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Your head hurt. Badly. You think there were conversations happening somewhere around you, but they were extremely muffled. Your fingers slightly twitched and you realized your eyes were closed. It took much more effort than is should to open them, but nevertheless, you did.
You were instantly greeted with the white cleanliness that was the hospital wing, there was a bouquet on the table at your feet, as well as what looked like a few candies.
Your hearing came back to you enough that you realized the muffled voices had stopped, and you turned in confusion to where they might be coming from.
Your eyes feel upon Remus, Sirius, Peter, Lily, and, of course, James, hovering hesitantly near your bedside.
"Well, good morning I suppose," you weakly smiled through your cracked voice.
James leaned down slightly towards you and quietly asked, "How are you feeling?"
You paused for a moment, mentally checking over your body, "I'm feeling pretty fine to be honest, just a bit of a headache."
James's eyebrows furrowed in concern, "Moony, go get Madam Pomphrey, she'll have something for your head," he smiled sweetly after directing Remus off.
You raised an eyebrow at him, "you're being awfully sweet and I can't quite remember what happened, which is making me think it was your fault."
He sat down into a chair beside your bed and, strangely, laced his hand in yours. "It was. Snape said some nasty things about you so I obviously confronted him, and that inevitably led to a duel, which unfortunately led to one of his curses going amiss and hitting you."
Your eyes were still locked on his hand encompassing yours as you took in the information. Before you could respond however, Madame Pomphrey rushed to your side and James stepped away.
She did some rudimentary testing and a few spells, but everything seemed to be in tip-top shape. Whatever spell was casted must've been pretty weak. You were soon released and made it in time for dinner in the great hall. Still, James had made no effort to let go of your hand the whole way there. You didn't say anything though, it felt nice, and you thought if you mentioned it he might snap out of it and release his grasp.
The feast soon appeared and you looked quizzically at the food that appeared. You were going for a pumpkin pastie, but you soon realized there wasn't one in sight. You turned to James, which for some reason you will not question is still holding your hand, and asked him about it.
He just grinned and began to load food on his plate, "I know, I don't see why they can't keep those all year round."
That really only mounted your confusion, but James was quickly overtaken into a conversation with Peter, and you realized you were starving.
After a peaceful, but slightly confusing dinner, everyone headed back towards the Gryffindor common room. You were eager to get some sleep so you bounded up the stairs to your dormitory. You were nearly halfway up when you heard someone call your name.
"Where are you going?" James asked from the bottom of the stairs, "If you need pajamas you can just borrow one of my shirts."
You stopped on the steps and looked at him quizzically, although admittedly the thought of you wearing one of his shirts made you blush, you brushed off the comment and rolled your eyes. "Thanks for the offer but I have plenty of shirts of my own." You went up the rest of the stairs and nearly collapsed onto the bed, feeling very lethargic after getting hit with the curse.
You heard Lily enter soon after, and felt her weight as she sat on your bed. You flopped onto your back reluctantly and looked up at her.
"It really wasn't his fault, y'know. I know James is really annoying but I don't think it's fair to give him the cold shoulder," Lily said with a warm smile, as if she was giving advice that made sense.
Cold shoulder? If anything James had been giving you a warm shoulder. Holding your hand, being so sweet and concerned, offering his shirt, it was enough to keep you thoroughly confused.
Lily seemed to take your silent confusion as an answer, "Well alright, but you know he never gets a good night's rest without you." She got up from the bed and went about putting on her pajamas and such.
Nothing she was saying made sense, your head still hurt, and you still couldn't quite piece back the memory of your incident. So, you made the somewhat unconscious decision to just fall asleep on top of your covers, still in your robes.
-
The first thing you noticed in the morning was the sun. Was the sun always that bright? You blearily looked out the window to see it was much later than you would usually wake, and that meant the sun was stationed right at the window. You looked back to your bed and finally noticed a huge teddybear had been on the floor next to it. Maybe it was Lily's?
Everyone else was already in the common room you supposed, so you took your time getting ready for the day. Opening your closet, you looked for a nice jumper to throw on, but paused when you came across an unfamiliar shirt. You took it out to inspect it, it appeared to be a shirt that you definitely would not buy on your own volition. Sure quidditch was great and all, but you had no reason to purchase a Gryffindor jersey. You set it aside assuming it to be Marlene's that somehow got in there, but you suddenly did a double take. Those weren't Marlene's numbers, and that certainly wasn't Marlene's name.
"What in Godric's name am I doing with Potter's quidditch jersey?" You mumbled to yourself.
You soon were dressed and headed down to the common room, jersey in hand to return it. James's must've heard you coming down the stairs, as he was waiting at the bottom for you.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, just like in the hospital wing, with a voice sweet and caring enough to almost make you swoon.
You smiled back at him, at a loss for words for a few moments, before you remembered the task at hand. "I'm okay, here, this somehow got in with my clothes."
He didn't take it from your offering hands, instead he just looked at you quizzically. "What d'ya mean? That one's yours."
