⚯͛ Snitch - James Potter ⚯͛

7.

The first thing Quinn could register was that she was very tired, even though she was just waking up. She rubbed her eyes as she tried to open them. Why was everything so white?

And that's when it hit her, that's when she remembered. That searing pain in her ribs, the win, the fall to the ground...what an unlucky day.

She slowly sat up, wincing at the slight pain from her ribs, and scanned the room full of empty beds, seeing a young nurse rush towards her. The nurse grabbed a notepad that had been tucked inside her sock, and whipped a pen out of her breast pocket. Smooth.

She wrote the words: I've been told you are deaf, so I shall communicate with you on paper. What are your symptoms? Much pain?

She handed over the notepad and pen to Quinn.

Quinn wrote back in her neat cursive, my ribs are still a bit painful.

The nurse read it and nodded, before walking off to her office.

Quinn looked to her side warily but gave a start when she saw a sleeping James slumped over on his hand in the chair beside her bed. How did she not notice that?

She tapped him on the arm, and watched as his green eyes tiredly blinked open. They widened as they took her in and his arms quickly reached out and pulled her into a tight hug, which made her flinch with the pain. He pulled away quickly again with an apologetic look now painted across his face.

I'm sorry, he signed, I was so worried about you. You know you've been out for a whole day?

A day? That's nothing. My friend was once unconscious after a match for 3 weeks, she signed to him, a smile playing on her lips.

He looked up so she followed his eye-line and saw the young nurse walking back to her. She saw the nurse talk to James, probably giving him instructions to tell Quinn, and then handed the girl a small potion bottle. She then offered them both a polite nod, walked back to the office and shut the door behind her.

Okay?

Quinn turned to James, who quickly explained that her ribs were so badly damaged but the nurse could quickly fix it. The potion was just a painkiller, which the nurse said she could take up to four drops of in a day. If she got dressed into a change of clothes, she could leave whenever.

Great.

Thank you James. You're very sweet to be here and I appreciate it, but why? Aren't you worried someone will see us? Quinn asked.

I'm not. After you hurt yourself I wanted to rush down there and help immediately but I couldn't because we were keeping our friendship a secret, but I can't anymore. I've found I care about you too much. And I looked at the rules, the teams that arrived at the host schools cannot change unless a player has been severely injured to the point where they can't play, therefore your friends can't kick you out if they find out about us. James signed.

Her cheeks were burning and she knew it, but she couldn't stop. He was amazing.

Thanks for being my friend, James. Quinn signed

James moved to sit next to her on the bed, much to her delight.

How could I have ever stayed away? He signed with a sly grin on his face.

Their eye locked and she took in that face that always drives her crazy. And then he began to lean in...

Wait...

She felt his hot breath on her lips as her eyes dared him to close the gap. She needed this.

And then he did it.

He kissed her.

Just like that.

What?

Warm lips pressed against hers and she closed her eyes as if to try and savour this feeling.

Because in that moment, she felt her entire body had woken up from a sleep she had been in for her entire life. Her heart was beating erratically with the over-whelming feeling of infatuation and she had no idea how to cope.

She raised a slightly shaky hand to gently cup his jaw and bring him closer to her. She never wanted this to end.

But it did, much to her disappointment, though when they pulled away she felt her mouth still buzzing with the alive memory of James' lips on hers.

Her eyes scanned his face, and was amused to see how dazed he looked. She smiled shyly at him, her eyes twinkling with happiness as if he had just given her the world. That smile on her face was one that she knew would be there for a while.

Wow.

What was that? She signed.

I'm not sure, sorry, James signed back.

Don't be sorry, it was great, Quinn shyly signed back.

His lips curled into a delighted grin. He raised a hand and brushed her cheek gently, this couldn't be real.

She was so happy, he was so perfect...but there was one question:

What now?