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chapter three; I'm not going anywhere
The days after the attack were frustrating, to say the least.He was trying to hold himself together, try not to grab Amaya by the shoulders and shake her into seeing he was there, that she had him, and that she didn't need to push him away. He couldn't possibly understand what she was going through, anyone would be traumatized by what happened, but he wanted to do anything just to make her feel better.
The day of the attack, they'd arrived at the flat to find the two bodies on the ground, Marlene with her head in Floo trying to call the Order and Lily sitting next to Amaya. The latter looked frozen, unseeing, she was staring at the bodies, her face pale and lacking color, in shock.
When Lily saw they'd gotten there she jumped from next to Amaya and ran to them, giving them each a hug, James was frozen in place as Lily wrapped her arms around him, his eyes fixed on the bodies on the ground before they stayed on Amaya, who had leaned into Sirius put his hand on her shoulder before pulling her into a hug. She looked devastated, pale, and trembling and all James wanted to do was get to her.
James rubbed his hand over Lily's back, his eyes met Sirius's and despite his glare, Padfoot looked meaningfully at Amaya and James nodded. Lily had already let go of him though, it'd been a brief hug before she was already talking to Remus in low whispers (and to James too, though he wasn't listening) about what had happened.
He'd walked near the couch where he could hear Sirius whispering to Amaya. "Love, I need to take care of everything," he said and Amaya had looked horrified at the prospect of being left alone and the look on her face broke his heart, "James will stay with you," Sirius reassured her and her eyes met his.
They were bloodshot, dark as always, only at the moment emotions swam to the surface and all of them were vulnerable; she looked terrified. James tried to smile, but he couldn't. Instead, he took Sirius's place, ignoring the glare his friend gave him and he reached out for her. Amaya hesitated. His heart stung.
"I won't hurt you," he had said in a murmur, and her shoulders slumped slightly. "Come here, darling," he coaxed her like he would a wounded animal and she choked on a sob. James scooped her into his lap and she buried her head in his neck, shaking in his hold as she gripped his shirt tightly as if she let go he'd go.
James wrapped his arms tightly around her, kissing the top of her head as he let her cry into his neck until her trembling faded and all that was left were the tiny hiccups she had from crying—her hold on him never loosened, and neither did his on her.
And at that moment James would've stolen the stars and given them to her if it meant she'd be alright and smiling again, allowing him to see the dimples he liked so much.