You scrunched up your face and turned the shirt around, showing the back to him, "Last time I checked didn't play quidditch, and my name certainly isn't James Potter."
James reluctantly took the shirt and you went over to the rest of the group, plopping on a spare armchair.
"There you are sleeping beauty," Sirius grinned.
"Hey, I need my rest, I could've been fatally wounded you know," you replied in jest.
(Gonna be honest i do not know what jest meant but the gods of writing fanfiction late at night told me to put it there)
"Oh please, it must've just been a simple fainting spell. Had James all worked up for nothing," he rolled his eyes and looked up to the man in question, now approaching the group, jersey still in hand.
Sirius groaned and slumped in his chair, "Oh Godric please don't tell me we're having quidditch practice today."
James seemed to be deep in thought about something, but quickly shoved it aside, as well as his jersey, and responded. "Of course not, I'm not going to waste a beautiful spring day practicing Quidditch."
Since when does James count quidditch practice as a waste? As the captain he seemed to drag everyone on the field every weekend. Also, another thing. Spring? Had he lost his mind?
He sat on the armrest of the chair you were sitting on, "I'd much rather spend it with my lovely partner."
James was dating someone, since when? Wouldn't you have heard about this?
"Speaking of," he turned to you, "how'd you like to go on a date to the Black Lake today? We could feed the giant squid."
"James," Lily cut in, "How many times do I have to tell you? No feeding the giant squid!"
James groaned, "sometimes I really hate that two of my best friends are prefects. Although at least Moony pretends to be oblivious!"
Remus then cut in, "Lily's right, feeding the giant squid is extremely stupid and dangerous."
"See! He gets me! That's exactly why I'm doing it!" James said, weirdly proud of himself. He turned back to you, still too stunned to speak, "Last time we tried some moldy bread, but I thought this time-"
"You've already fed the squid!" Lily almost shouts, exasperated.
He turned back to Lily, "oh just take the bloody five points and let me finished my sentence." He turns back to you, "this time, I smuggled some weird slimy stuff from potions that smelled like fish, so I think we'll try that."
James continued looking at you all the while, as if this was normal, him asking you on a date and all. Also, you have certainly never tried to feed the giant squid, although it had always kinda been on your bucket list.
You squinted up at him, "Okay, rewind real quick." He stared at your while you tried to formulate a sentence that made an inkling of sense. "Did you just ask me out on a date?"
He scrunched his face up, "Er, yeah?"
"Well why'd you do that?"
"Because we go out every weekend...?"
You both sat there staring at eachother for quite awhile, the others watching, before you came to a conclusion.
"James, I think Snape must've hit a spell on you. You've got a concussion of some sort."
His hand went up to ruffle his hair, "No... no I don't think so."
"Well something's the matter, we better get you to Madame Pomphrey's, you have been acting awfully weird since I woke up there."
"Weird? Weird how?" James asked tentatively.
"You know," you vaguely gestured at him, "all sweet and caring, and you've been holding my hand, and you just said it's spring, and now you're telling me we've been on multiple dates?"
His eyes squinted in thought and confusion for a moment, before widening, dawning a frightened look on his face. "Love, what's the date?"
"Umm, yesterday was.. so today is.... October 3rd," you said, "although it might he the 4th, we've been friends long enough for you to know I'm horrible with dates."
Lily suddenly jumped out of her seat and rushed over in front of you, she scanned your face for a few moments, then looked to James, "I think that spell must've done more damage then we thought."
"Whaddya mean?" You questioned Lily, "Is it the fifth?"
James got off the armrest of the chair and moved to stand in front of you, Lily moving out of the way to have a hushed discussion with Remus.
"Honey I-" he paused and swallowed, "it's March."
Seconds of silence passed as you struggled to understand what he was saying. Had you been in a coma and no one decided to tell you?
"No," you whispered, "it's definitely October."
He broke eye contact and turned to Lily with questioning, almost pleading eyes. She just made a small grimace and suggested they go the Madame Pomphrey. James was now kneeling on the floor in front of your chair.
"What's your relationship to me?" He questioned, looking intently into your eyes.
"Um, friends? James I think you should lie down or-"
You were cut off when Remus puts a hand on James's shoulder, "Mate, I think you should give them a little space."
He nodded and returned some personal space back to you, instead sitting in the chair just about a meter away. "I think you must've gotten hit with a memory spell my love."
A memory spell? Certainly you would have remembered that, although actually that's kinda the whole point not to. But still, it's impossible.
"How can you be sure?" You asked, trying to get the facts before you inevitably freaked out.
James swallowed and look around the room a bit, gathering his thoughts, "Well, first and foremost, you think it's six months in the past."
"But... i don't, I don't even remember christmas."
He grimaced, "Well, that's kinda the thing with a memory spell isn't it?" He gave you a slight smile.
You studied his face for quite awhile, partly just needing somewhere to look while you absorb all this, also because he was quite handsome. Wait.
"Wait, we've been on dates?" You asked incredulously, surely you would remember something like that.
