Harry Potter One-Shots

Stress Relief (James Potter)

WORD COUNT: 1065

I groaned frustratedly, burying my face in my hands in defeat. Before my eyes my Transfiguration essay loomed dauntingly, half-way finished and taking every ounce of my motivation right out from my body. O.W.L. season was upon us, and I was struggling, to say the least. What made it even worse was the fact that none of my friends seemed to be as stressed out as I was.

Sitting around me at the table in the library, James and Sirius were flipping through a book they had stolen from the Restricted Section and assigning names to all the people in the drawings of horrific torture practices. Remus was idly flipping through his Herbology book, having finished all the rest of his homework yesterday. Lily and Peter had been quizzing each other on antidotes to common poisons, but had gotten distracted by a funny story Marlene McKinnon had stopped by to share, and were now giggling together and gossiping like little children. I felt my temper rising out of sheer frustration that none of my friends seemed to be taking their exams seriously.

"Everything alright Y/N?" asked Lily. "You look like you're about to explode."

I gave her a tight-lipped smile, not trusting myself to open my mouth because I knew the angry words that were lurking on the tip of my tongue just waiting to be released.

"Oh lighten up, exams don't start until Monday and it's only Thursday night," Sirius chided, snatching my quill from my hand.

"Exactly! That's three days from now! When do you two plan on starting your revisions?" I asked, noticing the accusatory tone that edged my voice.

"Sunday night," James and Sirius chorused. This caused another laugh to burst from the group, but I didn't find it funny. I lunged for my quill back from Sirius but he extended his arm just out of my reach.

"Sirius, it's not funny. I need to finish this essay, it's due tomorrow," I scowled. Instead of being a good friend and giving it back to me, he began twirling it between his fingers idly, ignoring my demanding hand.

"James, I think Y/N wants to hold your hand," Sirius joked, nodding at my outstretched hand. I snatched it back away from him, trying to fight back the blush that I felt creeping up my cheek.

"Not in a million years Black. Now, are you going to give me my quill back or am I going to have to hex you for it?" Reluctantly, Sirius handed the quill back over to me, and I returned to my essay. After that, my friends were a little quieter. Peter and Lily went back to quizzing each other, Remus seemed to be more focused on his book, and Sirius and James pulled out a Charms book and were practicing Levitating Charms on various objects surrounding them.

As the clock rang twelve, I sighed and ran a hand over my forehead to try and get rid of the headache I could feel coming on. Lily, Peter, and Sirius had headed off to bed about half an hour ago, but James, Remus and I stayed to finish up the last of our work. Remus had left about ten minutes ago, claiming he couldn't spend one more second thinking about mandrakes, and now it was just James and myself left.

"You finished?" I yawned, rolling up my parchment and shoving it into my bag. James nodded, snapping his book shut.

"I think that's the most productive I've been since... well, ever," James joked, standing up and pushing in his chair. I followed suit and together we headed out of the library. I rolled my shoulders back a few times, feeling the dull ache in my back from spending so many hours hunched over my books.

"I can't believe exams start on Monday..." I groaned, reaching back to rub a particularly tense spot on my neck. I closed my eyes as I found the right spot, but they snapped open again when I felt James's hands brush mine out of the way.

"W-what are you doing?" I asked breathlessly. We had stopped walking now, and James moved to stand behind me to continue rubbing my shoulders.

"What do you think, Y/L/N?" he chuckled, digging his thumbs into my muscles. I let my eyes drift shut again, enjoying the feeling.

"You really need to release some of this tension," James breathed. I was suddenly very aware of his hands on my body, the close proximity in which we stood, and how red I could feel my face getting. I could only nod in response as my heartbeat sped up as his hands worked their way up and down my back.

"Y/N...' James whispered, lips almost brushing my ear. In an instant, before I could even realize what had happened, his hands left my shoulders and found my waist, spinning me around in one swift movement and then James Potter's lips were pressed to mine.

My eyes flew open in shock, but then fluttered shut. I leaned into the kiss, standing on my tiptoes to wrap my arms around his neck. Our lips moved in time with each other, almost like a well-rehearsed dance. I didn't even stop to consider what we were doing, I just knew that it felt so right. I threaded my fingers through the hair at the base of James's neck and he pulled me even closer to him, his hands resting on my lower back.

"Potter! Y/L/N! What on earth do you think you're doing?!" A sharp voice suddenly snapped us out of our moment and we sprang apart. Professor McGonagall was striding towards us, wand aloft.

"Just relieving some exam season stress Professor," James called jokingly. I felt my face flush a deeper red than the Gryffindor Quidditch uniforms, and I wished that I could sink into the floor and disappear forever. James grabbed my hand comfortingly, as if he sensed my embarrassment.

"Not in the corridors you're not. That'll be twenty points from Gryffindor and Y/H/N and you will each serve a detention tomorrow morning... SEPARATELY, Potter." With that, McGonagall strode away leaving James and me alone again in the hallway.

"Well," James chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "She should quit assigning so much homework if she doesn't want her students to experience so much stress!"

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A/N: I'm baaaaaaaaack :) did ya miss me??  I've got some good imagines coming up for you all, don't you even worry.  I start my second job tomorrow so I can't promise that I'll post as frequently, but there will still be imagines every couple days/every day if I'm really on top of it!