Cinnamon {James Potter}

24. WILL YOU STAY?

| CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR |

WILL YOU STAY?

"OH, COME ON POPPY, JUST ten more minutes."

"You said that thirty minutes ago, Mr. Potter."

"Time is an illusion."

That was the first conversation Ophelia heard as her eyes began to slowly peel open and an involuntary groan left her lips, which caused Madam Pomfrey and James Potter to stop talking and instantly rush over to the blonde's side.

Ophelia felt as if her body was on fire, mainly her ribs. The pain caused her to close her eyes again, trying to compose herself.

"Lia?" James' soft voice called out before a much larger hand wrapped itself around her own.

"James?" Ophelia softly asked, opening her eyes once more. 

The hospital wing was almost empty, from the looks of it she was one out of two patients (a young blonde haired boy was fast asleep a few beds down). It was also dark, with a few floating candles illuminating them, this made her assume that it was already night time. Her eyes settled on the hazel eyed boy sitting besides her hospital bed, his hair dishevelled (looking as if he ran his hand through it thousands of times), his shoulders tensed but a soft look in his eyes (which were completely glued to the blonde). 

Ophelia quickly noticed the bundles of flowers sitting on the bedside table besides her. They were practically overflowing with almost every kind of flower, all of which were her favourite.

James noticed her stare and gave her a sheepish grin, "I couldn't decide which ones to get..." He told her, rubbing the back of his neck with the hand that wasn't occupying Ophelia's. The blonde looked back at James, her eyes wide with surprise; she certainly wasn't expecting all those flowers to have been brought by him, "...so I got them all."

"You didn't have to," She told him, trying her best to ignore her racing heart.

Before James could reply, Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat, breaking the two teens from their gazing. The woman stepped forwards whilst James moved back, giving her some room as he looked literally anywhere else when Madam Pomfrey got her to lift up her shirt to examine the rib injury. The hazel eyed boy finally looked back at the blonde when Madam Pomfrey finally left to go back to her office.

James outstretched his hand again, looking more timid this time and it took Ophelia's courage to interlock their fingers once more. She turned her head to the side, smiling softly at the spectacled boy. She could feel the potion Madam Pomfrey gave her beginning to work and her body began to feel tired (which she certainly preferred rather than the pain).

"How long have you been here?" She questioned, breaking the silence that fell between them. She noticed he was still dressed in his Quidditch uniform which made her assume that he hadn't left her side (something that made butterflies swarm her stomach).

"Since the accident," He confessed, "You scared me," He added after several minutes of silence, "I-I watched as you fell and I couldn't do anything. I-I was so worried."

Ophelia frowned and squeezed James' hand, "I'm okay, James," She tried reassuring him, using her thumb to stroke the back of his hand, "You don't have to be worried anymore."

James looked at the blonde beauty. She looked paler than usual, her skin had a slight layer of sweat to it, her crystal blue eyes looking at him tiredly. She was right, he shouldn't be worried anymore, nothing too bad had happened to her (merely a few broken bones which were treated instantly by Madam Pomfrey) but he couldn't stop thinking what if something else did, what if she got hit in the head instead or what if Dumbledore didn't think fast enough and her body slammed against the hard ground. 

"James, I'm okay," Ophelia's voice broke him from his thoughts, "I promise."

James let out a sigh but nodded, "You should get some sleep, love."

Ophelia ignored the strange butterflies in her stomach at 'love'. He softly lifted her hand up to his face and placed a soft kiss onto her knuckles before standing up. But before he could drop her hand and walk away, Ophelia grabbed his wrist, "Wait," She called out.

James looked puzzled as he turned back around to face the blonde beauty, his heart hammering violently against his ribcage.

Ophelia bit her lip, "Will--Will you stay?" She asked, almost regretting the words as soon as they left her lips.

James felt like he was dreaming, but the feeling of Ophelia's fingers still wrapped around his wrist brought him back to reality. A shit-eating grin appeared on his face as he nodded, "Of course," He was about to sit back down onto the chair he was previously occupying when he noticed Ophelia budging up on the single hospital bed and without hesitation she patted the now free space besides her.

James could've sworn he was about to pass out at her actions but when he realised that his dream was coming true (well, part of it) he finally unfroze. Ophelia smiled warmly at him before placing some of the duvet onto him when he was fully in the bed whilst he instantly wrapped his arm around her shoulder. As the blonde laid her head against James' chest, it didn't take long for her to fall asleep whilst James laid there, relishing in the feeling of the love of his life sleeping peacefully on his chest before he too fell asleep with the biggest grin on his face.