Chapter XXV - Dinner and A Movie

Lily heard the laughter first from her spot in the common room and she peered over the chesterfield to see James and her father step inside. James was grinning at something but they both looked like they had enjoyed quite a wonderful afternoon together.

"How was the match?" She asked, standing up and making her way over to them.

Deacon grinned broadly. "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! I have never seen such an incredible sight! It was fast-paced and exciting and I even got to meet some of the players afterwards! I had no idea that flying was so much fun!"

"You flew on a broom?" She exclaimed, her eyes widening. The fact that her father had done so shouldn't really have shocked her, but she found herself thoroughly surprised anyway.

James laughed now and took her hand in his to tug her towards him. "Lily, how can I bring your father to a Quidditch game without first letting him experience a broom ride? But do not fret over it. He was on the Comet 170 and very safe."

"Hmm," was her only response to this.

Deacon was still grinning like a fool. "I had a grand time." He kissed his daughter's cheek lightly. "You have a good man here. He has charmed me."

"He charms everyone that's the problem." Lily said.

James grinned at her, kissing her hand. "As long as my charm finally worked on you, that's all that I tend to care about."

"Well, did you only go to the match then?" She asked, deciding it was probably best not to comment on and/or encourage James' ego.

Deacon shook his head. "No. James was kind enough to show me his home where I in turn met his beautiful mother. I learned how to play Exploding Snap and how to fly on a broom. It was a very interesting day I dare say."

"It sounds like it. Is James free now to entertain me, Dad?"

Deacon smiled at those words. "Well, I was hoping to play a game of basketball with him, but I suppose that I could save that for tomorrow?"

Lily reached up to kiss her father's cheek. "One game and then James and I are going on a date."

"We are?" James asked, grinning at his girlfriend. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere exciting. Now go play your game. First man to forty wins."

James grinned back at her as he followed Deacon out into the backyard. "Can you at least give me a hint, love?"

Lily only laughed and closed the back door in his face.

It was almost two hours later by the time that Lily managed to pull James away from the basketball game and changed into proper attire. She had told him to wear slacks and a dress shirt which surprised him slightly. He still didn't have a clue where they were going.

Now he stood in the garage staring at the black impala that Lily had opened the door too and was gesturing for him to get in. He knew that she had mentioned to him that she could drive a muggle car, but he hadn't expected to be greeted with it so soon.

He eyed the car carefully and with deep distrust as he sat down in the passenger seat, closing the door behind him. "Now are you sure you know how to drive this thing? Without magic?"

Lily rolled her eyes as she strapped James in and his eyes widened in surprise at the seat belt. She could tell by the look on his face that he didn't much fancy the idea of being strapped in. "Yes. Now shush."

"Well, I think that if you are so sure about it then you should let me try it."

"James, I am driving. Now shut it." She backed the impala out of the parkway and out onto the street. "I thought that I would take you out to enjoy a night in a muggle restaurant and to see a movie, but not in that order."

"What is a movie?"

"You shall see."

"Hmm," was his reply as his eyes stayed on what she was doing with the wheel. He ducked his head down, laying his chin on her knee to watch her feet. "It doesn't look too hard, you know."

"James, you are not driving today." She cuffed him gently on the head. "Now sit up properly and stop staring at my feet!"

"But you have such lovely feet, my love."

Lily rolled her eyes at him as she slowed the car at the yellow light ahead. "You are going to be a dead man soon."

He grinned widely at her, leaning over and gently nipping at her mouth. "At least now I'll die a happy one."

Lily decided that it was best to ignore him as she drove quietly through the streets. She fiddled with the dial on the radio and turned the volume up as the sounds of Kiss serenaded them. It made her smile as James sang along with the beat and it made her entire body tingle. She had forgotten just what kind of impact the sound of his singing voice had on her body.

By the time she had pulled into the parking lot and shut off the car, she had never wanted James so much. She unbuckled her seat belt and yanked him towards her, grinning when his eyes widened in surprise before her mouth covered his. His surprise didn't last long, as he tugged her across the seat of the car and into his lap.

