Let me satisfy your soul,
Not a saint but do I have to be?

Chapter 3:

"Another hickey Prongs?" Sirius asked, grinning devilishly. James hiked up his collar self-consciously, but it was too late. In the week since the last Prefect's meeting Lily and James had secretly rendesvoused on three other occasions. The frequency of Lily's calling upon him was growing, a fact that made James giddy. Unfortunately, that meant it was harder and harder to hide, especially from the three nosiest bastards on the planet: his friends. Still, thinking of her lips on his neck made the corners of his mouth turn up involuntarily.

"Look at that smile. Whoever this bird is, he's gone for her." Remus observed as if he was looking out the window and reporting the weather.

"Who says it's a girl?" Peter piped in conversationally. "Given that James has disclosed next to nothing about this mysterious suitor, it could be a hippogriff for Merlin's sakes." Remus nodded.

"True, but I think hippogriff hickeys would be a tad bit more violent, don't you Pete?"

"That's enough." James groaned, ruffling his hair. Like Remus could even talk. The boys chuckled at his discomfort. "Why am I friends with you people?"

"Our witty commentary, obviously." Said Sirius, winking. James sighed, but the topic of his so-declared 'suitor' was dropped. For now.

But it never left James's mind, not even for a second. It's been like that since their secret meet-ups had began. When he walks to class, he thinks about Lily. When he picks his nose, he thinks about Lily. When he incites a House Elf food fight in the kitchens that results in three broken rolling pins and a swamp of mashed potatoes covering the floor, he's only thinking about her. She's all he ever dreams about. He's lucky he doesn't talk in his sleep like Peter. It was really starting to get on his nerves quite honestly, because he thought he'd been getting over his stupid crush by now. It made James feel like he was fourteen again, full of raging hormones and completely clueless.

"James, you ready?" James's head snapped up. It was Remus, schoolbag slung over his shoulder. Right. They had double Potions at noon, which was in ten minutes.

"See you lucky bastards later." James grumped at Sirius and Peter, who'd both elected out of Potions this year (Peter didn't have the marks; Sirius, the willpower). They gave him lazy waves from their beds.

"We'll think of nicknames to give your secret lover while you're gone!" Sirius called in a sing-song voice. James flipped him off.

Lily was exceptionally weird today in Potions, though she was always mysterious to James. Although, it was probably because of her conversation with Snape.

"You need to add seven strings of unicorn hair, not nine." Sniv had said quietly in her direction. He was sitting at the table next to her, and James had the nasty suspicion he'd chosen it on purpose. Lily had distinctly ignored him, even turning her nose up. After all, she was almost as dramatic as James was, he thought with a smile. But, despite her obvious attempts at ignoring him, the git wouldn't get a hint. When she was cracking her Fire Crab claws, Snape bent over towards her bench.

"Here, let me-"

"I don't need your help, Sev." Lily hissed. Snape didn't back down.

"Come on Lily, I know we aren't friends anymore, but..." He trailed off at her look. James noticed that her knuckles were white around her scalpel.

"Just let me help you!" He pleaded, then, seeming to gather courage, "Let me be there for you."

And now James had just about had enough. His first instinct was to hex the slimy wanker into oblivion. He had a million jinxes ready at the tip of his tongue, but a little voice held him back. A voice saying he was Head Boy now, he was more mature now. So instead of going with his gut reaction, James slid over to Lily's table quickly. Snape glared at him as he neared the two of them.

"Potter, you don't have to get involved." Lily warned under her breath.

"I'm not." James said lowly, "I'm just cracking these claws for you. Then I'll be on my merry way." He set to work on the claws, which had been hard to wrangle for even him. Lily was quiet as he wrestled the metal cracker around the claw. James focused only on the task before him, letting himself look up only once to glare at Snape. The pale boy looked as if James was scum on the bottom of his shoe. Once the claw was cracked, James dripped the sizzling liquid and flesh into Lily's cauldron. Lily was apparently intent on finishing up the written portion of the assignment, ignoring him. Still, James felt an air of gratitude from the redhead next to him.