"Erm, yeah, yeah we've been dating for a little over 3 months."
Your mouth simply fell open, what. You, you, were dating the, the, James Potter.
"Oh I'm going to wring Snape's neck for making me forget out first kiss," you muttered to yourself, not completely expecting James to hear.
His eyes widened and his worried expression formed slowly into a bit of a smirk, "You never told me you had a crush on me.."
Your entire face flushed, "Shut up, I got hit with a spell I don't even know what I'm saying," you defended.
You avoided his eyes and stared down at your lap, but after a few seconds and he hadn't said anything, you tentatively looked up.
He had this awed kind of smile on his face as he looked at you. You somehow flushed even more and a muttered, "what"
"Sorry it's just," he raised his eyebrows in amusement, "I've never seen you blush like that, I didn't know I had that kind of affect on you."
Remus thankfully cut in again as he finished whatever hushed conversation he was having, "James, are you unable to leave them alone for more than five seconds."
James shrugged and Lily came to help you to your feet, you were about to remind her that something was wrong with your head, not your legs, when James spoke again, this time to Remus.
"Moony, did you know Y/n had a crush on me?" He asked. Remus just rolled his eyes and began walking to the portrait hole, you, Lily, and James in tow.
At no response he turned to Lily, "Did you know? Surely you knew."
"James," she sighed in exasperation, "your partner is in the middle of a medical emergency can you shut up for one god damn second."
That shut him up for the rest of the walk to the hospital wing, while Lily occasionally asked you some more questions trying to determine the nature of the spell. But the silence was broken as Lily left to get Madam Pomphrey and Remus realized he should make sure Sirius doesn't kill Snape. Only because that would get Sirius expelled and/or sent to Azkaban.
So you sat down on the bed and James resumed his position in the chair next to you. "How long have you liked me?"
You rolled your eyes, "I'm not telling you that. Besides, shouldn't my boyfriend," a wave of excitement shot through you at that term, "be more concerned for my well being?"
"Love, I'm about this close to bawling my eyes out," he held up his pointer and thumb so that they were almost touching, "but I don't think me groveling on the floor would really help the situation."
You looked into his eyes for a moment, "You really like me, huh?"
James nodded his head and smiled.
"How long have you had a crush on me?" You asked with a smirk.
"Now you're teasing me?" He questioned with a slight pout.
"If you tell me I'll tell you-" you began.
"-Since third year," he cut you off, "how long how you liked me?"
You widened your eyes, both not expecting for him to give up the information so quickly and also surprised by how long it's been. "Since- since third year?"
"Yeah, on the train ride to school. You got a new haircut over the summer," he rushed out, not really embarrassed as he just wanted to know, "how long?"
You tried to think back to that train ride and so many of the subsequent times you'd interacted with James, trying to figure out what you missed. "How did I not know?" You asked, more to yourself than him.
He furrowed his eyebrows slightly, "you didn't know?"
You shook your head.
"But I thought everyone knew, even-" he cut himself off, "anyway how long?"
You hesitated to respond, and were just opening your mouth when Madam Pomphrey came rushing in.
James was made to step aside as the nurse worked her magic, literally.
Apparently, the spell was not exactly a common schoolyard duel spell, so it did take her quite a while to figure it out. She even had to call for McGonagall at one point. But, after about an hour, you finally felt your memories rush back into place.
Halloween, James had stopped his conversation as soon as he saw your costume and immediately rushed over to compliment it.
Christmas, you'd spent it with James and Sirius. James had gotten you a necklace that must've cost a fortune and you teased him for being a typical rich kid.
New Years Eve, you spent it in the Potter's backyard. James, Sirius, and Remus had put together a fantastic firework show that only set one tree on fire. And then, as the countdown to midnight began, James grabbed your hands and looked into your eyes. As the seconds ticked down he slowly got closer, letting you plenty of time to back away. But you didn't, and as everyone cheered for the new year, you kissed him. The firework display you felt in your heart definitely put the one earlier to shame.
Valentine's Day, he had embarrassed you by getting a huge teddy bear and a bouquet of flowers about the size of you get delivered to Slughorn's classroom. You could picture the teddy bear now, sat by your bed.
The duel, you remembered being agitated when you turned a corner to see James and Snape dueling, though also quite concerned for your boyfriend's well being. You'd assumed it was just another stupid fight, but after learning James was only defending you, you couldn't help but feel your heart warm.
You must've fallen into a sleep for the final measure in breaking the spell, for you woke up in the same position you did hours ago. But this time you didn't have nearly as many guests. You supposed they wanted to give you privacy.
James noticed you were awake and squeezed your hand, "Goodmorning, love. How are you feeling?"
You smile up at him and yank his hand, making him stumble forward onto you. You captured his lips in a quick kiss before he pulled away smiling. Smiling brighter than you'd ever seen.
"You remember?" He asked hopefully.
You nodded and he went in for another kiss, but you cut him off by saying, "I'm never telling you how long I liked you."