𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗹𝘆, james potter

-ˋ 47

CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN
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-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH TIGER STAYS IN THE COMMON ROOM

. . .

Days had passed since the meeting between McGonagall and Tiger's meeting. In those days, it seemed that Olivia had calmed down. The Howell girl hoped it had something to do with the incident in the corridor, but who knew?

Or, there could be a hint in the angry looks she was shot everytime she entered the dorm and Olivia was there. And if the slightly moved pile of books on Tiger's bedside table said anything, it was most likely because Olivia had touched her stuff and was suffering the consequences. 

As for the dorm situation, Tiger had began staying in with the boys over night, but disappearing early in the morning to return back to her dorm to shower and change, not staying in there for longer than she needed to, either way.

And it was for that reason that, although it was late at night, Tiger was curled up next to the fire, Treacle purring happily on her lap. One hand was lazily stroking the cat behind her ears, the other wrapped around a quill, writing out her homework.

"You're still down here?" Remus asked, appearing through the portrait door, Lily beside him. The pair had just come back from their prefect duties - walking around for an hour or two after curfew, to make sure everyone had gone to bed. 

"Tiger, Olivia will have gone to sleep. She barely talks to any of us." Lily shrugged. "Besides, if it bothers you so much, I'm sure Professor McGonagall wouldn't mind making a room transfer."

"No.. I can't." Tiger shrugged, glancing up at them just for a moment. "That means she's bothered me. Meaning she'll win." 

"Tiger.. you literally aren't staying in your own dorm, I don't think winning matters when it comes to that." Remus replied, and both Tiger and Treacle looked over at the pair, taking them by surprise.

"Besides, don't you think that the boys deserve their dorm?" Lily said gently, and Tiger shrugged. "It's not too bad, she just stays on her bed most of the time." 

"Lils, I love you dearly, but you don't understand." Tiger replied, and Lily made a face. "You can't get me to stay in that dorm for anything."

"Tiger, we don't understand because you won't tell us anything. Nobody can understand this whole situation because we don't know what happened." Lily sounded exasperated, and Tiger stared up at her. 

"Well I'm certainly not going to tell you if you can't seem to respect that fact that I'm not going to stay in the same room as Olivia." Tiger replied, looking as stubborn as ever. "Remus, would you mind chucking my blanket down the stairs? I suppose there'll be somewhere better for me to sleep tonight." 

"Tiger, come on." Lily said, looking over at Remus for help. But the boy knew his cousin far too well, and knew that she wouldn't back down. And so, he was already half way up the stairs.

"Fine." Lily shrugged, and disappeared up the stairs to her own dorm. If Tiger was to take that stance, then there was no use arguing with her. 

Remus appeared moments later with a blanket, which he handed to his cousin. "Try sleep ok?" He said to his cousin, who nodded briefly before watching as Remus walked up the stairs.

Tiger spent a few more minutes on her essay, before putting away her quill and parchment and settling down on the couch, using one of the well-worn cushions as a pillow and pulling the blanket over her body, Treacle enjoying the warmth a lot. 

She hadn't been getting much sleep no matter where she slept, and her nightmares kept returning. Tiger believed they were a product of Olivia and Miss Williams being there, but she would keep that to herself.

But she would rather try and sleep earlier than she usually would, to give her a chance to gain more sleep. Just as she felt her eyes getting heavier, and her body relaxing, a shadow appeared in front of her, blocking the light and some warmth from the fire. 

Her eyes flickered open to see James stood above her, not looking the happiest. In fact, he was wearing the biggest frown she had seen on him so far. "Twiggy." He pouted and Tiger, wondering what was wrong, sat up, questioning whether or not she should offer him a hug. 

But before she could even raise her arms, James had scooped her up into one, the Quidditch player being a lot stronger than Tiger and lifting her up with ease. 

"You silly sock." He said, and Tiger looked at him, eyebrow raised. "My mum sometimes says is. But that's besides the point. Remus told me that you're not staying with us at night?"

"Yeah. Lily said that you should have you're own dorm and that I shouldn't invade that privacy." Tiger shrugged. James carefully put her down on the sofa, Treacle having moved out of the way to sit in front of the fire instead. 

She sat with her back to the arm of the sofa, the cushion she was using to sleep balanced on her back. James had sat next to her, and moved her legs over his. 

"She also said that nobody could understand because we don't know what happened." James said, it being his turn to raise his eyebrow slightly. Tiger shrugged, staring down at her hands. 

"I understand." James told her, his voice gentle. "I don't know anything, but something happened at Ilvermorny, possibly leading to you being expelled and you really aren't comfortable with Olivia being here." 

"I want you to know." Tiger said, then faltered. "But I don't think I'm ready. I don't know if you'll believe me or if anyone else will. Majority don't, so who knows." 

"I hope I can say that I'll believe you. I certainly trust you enough, I know you wouldn't lie." James shrugged. "But whenever you want to, you can tell me."

"You might find out sooner though. I have a feeling that Olivia will try and tell everyone. I don't know how, but she's already started driving a wedge between me and Lily - maybe even Marlene and Lydia as well." Tiger turned to stare at the fire, the flames reflecting in her eyes. 

"I promise you, pinkie promise, that I won't let her come between us." James held up his pinkie finger, then watched as Tiger hesitated, before linking hers with his. 

There was just something in the way he said it. So earnestly, so full of some form of love. Whether it was friendly love or possibly something more, Tiger somehow felt as if she could trust him more than anyone else.

She hadn't know James Potter for long, only having heard of him through stories. But when she met him at the garden party, she felt welcomed, and he had helped her so much throuhg the rest of her time at Hogwarts, up until that moment. 

"Come to Quidditch practise with me tomorrow? Or after? I could teach you how to ride a broomstick confidently if you wanted to." James offered, the pairs hands still linked as they fell into James's lap, Tiger cuddling up to the boy, head on his shoulder.

"I would like that." Tiger nodded, and James smiled, drawing patterns on her knee as she fell asleep, Treacle eventually placing herself on their laps, the pair falling asleep in front of the fireplace.

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