Can't get no sleep (Willow/James)

[Ginny Weasley]

She wanted it to stop. There were people and they were coming for her and it was awful and she didn't know where she was and she wanted it to end. Things were crawling and the world was closing in on her. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Like she was being suffocated by the walls. Those big, tall stone walls that just seemed to tower over her till she could barely make out the sky between them.

And then she was being pulled at from all sides. And there was that smell, that overpowering smell that just refused to leave her memory. And she was drowning in it. Bottles and bottles and bottles and bottles of the smell. It was all around and she couldn't stop it.

She woke with a scream, shooting into an upright position and grasping at her sheets, feeling like she'd been drentched in water. She gasped for air, hands touching her face and neck, trying to get more air in. She didn't even notice the streams of tears that were falling down her cheeks.

[James Jackson]

James had just managed to get Alex back to sleep. He hadn't slept for a fell night in ages, and he could feel exhaustion wearing him down. The baby didn't really like sleeping through the entire night, and Mel already had to get up at an ungodly hour to breastfeed him, so James covered all the other times he cried. Which was torture. He wished he had an house-elf, that would certainly make things easier.

He was on his way back to the bedroom, ready to curl up in his bed and hope he never woke up again, when he was startled by a scream. At first he thought Alex had woken up again, but then he realized the scream was way too high to be the scream of his son. And seeing as he knew Mel's screams were much louder, it had to be Willow who screamed.

James felt worried and drew his wand, before quickly slamming open the door to her room, scanning it for any intruders, which weren't there. His eyes landed on Willow, who seemed to be proper panicking. James felt guilty for slamming in the door like that.

He quickly made his way towards her, sinking to his knees next to her bed. He reached out a hand to touch her cheek. "Princess?" he asked, using the nickname he had for her in hopes it would help her calm down a little. He brushed away some of the tears with his thumb. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

[Ginny Weasley]

Willow yelped in horror as the door slammed open, jumping in her spot as the noise shocked her. She could barely make out the person standing there, though they were familiar. Her eyes were too watery to really see anything clearly.

She whimpered slightly as the person sat next to her bed, recognising him as James. When she heard her nickname she began sniffling, beginning to feel slightly safer, but also slightly more hysterical.

"I-nightmare-the people-!" she choked off, unable to keep still. "Coming-trying to-!" Willow pushed herself forward and into James' arms, burying her face in his shoulder, gripping at his shirt tightly. "Make-make them stop, Uncle-Uncle James. I-I don't want-to-to-to go with them."

[James Jackson]

James felt horribly guilty as the younger girl yelped when he slammed the door open, he probably should have gone in a bit more subtly. She was crying and then threw herself into his arms, which James quickly wrapped around her shaking form. He tried to make out what she was saying, but the words were all one blur and she was stammering, and he didn't understand.

"Ssh, shh," he whispered against her temple, rubbing her back slowly as she gripped his shirt. He had to know what was wrong with her before he could help, and he didn't imagine he was going to get a sane word out of the hysteric girl any time soon. So instead he did something he hadn't done in quite a while.

"Legilimens," he whispered, locking eyes with Willow as he slipped into her mind, entering the memory that was roaming through her thoughts. What he saw was way too real to be a dream. He slipped out as soon as he could, not wanting her to feel like he was intruding her mind. He didn't want her more upset than she already was, he just wanted to help.

"There gone now love, they won't take you," he whispered, brushing her hair from her forehead. "I'll protect you, I swear," he added, deciding right now was not the time to ask how in Merlin's name what he just saw could've happened. And why he didn't know about it.

[Ginny Weasley]

Willow whimpered slightly as James whispered something, eyes locked with his, desperation in her own. She felt a sob escape her lips as she felt as if the memory was being focused on, the events unfolding in her mind in a much clearer way than she'd remembered them in her dream, ending with the memory of Liz finding her and taking her home.

She sniffled when James began speaking again, trying to move her attention to his words. Willow nodded mutely as he said he would protect her, finding herself putting her trust in her Uncle James. Uncle James had never lied to her. Uncle James would protect her.

"Ca-can I-!" she wiped at her eyes, trying to speak long enough for him to understand her. "Stay with-with-with you?" Willow wasn't sure she could expand much more than that, simply holding on tighter to the man, scared he would leave her. She didn't want to be on her own. Never on her own.

[Sponsored content]