BLUEBERRY → J.POTTER

↳2: BLUEBERRY

JAMES STARED AT Hope blankly, trying to decipher what she had said. Hope self-consciously put her arm on her stomach, obviously uneasy under his stare not that James took notice of this. He was trapped in a deep thought process of what she had said and why. 'She said something that started with a p most definitely and it ended with ent.' He thought to himself not understanding why he hadn't properly processed what Hope had stated. 'Perhaps she had said present? Or it could've been parent or peasant'

He listed off almost every possibility of what Hope could've said but he was blanking. All James knew was that it was something along those lines and it made him feel sick in the stomach. He was beginning to question if it even started with a p. Even if he knew deep in his mind, it wasn't showing. James blinked as if it would help him understand her any better. "I'm sorry what?" He finally spoke aloud since Hope delivered the news, his hand slowly falling from her thigh.

Hope took another deep breath and looked in him the eyes, her fear all over her face like freckles on a Weasley. "I'm pregnant James." Hope half expected—maybe hoped for him to pass out like her dad had when her mum told him she was pregnant for the fourth time but alas, he didn't. Instead, James just stared at her again, this time not with confusion but with disbelief on his face, his mouth open and his eyes wide. It almost looked as if he stopped breathing, Hope begins to think that the news itself had killed him.

Her concerned thoughts were put to rest by his mouth closing again and his arms moving. "You're pregnant?" He stuttered out. Hope cringed at the words internally but nodded her answer. He raised a shaking hand, pointing it to himself slowly. "With my..." He slowly trailed off. Hope nodded again, the silence between them thick. He ran his hand through his hair and slumped back. "Bollocks." He whispered to himself. "We, when we- bollocks"

He jumps between the starts phrases and expressions, always ending with some kind swear. James finally settled for the most obvious and common "I'm going to be a father"

Hope flinches at the words as if he had brandished a wand on her and was about to yell the killing curse. She begins to ramble in response.

"You don't have to worry about doing much. We don't even know each other that well, so I'm not asking you to date me or anything. In fact, you don't even have to talk to me after this. There was really no point in me telling you, it's just Madam Pomfrey asked and next thing I knew she was going to get you." James opened his mouth thinking she had finally stopped but couldn't even get a full breath in before she was starting up again.

"I don't even need money either! I can do this perfectly fine on my own and-" The words 'I don't need you' were hot on her tongue, she had yet to take a single breath until James finally spoke up.

"Hope, stop." Hope did what he said immediately, looking back at James breathless from her words, her green eyes swirling with anxiety. "I'm glad you told me." He reassured her softly. "I wouldn't dream of making you go through anything alone." James offered a small smile to her, one she couldn't return even if she tried. Tears of relief swelled in her eyes as she looked into his. She wasn't sure what she was searching for. Pity, lies, truth? It didn't matter because she found what she needed and it could be her eyes playing tricks on her but Hope found that she didn't care.

"There won't be a moment where you feel alone in this." James comforted her. He was thrown off guard when the witch threw her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. Hope let out an unsteady breath as she tried not to cry but the tears on her face had already begun to fall before the thought of stopping them crossed her mind.

James' words seemed to hit a trigger in her brain. Hope told herself she would be fine alone but despite what Hope insisted, she didn't want to be alone. She knew she was only lying to both James as well as herself.