Author: WhtChoc

Title: Baby Mama Love

Summary: Harry is four months old. Lily and James are his parents but are not together. Yet. When a real man begins to show interest in Lily, it could be the one thing that causes James realize he wants her with him for the rest of their lives.

Author's Note: Okay, so—fourth and last time I'm publishing this story. This is it. This is what I've been trying to get out for weeks and now I've finally captured the voice and essence of this story. The concept remains the same: James and Lily have Harry but are not together. The way I've approached this story, though, is clearly different than all the versions I've previously published. I wrote a first chapter in which a lot of different things can happen so I hope everyone appreciates the potential mileage and quality this one story can have. Please review, even if you've reviewed for the other versions. I admit that the publishing and then deleting is highly unusual and must be quite annoying for some of you but I assure you—this is it. This is Baby Mama Love.

Additional note: The first part of this chapter was taken from the last version but then everything that follows is different.

"—But what you do not understand about Quidditch is how exhilarating, how wonderfully freeing it is to be up in the air, that high, just soaring with the Quaffle, y'know, just knowing no one can touch you. Impossible. Completely unbelievable. And I haven't even begun to talk about all the different plays we're learning this year, y'know? I mean, we've got the Porskoff Ploy—y'know, where I fly real high and I draw out all the opposing Chasers before throwing the Quaffle directly down to Starsky? I know it's hard to follow what I'm—well, maybe you do understand. You had Black and Potter in your year, right?

"Well, never mind that; they never went professional. Although if you ask me, the Caerphilly Catapults could have really used a first round draft pick to sway Black into the Quidditch League. I mean we're talking about the number one team in the British and Irish League of Quidditch taking in a great Beater. Black could have really used that. League Cup champions eighteen times in history and winners of the European Cup, phew. Did you hear about that? They beat the Karasjok Kites in the finals in 1956. It was unbelievable! I can only hope that my team plays as well in the semi-finals—

"This is random but I am curious about one thing: favorite sexual position. What is yours?"

Lily choked on her tea. Her hands came up to smack against her chest as she felt her eyes watering immediately. The hot liquid burned in her esophagus and she heaved in a trembling, difficult breath. For a few seconds, she saw the room swim in and out of focus and the lights of the shop she sat in with her date flickered on and off. Her gaze swept to said date and she saw him staring back at her, concern marring his handsome features.

His name was Barry Knightly and if it wasn't already apparent to her before he talked about Quidditch, he was a well-known Chaser from some Quidditch team or another in the British and Irish league. The truth was that Lily hadn't paid attention to Barry for a good part of the last hour because he talked on and on about Quidditch tactics and Quidditch history and Quidditch teams and— for some strange reason, she remembered the Hogwarts school song and she'd been singing it in her head for the last half hour.

For their first date, Barry took her out to Hogsmeade. Further surprising her, he walked them straight into Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, getting them a table in a corner away from everyone else and then ordering for both of them. She decided she didn't mind the take-charge attitude and went with it. Until he started talking.

Lily cleared her throat. "Pardon?"

Barry placed a hand over her free hand that came to rest on the table between them. "Are you okay? Did I surprise you with my question?"

She breathed in slowly, thinking about his question and contemplating her answer. As she exhaled, she shook her head and said just as slowly, "No. No, I've been—I've been asked crazier questions."

He sighed and squeezed her hand tightly before saying, "Oh, good. It's just, it's been on my mind for the last half hour and I wasn't sure how to make that transition from our conversation about Quidditch to sex. So…"

Lily nodded, shifting her gaze downward to the calloused hand covering her own hand. She swallowed again and forced a small smile upon her lips. Her eyes slowly met Barry's and she answered, "So…"

"What is it?" Barry asked, smirking and still holding Lily's smaller hand.

Lily blinked and her eyebrows raised a fraction. "My—you want to know my—why?"

He shrugged, shifting in his chair. "I don't know. You seem like you're experienced."

Lily slipped her hand from underneath Barry's and coughed into that hand. She forced a lighthearted laugh and said casually, "I do? How?"

He withdrew his hands from the table and leaned back in his chair, shrugging again and glancing away from her this time. "I don't know—"

By the tone of his voice, she understood. "Because I have Harry?"

He was silent at this.

She frowned, trying to keep her tone free of any emotions that might give her hurt and anger away. "Because I have a four-month old son and because I'm available and out on a date, it seems like I'm 'experienced?'"

