Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter Twenty Nine
Three months after the wedding of James Potter and Maia Black, Maia was sitting in her living room on a lazy Saturday afternoon with her husband, brother and friends.
It was like being back at Hogwarts and they often found that when they were together like this, it was easy to forget everything else that was happening around them.
Maia was sitting on the sofa and James was sprawled out across it lazily, his head in her lap, using her thighs as a pillow. Sirius was sat sideways in an armchair, his legs thrown over the side of it, Peter was sitting on the edge of the foot-stool quietly and Remus was sitting on the carpet with a cup of tea, stroking Maia's cat affectionately.
Maia gently raked her hands through James' already unruly hair and sighed, " You might have to get off me soon James. I've got paperwork to do. "
" Paperwork's boring," he mumbled in response as he looked up at her, making Sirius chuckle.
" I know," she smirked slightly, " but it's something I have to do as part of working on the wards. I won't get a good report if I don't do all the work. "
" You can do it later," James told her as he reached for one of her hands, intertwining their fingers together.
" Just like old times," Remus chuckled, " always did leave those History of Magic essays until the last possible minute. "
" James," Maia sighed, about to tell him that he really ought to let her get on with her work, but he cut her off by bringing their joined hands to his lips so he could kiss the back of her hand.
" You're not going anywhere," he told her with a cheeky grin, " I'm far too comfy. I promise to let you get on with it later. Might even cook dinner for you so you can have the time to yourself. "
Maia smiled fondly and stroked his cheek with the back of her hand before returning her hand to his hair, running her fingers through it absently again.
" Sickening," Sirius grimaced, though his expression immediately turned into a grin as he dodged the sofa cushion his sister threw at him.
" Given that James is my husband and this is our home, you'll have to forgive us for being in love," Maia said, narrowing her eyes at him.
" Maybe we should give him something to really annoy him," James smirked, starting to sit up with the very clear intention of kissing his wife.
Sirius rolled his eyes - they'd been especially sickening since they got married, although anyone could see how happy they were, and that made him happy. James and Maia were, after all, without a doubt the most important people in the world to him. Disappointingly, he seemed to be the only person who thought they were sickening. Everyone else thought they were cute.
Before their lips met, there was a knock at the door and James sighed when Maia pressed her hand to his chest, stopping him from kissing her as he intended to.
They exchanged a look and wordlessly James nodded and got off the sofa, grabbing his wand from the coffee table as he went. The others habitually reached for their own wands, or at least became prepared to grab them if need be, but given that whoever was here had knocked, it seemed unlikely that they were in danger. It it was danger, surely they'd break straight in.
They heard muffled voices from the hallway and then footsteps as the visitors came into the house.
Maia relaxed when she heard Frank's jolly voice and she saw the others do the same.
Frank, James and Alice appeared in the doorway and everyone was pleased to see them.
Frank had been injured the week before while out on order business with Remus. It hadn't been too serious but he'd been lucky - there had been potential for it to be a lot worse and they'd evaded a handful of dangerous death eaters. Frank had had to spend a night in St Mungos and a few more at home resting and it was good to see him back to strength.
Everyone greeted them warmly and as Sirius shifted to the floor to let Frank take the armchair, and Remus immediately began to ask about his health while Alice grinned at Maia.
" Afternoon Mrs Potter," she grinned.
Maia beamed - she loved to hear herself called "Mrs Potter." At first she'd not been sure about it - Mrs Potter was her mother-in-law - but James had immediately taken a liking to calling her "Mrs Potter" and his face lit up and his eyes shone with pride every time he said it, and then how could she not like it?
" Afternoon," smiled Maia, getting up to hug Alice. The two women embraced warmly and when they broke apart Maia's hands lingered on Alice's upper arms, surveying her. Alice looked very happy - Alice was always cheerful, but something was going on. Maia glanced from Alice to Frank, to see him wearing a big grin too.
