"James."
"Mmm."
Lily spoke into nothingness as her fingers trailed down her boyfriend's bare back, appreciating the soft kisses he was dropping down her jawline, his hands creeping under her t-shirt and making their way towards the clasp of her bra. She forced the upper half of her body upwards slightly, giving him better access -
A sharp tap on James' bedroom door interrupted the moment, dissolving the steadily building heat in an instant. Lily couldn't help but gasp as she pushed James away, the latter fumbling for his glasses.
"Master James?" a voice squeaked from the other side of the door, rapping at the wood again. "Master James, Mistress requires that you and Miss Lily go down to the living room right away, as you have guests."
James groaned, his eyes flickering regretfully to his girlfriend, who was still lying underneath him, cursing the timely arrival of whoever the hell these guests were. They'd been busy.
"Okay, Corky, thanks." He replied grimly, waiting for the patter of tiny House-Elf feet to die away before making another move. This time, his lips were blocked by Lily's hand, the girl in question raising an eyebrow at him.
"Come on. You have guests." She said simply, using the other hand to push at him to get off.
"Aww, come on." He moaned, tilting his head to the side in a childlike way. "They can wait a little bit longer…"
Lily's arm slackened at his boyish expression, amused. He took the opportunity and began kissing her neck again, knowing how much she loved it.
"James…"
"Just… a… quick…"
"James!" Reason seemed to drop back into her head and she pushed at his torso, using so much force that he almost fell flat onto the floor. "Later. I don't want to look like some tart in front of your guests! Now put your shirt on."
Reluctantly, James clambered off his bed and pushed his glasses onto his face, picking up his previously discarded shirt and pulling it over his head. Lily, who was already fully clothed, bounced up into a standing position, looking at herself in the mirror.
"Oh, god. It's obvious that we've been doing stuff… my hair's beyond salvation." She pulled a hairband from her wrist, twisting her red hair into a ponytail as James finally got himself ready. Together, they made their way down to the main living room. James' house - or mansion, rather - was so huge that the trip was enough to make Lily worry. The Potters' guests were almost always old, wealthy Purebloods - whilst James' parents didn't believe in any of "that bloody purity nonsense", reactions to their son's new girlfriend had been a mixed bag. Unfortunately, Lily had sampled the entire spectrum - not many of the guests had been completely indifferent. Many held the notion that even though Voldemort's scheme was clearly utterly twisted, isolating themselves from the outside world was a good way to "preserve" their bloodlines. Some even thought some of the Death Eaters' ideals weren't all that bad. Of course, nobody outright shot her death threats, but she could sense the disapproval in their tones, the icy judgement in their eyes.
James, seeing the concern and worry etched into his girlfriend's face, squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"It'll be fine."
"Will it, though?"
"Yeah."
"Mmm. We'll see."
James entered the room first, followed a fraction of a second later by Lily.
"James!" shrieked an old woman dressed from head to toe in heavy jewelled robes, jumping up faster than anyone would have ever thought possible to crush her target in her arms. Her husband stood up too, ready and waiting to shake hands.
"Hi, Mrs. Blishwick." James choked out, enduring the hug for several long seconds before being released, the old woman pressing a Galleon into his hand. He then turned to (presumably) Mr. Blishwick to shake hands, the old woman finally noticing Lily and doing a double-take.
"And, my my, who's this?" She asked, a wide smile stretching along her face. "Has our little James found himself a girlfriend?"
"Yes, this is Lily." James replied, proudly and politely, moving to stand next to her. Lily felt one of his hands move to the small of her back, comforting and stabilising her in the same instant.
"Hello." She said brightly to the couple, who smiled back at her, the old man extending his hand. She took it, before shooting the lady her best dazzling smile.
"What did you say your name was, dear?" Mr. Blishwick asked good-naturedly.
"Lily." She said, her mouth feeling dry. "Lily Evans."
"Evans?" The old lady's face clouded momentarily, before another smile was fixed into place. "I'm not familiar… I see, your father must be a Muggle?"
"Um, he is, yes, and my mother."
She could've sworn that Mrs. Blishwick's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline.
"Ah, you're Muggleborn?" The voice wasn't quite as venomous as Lily had expected, but it was definitely fake, definitely disapproving. She sighed inwardly.
"She is, yeah." James supplied, scooting a fraction of inch closer to Lily. "And she's the best witch in our year. Head Girl, too."
"Lily's quite a catch." Mr. Potter interjected, eyes twinkling as he grinned at her. "Dorea and I are still in shock as to how James managed to get someone so out of his league!"
"I see." Mr. Blishwick's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Very nice to meet you, dear."
"You too." She said shortly, hoping that she didn't sound rude.
The momentary awkwardness was laughed off by James' parents, who ushered them back to their seats - Mrs. Potter shooting Lily an encouraging glance - and poured them fresh tea. Lily sipped hers quietly as James and his parents indulged in easy conversation. Every so often, James' hand would find hers under the table and hold it for a while. Somehow, the way Mr and Mrs Blishwick talked excluded her in some weird way - they kept mentioning little things that she couldn't possibly get right away, having not grown up in a magical household.
"So, dear, what do your parents do?"
Lily was surprised to be addressed directly, almost gulping her tea down the wrong way. She recovered quickly, setting down her cup and meeting the old woman's gaze.
"Well, my Dad's an electrician, and my Mum's a receptionist at a school." Immediately, she knew it was the wrong thing to say, despite it being the truth - a wall of something she couldn't quite place slid over their eyes. She quickly tried to correct herself. "An electrician is, um.. they fix things. Mostly to do with electricity. Which is, uh -"
"Oh, we're familiar with certain Muggle practices… electricity, yes." Mr Blishwick pursed his lips and looked down at his teacup, picking it up again. James cut in, and Lily could tell by his slightly slanting eyebrows that he was annoyed at Mr Blishwick's dismissive tone.
"It's actually quite a clever system, especially considering they don't have magic to help them with domestics."
"Don't have magic, indeed." Mrs Blishwick repeated in a flat tone, innocently taking another sip of tea. James stiffened. Lily's hands shook in her lap, every syllable of the couple's critical tone striking her deep in the heart. She took James' hand and squeezed it quickly. A signal. Don't.
The rest of the seemingly infinite meeting crawled to an end, with Mr and Mrs Blishwick standing up to leave, the Potters bidding them farewell and exchanging pleasantries.
"See you soon, James." Mrs. Blishwick kissed him on the cheek, before turning to Lily. "We might even see Miss Evans next time!" She leaned in for a polite hug, and Lily obliged, noticing how stiff the woman felt. Mr. Blishwick's hand was nowhere near as warm and soft as it had been the first time she'd shaken it, and the couple were out of the door ten seconds later.
Lily couldn't help a tear slipping down her cheek.