6.

Same time tonight?

Keeping her eyes on Professor Vector at all times, Lily carefully folded the note into her palm and faked a large stretch, dropping it directly onto the desk behind her. She was worried for a moment because she could not hear the recipient unfolding the parchment above the sound of scratching quills and was beginning to wonder if maybe it had dropped to the ground. But soon enough she felt it whiz past her ear before landing lightly on her desk. Checking the Professor was still looking elsewhere; she unfolded the note and laid it atop her lecture notes to look like she was reading them.

Don't you think it's a big risky putting a question like that in writing?

She frowned and scribbled a hasty response before passing it back.

Is that a yes?

He passed is back quicker this time.

What do you think?

7.30 it is.

Her second meeting with James Potter in the boys' dorm. She was more anxious that the last time for some reason and had put off asking him about it for a whole two days before she dared pluck up the courage to scribble a note – the idea of speaking to him about it was terrifying.

She had always known this was going to be a little awkward; there was no denying that. He was an old friend, nothing more. In fact, he was probably a lot less because they had drifted apart years ago. And now she was arranging secret meetings with him - kissing him like a lover – but she had never loved him. And the scariest thing about it was that while she was doing it, she actually liked kissing this stranger. It didn't matter who he was - he was good at it – it felt nice. How sick did she have to be to enjoy kissing strangers?

But the worst part of all was knowing how to deal with him afterwards. What exactly were you supposed to say to a person after snogging them for an hour? Thankyou is what Lily had said last time. Before rushing to the door as fast as she could and knowing he had seen her flush bright red. Are we done? he had replied carelessly. Good, I was hoping to get a fly in before dinner. He really was doing this for the money. Sure, she didn't want him to be doing it for any other reason, but it still made her feel pathetic.

She passed the note back, fortunately returning to her real notes just as Professor Vector passed by her desk. She scribbled down the few lines she'd missed from Emmeline's page and the Professor gave her a suspicious stare before moving on again. She was surprised when the little ball of parchment hit her on the side of the head, bouncing into her lap. What more could he have to say?

Wear something sexy.

She chuckled silently at his idiocy before glancing over her shoulder to throw him a smirk, only to see him copying his notes diligently and not paying her the slightest bit of attention. Sirius however stared back at her meaningfully. She rolled her eyes dramatically and balled up the parchment to throw at his head before turning back to her desk.

"Something you and Mr Black would like to share with the class, Miss Evans?"

Emmeline gave her a sorry look and ducked down in her seat so as not to look like part of the trouble.

"No Professor," Lily replied innocently.

"Passing notes in my class is not acceptable behaviour," the Professor said sternly, looking over Lily's shoulder and almost certainly eyeing off the ball of parchment on Sirius' desk.

"It was school related," Lily uttered hastily.

The Professor smiled and Lily knew she'd made the number one mistake. "Then you won't mind if I read it aloud." She raised her wand to summon the note to her and Lily panicked. Some of John's best friends were in this class! Both she and Emmeline, who had decided to become involved after all, leapt to their feet in an attempt to catch the tiny ball as it flew through the air, but to their surprise, and the Professor's, someone else caught it.

"I'll get to the bottom of this, Professor," James Potter announced with a cheeky grin, completely ignoring Lily's desperate looks as he unballed the parchment with an expression of deep interest.

"I'll have that, thank you very much Mr Potter-"

"Dear Sirius," he began to 'read' anyway. Many of the students around the room began to giggle, expecting a show from the notorious funny-boy. "I write to invite you to my sleep over party this weekend to be held in the Gryffindor seventh years girls' dormitory-"

Their classmates sniggered and the Professor huffed impatiently. Lily sighed in relief and allowed a small smile as Emmeline giggled from beside her.

"-As you may be aware, this is a regular event during which we, the girls of the Gryffindor seventh year dormitory, spend many hours lounging around in our skimpiest of underwear, eating whipped cream off each other's bodies, practice French kissing, carry out numerous naked pillow fights and the occasional full body massage-"

"Mr Potter that is enough!"