The kiss deepened and she moaned against his mouth, the taste of him was so James that she burrowed deeper into his embrace. His hands sat low on her hips and when one reached up to fondle her breast she tugged back, breathing heavy and nibbled on his ear.

"We … this is not the right spot for that."

"Aye," he muttered, kissing the soft spot under her right ear. "I might er, need a minute to compose myself."

Lily smiled at that as she crawled off his lap, sliding back over to her own seat. "I understand."

"Wench."

She laughed and reached into the backseat for her purse. "Anyway, to help take your mind off other things, the movie I want to see is called Jaws."

"Jaws? What is it?"

She smiled and put the keys in her purse as she spoke. "A movie is like moving pictures that tell a story. Almost like the talking portraits but like many, many of them attached together."

James nodded in understanding. "That makes sense. So it is called Jaws?"

"Not all of them, but the one that I want to see tonight is called this. It's an American film, a horror one. It looks very scary. It's about a giant great white shark that is eating people on the beach."

James' eyebrow rose slightly at that. "A shark? I heard they don't eat people."

She smiled. "It's not a true story, James, it's … fiction."

"Like the books we've been reading, interesting."

She snuck a look at him, her eyes twinkling. "Are you um, ready then?"

"I reckon I'm alright now, but don't think that I won't pay you back for that later."

Lily opened the door to the car to step out and smiled at him. "I'm counting on it."

By the time that Lily had him situated in the theatre, he was almost bouncing with excitement. She had bought a huge bag of popcorn and a pop for them to split and now they were sitting waiting for the movie to start.

"I heard its real scary, Mum!" A young boy of about twelve said from a few rows in front of them. "The shark jumps right up and wham! Blood everywhere!"

James chuckled a bit at those words and wrapped his arm around Lily making her smile. Apparently it didn't matter that he had never been in a movie theatre before, his arm was already around the girl. "If that's the case, love, I promise to protect you from the scary shark!"

"It's not real, James. But I think I might jump or something you know, if it is scary."

He smiled and reached to eat some popcorn. "This is delicious."

"Have you never had it?"

He shook his head. "No. I've never even heard of it, popcorn, 'tis interesting, don't you think? A muggle treat that I have not heard of."

Lily placed her finger over his lips. "Shh, no talk of that stuff here. People don't know, Jamie."

"Jamie?" He said, eyebrows high. "Is that a new nickname for me?"

"I …" her brow crinkled as she thought about it. "I don't know, it just kind of came out. James."

He smiled at her, leaning close to kiss her softly. "Aye, I don't mind if you want to call me Jamie. I kind of like it."

Lily smiled against his mouth and kissed him. She wasn't sure how long they sat like that, snogging quietly, but the music of the previews distracted her and she pulled away. "I love you, Jamie."

He grinned at her words. "I love you too." He took her hand in his and turned his attention towards the big screen in front of him.

It was fascinating he realized, as he watched the previews come up of movies to come, but when the music started he found his eyes glued to screen. He continued to munch on the popcorn as he watched. He even jumped himself a time or two when the great white got its jaws wrapped around an unsuspecting swimmer. When the credits rolled up and the lights came back on, he turned to Lily with a big grin on his face.

"That was brilliant! That shark was a bit mad, though, aye?"

She laughed and leaned over to kiss him softly. "A tad. It was bit scarier than I thought. Definitely going to make me think twice or two before I go for a swim."

He chuckled at those words and tugged her close when they stood up. "I think that the giant squid will keep you safe from a shark."

She grinned and let him lead her out of the theatre and back to the impala. He pushed her back up against the car door and kissed her deeply. She surrendered completely and slipped her arms around his neck, fingers twining in the hair at his nape. He placed his forehead against hers.

"Thank you for such a nice treat."

"You're welcome. Are you up for some dinner?"

"Aye, I could be. Depends on what we're having."

She smiled up at him. "I was thinking of a nice French restaurant. Hence the nice shirt and slacks I made you wear."

He grinned at that and kissed her again. "I think I'd prefer you." When she blushed, his grin widened. "Can I drive?"

"James."

