( chapter seventy-four )
tw: mentions of abuse
JAMES POTTER LAY WITH HIS girlfriend wrapped in his arm long after she had fallen back into a deep sleep, this time, it wasn't disturbed by any nightmares that haunted her head.
His thumb continued to run over the back of her hand absentmindedly, his hand giving hers a squeeze every few minuets.
His other arm was draped around her waist, the grip that he had on her before now loosened as he thought that she wasn't going to wake up or have another nightmare anytime soon.
Even thought Cassie had now been asleep for a few more hours, James didn't move or even fall asleep himself.
He didn't know if he was staying awake in case she woke up — even if that was due to a nightmare other just waking up on her own — James just knew that he wanted to be awake when she woke up, he wanted to be there if she was in anymore pain.
Or if he was only staying awake to spend as much time with her as possible. He didn't mention it to anyone, but when Regulus had told him and Sirius that they would probably be coming to them soon, he couldn't help but worry more than he thought he ever could. Images of her in pain filled his mind every hour of the day; images of her slowly loosing any life that was left in her; images of her dying.
It broke his heart, he didn't know if what he was imagining was happening or not and knowing Cassies parents, it could have been.
James didn't want to ever let Cassie go, he just wanted to stay with her forever and a day.
James lay there for only a few hours more, when Cassie began to stir slightly.
The sun was low in the oddly clear sky, painting the normal blue with shades of pink and orange. Its light rays hung low in, now only illuminating the bottom part of the sky and the horizon. The small town the other side of the village where the Potter Cottage resided was now only a black silhouette, the outline of the houses, shops and church looking mesmerising with the orange sun behind them. A few stray stars had began to appear in the parts of the sky that were slowly turning a pitch black. A cold breeze was coming in through James slightly open window, the trees in its path swaying side to side as the wind pushed past their fragile branched.
James froze for a short moment as he felt Cassie shift around, he had pulled the duvet back up to cover her when she had first stopped moving squirming around in the bed, he didn't want to move and wake her if she wasn't yet ready to wake up.
He stayed still for a moment, before Cassie's head moved, she was now looking up at him.
James' heart skipped a beat as their eyes met, his chocolate brown ones meeting her stormy grey ones. He had missed those eyes; the way they lit up when she laughed, the way that they crinkled at the edges as she smiled up at him with a smirk on her face, the slight glassy look she had in them when she had just woken up, the way they stared at him with such love.
Cassie couldn't hold in her excitement and her relief as she met James eyes.
She stared at him for a second, before she quickly jumped up so that she was straddling his chest, she ignored the jolts of pain that she felt shoot throughout her body.
James let out a light chuckle as she did so, most of the air left his lungs at the suddenness of her movement.
His hands grabbing either side of her waist as she looked down at him, a large grin on her face and a matching one was on James face too.
"Hey." She whispered, her voice was slightly hoarse, it sent shivers down James spine as his grin grew ever so slightly at how she sounded seeing as she had just woken up.
"Hi." He replied, still rather breathless, but he honestly didn't care one bit.
He opened his mouth to ask her how she was feeling, however Cassie quickly bent down and pressed her lips to his. James let out a slight gasp at the suddenness of the kiss, but he was quick to kiss back.
James let out a small chuckle in surprise at how Cassie quickly took control of the kiss. Her lips leading his rather than the other way around.
Cassie's tongue ran along James bottom lip, asking for entrance, he was quick to open his mouth.
The small bristles of James stubble scratched against Cassie's soft skin as she moved her arms so that she could get closer to him.
They kissed each other hungrily, not even wanting to stop for air to enter their lungs.
James shifted slightly as Cassie continued to control the kiss, he let out a quiet moan as she deepened the kiss even more, something he didn't even think was possible.
Butterflies filled both of their stomachs, James hands moved so that he was now gripping the girls hips rather than her waist, his fingers dug into the fabric of the clothes she was wearing slightly.
"Fuck." Cassie moaned, but a moan of pain rather than pleasure.
James, who noticed the tone of her voice, gently pushed her away from him, a frown now in place of the smile that was there only moments before.
