Chapter 10 (!)

The next day, Lily walked into the kitchen sleepy eyed to find James fully dressed, putting away some plates.

"Good morning," she mumbled.

"It's actually 'good afternoon' but I'll let that one pass."

Seeing Lily's questioning look, James laughed and pointed over to the clock on the wall.

"It's almost four pm and I have a job interview at the Ministry in 30 minutes."

"Job interview?" Lily asked as she walked over to James to give him a kiss.

"Yeah, I saw an ad in the Daily Prophet and I thought it'd be interesting."

"What kind of a job?"

"Secretary."

Lily snorted.

"What?"

"Honestly James," she started. "Do you really think you were made to sit behind a desk sorting out papers? You belong outside, doing what you do best."

"Which is…?"

"I don't know. I mean, you like Quidditch, and you're a good chaser, you should think of trying out for a place on a team."

"Do you really think I could get in?"

"James, there's a lot of hopefuls trying to get in. But I do think that if you do your best, you have a larger chance of getting in. It's just a matter of trying."

"I'll think about it. I'm still going to this interview though; we need the money."

"Yeah, yeah… Two weeks working there and you'll go insane." Lily laughed as James kissed her goodbye.

Lily towelled her hair dry as she went into hers and James' room, having just come out of the shower. She opened her underwear drawer and looked around, spotting the black lingerie she had bought the day before neatly folded in a corner. She took it out, holding it carefully and put it on. She looked in the full-length mirror on the wall and was pleased with what she saw. Lily sighed as she turned around, analyzing every inch of her body, paying attention to every detail.

James' heart skipped a beat as he opened the door to his and Lily's bedroom. Lily was standing in the middle of their room, looking at herself wearing the sexiest pieces of clothing he had ever seen in his entire life. He inhaled sharply, mesmerised as he stood, watching her as she was oblivious to his presence in the room. She had matured. James had seen her several times in a bathing suit but this… was different. She had developed curves in just the right places, her skin was soft and creamy, her red hair was wet and mussed up in the most perfect way and her emerald green eyes sparkled like glitter. He sighed as he walked over to the bed and sat down, watching her, taking her in the whole time.

Lily jumped, startled as she heard a sigh behind her. She turned around to see James sitting on their bed, looking at her as if bewitched.

"J- James?" she whispered, frowning, not quite believing he was there, seeing her wearing something so intimate and revealing.

"Yeah…"

Lily turned away, screwing up her face with embarrassment. She walked over to a chair in the corner and retrieved her bath robe, which she wrapped around her softly.

"When did you get that?" James asked hoarsely.

"The underwear?"

James nodded.

"Yesterday when I went shopping with Caitlyn. Why?"

"Just wondering." James answered mildly.

"Mmm… James?"

"Yeah?

"How long were you… watching me?"

"Not very long."

"OK." Lily turned around and opened her drawer getting out a t-shirt, jeans and some other underwear.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting some clothes so I can get dressed." Lily answered simply.

"No. Don't go."

"What?" Lily frowned and looked at James for a long time, searching for some sort of hint or answer as to what he meant.

"Don't. Go." James answered, getting up and walking over to her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been staring. I should have let you know I was in here."

Lily nodded and gulped as James got closer and closer. He put his arms around her waist and lowered his mouth to hers. Lily wasn't ready for this and James had to hold her as they kissed, slowly at first, but then more passionately and with a sudden hunger that neither of them had known was there.

James picked Lily up softly and laid her on their bed, unbuttoning his shirt and watching as she untied her robe. His mouth went back to hers as they continued to slowly take each other's clothes off, stroking, caressing and kissing every newly uncovered area. He kissed her tears away as he entered her, wanting all her pain to disappear. They didn't say a word the entire time, concentrating on what they were doing.

And it was perfect while it lasted.

Lily watched as James drifted off to sleep. He looked so innocent and peaceful lying there next to her, the duvet covering both of them. She turned away and tried to find a comfortable position. When she got fed up with moving around, she just lay there, thinking. Slowly, the reality of what had just happened dawned on her. Her body began to shake as she realized the total irresponsibility of their actions. The Quill had very strict rules. What if unintentionally, they had broken them and something horrible was to happen? What if she was to become sterile and then die because she couldn't reproduce as the Quill required? What if it all went wrong?

A dry sob escaped from her throat, quickly followed by another. Tears started streaming down her face as she jumped up, wrapping her robe around her, and grabbing her clothes before running to the bathroom, trying to stop James from waking up. Locking the door, she sat on the edge of the bathtub and let the tears fall freely, sobbing, gasping for air as she cried and cried. It was wrong, wrong, wrong! They were friends and they had let themselves get carried away, not thinking about what they were doing. She'd been so stupid! How could she have let it happen? How could she have gone with it?

James opened his eyes sleepily as he heard the bathroom door lock. Lily was no longer at his side and her bathrobe was gone. He lay in bed, listening to her dry, loose sobs. He had caused this. It was his fault. He had kissed her, he had undressed her, he had forced her into something she wasn't comfortable with. Now she was in the bathroom, door locked, crying her heart out because of his selfish actions. He put his head in his hands as he realised that they had used no protection whatsoever. What if she got pregnant? What if it all went wrong?

Lily sniffed as she unlocked the bathroom door. She'd gotten under the hot water for a few minutes and was now fully dressed. She spotted James on their bed watching her.

"Where're you going?" he asked.

"Out."

"Where?"

"Out."

"Will you be back late?"

"Anything can happen." Lily answered as she took some money from her bed-side table and stuffed it in her wallet.

"Lily, we need to talk."

Lily got a large duffel bag from under their bed and started stuffing in a bunch of clothes, not really paying attention.

"Lily, what're you doing?"

"Putting clothes in a bag."

"What for?"

"To be honest, I'm not really sure."

She zipped up the bag and walked out of the room and down the stairs.

"Lily!" she heard James calling from behind her. However, by the time he got to the entrance hall, she had disapparated.

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