" Was there a reason you came to see us? " Maia asked suspiciously as she let go of Alice and sank onto the sofa, watching Alice go to sit on the arm of the chair, curled towards Frank.
" Maia! " James scolded, poking her in the ribs teasingly, " are our friends not allowed to come and visit? "
" You're up to something," Maia said, eyes settled firmly on Alice. Alice was wearing an expression Maia had seen many times at Hogwarts and she recognised it well. It the same sort of look she'd worn the day she and Frank had gotten together and she'd made Maia drag the information out of her, sitting there with a grin.
" Tell them, Allie," Frank smiled, curling his hand around hers and grinning at her.
It took Maia one more second of looking at her friend to figure it out and she scanned Alice. Eventually her eyes rested on Alice and Frank's joined hands and she let out a little squeak of surprise, attracting the boys attentions - they were all looking quite oblivious and Maia wasn't surprised. The boys could be terribly oblivious.
" No," Maia breathed, getting to her feet.
" Yes," Alice smiled, slowly getting to her feet to.
The boys watched the two witches, still not sure what was going on, except for Frank who was grinning broadly. Everything became clear in the next moment when Maia let out another little squeak, this time in excitement as she reached for Alice and pulled her into a tight hug. " You got married! "
Alice laughed in excitement and nodded, glancing over her shoulder at Frank as they pulled apart, " Yesterday," she said, " eloped. "
Maia beamed, " Congratulations, Mrs Longbottom. I can't believe you did that! "
The boys all joined in the congratulations when they realised what had happened and Maia forced Alice to sit down and tell them the whole story, while gently pushing James in the direction of the kitchen and asking him to bring them a bottle of firewhiskey back with him.
When James had returned and poured everyone a drink, he settled himself back on the sofa beside Maia, smiling when she curled her legs up onto the sofa and leaned against him gently.
" So," Sirius said with a smirk, " come on Frank, tell us what happened? "
Frank grinned, sipping the firewhiskey and nodding his head towards James and Maia, " Well these two seemed happy enough being married so we thought we'd give it a go. "
Alice rolled her eyes at him fondly, " That and the fact that we're in love. "
" That too," Frank conceded, making all of their friends smile.
Frank went onto explain that he'd been thinking for a while that he wanted to marry Alice, had considered proposing more and more after James and Maia's wedding, and after his injury that week he'd decided that there was no time like the present. He'd proposed two days ago and they'd decided to skip the fuss of organising a wedding and elope.
Their friends congratulated them again happily and Maia pouted slightly.
" Must say Alice, I'm a bit put out that we couldn't be at your wedding. You got to be at ours. " Her voice was thick with teasing and everyone knew that it didn't matter to her as long as Alice and Frank were happy.
Alice smiled, " I know, but we just wanted something simple. All we really needed was each other. "
Frank grinned and pulled her in towards him, kissing her lips briefly. It was sweet but they were much more reserved than James and Maia and their kiss ended much sooner than the Potter's kisses usually did.
" Sickening," Sirius chuckled, immediately sticking a hand up in the air and catching the sofa cushion his sister threw at him for the second time that evening. " Getting predictable, Maia," he told her, tossing the cushion back to her.
Maia chuckled, " Well, they're not sickening, they're - "
" Cute? " Sirius finished, " déjà vu, my dearest sister. Weren't we having this same argument about you and James half an hour ago? By the way, Frank, Alice - "
" Sirius, shut up," Maia said, cutting him off with a roll of her eyes, knowing exactly what he was thinking. She turned to the newly-weds, " he was about to tell you not to feel compelled to compete with James and I. " Looking back at Sirius, she added, " you're jealous. "
He scoffed, " Jealous. Marriage is - "
" Boring? " she finished for him with an amused look, " I can assure you - "
James was the one to finish her sentence to everyone's amusement, since it was a common trait of the twins to finish each other's sentences and he'd clearly decided to join in. " It's not," James finished, smirking at Sirius, " because you get to do things like this all the time. "
He punctuated his point by reaching out to Maia, tangling one hand in her hair as he leaned over and kissed her lips firmly. When they broke apart she was beaming, though a slight blush rose in her cheeks when she realised what James had just said, and their friends were all wearing looks of amusement.
