A WAY WITH WORDS

By ByeByeBirdie

Epilogue: Find Your Way

"You're never too lost to know where the road is.
It could be dark, you could be hopeless
But I'll wait 'til you find your way.
You're never too far to be forgotten.
Here in my heart, I hear you calling.
So I'll wait 'til you find your way back home."
-The Afters

The summer humidity stuck around for a while but as September turned into October, Autumn quickly came with it. The leaves turned orange and red, the air turned crisp, and the boots and scarves and cardigans were rolled out of the closet.

I walked into my one-bedroom loft in Waddon fresh off a morning practice. It was a Monday morning and we had a rare three days off before our next non-divisional match against the French Quiberon Quafflepunchers. Fred and Ryleigh would be at the match and it had been over a month since I last saw them, at the usual end of summer Weasley-Potter Feast, so I was happy I'd get to see them again.

Tossing my keys into the bowl by the front door, I instinctively smiled at the stack of letters from Alice that I kept by the door regarding all of her travels. There was one there for nearly every day she was gone, give or take a few days, detailing what she saw, who she saw, and how she saw it, with a few 'I miss you's' thrown in for good measure.

I missed her more than I could even describe. My thoughts were so often consumed by her, so much that it was almost painful at times. When I was having a bad day, I wish she was there to make it better. When something good happened, she was the first person I wanted to tell. Every joke I heard, I wanted to share it with her. Every time I was feeling lonely, I wanted her by my side. I wish I could say it got easier as time passed but it didn't. I was grateful to my demanding Quidditch schedule for giving me something to keep me occupied. That's not to say I don't think about her all the time, even on the pitch, but Quidditch gave me a helpful distraction away from missing her.

As I strolled towards the kitchen, I tripped over a few near-empty boxes on my way. I had moved into the new apartment six days before my first day at training camp back in August and yet, I wasn't anywhere near fully unpacked. I spent so much time at the stadium or on the road that when I was home, all I wanted to do was kick back with a beer and relax. Mum had stopped by a few times to groan and complain about my horrible unpacking skills, and sent Lily once to do it for her, and yet neither of them offered to unpack the boxes for me.

Yes, I said this to them.

Mum sighed.

Lily punched me in the arm.

And the boxes remained as they were.

Speaking of Lily, she got the seeker position over Sadie at September tryouts, the latter who assumed that without me, Alice, and Fred there to cause her problems, she was in a much better place to play seeker.

Jax laughed in her face and proceeded to hand the position to Lily.

Last I heard, Sadie got back at Jax by blowing up his potion in class one day.

It was stories like that that almost made me miss Hogwarts.

Grabbing a beer from the fridge, I turned on the radio and dropped on to my couch with a yawn just as Louis' voice filled the room.

"-anyone hotter than James Potter right now? He scored six consecutive goals for the Cannons on Friday against the Arrows, six goals in a row in which no other player scored! He only had one shot blocked the entire match. That is unprecedented!"

"Don't you think you might be a little biased?" Olive Fischer chuckled.

"I'm realistic is what I am. Maeven Hendricks on the Harpies is one hell of a rookie, came out of nowhere breaking team records that no one even saw coming. We all knew she'd be an incredible talent to the Harpies, and right now she certainly is the only one on the Harpies scoring any goals, but the Cannons are getting far more scoring opportunities. James Potter may the Cannons' own rookie talent, but they also have an incredible amount of talent in their other teammates, all veterans who have been on the Cannons for at least three years now."

"True," spoke Olive. "The Harpies not only have rookie chaser Maeven Hendricks but they also have rookie beater Kye Tannehill, not to mention their keeper will be out for three more weeks due to concussion protocol so they called up reserve player Tatiana Veloushe, who is certainly holding her own but she is no Jayla Sikes."

"Aha, so it almost sounds like you might agree with me that James Potter is in fact already on his way to winning rookie of the year."

"Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We are only one month into the season," chuckled Olive. "We still have a lot of games left to play."

Playing for the Cannons was even better than I ever dreamed. I had felt unusually nervous when I first stepped foot into the locker room but the team welcomed me with open arms. They put me at ease almost immediately and it took only a single practice for me to feel like I was one of them. Everyone always talks during interviews how close their team is and I always wondered if it was real or just for publicity purposes, but the Cannons really felt like a family. We supported each other, we didn't tear each other down. We've all made mistakes on the pitch, and while the coaches are more than happy to scold us for them, the teammates are there to help brush it off. I had only been playing for less than two months and already, I felt at home.

