𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒, james potter

50. i believe you

warning: sexual content

NESRIN HAS NOT spoken with James for over a week.

It isn't because she doesn't want to—she so desperately does. She wants to explain everything to him. She doesn't want this to be the thing that tears them apart. Not when she's trying to be the good guy.

But she knows she has to give him space.

She knows she has to let him simmer down and come to terms with whatever it is that he is thinking.

And yet, Nesrin can't stomach him doing just that.

He seemed so heartbroken when he found out about her dark mark. She can't stop herself from replaying his face in her mind over and over the second he saw it.

She can't bear to live with the fact that he thinks she broke him twice.

Her mind is spiraling with thoughts of him breaking up with her, and for some reason, it hurts a lot more this time around than two years ago.

In class, he doesn't look at her. He doesn't speak to her. He doesn't acknowledge her whatsoever.

She keeps to herself, knowing that if she tries to talk to him, he will shut her out.

She knows him, and she knows he needs time to compose himself.

When Nesrin walks into the library late at night, she's only planning to complete an assignment that isn't even due until next week. It's the only way she knows to distract herself from thinking of a hazel-eyed boy.

However, when she gets to the library and swerves away from the other students studying to huddle into the corner James used to tutor her, she is surprised at who she finds there.

James is staring down at a book, not seeming to really understand the words written across the pages.

Nesrin pauses for a second. She observes him, taking in his exhausted posture and the bags underneath his eyes. All she wants is to hold him and caress him and tell him it's not real. That it isn't what he thinks.

That she loves him and she would never do something like this.

He has to know her better than that.

When her footsteps echo around the room, James looks up from his book.

She hears him suck in a breath. Immediately, he shuts his book and begins to pack his things.

Unable to keep herself away from him any longer, she quickly strides over to him and touches his hand gently to stop him from moving.

He glares at the table, not able to bring himself to look at her. She squeezes his hand lightly to get him to look at her. When he does, it is with a reserved expression and unseeing eyes.

She looks at him with a pleading expression, leaving her hand on his for a second longer before retracting it.

"Please just give me a chance to explain," she says, looking between his eyes. "If you still want nothing to do with me after, I swear I will leave you alone."

He clenches his jaw but then nods once.

She gestures for him to follow her, so he takes all of his belongings and gets up. She leads him out into the empty hallway and into an empty storage closet that she casts an anti-alohomora charm on.

He drops his bag and crosses his arms, looking to the side.

She sighs and closes her eyes for a second. When she opens them, he is staring at her with a strange look on his face.