Grounded

It wasn’t bloody fair, he had been really looking forward to meeting up with Lily, and finding out more about her. He’d had warm happy feelings for a grand total of three hours before, Kingsley fucking Shaklebolt had put him on edge about everything, and his composure had gone to shit. 

He’d managed to sleep, eventually, but the noises of the rest of the building had woken him up every time a door slammed or someone had laughed in the corridor. He’d finally given up trying to rest and just got on with the day. Looking at himself in the bathroom mirror he sighed, he looked tired. His hair was sticking up at the back even more prominently than normal and he needed to shave. 

Distantly he heard a door slam and he watched himself visibly jump at the sudden noise. He rested his head against the mirror and took a deep breath. Get a hold of yourself. He thought and tried his best to do just that. 

How was he supposed to go on a date now with these thoughts of potential threats hanging over him? Just walking to the cafeteria, he had been on edge the second an unfamiliar person had walked up to where he’d been sitting. They’d just walked past and not even spared him a glance, but he’d found himself controlling his breathing, and letting out a long breath when they were past. Luckily he hadn’t been with his team, he still didn’t know how he was going to tell them, but he’d already made up his mind he was going to. His thoughts spiralling again, he decided to leave and get ready for his date, but wait.  Was it a date?

It had certainly felt like that when she’d asked him so brazenly, but she hadn’t said that word, just that she wanted to spend the day with him. Back in his room he changed out of his tracksuit and checked himself in the mirror of his bathroom, his hair was doing it’s own thing as per usual, but better than it was. Normally he didn’t care but he really wanted to make a good impression. With a groan at himself for being an idiot and wasting time on his stupid hair when it’s below freezing outside. He snatched his beanie and put it on. Try not to look like you are trying so hard. He thought to himself as he grabbed his favourite jumper from the wardrobe, a sky blue v neck, and slipped it on over his shirt. He still wasn’t certain on the parameters of this get together so he decided to err on the side of caution and consider this a friendly getting to know you meeting, and not a first-date, date. This girl already had him so confused.

He got to the meeting place she had told him to, the giant rings in the middle square, in plenty of time and hoped she wouldn’t be too long. It wasn’t as cold outside as he had feared but it was still not fun to be standing still outside for too long. The square was quiet as most people would be at their training by this time. So James was feeling rather self conscious as his nervous energy started to build.

He took a relieved breath that plumed around him like smoke, as he saw her striding towards him, dressed in a way that made him pleased he’d kept it casual. 

She was wearing a Team Canada beanie and tracksuit with trainers, and headphones looped around her neck, their wires disappearing into a pocket. The cream coloured beanie she was wearing had a red maple leaf on the side just above her left ear, he wasn’t sure if this was the style or if she had donned it hastily and not checked. She looked like she was ready for a run, not a date.

James looked down at his jeans and lifted a hand as if to wave, before thinking better of it and rubbing the back of his neck instead. “Alright, Evans?” he asked her as she stopped.

“Hi,” she said breathlessly as she stood before him, “sorry. I’m running a bit late. I just got back from training, but I didn’t want to leave you standing here while I got ready.” She looked beautiful. Her cheeks and nose were dusted pink by the cold, her green eyes sparkled mischievously as she looked up at him. “You can come and wait in my block if you want?” He didn’t know if he imagined it but it almost looked like her lip twitched at the side as she said that. 

“Well thanks for not leaving me stranded.” He didn’t have to consider his options for very long. He could continue to stand outside in the cold, on his own, while he got more and more paranoid about strangers, wondering how long she would be. Or he could wait in the lobby of her heated apartment block, while Canadians squinted at him suspiciously as he wondered how long it would take her to get ready. “Sure I’ll follow you over there.” He replied without any hesitation. She nodded and started in the direction of her building and he stepped in beside her. “Was it a good training session?” James decided to ask after the silence got a little too much for him.

“Yeah I guess it was okay.” She shrugged. not sounding convincing. “No ice practice, which I shouldn’t get mad about, but I hate gym only days you know?” James did know, as he used to feel the same way himself as an athlete. But that was in the early days of his professional career, before he’d started fully committing himself to the weight work, and seeing how much better it made him. She had such a small frame, that James considered how much of a struggle it must be for her to gain the required strength to do the jumps. 

“As a conditioning coach I find that statement highly offensive.” He laughed sliding his hands in his pockets. She glanced at him sideways, her cheeks flushing with extra colour that wasn’t from the cold.

“I’m sorry I meant no offence.” She opened her mouth to apologise more but he just waved his hand. 