"-Your good friend Mister James Potter may bare witness to the level of enjoyment of this event, as he is a regular guest and an active participant during our evenings-" A cheer from the male half of the class ensued. "-On behalf of the Gryffindor seventh year girls, I, Lily Evans, invite you, Sirius Black, to take part in this glorious event. Please bring with you your favourite brand of spray cream as it will be required during the evening's activities."

The class erupted with a riotous noise, laughing and cheering as Sirius announced loudly to Lily that he would be honoured to attend her party. She shook her head and briefly made eye contact with James who have her a friendly wink. By the time the Professor had called them all to order again and Lily was wondering about the real note, she saw him chewing steadily. She knew first hand how disgusting parchment tasted but was thankful for his quick thinking. Gryffindor was docked twenty points.

"Felling better?"

Lily let out a small cry of surprise as John pinched her bottom in the line for Transfiguration. She turned from Emmeline and Dorcas, who each gave her a knowing look, to find her boyfriend looking expectantly down at her.

"Fine," she said, leaning up slightly to peck him on the cheek as was custom. He daringly held her there for a proper kiss – Professor McGonagall would be arriving any minute – and his arm remained around her when he pulled away, keeping her close.

"Is everything better?"

He was getting desperate. She had barely seen him since she told him about her imaginary rash – there had been no late night walks after dinner and no love notes slipped into her bag. It had been hard to pick up at first, he had been acting so normal, but now it really felt like she was getting used – he only came to see her to see if she was ready. It made her feel dirty. But it also made things easier. She'd feed him another lie and he'd disappear for another few days to Judy. At least she had prepared something this time.

"Not really," she said, doing her best to sound apologetic. "I don't know why this rubbish keeps happening to me."

He narrowed his eyes in confusion. "What rubbish?"

She dropped her head in shame. "It's really embarrassing."

He removed his hand from her waist, using it to prop her face up so she was forced to look at him again. "Tell me," he said seriously. "I'm not going to laugh at you, am I? Come on, it's me, you can tell me anything."

She took a guarded glance over her shoulder, all part of the act, and leaned in close so that she could whisper in his ear. "I have an STD."

He pulled away from her in shock and she was surprised to see him looking more angry than disgusted. He went to say something but in the next moment, glanced over her shoulder and then took her firmly by the wrist, pulling her out of the line and around the corner out of earshot of their fellow students.

"Ow, you're pinching me."

He released her instantly but moved in close so that he could talk quietly still. "I thought you were a virgin."

His statement shocked her. "Of course I am!" she replied indignantly.

"Shhh!" he hissed at her, glancing down the hall at passing students before fixing her with a hard stare. 'Then how the hell did you get an STD?"

"Well, I-" She stuttered. "-I just picked it up, I don't know!"

"You just picked it up?" he repeated.

"Yes!"

Why was he being difficult now? He'd believed her about the rash. He ran a hand over his brow and looked extremely frazzled by all of this.

"What's the matter?"

"No Lily," he replied, sounding equally weary. "What's the matter with you? If there's a problem here, why don't you just tell me?"

She frowned. "I just did."

He shook his head as though he didn't believe a word. Lily began to panic. Somehow he knew she was lying and he was upset with her – he never got upset with her. She couldn't have him dump her; it would ruin everything!

"John, I don't understand," she said pleadingly, reaching out to take his hand, as she would have done before. He pulled it away sharply.

"If you're not ready, then just say so," he said quietly but firmly, looking cross. "Stop leading me on and then making up these stupid excuses. Did you even have a rash?"

"Yes!" she cried indignantly once more. It was sort of true.

He ran a hand across his forehead again and stepped back from her looking frustrated. "So what's the problem then?"

Now Lily was getting frustrated. "I just told you, I have a-"

"You do not have an STD," he said with certainty, looking the most serious that Lily had ever seen him. "Do you even know what it means?"

"Yes," Lily replied hotly, insulted. "And I'm trying to do you a favour because I don't want you to catch it!"

"It means you had to have had sex already!" he all but shouted out loud. Lily felt all the colour drain out of her face. Oh shit. "So either you're lying to me about that or you're lying to me about being a virgin," he said, obviously straining to keep his cool after that little outburst. "Which is it, Lily?"

