G. Lippert - JAMES POTTER AND THE VAULT OF DESTINIES

Zane rolled his eyes as he ducked into the cafeteria. "It's simple, really. If one of the cupids or hearts lands on you, you have to go and find a girl who's got one of the hearts or cupids stuck on her. You kiss and then the cupids and hearts let you go."

"Ah," Ralph said uncomfortably. "Maybe we should have just had dinner back at Apollo Mansion."

"Buck up, Ralph," James smiled, nudging the bigger boy. "If you play your cards right, you could winkle a kiss out of Jazmine."

Ralph boggled and his face reddened. "You think so? No. That's…" He stopped as the idea firmly began to take root in his mind. His eyes began to dart around the room, watching the flitting paper symbols.

"It's all about timing," Zane nodded, throwing an arm around Ralph's shoulders. "Keep your head down until one of them nabs Jazmine. Then up you pop. Obvious, but not too obvious, you know? Those cupids can smell opportunists, so you have to play it cool."

James stopped listening as he filled his tray. Half a minute later, the three boys found a seat at one of the long, crowded tables. The cafeteria thrummed with the noise of the post-Clutch, predance crowd, creating an atmosphere of giddy excitement that very nearly vibrated in the walls. "You all set for tonight?" Zane asked James as he munched a grilled cheese sandwich.

"I guess," James shrugged. "I've been going over it all day in my head. The sooner we get it over with, the better."

"I went out to see old Straidthwait in the cemetery again," Zane said quietly. "Just to make sure we had everything all buttoned up. He said he saw Magnussen leave around eight o'clock on the night of the fire. If we get this right, we'll arrive at the walled gate about half an hour before him. Then, we can just hide out and follow him when he shows up."

"What about Flintlock?" James asked suddenly. "Won't he recognize that we aren't students in that time? What if he thinks we're intruders or something?"

"Funny thing about rock trolls," Zane smiled, tapping his nose. "They don't occupy time the same way we do. Did you know that when they're born, they actually age backwards ? They get younger as time passes! It's true. Rose looked it up for me at the Hogwarts library. She's like our own private research department, you know?"

"What do you mean they age backwards?" James frowned. "You mean Flintlock's younger now than he was when he first came to America hundreds of years ago?"

Zane shrugged and bobbed his head. "Hard to say. A lot of trolls try to learn to age forward in time like we do, especially if they live and work with humans. When in Rome, you know? The point is Flintlock's grasp on time is pretty slippery. Even in eighteen fifty-nine, he'll sort of remember us from the present day."

"That's totally bizarre," Ralph said around a mouthful of Jell-O.

"Yeah," Zane agreed. "But the upshot is that even if he does eventually realize we aren't supposed to be around in that time, we'll probably already be long gone, chasing after old Iggy Magnussen."

James drew a breath to respond when something fluttered wildly in his ear, startling him. "What is it!?" he cried, batting at the side of his head. "Get it off!"

"Calm down," Zane laughed. "It's a red cupid. You've been marked, James. Better go find somebody to kiss."

James stopped flailing. The paper cupid flung a red and pink paper chain around his neck and held on tight.

"What?" James exclaimed, trying to peer down at the figure on his shoulder. "No way. I don't have a girlfriend or anything."

"That's the point," Zane insisted, pushing him up from the table. "This is how you get a girlfriend."

James' face reddened. "But I don't need any help in that area!"

Ralph shrugged and grinned. "Cupid disagrees."

"What happens if I just rip it off me?"

Zane shook his head warningly. "You can't break the spell that way, mate. They may be paper, but they're stubborn . In five minutes, he'll start pulling your hair out one strand at a time. After that, things will get ugly."

James shook his head in irritation and embarrassment, allowing Zane to push him up from his seat. Glancing around the room, he saw several girls with pink hearts and cupids clinging variously to their hair, collars, and necks. He immediately looked away from them, refusing to make eye contact.

"Ohh," Zane encouraged. "Julie Margoliss has a pink heart! She's a senior! She could teach you a thing or two about kissing. Go for it!"

"No!" James hissed. He angled out from between the tables, keeping his eyes lowered. He tugged at the cupid, but it only renewed its grip on the paper chain around his neck. "We'll see how you like a little hot water splashed on your chain, you little imp," he warned, stalking toward the bathroom head down. "Just try to hang onto me when you're soggy as a—"

He stopped suddenly as he ran into someone else, nearly knocking them both to the ground.

"James!" a girl's voice said, surprised, and James groaned inwardly.

"Er, hi Lu," he said, the blush on his face deepening from pink to brick red. "Sorry. Didn't see you."

"Me neither," she admitted, glancing away and tugging at her shoulder. A red heart was stuck there, apparently by some sort of magical magnetism. "I was just on my way to, er…"

James saw the look of miserable embarrassment on his cousin's face, saw her eyes as she refused to look at him.

"Hey Lu," he said quietly, and she finally looked up at him. He took a quick breath and went on. "Sorry about the other day. I was a total berk. I should have just asked you straight up for what I needed. Can you forgive me?"

She studied his eyes for a moment and then slumped slightly. "I forgave you that very night," she admitted shyly. "I can't stay mad at you, no matter how hard I want to. And I really did want to."

James glanced around the room to make sure no one was watching and then leaned close to the shorter girl. "I wasn't trying to trick you when I asked you to go to the Halloween Dance with me, Lu," he said earnestly. "I asked you because I knew I'd have fun with you, and I did . You had fun too, right? I didn't mean for it to be… er… confusing."

Lucy shook her head and dropped her eyes. "Don't say any more, James. I'm already mortified. Just let me sneak off to the girls' bathroom and see if I can soak this stupid heart off of me."

James smiled sheepishly. "I was going to do the same thing," he admitted. "I mean, not in the girls' bathroom, though, of course. I was going to… um…" He paused, looking down at her as a completely unexpected idea occurred to him. It was probably stupid, but suddenly that didn't seem to matter very much.

"Er," he began, and she glanced up at him. Her eyes were huge and very dark, cautiously inquisitive. "Er," he said again, and swallowed. "I mean, I know we're cousins and all, but we're not really bl ood or anything, like. We could maybe just…"

But suddenly Lucy was pulled away, caught up in a mass of students who pushed past, screaming and laughing.

"You lost your chance with this little Vampire, Potter," Gobbins grinned, taking Lucy by the shoulder. "You snooze, you lose!"

With a quick messy smack , he kissed Lucy on the corner of her mouth. Immediately, the paper heart flitted up from her shoulder and darted out over the cafeteria. Lucy touched the corner of her mouth, simultaneously peeved and amused.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Lucy!" Gobbins called with a grin as he backed away. Lucy blushed and smiled, a little flustered.

James sighed deeply, his face heating. "Yeah," he agreed somberly. "Happy Valentine's Day."

Before Lucy could reply, he ducked into the boys' bathroom, tugging at the cupid that still clung to his neck.