Barry swallowed and shook his head, looking at her. "Lily—"

"Barry, I have just listened to you talk for an hour about Quidditch this and Quidditch that. About things that have happened in Quidditch years ago and what should happen for Quidditch in the future. And because you decided to take us to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop where I used to go when I was in Hogwarts dating Collin Hamel and Justin Brady, I've had to drink tea and I don't even like tea."

Lily pushed her chair away from the table and stood up, shaking her head. "I'm sorry but I have to go."

"Wait, Lily, I'm—"

"Goodnight, Barry."

He reached out and held her hand, effectively stopping her exit. And because she was wired to respond to sexy men, her breath caught in her throat. "Lily, please—I'm sorry for what I just said. Could you just—could you give me another chance?"

Lily met his gaze directly and held it, considering his apology. Her eyes swept over his face and she had to admit, he was drop-dead gorgeous. Quidditch served him well as it served many good-looking men—that she knew of—well. His blue eyes pleaded for her to stay with him and she realized that she might have overreacted by planning to walk out on him. But could she really sit through another hour of Quidditch talk?

She nodded and privately enjoyed the way he smiled. He might be boring to listen to but he was real eye candy. And with the responsibilities that she had on a day-to-day basis, she needed that sometimes. "Alright."

He flashed a smile with those white teeth. "Good. I'm glad."

She sat down and settled back in her chair. "So, how often do you—how often do you get to see your family?"

Barry shrugged and said, "Not enough, I s'pose."

There was silence.

"What about—what do you think you would be doing if you hadn't been drafted as a Quidditch player for the league?" Lily asked, acutely aware that after her outburst about his Quidditch talk, Barry didn't seem to have anything else to add to the conversation.

Barry smiled then. "I guess I would try to get a job at the Ministry."

Lily's eyes lit up with surprise. "Really? What Department?"

His smile faltered and his shoulders slouched a fraction.

"The Department of Magical Games and Sports, huh?" Lily nodded knowingly, her hands falling to her lap as she sat back in her chair with defeat. Of course she wasn't going to go home with anyone tonight. It was the curse of being a single mother being set up by her girlfriends. Damn vodka shots and sleeping with James Potter. Damn—it—all.

Barry nodded slowly.

"In the…" Lily trailed off, fishing for an answer and already deciding this was as far as she was going to take this date.

He cleared his throat. "Hopefully Chairman or something to the league. But, I mean, there are other avenues of business."

Lily nodded. "Like Level Six, in the Department of Magical Transportation, or um—Level Five, in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. That's where I work. Right in the Magic Office of Law."

Barry shrugged slowly, frowning. "I'm not, uh… not really into law and politics."

"May I ask why not?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know. I just think—I think life doesn't always need to be so serious. The people on that level are always so—so dramatic." He shook his head. "I need to always be having fun."

"My job is fun." Lily said, laughing incredulously. "Just because my work requires me to think and to—to actually help people, what I do isn't fun?"

Barry stared at her, looking like he was trying to figure out a really difficult Arithmetic equation. "Lily, please, I'm not trying to—"

"Barry, can we please just—can we just go now?" Her gaze met his slowly. She was trying to ignore the wall of disappointment that close-lined her because of this date. It was ridiculous to think so but this seemed to signal the end of the era of dating for her and inside, she was shouting with frustration at it, the thing that seemed to handicap her from connecting with any guy on any level anymore.

He inhaled deeply and nodded silently. It was obvious he'd been hoping for a more physical connection at the end of the night. Because Lily already decided that she wasn't going to go there with him, he was going to feel like he wasted a night. He wasted his night on a woman with a four-month old son. Both of them were going to feel stupid the next morning.

OooOooO

Lily breathed out carefully as they reached her apartment door at the end of the narrow hallway. She could feel Barry following behind her as her hands fidgeted nervously with her keys. Her heart pounded in her chest and she wondered how she would tell the very good-looking but not-right-for-her man goodnight. Should she just say goodbye and quickly slip into her apartment or should she give him the courtesy of giving him a hug or—

"So, I'm—I'm sorry you didn't have a good time tonight." Barry mumbled.

She turned to him with a small smile plastered on her face. She gave a slight shrug. "No—no, I mean, we're just not… I think you need a woman who appreciates your—zen for Quidditch. I'm just—that's not what I'm looking for."

