ꜰɪʀᴇʙɪʀᴅ |ᴊᴀᴍᴇꜱ ᴘᴏᴛᴛᴇʀ

chapter 14 - nostalgia

"James" she spoke softly, as she squeezed her eyes shut, "you're giving me a bloody headache, would you stop shouting?"

James studied her, his jaw still dropped in shock, as if he was processing what had happened. Her bruised lips, bandages covering her arms, her ghostly pale skin, icy to the touch, her bloodshot, tired eyes, making her look like she hadn't slept in days, even though she had just woken up from her nap moments ago. 

Ember, feeling vulnerable under his intense stare, cowered back into the wall, wishing to disapparate from the scene completely. Unfortunately, you couldn't apparate within Hogwarts and even if she was allowed, she was too weak and tired to do so. 

James had finally come out of his shock, as he rushed over to her, wrapping his arms carefully around her small figure, causing her to wince slightly at his touch. He felt her flinch and loosened his grip on her, even though he only wanted to hold her tighter. He wished he could take all of her pain away, unfortunately for the both of them, he wasn't capable of that.

Ember's cheeks were flushed slightly at their close proximity, her stomach containing small butterflies at his actions. The small butterflies began to soothe the pain that was painfully taking over her body, so she moved closer to the pure warmth emitting from James's body, hoping her pain would subside. She turned her body slightly, so her head was facing James, she leaned her head down into the crook of James's neck, nuzzling into him as she tried to get comfortable. 

James was shocked at the girls actions, she had never been that close to him, except for that day on the pitch. But his heart warmed at the thought of her being comfortable with him, so he moved around to make her as comfortable as possible. He slowly removed his arms from her shoulders, wrapping one arm around her waist and moving the other one to cradle her head. He sighed, still wishing he could take her pain, and placed his head on top of hers. 

Ember's pain was slowly being pushed away as she snuggled into James's warmth. She couldn't explain how she felt. It was honestly a beautiful sight, James and Ember were meant for each other. Even if she rejected him, even if she couldn't see that he loved her, even if James was arrogant, and even if neither saw how deep their compassion went for one another. 

They hadn't even noticed the remainder of the marauders come in, peering at them from around the corner and gushing to each other about how James could actually get the girl after 7 years. Remus leaned down to whisper in Sirius's ear, "Hey Padfoot we could do that too." he smirked at the now flustered boy. Sirius rarely gets flustered, but only for the boy he loves. Remus definitely enjoyed watching the womanizer become embarrassed and flush all shades of pink and red. 

Peter looked between the two boys with a knowing smile. Both of the boys had come to Peter, separately, to discuss their feeling for each other. They hadn't gone to James because James trying to play cupid never ended well. There was an incident in 3rd year with Holly Hunt that explained the whole situation. But feel free to imagine.

Sirius, embarrassed by the tall boy's comment, shoved the boy slightly away from him. They continued to look at the couple fondly, knowing James was loving every second of this. After another 5 minutes, they let them sleep and walked down the corridors to their dorm because they didn't have any more classes. 

* * * *

Ember woke up feeling something warm around her body. She lifted her head slowly to see a sleeping James Potter. She internally freaked out as she quietly slipped out from under his arms. Pain dully coursed through her body, as she moved away from the sleeping boy. As she picked up her bloody clothes, she looked back at the sleeping boy. She liked how calm he looked, how he looked at peace. 

She tiptoed through the halls after seeing it was 12:00 at night. She felt a little guilty for leaving James there, but knew he would be fine without her. She broke into a jog as she headed to the Gryffindor common room, trying to get there as quickly as possible. She got to the fat lady and realized she didn't have the password, despite giving it out. 

"My dear you must have the password" the Fat Lady spoke, a hint of annoyance at being woken up so early. "Oh come on, please. I'm the head girl!" She begged. The Fat Lady just snapped at the girl, "Well then, maybe you should have remembered the password." She sighed in annoyance.

She decided to head over to the astronomy tower instead. 

She climbed the long flight of the stair, tripping on quite a few of the steps along the way. She reached the railing, sighing in content as she looked up to the vast collection of stars dotting the sky. This was always Ember's favorite place to go when she needed a break from reality, from people, from school. She went to the hidden part of the tower, as she had created it in earlier years. She took the book out from the shelf beside her, as she read a line out loud.

"Only in the darkness can you see stars"

 After reading the small line, the bricks began to shift into a doorway, leading to a beautiful room. 

A lavish bed laid in the corner, decorated with silver lights and satin bedsheets. A dark wood table laid right next to it, adorned with a record player and a small set of records. A large bookshelf was attached to the opposite wall, along with a closet. A dark red rug covered the black tiled floor. 

Ember ran her fingertips across the large section of books, taking in the nostalgic feeling she so dearly missed. She looked up, seeing the stars through the skylight she put in. 

Only Ember's closest friends were aware of this place. So far she had only trusted Remus, Alice, Lily, and Marlene with this secret. Lily actually knew the password, but the others didn't. She used to have an extra bed in here in case Regulus wanted to stay. 

Yes, she was friends with the younger Black boy. It was one of her best-kept secrets. Surprisingly, both of them shared a lot in common. Neither of them liked their parents, they both felt alone even though they weren't, the both put up a powerful facade, and they both found comfort in the stars.

But within the last year, Regulus had told her that he couldn't be with her at night any more, because he knew he couldn't handle it when she left. She was disappointed at first, seeing as they had done that since her 4th year, but understood his reasons nonetheless. So here she was now at 1:00, on November 2nd, laying in her bed, looking up at the stars thinking about what would happen to her after she left Hogwarts.

She soon fell asleep, her eyelids fluttering closed, as fatigue plagued her mind.

a/n - hi guys! thank you so much for 3.7k! I honestly can't believe it!! don't forget to vote and comment!!