Senior year of high school is kicking my ass, and I apologize. However, I really just want pure, undiluted fluff for this chapter. Hope you all don't mind. :p
James huffed as something jumped on top of his bed, shoving his head further under his pillow and making a shooing motion with his other arm, grumbling obscenities along the way. He'd had a long day of trying to get the new Quidditch recruits to play even decently the day before, and had stayed up later into the evening to get all of his homework out of the way so he would have a free weekend. Sleeping in and telling the world to bugger off seemed like a marvelous idea, but it seemed that someone was attempting to disrupt it.
"James," Hermione sighed, and he opened his eyes at the sound of her voice, looking over his shoulder sleepily at her. She'd catapulted herself onto the mattress and bounced on her knees, already dressed in a heavy coat and scarf, her boots engulfing her jeans so no cold wind would disturb her. "It's Hogsmeade day today, and you promised to come with me."
"Is that what I had Saturday planned for?" he asked in a yawn, rolling onto his other side and facing her as he rubbed an eye.
"Yes, I scheduled my allotted time with you months ago," she quipped with a frown, hands on her hips before sighing and lying down next to him, running her fingers through his hair. He hummed and leaned his head further into her, and she smiled before kissing the top of it. "You can stay in bed, I'll go into Hogsmeade by myself."
"No," he mumbled, wrapping an arm around her waist and tugging her closer before he sighed, "I'll get up. I'll get dressed. I swear."
"Solemnly?" she teased, making him grin.
"Solemnly swear," he chuckled, opening his eyes and seeing her smiling back at him, her head settled on his other pillow as the sun crept through the curtains and the bed hangings. "I could get used to this."
"What?" she asked in amusement, "Going into Hogsmeade with me?"
"No," he answered truthfully, "Waking up with you."
Hermione blushed and looked back at him in surprise, scoffing and moving to sit up, "Alright, Sleepy-Head, you get five more minutes."
"Hermione, I'm not messing with you," he insisted, grabbing her arm and halting her movement, looking at her blurred form sincerely. "I want to wake up with you. I mean, not right now, McGonagall would throw a fit, but…later. You know?"
She only blinked back at him before shaking her head, hopping off of the mattress and smiling at him. "Five minutes, I'll wait in your Common Room."
He sighed and collapsed back into the mattress as she left, pouting up at his blurry ceiling for a good while. He got up and put his glasses on, changing into the sort of clothes Hermione was wearing and brushing his hair and teeth. He'd brought up the idea of living with Hermione, not directly out of Hogwarts, of course, but eventually living with her multiple times. Each time she didn't even give him an answer, nothing to give him hope or tell him to just stop trying.
"Hey," Hermione looked up from a book, smiling up at him as he descended the stairs, "You ready?"
He ran his fingers through his hair, opening his mouth to ask her about it before deciding against it and nodding, kissing the top of her head and taking her hand once she stood from the couch.
Even while walking through Hogsmeade, he couldn't quite enjoy it like he should've. It wasn't as if she were an awful girlfriend – it was definitely quite the opposite, actually, as she was brilliant and amazing and got along great with his friends. It just bugged him that she hadn't said anything that held any sort of a promise of their future after Hogwarts.
She seemed to notice that something was off with him, as she tugged him into a less popular bookstore and looked up at him with the Serious Face. "James," she whispered, her nose and fingers red from the cold, "What's wrong?"
He gave a very nervous laugh, grinning at her brightly, "Nothing's wrong, what gave you that idea?"
She arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest, leaning forward and staying silent.
James sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "Hermione, I just…what are we?" She blinked at him in surprise, but he continued. "Where are we going, what are we doing, what do you see us doing in a year, five years, ten years?"
"This is about the thing from this morning, isn't it?" she asked, giving a small frown as her eyebrows both came down.
"Kind of," he huffed, looking at her worriedly, "Hermione, I'm with you 'til the end of the line, just…let me know that line won't end at graduation."
She sighed and led him into the back of the bookstore, standing on her toes and taking his head in her hands, wincing when he flinched from the cold. "Sorry," she whispered before looking at him softly. "Now you listen to me, James Potter, because this is the only time I expect to say this, and I don't want you questioning it." He nodded, his head still in her hands as she took a breath. "This is new. And scary. For me, at least. You're the only person in the world who knows me so well, who understands and cares about me, and you're amazing and funny and I'm waiting for the catch. I'm not saying there is one, but I'm scared that there will be. Whenever you say something like you did this morning, or even just now, I'm waiting for the catch. I'm waiting for the bad part to come in and muck it all up, because things are going too well for me."
"Who says there needs to be a catch?" he asked, whispering with her and bending down so she didn't need to stand on her toes any longer, looking at her curiously. "Are you just going to be waiting for a catch that's never coming?"
"No," she said, shaking her head, her eyes beginning to water, "I just…I'm so very afraid that something will happen to us, James, and you'll go off and not give a damn and I'll be stuck with all of these promises or nice things you said and probably didn't mean."
"That's not true," he insisted, wiping away a tear with his thumb, "I mean all of it."
She gave a small laugh, leaning into his palm and keeping her eyes shut, "Some part of me knows that, just let me convince the rest of me."