"Love?" He asked softly, his voice laced with worry as he spoke, "Are you okay?"
Cassie nodded, before shaking her head as more pain shot through her body. She let out another gasp of pain as her hands moved from either side of James' to hold one of her sides, where the pain was most severe.
James' eyes widened in worry, before he shook his head, trying not to worry too much in case Cassie mistook the look in his eyes for pity instead of worry.
His hands returned to her waist, he moved slightly so that he could lift her of his chest, hopefully without hurting her once again. Once she was off him, James helped her lay down, frowning as she let out more gasps of pain and winces as he did so.
James quickly looked back at Cassie before leaving the room to go and get his mother. He just hoped that it wasn't anything too serious.
･・･☽✥☾･・･
Regulus sat down at the table in the Potters kitchen, another mug of hot coco in front of him. He was certain that he was quickly becoming addicted to the chocolaty beverage, but he didn't care, it was the nicest drink he had ever tasted.
He was once again staring blankly in front of him, a permanent frown on his lips as everything in front of him became blurry due to how long it had been since he moved his eyes.
He wasn't even paying attention to his surroundings and what was going on around him — the last thing he had heard was James coming down the stairs, worry evident in his tone as he spoke to his mother, the two of them going back up the stairs without a second to spare.
He knew that it was Cassie, that something had happened to her yet again. He wanted to know what had happened to her, he really did, but at the same time he also didn't want to know.
Regulus couldn't help but feel partly responsible for what had happened to Cassie, no matter how many times she told him that it would never be his fault, he still thought it was.
Regulus' hands were wrapped around the white mug, only a little of the warmth remained, it warmed the palms of his hands.
He moved his gaze from staring into space to the mug, he looked at the small pattern that was painted onto it. Tiny red and yellow roses that started off close together but as they went up the mug they spread out, until no roses were left on the white paint.
He didn't think they even had mugs that weren't black at Grimmauld Place, everything fit with the atmosphere inside the building.
Regulus never noticed how draining it was until he came to the Potters, he had only been here around a day or two, and he already felt so much better than he ever did at Grimmauld Place.
Apart from the guilt that continued to eat at him from the inside.
Regulus looked up as someone pulled a chair out from across the table, his expression didn't change as he saw Fleamont sitting there, two mugs of hot coco in his hands.
The older man pushed one of the mugs towards Regulus, who looked at it for a moment, before he took it, placing his hands around that one rather than the one that was now cold.
He then stared down at the mug. He didn't take notice of the detail of this one, however, his mind too focused on why Fleamont was sitting there rather than being with Cassie like the rest of them.
"Are you okay, son?" Fleamont asked as he noticed how Regulus expression had now changed to one of confusion as he looked down at the drink.
He looked up at him, before he nodded.
Fleamont wasn't convinced as he shuffled his chair around the table so that he was now sitting closer to Regulus.
Regulus looked up at Fleamont, who had an expression, that Regulus had never seen anyone but Cassie have, on his face.
Regulus noticed the expression to be a mixture of concern, pity and confusion.
"Are you sure?" Fleamont asked, his voice seemed even softer than before.
His voice was comforting, it didn't sound like the parental voices that he had grown up hearing that were always so shrill and loud.
Regulus didn't know why, but he instantly felt as if he could trust the older man.
It felt strange, to be able to trust someone that wasn't Cassie. It felt very strange, but for some reason, it also made him feel loved.
Regulus shook his head slowly, before he shook it quickly.
Tears quickly made their way into his eyes, he didn't try to stop them from falling as the older man placed a reassuring hand on his knee. Regulus flinched slightly at the touch to begin with, but he soon found out that it was comforting.
"Oh, Reg." Fleamont whispered as he watched the tears fall from the boys face, landing in a small puddle on the wooden table.
The tears, while they seemed small to anyone who would have looked, seemed massive to Regulus, each tear was like he was having a weight removed off his shoulders.
"I can't." Regulus said through his tears, his body soon beginning to rack with small sobs as the tears began to fall heavier and heavier as he looked up at the man.
His face was streaked with tears, his eyes red rimmed and still full of tears, his whole face was now read and slightly puffy.
