He kisses her.
Soft velvety lips pressing against his. The scent of vanilla enchanting him. The familiar all consuming need for her freeing itself from dormancy.
Emotions swarm around them. Love and happiness and pain and something darker all mixed together as he ferociously attacks her lips
I need you Lily, he whispers against her lips. Grasping her tightly. Never feeling that her body is close enough.
James, she moans. She pulls him closer. Her body pushes against the wall. He corners her. Devours her.
There is something beautiful about this moment. Beautiful and magical and haunting all at once.
A great need being fulfilled. Fantasies becoming reality, but for how long? How long can this go one before black hair and icy blue eyes come back and remind them,
He isn't hers anymore.
Her shirt is the first to hit the floor. His follows seconds later as her legs curve around his waist. He carries her to the bedroom door. Her body slams against it as she deepens the kiss. The door opens and he carries her inside. Instinctively, she giggles and he laughs.
It almost feels like their first time, without the security of tomorrow.
I love you, it was whispered. Barely audible through their moans as he brings her to the bed. But she said it. The first one to say it since Hogwarts.
I love you, too, whispered in her ear as he gently pulls himself on top of her. Gentle, smooth kisses on her lips, on her neck. Then nothing.
James, she asks looking into his eyes, perplexed.
I just want to make sure you're real. She pulls his face to hers. Kisses him with a ferocity she never knew was inside of her,
What is real, she whispers. He smiles against her mouth.
Shut up.
The rest of their clothes are lost. The covers fall off the bed. Four hours later, neither can move.
And then the morning comes. He hasn't ever woken up next to someone before. He never watched the sunlight stream over her face. He never felt the numbness of his arm from her weight. He never felt that warmth of knowing someone is brave enough to stick around.
He's never realized, until this moment, just how much he loves her.
Her eyes flutter. Her mouth yawns. She smiles as she takes him in.
Good morning, she lazily whispers.
Fingers running over her cheek. A nose leaning into her red hair. The feel of him still on her.
Hey, he says as he kisses her cheek. Breakfast?
A question answered by a nod. She hastily decides to get dressed in her clothes from before. He, decently, walks out of his room in his boxers.
A laugh comes from the kitchen as they hear the frying of eggs and see knives buttering toast. Morning, Love birds, Sirius smiles, after listening to you all last night I thought you might be hungry.
Lily blushes. Hi Sirius. James smiles and laughs it off. Obviously, this isn't the first time one of them has done this.
Quite a night for you two, wasn't it? All that pent up emotion and what not, Sirius smiles as he brings three plates to the table. Lily and James smile. It's hard to be angry at the person bringing you breakfast.
Sirius, it's been too long. She hugs him. Laughs slightly just by looking at him. Feels that maybe, she could once again be the Marauders' favorite girl. She would never admit this, but that's what she missed most about school. Them.
Well, you did drop off the face of this Earth, Evans. Bullocks! Butter from the pan flies unto his arm. Quite a sight actually. An apron around his waist. A spatula in his right hand.
You'll make someone a good wife one day, Sirius. James smiles at his best friend as he takes Lily's hand.
Oh, that reminds me. Beverly sent you a letter.
She drops his hand. She looks down at the plate. And there it is.
It has been a few weeks since they have been reacquainted, but she never once asked him about Beverly.
Not about her job. Not where she lives. Not what she's like. Not who she is to him.
Lily would rather not know.
But the underlining truth in James' and Beverly's relationship. The truth in Beverly's eyes and James' reluctance to bring Beverly up, says more than words ever could.
I have to go to the bathroom. Quiet whisper. Small footsteps echoing on the tile. The call of Lily as she disappears into his room.
Lily, he says again as he sees her sitting on his bed. She isn't crying. She isn't angry. She doesn't know what she's supposed to feel in this situation.
What are we doing, James, she says in a quiet voice. The voice of a child so afraid of the answer to her question.
Being together. He walks over to her. Kneels on the floor in front of her and pulls some of her read locks out of her eyes.
Have you slept with her? He looks away. Not wanting to reveal the truth but knowing what a lie could cause.
Yes. He doesn't look at her. She wipes away a tear.
Recently? A moment. An eternity. It becomes painful for him to speak.
Yes. Her body shudders. He looks at her. Wipes away a telltale tear from her cheek.
Lily, she doesn't…
Don't say that James. Don't say she doesn't mean anything. She must mean something
Lily, she and I, it's so hard to explain. We're friends. He tries to begin but can't.
Do you love her? She asks.
I love you.
That's not what I asked you.
I… I don't know. The truth spills out of his mouth like a cough he can't keep deep within. Because how can he not love Beverly? How can he not love the one person who made life possible this past year? How can he not love the one person who is so much like he was in school?
He fell in love with Beverly because she reminded him of something he lost…himself.
She stays still for a moment. Takes in the information that she may not be the one in his heart anymore. Her arms curve around him and she leans her head down in the crook of his neck.
James, she asks softly.
What? She kisses him gently on the neck. Holds her mouth there and pulls away before she can get lost in her building emotion.
I need you to do something for me.
Anything. She looks at him in the eye. Touches his cheek. And asks him something he didn't have the courage to ask her a year before. She asks him to choose.