Here's A Rose For You!

[Asaiah Murphy]

With a bunch of roses in his hand Asaiah was on his way to James, the Gryffindor seeker, as he would be the first to get his rose from the roses the Slytherin was to deliver. He smiled at people once they noticed he was walking around with three colours of roses in his right hand, shaking his head at a few who asked if he had any for them. As he reached the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall he let his eyes slide over the many students sitting at the table. Once he saw the seeker he walked towards him and said, ''You are James Cade, right?''

 

[Professor James Cade]

James sat at the Gryffindor table absent mindedly shoveling cornflakes into his mouth, he almost didn't spot the Slytherin boy make his aay over to him. He knew him, at least from the Quidditch pitch, his exploits against Ravenclaw impressed him. He looked upbat him and spotted the roses in his hand. "Oh Merlin is one of those for me?" He asked.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah happily smiled at the Gryffindor boy and nodded his head. ''Yes!'' Asaiah said as he was holding out a red rose to the boy. He grinned at the seeker, curious to know who had send him a red rose because if he remembered correctly the colour had something to do with love or something like that. Asaiah hoped that the boy in front of him knew from who it came from.

Dear James Cade,

I miss your big head.

Anon.

 

[Professor James Cade]

When James heard about the the Valentines roses he did wonder briefly if anyone would send him one, after all he had sent out a few himself but he didn't really expect to get one, especially not a red one at that. He took the note and read it to himself. Big head? Did he really have a big head, it didn't really sound like a compliment, which begged the question why was it attached to a red rose, and who would send it to him. "Thanks man, I can't imagine who would send me a red rose, and the note doesn't exactly make things clear,"

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

The Slytherin smiled when James thanked him, ''Sure thing, dude.'' and continued to listen to him. ''Well, it's a red rose.. Soooooo, do you know someone that might send you a red rose? A girl, a boy, a Professor perhaps?'' He looked at the boy with curiosity in his eyes, eager to find out who had send him a red rose.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Keeping their distance from each other hadn't really worked out for Maddie and James. Especially because they were in the same house and attended the same classes and had the same mutual friends. So the idea that they were never going to engage with each other again was foolish. Even though they saw each other quite a bit they didn't actually speak to each other. It was often through friends that they conversed. The last time they had spoken at length was the Yule Ball and there was an unspoken agreement that it was the end for the two of them.

However, Maddie found herself eating breakfast opposite James and Rudolf that morning; trying to fill the awkward silences with spoonfuls of cereal. The only thing that could have made the situation more uncomfortable would have been the arrival of the roses. As if the universe was against her, a younger Slytherin boy approached the Gryffindor table with a red rose for James. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Maddie had sent James a red rose on a spur of the moment decision and she hadn't anticipated that she would actually have to face him receiving her rose.

Unfortunately, James didn't seem to be too impressed with the rose and in spite of herself she actually felt rather annoyed that James didn't seem more excited. She rolled her eyes at him, the message and the gesture seemed to have gone over the Gryffindor boy's head. But this was James so why was Maddie feeling so surprised?

 

[Professor James Cade]

James looked down at his rose in one hand and the note in the other. He was flattered that someone would send him a rose, a red one at that. Red was love right? He listened to the Slytherin boy list the possibilities, girl, boy or Professor. That pretty much covered everyone in the school, so much for narrowing it down. He looked over the table at Maddie who seemed to be minding her own business eating cereal. Could she have sent him the rose? He sent her a red rose after all, could she have returned the favour? Nah, it wasn't likely, she was madly in love with Felix, he wasn't even sure where he was in her little world these days. "I don't know what to tell you man, I don't know anyone who would send me this, I mean, I know who I'd want to get a red rose from, but I don't think this is from Professor Stark," He laughed and elbowed Rudolf who was sitting next to him. "Any ideas Rudolf?" He asked his best friend.

 

[Rudolf Lagowski]

Rudolf had sent out a couple of roses, and though he hadn't gotten any back yet, he was almost more ecstatic for James getting one than he would've been for himself. He leaned in to peer at the note, laughing as he read the message. Expecting James to figure out the sender right away, Rudolf returned eagerly to his breakfast, shovelling several pieces of egg into his mouth and then almost choking when his friend remarked he had no idea who his rose was from. "You srioush?" Rudolf raised his index finger, buying himself a few seconds to swallow his food. Then he laughed again. "Well, you've still got your gigantic head, so it can't be that," he pointed out, spearing another piece of egg onto his fork. "I guess it's a mystery."

