A bit of backstory
Rowan is taken aback, surprise etched across his face. “Uh- I-I mean-” he gulps, looking away as well. “I’m not necessarily against you trying to change my mind…” he looks back up at James, James-Fucking-Potter, the man grown from an ever more arrogant boy… Was he really ready to admit he likes who James is now, that he loves him?
James looks hopeful, brown eyes nervous as he hesitantly makes eye contact once more.
And Rowan’s voice shrivels in his throat. He couldn’t say he wasn’t ready… at this point it would be a lie, and he couldn’t lie to the goddamned handsome jackass that is James Potter.
“I won’t make it easy for you, I’ll have you know” Rowan speaks up, his tone light. “I’m still a cat after all, and we’re well known for being strong-willed little buggers.”
James smiles at this, leaning down a bit “I’m open to the challenge” he murmurs, gently lowering Rowan’s hands, a question in his gaze. Rowan doesn’t give him time to ask, however, leaning up and pressing his lips against James’s in a heated kiss. Gods- of course the arrogant twat has soft lips- it really isn’t fair.
James takes a moment to kiss back, but when he does- Rowan swears he’s dead. A dead man in whatever other-worldly paradise people go to when they die. James pulls no punches as he deepens the kiss, slipping his tongue between Rowan’s lips and licking the backs of his teeth. Rowan’s own tongue submitting as James’s ventures deeper, the tip of his tongue rubbing against the start of Rowan’s throat.
Rowan was the first one to pull away, his lungs screaming for oxygen as he meets James’s gaze. “Fuck, Ro-” James breathes, face tinted red “That was pure dead brilliant, where’d you learn to kiss like that? I’m fair pickled-”
Rowan blinks, eyebrows raising “suenas jodidamente ridículo, cabrón” he shakes his head, a smile making its home on his lips as he stretches upwards, going in for another kiss to wipe that goofy grin off of James’s face. “Lucky for you, I’ve always liked idiotas~” Rowan murmurs, tilting his head and slipping his tongue between his lips.
This particular kiss is far more short-lived than the other, the two breaking apart when they hear heavy breathing and sprinting footsteps from the causeway next to the courtyard.
James and Rowan exchange glances, was that the smell of fear mingling with the scents of the other two marauders..?
“JAMES- ROWAN- THANK FUCK-” Sirius shouts as he sprints over, Remus following close behind, “We thought you were dead! Or like- got turned into newts or something-” He wraps both of them up in a hug, pulling back after a few seconds. “We should make peace with Calico tomorrow, I don’t know what he’s planning but just getting out of there was terrifying.” Remus states, glancing around the dimly-lit courtyard “I don’t know what he’s planning, but no doubt it’s going to be big, and very very targeted.”
“But for now, we should get back. No doubt Filch heard us.” Remus finishes, a faint smile directed at the three. Though he couldn’t hide the anxiety lurking behind his eyes as they all turned towards the broom. They need to make peace with the young prodigy, and soon.
. . .
Darkness. Leering faces. Screams ringing from the room beyond his hiding space under the sink, a purple curtain the only barrier between him and them. He could save them- if he could just move the curtain-
Rowan has had this nightmare every night since his sisters were killed. His parents had gotten involved with… the wrong sort of wizards… when they immigrated to the uk. His father was desperate for work, high-paying work, the kinda work that would support a wife and three children with ease. People get involved with the wrong sort when they’re desperate, this wrong sort just so happened to be the first dark lord and his death eaters.
Rowan turns this way and that, face twisting into expressions of agony and despair as tears slide down his cheeks. Soft whimpers rise from his bed as he continues to thrash, forced to relive his sisters’ tortures and murders over and over again until he wakes up.
It’s not real he tells himself in the nightmare, trying to get himself to wake up it’s not real, it’s just a nightmare, it’s not real it’s not real it’s not-
He awakens with a gasp, sitting up as he gasps for air, gripping his arms through the red and gold cotton pajama shirt. “I was a kid-” he whispers “I was a kid, just a kid, I didn’t have a chance against them-” he shudders, trying to shake the image of his sisters’ corpses from his mind’s eye. It’s been six years since that day, he’s far away from that house and the danger and he’s never going back. For his safety and for his cat’s.
His cat mrrows from beside him, heterochromatic eyes fixed upon her human as he breathes in shuddering, terrified breaths. “Dios mío, Kamina-” He mutters, extending a hand to run his fingers through the cat’s fluffy, orange and black fur. “It’s been seis años- you’d think I wouldn’t be getting them as frequently anymore…”
Kamina meows at him, climbing into his lap and settling there as he continues to pet her.
“Fuck-” Rowan whispers, tears still streaming down his face “fuck!” he flops down onto his back, tangling his fingers in his hair. “How could I be so useless?” he mumbles, violet eyes staring blankly up at the star-filled ceiling of his canopied bed. James had charmed it to reflect the night sky after Rowan had mentioned he liked stargazing back in second year… He still doesn’t understand why the marauders keep him around… but that’s a breakdown for another 3am, he decides, looking down to his chest when he feels a weight on it. Kamina has curled up on his chest, the vibrations of her purrs reverberating through Rowan’s body. Rowan only hopes things don’t go downhill between the marauders and the young ravenclaws… He doesn’t think he can handle more loss in his life.