"Done." He said simply, wheeling his chair back over to his desk. But as he went, he felt a hand slip something small and light into his pocket. James's heart leapt.

His fingers felt around in his robes once he was seated. It was a note. It read Prefect's Bathroom. Midnight. In Lily's untidy scrawl. James grinned; it was going to be a long twelve hours.

By dinner time, James head was getting a crick from how much he'd looked down at his watch. He knew it wasn't nearly midnight yet, but he couldn't stop looking, praying that time would move a little faster than normal. This, of course, made the day feel maddeningly slow.

"Someone's eager for tonight." Sirius smirked at him, getting his attention from yet another daydream. James's heart dropped.

"What?" He barked.

"Marauder's Malarkey?" Sirius said, giving him a curious look. "What else would I be talking about?"

So he hadn't somehow figured it out. James was relieved. But, shit! He'd forgotten about Malarky, or that it was tonight, or that anything existed except for Evans's pale freckly legs.

Ok, he could make this work. Most of Marauder's Malarkey was done solo as they hunted for each other, and their stash of gold coins (prizes they'd found on one of their raids of Filch's office), around the castle. It would be too suspicious of him to cancel, they'd been playing Malarkey since Fourth Year, with a winner picked at the end of each term. And they always played on the night of the new moon, when Remus was at his fittest. And James was the holding champion for three terms in a row now, a title he cherished and would defend with all his might. Though, he doubted Evans would think of it that way if he blew her off to play what she would probably consider to be some dumb game. Not that James would even dream of blowing her off and risking throwing away their... whatever this was between them.

He spent the rest of the night figuring out what he should do. Some sort of distraction would be useful, to lead the boys off his scent. They've done it constantly in the past. On fact, last month he'd spent almost his entire night trying to get out of Permanent Sticking Charm that Peter cast on the entire Astronomy Tower floor. It was dead clever of Pete, but Lily was ready to murder someone the next morning when she was responsible for Unsticking an entire group of Hufflepuff Third years on their way to Divination. No, he definitely didn't want to arouse Lily's suspicions. The girl didn't have a stick up her arse like she used to, but she'd probably skin him alive if she figured out he'd made the mess.

So when it got to 10:30, James slid on his Cloak and headed down to the portrait of Inez the Ignoramus. This was where they always met. The game was pretty simple, find others' coins and don't let them take yours. Hide your stash for the night, and set up whatever traps you wish to defend your bounty. James considered setting his traps early, but if he was caught cheating every one of the boys would be at liberty to Tickle Jinx him whenever they pleased the entire week following and he didn't want Evans to think he was a lunatic for laughing hysterically at nothing in the middle of class. Plus they were brutal about it; Sirius once had to be sent to the hospital wing for falling off his broomstick due to excessive laughter.

"Ready for war?" Sirius greeted him casually as James neared their meeting place. Remus wasn't there yet, but Peter was. The sight of him made James stop in his tracks.

"What's with the getup, Pete?" He asked, snickering. Peter had worn what appeared to be almost all of the clothes in all four of their closets combined. He was armored head-to-toe in cable knit sweaters and school robes. On top of his head was James's Quidditch helmet, and a scarf covered his face, only exposing his two watery blue eyes.

"Mmmmufph!" His muffled voice emerged from under the scarf. James cocked an eyebrow.

"Said it was something about the Cornish Pixies Remus set on him last time. And the time last year when I botched those Revealing traps. Didn't want to be caught off guard again."

"Off guard? He probably won't even be able to walk, let alone get snuck up on." James chuckled.

"Humrummmph!" Peter's indignant voice rose from the clothing once more. Probably something about how he'd got James last month.

"So I've been thinking of good names for James's lover." Remus called as he neared them. James rolled his eyes, preparing for the worst.

"Now, since we have next to no information about this suitor, I've decided to keep it general." Remus said seriously. "Shag Monkey sound good to you, James?"

"You're not calling her that." James said firmly, "And we aren't even-"

"Oh, so it is a 'her'!" Sirius shouted delightedly, springing up from his position on the floor.

"Well, since I've only ever shown interest in girls, it's not that hard of a conclusion to jump to." James said, rolling his eyes. Secretly, his mind was thinking of any other topic but this to talk about.