 

[Professor James Cade]

James raised his eyebrow at Rudolf as he seemed to question his ignorance. "Something you're not telling me Rudolf?" He asked nibbling a slice of toast, the whole time keeping one eye on Maddie but doing his best not to be too obvious about it. James looked again at his notes, did Rudolf know who it was from? If he did he should be sharing that information with his friend. "My head isn't that big!" James yelled raising his hands to almost measure his head. "Is it?" He asked turning towards Maddie. He wasn't sure if she would actually answer his question but it was worth a shot.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie couldn't help but snort at the conversation between James and Rudolf, boys were so stupid and clueless at times. She half continued to listen to their discussion as she continued to eat her breakfast. She took a sip of her orange juice when James directed his question at her and almost spat it out "Wha...wha.. erm" she stammered feeling herself blush. "You know its pretty big James" she replied rolling her eyes. "How many times have I told you?" she said pointing her fork at him. Maddie hoped he wouldn't take the comment to heart as she was only teasing him.

 

[Professor James Cade]

James raised his eyebrow as Maddie spoke, putting emphasis on the fact that she often told him that he had a big head. He wondered for a moment if she could be the one that could have given him the rose. That seemed unlikely though so he quickly pushed the thought out of her mind."So Maddie, did you get yourself a rose? Sure that boyfriend of yours sent you one?" Knowing all too well that she did get a rose but he couldn't help but wonder if Felix or anyone else had sent her a rose.

 

[Rudolf Lagowski]

Man, they were so clueless it was almost hysterical. Rudolf shoved some more food into his mouth to stifle his giggles, wondering if he ought to just tell James it was Maddie who sent him the rose. Naaah. This was way more fun! Although, James could be a bit of a jerk sometimes, as demonstrated by his next remark. By the time either of them figured it out, they were going to be emigrating to get away from each other.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie frowned, she didn't like to think about the roses that she received and how not one of them was from her boyfriend. She had a rose from her best friend Charlotte and another from someone who signed it as her secret admirer. At first she thought that it might have been Felix playing a joke but when she confronted him, he admitted that he hadn't sent her a rose at all which upset her greatly. Surely its something a boyfriend would give his girlfriend, after all, that's what Maddie did. She shook her head quickly at James' question and choked out a small "no" when asked about the rose and shifted uncomfortably in her seat, she hated talking about her boyfriend in front of James. "I...I thought it was from him but it turned out that he never sent me one" she revealed. "I don't know if he sent any at all" she sighed. Thinking about the roses made her feel a bit sick, especially when she was convinced that Felix had sent Lyra a rose and vice versa. She stabbed her fork into one of her sausages in annoyance and hoped that the subject would be changed soon.

 

[Professor James Cade]

James had conflicted feelings regarding Maddie's revelation. On the one hand he genuinely felt bad for Maddie that her boyfriend clearly wasn't making the grade. On the other, Felix was proving to be a sub-par boyfriend, which meant they wouldn't last, which James would be lying if he said he wasn't happy about. But he wouldn't even admit that to Rudolf. James took the chance and reached out across the table and took Maddie's hand in his own. He rubbed his thumb gently on the back of her hand and smiled at her. "I'm sorry your boyfriend sucks, you do deserve better you know, maybe your secret admirer will reveal himself at some point, he wouldn't send you a red rose for nothing after all," He smiled. The possibility of revealing himself as her admirer was terrifying. Maddie had never done anything to suggest she might return the feelings he sometimes felt for her, well except from the kiss, but that was so long ago he no longer counted it. Things had changed since then.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie narrowed her eyes, why was James taking her hands and trying to comfort her. Maddie always had a feeling that James didn't like Felix so why was he trying to comfort her? She didn't remove her hand however, as she enjoyed the feeling of being comforted by James. Well, that was until he started to insult Felix as a boyfriend. "Wait, what do you mean he sucks? What are you trying to say?" Maddie asked, still not recoiling her hand from her fellow Gryffindor's touch. "He's a great boyfriend" she said defensively and she wasn't completely lying, when they were together Felix was great. The only problem was that she hardly saw him and she found out recently that his absence was probably because he was with Lyra all the time. She found herself growing angry at the thought of the two of them together and she took her hand out of James' clasp and ran them through her hair, trying to calm herself down.