" Prongs, you idiot," Sirius said, shaking his head, " that was a rubbish way of telling me how good marriage is. That's my sister. "
James shook his head, " Well, with a woman of your own, I meant, of course. "
Sirius shrugged, " I don't think I'll be settling down for a while yet. "
Maia smiled fondly - she couldn't imagine Sirius ever settling down and if he did. Then again, she never would have imagined herself married less than a year after leaving Hogwarts but it was so perfect. She knew whoever got together with Sirius in a long term relationship would have to be pretty special to handle him, like James was special enough to love and care for her. Not that Sirius would be able to find a partner half as good as James - Maia wasn't sure such a person existed - but half as good as James would still be pretty good.
James noted the far away look in Maia's eyes - he knew that look. It usually meant she was thinking about him, and it made him very happy.
Later, when all of their friends had gone home, James pinned her to the sofa and kissed her fiercely. She vaguely protested that she needed to get her work done, between kisses, but she had very little will-power when it came to James and it was a long time before she actually got around to doing her work.
As the months passed, the wizarding world sunk deeper and deeper into war.
Order missions became more frequent and there were more reports of people disappearing, muggles being attacked, strange things that didn't quite add up happening everywhere.
Six months after her wedding, Maia was out on order business with Remus. It was evening and their mission had been to tail a group of death eaters they'd had word were meeting up. They were supposed to follow them to try and find out anything they could
It had been fairly straight forward at first. They'd been doing fine, in disguise and keeping a very safe distance back. The invisibility cloak probably would have been a great asset to them but it had been leant to the Prewetts for a more dangerous mission that they'd been on days earlier.
Maia and Remus were hoping they could pass as a plain couple, just out for a walk, if they were seen. They'd taken care to disguise themselves, trying to make themselves look plain, and it was working at first.
The members of the order were becoming more and more well known to the death eaters and Maia knew that being the traitor of the Black family, with her brother and cousins death eaters, Voldemort himself probably knew exactly who she was.
Their mission had all gone wrong when the two they were trailing - Rodolphus Lestrange, married to Maia's horrid cousin Bellatrix, and his brother Rabastan - had suddenly started attacking muggles. More death eaters had turned up and when Maia had tried to stop them harming the innocents, one of the death eaters had grown suspicious and showered her in spells to reveal any enchantments.
As soon as her identity was revealed, one of the death eaters pushed back their hood to reveal Bellatrix. Bellatrix's eyes lit up with fury at the sight of the younger woman and Maia and Remus prepared themselves for the fight.
They were against five and it was difficult going.
Bellatrix was always so joyful when she was fighting and she wanted nothing more than to take Maia out. It was with great glee that she strode over to one of the other death eaters and ripped back his hood to reveal Regulus.
Regulus looked horrified when Bellatrix pushed him towards Maia, demanding that he attack her. She screamed at the other to leave Maia for her and Regulus, while the others attacked Remus, and Maia was left to battle against her brother and cousin.
She could see that Regulus wasn't comfortable with this, but Bellatrix was screaming at him, telling him which spells to cast and goading him every time he let up on Maia.
Eventually, Maia managed to immobilise Regulus, feeling horrified that she ever had to fight against her younger brother but there was no time to think about it. She glanced over to Remus to see he had put one of the death eaters out of action but was locked in a fierce duel with the others.
The momentary lapse in her concentration proved a huge mistake and Maia felt a searing pain rip through her body as she fell to her knees with a cry. Her whole body felt on fire and Bellatrix was cackling madly.
