Author's Note: This has been rotting in my computer for forever. I finally got around to posting it. It's not beta'd or anything, so forgive any mistakes. This is also my first venture into the Maurader Era, and Lily/James in general. Hope you enjoy and be sure to leave a review :)
James did not wear ties often. In fact, he could probably count all of the occasions a tie had graced his collar on one hand. He had been to many events that required one, usually by his high-society mother with high expectations, but after he insisted on wearing nothing but dirty Rolling Stones shirts and Chuck Taylors, she had stopped bringing him. He had worn one to his cousin Mable's wedding the previous summer, but it had been quickly discarded (along with the rest of his clothes) at the insistence of one of her bridesmaids in a supply closet. He had every intention of continuing his life tie-free until a certain redhead made other plans.
"Come to dinner with my parents this Saturday. Dress nice. Wear a tie."
So, there he was. Nice trousers, button-up shirt, and a patterned navy tie. His hair was combed and slicked back. In essence, he looked like a total prat.
He had never been to Lily's home before. It was small and blue with a white fence and a little garden in the front. Behind the blue-and-white house was a blue-and-white sky, cumulus clouds floating under a bright sun. As James walked the path up to the door, he pulled at his collar. It was too tight for the hot summer day.
James pressed the doorbell and heard its muffled chime. "I got it!" came a voice from the other side of the door. He heard footsteps and then it was yanked open, revealing his girlfriend in a yellow summer dress.
"You're early," Lily said, surprised. James was slightly offended.
"That happens occasionally," he replied. "Can I come in?"
He followed Lily inside the house. Blue and white was apparently a theme: almost the entire sitting room was filled with items of varying shades of blue. James took a seat on the couch, expecting Lily to sit next to him. Instead, she sat on an armchair on the other side of the small coffee table, looking tense.
"Anything wrong, love?" he asked, toying with a candy dish.
"No," she snapped. James raised an eyebrow. "Sorry. I'm nervous. I want everything to go well."
"I'll be on my best behavior, I promise."
Lily shot a look at the door. "It's not you I'm worried about."
As if on cue, the door opened to reveal a young woman who, if James was being honest, greatly resembled a horse. Her blonde hair was pulled into a severe bun and she wore a pastel ensemble that was so perfectly coordinated and ironed James had the desire to throw coffee on it.
"Hello, Petunia. It's lovely to meet you. I've heard a lot about you," James said, standing and extending his hand. He had heard a lot; Lily loved complaining about and berating her older sister.
Petunia looked at his hand as though he was offering her a decomposing rat carcass. He put it back in his pocket.
"Dinner's ready," Petunia said curtly before turning on her heel and walking back through the door.
"That," Lily said as the door closed behind her sister, "was what I was worried about."
Lily's parents, unlike Petunia, were nothing but lovely to James when he sat down for dinner with the Evanses.
"I hear you're good at Quidditch. Chasing the Coffles all around, yes?" Mr. Evans asked, only slightly butchering the terms. "I played rugby at Cambridge. I was wonderful, wasn't I, Cheryl?"
"You were lovely, Marcus," Mrs. Evans said, patting her husband's arm. "We were so pleased when Dumbledore told us Lily would be Head Girl last August. Were your parents excited?"
James quickly swallowed a mouthful of peas. "Oh, oh yeah. My mum cried, I think. Took a load of pictures when I got my badge in the post."
"Are you excited for university in September?" Mrs. Evans asked before stopping herself. "Oh, I forgot, there's not really a magic university, is there?"
"No, we don't really have anything like that. We get right into our careers in the Wizarding World. Cutting to the chase, I think," James explained. Petunia rolled her eyes.
"Ignore her," Lily whispered. "She's home from university and thinks she's gained a brain."
Petunia evidently heard her sister as she shot Lily a dirty look. Lily smiled radiantly and asked her father to pass her the bread basket.
"Petunia, dear, could you go into the kitchen and get the pie?" her mother asked her. "It's on the counter, it should have cooled off by now."
