Disclaimer: Everything from HP books belongs to JK Rowling

Faint

She dreams of him.

Fingers beautifully laced together. Twinkles in their eyes. Laughter bubbling through their mouths. The faintest whisper of an I love you on his lips. A soft kiss and quiet moan escaping hers.

And her eyes bursting open. Shivers attacking her body. Invisible tears in the corner of her eye. An ache in her heart she ignores as the sun begins to rise.

She walks down the dormitory stairs. One slow step. Another slow step until she reaches the ground. He's there. Hazel eyes filled with laughter. Glasses askew. She glances, and quickly walks away.

She glances at him during breakfast. Calm, self-assured as always while he sits between his companions and talks about the weekend ahead. Hogsmeade, she hears. Brilliant, Sirius growls. Remus looks at her once. She blinks and turns her stare away before his hazel eyes turn her way.

He walks by a group of girls on the way to his seat in class and she hears them whisper. He's so dreamy, they say. I hope he asks me. And then she hears the slightest Lily Evans and feels a crude look her way. Whispers, it's all that is ever heard in Hogwarts. Gossip is all most people know. And she would die, completely die, if they were to whispers that Lily Evans is another casualty of James Potter. Knew it would happen eventually, they would say. She's not as perfect as she seems.

She really is pride at its finest.

She needs the day to end so she doesn't have to feel that he is in the same room as her. She really has to just get away.

She runs. Faster and faster until the classrooms fall behind and all that is left is the big oak doors barring the way outside. She pushes, and she is free.

She runs until she reaches the waters edge and contemplates just drowning in the icy waters. Wonders if it hurts to be eaten alive by the giant squid. She falls backward and lies in the grass. Her shirt untucked. Her hair wild and free. She's a mess, inside and out.

Her eyes close. The spring sun beats on her face as she listens to the bell signaling the beginning of class. She lets out the breathe she sucked in. She never skipped class before.

A laugh. Her eyes shoot open. Above her are his dizzy eyes and a smile. She sits up. Grass attached to her hair and dirt stains on her usually white shirt.

What are you doing here, she asks as her heart begins to beat and she wonders if he can smell her nerves. Can he smell her love?

I don't think it's me that's out of place.

She looks down. Rips out a blade of grass. Rips another trying to forget he's there. But his eyes bore into her. Scrutinize her. Destroy her. Love her.

She looks up. Gets lost into the dizzy gold swirls. He reaches for the grass in her hair. His hand grazes her face. Her eyes close at the touch.

I like you like this, he tells her as her eyes open.

What? Dirty?

Normal. She looks up. He looks back. And there, in the making, is a perfect moment. The world stops spinning. The birds cease to sing. Her eyes close and James Potter leans in to kiss her.

Reality hits her as she leans in. Her head turns. Her palm sweats. And all she knows is that she won't be another one of those girls. She won't let herself break. She whispers goodbye and feels his stare as she leaves. His laughter, broken. His glow, dark.

And that night she dreams she is in his arms.

I love you, she whispers in her sleep.

End