James lead Ebony out of the main part of the Leaky Cauldron and into the hallways where there was no sunlight, only lanterns and lamps. But it was still a warm and inviting area of the Leaky Cauldron.
James checked behind him to see if Ebony was still closing her eyes. She was. Ebony had told James to take her somewhere that was a surprise, so he had insisted that it wouldn't be a surprise unless she had her eyes all the way shut tight until they got there.
James' blush from earlier had gone down, and he was thankful for that. 
James took Ebony through the hallways, looking for a vacant room for them to go into. Eventually, he found an unoccupied room and opened the door to it, leading them inside
It was a nice room. It wasn't by any means luxurious or rich or dazzling, but it had a soft kind of glow to it, making it look sort of like the interior of a cabin or a house in one of his Muggle medieval times video games he used to play, called Skyrim. The room had a bed and a small table/desk with a chair. There was a fireplace that was already crackling with warm flames, and a window that had it's curtains drawn closed.
James closed the door and then let go of Ebony's hand.
"Alright, open now." James said.

Ebony opened her eyes and blinked, adjusting to the lighting of the room quickly. She let out a small gasp. This really wasn't were she expected to be but she didnt mind, she thought the room was beautiful. The room had a cozy medieval look and Ebony thought it was quite nice. She never before saw a room like this. Before coming to Hogwarts all the houses she lived in were modern and she never really enjoyed them. They all seemed quite bland in her opinion. She walked around the room, pausing at some things she found familiar, then turned to the crackling fireplace that was practically welcoming her. She was really cold so she sat in front of the fireplace to warm up. She laid her hand on the plush carpet and patted it,a sign she wanted James to come over. She wondered if they were allowed in here but banished the thought away from her head. James wouldnt have took her here if there was a possibility that they could get in trouble. She leaned a little bit closer to the fire as she heard James walk over, but not to close. She retratced her hand as James sat next to her.

James let Ebony look around for a few moments at her surroundings. Part of his mind was wondering why she didn't want any sunlight, but he allowed those thoughts to exit his mind for the time being.
Eventually, Ebony settled herself in front of the warm, crackling fireplace that was ablaze. She patted the spot next to her on the rug, motioning for James to sit next to her. James did so, sitting with one leg bent up to his chest and the other stretched out in front of him. He rested his right arm on his right leg, which was the one that was up against his chest. He balanced himself with his left hand, placing on the floor behind him. It was a natural position to sit in, and he found it comfortable, especially when talking to someone else sitting next to you.
James stared at the fire for a few moments, gazing into its flickering depths. Soon enough, he turned back to face Ebony.
"So, Ebony... where were we? Oh, right! You were telling me about your past. Well, you're parents and who raised you and all of that." James realized he sounded a bit too eager or pushy, which he didn't intend to be at all! He quickly fixed his slight error.
"Or, if you want, we can take turns telling things about ourselves." he suggested.

Oh, it's fine 😁



When James asked about her parents Ebony tensed. She didn't want him to leave. But I would,I guess, give her a sense of relief to tell someone. Ebony sighed and stared into the fireplace, the flames flickering. I guess it's now or never. Time to tell the full story. "Well, both my parents were slytherins. They passed Hogwarts with flying colors and were overjoyed when they had me. They decided to settle down into a muggles life, to protect their baby from wizards who would do me harm." Ebony smiled sadly. " They were happy then. Of, course I can't remember but I like the idea of them being happy, for once." Ebony tilted away from James after she said this. " Years later then became obsessed with a muggle addiction called alcohol or 'drinking'" Ebony tried to pronounce it right but she failed. The word sounded foreign to her. "They left early in the morning and came back late at night. I dropped out of school and earned money to cook and pay the rent." Ebony winced, remembering it. "After awhile my parents came home, later than usual, and got into a car crash. The next day I was thrown into the foster care system, tossed around like a rag doll. My parents had a reputation so everyone was just waiting for them to leave." Ebony glanced towards the floor. " I ran away from my foster family and spent a couple nights out on the street before a friendly witch took me in. She taught me about magic and everything I missed out on from school." The wisp of a smile appeared on Ebony' s face. " Soon later a met a friend. Edward made me so happy.. B-b-ut during the time my parents were alive they made enemys. One of them decided the best way to get revenge was to....." Ebony trailed off not bothering to finish the sentence. James knew anyway. No need to torture herself. " After he was g-gone, it was hard to get back to normal. But I did manage too and I got my letter to Hogwarts, a place where I can leave my past behind me......" Ebony was going to stop talking there but she remembered something. "Oh the sunlight, right I forgot. Well, when I was a baby my parents were making a potion and it got mixed with my milk. It was supposed to be some sort of party potion. But it failed, so whenever I'm in the sunlight."- Ebony stood up, walked towards the window, and opened the blinds. The winced as the sunlight hit her skin. Immediately her skin sparkled like a million diamonds.- "I look like a freak." Ebony walked away and sat next to James. "That's my backstory, I guess. I know you barely know me and you have no reason whatsoever to not tell anyone but please don't." Ebony softly spoke the last words of her sentence as if she never spoken them aloud before.