"Yes, Mum," Petunia answered, rising and leaving.
When she had gone, Mrs. Evans cast a concerned look at James. "I'm sorry, she's been rather rude. But, you know, this magic thing is hard for her. She and Lily were so close, weren't you Lils? And then Lily went off to school and it's been struggle with the girls ever since-"
"Mum," Lily cut her off. "James doesn't need a history lesson."
"Alright, alright. I just didn't want James to think she disliked him."
"She does dislike him," Lily argued. "She dislikes everyone."
The door opened to again reveal Petunia, this time with a platter of dishes and an apple pie. She crossed to the table but somehow managed to trip, sending the platter flying. Golden-colored filling spattered the carpet and chairs, and the dishes fractured into a hundred pieces.
"Goddamn it," Petunia swore loudly, reaching to grab the shards. James jumped up.
"No, no, it's fine, I've got it," he said, pulling out his wand. Before he could hear Lily's protest he swished his wand and the pie and dishes reassembled and landed in the center of the table, unharmed.
There was a silence.
Petunia ran out of the room and slammed the door behind her. The house reverberated with her angry footsteps on the stairs and he heard the door of what he presumed to be her room slamming before a loud, piercing scream emanated from the room above them.
Mrs. Evans sighed. "I'd better go talk to her," she told her husband. Turning to James, she said, "I'm so sorry, she gets like this sometimes..."
"No, it's fine, really," James said awkwardly. Mrs. Evans left the room, followed shortly by her husband with an excuse of needing to make a phone call. Then it was just James and Lily. James was about to say something to break the silence when he heard Petunia's shrieks again.
"Who does she think she is? Bringing home her freak boyfriend from her freak school and expecting us all to sit down and have dinner? Why don't they go back where they belong!"
"Petunia! That's your sister! She belongs here."
"That freaky bitch is no sister of mine!"
Lily sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head back on her chair. "I'm sorry, James," she mumbled. "This wasn't my idea."
"I'm having a fun time," he lied. Lily rolled her eyes but smiled, taking his hand.
"It was all Mum's idea. I told her I'd met your parents so she wanted you to come 'round for dinner and dad got in on it and I thought Petunia was staying in Cardiff but no, she'll be home right on time to meet you so I have to convince her to not be a total bitch to you – you see how well that worked out – and I had to wear this stupid dress-"
"Your dress looks nice," James argued. "And your sister isn't being a total bitch, maybe just a slight one." Lily raised her eyebrow, but he continued. "And this pie is really good."
Lily climbed onto James's lap, the two of them a little to large for the small dining chair. She faced him, wrapping her arms around his neck; her long legs dangled off the seat, toes grazing the floor. "I'm glad they didn't ask you about your future plans."
"Me too," he said. He wrapped a lock of Lily's red hair around his finger. "Do they know?"
"No," Lily answered, "and I'd like to keep it that way. They think you're starting at the Auror office with Sirius and I'm getting into International Relations."
"Have you done the Fidelius Charm on the house yet?"
"No." She buried her face in his chest. "Doing that will make it real."
"You don't have to join, Lils," he murmured. "Everyone would understand."
Lily snapped back up. "Stop it. We've discussed this. We're both joining the Order and that's that," she told him. "We've been given an opportunity here to really, really do something. I'm not taking Voldemort lying down. I want to help."
James kissed Lily softly to quiet her and then rested his forehead against hers. "I know, I know. I'm just a little... anxious." He lowered his voice. "Between you and me, I'm scared fucking shitless."
At his words, Lily kissed him deeply, her fingers curling into his black hair. James wrapped his arms around her, bringing her body flush with his as their tongues danced. Lily broke the kiss with a gasp, but James saved no time kissing down her neck.
"James," Lily whispered, pushing him off while simultaneously bringing him closer. "We can't, my family will be back any second."
