A Neck and A Jaw

THIS WAS PURELY PROCRASTINATION! I'm meant to be writing Chapter 3 of Sanctuary but I have writer's block (but not enough writer's block to not write a terribly sappy one-shot).

Pretty much fluff. Inspired by this post: post/121650506954/the-jaw and also slightly Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (a great book- if you've read it you may recognise the 'hair comes to a soft red point at the nape of her neck' line- I stole it).

SYNPOSIS: Lily and James are tired and hot and sweaty. And also soulmates.

Please review is you like!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story. They all belong to JK Rowling (queen).

The sun had long since set into a purple darkness that Tuesday night. The stars that had been barely visible a mere hour earlier were now pockmarked across the clear sky above the castle, casting it in a dull glow.

The day had been unusually hot- at least, hot by the standards of the students at Hogwarts, who were used to bitterly cold winters-, which changed the decorum of how the inhabitants of the castle spent their day. Students resigned to discarding their heavy, woolen robes, rolling up their sleeves, and complaining to their teachers in every class of the heat. Depending on the teacher, windows would either be thrown open, hasty Glacius spells cast in order to cool down the classroom (before they melted all over the students), or the complaints would be ignored completely, at least in the case of Minerva McGonagall. The witch possessed the ability to have a comfortable body temperature in any weather, due to some sketchy potions she had experimented with in her younger years, and so taught comfortably in the sweltering conditions in a full set of robes and hat. Sirius Black, who had finally given in to the pressure from the girls in his classes and tied his infamous shoulder-length hair into neat bun at the back of his head, questioned her ability to do this profusely until a Hot-Air Charm sent in his direction by the teacher's wand silenced him.

In a few words, the day was hot, and now the sticky day had morphed into a slightly less sticky night. James Potter and Lily Evans were sitting in their shared Common Room, in their usual places; Lily near the fire on an armchair, James on the couch, just next to her. They worked like this almost every night, each scratching away at their own assignments, occasionally interrupting one another with a question or a playful remark. Mostly, though, they relished in the comfortable silence they shared, punctuated with coughs and rustles of parchment.

As it was Tuesday, Lily was quickly trying to finish her Arithmancy homework for the next afternoon, cursing herself silently on the knowledge that she should have finished it sooner. She still had half a page of research on concealment charms to finish for Charms, and her Potions essay consisting of three parchments of neat, slanted handwriting still needed to be looked over.

James, on the other hand, did not take Arithmancy, so he did not have to print long lines of neat numbers. He had planned to stamp out something for Charms the next morning over breakfast, and as for the Potions essay that had been assigned the week earlier- well, he was doing it now. He still had three-ish parchments to go, but was feeling confident. He was lying across the couch, his tie loosened and top two shirts unbuttoned.

Lily shuffled in her seat. She had taken off her tie and rolled up her sleeves. They had decided not the light the fire that night, for obvious reasons, but she was still hot. She wondered if she would have to take a shower due to the sweaty day she had had, and swung her legs up to drape over one arm of the chair, her back against the other arm, facing away from James.

She sighed. Their was a muted thump as she kicked off her black pumps. She then decided the heat was simply too much for her and searched her pockets for a spare clip. Lily's hair was renowned across her year as something enviable- thick, shiny, and a deep red color that fell across her back and shoulders in wavy tendrils. To Lily, it was nothing more than a curtain on cold days, and a nuisance on hot ones- such as that Tuesday. She felt a clip in her pocket and pulled her hair off her neck and into a bun.

At this moment, James, stuck on a sentence in his Potions essay, sat up and turned to Lily to ask her for advice.

He watched as she piled her hair into one hand, and expertly twisted it to rest at the crown of her head, and quickly fastening it. Some tendrils fell loose, such as was normal with Lily's hair.

It was at this moment that James noticed Lily's neck.

Lily, like most other humans, had a neck. It was a normal, functioning neck. Nothing extraordinary. Simply ordinary.

But James had never noticed just how ordinary Lily's neck was. It curved gracefully, much like a swan's (as cliché as that sounds), from her shoulders to her head, and was creamy and pale, like the rest of Lily's skin, who regarded her fair complexion as a weakness rather than something to be admired. James noted that her hair came to a soft red point at the nape of her neck.

James wasn't sure why Lily's neck had been so immobilizing- he had been hopelessly in love with her for the better part of three years, and the knowledge that almost everything about her was perfect was not new to him. But he had just never noticed her neck, and it unnerved him.