“Don’t be sorry, I’m not offended. I would say most athletes feel the same way and I was only teasing slightly. Gym work isn’t everyone’s idea of a fun time, and the training itself can get tedious if you don’t have a trainer to help make it fun. For me, it’s seeing the results, the improvements in performance when you properly commit to the program, that’s what I love to see.” James didn’t mean for that to sound so much like coach speak but he spent so much of his time doing that he could just slip into that patter without even trying. She was looking thoughtful when he glanced at her to see her response, and as if she didn’t know she was doing it she shook her head ruefully. 

“What?” He asked, wondering what he had said to make her respond in that way. 

“I thought Sirius agreed to this a little too easily.” She replied, making him blink slightly confused. She gave a resigned sigh before she started to explain. “I find myself in need of a new personal trainer, just while I am here. My regular coach went and got herself married and pregnant at the most inconvenient time for me.” James instantly thought she was joking but a quick look at her face and he wasn’t quite so convinced. 

“How inconsiderate of her.” He joked, hoping he had read her right, and was relieved when her face cracked a smile. 

“Oh yes, completely unreasonable of her.” She added with a wink. 

As her words sunk in he decided that this was, in no way, or was ever going to be a date. If she was looking for a coach he needed to keep this professional. He was okay with that, he hardly knew her anyway so the idea of a date had squirmed him up in knotts slightly. He was still a little on edge but at least Lily Evans was no longer the cause of it.

“But this means now I’m the one sending myself to the gym as Sirius has enough other things to do, and it’s not what he does. And, as I’ve just admitted I am not the most fond of gym days, and I know a coach would be pushing me more than I am myself. I'm just proud of myself that I'm making myself go without being told”

“So why’s it a problem that Sirius agreed to introduce us?” James asked, already knowing the answer. 

“I didn’t know you were a coach. I thought you were one of the players, maybe carrying an injury or something, he was very vague about that when I asked him about you. And this sets up all sorts of problems now. Because, well, I can’t date people I have a professional relationship with can I? Or are your codes of conduct different in the UK?” James rolled his shoulders awkwardly, so it was a date. Or at least that was the plan in her head originally. 

“I have to admit, it’s not something I’ve ever had to look into as I’ve never been attracted to anyone I’ve coached.” He wasn’t sure what else to say, but before he could add any more she continued. 

“Competitions stress me out so much. Sirius is always telling me I need to stop working myself up, and I thought doing something fun with someone I like but don’t know too well would help, ease some tension. It’s not exactly what Sirius was thinking, but I thought maybe it would help.” He squinted down at her now wondering if she knew what that sounded like. If she was deliberately implying she just physically wanted him. Mentally he berated himself for his mind going to those places, she was a nice girl, a professional athlete, he had just misunderstood.

“So, now you know I’m a coach. Are you asking me to have a professional relationship with you?”

“Oh we’re here.” She said, directing his attention to her apartment block. A much larger-looking building than the one he was in. She swiped her laminate and opened the heavy door. He grabbed the handle and motioned for her to go first. She did with a smile and moved to press the button for the lift. 

It was a comfortable looking space; three large red sofas took up most of the entrance lobby space. The dull grey walls were covered in Team Canada posters and what looked like letters and pictures from fans and supporters. He started to walk towards the sofas when her hand on his arm stopped him. 

“There is a sitting room upstairs where you can wait. Unless you want to be questioned every five minutes?” He considered this for a moment. There were implications behind being invited up to someone's room, and if she wanted him to train her there would have to be boundaries. And she had pretty much just admitted she had considered him for possibly a no strings hook up at first. But if he was going to be part of her team albeit temporarily he would have to be alone in her company on many occasions and she had said there was a sitting room. She wasn’t inviting him up to her actual room. And James was thinking about this way too much he realised as she waited patiently for him to reply to her question. 

“Eh, yeah okay. I’ll come up.” He said eventually and Lily gave a short nod and a slightly satisfied smile, as she gestured for him to join her in the lift. Trying to get himself on more solid ground and pretending his overly long pause in the hallway had been nothing, he leaned his back against the wall of the lift and asked, “So what kind of conditioning training do you normally do? I would assume you need to do a good balance of strength and cardio. Do you do much core work?”

“Yes of course I do, it’s at the core of all my conditioning work.” She leaned her shoulder against the wall beside him and winked, “But let's not talk about all that. I just want to have a fun day with you.”

He was still trying to think of something fun to say when the lift opened on her floor. Lily said nothing but led him out along a small windowless corridor into a circular area where three more corridors branched out from it. A cluster of scarlet chairs were arranged in a curve beside the thin strip of window where a tall potted fern had a perfect view of what was below. 

