✓ | 𝙸𝙽𝙺 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝙸𝙽𝚂 - 𝒿. 𝓅𝑜𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 (discontinued)

8.0

James' POV:

My eyes flit open and immediately I'm hit with a burning headache. I look over and see Astoria sleeping next to me. Her head is on the bed and her hand is clasped in mine. She looks so peaceful, I don't want to wake her, but I have one question burning as bad as my head.

"Astoria," I whisper, leaning closer to her. "Astoria. Wake up, love." Her eyes flutter open and she sits up drowsily.

"Oh, James! Are you okay? I didn't mean to fall asleep. I'm sorry, do you need ice? Something?" she rambles on, but my eyes are glued to her hand in mine. I could get used to this. No, James, she has a boyfriend.

"Yes, I'm fine. But did we win?" I ask enthusiastically.

"What?" she asks, looking like she was the one who got hit with a bludger.

"Did we win?" I repeat, staring her down as well as I can without my glasses.

"You git! Yes we won but you got knocked out! Is that seriously the first thing you think of?" She laughs, lightly smacking me on the arm.

"Okay fine. How about 'When do I get to leave?' Is that better?" I put a finger to my chin to imitate deep thinking.

"Much," she smiles, "You get out at the end of the day. It's last period right now, but I can stay if you want." She looks at the clock and then smiles back at me.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" I ask, tilting my head. It's not like Ria to skip classes.

"It's my free period and I wanted to see you," she smiles again and my heart skips a beat. She wanted to see me?

"Oh, um well- th-thank you." I reply, stuttering over her comment. James, her boyfriend. "How's Marcus, by the way? I haven't seen him in a bit."

"Neither have I." What? "He's been...distant. I don't know what's going on with him, but we don't hang out as much anymore. It's our 1 month anniversary in a week, so I've been trying to convince myself that he's just planning something special."

"You don't think he could be-"

"No. Marcus wouldn't do that to me. He's not like that." But even as she denies his cheating, I see her smile falter the tiniest bit.

"Alright, you know him best." I put on a fake smile and squeeze her hand. "You should go find him," I say, suddenly sitting up. I don't want to talk about her boyfriend anymore and I can't stand to see her when she has him. But you don't like her James. She's just your friend and you're just looking out for her.

"Oh, um, alright." She stands up and gathers her things. "I'll come check on you later with Marcus, okay?"

"Ok," I smiled back at her. I watch her leave through the large doors of the hospital and my mind is left in a daze as Madam Pomfrey tends to me.

A/N: Shorter chapter so I'll probably post another tonight. Big thing happening next chapter ahh!!!