"What are you looking for?" Barry asked, stepping closer to her and crowding her.

Lily's hand grasped the doorknob as she felt her heart beat quicken. Her body certainly couldn't deny that he was attractive. "I'm not sure. I just know that this isn't it."

"It's too bad."

Her gaze slipped to his moistened lips and she unconsciously licked her own lips. "Yeah. Too bad."

His hand came up to touch her shoulder affectionately. "Well, good luck with the—your search on finding the right guy."

He flashed her his perfect white teeth before dropping his hand from her shoulder and leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek. But her body had already been geared from the tender touches he'd been giving her all night. Even though his conversation was boring, even though she knew he wouldn't be the man to provide for her and a four-month old son who wasn't his, her body had different needs. Her head turned just as his lips was about to plant a kiss on her cheek. Instead, they touched her lips and she froze, torn between desire and embarrassment.

It didn't take long, however, before her embarrassment quickly disappeared because Barry responded with such passion that it forced her backward against her apartment door. Her hands immediately wrapped around his neck as she felt his lips, teeth, and tongue bruising her ready lips. Their tongues dueled passionately for several minutes before he pulled away, panting and looking down at her through hooded eyes.

"Are you, uh… are you sure you can't make an exception on your decision for one night?"

Lily leaned her head back against the door, chewing on her lower lip. She weighed her options and situation. The girls were out with their dates. Remus was with Harry at the boys' apartment. James was in Denmark on an assignment. And here she was, with a man who wasn't right for her but felt awfully good against her, asking for a night guaranteed to give her pleasure. There would be no strings attached and it wasn't as though he were asking for anything more from her except great sex.

"What the hell."

And as soon as those words left her mouth, she pulled him to her by the lapels of his jacket. His lips smashed down upon hers as her other hand fumbled with the key in the lock. After jingling the keys in the door, she finally managed to open the door. The door swung open and Barry, with his muscularly built Quidditch body, held her against him as he backed them into the dark apartment in the living room.

His and her jackets fell to the floor immediately, followed by his tie and button-down shirt and her sweater. Her hands fumbled with the belt buckles of his slacks as he sucked his way down from her lips to her neck. She let out a throaty moan as his hands came up to cup one of her breasts through her pink lacy bra. She arched into his hand as he nibbled against the flesh just above her breasts.

"Gods, Lily…" He whispered between his kisses in the valley between her breasts. "You've got so much…"

Her fingers scraped at his scalp through his hair and her hips jerked forward against his. Just as his hands were about to unzip her jeans, the lights came on and the couple jumped apart from each other. Lily whirled around to the sound of someone apparating a couple feet behind her. She swallowed audibly when she saw James Potter standing in her living room, his arms crossed and his jaw tightly clenched.

"James." Her surprise was evident. She wasn't expecting him back from Denmark for another three weeks.

His beautiful hazel eyes seemed to casually sweep over the scene he just interrupted but Lily knew him better than that. His instincts were probably telling him to attack the man who was touching the woman he thought to be his. She could tell by the way his knuckles were white, clutching his toned biceps, that he was fighting the urge to beat the living daylights out of Barry. And he still had the habit of clenching his jaw when he was exceptionally upset but—how much had she really expected him to change? He'd only been gone for the last three months. Of course he would still have the same reactions and habits.

"What are you doing here?"

James's gaze flickered to hers before settling behind her on Barry. He kept his eyes on the man behind her but he spoke to her. "I was sent back early and Dumbledore needed Remus' assistance. Since the girls have no way for Remus to contact them and apparently Sirius has his 'no-babies-on-weekends' rule, I was the only one he could call on short notice."

"Oh."

He nodded briefly and cleared his throat, shifting on his feet and assuming the alpha male standing stance. "What the hell are you doing?"

Lily's eyebrows raised a fraction, challenging his question. "Excuse me?"

"Uh, Lily…" She heard Barry from behind her say softly. "I think I'm just going to—"

"Is that what we're doing now, Lily?" James asked, somehow managing to keep his facial expression fairly controlled.

She flipped her hair behind her shoulders and met his gaze head on, a classic sign of her annoyance. "I don't know, James. What do you think we're doing now?"