“Back in a tic.” She said with a flash of a smile before trotting down one of the corridors. As she left him there with his thoughts, he realised that she had not answered his question about hiring him professionally. Oh boy. He thought ruefully as he sat down, pulling off his beanie and trying to fix his hair. He had enough on his plate already with the team, and the dire message from Kingsley, without this added distraction. He was just going to have to turn her down, to all of it. The job as well as the not job, fun, she had insinuated. He rubbed the back of his neck feeling his ears growing hot thinking about it. Of course, he could not turn her down today, it would be rude. She was already getting ready, so they would spend this day together, after that he would tell her no. Even if he did want to take her up on this offer he didn’t even know if he would be permitted to coach two different countries at the same time, it wasn’t something that he’d ever considered. How had his simple trip to the Olympics become so terribly complicated? 

He loved the view from this window. He could see the whole central plaza, he could almost see Team GB’s building on the other side of it, but it was obscured by the spectacular water feature. He had no idea how they had managed to make a fountain work in below freezing temperatures, maybe they were using magic, but he didn’t care. 

He lost himself in the view as he waited for Lily to get ready, he didn’t mind waiting, it gave him a chance to think of things to say. He never used to be this awkward around women, but since his accident, his self confidence had never recovered. Also his chances to meet women had reduced dramatically. Looking back on the way he was before just made him cringe now. He had been such a cocky prick. 

“James?” A male voice called out, making him turn. “James Potter, wow it is you! I never thought I’d get the chance to meet you let alone here in my building.” The young man beamed at him looking at him expectantly. He was of a height with James, with curly blonde hair and big blue eyes that were sparkling with excitement. He had broad shoulders and massive biceps that stretched the fabric of the red T shirt he was wearing. James was never good with ages but he would guess he was in his mid twenties at the oldest. James had no idea who he was but smiled in greeting and stepped towards him ready to shake his hand. “I’m such a big fan. I’ve never seen anyone fly as well as you. You had such a good eye for always knowing where the goals were. I was so sad to hear you retired.” His smile faded and that look that James hated appeared on his face. “What happened was tragic. A five match ban was all he got, I was outraged.” 

James kept his smile fixed as he nodded along to this man’s rant about what should have been done. Eventually, the tirade eased and James tried to turn the conversation onto safer ground. 

“So nice to meet a fan. So what sport do you do?” The young man’s face flushed as he took James’ offered hand and shook it with an incredible grip. 

“Oh, yes, so sorry. I’m Travis, Travis Woodstock. I’m competing in the skeleton.” 

“That’s sliding down the ice on nothing much more than a tea tray?" He asked, already knowing the answer. Travis nodded with a confident smile, and James brightened feeling much happier to talk about them than himself. "Wow, you have to be pretty fearless to do that. I’m impressed.”

“Wow, coming from you, that's such a compliment.” He beamed. “ I mean it’s not as dangerous as Quidditch, but I don’t have the head for heights” He chuckled, his wristwatch started to beep at him and he looked at it irritably. “Sorry, I have to go but it was so nice to meet you in person. If you ever get the time to come up to the track you’re more than welcome. I’ll put you on my list of guests.” 

"Thanks, I appreciate that," James replied genuinely, thinking he would take him up on that offer if he could. 

Travis was still saying his many goodbyes to him as Lily joined them in the space. Her hair was now loose and was resting on her shoulders In delicate waves. Her large coat was deep blue and had white fluff at the cuffs and around the oversized hood. Her brown boots had a slight heel that made her almost as tall as himself. Instead of headphones around her neck, she now had a pair of fuzzy earmuffs. 

She watched Travis leave and gave a polite smile as he said goodbye to her by name. They both waited until the lift had stopped at the ground floor and a few extra seconds before pressing the button again. 

“Must be nice to still get recognised.” She said simply as they stepped into the lift. If she was fishing for more information she didn’t sound like she was. James was still a little shell shocked by the whole experience and hoped she wouldn’t ask any more about it. Absently he replied with a shrug. 

“I suppose.” Was all he said, and Lily seemed to accept this. He didn’t want to give her any time to think about it more so quickly he changed the subject. “So where are we going? You didn’t say before.”

“Oh, there’s a try your hand at the different sports centre. It’s not open to the public yet. They’re letting us athletes have a try first. I want to see how many sports I can beat you in.” 

“Oh, really?” He said half laughing. “Well, I’ll have you know, just because I’m a coach I’ve not lost my competitive edge. Prepare to get your ass kicked Miss Evans.” His heart gave an odd lurch as she lit up at his words, the competitive edge within every athlete surging within her.

“I think we’ll just have to see about that won’t we Mister Potter.” She replied challengingly.