Rubatosis

Chapter 9

By the time they got close to the castle it started raining. The rain fell down hard and fast until everything was covered in a slick gloss. The corridors of the old castle were dimly lit with the flames that slowly danced and flickered across the stone walls. The only sounds to be heard were the even breathing of James and Astra as their shoes clicked on the cobblestone floor. They walked slowly to the hospital wing in silence with the occasional glance at each other.

"Okay, what is wrong with you?" Astra demanded, breaking the awkward silence. She stopped walking and turned to face the messy haired boy. His hair was hanging down over his forehead and water was dripping down onto his already wet shirt that was stuck to his chest only covered by a soaked jacket. He stopped and turned around to face her.

"Aren't you coming? We have to get you to Madam Pomfrey before Filch catches us." He said, completely disregarding her question. "Since when do you care about getting caught by Filch. Did you even hear me? When are you ever going to listen to me?" Astra said, looking at him incredulously.

"What are you talking about? Never mind, come on." James said, gently grasping her right wrist and pulling her through the courtyard. Astra ripped her wrist out of his hold. "James stop! I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what is wrong with you. Why are you so upset with me? What did I do!" Astra yelled in frustration.

"Nothing! You did nothing. Now let's get going, you're going to catch a cold in this rain." James took off his jacket and walked towards her. He wrapped it around her small body and took a step back.

Astra stared into his eyes and he looked down at the ground. "James, please. Tell me what I did so I can fix it." "Ness for once you can't fix this. Please just let it go." James looked back up to see her expression was unchanging.

"Fine, you really want to know!" James yelled in exasperation and frustration. He was tired of hiding it but he was scared how she would react. Would she feel the same or would she disregard and reject him completely.

She nodded her head and they stared deeply into each other's eyes. "No, I cant... I can't do this." The water dripped from her eyelashes and onto her rosy cheeks as James turned around and started to walk away.

"James! James, please tell me. I can't stand this. I can't stand you being angry with me! Please tell me what is wrong!" Astra yelled at him as she wrapped his jacket tighter around herself to keep herself a little warmer from the harsh rain.

James stopped and whipped around quickly, making Astra recoil a bit. "I'm in love with you! There I said it! I'm in love with you, and when we found out you were missing I freaked out. When Lily came downstairs telling us she couldn't find you I almost died right there."

Astra stared at him, now seeing why he cared about her so much. It physically pained her heart to see him breaking down in front of her. Her heart swelled a bit as she listened to him.

"My heart shattered to pieces and I almost ripped the whole of Hogwarts apart just to find you. I was so angry with myself for not being there to protect you. You are my sky, Astra. I know that sounds stupid but every time I look at the stars all I can think about is you. You are my star, Astra. And I love you so fucking much it pains me to even think about having to live in a world without you in it. I wouldn't survive. I love you, Ness. I don't know how you feel about me but I just had to tell you before something like this happened again. I love you so much, Astra."

James stopped talking and stared at her. Not waiting or expecting an answer but just to see how she would react to his confession. After a few seconds James started to get worried. He watched how the rain dripped down from her hair onto her face. He leaned forward and brought his hand up to her face slowly. He wiped a drop of rain off of her cheek and reached up to push some hair behind her ear.