"I hate it, so much." He whispered, hating how broken his own voice sounded, but Fleamont either didn't notice, or he didn't seem to matter.
"Hate what?" Fleamont asked in return, he felt as if he had a hunch at what Regulus hated, but he wanted him to say it, so that Regulus knew that he could talk to people and that they would listen to him. As he was certain that growing up, Regulus didn't have anyone but Cassie and Sirius to talk to.
He was still certain that the young boy talked to his older sister more than his older brother.
"It's my fault." He said, his voice barley above a whisper as his hands began to shake.
Fleamont's heart broke as he watched Regulus break down with even more sobs. He could tell that Regulus was now finding it hard to breath due to the amount of tears that he was crying.
The older man didn't waste a second before he moved his chair even closer to Regulus', wrapping the boy into a tight hug.
Regulus was tense at first, his sobs stopping as he took a moment to adjust to the sudden contact. The feeling was unfamiliar for him, as once again, he had only ever been hugged by Cassie and Sirius.
Regulus soon grew used to the contact, and he wrapped his shaking arms around the man, his sobs returning but now they were slightly slower and spread apart.
"Listen to me, son." Fleamont spoke, his hand moving to Regulus' hair, where he ran his fingers through the boys hair with a frown.
"Nothing, not one part, of this situation is your fault. This is no-one fault apart from your parents." Fleamont took a small breath.
"You cannot blame yourself, as if you do, that means that they have won. They would have won by making you feel like shit constantly, and they would have won as them and their actions are still controlling your life, even thought you're now free."
Regulus listened intently as the man spoke, he was hanging onto every word that he said.
"And it's not your fault in the first place, it's not yours nor is it Cassie's. Neither of you did anything wrong-"
"But it is my fault!" Regulus tried to push away from Fleamont, but he wouldn't let him go, trying to sooth him once again.
His body began to rack with sobs once again, this time they were heavier and quicker than last time.
Fleamont instantly began to whisper to the boy who was crying harder than he had ever seen anyone cry before, his shirt was slowly becoming soaked, but he didn't care.
Regulus was still fighting the hug, but his pushes were becoming weaker as weaker as he wore himself out from both trying to push the man off when he knew that he wasn't going to move, and the tears that he was still crying.
"It is not your fault." Fleamont said again, his voice still soft and soothing as he didn't want Regulus to think he was angry at him, which he definitely wasn't.
"Your parents are sick twisted people who didn't care about what happened to anyone as long as they themselves stayed okay. They didn't care about you, Cassie and Sirius, they never did, they only cared about hurting you until you were what they would call the perfect child."
Fleamont took another breath.
"It is not your fault, Reg, you need to see that." Regulus finally stopped trying to push the man away as he nodded, his forehead resting against his wet shirt.
"We are going to be here for you now Reg," He carried on, his voice now even more soothing than before.
"Me, Euphemia, James, Sirius and Cassie, we are all going to be here for you, and we are never going to leave you, or let you get hurt again."
Regulus moved his head so that he was now looking up at the man, his eyes that seemed to shine under his tears meeting Fleamonts, which were already so filled with love as he looked down at the boy.
"Promise?" Regulus asked, his voice still quiet but slightly louder than before.
"I promise."
And for the first time in ages, Regulus felt like the promise was genuine.
･・･☽✥☾･・･
HEY, SO THIS CHAPTER WAS OVER 2600 WORDS :0
AND THERE WAS A
MISHAP WITH THE PUBLISHING
LOL, I WAS JUST BEING STUPID TBH-
SO SORRY IF YOU
GOT EXCITED, I
WROTE AN EXTRA
LONG CHAPTER TO
HOPEFULLY MAKE UP FOR IT!
ANYWAYSS,
THIS CHAPTER MADE MY
H
EART ACHE AND LIKE S
WOON? AT THE SAME
TIME
STAN DOM CASSIE
you will be seeing more
of her soon ;)
I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS
CHAPTER, AS USUAL PLEASE TELL
M
E WHAT YOU THOUGHT
AND WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE NEXT
AND UNTIL NEXT TIME
- Emily xx