CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
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-: sixth year :-
── IN WHICH HER HANGOVER HITS
. . .
"Morning sleepy head." Were the first three words that Tiger heard as she woke up. Only a groan could be heard in reply as the girl pulled the covers over her head. "You're lucky it's a Saturday, I don't have to force you out of bed."
Once again, only a groan could be heard, and as of then, only the top of Tiger's head could be seen, the rest covered by the red sheets of James's Potters bed.
"I think I might be sick." Tiger said, throwing back the covers and wincing. She was greeted by a bowl by the bed, and felt someone sit behind her, holding back her hair as she threw up and rubbing her back.
"As it turns out, the house elves are very good at making hangover care packages. I suppose they would be after having Sirius drunk multiple times a year." The person explained, and Tiger recognised the voice as James, slumping against his chest.
Using the cold cloth that was sat on the bedside table, James cleaned Tiger's face gently, and quickly cleaning the bowl with a spell, setting it down with the cloth.
The girl had her eyes closed, and using his wand once again, James closed the curtains on his windows. "What time is it? And where am I?" Tiger asked, her eyes still closed.
"You're in the boys dorm." James explained. "It's around lunch on Saturday. And don't worry, Sirius and Lydia put you to bed last night."
"You said about a care package?" Tiger asked a couple of minutes later, her eyes still closed. "Is there water and something for this shit headache?"
"There is water, and I'm pretty sure that Sirius will have something off Madame Pomfrey for that. Or I could go get your own?" James gently lifted Tiger off of him, going over to his friends bedside table and examining a couple bottles next to it. "Here." He said, making his way back over and slipping back onto his bed, Tiger sitting up and leaning on him again.
Taking the glass of water on the bedside table, Tiger swallowed a couple sips of the potion which Sirius had, then cringing and drinking some of the water.
"It smells exactly like what you smelt off at the party in here. And lemons. Didn't you smell of lemons last night?" Tiger rambled slightly and James smiled slightly.
"I got my mum to send me more of the cologne that I wore, after you asked." James admitted, and Tiger seemed to take a deep breath, a small smile appearing on her face.
"I wasn't being 100% serious. But it smells nice." She murmured, taking another sip of water, her head resting on James's shoulder, eyes still closed.
The pair sat in silence for a few minutes, Tiger slowly trying to adjust her eyes and even attempt to open them, the headache pounding in her head almost stopping from doing so. Soon the only sound in the room was James slowly moving the pages of the book he had balanced on the small portion of the bed left.
"How much did I drink last night?" Tiger asked, her fingers drawing a circle pattern over James's bed covers.
"About two-thirds of the bottle? I think so anyways. I didn't drink too much and there was a little bit left over." James explained, pointing out the bottle on Sirius's nightstand. "Padfoot was more than happy to have the rest."
"He should be." Tiger snickered, and thats when James knew she was feeling a little bit better. "That stuff is expensive to find over here. But I'll find some at Christmas."
"Have you thought more about that?" James said. "About what you want to do at Christmas? Like I said before, my parents would be more than happy to have you stay."
"I think I might give it a try." Tiger paused for a moment, trying to remember something. "I'll try with my parents - we're supposed to be staying with at Remus's until Christmas Eve. I'd rather not make more trouble." She shrugged, sipping on her water.
"Good idea. But you can come over whenever. If something goes wrong or anything." James offered, and Tiger nodded, sitting up and stretching.
"Can I take a shower?" She asked, looking back at him. "And would you mind asking one of the girls to grab me some clothes. I don't think I could stay in this any longer even if I tried."
"Of course." James nodded, sitting up himself and walking towards the door. There should be some towels in there and shower gel and shampoo and conditioner in there."
"Thanks Prongsie." Tiger said as she shut the door behind her, and James left the dorm room, making his way down into the common room, where he found Marlene and Lydia.
"Has she woken up?" Lydia asked, looking up at the Potter boy as he stopped in front of their chair. "I hope her headache isn't too bad."
"Yeah she is. And I think the stuff that Sirius had is helping." James replied. "She's just showering, and asked me to go see if one of you two would get her some new clothes, if you wouldn't mind."
"Of course, I'll be right back." Marlene put down her quill and hurried off, up to her dorm, leaving James and Lydia at the sofa.
"I could go and ask the house elves for some soup or something, if she's hungry." Lydia mentioned, also stopping writing her essay, looking over at James.
"I'd have to check with her, but I think that would be best." He nodded, and Lydia agreed.
"I'll wait until Marlene's back and then I'll go." Lydia said. "I heard you and Lily talked last night? How did that go?"
"It was fine." James told her. "It definitely acted as some closure."
It had been awkward between James and Lily for months, and it wasn't only their friends which were grateful for them finally clearing the air between them. Many teachers at Hogwarts and other people who weren't in either of the friendship groups could feel the tensions between James and Lily, and how awkward it could get.
"That's good." Lydia said, as Marlene came back down the stairs, holding a small pile of clothes, and a bag on top of them.
"I included a few other things she might need as well. Just let her know that the dorm is fine to go back with whenever, Lils made us clean it earlier." Marlene said, passing the pile over to James.
"Thank you." James said, as Lydia explained to Marlene where she was going, and both her and James saying their goodbyes to each other as they returned to their rooms.
The shower was still running as James returned to his room, and he knocked on the door. "Twigs, I'll just open the door and put it on the counter." He called, getting the go ahead from the girl before doing so, quickly opening the door and placing the stuff down, shutting the door before even a few seconds had passed.
It was a little while before James could hear the water turn off, as he continued to read that same book. A few moments before the water had gone off, a house elf had appeared with a bowl of soup and bread, and had cast a charm on it to keep it warm with a click of it's fingers, before disappearing moments later.
Tiger appeared out of the bathroom with her hair half-dry and curly, dressed in a pair of shorts and extremely oversized knit sweater. "Is that food?" She asked, looking over at the plate, stopping brushing her hair, letting her hand drop to her side.
"Yeah, Lydia had some house elves bring something up, and I guess this is what she asked for." James said, moving so that Tiger could sit down next to him, curling up to his side, her head balanced on his shoulders.
She pulled the covers over her legs and settled to plate on it, carefully eating it whilst James read. They didn't speak until she had finished, but to say that James was happy with the situation would be an understatement.
"You know I've never had someone look after me when I was hungover." Tiger said, after finishing, a small smile on her face as she peered over James's shoulder, looking at what he was reading.
"Really?" He asked, tilting the book slightly towards her and letting her read it. It was a book on Quidditch strategies, and although she wasn't really intrested in it, they just kept reading.
"The only person who would probably look after me was the one who got drunk with me. We would end up staying in one of our rooms for the whole day, skipping class and wallowing in self pity." Tiger smiled slightly, remembering it.
"Thank you James." She said quietly, cuddled up to his side, where the both of them would stay for the rest of the day.
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