Strange Benefits (James Potter)

twenty

note: we are so close to 2k reads 😭 thank you guys so much! this one is short. milla and james. a bit of lily.

Rain drizzled against the open castle grounds heavily, but the sky was void of thunder and lightning. Milla stood at the center of the brewing storm, drenched from head to toe, body shaking with harsh shivers, lips turning purple and teeth chattering. With silent movements, she slowly laid on her back against the cement floor, spreading her arms wide as if to welcome the thick drops of water.

It felt as if she was getting a massage all over her body. She would probably get sick later in the day, and she looked forward to it. Anything to avoid all her problems. Anything to avoid having to see him, see them together. Her realization that she liked James had not been amiss, but it had made her even more lonely if possible.

"Milla!"

It was James who saw her drowning in the storm. He had quidditch practice until it rained and he cut it short, making his way back to his dorm still in his gear. He was thinking of how pleasing a bath in the prefects' bathroom would be and not in the shower rooms as usual, and how the warm water would certainly soothe his aching limbs when he saw Milla lying on the ground.

His first reaction was to panic. Was she hurt? Why was she lying on the ground in the pouring rain? What's happening?

James ran, dropping his equipment and rushed towards the head girl. "Milla!" he shouted, dread making its way to his chest when she didn't move. He reached and and immediately went to his knees, holding her on either sides and shaking her. Milla opened her eyes in shock, almost choking from the harsh rain.

"James, what the hell?" she sputtered out, sitting up and nudging his hands away.

He glared, jaw dropping. "What do you mean, 'what the hell'? I thought you were hurt!"

"Why would I be hurt?"

He stood up and she copied his actions. "You were lying on the ground in this rain! What were you thinking?" He was shouting over the noise, squinting his eyes to see. "Do you want to end up sick?"

Milla chuckled humorlessly, wiping her face with her hands and shaking her head. "I wanted to get sick, Potter. And now look," she gestured to his wet body. "You're going to get sick as well."

James rolled his eyes and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her until they reached the closest place with roof. They ended up outside the astronomy tower where he pulled her in. Using his wand, he conjured two large blankets and handed her one. "Here," he huffs out. "Use a drying spell on yourself and we'll see how we can warm ourselves up after."

She did as told, muttering the correct enchantments and in a second, she was dry. It didn't help stop her shivering, though, so she wrapped the blanket James conjured up around her body in an attempt to feel warm.

"You shouldn't have went after me," she finally says, unable to look in his eye and hold his gaze. "That was a stupid move."

He sighed, frustrated, and leaned against the wall adjacent her. "I thought you were hurt, Milla. Stop whining."

They both shivered in silence, waiting for the rain to die down. Milla could feel her limbs shaking and she was pretty sure color was nonexistent on her lips at the moment. James was the same, wrapping his blanket and arms around himself.

"Couldn't you just conjure an umbrella? I'm not that good in transfiguration and honestly that one time I conjured a towel for you was pure luck,"

The head boy shook his head. "We're not going back out in that rain. We'll just get drenched again and sick even more," He glanced at Milla's shaking form before sighing heavily and approaching her. "Open up," he gestured to her arms. "Body heat will warm us up,"

She didn't have the energy to protest, so she just allowed him to scoot inside her blanket and wrap his arms around her, pulling her flushed into his chest. They both sighed at the warmth, breaths blowing against each other's skin. Milla closed her eyes, suddenly feeling sleepy.

"Milla?"

She hummed in reply, pressing her face into his chest further on instinct.

"I'm sorry," he mumbles, tightening his arms around her. "I'm so sorry,"

She sighs and pulls away only slightly to look him in the eyes. "I'm sorry, too."

They hugged, silent for a few minutes and listening to the unforgiving and relentless rain outside before James spoke again. "Did you really mean what you said? About us not being friends?"

She rubbed his back in comfort. "We can be friends, Potter." she smiles against his shirt. "But you better stop kissing me. Friends don't actually do that, you know."

"No promises," he teased and she pinched the skin in his lower back. He yelped but didn't let go of her.

-

Lily watched her boyfriend and the head girl dash around in the rain, and her heart felt heavy at the sight. She knew James was probably just helping out his dorm mate, but she couldn't deny that Milla had a certain attractiveness to her that made boys weak in the knees. She remembered all those times in their early years in Hogwarts when the blonde's brother, Maxwell, would scare off almost half the male population in the castle for wanting to go out with the girl, but she paid no mind. Milla had always disliked attention.

She shouldn't worry. After all, it was Lily who James had pinned after since she could remember. He never even had any solid interactions with Milla until this year because they were both appointed heads. Still, she couldn't help but remember a certain look that, although fleetingly, flashed across the head girl's eyes when she opened the door for Lily that one morning a few days ago.

Lily saw a look of pain in the girl's eyes, and that was enough to make the redhead worry.

-

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