Friends.

Chapter 14: Ready To Run

When I wake up and feel the comfort of Harry's body embracing me, I don't pull away. I don't move, I don't push him off. I just stay, relishing the feeling of his skin on my skin, of his protective grip around my stomach thats pulling me towards him. I wake up just before my alarm is scheduled to go off, so I quickly turn it off before it can sound through the room and wake Harry up. I don't want him to let go of me. 

"Oh fuck." He says to himself, thinking I'm asleep. His arms quickly pull away from me and I feel the mattress moves as he moves as far away from me as possible. My heart sinks, and my skin aches for his touch again. This is the worst form of torture. He sighs deeply and I roll over, preemptively hating myself for what I'm about to do. 

"Please don't pull away." I say faintly, moving closer to him and pressing my stomach up against him as my eyes meet his weary ones. He is surprised by my movements as I move my arm to his back and hold him against him. His eyes are staring into mine as our heads rest on pillows facing each other, our lips only a mere inch and a half away from eachother. It would be so easy. It would feel so good to just feel those pale pink lips against mine, just one more time. There's not enough room for our chemistry in this room and it's suffocating me, shoving itself down my throat- making it impossible for me to remember how to be just friends with Harry. 

"I really want to kiss you." Harry says, his voice raspy and unsure. 

"I really want you to kiss me." I breathe, my chest rising and falling all the more rapidly as my beating heart catapults around my chest. "But I don't want to be the other girl." Guilt only ruins any happiness I gain from moments with Harry. That whole weekend is a dark cloud over my morality, but a small amount of motivation for my heart. It'll cling to anything if it thinks there's something there...

"And I don't want to cheat." He sighs, closing his eyes. It's the ultimate example of being pulled two completely different ways, me on one side, holding on to his hand for dear life, tugging and pulling it as much as I can but never being strong enough. Fleur on the other side, meekly holding his hand, not realising that she should be holding a lot tighter. If I'm honest with myself, she doesn't need to. He's leaning that way anyway. But he is in MY bed, after all. That's a little victory for my side...the bad side. 

I sigh and tear myself away from him, rolling over and getting out of bed. He eyes me as I look in the mirror opposite the bed. My collarbones are more present today, and my cheek bones are becoming a greater feature on my face. Good. I can see Harry's concerned face in the back of the mirror and turn around. "What?" I ask. 

"Are you sick? You don't look well..." He speaks very cautiously, rubbing his forehead dramatically.

"I'm fine." I smile. "Morning Marius, how are you?" I bend down to the sleepy kitten on his temporary bed. I run my fingers over him and he purrs, making me smile. 

"He likes you." Harry says. 

"I like him." 

"What are we going to do with him though?" Harry asks. "I don't want to give him to the pound." The thought of this poor kitten rotting in a pound with lots of other animals, getting no attention, barely any food and being neglected makes me feel immensley sad. I feel guilty enough that I left him out on the terrace in the rain for so long because I was too scared to go and see what the noise was. 

"I want to keep him." I say suddenly. I've never really had pets before. Mum had a dog but it hated me, I never spent time with it. I woudn't mind a cat, they seem like pretty independent creatures, and Marius is special. He's the cat that brought me and Harry back into each others lives. And Harry named him, so he'll be a constant reminder of Harry. Is that a good thing?