It has been over a year since the murder of his wife, Lily, and James Potter wishes every day that it is simply a nightmare that he will wake up from. Unfortunately, it isn't and in the wake of her death, James finds himself as a single parent to th...
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James didn't get an ounce of sleep after the whole ordeal with Renata suffering from a night terror. He couldn't bring himself to even close his eyes in fear that she would wake up in a panic again and he wanted to make sure that if she did wake up again that he would be right there with her. She had offered to retire to her room for the rest of the evening so that she didn't disturb him, but James couldn't let her leave. He had never really witnessed what true fear looked like on Renata's expression before and since he had seen it, it couldn't be unseen.
The sounds of her scream nearly haunted his mind as it echoed in his thoughts and he so desperately wished that he understood what she had been saying in order to decipher what the night terror had been about. He convinced her to stay with him on the sofa after she cleaned her face of the tears and make-up and grabbed them a blanket and pillows so they could be more comfortable. When she returned, James wrapped his arms around her and held onto her throughout the entire night.
He played with her hair, rubbed her back, and hummed a soft tune in order to keep her in a peaceful state and it seemed to work as Renata remained content and asleep without another disruption. But James remained wide awake as he listened to the silence of the room and eventually, the sounds of the birds chirping outside as they began to welcome the early morning hours.
Not that he would admit it, but he was actually terrified for Renata after what he and Sirius had discussed. While they didn't have all the information, there was enough there that made his skin crawl. From what it sounded like, the children that attended the school where Renata and Adelmo went had no other choice to pursue a career in the designated fields. How could so many people contain the same ambition for just a few jobs out of hundreds? They had to have other wants and goals in life besides just those, how could Renata be the only one to break the chain and do so by the chance of a phobia?
It didn't settle well with him, but whenever Renata's past was brought up, she became rather defensive about it. Things that James viewed as abnormal, she didn't have a problem with, or at least, she didn't think she had a problem with them. However, James thought back to the Quidditch match and how Renata spoke of having what she believed to be a memory of her childhood before she woke up. She described it as painful and from what James had witnessed when she was having her night terror, whatever was taking place was painful to witness.
He needed to find out more, he needed more information, and hopefully, Sirius would be able to assist him.
And just like clockwork as she became so accustomed to Harry's early morning schedule, Renata stirred from her slumber and started to look around as if she was expecting Harry to be right there waiting for her to get up. Instead, she came to face James, who peered down at her and offered a small smile. He watched the confusion drain from her face as she remembered that she had dropped him off at the Weasleys' for the evening. But the confusion was replaced by a frown as she met James' gaze and saw the tired look on his face.
