October 31, 2004

It was just after midnight when Lily felt James slide into bed. He made almost no sound, probably out of fear of waking her. The feel of his weight brought her comfort, even if he wasn't actually touching her.

"James," she said, almost as if she were answering a question.

"Did I wake you? I'm sorry," James apologised.

"No," Lily said and scooted her body over to James, craving his warmth.

Lily laid her head on James's bare chest. His skin felt hot against her cheek and she could hear the rhythmic thudding of his heart. She slid her hand down to his belly, lightly stroking the dark, fuzzy hairs that graced it.

James put an arm around her back and squeezed her tightly then she felt as he kissed the top of her head. Lily felt warm all over and pulled a little closer, just wanting to melt into him with comfort. For a moment, everything was still and quiet. Harry was soundly asleep in his room and Lily had a sudden notion.

Lily slid her hand a bit further south on James's torso and went, "Hmm?", a question they both knew and understood. James slid his hand down to the small of her back and then pushed it beneath her tee-shirt. He gently stroked her back in a cautious reply.

Lily's hand proceeded south until it was resting on his thigh, her finger tips brushing against coarse, curly hairs. In response, James slid his hand slowly down her back until he reached her knickers. Lightly he cupped her arse and squeezed, final approval.

Lily slid her hand across his thigh then placed it over his swollen heat, wrapping her fingers around it gently. James slid his fingers around Lily's arse until his hand was between her thighs, where he rubbed her through her knickers.

Within moments, Lily was pulling her knickers off and tossing them aside into the darkness of their bedroom. With a quick squeeze of a bottle and graceful stroke of Lily's hand, James was slick and Lily was on top of him.

Lily's hands rubbed James's chest, feeling the strength of his form while she silently cultivated their mutual pleasure with the rhythmic rocking of her pelvis. This wasn't meant to be a big production. This was just some quiet relief in the dark.

Lily put her hands between her legs to accentuate her own enjoyment. James's hands slid up and down her back, under her shirt. She liked the way she felt in his big hands and they way he felt beneath her. Lily could feel that she was nearly at the end. She was moving closer to that greatly craved moment of euphoria.

Suddenly, she felt a sudden knotted pain in her foot, halting all her actions.

"Ow. Shit," Lily whispered, gritting her teeth.

"You OK?" James whispered back, sounding worried.

"Foot cramp. Bloody hell," Lily groaned.

Lily tried to push the pain out of her mind, though she could barely uncurl her toes, and went back to what she had been doing before. It wasn't easy to refocus herself but these things happen, she thought.

Pushing through and refocusing, she reached the desired point which left James little reason to hold on any longer. She collapsed onto him. She wanted desperately to fall asleep but she really needed to pee and clean herself up. She hopped off the bed and ran off to the loo.

By the time she was back, James was softly snoring. Lily couldn't even be bothered to locate her knickers. She slid back into bed and let the darkness carry her away.

Lily was feeding Harry when James woke up. He loved the way her face scrunched up when she told Harry the airplane was coming into the hangar and their son laughed and ate the food off the spoon. James walked around behind them and kissed them both on the back of the head.

"Dad!" Harry called out.

James made some tea and made himself and Lily breakfast. There was no protocol for these things. They just knew how to navigate mornings. You spend enough time around a person and they start to become part of you. You learn how they do things and you learn to accommodate and accentuate them.

James served breakfast and they ate while the telly played a kid's show for Harry in the background. James wondered if they should've made plans for that night. He loved Halloween. But it was so rare that they had a family night.

"Lils… maybe we should go out tonight. We could go to the cinema," James said.

Lily bit into her toast and shrugged.

"I already told Remus we didn't want to do anything. I'll feel like an arse if we go out now," Lily said.

"Remus'll get over it. We don't have to see something scary. 'Shark Tale' is out," James said with a grin.

Lily looked over at Harry and nodded.

"All right. For Harry. It's the anniversary of when he was conceived anyway," Lily said.

Lily didn't know why they had taken their car to go to the cinema. James loved the bloody thing. He was always going on about wanting to travel to America and go on a road trip across it. He had friends on the internet who had turned him on to the idea. Maybe, someday, Lily thought.

Once they got back to the car, Lily strapped their son, who was sleeping, into the car seat and gave him a kiss on the head. She got in on the passenger side while James turned on the stereo. 'Parklife' by Blur was in the CD player. Lily was amazed that after all this time James hadn't tired of her Blur obsession.

Lily yawned as James began to drive. It was far too late for Harry to be out. But by the time they left the restaurant only the late showing was left. She wasn't sure who wanted to see a kid's film so late. They did she supposed, smiling privately to herself.

"I have to be up in six hours for work," Lily said.

"I'm sorry," James said.

"It's fine. The movie was cute. Harry seemed to like it… Before he fell asleep, anyhow," Lily said.

Traffic was slow and Lily struggled to remain awake. She yawned again and James reached over and patted her shoulder affectionately.

"Hang on, Lils, We're nearly there," James said and continued to drive.