Which was more than I could say about the unpacked apartment I was currently lounging in.

The pregame show for the Sunday afternoon Tornadoes-Puddlemere game started soon after Louis and Olive's talk show and I turned up the volume before reluctantly digging through boxes for kitchenware. I was using plastic cutlery and dishware at the moment and I could annoyingly hear Rose's nagging voice in my ear scolding me for how bad it was for the environment.

I had unpacked the plates and bowls and had moved on to glassware when there was an unexpected knock at the door. Dropping the coffee mugs in my hand on to the kitchen counter, I wandered out of my kitchen and through my living room towards the front door. When I opened it, I was greeted by fellow chaser, Coleman Gates, who happened to live in the same apartment complex with me and offered me the referral.

"Team is hitting up Lucky Strikes to listen to the Tornadoes game. You in?" he asked.

I glanced over my shoulder at the half-empty boxes. "Hm, that's a hard one. Stay in for the afternoon and unpack or listen to Quidditch. What to do. What to do."

He punched me on the shoulder. "Shut up and go get presentable so we can go."

"You're saying that gym shorts and an old T-shirt covered in paint isn't presentable?"

"I'm saying I'm not letting you out of your apartment looking like that."

I chuckled and invited him in. "Beer is in the fridge. Give me a few minutes."

He nodded and disappeared towards the kitchen while I disappeared up the stairs into my loft bedroom. Digging through my bureau, I was pleased to find a pair of jeans and a V-neck sweater that actually smelled clean. I threw them on, ran a few fingers through my hair, washed my face and threw on some cologne to cover the musk smell from unpacking dusty boxes, before venturing back down the stairs.

Cole was sitting on my couch listening to the end of the postgame show. "Ready to go?" I asked, rolling up my sleeves.

He downed the rest of his beer just as another knock came at the door. I looked at him inquisitively and he just shrugged before trudging off to the kitchen to dump the empty beer bottle.

As much as I had been grateful to find Cole at the door offering me a distraction from boxes, that didn't compare to who was now standing at my door.

Because there in front of me stood Alice Longbottom.

"Surprise?" she said sheepishly with a cute shrug.

My jaw dropped and my eyes grew wide as I just stared at her.

"It's good to see you, too," she chuckled and I could tell there was some nerves behind the laugh.

"You're standing at my door," I blurted out.

"Gee, nothing gets by you, Jay."

Jay.

Oh how I missed her calling me that!

I wasted no more time, reaching my arm out in one swift move towards her waist and pulling her towards me, kissing her without a second thought.

She responded with an unexpected squeal before leaning into the kiss, her arms snaking around my shoulders as I instinctively slammed her against the wall with a breathless whimper, our lips moving together in perfect unison. I kissed her like I've never kissed her, or anyone, before, the passion igniting a fire from within. My heart was racing, so quickly and so loudly against my ribcage, my desperation coming out in the intensity of the kiss.

Which was ruined moments later by a throat clearing behind me.

Alice and I sprang apart, more out of surprise than anything, as I met the cheeky smirk on my teammate's face.

"Er…forgot you were there, mate," I groaned sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck with a chuckle.

"Clearly," he said in strong amusement. His gaze went to Alice. "Oh, I sure hope you're Alice Longbottom because I'm warning you now, if you're not, you're going to be hearing an awful lot about how bloody perfect she is."

I scoffed. "I don't talk about her that much!"

Cole burst into laughter. "Oh, please, if you're not talking about Quidditch, you're talking about her. And most of the time, you're not talking about Quidditch."

I could feel Alice's eyes on me. "You talk about me?" she asked curiously.

"Yes," Cole said before I could respond. "All the time. 'Oh, how I wish Alice was here to see that flawless goal I made.' 'Alice would have loved to try out this play.' 'Have I told you for the thousandth time that Alice and I were chasers together in Hogwarts?' 'Alice has perfect hair and perfect eyes and a perfect smile and-"

"Okay, I think that's enough out of you," I groaned, shooting him a look.

