HEAL ME | JAMES POTTER

EIGHT

- CHAPTER 8 -

❝I feel like I don't know anyone at all.❞

Hogwarts, sixth year.

JAMES POTTER HAD BEEN, for unexplainable reasons, ignoring Grace Valdez like his life had depended on it.

She was, for once, quite disappointed and worried. Grace had felt like everyone else, James had gotten tired of her too. She was waiting for something horrible to happen, something that would scar her for the rest of her life.

However, everything was okay again when James Potter had suddenly showed up in the kitchens with wide teary eyes.

"James? What's wrong?"

And so, just like every other time, James Potter broke down in front of the ray of sunshine that he calls by the name of Grace Valdez.

"I-I don't know. I should be happy, right? I should be happy, but why do I feel this way?"

Grace did what she would always do, she held him in her arms and waited until he had calmed down.

James Potter was ignoring Grace Valdez since he had realised one thing after their sessions. He really liked the girl, and not just in a friendly way. But for some reason, he couldn't accept it.

The boy had felt absolutely disgusted by himself. He just got over Lily, how could he fall for someone again this quickly? Was it even love that he had with Lily, or was it just captivation?

James wanted to talk to someone about his feelings, anyone at all. At first, he didn't want to tell the rest of the Marauders about his new found emotions. But after a while, he realised that they were the only people he could rely on during times like these.

So when James was finally ready to talk about it, he went to his dorm room to find his best mates that he knew would be present. James had expected many things, but never to see Remus and Sirius, hands all over each others bodies, and hickeys littering all over their once clear skins.

"Oh— am I interrupting you?" he said with wide eyes.

Immediately after, the two sprang away from each other and started to dress up once more. They knew that James had been spending time with Grace, so why was he suddenly here?

"Prongs, it's not what it looks like."

"No, i-it's fine. I'm happy for you both, really."

At the beginning, there was a pin drop silence. And then, James had almost passed out.

"Woah, you okay mate?" asked Sirius Black.

Without a single word but a nod, James Potter went away from his friends and towards the kitchens to see Grace. He could see his throat clogging up, and the tears pooling in his eyes, but he didn't care.

At that moment, there was only one thing he could think of. Am I really that oblivious? The last time James had felt this way was when they had all found out about their best mates lycanthropy.

However, during that time, he wasn't alone. They all had felt like they were completely stupid, not realising the amount of pain Remus would always be in during their school days.

"I-I feel like I don't know anyone at all, like i'm the background character in everyone else's movie."

Grace was shocked, to say the least. Remus and Sirius were two polar opposites, how had no one ever noticed it before?

"James, they were probably scared to tell you. Don't feel upset, i'm sure they didn't mean to hide it from you."

Every time Grace would comfort him, James could see himself falling even deeper into the pools of her irises. Her eyes were like the ocean, so incredibly beautiful and mesmerising to look into.

He hadn't even felt his emotions this desperately with Lily, and it was starting to get real alarming for the boy.

It was like he wanted to be with her for everything, no matter what it was. He wanted to be there for her when she'd cry, or when she'd laugh. He wanted to be the reason for her smile, for her happiness, and so much more.

"Thank you G, I really appreciate it."

There it was again, the nickname he had given her. It was short, but did all sort of things to the girl's feelings. Grace had felt like after all those years, she finally mattered.

Grace had wanted to share her past with him, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Talking to other people had been really hard for the girl. As for someone like James, everything had felt even more difficult than normal.

"I'm an ugly crier, aren't I?"

"Yes, very."