Prompt: James and smelling salts

Lily laughs, burying her face into the pillow and trying to muffle the noise but James continues to tickle her and she can't keep quiet. The curtains on James' four poster are shut and the other male seventh years are down in the common room; James had kicked them out an hour ago when Lily came back from the library and immediately ran up to his dormitory and requested she talk to him in private. They all knew she didn't want to talk but the Marauders had eventually agreed to leave - not completely willingly - and James and Lily had been able to make good use of his bed. It hadn't been anything more than fooling around but they're both topless and still giddy. Still she tries to muffle her laughter, kicking at him in attempt to get his pesky fingers away from her sides.

"Stop it!" She manages to get out, flipping over and pushing at his shoulders.

"What's the magic word?" James leans in, grinning, and moves his hands across her stomach, not letting up.

"No way am I saying that, again."

"In that case…" His hands tickle down towards her thighs and she shrieks, throwing her head back with laughter and almost managing to roll away.

"Fine, fine, fine!" The boy pauses momentarily, letting her catch her breath for only a second. "James Potter," she says something else but it's only mumbled and he can't hear her.

"Sorry, didn't catch that." James' fingers start up again, moving up and down her thighs as she squirms to get away.

"James Potter is the best shag I've ever had."

"You have now idea how much I'm flattered by that." He responds cheekily, moving so he's kneeling next to her and running a hand through his hair.

"I haven't even shagged you yet, you bastard." Lily smiles all the same though, poking him in the chest as her breathing returns to normal before turning and burying, once again, her face in his pillow. Her hands sneak beneath it and she's expecting to just clasp her fingers in the middle but her right hands brushes over something.

James is grinning still, running a single finger down her spine and up again - Lily isn't going to give him the pleasure of showing him that that's doing wonderful things to her - and watching the way her hair falls over her shoulder blades. He hasn't noticed that she's pulled out something from beneath his pillow. In the moment he's even forgotten he's got stuff hidden beneath it. Usually he stuffs it under his mattress when he knows she's coming but he hadn't had much warning earlier.

Just as she's rolling over with it in her hand, James notices she has something and his eyes widen.

"No!" He makes a lunge for the small, thin string bag but Lily moves and holds it out of his reach.

"What's this, Potter?" She asks, already fully aware of what it is. Lily's mother keeps a few for when she gets a cold and the redhead is familiar with them. "Smelling salts?"

"No, they're not -" His girlfriend silences him with a raised eyebrow as she raises the pouch full of small herbs to her nose and takes a sniff. "Cherry and…"

"Raspberry." James offers begrudgingly.

"Never heard of cherry and raspberry smelling salts before." Lily comments, shaking the bag and then taking another sniff. "I recognize the smell though." Shifting back so she's kneeling opposite James, she pulls up the sheet they had rucked up from his bed and tucks it under her armpits so she's covered. "Why do you have smelling salts?" He just crosses his arms though, biting his lip. "And why do I recognize that smell?"

"Well, most people have eaten cherries and raspberries before."

"Don't be cheeky." Lily rolls her eyes, looking from the salts to her boyfriend. "They're not actual smelling salts are they?"

"No." He sulks. "They're like a wizard version."

"That's a very descriptive piece of information there." Lily replies, chucking the salts to him and falling back onto the pillow. James silently begs her not to look under the pillow again. Merlin knows how he'd continue living if she found the picture of her and him he kept under there. Catching the salts he closes his fist over the pouch, refusing to smell it.

"Now you're being cheeky." He points out. Lily shrugs, watching him from her position. James sighs. "Muggle salts wake you up right? That's what Remus said." Lily nods in confirmation. "Well these help you sleep, except…" he trails off and pushes his glasses further up his nose, unsure how much he should tell her. "Mainly they help you have good dreams. Each one has a specific smell and then you have to charm the salts - otherwise I'd just dream of cherries and raspberries."

"So what do you dream of with these?" James clears his throat and avoids her eyes, suddenly feeling very hot. Lily narrows her eyes, a realization dawning on her. "My shampoo is raspberry and cherry." Her eyes widen and then she's laughing and James is blushing and glaring at her darkly. "No, no, no I'm not laughing at you." She sits up and pulls him into a hug, pressing a few kisses to his cheek. Being stubborn, James doesn't uncross his arms and just waits for her to release him.

"Why are you laughing then?"

"Because it's cute."

"James Potter isn't cute." He protests, almost in outrage.

"Oh, I think you'll find he most definitely is." Lily grins, her stomach full of butterflies because of his revelation. Rolling his eyes James chucks the smelling salts to the floor and tackles her back. Their hands clasp either side of her head and he straddles her legs, looking down at her with a grin on his face.

"Why don't you let me prove you wrong?"

"Sure you don't need some salts to help you?" She teases and, retaliating, he leans forwards and starts to press kisses across her collar bone. It isn't long before James has proved himself to be a lot more than just cute.