He felt wrong for having stared at Lily for such a long time. But he couldn't resist the urge to simply reach out and place his hand on her neck, cupping his hand around the curve and letting his lips press against the smooth skin there.

His thought process was interrupted by another sigh from Lily.

'Are you done staring, or are you going to ask me whatever you need to ask me?' She asked, turning her head slightly in James' direction. James jumped, cleared his throat, and looked down at this parchment.

'Yeah. Yes. Um, yeah. Yes.' He swallowed.

It was at this moment that Lily noticed James' jaw.

James, of course, had a jaw, like a lot of other people. It was just that Lily had never quite noticed just how James' jaw was. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something caused a tingle deep in her stomach and heat to rush to her face when James swallowed and his jaw moved in that way.

Lily couldn't resist the urge to simply reach out and place her hand on his jaw, cupping her hand around the curve and letting her lips press against the smooth skin there.

Oh, Merlin. She thought.

'…so, do you think I should mention silver and broneshine? I know they're based on Muggle conspiracies, but studies have shown them to be a veritable cure to…' James had been in the process of asking the question Lily had requested when he noticed that her green eyes had gone rather cloudy.

'You alright, Evans?' He asked. Lily's head snapped up.

'Yes. Yeah. Um…yes.' She stammered.

'Right.'

'Right.'

'I'll be right back.'

Lily abruptly stood up and picked her way across the carpet and into their shared bathroom, forgetting to shut the wooden door behind her.

Lily looked at herself in the mirror. Beads of sweat had dampened her hairline. Her mascara had smudged slightly under her eyes. Her cheeks were still pink with flush.

'Get a grip.' She told herself.

She turned the cold water faucet and ducked her head under the stream to splash her face.

While this had been happening, James had been sitting in the common room wondering whether or not to follow Lily into the bathroom and tell her he wanted three kinds, a nice house, and for Sirius to be the best man and propose to her right there.

He heard water running, and against his better judgment, somehow mustered enough confidence to get up from the couch, walk over to the door and push it open.

Lily was in the process of patting her face dry with a towel. She didn't notice James approaching her from behind, staring intently at the small plastic clip that managed to support all of Lily's hair. As he got closer, he noticed he was dangerously close to that insufferable neck. Once he was close enough to smell the remnants of Lily's flowery perfume from that morning, he reached up and pulled the clip from Lily's hair, letting it fall around her shoulders.

Lily gasped in surprise, dropping the towel. She noticed James right behind her, stifling her scream.

'Merlin, Potter, you could kno-' She started, but James silenced her. He pulled one portion of hair away from Lily's ear and placed a gentle kiss on her throat. His other hand rested on her waist, slowly pulling her towards him while his other hand twisted into her hair, before placing another kiss just behind her ear.

'Potter, I-' Lily started again, but James looked up and swallowed, and his jaw moved in that way again.

'Just once.' He whispered. 'I needed to do that just once.'

Then he let go of her and left the bathroom.

An hour later, Lily had finished looking over her Potions essay. She neatly rolled up her work, picked up her shoes, and turned to head up the stairs to bed. She turned to say goodnight to James when she noticed he was asleep.

His partially finished Potions assignment lay on his lap, one hand holding the Quill, the other resting on the carpet. His glasses had begun to slip off his head at a comical angle, and Lily stifled a laugh.

Placing her effects on the armchair, she knelt by the sleeping Marauder and placed his work on the table. She took off his glasses, retrieved a blanket, and draped it over him as best she could, trying not to wake him.

He shuffled in his sleep, and his jaw moved in that way again.

Lily gulped.

She knelt by him once more. His eyelashes fluttered slightly, his chest rose and fell.

She leant forward, and brushed her lips on his jaw, planting one kiss there. She could feel his warmth next to her cheek.

'Goodnight, James.' She whispered to the air.

When she knelt back, she noticed James' eyes were slightly open, his mouth curled in the smallest of smirks.

Surprising herself, she smiled back. 'Just once.' She told him. He smiled a little wider.

She stood up, intent to leave the room. James caught her hand. He ran his thumb along her index finger, holding her there for a moment.

'Goodnight, Lily.' He whispered, and released her hand.

Lily gathered her things and left the room quickly. James was asleep within seconds.

The day had been unusually hot. Lily decided that unusually hot days were nothing but trouble. James decided that unusually hot days were nothing but amazing.

Remember to review, friends. It might make chapter 3 come quicker (not that I have people breathing down my neck lol).

xoxo, Mica