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chapter seventeen;
downfalls all around
James was on a high and nothing, not even Moody becoming a nightmare could bring him down—well, during the day he could but as soon as he stepped out of the Ministry James was back up.
The weekend had passed in a blur. James had never felt so happy in his life. He couldn't get enough of Amaya. Saturday was spent in the library looking into the workings of Gringotts. And Remus and Sirius spent the whole time subtly (or their version of it) teasing them indirectly. Did James care? Fuck no.
He'd grabbed a book from their pile of chosen tomes to research the bank, and promptly laid on the couch, his head on Amaya's lap and the book hovering over him as he read—he nearly fell asleep a hundred times as she unconsciously played with his hair.
Then Sunday, he went out with the boys to a pub in London, and the whole night he watched Peter closely, Amaya's voice in his head telling him she didn't trust him at all.
James couldn't believe his friend would be a traitor, or untrustworthy, and yet he kept a close eye on him all night. Only, after a couple of drinks in, he could only think about going back home. He couldn't get enough of Amaya.
The rest of the week was slower though, with Moody making his life and Sirius' hell, probably to get back at them for standing up to him during the meeting—like a petty little bitch. He'd dumped mountains of paperwork on them and that week Sirius and James hardly stepped foot in the training arena to practice dueling, and instead had to study the files of the families they'd take to France come October.
On Wednesday he and Amaya went to Gringotts and James found it highly amusing the way his girl couldn't handle the ride down to the vaults but could throw herself off a broom, flying. He also loved the way she grabbed onto him.
What he didn't like though, was that Remus and Amaya were sneaking around with their research of the Horcruxes, telling them only they had something in the works and needed to concentrate, but otherwise keeping James and Sirius in the dark.
"It's nothing bad, don't worry your pretty head about it," Amaya had told him one morning as she got ready to go out for a run in his room whilst James brushed his teeth in the bathroom.
"Oi! I'm not just a handsome lad, love. I can think, and I think you and Remus are sneaking around because we won't like whatever you're doing," James said after finishing brushing his teeth, leaning against the doorway of the bathroom as Amaya looked at the mirror in the door of his closet, tying her hair up.
She met his eyes through the mirror and he could've sworn her lips tugged up for a moment before she shrugged innocently. "Perhaps we're having an affair, have you thought about that?"
James chuckled. "Darling, there's no way that's true. Moony couldn't handle you."
Amaya gaped at him through the mirror and then turned around to face him. "Excuse me?"
Raising his hands in surrender, James pushed off the doorway and walked closer to her. "You're a menace, Maya, that's a fact."
"A fact?"
James bit the inside of his cheek, trying not to smile as he nodded, teasing her.
"Ninny will withhold your breakfast if she hears how you're slandering my image," she said, her nose high, a teasing glint in her eyes and James grinned.
"Slandering?" He clicked his tongue with a shake of his head, tugging her to him by her hips and making Amaya bite down a smile as she looked up at him. "No slander in sight, Amaya. I like menaces."
She raised a brow at him, settling her hands on his chest. "Go find Sirius then."
He let out a laugh, pulling her closer. "I would, but Marlene has a hold on him."
"Oh, so, I guess I'm your backup then?"
"Guess so," he said, his heart racing for the girl who was smiling up at him fondly, mirth in her eyes.
Not being able to resist, James had swept down and kissed her; otherwise, he was sure the words I love you would've just come tumbling out of his mouth.
The Order Meeting that week was shorter, mostly an update and keeping people around to know the details of their missions—Amaya had gone, and sat down and glared at Moody for the majority of the time whilst James and everyone else watched in amusement.
And that Sunday, despite it being Marauder Day, Sirius and James dragged Amaya to the Quidditch pitch with them so they could have enough people for two teams plus a keeper, to play the mix-and-match game they liked to call Quidditch Mania. This consisted of everyone having every role of the team except for the keeper, being able to steal bats as well as quaffles, and no rules besides scoring.
Peter had come around specifically for them to play before they'd go out to a nearby muggle town to get pissed (like they usually did)—Amaya had promptly said she'd stay out of it, instead planning on meeting the girls at Marlene's house.
