed my let-down expression and he smiled;

“But it would be pretty cool to have one as a friend.”

I laughed.

“Ok, as a friend,” I agreed.