Veronica-reads and I were bored so we decided to challenge each other and contribute to JPSS love. Second time writing based on a challenge and with a pairing I LOVE.
Prompt: James and Severus sharing a room + Rainbow Rowell's quote.
I really liked the result.
Special thanks to my beta-reader DaniHabisky.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter & Potterverse belongs to JK Rowling. If they were mine everyone would be gay.
"Sharing a room with the person you want most is like sharing a room with an open fire.
He's constantly drawing you in.
And you're constantly stepping too close.
And you know it's not good – that there is no good – that there's absolutely nothing that can ever come of it.
But you do it anyway.
And then… Well. Then you burn…" (Rainbow Rowell, Carry On).
A cup of hot coffee was placed on his bedside table every night since all of them moved to the Order's new building provided by Dumbledore. A cup of hot, almost boiling, dark coffee. Its smell filling the small room.
If he tried to drink the liquid the way it was he would probably burn his tongue.
Feeling the cold wooden floor on his feet, he turned his body, finding him standing beside his own bed, watching him in the dim light. His bare torso with a golden glow provided by the only candle available. He inhaled deeply.
A jolt of nervousness ran through every inch of his very being, from his dry mouth to his freezing toes. He didn't need another candle to know that those hazel eyes were burning.
Lately everything was on fire.
His long lanky fingers grabbed the hem of his old shirt, taking it off, tossing it on his mattress. He could feel his eyes scanning his very thin and pale torso. A flush of blood came to his cheeks, he wasn't a great admirer of his skinny frame. But he could tell that he was nervous by the way his chest was moving. His own palms were sweating. His own dark eyes were also gazing at his tanned skin.
Standing half naked on each side of the bedroom, trying to see as much as possible with the help of the unstable candle light, Severus wondered how he hadn't exploded yet. He was all burnt, with the traces of his strong fingers on his body. Permanently scarred.
Soon one of them will move and they will be face to face, close enough for Severus to smell his musk scent, to feel those fingers on his shoulder blades, running to his lower back, feeling his stubble rubbing over his sensitive neck, giving him goosebumps. His own arms will hug him by his shoulders. His own hands will be entwined on his dark, disheveled hair. Their chests will press together and they will incinerate again.
One more time...to the countless times Severus no longer tried to count.
He will feel his dry yet soft lips on his Adam's apple, and his head will spin again, the gravity will shift again. Those teeth will sink into his flesh again, their clothes will vanish, their noises will reach their ears without escaping the room' confinement.
His tongue will taste again the vicious flavor from those forbidden lips. His nails will dig into his firm skin again, marking him as his, yet wondering why he's on fire again.
Their smell will mix with the coffee's aroma.
They will burn again, urging for more, yet regretting that they couldn't fight the need for one more night. They will burn until ashes.
And then James will cover himself with his duvet and Severus will walk to his own bed. The candle flame will be gone, and the coffee will be cold.
He will finally drink it, hoping that it could ease the pain of his burns.