James sat quietly through the whole of Ebony’s story. He didn’t do anything but listen and maybe give a little “Oh” or a small gasp in the right places of the story. He knew what alcohol was, and he understood what Ebony was talking about, even though she didn’t quite pronounce it right. Having to dropout of school to pay for the rent, having to deal with two alcoholic parents, having to deal with being in foster care, having to live on the streets, having so many people be taken from your life… James didn’t know how any of that felt, so he could only imagine the kind of pain and suffering Ebony had gone through so far in her life. It sounded absolutely terrible, especially because right now, they were only eleven years old!
"Oh the sunlight, right I forgot.” Ebony continued. To be perfectly honest, James had forgotten about that too, being all wrapped up in Ebony’s story.
“Well, when I was a baby my parents were making a potion and it got mixed with my milk. It was supposed to be some sort of party potion. But it failed, so whenever I'm in the sunlight..."
James watched as Ebony stood up and went to the window, reaching for the blinds. What did the potion do to her? James wondered. Was it something terrible? Would her skin burn like a vampire? Or would it be like a reverse-werewolf thing where, instead of the moon affecting her, it would be the sun? James’ head was too often, way too imaginative.
But, as Ebony opened the blinds and the sunlight touched her skin, something completely different from anything James had thought of before happened.
It was honestly beautiful to James. Ebony’s skin sparkled like a million powdered diamonds, and it shone gorgeously.
"I look like a freak." Ebony finished.
James fell out of the trance he had been in as she said this and sat back down next to him, away from the sunlight.
"That's my backstory, I guess. I know you barely know me and you have no reason whatsoever to not tell anyone but please don't." Ebony said.
James sat there for a moment, either very confused, or very… yeah, he was just confused.
“Yeah… I mean, no! I mean, yes, I won’t tell anybody. But… a freak?” he asked, “Freak isn’t the word I would use.” James said, trying to reassure her, “When you stepped into the sunlight, the word ‘freak’ didn’t even cross my mind for a moment! And no words similar!” James could have continued, telling her that the words that did cross his mind were things like beautiful and gorgeous, but he decided against it.

When James said Ebony was not a freak she thought she would faint then and there. James was the first person her age to know what happened so, naturally, she thought he would be disgusted at her and agree with her being a freak. But he said quite the opposite. Ebony was pretty sure James wedged a place in to her heart and she was grateful for that. She didn't know if James was lieing and he only said that out of pity. Probably not, but then again Ebony doubted everything. Oh, and on the other side she might burst into tears any second now but eh. Ebony sat still and processed everything for a few moments. Let's review the number one fact : James did not run away or make fun of her, at all. Ebony tucked a strand of hair behind her ear than inhaled a suddering breath. She rocked back and forth a moment before she whipped to the side and hugged James. The type of hug you would use if your best friend or family member came back after a long trip and it feels like you haven't seen her in forever. In a sense, she was waiting for James forever, the person who accepted her. Then she realized this might make James uncomfortable so she unhugged him and sheepishly smiled, a light blush on her pale skin. "Sorry about that.." She said softly, referring to the giant hug she just gave him.

When James said Ebony was not a freak, there were several moments of silence. Ebony seemed to be conflicted or confused or just slowly processing what James had said. She looked like she had a bunch of emotions running through her head and couldn’t decide which one she was actually feeling, or which one she actually wanted. James thought he might understand, but he knew to not be too confident in himself, and to not pretend to understand her completely, especially right away.
Suddenly, Ebony whipped around, her hair flying around her, and she hugged James. It wasn’t a side hug, or a friendly embrace. It was a full-on hug. It was the kind of hug James would give to Flare, or Vyxen, or the others, if he could. It was the kind of hug that James would give to a family member if he hadn’t seen them in a really, really, long time.
At first, James was taken off guard, but thankfully, he recovered quickly enough to not fall backwards or push Ebony away (not that he would ever push her away).
But then, Ebony took herself off of him, backing away, probably embarrassed. James noticed that she had a light blush on her cheeks.
“Sorry about that.” she said.
Kiss her.
What!? April!
Do it! This is the perfect time! It’s exactly what she needs! Probably also what she wants too!
April, why do I even listen to you for romantic advice?
Well, your stories wouldn’t be half as good without me here. So kiss her!
James was very grateful Ebony could not hear April right now. James had originally just wanted to give Ebony a hug back, letting her know that it was okay… but now, regardless of whether James liked it or not, he wasn’t sure if he should hug her or kiss her.
Ugh… 14? Can you flip a coin real quick?
Hug for Heads and kiss for Tails?
Yeah, just do it 14…
It’s tails.
Oh. My. Gosh. You guys are going to get me killed! Alright, if this goes wrong, it wasn’t my idea…
Technically… it kinda was-
Thankfully, James’ thoughts didn’t take forever to go through his head, so it was as Ebony was finishing her apology that James stepped forward, placing his arms on her arms, and kissed her on the lips.