The tall Auror stepped closer to the redhead, causing her to stand taller and fold her arms across her own chest. "I think the mother of my four-month old son is bringing home strange men to sleep with. Here, in the apartment that he eats, sleeps, and poops in. And I don't approve."

The last bit shoved her off some sort of cliff. Hot anger bubbled to the surface but she was well too practiced to show it in front of company. Completely unembarrassed about her partial nudity, she turned to Barry who was just picking up his clothes, and she smiled as best she could.

"I'm sorry, Barry." Lily said. "But it wasn't really going to work out anyway."

He held up his hand, nodding continually. He seemed to be mildly intimidated by James. "No, no, it's fine. I completely understand. I'll just—get my things and be on my way."

"Okay then." Lily flashed a smile and waited until Barry hurried out of her apartment before turning back to James who unfolded his arms. "Who the hell do you think you are? Is this some sort of joke? Think this is funny, do you?"

James pointed at the closed apartment door and frowned. "Was that Barry? Barry Knightly? The—the famous Quidditch Chaser from—"

"Oh no, no, no you don't." Lily waved a finger in his face, her cheeks burning red. "Don't you dare try to charm your way out of this one. I am—"

"Did Cassie or Andrea set you up with him?" James asked, dismissing her previous comment.

"Andrea." Lily answered automatically.

James grinned mischievously. "He's not the best Chaser in the league, Lily."

"No, but he would argue that Bradley…" Lily stopped abruptly and looked up at James's grinning face. When she realized how quickly he'd gotten her off her angry track, she smacked him across his chest. Before he could see how touching his muscled pecs affected her, she turned away from him and bent down to pick up her clothes. "You're an evil, evil man, James Potter."

"And with evil, evil thoughts." His husky voice said inches away from her ear as she straightened.

Her jaw clenched as she fought the urge to shiver under the implication of his words. Instead, she walked away from him toward her kitchen.

He followed her as she turned on the lights. There wasn't much to the kitchen except for all the necessities. There was a small round table in the corner with a refrigerator to the left just as people entered and a stove straight ahead. For a highly successful woman who had a high paying job at the Ministry as an International Lawyer and part-time Auror living with two of her girlfriends and her four-month old son, she lived rather modestly.

"Really, James, what are you doing back so early?" She asked as she pulled her sweater on over her head and turned to face him. She folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the counter, eyeing him warily. "You're supposed to be in Denmark on an assignment. Why did they call you back three weeks early?"

James motioned with his hands. "Did you do something special with your hair today? You look…"

"James." Lily said in that warning tone she always used with him that told him he was trying her last nerve and either screaming or hexing would ensue if he didn't shape up fast.

"Why does it matter?" James asked, his gaze darkening in that possessive manner that used to have her insides warming with excitement and fear. Now, however, she was more annoyed than anything else about his showing up completely out of the blue. "Disappointed I interrupted your date with Barry Knightly?" He laughed, shaking his head. "Really, Lily, the guys they're setting you up with now are getting pretty ridiculous, don't you think? He's not even fifth in the league anymore."

Suddenly, Lily pulled out her wand and held it against his throat. "I am too tired for your games." She shook her head briefly. "If you don't want to share why you're back early tonight, that's fine. I'm probably too tired to be interested anyways but don't play this game, James." She paused and as an afterthought added, "And thank you for watching Harry tonight."

James watched her closely and she breathed in slowly. She couldn't believe that after eleven years of knowing James, five of those years being friends or in an actual relationship with him, that he didn't seem to want to acknowledge the times when it was appropriate for him to joke with her and when it wasn't appropriate. Out of all the people in the world, he was the one person who should know that. Ironically, he did—but he was also the one person who didn't pay attention to that.

"I heard about the news in the Office of Magical Law." James said quietly.

Lily sighed, lowering her wand and putting it on the counter behind her. He was also the one person who could strip away her will to fight him. "James…"

His hand came to settle on hers. His hand was warmer than Barry's and felt like it—forget that. "They didn't give you the promotion."

She flipped her hair behind her shoulder and looked up at him. "No… no, they didn't."

"You are the best person for the job, Lily." James reassured her. "They'll see that when this bloke comes in from the Australian Ministry and messes everything up. They'll see how wrong he is for the job and fire him and hire you."

She laughed, shaking her head. "You haven't been here for three months, James. You have no idea what's been going on."

