The Gryffindor common room is usually my favorite place to be. Its warmth, brightness, and general atmosphere make it very soothing to me. It only has one problem - it is in one of the tallest towers of the castle.
Normally, this provides an amazing view. I love heights, and it makes me feel like I'm flying. But I hate storms, and tonight was one of the biggest of the year so far.
Whenever lightning flashed across the sky, it lit up the room like I was in a scene from a horror film. And the thunder that followed echoed through the stone rooms and sent chills up my spine.
I'd given up on sleeping hours ago, when there were still people down in the common room. Now, I was sitting alone with the storm swirling around outside.
A particularly loud crash of thunder sounded and I winced and wrapped a blanket even tighter around myself.
Think of happy things. I needed to think of happy things, or else I'd never calm down.
Okay. The beach. New books. Cats. Sunny days. Mint. Chocolate. My boyfriend, Remus.
Even the thought of my best friend and love weren't making me feel any better. I gasped as the sky lit up outside the tower.
I couldn't stop myself any more.
I crept up the stairs to the boys' dormitories, making sure to skip the creaky seventh step, stopping when I got to the old, scratched up door of Remus and his best friends.
I turned the doorknob and stepped inside the room. It was messy, as usual, but not unpleasantly. Remus' bed was in the corner. I couldn't help from smiling when I saw his hair, all tousled from bed, and his mismatched pajamas.
Quietly, I sat on the edge of his bed and touched his arm, waking him up. Remus blinked several times and mumbled, "y/n?"
I put a finger to my lips. Remus slid over in the bed and pulled back the covers so I could lay down with him.
When we were both comfortable, Remus wrapped his arms around me and breathed in my ear, "What's wrong? You're shaking."
Distant thunder echoed as I whispered back, "The storm."
"Oh, god, I forgot," he replied, "I should never have left you in the common room."
"It's okay." I scooted closer to Remus and kissed him gently on the lips. I loved cuddling with him like this - it was so intimate and yet so innocent.
He played with a stray strand of my hair and said quietly, "No, it isn't."
I could see in his eyes that he meant it. Remus was the sort of person who felt responsible for everything, and that thought tore him up inside. The worst thing about it was that there was nothing I could say to make him feel better. So I did the next best thing - I kissed him.
Remus smiled gently at me. I loved him when he was like this - still sleepy, with a dreamy look in his eyes and a soft expression on his face.
We lay together for a long time, not talking, just being together. Eventually, I yawned and Remus said, "You are adorable when you're tired. But I'm sure it won't be good for you tomorrow in class. Do you think you can fall asleep?"
I nodded and moved to leave, but Remus stopped me. "y/n, you can stay here. You know that, right? James, Sirius, and Peter might make fun of us in the morning, but it won't be that bad."
I giggled, said "I know," and relaxed back into his arms.
"Good night, y/n," Remus whispered to me, "Sweet dreams."