Maia felt her body growing weak and she forced herself to grip her wand and aim for Bellatrix. She would not go down here, she wouldn't. Mustering up every last bit of energy in her body she screamed a hex at Bellatrix and although the next few minutes were a blur, she heaved herself up to her feet and soon felt Remus at her side, still battling with the others.
Maia watched as Bellatrix pulled back her sleeve, revealing the dark mark.
" Little Maia," she cackled, " broke her mother's heart ... betrayed the family ... the Dark Lord would love to get hold of you. "
" Betrayed? " Maia repeated through gritted teeth, eyes widening in horror slightly as Bellatrix pressed a finger to the dark mark " do shut up, Bella. "
She screamed when Bellatrix caught her off guard with a horrible curse and crumbled to the ground. Regulus was coming around again and as Remus fought the others off, Maia could hear Bellatrix telling him what to do.
She knew they needed to get out of here before Voldemort turned up and she tried to reach out for Remus but the curses had weakened her considerably and she wasn't sure quite where he was.
She felt her eyes closing and couldn't quite manage to keep them open with the pain that ripped through her body. Without quite knowing what had happened, she felt warm hands on her and her head was spinning - they were moving.
In the Potter's homely cottage, James was sitting in the living room, hands clasped tightly together and eyes trained on the clock on the mantlepiece. Sirius was sitting on the sofa in a similar position, both of them waiting for Maia and Remus' return, both frought with nerves and worry.
James hated these nights, sitting up and waiting for news of his wife or friends. In this case both. Sirius had insisted on coming around and waiting with him, since otherwise he'd only be at home waiting for Remus while James waited for Maia.
" They'll be ok," James said, breaking the silence they'd been sitting in for a long time, not even their tight friendship making this situation any better.
Sirius winced at the words - James sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything. Sirius had a bad feeling about it all. He always thought he'd know if something bad happened to Maia but he wasn't sure. She was his twin - he'd know if she was killed, wouldn't he, surely? No, she hadn't been killed, but something was wrong.
" Won't they? " James added.
Sirius' head snapped towards James as he struggled to answer the question. After a moment of hesitation he broke James' gaze and shook his head, " I don't know. "
Ten minutes later there was a pounding on the front door and James ran from the living room to answer it. Something was wrong, very wrong, or they wouldn't be hammering on the door like that.
As soon as he opened the door, Remus was pushing past him, pulling Maia with him. James paled. One of Remus' arms was around Maia's waist, propping her up, holding most of her weight and she looked weak. Conscious but pale, barely awake and quite frankly, terrible.
" What the hell happened? " James demanded, following them through to the living room, where Sirius stared in horror at his sister. He sprang off the sofa as Remus helped Maia onto the sofa and she grasped his hand.
" Sirius ... Sirius," she whimpered, her face contorted with pain as she breathed deeply, her chest heaving, " Sirius, c'mere. "
As Remus pushed past him to fetch medical supplies from the kitchen, Sirius knelt at Maia's side, clasping his hand tightly. She looked confused, disoriented, her robes were torn, ripped straight down the side and she was bleeding there, heavy, it seemed.
James hovered, wiping his face with his hands, close to panicking. Sirius looked horrified but he was doing a good job of staying calm as he squeezed her hand reassuringly and used his other to push her robes over the bleeding wound, trying to stem the bleeding as best he could.
They could hear Remus clattering around in the kitchen, no doubt looking for whatever medical supplies would fix this.
" Should we get her to St Mungo's? " James asked, " Moony, what the hell happened? Does she need the hospital? What do we do?! "
" Calm down," Remus shouted back from the kitchen. Maia, as a trainee healer, had told them all what to do in the event of certain injuries and under what circumstances they should go to the hospital.
" Calm down?! Have you seen the state of my wife? How can I calm down?! " James roared, raking his hand through his hair desperately.
" Sirius," Maia whimpered, her whole body shaking and her eyes rolling back in her head, " please ... "
Sirius frowned slightly - please what? James frowned too - it was both confusing and a little bit hurtful that she was in a state like this and she didn't seem to want him, hadn't asked for him at all.