She watched his jaw tighten and his hand tightened on hers but loosened after a couple seconds. For the first time, he looked tired to her. There was wisdom there, too, in his eyes that hadn't been there before he left. She wondered passively, as they gazed at one another, what in Denmark had caused that in him. It wasn't the troubles of being a father because he barely knew his son, had left on the eve of Harry's first month with the gang. But it had to be something.

"I know that you've been working hard for that office for three years. I know that no one does the job better than you. And I know Harrison is eating himself right now because he didn't promote you as Chief M.I.L." James said with such conviction that if Lily didn't know the circumstances under which her jackass boss had picked the next Chief Magical International Lawyer, she would have believed him. "Besides, if he's not eating himself on his own guilt and stupidity, I'm sure you made him do all of that when you were there on Friday."

Lily cracked a smile again. "So, Remus told you about it?"

James shook his head, smiling down at her. "Please, Lily. I practically grew up with you at Hogwarts rubbing every mistake I made in my face to make me feel guilty and an additional four years outside of Hogwarts dating, sleeping, and having a baby with you. Remus doesn't need to tell me you made that bloke's life a living hell when you found out he didn't promote you. It's all up here." He pointed to his temple.

"It was rather amusing to see Harrison squirm all day every time I walked into the room." Lily conceded, remembering the fond moments of the last Friday where she had tried in all her will power to make sure Harrison knew how much she disliked his decision.

James frowned. "Any particular reason why he thinks bringing in a guy from all the way across the world will work to bring peace in Magical Law internationally?"

Lily shrugged and answered carefully, "The Australian Ministry has always maintained great relationships throughout the Magical world, of both Wizarding and Creature blood. Harrison believes that David will be a great asset to the British Ministry."

He narrowed his eyes. "David?"

Lily swallowed past her spark of annoyance at James not knowing the details because of his absence. "The new guy coming in from the Australian Ministry."

"Oh." James nodded slowly. "He already has a name."

Lily nodded briefly in confirmation. "He does."

There was silence and Lily ran a tired hand through her hair, only partially paying attention to their conversation now. Her mind was already wandering to what she was supposed to do next, or what she should do. Tomorrow was Sunday and the girls promised that they'd dedicate a good chunk of the day to shopping in Diagon Alley with her while both Remus and Peter would watch Harry. But now that James was here, would he want to spend time with Harry and in that case, did that mean Remus and Peter was off the hook? Would James be able to handle Harry? Who said Remus and Peter were off the hook if James wanted to get to know Harry? Did he even know the first thing about young infants? Should she even go shopping tomorrow if James was back or should she stay home and make sure James knew how to do the basics for Harry?

James cleared his throat, causing Lily's gaze to slowly meet his. "Well, you're probably very, very tired from your special night out…"

Lily straightened and realized that his hand was still on hers when she meant to fold her arms across her chest again. For the strangest reason, she shoved down her urge to do that and kept her hand underneath his, secretly liking the way his thumb continually brushed against the top of her hand in a soothing manner. She cleared her own throat and said, "Very tired, yes."

"And I'm, er, sorry for interrupting." James said not sounding apologetic in the least.

She shrugged though. "Doesn't matter."

"But you have been?" James wondered randomly.

She frowned, really confused. "Pardon?"

"You've been dating." It was a statement, not a question.

She blinked a few times and then finally shrugged again. "I don't know. A date here, a date there. It's nothing big, James. Harry is the most important aspect in my life."

"Alright, because—"

"And you," she interrupted abruptly, "are back from—from your assignment? For how long?"

James shook his head slowly, looking cryptic. "Don't know. But I should be here for a while."

She nodded carefully, watching him. "Okay."

He continued to stare at her. "Okay."

There was a pause before she shook her head and pointed to the way of the door, "Okay, you need to leave now."

He laughed, shaking his own head. "Typical Evans."

"What?" Lily slid her hand from underneath his and then folded her arms across her chest. "What is that supposed to mean, Potter?"

"Nothing." James held his hands up as a way of surrender and smiled. "Can I at least have a hug for being gone so long?"

She eyed him warily. It was his way, always his way to somehow get under her skin. And it was his preferable way to ruffle her feathers in such a way that—well, ended up in outcomes like Harry. Although she and James hadn't dated in well over a year, she knew he still considered them to be a package and it was obvious to her now that that hadn't disappeared in his absence of three months in Denmark. If anything it had strengthened to an annoying degree.