Ebony was pretty sure she was dreaming. Why? Because James was kissing her. James was kissing her. In real life. Right now. And the weird thing was Ebony didn't pull back. Or push him away. Instead she got all her feelings and tried to calm down.
OMG HE'S KISSING ME
Well, ADMIT IT YOU LIKE HIM
fine, I do like him but i don't get it. Is this kiss out of pity?
no. Of course not. Haven't you read enough romance novels, you dimwit. He has to like you!
are you sure?
positive.
Ebony gathered up all her courage and kissed him back. She didn't freeze like a deer in headlights she just kissed him back. It was a quick kiss but it still left it's mark. She also somehow remembered this was her first kiss and he probally hated her for it. What if he was leaning to hug her and tripped? Then she foolishly mistakes it for a kiss. When Ebony broke the kiss she stared at him, her eyes wide and unblinking. Oh, and let's not forget that her face was as red as a strawberry right now. She didnt know what on Earth pushed her to speak but she did. "I...Im sorry if that was an accident and you didn't mean too but if i-it wasn't..thank you. I enjoyed that." Ebony mentally slapped herself. ' I enjoyed that'? Nice way to sound like a love-struck girl, Ebony.

James had kissed her. He had actually kissed Ebony! Wait a second… didn’t they just meet? But why…? Aw, whatever... James forgot what he was just thinking about anyway.
This was James’ first kiss. And at first, going into it, he was sure he was going to get slapped or something. He was honestly surprised he hadn’t already slapped himself for doing what he was now doing.
However, when James and Ebony kissed, James no longer felt tense or nervous. Well, he did blush like crazy, his face slowly heating up to a scarlet that almost matched Flare’s scales… but other than that, he found himself relaxed and stuck in a moment he would come to never want to forget.
James didn’t know how long the kiss was going to last for. But after about a quick second, it had ended, as swiftly and silently as it had started.
James and Ebony stood there, facing each other, both faces were brushed with red. Surprisingly, Ebony spoke first. James didn’t know how she managed to speak in such dense silence, but she did.
“I... I'm sorry if that was an accident and you didn't mean too but if i-it wasn't… thank you. I enjoyed that."
James continued to blush, but somehow still kept his cool, somewhat.
“No, it- it wasn’t an accident. I’m, uh- I’m glad you enjoyed that. I mean, um, I did too…”
See? I told you to kiss her!
Okay, okay. Thanks, April.
Anytime!

How was any person supposed to react to that? He liked it? This is so....weird. But in a good weird.
YES! This is a success
be quiet.
Ebonys face turned into a bigger blush(if that was even possible) and she kinda covered her face with her hands, her eyes peeking over the top. At that moment she kinda looked liked a anime girl, all she needed was neon colored hair and to start talking like a chipmunk. "So it wasn't a accident? That's a relief. I was hoping It wasn't a accident...and that sounds really weird as I say it out loud and with pale skin everyone could see when your blushing and now Im rambling. Great. " Ebony said and removed her face from her hands. She let out a giggle that was halfway between nervous and care free. Ebony smiled at James then, to distract herself, she rifled through her pockets for some candy. What normal person does this after kissing. Ebony does. She pulled out some sunburst emotion candy. It's actually quite popular. All you have to do it suck on the candy and open your mouth. Once you do, beams of light come out your mouth in the emotion your feeling. For example blue is sad, green is excited,etc. Ebony grabbed James hand, put the candy in his palm,then wrapped his fingers over it. Her hand lingered on his before she pulled her hand away gently. "Try some. The main colors are pink for love and when your around a crush or something, blue for sadness, yellow for nervousness, and green for excitement." Ebony was suprised she could speak without stuttering. The shock was evident on her face. She stuffed a candy in her mouth then waited for a couple of seconds before opening. Once she did she regretted it. Why? Because the beams of light that came from her mouth was almost completely pink swirled with yellow. She covered her mouth with her hand. nice way to make a fool of yourself Maybe James was so distrated by the kiss he wasnt listening to what se was saying? She really hoped somehow James magically forgot what the color pink stands for.