"What happened to Jamie, eh?" When she only rolled her eyes at him, he took the keys from her hand. "Give me one shot? I was watching you and it doesn't look that difficult."

Lily was pretty positive that this wasn't a good idea, but those hazel eyes were full of excitement and she sighed. "Alright, fine. But listen to my instructions! You have to do the speed limit."

He nodded and kissed her again before climbing into the driver's seat. He waited until she was seated next to him before he turned the key and the pure of the engine made him grin widely. "Brilliant sound." He pointed to the two pedals below. "This one makes the car stop and this one go?" When Lily nodded he simply put the car into drive and took off.

"James! You have to watch where you're going! Stay in the lane!"

"I see, it's like a Quidditch obstacle course, flying in the provided spot."

She winced slightly when he turned a corner too sharply, but she had to admit that he had full control of the car. She gave him directions and when he parked perfectly behind the restaurant in downtown London, placing the car in park and turning it off she actually felt guilty holding her hand out for the keys.

"But I did a good job."

"Yes, you did, actually, but there is no way that I'm going to let you drive home. If Dad sees you behind the wheel he might die."

James chuckled at those words and when they stepped out of the car, he tugged her towards him, sliding his hands down her shoulders, gently brushing the sides of her breasts and resting comfortably on her bum. "You look beautiful, did I tell you that today?"

Lily blushed, "Jamie, I - "

"Shh," he said, kissing her forehead, her nose, each cheek before softly placing his lips on hers. "Come on; let's go get some dinner."

When she followed him inside the restaurant, her heart was still pounding.

It was about ten minutes later when they were seated with each a glass of Coca-Cola in front of them.

"It's relatively the same," he said, looking around slightly. "Just use a different kind of money."

Lily smiled at that, softening when he reached across the table to hold her hand. "I'm glad that I was able to show you around my world."

James grinned at that and kissed her fingers. "Me too. I actually did have fun with your father today too. I was kind of terrified and Padfoot didn't help. As soon as I told him that your dad was downstairs he laughed and took off; didn't even want to come to the match."

Lily laughed at this. "I wish I could say that I was surprised."

"Aye, me too." He kissed her fingers again and smiled. "So this is a kind of date in your world?"

"Yes. Dinner and a show is one of the more popular ones."

"Hmm. I would have thought that you might want to go out dancing or something."

She smiled at those words. "I do. I was thinking maybe tomorrow night we could go out to this club. It's called Dance Fever. I've never been, but Petunia says it's the place she goes with her friends to dance, or she did before Vernon. He's not much of a dance fan."

"I can see why that would be. Speaking of Vernon, I mentioned to my Mum how he seemed to be kind of unimpressed with her party planning. I got us tickets to go as its the week after we return from Rome. What do you think?" He asked, sipping his coke as dishes of ratatouille and steak were placed in front of them.

"I think that it sounds fun. I think that I would really like to see Vernon Dursley with all of his work friends. See if he's the same kind of person. I know that she loves him. I can see it on her face that she does, but at the same time I don't think that he's her true love. She could do better." She explained, sighing as she squeezed his hand gently before releasing it to cut a piece of her steak. "Do you know what I mean?"

He nodded, grinning at those words. "Aye. Speaking of, when I was teaching your father how to play Exploding Snap, he was telling me about some game called Poker that apparently Vernon is fond of as well. He mentioned something about setting up a game night."

"You playing Poker?"

"What? Is it unbelievable or something?"

"Or something," she said, smiling at him. "It's a gambling game. I've never been much good at it. Dad wants to have a card night though with you and Vernon together? Now that should actually be quite interesting."

"I think so, but I also think it will be fun. He said he would invite more people. Besides, I thought that I would mind getting to know your family, you know, it's a lot of pressure and stuff, but surprisingly, I don't. They're really great, Lily, I don't know why I was so worried about it."

She smiled at those words. "I wish that I could say the same about yours."

"What?" He exclaimed in surprise, looking closely at her. "My family is going to love you. There's only my mum and dad as you clearly already know Sirius who is the adopted son. And you did meet my mum at Christmas."

