Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter and its characters are not mine.
A/N: Written for WeasleyJumpers Comment Fest 2021 (prompt: thunderstorm), hp_nextgen100 (prompt: stormy weather) and Sunshine Challenge 2021 (prompt: Eos).
Weather the Storm
Thunder rumbled like the growl of a beast, interrupting dreams and reality. As the sand of sleep fell away, James woke up with a groan and opened his eyes. The room was dark as night. The faint luminescence of the table clock indicated it was a quarter past four, too early for dawn and too late for night-owls. Lying on his side, James contemplated the figure sleeping beside him, feeling the heat and the proximity and a brush of warm skin under the blanket. He felt relieved, contented even. It was a new day, and Scorpius was by his side.
Raindrops splattered against the window, the sound breaking through the membrane of Scorpius' sleep. As the distant rumble of thunder reached his ear, he opened his eyes and found himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling in the blue-grey twilight. Feeling a presence beside him, he tensed up before he remembered where he was—in James' bed. He should have sneaked away while James was asleep, but the bed was too comfortable, too inviting. Heaving a breath, he gazed at James' sleeping face while listening to the storm. Rain pattered; thunder grumbled; he would stay put in James' bed for now.
Dreams bled into reality, and James woke from the storm in his dream to the storm in reality. The room was awash in the grey of storm clouds, and he couldn't tell if it was dusk or dawn, winter or summer. With bated breath he looked beside him. Scorpius was there, eyes closed, chest rising and falling slowly. Unable to resist, he brushed his fingers over Scorpius' hair. Pale eyelashes quivered; slate-grey eyes flickered in James' direction. Surprised, James paused for a moment and withdrew his hand. "Good morning." He rested his head on his arm. "Did I wake you?"
"Good morning. No, I wasn't sleeping." Time slowed to a crawl as the rain pittered and pattered on. Feeling sluggish, Scorpius shifted his position and faced James fully. He took in James' ruffled hair and sleepy eyes, the curve of his lips and the bobbing of his Adam's apple. Deprived of his usual bravado, James seemed nervous and uncertain. Scorpius had never seen James like this before—he wanted to see more. Gravitating towards his partner in crime and in bed, Scorpius caught James by the nape and kissed him once on the lips. "The rain wouldn't let me leave."
"I'd have to master rain-making spells for next time." James brushed a kiss on Scorpius' lips and slipped an arm around Scorpius, willing for this moment to last before the day inevitably breaks—before the rain inevitably stops. "Want to stay for breakfast?"
"Are you my breakfast?" Scorpius joked.
James grinned. "If you like."
Scorpius stroked James' hair and imagined hearing the sound of thunder—a deep roar echoing in the midst of rain and in the pit of his psyche. For now, however, he would weather the storm in James' bed. "As long as breakfast won't be just toasts."
Finis.