James pushed her dress strap off of her shoulder and sucked at her clavicle. "I know," he murmured. "But doesn't that make it all the more exciting?" He tugged the strap more, and then the other one, revealing her peach lace bra to him. That was taken off with a bit of fumbling and discarded onto the floor. His mouth was on a pink nipple before Lily had time to protest.
"Jesus Christ," Lily gasped, thrusting her chest up to his mouth. James loved the little Muggle things that came out of her mouth when he pleasured her. It was just so incredibly Lily to cry out for God instead of Merlin. Or insist on Muggle methods of birth control (which, luckily, he had convinced her to forgo now that she had mastered the Contraception Charm).
James's hands worked up his girlfriend's soft thighs, tracing circles on the skin as he licked between her breasts. His fingers delved under her thin knickers and were at her cunt... her bare cunt. He looked up, surprised.
"All gone?" he asked, circling a finger around her center to illustrate his point. Lily giggled.
"Just changing things up a bit," she replied. "Don't get used to it, though. More trouble than it's worth."
James wasted no time slipping a finger into her. She sucked in a breath and dug her nails into his shoulder. He was about to thrust another in when he heard footsteps on the stairs.
"Fuck!" Lily whispered. "My parents-"
James didn't think. One moment he was fingering a half-naked Lily in her dining room and the next he was Apparating to his flat, Lily joining him for the ride. They landed on his couch, Lily's hands covering her breasts.
"What about Sirius?" she asked, beginning to pull up her dress. Her concern was legitimate: Sirius was James's official roommate in the London flat his parents had bought him for graduation and Remus and Peter stayed over so much they practically lived with them as well.
"He's out, so are Moony and Wormtail." He kissed her neck again. "They won't be back until much later tonight, don't worry about it." Lily seemed to relax and James took the opportunity to completely remove her dress and knickers. She kissed him deeply, yanking his tie off and ripping a button on his shirt in her haste to remove it as well. The rest of his clothes were magicked away, as patience was not one of Lily's virtues.
Both naked now, they were a tangle of limbs as they kissed and sucked on each other's skin. "Bedroom," Lily moaned. "This isn't the common room anymore."
Chuckling, James scooped up his girlfriend and carried her into his bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him. He tossed her onto the bed and climbed on top of her, his fingers quickly slipping into her center. He was about to add another when she suddenly flipped them over, straddling him. Lily then turned around, her arse in his face, and took his cock in her hand. She wiggled her arse and spread her legs and looked over her shoulder at him, batting her green eyes. He laughed.
"Yeah, yeah, I get the hint, love," he said. Lily lowered herself onto his mouth. He licked at her hungrily, thrusting his cock up slightly into her own warm mouth. It was hard to concentrate on licking at her clit when her own tongue was swirling around his head, her mouth sucking him in and out and bringing him closer and closer to the edge. James dug his fingers into her thighs, steadying her as she shook and quivered above him.
"Lils," he panted, breaking away from her cunt, "I'm going to blow in a second. Get off, come on. I wanna be inside you." With one last lick up his shaft and a cheeky squeeze to his bollocks, Lily complied, crawling on top of her boyfriend. He entered her with one quick thrust, making her cry out at the feeling of him filling her.
They moved together, Lily's hips rocking off of him and back, her breathless moans in his ear. James took her breasts in his hands, brushing his fingers over her dark pink nipples and watching them tighten at his soft pinches. Sex with Lily was a sensory overload; it was as if every inch of nerves were standing on end, taking in more sensation than he thought possible. Her soft hair tickling his shoulder; her hands spread across his chest, giving her leverage to roll her hips; her wet kisses all over his neck, randomly peppering him between her cries; how slick and tight she felt around his cock.
But he couldn't think about that now. James had an (embarrassing) history of reaching his peak before Lily had even begun her ascent. He liked to think he had put that reputation behind him at Hogwarts, but he was still extra careful to concentrate on anything other than Lily riding him and moaning his name...