" Please what, darling? " Sirius asked gently, brushing her hair away from her forehead, trying to suppress how worried he was. Being strong was the only way to help her here but he'd worried himself - darling. He only ever called her darling when he was very worried about her.
" Please ... James ... he'll be upset," she whined, her eyes closing and speaking through gritted teeth as though every word was painful, " don't want to upset him ... don't let him in. "
Sirius frowned and looked over his shoulder at James, and then back at Maia. She was clearly confused and he dreaded to think what had caused it. " Maia, James is here," Sirius told her, looking at James again. James took the hint and came to kneel beside Maia.
" Maia, love, I'm here," he said gently, though he struggled to keep his composure at the sight of her.
She didn't seem to have the energy to reply but with the hand that wasn't desperately grabbing her brother, she reached out to him, clumsily touching his cheek. She stroked his cheek gently before letting her hand drop.
Remus came back into the room and knelt beside the sofa, forcing James to move out of the way. James wished he could do something to help but Remus was the best to tend to her and Sirius was her twin brother, he knew exactly what she needed so he was probably best for holding her hand. James paced up and down the room, rubbing his hands over his face.
Maia wasn't making much sense as she spoke but she kept insisting to Remus that going to the hospital would be pointless and that he could tend to her. She was trying tell Sirius what had happened but didn't get much further than "Bella" "Regulus" and "fight" and Remus was concentrating too hard on fixing her up to recount the story. She repeated several times that she didn't want James to see her in that state because she didn't want to worry him and it became very clear that she was confused and wasn't sure what was going on.
" Cruciatus curse," Remus explained grimly, " luckily we got away before it had been used too much. No lasting damage. She just needs to be patched up, good nights sleep and lots of rest. "
" You're sure we shouldn't be at the hospital? " Sirius asked.
" We can handle this," Remus said, pressing a cold cloth to Maia's side, where they'd pulled her ripped robes off and covered her modesty but left her injured abdomen uncovered so Remus could tend to her. " I think we just got out of there in time. "
" Sirius," Maia moaned, hissing when Remus pulled the cloth away from her and began to apply essence to her wound carefully, " 'm so sleepy. And ... and Bella's a ... a ... bitch. And ... ow, ow my tummy hurts. "
" Shush, Maia," Sirius said, smoothing his hand over her damp forehead, " you're ok. We've got you. "
Maia nodded and closed her eyes. She felt very close to sleep and she still wasn't sure what was going on. The attack she'd suffered had disoriented her and with the pain, she only drifted to sleep for a short amount of time.
When she opened her eyes again James was leaning over her, gently washing her face, his eyebrows knitted together in concentration and worry.
She tried to smile but her cheeks hurt and her eyes drifted shut again.
" James," she mumbled, forcing her eyes open and trying to focus on him, " James everything hurts. "
" Shush love," he mumbled as he pressed his lips to her forehead gently, " you're going to be fine but you're on rest now. "
She tried to nod but it hurt too much so she just looked around - Sirius and Remus were standing nearby, watching her carefully. She couldn't quite remember what had happened and she frowned, " James, I don't ... I'm not sure ... what's happening? "
" Is she going to be alright? " James demanded, eyes widening as he turned to look at Remus.
Remus rolled his eyes, " Didn't you listen in school at all? Cruciatus curse, causes confusion, short term memory less at best. She's lucky. It can make you permanently insane if subjected to it for too long. She'll be fine though. "
Sirius wasn't happy with this thought alone, needing some kind of proof, and stalked over to her, hovering over her,
" Tell me what day it is," he demanded, desperate to know that she wouldn't have any lasting damage. He was sure he could cope if he just knew that her confused state would be temporary.
" Th-thursday," she replied, wincing as she spoke.
" Yes, love, good," James nodded, leaning over to kiss her forehead again.