This time she really did drop her head in shame. What an idiot she was. In her attempts to disgust him she had really gone too far. "I don't have an STD," she admitted pitifully.

"Why are you doing this?" he said, sounding disappointed. "You're obviously not ready, why don't you just say so?"

She raised her head in surprise. "You can tell that?"

He exhaled loudly and gave a shrug. "I mean, I've been hoping you were coming around of course, and…" He trailed off. "I suppose the anticlimax of your birthday didn't really come as much of a surprise. But you don't have to make up all these silly lies. I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to."

It was the perfect excuse. She should have used it from the beginning.

"I'm not ready," she said confidently. "I thought I was, but I've realised I'm not."

"Good," he said with a nod. "You should be certain about it."

She nodded too and tentatively reached out to take his hand, thankful that he had not decided to just drop her over the whole issue. She was not going to have lost forty galleons and an hour of her life kissing James Potter only to end up the one being dumped. In fact, he was being remarkably nice about the whole thing really. "You're not upset with me?"

He sighed again and began to lead her back around the corner. "Disappointed, sure. Who wouldn't want to be with a girl like you? But I'm sure I'll manage until you tell me you're ready."

And then she remembered Judy. Yes, he'd manage all right.

"Oh crap," he added as they realised the class had gone – everyone had already filed into the room. "Quick," he said, releasing her hand and darting towards the door. "McGonagall will have a fit."

But Lily merely lagged behind as he dashed ahead and came to a halt as she watched him disappear into the room. She could not bare the idea of spending the next hour beside him with that image of Judy in her head and made a slow walk down to the library.

"Stop, stop, stop! This is terrible!"

Lily pulled away from James, both of them turning to Sirius in frustration. "What now?' she said angrily.

"You're not listening," he replied just as irritably. "You're supposed to be caressing each other, not searching around like you've lost your keys!"

"You try caressing his bum!" Lily retorted.

Sirius turned his nose up in disgust. "No!"

"Exactly," Lily scoffed. "It's weird for me too, so just shut up."

Unable to argue further with the girl, Sirius turned to his friend. "Mate, come on, you're letting me down here."

James sighed in clear frustration. He had remained pretty quiet during both practice sessions and was extremely tolerant of their tough director, even as Lily screamed at them both, but even he was showing signs of stress at being yelled at all evening. "Look," he said, bordering on patience. "It feels right, it can't be that bad."

"It is."

Both James and Lily scoffed loudly.

"You're just being annoying now," Lily said plainly, folding her arms across her chest. "He's right, it feels nice-" Sirius raised his eyebrows and she saw James turn to her from the corner of her eye. "Fine," she rephrased carefully. "It feels fine – normal. You're being pedantic."

"Because you're not giving me much to work with!" Sirius cried exasperatedly, rising from the bed and approaching them. "Normal isn't going to cut it, okay? Here," he added, pushing them together and forcing Lily's arms to where they had been moments ago, around James' neck. "Now, feel her up," he ordered.

James looked unimpressed and Lily scoffed, pulling away. "That's so uncouth."

"Just do it," Sirius sneered, waiting for them to get back into position. "Don't kiss, just touch her. Go."

They shared a rare moment of having their eyes open at this proximity and gave each other a meaningful look in regards to their irksome director before James lazily dropped his hands to just below her bottom and slowly rounded her curves before moving up her sides and back down again. It was an amusing sight with them both looking bored to bits. But Sirius wasn't smiling.

"There," he said pointing vaguely at Lily but looking at James. "You just missed all the best bits! Do it again."

This time James didn't even look at Lily, glaring at his friend as he swiped his hands over her bottom this time and lowered them again, giving her an exaggerated squeeze. "Better?" he asked dryly.

Sirius shrugged. "Getting there, do it again."

Lily felt ridiculous standing there and allowing this boy to grope her, but Sirius made him do it again and again. She wondered if she'd have handprints on her arse cheeks by morning; it appeared James was using her backside as a stress relief toy.