"Remus, why're you late? Not setting up traps early on us are you?" Of course, his best friend shook his head innocently.

"Never. Plus I know the repercussions." He shook himself dramatically.

"LEGrsarterr!" Peter cried. The three boys gave him helpless looks.

"I think he said 'let's get this started.'" Sirius said. Peter simply nodded.

xx xxxx xxx xx xxxxx x x xxx xx xxx xx x xxx xx xx

James was going to be late. He'd spent too much time setting up his traps, then dodging Remus's attempts at ensnaring him in the Great Hall. He'd found Remus's stash for the night, ensconced in the Slytherin hourglass. Remus had gotten them back though, casting levicorpous on James and legging it with the entire hourglass levitated next to him. Now it was quarter after midnight, and James was sure Lily would think he blew her off if he wasn't there soon.

"What about Treacle Tits?" Sirius asked. The git had been following him around for about ten minutes, probably hoping to steal any coins James would happen to find. He'd been passing the time by listing off names that the boys were thinking of calling Lily (not that they knew it was Lily, that was the point, wasn't it?). James had been properly ignoring his friend as he jabbered on, knowing any response to his names would be encouragement for him.

"You know, since you like Treacle Tart so much." Sirius continued, "Bird's bloody tits are probably made of the stuff, seeing how often you're sneaking off to meet her."

James snorted, he couldn't help it.

"Ok, so that makes the list." Sirius said, grinning. James didn't care. They were very close to his first trap, one he set just in case a situation like this arose. They were on the fifth floor, nearing the statue of Boris the Bewildered. It was risky, considering how close the Prefect's bathroom was to here, but James knew that his trap would set anyone who got near it very far back.

"Sugar Butt, Prongsette, Cootie Cutie..."

"Cootie Cutie?" James guffawed, unable to contain himself.

"All girls have them." Sirius nodded sternly. James laughed, but also made sure to watch where he was going. Sirius, still going on about cooties, was now only a meter or so away...

"And the blighters jump. Why do you think girls- AAAAAAAHH!" He cried, and vanished, appearing to fall right through the floor. James smiled, full of satisfaction. Sirius would now be seven floors below in the dungeons, bouncing on a large trampoline James had set up to catch anyone who stumbled upon his trap. James grinned, happy that very complicated piece of magic (the castle did not like to be manipulated) worked so well.

But then he snapped into action, giving the password to the statue, and heading behind it when it opened to reveal the Prefects' bathroom.

"You're late." Lily observed. The bath behind her was filling with large pink bubbles, wisps of steam shrouding her decadently.

"Had a little trouble getting rid of Sirius." James replied casually. "But he had to make an unexpected trip to the dungeons. I'm all yours."

"Now now, we wouldn't want you to get cooties, would we?" Lily said very seriously, green eyes full of laughter. She'd heard. But she didn't seem upset about it, or about James being late, which was a good sign.

"Don't worry." James smirked, ready to show off his Muggle Studies knowledge, "I've been marinated."

Lily looked at him for a long while, incredulity growing. "You mean vaccinated?"

"Whatever." James said, pulling her in for a long kiss. Lily sighed contentedly, but pulled away much too soon for James's liking.

"Aren't we going to take advantage of this lovely bath?" She asked mock-innoncently. "I made it up special for us."

James couldn't believe what he was hearing. Here was this beautiful and absolutely amazing girl, stripping off her sweater, wanting to be naked with him. How'd he get so lucky?

Lily blinked. "Thanks." She said, a bit softly. Fuck.

"Did I say that out loud?" James asked, voice strangled. Lily giggled and nodded, looking shy all of the sudden.

"I feel weird stripping if you're not." She said, breaking the tension. James grinned, thankful the sudden awkwardness had dissipated. He pulled his shirt off his head, and was smacked in the stomach by Lily's pyjama pants. He looked up to find her in her knickers, just her knickers. And that white bra again. Damn, did she know how much that bra drove him crazy? He was almost afraid to see what was under it, as he'd certainly die from the overwhelming beauty of Lily's breasts. Of course, that didn't stop him from striding over quickly and undoing the snaps as fast as his fumbling fingers would allow.