He just let out a laugh as Alice said, "Well, to be fair, I do have a perfect smile."

"Couldn't agree more," I bragged, wrapping a protective arm around her shoulder.

"Move back, I think I'm gonna puke," Cole drawled.

I shot him a look. "Why are you still here?"

He let out a laugh. "So I think it's safe to say you'll take a rain check on Lucky Strikes today?"

Alice interjected before I could say anything. "Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt any plans you had," she said, flustered.

"These plans were made all of ten minutes ago. You didn't interrupt anything," I urged. "And believe me when I say, there wouldn't have been a single plan I had this afternoon that I wouldn't cancel for you."

Her cheeks flushed as she smiled at me, though the moment was ruined by Cole pretending to stick his finger down his throat and gag.

"Okay, seriously, why are you still here?" I groaned at my teammate.

Cole let out another chuckle as he clapped me on the shoulder and slid around us towards the door. Turning around, he said to Alice, "It's nice to finally put a face to the name, Alice Longbottom. He's been going on an on about how beautiful you are and I have to say, he wasn't exaggerating."

Her cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red as I rolled my eyes. "I realize you hit on pretty much anything with boobs but could you refrain from doing so with my girlfriend?"

He just let out another laugh as he disappeared out the door.

"So," Alice said with a coy smile, "I'm still your girlfriend, hm? Even though I up and left you for four months?"

I snaked my arm around her waist. "You're here now, aren't you?"

She smiled at me, wrapping her arms tightly around my shoulders. "I'm here now," she whispered. "And this time, I'm not going anywhere."

XOXOXO

I could tell you that we sat down and talked or that we caught each other up on the past few months or that we stayed in that foyer grinning goofily at each other, but it would be a complete lie. Once Cole was out that door, it took all of ten seconds for me to drag Alice to bed.

"I'm surprised you have actual blankets on the bed," Alice spoke later, her naked body curled up in my arms. "The way your apartment looks, I would have guessed I'd be lucky just to see a towel or two."

I chuckled, pressing a kiss to her temple. I couldn't seem to do that enough. "I've been a bit busy, alright?" I chuckled.

"Ah, with your mistress?" she teased, turning her head to smirk at me.

I shook my head. "There's not a girl out there who even remotely compares to you, Ace."

She smiled shyly. "I didn't think I could love you anymore than I already did and then you just have to go and say something like that."

I buried my lips against her temple once more. "So tell me," I said, changing the subject, "Why is it you showed up on my doorstep today when the last letter I received said you'd be traveling to Romania for a few days before returning home?"

Nostalgia flickered in her beautiful eyes. "I guess I just missed home," she spoke vaguely, a coy smile perching on her lips.

My eyebrow shot up curiously. "Oh?" I smirked. "Anything in particular you missed?"

She pretended to think about it. "Yes," she said with an eager nod. "Dad and AJ. It's been so long since I've seen them and—eek! Argh, stop!"

I may have tackled her with a flurry of tickles.

"Say you missed me!" I teased, trapping her in my arms as I tickled her sides and her shoulders and her neck.

"Never!" she laughed. She squirmed and squealed, trying to fight against me but I was too overpowering and eventually she called out, "Alright, alright! I missed you the most!"

I pulled away from her, both of us breaking out into uncontrollable laughter. When it died out, Alice turned to me and said, "I mean it, Jay. I really did miss you most. There wasn't a second that went by that I didn't think of you. This trip was so important to me, but by the end of it, I just wanted to get back here. Back to you."

What more could I do but kiss her?

Later, when we both realized how famished we were, we eventually threw our clothes back on (much to my chagrin) and departed the bedroom, leaving the apartment to head to the nearby deli, my arm wrapped securely around her shoulders as if I was afraid if I didn't, she'd find another way to disappear.

"So, was traveling the world everything you wanted and more?" I questioned.

Alice smiled. "I never realized how much I needed it until I actually did it," she said with a shrug. "It felt good to just be me, not the offspring of the Hogwarts professor or the sister to the pub and inn's owner or the daughter of a mother who left this world too early or even the girlfriend of the infamous James Potter, no offense."

I shook my head, knowing all too well what it was like to be associated with a Potter. "None taken," I chuckled.

