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"meet me where the falling stars live.
i will wait for you day and night"
[alexandra vasiliu]
xxx
She woke to warmth—pure, cozy warmth; the kind of warm you get after laying in the sun for a while, or from the rays beaming in through the window in the Hogwarts express, or from a hot drink from Hogsmeade in the middle of winter, or from cuddling with a boy in the hospital wing?
She tried to find the mentality to get up; to hope that Madame Pomfrey hadn't seen them like that, to separate their beds before an ill student arrived. But it was too warm, too comfy—so she kept her eyes closed.
Their hands had remained on top of one another's, and they were still both on their sides, as though they'd barely moved from last night—except now there was little to no space between them. His head was above hers and arm loosely cuddling her around her back; her own head nestled into his chest—so close that she was warmed by his body heat, and able to feel his slow, steady heartbeat. She was almost asleep again when he took a deep breath, waking up, adjusting his arm around her to be holding her, rather than just laying over her, mumbling "Hey," in a sleepy, lighthearted morning voice.
"Hi," She laughed.
"Do you reckon Madame Pomfrey's seen us yet?"
Peaking up from his chest, exposing her face to the chilly air, they were alone in the hospital wing, and she thought that, for a moment, they'd got away with curling up together unseen—but that's when she noticed that all of the curtains were open, when last night they were closed.
"Yes," she started laughing again, and he did too from where his head lay on the pillow. She brought her head down again to nestle against his chest. Once they settled again, after a moment, he realised something.
"Wait—" He propped his elbow up on the mattress, though leaving his hand on hers, to look down at her. The bruise on his head was barely visible anymore. "I'm meant to be in classes today!"
"Really?" She asked, looking up at him from the mattress, and he nodded.
"Yeah, Madame Pomfrey told me yesterday that I'd be fine to leave today and go to my classes like normal—it was a pretty mild concussion, I guess. I think you were asleep with one of your books when she came over."
"Oh," She said, noticing the way his arm still lingered around her; hand lightly on her waist. He'd have to leave soon. "That sucks."
"I think I'll be coming back, though."
"What, you're gonna go take another bludger to the head?" She laughed, and he found himself laughing with her.
"I mean that I'll be getting a check up this afternoon," He said. "And if I get the all-clear, I won't have to come back."
She nodded, and despite needing to leave for first period in a few minutes, he lay back down, and his arm was around her back once more. She shifted up so her head lay on the pillow next to his, rather than on the mattress; their faces now inches apart.
"Must be nice," She said absentmindedly, looking at the light freckles over his nose bridge.
"Hm?"
"Getting to leave this place," She motioned to the hospital wing with her eyes. "Don't get me wrong, it's nice, and Madame Pomfrey's so lovely to me, but..." She trailed off.
"...but?" He asked, studying her face as she looked to the window over their beds, eyeing the beautiful blue sky.
"It's not the same as out there. Or anywhere else, really. Everything's so slow here—it can get really boring...really lonely." She looked back to him. His hair was fluffy, and poking in all kinds of directions. He was already looking at her.
"Well...when're you getting out?" He noticed her face drop as he asked this; her eyes suddenly so sad as they looked into his own, and then away as she released a breath. She wanted to stay in this moment forever; just here, in his arms, in his warmth, in his eyes, but she could already feel it slipping away, and she knew that in just a few minutes he'd be in classes like nothing ever happened, and she'd still be here, in this hospital bed, beneath these scratchy sheets, cold and all alone.