"Are you conscious you're doing that?" Sirius asked eventually, sounding intrigued. He narrowed his eyes at his best friend.

"Doing what?" Lily and James asked simultaneously.

Sirius scratched his chin before physically taking James' hands and following the track they had taken up and down her body, stopping at her ribcage. "It's like you're too conscious of what you're doing," he said to James. "You don't touch her breasts. You get close, and you look like you want to, but then you just don't do it."

Lily had stopped listening at the word breasts. She'd never heard Sirius say anything besides tits and boobs. He seriously wanted James to touch her there. But it was so intimate – she had only let John do that a couple of times. She really didn't know if she was comfortable. She glanced at James and he too looked embarrassed at the suggestion. Sirius seemed to pick up on the awkward tension at least.

"Amateurs," he muttered. "Fine, but we'll have to work on it sometime."

Relieved, James and Lily released each other at last. "That it then?" James asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. Lily smoothed down her clothing where James had rumpled it and prepared to leave for the night.

"Not so fast," Sirius stopped them. "I let you off with the titty thing; we're not done."

Lily groaned audibly.

"Do you want help or not?" Sirius glared at her. "You're paying us, you might as well make the most of it."

"I'm not paying you to be annoying! Thanks for the tips but I think James and I can take it from here." She made to leave again but Sirius blocked her path.

"Let me hear some sounds."

Lily's nose scrunched up in utter bewilderment. "What?"

"Sounds," Sirius repeated slowly. "You snog in silence."

For some reason this felt like an insult. "I don't always-"

"You do with him," Sirius cut her off.

"Well maybe that's because I'm not exactly enjoying myself." She refused to look at James whom she was sure to have just insulted. The truth of course was that she did enjoy snogging him, he was a fantastic kisser, but she felt like a fool moaning and making those appreciative sounds that were expected with fast paced snogging. She wasn't supposed to be enjoying herself.

"Sounds," Sirius repeated sternly. He stared at her expectantly.

"Now?"

"Yes, now."

She was embarrassed. Those kinds of things – the sound she might make when she was turned on – were very private. They weren't meant for pervy Sirius to get an earful, and James wasn't supposed to witness that either. Besides, how much would John be able to hear over the noise of a party?

"No."

Sirius cocked his head as though pretending not to have heard her. "Pardon?"

"I'm not doing it," she said simply.

Sirius glared at her.

"Come on," James interrupted, stepping forward. "She's had enough, forget it."

"I don't get you," Sirius said, ignoring his friend. "You asked me for help and you're not listening to anything, are you? How do you expect to do this properly if you're not doing what I'm telling you? You can't do it by yourself."

That angered Lily. She wasn't a complete prude. She knew how to bloody kiss someone but it wasn't easy to maul a stranger. Especially this one.

"You know what?" he said hotly. "I've had enough of this. I don't need you; I can do this by myself." She glanced at James and took a step toward him. "We can do this by ourselves."

James glanced own at her before turning to his mate and giving a slight shrug.

Sirius scoffed. "Fine, bugger it up for all I care. Just don't come crying to me, wishing you'd listened when you make complete fools of yourselves."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"FINE!"

Lily considered leaving again but Sirius threw her a dirty look and beat her to the door before disappearing through it with a few muttered insults. She heard James release a long breath and turned back to face him, completely baffled as to what had just occurred.

"He'll get over it," James said. "He's just afraid he won't get his share of the money."

Lily rolled her eyes before they each seemed to realise they were completely alone and awkwardness set in. Lily was the first to speak.

"So, we can still do this, right?"

"Oh sure," James replied positively. "I mean, it's just snogging, isn't it? We'll be fine, we don't even need to practice any more I reckon."

"Exactly," Lily nodded, making toward the door again. "Well I'm glad that's all sorted. So I guess I'll see you around, right?"

"Sure," James nodded.

With a smile, she grasped the doorhandle and let herself out, making her way down the steps and feeling as though a big weight had been lifted off her shoulders. No more practice. No more James Potter. Soon the whole thing would be over and she'd never have to worry about Sirius or James or John or Judy again. She couldn't wait.