"That doesn't count," she insisted, taking a drink of her coke. "I met her for one minute and I wasn't your girlfriend then."

James smiled at her. "Lily, my mum is very aware of how I feel about you. She has known that I've been in love with you since I was thirteen. I know she liked you already, but I know she's anxious to really get a chance to know you. My dad is great and likes everybody so you have no worries there."

"What do you mean I have no worries there? What if I am the one person that he doesn't like?" She asked, well aware of how anxious she sounded.

He grinned and took her hand in his to kiss her fingers gently. "You won't be. I promise you that you have absolutely nothing to worry about. And its not for four more days. So relax, and let's enjoy our time here for now."

She nodded at those words. "I suppose that's logical."

"You know it is." He released her hand and turned back to his dinner. "Now why don't you tell me how your day was with Petunia, you've been oddly close-mouthed about it?"

Lily shrugged and mixed her food around on her plate. "It was good. It was just … strange. We used to be really close you know, did everything together, but soon after she found out that I was a witch it was like I was diseased or something. She wanted nothing to do with me. But last summer, I told her what … what had happened and she was very sympathetic, but this summer … she's an entirely new person and I think that Vernon has a lot to do with that. He is actually good for her. And I think that she feels like she's better than me because she's engaged and has this beautiful ring to show off and I don't."

"Well, that can easily be arranged," James said, grinning widely at her.

"Anyway," Lily continued, pointedly ignoring her boyfriend. "She's been nice and making me Maid of Honour was nice. The shopping was fun, but some of the stuff that we talked about … about you and Vernon … it was real sister stuff and Jamie I, I'm worried that I might lose her again!"

"Don't be ridiculous! That won't happen. Clearly she is trying to mend the fences between the two of you and I think that you should take advantage of it."

She smiled at him. "You are the best thing that ever could have happened to me, do you know that?"

"Babe, I've been trying to tell you that for four years."

Lily's eyes met his and he couldn't help but notice the reflection of the candlelight in them. She looked so beautiful right now with her long red curls framing her face, tumbling over her shoulders. Those eyes, so green that they seemed to draw him in. She was dressed in a bright blue sun dress with white diagonal stripes and she looked absolutely incredible.

"So I'm lucky then?"

"I think that I'm the lucky one," he murmured, his eyes on hers. "Do you know how long I dreamed that you would say yes to me? But when it actually happened … sometimes I still wake up and hope to Merlin that it hasn't all been a dream."

She smiled warmly at him. "It's not."

They finished their dinner and James insisted on paying the bill, surprising Lily as he pulled out a wallet filled with muggle money. He paid and they headed out, deciding to walk along the London water edge.

James took her hand in his as they walked along the Thames. It was companionable silence for a bit before he smiled up at the Tower of London in the distance.

"You know, I always wanted to go in there."

"The Tower?" Lily asked in surprise. "But why? It's so … muggle?"

He laughed at that and kissed her softly. "True, but its also quite fascinating, don't you think? It's just kind of crazy to know how many people were held in there, tortured in there, killed in there for so many stupid reasons. My mum once told me that there was even a king once who killed three of his wives in there!"

Lily smiled at that. "Two actually. His other queen that died passed away during childbirth. His name was Henry VIII and he had six wives."

"Six? Merlin, he's crazy!"

She laughed. "Not all at once! He wanted a son and when his first wife couldn't provide him with one, he changed the laws and the course of history to get what he wanted. My teacher always taught us this rhyme to help us remember: Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived."

"How did that help you with the names?" James asked.

