Chapter 20

"James," Nora giggled, watching him as he turned and quickly snapping a picture of him, watching as the small square of paper developed out of the far side. she grabbed it, waiting for it to show and soon did James' face, with furrowed eyebrows and a slight frown stare back at her, diving Nora into another fit of giggles, something that she had been doing all morning.

"You're so bloody cute," James whispered, reaching up to move the hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear before guiding her closer to him, pushing himself up to meet her halfway. He pressed his lips to hers softly, a smile undeniably pushing through as he savoured the perfect feeling.

"Y'know, James," Nora tutted, moving over him to place her camera on the bedside table, "I think you just want to kiss me, and that's it," she shook her head, feigning disappointment as the amused smile captured James' lip, "I mean, I'm a person, James, not just lips!"

"Don't start with me Nora Robinson," he smirked, pushing himself forward so that his forehead rested against hers, his hand tracing soft patterns along her thigh, "you want me just as much as I want you."

"And how much is that?" she asked, a smirk of her own matching his as her eyes slowly trailed to his lips, biting her own as her eyes found his, sure that his had grown darker as he moved to brush his lips with hers, taking her lip between his teeth gently before pushing himself forward.

A squeal left her lips as she laughed, clutching onto his shirt as he hovered over her, pressing soft kisses to her neck as her giggles tumbled from her lips, "that tickles, James," she whispered, pulling his head back to look at her, the smile unmissable as she stared at him.

"What?" he asked, a smile of his own evident on his lips as he stared at her.

"Nothing," she whispered, shaking her head with another laugh, "it's just- unexpected, really, we didn't even talk until this year."

"I wish we did," James nodded, moving to lie his head on her stomach, his hand finding her waist as his fingers danced atop of her skin, oblivious to the goose bumps his touch made, "if I had you before I'd be the happiest person on this earth."

She smiled softly, whilst neither of them had brought up the thought of them being 'official' they didn't think they needed to, it was obvious that they both wanted each other, and whilst it would be nice for them to officiate it, right now, wrapped up with each other was perfectly fine, more than fine, actually, it was a gift.

"You have me now," she whispered, smiling softly as she leaned down to kiss his forehead, "but I think we should get up if we are leaving."

"So, wise," James smirked, pushing himself up and reaching for her hand, "y'know I don't think it's very fair that you get to see me shirtless all the time, and I don't."

"Oh yeah, it's terrible that you don't get to see yourself shirtless," Nora smirked teasingly, pushing him away with a laugh tumbling from her lips, "you like being shirtless, it could be freezing in here, and you'd still take your top off."

"I'm just giving you a treat," he winked, watching the hufflepuff roll her eyes, "come on, you like what you see!"

"I never said I didn't," she scoffed, her eyebrow raised, "y'know one day that ego of yours is going to explode."

"I speak the truth," he grinned, moving to slip his arm around her waist, "I was only joking, love."

"Oh, so you don't want to see me shirtless?" she asked, an amused smile widening on her lips, "alright then, your loss."

"You're just as bad as me!" he exclaims, shaking his head as he watched her curiously as she moved to her trunk that the two had collected from her dorm at the start of break. Silently, she pulled out a dress suitable for winter, knitted and comfortable that would work well with traveling, placing it on James' bed with tights and her converse, and not long after did she take off the hoodie of James', leaving her in her bra and the shorts that she wore to bed.

She smirked at him as his breath caught in his throat, wide eyed as his eyes trailed down her body, unable to help his heart beat rising at the sight of perfection in front of him, "Nora," he trailed off, finding it hard to do anything with the sight of her.

"All I done was take my shirt off," she tutted, reaching for her things and making her way towards him, trailing soft kisses over his neck and up his jaw until she reached his ear, her breath hot on his skin as she whispered, "I wonder what your reaction will be like when you see me naked."

She smirked as he reached for her waist to pull her closer, but she waltzed off to the bathroom before he could, winking in his direction until she closed the door behind her, her heart racing as fast as his was as she tried to calm herself down. She wasn't really like that, she had only ever kissed one person before James, so acting that intimate with someone was entirely foreign.

But she loved it, especially with someone like James, who made her feel like a queen. She wasn't anything more than average, an average height, an average body, average features, average intelligence, but somehow, James made her feel like a queen, as though she was perfection and he was chasing after her.

Even though he didn't need to, she had stopped running ages ago.

She felt as though her confidence had heightened in her own abilities, not so much just because of James, although he played a major part in it, so did her new friends, always making sure that she knew that she was amazing, nothing less, and the thought made her more than happy, that wonderful people in this world existed so much to the point that her own confidence could soar just by being around them.