" Can you tell me your address? Wedding day? Full name? "
Maia answered all the questions, though it took her longer than usual, panting through the pain and trying to stay awake. The fact that she'd answered satisfied her friends, who were now sure they'd be no mental damage. Her body was in pain and she'd need to heal, but her mind was safe.
" You've had us all worried," James told her sternly when he turned back to her, kissing her forehead again and commencing cleaning up the cut and the dirt on her face, trying to untangle her messy hair.
She watched him through heavy lidded eyes and was mumbling to herself, making very little sense. He distinctly heard "Bella" mumbled several times as well as "Voldemort" "Regulus" "Sirius" and his own name.
Eventually, they'd done as much for her as they could and after Remus found a sleeping potion amongst her medical supplies and administered it to her, there was nothing more to be done.
Only when Maia was sleeping soundly on the sofa did James allow himself to break down and let out all the emotions he was feeling and Sirius was right beside him to comfort him and let out his own emotions. With Maia soundly asleep they didn't need to worry about being strong for her and neither man could contain himself at the thought that they'd never seen Maia in a worse state, and the thought of what could have happened to her.
Remus and Sirius stayed all night to keep an eye on Maia and to support James. Remus slept upstairs in the spare bedroom, Sirius had sat in the armchair in the living room, hardly sleeping at all, and James had gently shifted Maia so he could lay beside her, positioning her so she rested easily against his body and he could watch over her and stroke her hair soothingly.
It was hours before Maia stirred and when she did so, it was with a sharp and pained intake of breath. She groaned immediately and closed her eyes, wishing the pain to go away. All the memories of the night before came flooding back to her but there was a delightfully warm and comforting weight pressing up against her.
" Maia? Can you hear me? "
The sound of her husband's sweet, caring tone made her find the strength to open her eyes and she found herself look up into James' concerned face. He was lying beside her on the sofa, one arm very carefully wrapped around her torso, holding her protectively.
" Mmm," she replied. " Jamie, it hurts. "
He winced, hating to see her to vulnerable and weak, and gently stroked a palm across her cheek, " What hurts, love? "
She scoffed, " My head, my stomach, my back. "
He shushed her gently, leaning over to kiss her forehead softly and promised to go get something to ease her pain, warning her to stay exactly where she was. Sirius was at her side in an instant when he realised she was awake and she almost injured herself again in an attempt to pull him to her for a tight hug.
Sirius carefully pushed her back onto the sofa and gave her a list of her injuries - the biggest of which was the cut on her side which was bandaged tightly and made her fee very sore.
Ten minutes later, Maia and Remus were recounting the story of the night before to James and Sirius. Maia was still lying on the sofa, propped up by several cushions and having been given a large dose of pain relief. James was sitting at the end of the sofa with her feet in his lap, gently massaging her ankles and feet while Sirius had dragged the footstool over to the top of the sofa and was occasionally stroking her hair and her forehead just like he used to do when they were kids and she was upset.
When she had recounted her story with Remus filling in the bits she couldn't remember, both her husband and brother were fuming, and began plotting about what they would like to do to Bellatrix in particular.
" She wants me, Sirius," Maia whined, catching hold of his hand, " and she made my own brother attack me. She's determined to get me. "
" Well, we'll never let her," Sirius said firmly, before Remus cleared his throat and pointed out that they all needed to be going to work and training.
Keeping the Order secret was tricky sometimes but had to be done. Maia obviously couldn't go into the hospital to work and sent a message to her superiors to say she'd been injured i an accident and would have to miss the day.
Remus went off to work and left James and Sirius to battle it out over who got to stay with her - they couldn't both have a day off. It would look suspicious. Although several members of the auror office were in the order, they weren't all, and they had to keep suspicion down.
In the past, Sirius would always have won. There'd been many times at Hogwarts when Maia had been injured in quidditch practise or in one of James and Sirius' stupid pranks and when Madam Pomfrey angrily told them only one could see her, it had always been Sirius. But back then she hadn't been with James for most the time, and now she was married to him, and they had equal claim over her.
