Butterfly 🦋
He is sure it’s new.
He wouldn’t have missed a thing like that. Even if he loses his mind a bit whenever she is around. So, she must have gotten it over the Easter Holidays. A time she spent over at Mary’s. He can’t help but feel a sting of jealousy.
At least they are all back again, most exams are over and done and all that is left of the year is looking pretty good to him. The girls are sitting at the lakeside. The sun is bright and hot and they will join them for a swim later, he’s sure he’s seen their bikini straps underneath their robes. Trying not to stare is hard, Marlene is getting up now, pulling Lily up and tugging her along to the waterside.
As he throws a quaffle to Sirius, who catches it without needing a warning, he gets up.
“Anyone fancy a swim? I’m going in.”
Remus looks up from the book he’s reading: “Of course you are,” and makes absolutely no sign of getting up.
Shaking his head James runs off to the water and dives straight in. Other students are swimming or standing knee-deep at the edge. When he resurfaces he looks at her. She’s turned to Marlene and has just come up from a plunge. Waterdrops are slowly trickling along her lithe frame. The green bikini colouring darker because of the water. And there it is again. He blinks and keeps staring. A small butterfly sits on her lower back. If he hadn’t seen it before he would have thought it was real. His eyes keep watching as the small and delicate blue wings flash and slowly travel down; not stopping at her bikini bottom, it’s like it’s teasing him, waving before disappearing.
“Oi, Potter, stop drooling!” Marlene’s harsh voice cuts straight through his revery.
He feels caught and he’s sure he’s turned red. Cursing himself, for he was doing so much better lately, Lily treating him as a friend.
Relief floods him as he hears Lily laugh, she turns and splashes water in his eyes.
He stands up and flicks water in her direction. “I thought I saw something, on your back, I was worried it might be a wasp, but it seems to be gone now.”
Now it’s her turn to flush, she tries to look at her own back, there is no sign of the blue thing. He thinks he just saw a flash of wings on her belly. Merlin, he should keep it together.
“Damn, I should have realised it would be different, but I never expected it to be so - restless.”
He can’t do anything but stare at the blue wings now appearing close to her hip, it’s not a place he should be staring at, he knows but it’s almost as if this thing is playing peekaboo.
“It seems to have a mind of its own” she sighs.
“Why a butterfly?” His voice sounds a bit off to him. Higher than usual.
“Mary told me the dragons would actually burn whenever I got angry, so I didn’t want to risk that, this one was supposed to be timid, and it has been very shy; not how it’s acting now.” She looks at him then, the blue wings have travelled up to her breasts, he is transfixed but feels his face burning. “I guess, it must like you?” And then her cheeks go pink. She laughs and takes off in the water, swimming away. All he can do is stare, dumbfounded.