"It was freeing," she spoke nostalgically. "I did what I wanted to do, went where I wanted to go, became who I wanted to be. And it made me a better person, a stronger person. It made me appreciate everything I have, made me love the life I've been given. It made me believe in myself and my future and it taught me what I want to do and where I want to end up."

I paused. "Which is?"

She stopped short on the sidewalk and turned to me with a smile. "I feel like so much of everything I've ever done was to somehow please my mother," she spoke softly. "Except for one thing."

I knew the answer before she even said it. "Quidditch."

She smiled. "When I am on that pitch, I am flying for me and not for anyone else. One day, I want to become part owner of the inn, I want to be a part of my family's legacy, I want to work alongside my sister and I want to love doing it. But I think I want to love Quidditch first. Traveling the world these past few months has taught me that it's okay being selfish, it's okay having a dream and it's okay going after it, that everyone deserves to do what makes them happy. I know I can't play Quidditch forever, nor do I even want to. So why not play while I'm still young and can enjoy it?"

I was in awe of her, how strong and confident and pure she had become after just a few months away from everything she's ever known. My heart was soaring with pride and if it was at all possible, I think I loved her more then than ever before.

"You'll make an amazing Quidditch player, Ace," I whispered, reaching for her hand and squeezing it. I paused. "Though it is going to be tough annihilating you and whatever team you wind up on."

She threw her head back and laughed. "You have some time before you have to worry about that," she teased. "The season already started and right now, I'm just interested in spending time with my friends and family. I'll worry about trying out next year. I hear some people actually make starting teams off of open tryouts."

I grinned. "Yes, well you have to remember how incredibly awesome I am on that pitch."

She hesitated. "Oh, this is embarrassing, I was talking about Kye."

I gaped at her and then pouted as she laughed at the blow to my ego.

She leaned over and pressed a kiss to my cheek. "Just kidding," she teased, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. "You are incredibly awesome on that pitch, James Potter."

I smiled and pressed my lips to hers. It felt so right, so perfect just standing there with the girl I loved, our prior troubles planted firmly in the past. My heart had felt so constrained, so lost for so many years and now it was just bursting with love and adoration and hope. It almost felt as if my skin was tingling from so much joy and it struck me then that this was what real happiness felt like. There were times in the past I thought I had been happy but nothing even compared to this moment right here. I was on great terms with my family who I had spent so many years shunning, I made my Quidditch dreams come true, which for a short period of time felt complicated and nearly impossible, and here I stood in the arms of a girl I've probably loved for eighteen years, a girl that I can say without a shadow of a doubt has been the best thing that has ever happened to me.

I'm fairly certain that life couldn't get any better than this.

An unexpected chuckle fell from my lips and Alice looked up at me, inquisitively. "What's so funny?"

I wrapped my arms so tightly around her, embracing her like never before. "A year ago, I was hexing Rudy freaking Frankel because he dared to ask you out to Hogsmeade."

I could tell she was desperately trying to hold back her laughter. "A year ago, you were taking Hattie freaking Wilkes into Hogsmeade."

I hesitated. "Yeah, maybe we should just keep the past in the past," I chuckled.

She laughed and grinned up at me, the grin slowly fading into a wistful smile. "I know we've been through a lot together," she murmured as she buried her head against my chest, "Not just over the past few months but in our lifetime, but I have to say, I'm really glad we ended up here."

I glanced around. "In the middle of an empty sidewalk with dried gum and cigarette butts under our feet?" I mused. "Yeah, I couldn't imagine ending up anywhere else."

She shoved my chest and I jerked away with a laugh, leaning over to press a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm kidding," I laughed. "Of course I couldn't be happier where we ended up. I get to be with you. I couldn't imagine a happier ending."

She turned towards me and captured my lips with hers, pulling away with a smile. "I guess fairytales really do come true."

And here I thought I never believed in fairytales.

I looked down at her and smiled. "In case I don't say it enough, I love you."

"You say it enough," she murmured, resting her head against my shoulder. "But I never tire of hearing it."

I planted a kiss in her hair and said, "Well then get ready to hear it again: I love you, Ace Longbottom."

And in already perfect moment, she somehow managed to make it even more perfect by smiling up at me and saying, "I love you, too, Jay Potter."