Hugging Amethyst was enough to calm him down, his head gently resting on top of hers as he concentrated on breathing evenly in that moment. TJ ignored the enticing scent of the witch in his lap, knowing that even if had agreed to allowing her to stay, he could not allow anything more.
Hugs were fine.
Concern was fine.
But this could not grow, nothing more could come of it, or they would both be falling in to things they could not control. That could endanger one or both of them.
"Your secret is safe with me. No one will know... Just let me be there for you. Please."
"You can be there, when it's safe to be there." TJ replied in nothing more than a whisper. He would never allow her to put herself at risk. But at times like these, where he felt like crap and looked even worse, he would allow he to be there. When he came in to the Hospital Wing, she could be there. They could be friends, and they could spend time together.
But he would never, ever allow her to be anywhere near him on a full moon.
"But I owe you some Quidditch lessons. Give me a couple of days and I'll be okay to fly again. I promise I'll help you." TJ told the Hufflepuff, his arms loosening off of her a little bit now. "I need to go though now." He continued. "I've got a tonne of homework to do for tomorrow that I couldn't get done before..." He paused, she knew what he meant. "But I promise I'll help you out."
Gently moving the witch to the seat beside him - ignoring it was an effort to do so when normally it would have been easy - TJ stood up from the bench. "See you around, yeah?" The Ravenclaw insisted, giving her a small smile before limping off towards the door.
Don't look back, don't look back. He told himself as he moved, but as he reached the doors of the Great Hall, that's exactly what he did. This time a larger smile touched TJ's lips, a more genuine smile as he looked back at the witch who cared about him. With a small wave, TJ left, hoping beyond anything in the world that he was not going to regret this.
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