He hummed and nodded, kissing her forehead and smoothing down another tear with his thumb. "Just let me know, okay?"
"You'll be the first person I inform," she chuckled, taking his hands and moving back to the front of the shop with him, "Come on, I want to find a Christmas present for Lily and my mum."
James nodded, smiling after her and lacing their fingers together tightly.
The day was better after that conversation, and she found necklaces that glowed in the dark for her friend and her mother. At the end of the day, James collapsed back into his bed, causing Hermione to laugh at him as she sat on his bed and ran her fingers through his hair.
"You can be terribly dramatic at times, James, you should join an acting troupe," she smiled as he pulled his face out of the mattress and readjusted his glasses as he sat up and sat next to her.
He tried to think of a response, but fell short of one and settled into leaning against her, watching as she took to writing a card for Lily for the gift she'd bought that day. He didn't really read what it said, just watched how she wrote and curled her 'g's. He didn't even notice she'd stopped writing until she leaned back into him and sighed, her quill flying back to her bag and the gift and card lying in her lap.
"James?" she asked.
"Hmm?" he hummed back, wondering if he could find enough energy to move the necklace and the card so he could lie in her lap instead.
"I love you," she murmured, and he was suddenly so awake that he cracked his skull into hers in his surprise, clutching his own head before placing his hands over hers on her head as she looked at him in disbelief.
"Oh Merlin, oh God, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" he asked, looking into her eyes worriedly, "I didn't mean to, oh God, please tell me you're okay!"
She gave a snort and grinned back at him, her shoulders already shaking, "Most people just say it back, Jesus Christ, James!"
"I mean it, I love you, oh God, I'm so sorry," he gushed, hugging her tightly as she laughed back at him. He kissed her head repeatedly, murmuring how sorry he was over and over again while she just laughed at him. Once she finally stopped laughing and he only felt slightly mortified for knocking his girlfriend in the head once she said she loved him, he buried his face into her hair and smiled as she sighed.
"Can I, err, stay the night?" she asked in a quiet voice, making James pull back in surprise and open his mouth before she cut him off with a scoff, "Completely innocuous, thank you. I wanted to see about the waking up with you thing."
"Oh," he blinked before nodding, "Yeah, fine with me." He grinned brightly back at her, kissing her softly and smiling when she did. "I love you, Hermione."
"I love you too, James," she stated simply, "Thank you for not head-butting me again."
"Oh, shut it!" he said, tackling her into the mattress and tickling her as she laughed. "You're awful! Why do I love you?"
She tried to curl up and protect herself, mainly hiding her face in James's shoulder before he gave up and collapsed on top of her instead, smirking as she pouted back at him. She tried to wiggle free a few times, and James watched her idly before she sighed and tugged her arms free, combing her nails through his hair and smiling as he sighed.
It wasn't rooming conditions or a promise to live with him at any point in time, or to sleep in the same bed as him ever again, but it was an "I love you" and a promise to try it at least for one night, and that was possibly the best thing she could've given him. It was the assurance to at least try with them, which is possibly what he wanted all along.
"No," James muffled, pressing his face into her neck and feeling her pulse against his mouth. "I refuse to get up."
She scoffed, one arm tossed over his back as he continued to press her into the mattress. "I'm not asking you to get up, I'm asking you to let go so I can get up."
"What makes you think I want to let you go?" he asked with a sigh, pulling away slightly and frowning when she was a slight blur. He should probably look into that experimental spell the Healers at Mungo's kept trying to talk him into, but she scooted closer and rolled her eyes before meeting him face to face, letting him see her more clearly.
"James, honestly, just let me up and let me get dressed," she said with a smile as his grip on her tightened.
"Hmm, two of the things I don't want to happen right now," he decided with a set frown, "For you to leave, and for you to put clothes on."
She blushed and he gave a small grin, "Don't be crude, let me up."
"I'm not being crude! You lost your memory and we haven't had sex in months, let me appreciate this a little more!" he insisted, pulling her closer and kissing her collarbone as she gave a squeak. "Ooh, what was that sound?"
"Nothing," she insisted, although she could feel his hands rise up from her hips. "James Potter," she threatened. "Nothing vulgar."
"Who said anything about me being vulgar?" he asked with a grin, kissing underneath her chin, "I'm being a perfect gentleman."
"'Gentleman,' my arse," she scoffed.
"Who's being vulgar now?" he chuckled, pecking the tip of her nose before sighing and moving off of her, "Fine, I release you. Happy?"
She rolled her eyes and moved back into his chest, pulling the blankets up to her chin and snuggling into him. "No, not if you're going to make me feel guilty about it."
"Yes, my plan worked," he teased, working a hand underneath her blankets and smoothing his fingers down her spine, tracing patterns along her back. "I love you, Hermione."
She smiled and relaxed against him, shutting her eyes and running her knuckles against his stomach and chest, "I love you too. Thanks for not head-butting me."
He grinned back at her, kissing the top of her head, "No problem, Love."
I just want fluff and this seems like the perfect story to do that with because I really don't think you guys mind.
(I still don't have a solid plot for this and I'm so sorry. But you get like loads of fluff which is really what we all want, right? Riiight….)