son amour - j. potter

thirty one

After spending the better part of the day at the beach, basking in the sun, and swimming around in the Tyrrhenian Sea, we packed up our stop and trekked back to the house.

Now, everyone has their own sweet nothings, their ways that scream 'I love you' without the use of any words. When it came to James and me, we had plenty.

James bought me a kitten for my birthday, Romeo, who we treated like our child.

I absentmindedly played with James' hair when we were up late talking.

I was exhausted from being in the sun all day, and as soon as I stepped foot into the house, all I wanted to do was go take a nap until dinner.

But I couldn't.

I didn't want to get sand and sunblock in our bed.

James followed me into our room and softly closed the door behind us. I threw my bag into the corner of the bedroom, kicked off my sandals, and carefully placed my sunglasses on the dresser. It felt like I was moving at half speed.

"Darling?"

James' cool voice snapped me out of the daze-like trance that I was in, bringing me back to reality.

A reality where we were all just children scared for our lives, our friend's lives, our families' lives. Children shouldn't have to be scared to finish school because they're afraid of being thrown into the war as soon as the summer begins. We shouldn't have to grow up reading articles in the Daily Prophet describing entire families of muggle-borns murdered, and praying that we won't see a familiar name.

"Yes?" I replied, being my gaze to meet James'.

"Let's get you in the shower before you collapse." James suggested, walking into the attached bathroom.

The sound of water hitting the tile echoed through the room as James turned on the shower.

I followed him into the bathroom and pulled my denim shorts down, leaving me in my bikini. I took out my ponytail, letting my blonde waves cascade down past my shoulders.

"Can I join you?" James asked, grabbing two clean towels from the cabinet.

I smirked, "Only if you untie my top, I'm too tired."

James happily obliged and untied my bikini top as I slid off my bottoms and got into the shower.

The warm water felt good against my tired body. It wasn't too hot, but it wasn't cold.

James stripped out of his clothes and joined me in the shower, quickly yelping as the warm water touched his skin.

"Ouch-," James yelped, "It's too hot!"

I laughed as I let the water soak through my hair, "No it's not, you're a wee bit sunburnt."

James pushed me out of the stream of water, "I do not burn."

I slapped his upper back with my hand, making him yelp once again. I examined my handprint, which was stark white against the slight redness of his back.

"You're sunburnt, love."

James flicked his head, sending water droplets across the walls of the shower. "Yeah, I am sunburnt."

I stifled a laugh as I leaned back against James, letting my head rest against his chest.

"Hand me the shampoo, I want to wash your hair." James murmured, wrapping his arms around my waist.

I handed James the shampoo from the shelf, and he squeezed some into his hand before handing me back the shampoo bottle.

His hands massaged the shampoo into my blonde hair, making soap suds cover nearly every inch of my hair.