#owlry

It was a usual night for Amelia and Glenda: snacks, blankets on the couch, and laughing at the ridiculous movie they’d decided to watch that night. The laughter was slowly dissolving into the snorting, side-grabbing laughter that made your stomach hurt for hours afterwards. During a particularly insane bout of laughter, Amelia felt the vibrations of her phone somewhere on the couch.

“Hang on, Glen, I can’t find my phone,” she laughed and they began frantically throwing blankets and pillows in the air in attempts to find it. It stopped ringing, only to begin again a few seconds later. This time, the phone was found and Amelia saw James’s name flash onto the screen. The moment she answered the phone with a quick “hey babe,” she winced as the sound of loud music- as well as the other boys’ shouts along to the lyrics hit her ears.

“Having fun?” She laughed, holding the phone a short distance from her ear to try and preserve any sort of hearing she could. Amelia was met with loud compliments and jokes from James, the speech slightly slurred as he talked into the phone to her. “You didn’t try to match pace with Sirius, did you?” She shook her head as Glenda laughed into a pillow in the background, trying to muffle her sound. The two girls knew just how much of a lightweight James was in comparison to Sirius. “Alright, just stay there and tell the lads I’m on my way. Drink some water!” She hung up just after hearing James yell she’s coming over! to loud and appreciative whoops from his mates.

“Time for some girlfriend duties,” Amelia smiled, giving Glenda a quick hug and ducking off the couch.

“Boo,” Glenda pouted from the couch, “we didn’t even finish the movie.”

“I can tell you how it’s definitely going to end if that helps?” Amelia offered with a smile, “these movies always are.” She grabbed a pepperup potion from the cupboard as well as a bag of crisps she knew James loved. Turning to glance over her shoulder to see Glenda’s even further exaggerated pout, she laughed. “Think of it this way, I’ll be there all night, you can invite over your man candy.” Amelia winked at her flatmate as she walked out the front door, took a breath, and appareled to James’s place.

The loud music was still blasting through the door, and Amelia tried the knob and found it unlocked, like they’d prepared for her. She opened the door and walked in, expecting to see dancing boys all over the place, but instead only found Sirius, Remus, and Peter snoring on the ground. Flicking her wand, she moved the folded blankets from the couch on top of them and went off to search for James.

She found him at the top of the stairs, sitting with his head against the railing, smiling down at her.

“You made it, Melia,” he said happily as she sat beside him, wrapping her arm around him and offering the bag of crisps and potion in tandem.

“Course I did. You didn’t think I forgot how to get over here, did you? Come on, let’s get something in you besides vodka.”

“Whiskey,” James clarified, eating some crisps and sighing in happiness. “How’d you know I liked these?”

“Call it a sixth sense, huh?” She laughed, knowing very well after multiple outings and movie nights together what sorts of snacks he liked the best. “Did you drink water like I told you to?”

“Yes ma’am,” he said with a laugh. “But I don’t think it helped.”

“It will when you wake up tomorrow. But for now, come on, it’s time for bed.” This comment was met with a wolf whistle and eyebrow waggle from James and caused Amelia to roll her eyes good naturedly.

“Maybe tomorrow, James. Right now, it’s bed time. And… up,” she helped him stand on wobbly legs as they made their way down the hall to his bedroom. Even in the dark, she knew her way there well. Once inside, she helped him out of his clothes and into the pajama bottoms she knew were in his third drawer. Then it was time to trust him to brush his teeth as she ran downstairs to get another cup of water for him. She glanced quickly into the living room to see Sirius and Remus cuddling on the ground. Taking the stairs two at a time, she bounded back into James’s room to see him bundling up under the blankets. Once he noticed her, he patted the bed beside him, causing her to laugh.

Earlier that evening, she hadn’t planned on anything but crashing at his place after a long day at work, when she’d opened the door and was greeted by the smell of cooking, and gentle music.

“James?” She’d called out, wondering if somehow she’d let herself into the wrong flat. Except she didn’t have a key to anyone else’s place.