That afternoon, when Peter arrived at the house in the afternoon James saw Amaya's shoulders stiffen and her face turned slightly pale. And though he stood by the fact Peter wasn't a spy—he was their friend after all and he hadn't seemed off—he tugged Amaya closer to him, his protectiveness coming out as she looked sick. Peter didn't seem too keen on spending his day with Amaya either.
James tried to feel this magic Amaya talked about but he could never concentrate long enough to do it, especially when they started playing a game of Quidditch.
The game was downright a bloodbath, in the best way possible. Not only were they all competing for the snitch but Sirius and Amaya had taken to, as a team, making sure they used the bat they were always stealing and not only throw bludgers at Remus and James but also use it to score every time the quaffle was thrown in the air.
Not that they were winning, Remus and James weren't far behind, instead making sure James could grab a hold of a quaffle whilst Remus distracted Peter so he could score.
James was in the middle of scoring when he saw the bludger going astray, flipping from its trajectory through the hoops back, at high speed. He let the quaffle drop and swerved on the broom just as Amaya, who was standing on her broom trying to get Remus from catching the snitch, was hit square in her chest.
He saw her fall back in slow motion and for half a second he expected his incredible flying witch to catch herself only she didn't, her face twisted in confusion and a scream tore from her lips when she fell.
In one second James dived after her and was able to get a hold of her before she reached the ground only he didn't stop soon enough and both of them went tumbling through the ground. James was able to flip to his back so she was on top of him and he could soften the blow from the ground that hit him in the back, causing the breath to be knocked out of his lungs.
He heard shouts of the boys landing on the ground but he could only focus on Amaya who was gasping for air. As soon as he gathered his bearings, he turned them around, laying her softly on the grass and her hand wrapped around his arm.
"James—" she gasped, her face scrunched up in pain, "—I can't breathe."
Worried, James carefully lifted her shirt and winced at the bruises forming on her rib cage, she must've had broken ribs too. "Can you heal yourself, love?"
Amaya closed her eyes tightly but in the next second, she opened them as she tried to breathe again. "Can't—focus."
"Alright, I can heal you." James was trying to urge himself not to make it worse and believe the words he was saying. He knew a few healing spells and Amaya had been teaching him to feel for magic and take control more, so it probably wouldn't be a problem... "Right?"
He might've said the last part out loud cause Amaya nodded. "I trust you. Just—don't kill me."
"She's gonna die," he heard Sirius say, "Where's Ninny?"
"Ninny has the day off," Remus said.
"Oh fuck, James don't fuck it up," Sirius warned him, "I'm calling your mother."
James ignored him and closed his eyes, his hand hovering over her torso. For the first moment as he allowed his magic to spew out of him so he could connect with the one around him James almost gagged. Something vile was in the air, magic that felt corrupted in its very being, and when he opened his eyes he was looking at Peter, who looked concerned for Amaya.
His brows furrowed. Amaya was right, of course, she was, something was wrong with Peter's magic—
"James," Amaya called, her hand gripping his arm. "No rush," she said sarcastically with a gasp, and he shook his head concentrating on healing his girl.
He focused his magic on hers, a magic so familiar it made his heart warm. He focused on the bruises, on the area of the blow, and felt the particles, the bones that were broken, the wounds caused.
Concentrating, he slowly began to take control of them, one by one moving the magic and transforming it to bring her back to health, snapping the bones in place with a few healing charms along the way to make sure he wasn't fucking up.
The process was slow, and meticulous as he didn't want to make matters worse, but at last, he knew he was doing something right because Amaya's breathing evened out and her grip on his arm loosened.
By the time he opened his eyes, his mother had already shown up and she along with the three marauders were staring at him like he grew another head. James paid them no mind, looking down at the witch on the ground, smiling up at him.
"Not bad, idiot," she whispered.
"Thanks, menace." He grinned but it faltered soon. "What happened out there?"
Amaya didn't answer right away but he saw her eyes flicker to Peter's for a moment before she looked back at him. "I'm not sure. I just felt someone tamper with the bludger and it wasn't fast enough for me to avoid it."
"Someone?" Mum exclaimed, her eyes looking around the grounds. "Kids get inside."