 

[Professor James Cade]

James laughed when Maddie protested and insisted that Felix was a great boyfriend, though he couldn't help but dwell on the fact that Maddie still hadn't removed hand from his own, but as she became more defensive and agitated she finally did so. Their conversation had started with James trying to be nice, but it was just like Maddie to pick up on his choice of words and blow it out of proportion. "No you're right, Felix is great, I mean he spends more time with Lyra Potter than he does with you, but yeah best boyfriend ever, he's so lucky to have such a trusting and understanding girlfriend," He smirked and tried to hide it behind taking a sip of juice but no doubt Maddie spotted his expression.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie gasped and felt her eyes begin to water "you don't know what you're talking about" she replied, barely above a whisper. Lyra and Felix were always a sore subject with her, Maddie had always been jealous of how close the two friends were and to have James basically confirm her fears about the two of them, well it was the worst thing that he could have said at that moment. Maddie stood up and slammed her hands on the table "at least I have a boyfriend who I see and who cares about me! Where's Misha, James? I don't see a rose from her!" she shouted in retaliation, not caring how loud she was being at that precise moment.

 

[Professor James Cade]

James was regretting his low play to Maddie when he mentioned her boyfriend but it wasn't long before she brought up his ex. It angered him, Maddie didn't know the story, it shouldn't bother him, but it did. "It's over, I caught her kissing my brother, so I do know a thing or two about crappy relationships, well at least someone got me a rose," He yelled. It made no sense to say it, he knew she had one. He sent her one. "So thank you, for bringing up my cheating ex girlfriend, real classy Maddie,"

 

[Rudolf Lagowski]

Rudolf shoved another piece of toast into his mouth, which turned out to be a mistake. The mushy bread quickly took on the taste and consistency of chewed up cardboard, and he had to swallow three times just to get rid of it. "GUYS!" he said, aware that James and Maddie were attracting rather a few stares from the breakfast table. "Will you both just leave it? You're always at each others' throats! Some of us are trying to eat, here!" Shaking his head, Rudolf dropped his half-eaten toast and got up from the bench. He wasn't hungry any more.

 

[Madeline Walden]

Maddie was far too angry to be reasonable at that point, no matter what Rudolf had said. James had crossed the line when he mentioned Lyra, Maddie wasn't going to take his comment lying down. She was very aware, however, of how loud the two of them were being but she actually wasn't that bothered, all she wanted was for James to feel bad about criticising Felix as a boyfriend. Maddie knew that she wasn't in the best relationship but she didn't want to admit that to herself, let alone have James hint to that fact. She felt a little bad about the revelation that had been revealed about how Misha had cheated on James and that was why their relationship ended and she had no idea. Her heart ached with the news and she wanted nothing more than to comfort her fellow Gryffindor but she was in no state to do so. Instead she decided to reply with a statement that she knew she would come to regret. "Maybe she picked the right brother in the end then" she fired back to James, ignoring Rudolf's pleading for peace between the two of them. Maddie knew there was no coming back from what she had just said but she also didn't care. James had hurt her and she was going to hurt James.

 

[Professor James Cade]

Maddie was out of control, James couldn't believe the level of anger she was displaying. Was Lyra really such a sore subject with her? Was Maddie so jealous and insecure in her relationship that she couldn't stand hearing the name of her boyfriends friend? When she suggested that Misha may have picked the right brother, James was hurt and he couldn't hide that. It was low, even for her, even when she was angry. "Yeah, maybe she did," James said quietly. he didn't know what else to say, it was no longer fun banter between them. They bad both crossed a line, but Maddie had actually suggested it had been OK for Misha to cheat on him, and that she had a favourable outcome. "I'll see you later Rudolf," He said turning to his friend, the only one he had at the table, before he got to his feet and made to leave.