In the end Sirius told James that he should be the one to stay and promised to come aroud as soon as he'd finished work and promised to James that he'd take Moody - who was their immediate superior at work - aside and explain.
When they were left alone together James helped Maia to the bedroom when she insisted she wanted to rest on the bed. When they were in the bedroom, she pulled James down on the bed beside her and he shook his head.
" You're supposed to be resting," he told her gently, leaning down to stroke her cheek.
" Mind out of the gutter," she told him with a playful glare, " I just want you here. "
He complied and after getting her a soothing cup of tea and a thick blanket, he sank down onto the bed beside her and smiled when she turned in towards him, trying to rest against him.
She let out a sharp gasp when she managed to twist badly and hurt her bandaged side. James shook his head and told her to be careful and she narrowed her eyes in response and complained "I'm bored!"
" Shush love," James told her as he rested his head against the headboard and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, smiling slightly when she rested her cheek against his chest, taking a fistful of his material in her hand as she splayed her fingers against his stomach.
" I hate being laid up," Maia sighed unhappily.
" You ought to be used to it, given the amount of time you spent on the hospital wing at Hogwarts," James teased, starting to play with her hair as he felt the relief that she was fine course through himself. He was very glad he'd gotten the whole day to stay at home and care for her and after what she'd been through, he didn't think he ever wanted to let her out of his sight.
" Most of those times were yours and Sirius' fault," she mumbled, feeling that she wouldn't have the energy to move for a very long time. The attack had completely taken it out of her.
" They were not! " James protested fiercely.
" Were too," she argued, rubbing her cheek against his chest and nuzzling gently. She smiled in contentment when she felt her cat jump up on the bed beside them, trying to get inbetween them.
James chuckled gently, bringing one hand down to stroke her cheek, " Ok, maybe sometimes then. But what about the time you fell off your broom? 7th year, when McLaggen hit the damned bludger at you. That wasn't my fault. "
" Mmm no," she agreed, squeezing his side gently, " in fact, you swooped down after me and caught me didn't you? " She chuckled lightly, " what a hero. "
" I like the sound of that," he grinned.
They fell into silence for a few minutes before Maia sighed heavily, being curled up against James and stroking Athena not enough for her. " I feel so useless," she whined, " I hate being cooped up. I mean, I know we're in the house all the time, but I don't have this feeling of utter ... uselessness. "
" You're not useless, you silly little witch," James chuckled, leaning down to cup her cheek with one hand and tilting her face up so she had to look at him, " you've been attacked by death eaters. They used the Cruciatus Curse on you. You've got a dirty great cut down one side of your body. You are recovering. "
" Still boring," she muttered, only to be cut off by James cupping the back of her head and bringing her lips to his. He kissed her softly, his tounge lightly skimming her lower lips. He deepened the kiss and it soon became a bit messy, almost desperate.
When they broke apart, Maia frowned at him, " James? "
James shook his head and stroked her cheek, as if reassuring himself that she was really there. " I'm fine, but Merlin I was so worried about you. You should have seen the state you came through the door in last night. " He winced and took a deep breath. " Merlin Maia if anything ... I'm just so glad you're alright. "
" You're not getting rid of me so soon," she assured him, finding nothing but love and relief in those lovely hazel eyes, " and certainly not by Bella's hands. I love you far too much to leave you alone. "
" Good," James said, guiding her head back to his chest and holding her close, " and just so you know, Mrs Potter, I'm not letting you out of my sight from now on. "
" Might be a bit impractical," Maia mumbled.
" Don't care. It's my job to look after you and I'm damned well going to do it. "
Maia smiled - loyal to a fault, that was James. Over protective, brave and always giving her exactly what she needed.
" Ok," she nodded, " anything you want, my dearest husband. "