"We could go search the property, Mum—"
Mum cut Sirius off with a stern look. "The wards will do that. Now get in the house where it's safe. And you're not going out tonight. Peter dear if you want there's room for you to stay."
That night before going to bed, James made his way to the room Peter was staying in after Mum insisted he could stay. He walked inside to find Peter sitting on the bed reading a book.
He glanced up when James walked in and smiled. "What's up, Prongs?"
"Everything alright, Wormy?" James asked tensely and Peter frowned.
"Yes... What happened?"
"So nothing wrong with your magic? You don't feel sick? Have you been in touch with dark objects?"
"Not that I'm aware of," Peter said, his face amused. "What's this about, James?"
"Just worried about you."
Peter rolled his eyes and when he talked his voice was more bitter than James thought he intended. "I'm fine, Prongs. Worry about the girl in your bed."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Peter shrugged. "Nothing. Just that, someone's after her, she should be careful."
"That sounds like a threat," James said, his jaw clenching as he tried to figure out who he thought was his friend.
Peter looked oblivious as he laughed. "Not a threat, Prongs. Just stating the obvious."
"Right." James ran a hand through his hair. "You didn't see anyone on the ground, right? When the bludger went off track?"
"No... Why do I feel like you're accusing me of something?" asked Peter, his brows furrowed and James only smiled tightly as he shrugged.
"Nope, not at all. Anyway, I'm gonna go to sleep. G'night, Pete."
James slipped out of the room, his stomach clenching at the thought of his friend. Because after feeling his magic James couldn't just ignore the signs. Something was wrong with Peter and James was worried it had something to do with Amaya.
He was almost sure Peter had been the one to throw the bludger off course, whether he had a good poker face or not, James could tell when he was using it, a mask can hide many things except the mask itself. And there was hardly any reason to hide anything.
He couldn't wrap his mind around Peter being a spy or a traitor for that manor. He had known the boy since he was eleven for Merlin's sake, he was many things but he'd never been malicious or disloyal—well aside from the times he left them to deal with the consequences of their mischievous ways, but to be fair, detention with McGonagall wasn't easy.
Although, now that he thought about it, Peter had been weirdly detached lately, and so had James, he'd been focusing on Amaya and their mission for the Horcruxes. But there was no denying Peter's magic was rotten. James only had to figure out why, and he, quite frankly, feared the answer.
He had to talk to Amaya. Apologize for not believing her. "Maya?" he asked as he walked into his room, closing the door behind him.
"In here," she called out from the bathroom, the sound of the shower muffling her words.
James' lips tugged up and he walked inside the bathroom, any thoughts in his head and what he needed to speak to her about clearing the moment her eyes snapped to his, heat swirling in them, as she stood under the water in all her breathtaking glory.
"Are you getting in?" she asked as she took off her shampoo, her eyes closing as the suds ran down her body.
He was sure he looked like a bloody idiot as he stared at her. Instead of answering, James only shook his head, and leaned against the counter, his head tilting, and he was sure she was finding it very amusing that he was watching her, by the smile on her face.
Amaya shrugged, but instead of turning off the water and getting out of the shower when she finished with her hair, she only looked at him in amusement before she fully turned to him.
"What are you doing then?" she asked playfully as he crossed his arms in front of him, his eyes trailing her curves.
"Admiring."
"Well, quit it and get in here, Jamie." She smirked, her hand traveling down her stomach, making James swallow a lump in his throat, his lips parting as she trailed her skin past the curve of her waist. "Or I'll start without you."
His lips tugged in one corner, and he nodded, feeling his blood rush. "Prove it."
"Alright," she said with a wicked smile, "But if you do anything other than watch, you lose."
Safe to say that he lost. He didn't even get to a full five minutes watching Amaya get herself off—her eyes locked with his, his name leaving her lips—before he'd taken off his clothes and gotten inside the shower.
Soon he had the witch pressed against the wall, her legs around his waist, and the victorious smile on her lips that turned into an expression twisted in pleasure when he thrust inside her.
"I win," she whispered as her nails dug into his back and she kissed him.
Fuck. He was so far gone for this girl that nothing could save him now. He'd thrown away any lifeline he could've taken any way out and dived head in. He loved Amaya Santoro. And now, he just needed her to love him back.
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