"Someone's eager." Lily murmured, smiling into his neck. The words reminded him of what Sirius said at dinner for a moment, and fear of their discovery flickered in his chest. But why should he be afraid? His friends would probably be over the moon to find out who his "Treacle Tits" actually was. Maybe it was because he had no idea how Lily would react.

Don't think about it. James scolded himself. He tried not to read in to anything they were doing together. He distracted himself by focusing on that bra again. Shit, these things were hard to get off.

"It's not rocket science, James." Lily giggled, and began trailing hot kisses down his neck.

"It is when you're doing that." James said, a bit embarrassed by how breathless his voice sounded. Lily stepped away suddenly, the absence of her heat a bit shocking, green eyes locked on James's. Without trouble, she swiftly undid her bra from behind, letting the piece of clothing fall to the floor. James felt his heart actually stop.

A muffled voice came from outside. James whipped his head around, fearing the worse.

"Prongs, I know you're in there!" Remus's voice came, most likely from down the hall. His stomach dropped.

"Fuck! Why's Remus up? He doesn't have rounds, I didn't schedule anyone after eleven tonight!" Lily was whispering unhappily from behind him. He turned to find her picking up her clothes at lightning speed, a terrified expression of one afraid of being caught on her face.

"No idea." James lied, helping her.

"He knows you're in here too. Why does he know that? Did you tell him?" Lily accused.

"Of course not!" James snapped. "I'd only tell someone if you said it was okay." He thought she thought better of him.

"Right. Sorry." Lily said softly, but then her voice got very firm. "He can't know I'm in here with you, James."

"Why not?" James asked, unable to contain himself, "Remus's slept with half the girls in our class, he won't care-"

"It would be mortifying!" Lily whisper-shouted. James heard his friend's footsteps near, he was probably outside the statue of Boris the Bewildered by now.

"To find me like this... And you know how the school gossips..." Lily was saying. "James, please I don't want anyone to know about this, help..."

James hadn't seen her so distraught in a long time. Though his heart twisted unpleasantly at her words, he couldn't help but take pity on her.

"Of course." He murmured roughly. But how was he to help? Remus would be in any second, and there wasn't much places to hide in a bathroom that consisted almost exclusively of a large tub...

James knew what he had to do. He looked at Lily. He heard the knob to the door turn. Oh, she was going to kill him.

"Well, I guess this is happening." He said to himself. Lily had only a second to look confused before he pushed her firmly into the tub. She squeaked in surprise as she hurtled into the soapy water. There was a splash, but it was quiet enough with the water running that Remus probably didn't hear.

"James?" He whipped around at his name. Remus was walking in, looking incredibly confused.

"What?" He asked innocently. Though he knew how suspicious and ridiculous he looked, just standing there shirtless and running a bath in the middle of their game.

"Sirius said you trapped him up on Fifth..." Remus trailed. "You know using Prefects-only places is cheating so I thought..."

"Right!" James shouted, realizing this was the perfect alibi, "Which is what I thought you would do. Put the hourglass in the bath."

"So you decided to run the water?" Remus supplied, still unconvinced.

"Well I thought it would only appear if I did that, you know, like magic..." James said, knowing his excuses were getting thinner and thinner.

"Okay, I guess..." Remus said slowly. James realized now that if unless Lily was actually a mermaid, she'd have to resurface soon for some air.

"I think I saw Peter by the kitchens earlier, want to team up on the bastard?" He asked loudly. Remus, still confused, nodded slowly.

"Sure." He said, looking as if James was a lunatic.

"Let's go then! The game'll be over for tonight soon!" James cried, peddling his friend out of view of the bath. Though one wouldn't hear if they weren't paying attention, there was a distinct sound of a girl emerging from the water and gasping for breath only moments later.


Note: Okay so this ended up being a LOT longer than I expected, which explains the slightly longer amount of time between posting chapters. Also, I love the vaccinate/marinate joke, so I don't even care if it's stupid. I know this is pretty corny, but it was super fun to write. Hope you guys liked the view into Marauder silliness! Reviews are helpful and nice :)