Chapter 2
JAMES
James Potter is a planner. Always has been, always will be, unless by some stroke of luck he finds himself in possession of a copious amount of horse tranquilizers. He’s followed the same daily routine religiously since he was ten years old, and it fucking works. He thrives on certainty and structure and he knows it.
Suffice to say, finding the Miraculous of the Ladybug in his gym locker and consequently becoming a superhero threw a bit of a monkey wrench in said routine.
He reaches up to fiddle with his earrings, lost in thought as the city bustles below. Thankfully, Sirius had dragged him to go get their ears pierced a few months before James had become Ladybug, so it hadn’t raised too much suspicion when he’d replaced his usual pearl studs for the burgundy stones of his Miraculous. He’s even gotten quite a few compliments on them.
James stays at the Eiffel Tower for a few minutes after Cat Noir leaves, then decides it’s no longer fun without his partner there and ducks into an elevator to detransform. Since the day they met, Cat Noir has puzzled him endlessly. Something about his ability to switch between teasing banter and stilted, reserved sentences in a matter of seconds seems hauntingly familiar to James, and he can’t seem to keep his thoughts from wandering in Cat Noir’s direction even when they haven’t seen each other in days.
It doesn’t help that the boy is gorgeous. God, if James hadn’t figured out he was queer in seventh year, he’s certain he’d be having a full on crisis by now. He is simply defenseless against Cat Noir’s luscious black curls, ivory skin, evergreen eyes and sharp tongue. Shit. He knows Cat Noir is off-limits, he knows; it would make it far too easy to slip up and reveal their identities if one of them were akumatized. Still, James is a bit of a hopeless romantic, and he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t imagined seven different possibilities for their first date.
Once again. He is a planner.
He waits until the elevator doors have fully closed to detransform, fishing in the pockets of his jeans for something to feed Tikki, his kwami, and coming up with a small bag of fruit snacks.
“Here you go, Tikki,” he says, tearing open the packet and pouring out the fruit snacks into his open palm. Tikki beams, reaching for a gummy and nibbling on it immediately.
“Thank you, James,” she sings, clearly pleased. “These are delicious!”
“Sure, Tikki,” he laughs. “I’m sorry I don’t have more for you right now, but I can sneak you some food after dinner. I think my mum is making carne asada tonight.”
Tikki squeaks in delight, spinning around in a red blur of excitement. “Thank you, James! You’re the best!”
James smiles and gives her a quick scratch on the head — just where she likes it — before opening his hoodie for her to hide inside as the elevator doors open with a ding. He knows Cat Noir and his kwami don’t get along very well, Cat Noir has hinted to as much, but Tikki and James have grown on each other alarmingly quickly. Tikki is calm, and kind, and has been an immense help to James through his newfound possession of the Miraculous of the Ladybug; she’s the closest thing he’s had to an older sister.
The thought warms his chest as he fishes in his pockets for his phone and earbuds, wiggling one into his ears as he checks his messages, beginning his walk home. There are a few texts from Marlene asking about the next rugby practice, but most of his notifications are from his group chat with Sirius, Remus, and Peter.
Sirius [5:50]
hey sluts do any of you have the french homework 🙈😘
Peter [5:51]
Sirius
You literally speak fluent French
Sirius [5:54]
i don’t know what you mean
je suis un idiot
Remus [6:01]
Truer words have never been spoken.
Sirius [6:02]
you too, moony???????
Remus [6:02]
Do your homework???
Sirius [6:03]
but you see
why would i do it when i could just copy yours
Peter [6:07]
Have you no shame
Sirius [6:10]
no, not really 😘
prongs back me up here
proooooooooooooongs
he hates me :(
Remus [6:13]
He’s not the only one…
Sirius [6:14]
MOONY HOW COULD YOU SAY SUCH A THING
i am perfectly likeable
Remus [6:15]
…
Sirius [6:16]
MOONY
PRONGS BACK ME UP HERE IM BEUNG AATATCKED ON ALL SIFES
Remus [6:18]
*being
*attacked
*sides
Sirius [6:20]
fuck you.
remus sleep with one eye open tonight
Peter [6:21]
Are you two done
Remus [6:22]
Yes.
Sirius [6:22]
no
Peter [6:24]
Lord have mercy
James please help me out here
Remus [6:27]
He’s probably blocked all of us by now.
Sirius [6:30]
NOOOO PRONGS PLEASE IM SORRY
please don’t leave me like everyone else :(
Remus [6:33]
Sirius… weren’t you the one that left
Sirius [6:35]
it’s the principle of it all, dearest moony
Remus [6:40]
🙄
James runs a hand over his face, letting out a quiet laugh as he types out his response.
James [7:15]
Remus be nice
Sirius do your homework
He then swipes away from the group chat and opens a private message with Peter.
James [7:15]
HONESTLY when will they figure it out
How fucking oblivious can they BE
Peter [7:16]
I KNOW
JUST FUCKING KISS ALREADY
JAMES I CANT TAKE THIS ANYMORE
Where were you anyway
How could you abandon me to deal with them by myself
😢
James [7:18]
Sorry Pete, I was on a walk
Left my phone at home
How can I ever make it up to you???
Peter [7:20]
next time it’s YOUR turn to intervene
James sighs, swiping out of his messages app and turning on a playlist before sliding his phone back into his pocket. It’s incredible, really, how thick his friends can be. Remus and Sirius have been pining for each other for years, yet neither of them will admit it (even though their feelings are painfully obvious to everyone around them). Honestly. He’s tried breaching the subject to Remus once or twice in passing, but his friend insisted that his passionate hatred for Sirius’s now ex-girlfriend was simply because “he deserved better,” and that he shied away from any physical contact with Sirius because he “didn’t like to be touched by anybody.” Rubbish. James has seen him — albeit begrudgingly — accept hugs from Lily many a time. And Sirius… shit. Sirius.
Ever since Sirius showed up at James’s door in the middle of the night six months ago, beaten bloody and gasping for air, he’s been different. He tries not to let it show, but James, James knows him better than anyone else. Where Sirius was once open and honest, he is now closed off from the world, from James, using sarcastic quips to distract anyone who tried to get too close to the real issue. James knows Sirius’s family life has never been healthy, knows the Blacks use their words like knives that shoot to kill, but he’d — foolishly — never imagined they would resort to physical violence with their son. He still doesn’t know the details of what happened that night, and won’t ask, but he can tell that whatever Sirius went through, it was bad. He’s been staying with the Potters ever since.
It’s been hard, keeping the secret of his Miraculous from his best friend, especially now that said best friend lives with him. But Sirius hasn’t seemed too suspicious whenever James makes a quick excuse as to why he needs to leave the house — alone — again. James is a terrible secret keeper, he always has been, so he’s just grateful that none of his friends seem to have connected the dots yet. Plus, Ladybug and Cat Noir are still relatively new to Paris, only having had to de-akumatize a villain a few times in the two weeks since they’d been given their Miraculouses. Still, they’ve caused a bit of a buzz on gossip websites and social media alike, and many of James’s friends have spent days theorizing about the people behind the masks. He tries to keep out of it, mostly; one slip-up and the game of keeping his identity a secret is over.
He does wonder, though. About Cat Noir. James knows it’s too dangerous for them to know each other’s real identities as it would prove to be too powerful of a bargaining chip if one of them fell into the wrong hands. But still.
James sighs and turns his music up louder to drown out the thoughts inside his head, humming along to The Smiths as he resumes his walk home. He lets himself get lost in the music and Morrissey’s melancholy, sultry voice, and by the time he gets home, he’s almost managed to distract himself from Cat Noir.
Almost.