the Horcrux Thief, james potter

xxv. all the time in the world

When Mum let him go she looked at him with a look only she could give him. "James, rest. You have training in the morning and you've been up all of last night."

"I'm not going. I can't leave Amaya alone."

"You already skipped training today. You have to go, son, you made a commitment. Amaya is resting and she will wake up," as she said those words her voice wavered slightly, "I'll stay with her tomorrow. I won't leave her sight."

"Mum—"

"You don't have a choice. You're going tomorrow, James Potter. And you'll train and learn."

Knowing there was no arguing with his mother, James merely nodded—not that he had any intention of going tomorrow if Amaya remained unconscious.

"Yesterday," he said instead, his eyes straying to Amaya though he was sure Mum was listening, "When I was fighting, I... We couldn't capture Peter. We barely scraped by with the rest of the Death Eaters. If it wasn't for Amaya taking down Bellatrix someone could've ended up dying. I... What if I'm not good enough, Mum? What if I can't protect the people I love?" He raised Amaya's hand to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of it again. "I can't let... What if I'm not good enough?"

"Oh, darling." Mum laid her hand on his shoulder, sitting on the bed next to where his chair was and making James look up at her. "It's not your responsibility to keep everyone alive, and it is not your responsibility to fight this war alone. We're all fighting together and as long as we give it our best and don't give into the darkness, that's enough."

"It's not. We might not win this war, Mum. What then? What do we do?"

"If it comes to that, James, we can only hope we can keep ourselves safe until we can gather our strengths and fight back." Mum sighed. "If. Not when. Because Amaya brought hope, darling, and we're getting closer to defeating... Voldemort. I'll fight till my last breath to give you back a world where you don't have to fear walking outside, love. We all will."

"Thank you, Mum, for everything."

"You don't need to thank me for anything, darling. I do everything because I love you. And that's unconditional." She smiled. "You're more than enough for me."

James couldn't help but smile, leaning into her touch as his Mum cupped his face. She stood up, kissed his forehead, and left.

Only before she closed the door behind her she said, "Please rest properly, James. Amaya will wake up sooner than you think."

Sooner than he thought ended up being well into the night. James was still sitting in the chair, his eyes drooping but he willed himself to stay awake.

He woke up fully when he felt her hand move in his. Scrambling, James sat down by the bed, gently holding her hand. "Maya?"

Her eyes closed tightly, her nose scrunching up and when she opened them, James sighed in relief. Amaya took a few seconds to adjust to her surroundings but when her eyes finally landed on him, eyes so dark without the light they were endless, her lips parted.

"James?"

"It's me, I'm right here."

She closed her eyes again this time only momentarily before she sat up straight against the headboard. "How long was I sleep?"

"A day, perhaps a bit more." James gave her a small smile. "Gave me quite a fright, menace."

Amaya only half smiled back. It seemed forced. "I'm sorry. I couldn't control all of that magic and Peter was—Did we get him?"

James shook his head. "Sirius ran after him but the rat escaped through the sewers with the other rats." He shook his head so he wasn't glaring at the sheets. "Did he do something to you?"