But, he was the father of her child, a close friend to her girlfriends, and a good guy she had been in love with two years ago, so she opened her arms as an invitation for him to hug her. She caught the mischievous smile on his handsome face but otherwise ignored it and allowed his arms to wrap around her sides to her back. Her own arms wrapped around his neck as her cheek settled against the broad expanse of his chest. Against her ear, she could hear the slow rhythm of his heartbeat thumping and lulling her into a comfortable, relaxed state.

She could feel his chin resting on top of her head and in her hair. He stepped even closer, pressing his long, hard body against hers in such a way that her butt and lower back pressed against the counter behind her. She was too comfortable, though, so when he meant to move away from her, her arms tightened around his neck, hugging him to her. She smiled when she buried her face into his sweatshirt, smelling his fresh clean scent. She was vaguely aware that it was mildly inappropriate to be so forward because, even though he was the father of her child, he was ex.

Her smile widened when she felt his nose bury in her hair and his chest expand because he was inhaling the smell of her. When his arms tightened around her middle and lifted her slightly in the best hug she'd received in a long while, she unconsciously let out a low moan of pleasure at being held so closely. That was when her eyes opened and he stopped suddenly as well. They slowly disentangled themselves from each other and looked at one another.

"That was…" James started to say but Lily finished for him.

"Inappropriate, I know. I'm sorry." She nodded, cleared her throat and glanced away.

"No." James disagreed slowly. "I was about to say that it was nice and I needed that."

She met his gaze cautiously. "Oh." She swallowed. "How about um—how about a quick hug to sort of forget that… or at least what I consider to be an inappropriate hug?"

"Okay."

"Okay." Lily flashed a big smile and stepped into his embrace again, wrapping her arms around his middle this time and feeling his arms rest on her shoulders. There was so much comfort and ease at which James hugged her that no matter how much she tried to fight it, her head found the comfortable spot on his chest and rested briefly. She felt him stiffen a little and seconds later, she felt his erm—member poking into her stomach.

"My god, James, is that all you think about?" Lily teased him, a smile playing on her lips as she looked up at him but didn't remove her head from his chest.

He laughed, shaking his head. "Can't help it, Lily. You're just so adorable…"

She didn't laugh but watched his mouth and the way he smiled. He always had had straight white teeth, even before his teenaged years. He also had full lips and a beautiful, tilted smile because one side of his upper lip curled up higher than the other side. It was always a quirk she had found utterly irresistible about him when they had dated. She could spend hours kissing that mouth and enjoy every second of it. In fact, she had spent hours doing that a couple years ago. After months of carrying their child and then three months of his being gone, the thought suddenly crossed her mind again but she didn't move away from it. Instead, she flirted with the idea of kissing him again.

After his laughs subsided, he seemed to take notice of the way she was looking up at him. She didn't shy away from the darkening of his gaze down at her but stared right back, feeling the familiar pools of excitement and fear wash over her. She greeted it like a long time friend and waited until James saw what she saw. That they were going to kiss again after months of being apart and there was something inevitable about it this time. Maybe it was because they were alone, because Harry was upstairs in his nursery sleeping, because they hadn't seen each other in three months. Maybe all of those things.

"James…" She wasn't sure what she was going to say but James's tongue that came out to wet his lips silenced whatever she would have said.

"Are we really going to do this, Lily?" James asked one of his ridiculous questions again.

She swallowed and tried to shake her head but her head barely moved. "I-I don't know."

"Do you want to do this, Lily?" He asked, his eyes swiveling between her eyes and her mouth. "Because if we do this, baby, I'm not going to be able to stop. I haven't had it in two months so it's likely I'm not going to be very patient."

She frowned deeply, her head beginning to hurt. She was too tired to be confused. "James, I don't know."

"What do you want?" He leaned back further, his hands holding her arms.

She gazed up and saw his darkened hazel eyes glittering with restrained passion. She knew it wasn't fair of her to egg him on but she had her needs too. Since it hadn't worked out with Barry and James was here and clearly attractive and attracted to her, she was beginning to just put away her ration and reasoning. At this moment, she wanted James and he wanted her. That was clear. So that was all that mattered.

"You." Lily whispered, standing up on her tippy-toes so that she was eye level with him. "I want you."

Review and let me know what you think honestly!