James quickly rolled to the side so that she was beneath him, appreciating Lily's insistence on him buying a large mattress. He kissed her quickly before beginning to thrust into her again. He felt her thighs squeeze his hips and he grinned.
"Gods, Lily, you feel fucking..." He trailed off, unable to find an appropriate adjective. Instead, he picked up his pace, thrusting harder and harder and loving the way her cries climbed octaves each time he did so. Before long, he could feel the redhead's thighs begin to shake. Lily's rosebud mouth parted and what James would later egotistically describe as a scream escaped her mouth. He felt her walls tighten around his cock and then finally, blissfully, she convulsed around him, a string of curse words on her tongue. He continued to thrust in and out at a slower pace until she collapsed backward, panting.
"Oh no, love," he growled, bending her legs back more, "I'm not done yet."
He pounded into her again and again, this time purely for his own satisfaction (although, by her renewed cries, he imagined she was plenty satisfied as well). Finally, the sweet wave of relief flooded over him and he spilled into her, stopping his motions only when his body gave out and he collapsed next to her, raggedly breathing in time to the rise and fall of her breasts.
After a moment, Lily spoke.
"Jesus, James. I'll have you over to my parents' place more often."
He managed a breathy laugh. Lily curled up beside him and hooked a leg around one of his own, her hand stretching across his bare chest.
"I think it's time for a nap, Lils," he yawned, but she was already asleep.
A few hours later, James opened his eyes to see Lily's naked back facing him. Her skin was pale white in the moonlight and she sat hunched, making each vertebrae stand out a little more. James glanced at the clock: a little after midnight. He yawned and stretched, releasing four hours worth of sleep from his bones.
"Lily?" She hiccuped. "Are you okay?" he asked, suddenly concerned.
"Fine," he heard her reply, her voice cracking slightly.
"You sure?"
"Yeah," she tried to affirm, but a sniffle gave her away. James traced his finger down her spine.
"Come here, Lily," he said. Lily crawled back under the covers, resting her forehead on James's shoulders. James wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer until every inch of their bodies was pressed together, skin to skin.
Lily wiped her eyes. "I had a dream. I was somewhere dark – I don't remember where exactly, but I was so terrified and I couldn't find you. There were jets of green light everywhere, and I was dodging curse after curse and I saw Benjy dead, Dorcas was dead and her face was burned and I couldn't help, I had to find you. Sirius was hit by a curse, then Remus, and I didn't help, I just kept screaming, 'Where's James? Where's James?' and I ran and ran and-" Lily's voice broke. "God, I sound pathetic."
"You're not pathetic," James murmured, stroking her hair. "It's normal to be afraid-"
"I'm not afraid!" Lily snapped, raising her head. "I'm not some little girl, James. You keep trying to sway me from joining and I'm sick of it!"
James, alarmed by the turn of the conversation, backpedaled. "I'm not trying to get you to back out. I'm afraid, Lily! For you and Sirius and Peter and Remus and everyone. Do I want you to join? No, I'm going to be worried out of my mind. Because I love you and I want you to be safe. But I know you, and I know you're going to be right in the thick of everything, and yes, I'm going to be positively sick thinking about all the terrible ways you can get killed but the fact you want to help, and are willing to die for this – you are the most amazing woman I've ever met."
Lily studied James's face, her green eyes so intense it almost hurt James to look back. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Lily closed the small distance between them, kissing him softly.
"I love you," she whispered, teardrops moistening her dark lashes.
"I love you, too," he answered. "And we'll get through this. In ten years we'll look back on this and feel glad that even though we were so young, we really did something, you know?" He kissed her again. "We'll all be okay."
Lily settled into his arms, nuzzling his chest as she readied herself for sleep. "I sure hope so."
As James laid there, his girlfriend finally sleeping in his arms, a feeling of peace overtook him. A feeling that, no matter how afraid he felt at that moment, he would be okay; he would live a long and happy life with the woman beside him.
He began researching engagement rings the following morning.