“In here,” his voice had rang out. And Amelia followed it into the kitchen, where he stood, beaming at her from the other side of the counter, two plates on the surface in front of him. “It’s a weekend, and Dumbledore said we deserved a night off.”

And with a laugh, she’d crossed to him, leaned in for an embrace that wasn’t frenzied, nervous, or rushed, and simply let herself be with him for a moment before dinner.

“So,” Amelia’s mind broke from her reverie as James’s voice broke through the silence, “I’m a pretty good cook, aren’t I?”

She laughed and nestled her head further into his shoulder, careful not to spill her glass of wine on his couch as she did. “Even when we’re sitting so nicely you’re still digging for compliments?”

“What can I say? I love hearing you give them,” he’d chuckled above her, the laugh’s echoes sending vibrations into her body, reminding her he was there, and this wasn’t just a dream of hers that she’d imagined.

“Impossible,” she muttered with a smile. “But yes, a pretty good cook. It’s one of the many reasons I love you…” she trailed off with a contented sigh before feeling James’s hands in her hair still. It was in that moment she realized what she’d said and froze just like him.

“You what?” He asked quietly. Amelia took that as her cue to sit up, glancing at James with a blush on her face that she’d try to blame on the wine later. She didn’t answer, but instead just looked at him, his face slack, much like it had been the first time they’d ever talked about their feelings to one another. It might be easy to play it off, shrug it aside and say he was hearing things. Because he hadn’t said it back, and had only stared. But Amelia thought back to the frenzied hugs, the worry she felt every time she was home and waiting to hear back from James that his mission had been alright, and that he was safe, and the brink of uncertainty upon which their world stood. And so, she got up from the sofa and crossed to his speakers, turning up the music and looking back at him. Amelia extended her hand with a smile. “I love you,” she repeated, and waited.

The elopement had been a spur of the moment decision. Amelia and James had been sent on an Order mission that had nearly ended in one or both of their deaths if they hadn’t been lucky enough to escape before the building’s damage was too much to control any longer. When James proposed a quick engagement and elopement the next morning, Amelia barely thought before saying yes. She knew she would marry James, she’d known it for months, even had inklings of the idea when their relationship first began, but she’d always pictured and mentioned waiting until after the war ended, and the world was stable once again. Yet after their nearly catastrophic night before, didn’t it make more sense to jump into something she was sure of when the rest of the world was uncertain?

With only their immediate families and a few friends in attendance, Amelia and James had married, barely 24 hours after the proposal had taken place. Of course Glenda and Sirius were the loudest voices cheering in attendance, and Amelia had even let her mother and Glenda style her in whatever they’d thought was, in their words, “speedy bridal.” In what felt like a whirlwind, Amelia was now Amelia Bones, James Potter’s wife (she couldn’t bear to part with her last name, and James understood.)

After a very, very eventful first honeymoon night, they’d gone to bed, exhausted and contented. As soon as she allowed herself to drift off to sleep, it felt like moments only had passed before she felt herself woken up to the sound of a whimper. Her eyes fluttered open, fighting the urge to drift back into blissful sleep, and she tried to adjust to the dark room around her. The noise repeated, followed by the tossing of the bed and disappearance of covers on top of her. Now awake, she fumbled to grab her wand from the nightstand beside her, her heart pounding and preparing to defend herself. But then, the source became clear as she turned to glance at James, whose face was contorted in his sleep as he tossed and turned next to her.

“Hey,” she said quietly, turning her weight over to lean beside him. Her whisper did nothing, so she tried again, a bit louder. “James, James, it’s me.” This time, she propped herself up on her elbow and reached with her other hand, now devoid of wand, to shake his shoulder lightly. This action woke him as he bolted upright with a start, mimicking her earlier motion of grabbing for her wand.

“James! James, it’s alright, it’s alright.” Amelia said as his breathing slowed.

“Amelia, you—“ he began, shaking sleep from his head.

“I’m right here. You were having a nightmare,” she said gently, waiting for him to calm down.

“I thought you were—“ he trailed off, “we were back on the mission and you were—“