She shrugged. "Well, that part you had to remember on your own, but it helped you to keep them in order. First there was Catherine of Aragon who gave him his daughter Mary. When she failed to provide him with a son he claimed that by marrying his brother's wife, as his brother had died very soon after marrying Catherine, that it was a sin against God for him to marry her so he was being punished by not getting a son. Didn't really work and he broke up with the Catholic Church and brought England through the Reformation, but that's not important. He met Anne Boleyn and she was very smart. She promised him a son and told him that she was a virgin making him wait and wait until he married her and crowned her as queen. She gave him a daughter, Elizabeth and he accused her of sleeping with her brother as well as other men at court and had her beheaded in the Tower. Before Anne was killed, he had already fallen in love with another girl, Jane Seymour. She did provide him with a son, Edward, but she was killed during childbirth and it is said that he grieved for months. He was convinced to marry Anne of Cleves from Germany because of the Reformation and the alliance it would give him against the Vatican, but he claimed that she was not attractive and he had the marriage annulled since they never consummated the union. Five was Catherine Howard, this seventeen-year-old-girl who he wanted, but she was so young and immature and she fell for Thomas Culpepper, a courtier of Henry VIII, and when Henry found out he had her beheaded for treason. His last wife was Catherine Parr and she outlived him, but I imagine that if he would have lived longer he eventually would have found fault with her as well. Does that help you out?"

"You remember the oddest things."

She grinned at that. "I really do, don't I?"

"Well, it's still interesting. Two wives beheaded, I would like to see the Tower."

"It's closed now, but I suppose that we could go on a tour there tomorrow. It's going to be full of tourists though."

"That's alright. I would still love to go."

She smiled as he tugged her over to the rail near the water and leaned her back against it, his hands resting comfortably on her hips. "Alright, it sounds like a plan."

James leaned in then, kissing her softly just under her right ear, nibbling along the line of her throat and when her fingers clutched his hair in a soft moan he smiled. "I love you."

His lips touched hers before she could answer and she found herself surrendering fully to him. His body was pressed up against hers and she could feel every muscle in his body. She trailed a finger down the side of his neck and felt him tremble. It made her feel powerful. She moved as close to him as she could, deepening the kiss and sighing into him when he took her under.

Kissing James was like being transported somewhere.

It was another world. She had left her own body behind and was instead being transmitted through a world of sensations and emotions. All she could feel was him and the beating of her heart. Her belly clutched in desire and when he bit her bottom lip lightly, she whimpered.

"Jamie," she whispered, when his lips moved to her neck. "James … I …"

"I want," he murmured back, sliding his hand gently up her back, wishing he could feel more than the soft cotton beneath his skin. "You are incredible."

She laughed now, pulling back to look into his eyes. "So you keep telling me tonight. I enjoy hearing it."

He tugged her back against him, a smirk on his face. "The impala is in a dark and deserted place is it not?"

She blushed to the roots of her hair. "We … we couldn't possibly."

James was laughing now as he took her hand and led her back to the car. They climbed into the back seat and he tugged her up onto his lap. "There's quite a bit of room back here."

"James, it's … what if someone sees? We could get arrested for this!"

"Mmm," he said, kissing her neck. "That's okay. I'll get us free."

Then his mouth touched the pulse point on her neck and she was tugging him closer. His hands pushed her dress up, pulling it over her head and his hands immediately cupped her through the soft purple cotton of her bra. His mouth moved slowly, kissing her softly over each exposed mound as Lily tugged his dress shirt out of his pants and carefully undid the buttons in between kisses.

By the time they had gotten each other's clothes off, they were both panting. He lowered her gently down onto the seat, positioning himself over top of her. His mouth covered hers seconds before he slid into her and her hips arched to meet him; to meet the demand.

His lips trailed down her throat and her hands moved down his back as she felt herself building up.

"James!" She cried out as he rode her ruthlessly to peak.

She barely had time to come down before he too followed her over the edge, burying his face in the crook of her neck and murmuring her name. When their motions finally slowed, James lifted his head to kiss her softly. His eyes grinning at her.

"I think that I should get a car."

"What?" She asked, laughing. "Why?"

James kissed her earlobe and wrapped his hand around her breast. "As much as I love brooms, when you have sex on one, there isn't nearly this much privacy."

She spanked his butt. "Prat."

He grinned and kissed her again, hardening inside of her. "Wench."

Her breath caught in her throat when he began to move. "Jamie … oh …"

"Fuck if I don't love it when you call me that," he murmured as he brought her over again."

Lily simply wrapped her arms tightly around him and met him beat for beat. Maybe having a car was a good thing after all