-

"How do we know which train to get?" asked James, gripping onto her side as he pulled her closer, his breath hot on her ear in hopes that no one could hear him. He had to admit that she looked all around adorable in her adventuring gear, as she called it, with a backpack that she took everywhere and a hat on her head that was a rare sight, he loved it.

"We don't," she shrugged, shaking her head, "we just get on the next one and hope for the best."

"What if we get lost?" he asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Well if worst comes to worst we just find places to sleep for the next few days and try and get to king's cross, that way we can get the Hogwarts express back to Hogwarts for the next semester!" she grinned, watching the wariness flash in his eyes.

"Merlin, what are you getting me into?" he asked, shaking his head whilst her laugh filled the air.

"An adventure!" she exclaimed, reaching for his cloak that he gripped in his hand, and soon was she pulling him out of the castle, her eyes darting for a sign that any professors where near, and when she figured she was in the clear did she throw the cloak around the two of them, one hand clutching the cloak and the other holding James' hand whist his did the same.

"You know, there isn't really anyone around," James spoke as they crouched down the hill, his head turning to Nora who couldn't help but shrug.

"Well now this gives me an excuse to be close to you," she teased, sending him a wink as the laugh fell from his lips, pulling the cloak from around him, the two stood, suddenly with James' arms around her tightly, his forehead against hers.

"You don't need an excuse to be close to me," he whispered, placing the tiniest kiss against the corner of her lips.

"Glad we cleared that up," she grinned, pushing herself up to capture his lips, completely oblivious to the shocked stares of a few students roaming around Hogsmeade as they watched the two, "now come on, we have to go," she whispered, pulling his hand as they walked through the village.

There was two ways to get to the train station which was situated near the gates of Hogwarts, of course exiting the castle being one way, but Nora knew another way to get there from a time she had greatly considered leaving the castle but quickly deciding against it when she thought of the endless possibilities.

"We could go to Edinburgh but that will take a long while," Nora spoke as she shrugged the cloak off of her shoulders one more time, making her way to the notice board that hung on the side of the small wall near the announcer's booth, "around three hours."

"Merlin," James scoffed, shaking his head as he leaned against the wall beside her, watching the small smile lift her features as her eyes scanned the board, "excited, love?"

She nodded enthusiastically, her grin wide as she turned to him, "I've wanted to do this forever!" she laughed, her arms flailing, "and now I finally have someone to do it with, it's like a dream come true!"

He couldn't help but smile as he reached for her waist, pulling her closer so that he could wrap both of his arms around her, his lips lingering on her forehead as she leaned on him, her hands clutching the fabric of his shirt, "if you want to go to Edinburgh then we can."

"But it'll take a while," she frowned, looking up at him, "and we'd have to train hop, and also keep track of all the places we have left from so that we know how to get back."

"It's all part of the adventure, right?" he asked, watching her grin widen if it was even possible, "I'm just happy I get to spend another day with you."

"Thank you," she whispered, resting her head on his shoulder as they stood there in the middle of Hogsmeade station, about to get on a train that would take them away from Hogwarts for the day, allowing them to break probably a million school rules.

Nora was ecstatic, though, and that's all James cared about really, he had broken rules before, it didn't bother him, but the fact that Nora was happy made him happy, she was far too excited for them to turn back, and even if she had her doubts, he wouldn't let her.

Neither Aubrey or Caden had ever had an interest in travelling, or adventures, it wasn't in their nature to rough it on a train for days, or climb onto cargo trains just so they didn't need to pay, they didn't need to live like that, as much as Nora loved music, Aubrey obsessed over it to the point that spending her holidays in her room with her record collection was so much better than going on adventures to different parts of Britain.

Caden, on the other hand, liked luxury far too much, his family could afford whatever he wanted, if he was getting a train anywhere it would be to the city for a day of high life living, and first class would be the only means of travel. He never really understood why Nora loved adventuring so much, it was dirty, and horrible, to him, anyway, and when he voiced this one day last year, Nora wouldn't talk to him for the rest of the day.

But now, with James who looked as excited as she did to see how she lived, the way she praised it, the risk, the adventure, he really was looking forward to it, but as well, he was looking forward to spending time with the Hufflepuff whose head rested on his chest.

"Ready?" asked Nora when the train arrived, hoisting her back pack further up her back as she pushed herself forward, a smirk on her lips as she reached for James' hand.

"As I'll ever be."