ADDICTED | j.p x oc

34

With exception of their few escapades early in the term, El and James stayed out of each others way most days after midnight. This unspoken rule was broken however, when James was woken in the early hours by a noise coming from the head girls room.

The sound of a scream carried through the walls. A scream that chilled James' core. A scream filled with pain and fear.

He jumped out of bed as if it was on fire, bursting into Eleanors room. Her eyes remained closed but she was thrashing about, shouting and screaming words that James could not make out.

"El! Shh shh relax," he took the girl in his arms to stop her movements, stroking her hair in attempt to calm her down.

El woke up suddenly, taking a deep breath in and looking around, confused about where she was. When noticing she was with James, her whole body visibly relaxed. He wasn't wearing a shirt, so could feel the wetness of her tears against his chest as she took a big sigh to regulate her breathing.

"I'm sorry. I must've forgotten the silencing spell," she muttered, surprising James when she didn't remove herself from his grasp.

"This happens a lot?" he leant back slightly to allow him to look at her. El didn't say anything, only nodding in response. "Do you want me to stay?" she hesitated before nodding again, feeling foolish for appearing so weak. "Okay."

James pulled her back even closer, her body still shaking against his, refusing to let himself drift off until he was certain she had.

Fortunately, once El was asleep, her slumber was undisturbed until morning. When she woke, it took her a while to remember why James was in even her bed, but when she did, she accepted his presence gratefully by burying her face in the crook of his neck. He unconsciously tightened his grip on her waist, his sleeping breaths turning into light snores.

They both winced when sunlight penetrated through the curtains, causing them to fully wake.

"You okay?" James croaked, his voice deep and gravelly with sleep. He felt her nod against his neck, bringing his hand up to trace down her spine.

"Potter?"

"I have a first name, you know?"

"I don't care," she paused a while, "Can you not tell anyone? About yesterday. . . please?" she didn't look up at him, enjoying the feeling of his fingers stroking up and down her back.

"I wasn't planning on it anyway," James assured. He readjusted his position so his cheek was against her hair.

She nodded, now feeling awkward at the topic of conversation, removed herself from his arms and stood up.

"Thanks,"

James stood up and walked round the bed to stand in front of her. Both his hands went either side of her face to remove the hair from blocking his view of her eyes. "You're not putting a silencing spell on your room again,"

"Potter-"

"I'm not asking you, i'm telling you," he interrupted, forcing her to look at him. "I don't care if you wake me up."

His hazel eyes were filled with sincerity, boring into hers with an intensity she hadn't seen before. "Okay."

***