Room Service
Chapter 24
Oct 23 | Part 2
Lily doesn't fall asleep until four-thirty in the morning.
Despite his every attempt to convince her otherwise, she forces James to go to bed—for actual sleep—after they've sufficiently tired each other's bodies out for the night. Amongst whispered words, conversations about everything and nothing, breathy sights, and quiet brushes of skin on skin, he finally dozes off around half-past two. And then, with her body's clock not extending the same luxury to her, Lily kills the next couple of hours by slipping on a loose t-shirt and a fresh pair of knickers, making herself a cup of tea, and studying James's sleeping face with quiet dedication; she pays special attention to the light, barely visible freckles on his face, the long, thick lashes fanning the tops of his cheeks, the way he looks more boyish without his glasses. She stares for long enough that she eventually feels like a creep, or a lovesick school-girl at best, and then promptly burrows under the covers with a stupid smile.
And there, under the blanket of darkness, with the planes of James's face illuminated slightly from the moonlight spilling in, Lily lets the strange fluttering that has been spreading through her chest for all these weeks finally consume her. She feels; every smile shared; every lingering glance given; every sincere word; every throat-aching laugh.
She thinks back to days ago, recalls standing behind the counter, watching Sirius throw the accusation at her with a frustrated breath.
What are you waiting for? To fall in love with him?
It would seem—
He'd been right.
Mary had been right, too.
She is in love with James Potter.
Utterly and wholly.
And somehow, that makes all the difference in the world when it comes to what she's willing to risk for him. Except, given what she knows now, from her interactions with Euphemia, with James himself, the risk here no longer feels so all-consuming as before, when she'd thought it would choke her under its suffocating pressure. There are complications still, sure, but it's like he'd said earlier—they'll figure it out. Together.
And the thing is, she believes him. Because the light in his eyes as he'd made the promise, as they'd felt each other, seen each other—it had been like looking at a mirrored reflection of her own emotions. Like he truly understood her; understands her.
The smile widens, hidden under the edge of the blanket, and Lily shuffles closer until she can press her lips to the warm skin of James's chest. His breathing remains even. She matches hers to his, and dozes off before she realizes.
"Lily?"
A kiss against her hairline, under her jaw. Blessedly warm, heavy arm over her waist; fingers sliding down her back.
"Mmm."
"I have to go now, love."
Whining, "Have to?"
He huffs a soft laugh against her ear, lips skimming over skin. "Afraid so. I have work."
"It's Saturday."
"I know. Just one meeting. I'll see you at the hotel after?"
She blindly lets her hands travel high, hook around his neck, tug until those lips touch hers. And then she kisses him; slow; lazy; eyes closed. "Okay," she sighs, shifting closer.
"Lily." This time, a groan. "You have no idea what you do to me, do you?"
"Hmm."
His knuckles, slipping down the side of her body, barely brushing her breasts. Lily lets out a quiet sound from the back of her throat, arches into the contact. A thumb encircles her nipple, squeezes gently. Another sound: content. "Fuck, Evans, you're beautiful."
Hips move, feel something deliciously hard between thighs.
A muffled moan, and then she's being turned onto her back, warm mouth finding hers again, prying it open. She glides her tongue over his, whimpers at how good it feels, how good he feels, whimpers even more when his hand travels low and finds the ache building there.
"Fuck," he says, the sound choked, fingers slipping over slick heat.
"Inside," she whispers, lifts her hips into his palm. "Please."
At first, he doesn't stop, continues building that pressure within, one finger sliding in, then another, swirling until she's moaning, properly tormented. Green eyes blink open, bleary, and then she's reaching up to scoldingly bite at his lip, hand moving to find him ready, hard. "James, please, I want you."
"Christ, Evans." His face buries into the crook of her neck, tongue sliding over where her breath constricts in her mouth. And then, mercifully, he shifts; pulling his hand from her wetness; dragging down ruined knickers; slipping on a condom; positioning himself at her entrance. "I'll be thinking about this for the rest of the day now."
When he fills her, starts to move, empties a pleasured groan against her lips, Lily finds herself agreeing wholeheartedly. But there are certainly worse thoughts to be lost in.
She wakes up properly several hours later, when the sun outside blazes hot enough to make her skin feel uncomfortably warm under the covers.
James is long since gone by then; the side of the bed he'd occupied no longer warm.
Lily stretches her arms above her head, relishes in the delicious soreness of her body, in the satisfactory cricking sound of her bones. The memories from earlier in the morning—James, touching her; James, kissing her; James, moving inside her—they feel like wisps of a golden dream, the sensations brought forth too good to belong to any reality. But they were real, she knows, and the awareness of that only makes the swelling wave of emotion in chest that much harder to suppress.
"Call me," he'd whispered, right before leaving.
She rolls over, heartbeat fluttering, fingers searching for her phone to do just that, when it starts buzzing itself right on cue.
The name on the screen, however, is not the one she currently wants to see. A sigh, and she presses accept.
"Hey, Tuney."
"Lily!" comes the shrill shriek from the other end. "Where the hell are you? You were supposed to be here by 11!"
"What—" She pulls the phone away from her ear, checks the time: 11:06 a.m. Fuck fuck fuck. "Oh, shit, I'm so sorry! It completely skipped my mind, Tuney—"
Wrong thing to say.
"Skipped your mind?! Lily, it's my wedding! We're supposed to be trying on the dresses today! How could you forget—"
"I know, I know, it's totally my fault." She hops around the room madly, gathering clothes from the wardrobe, rushing into the bathroom. "Listen. Let me make it up to you! I'll come straight to the store, and I'll stay with you as long as you need today. I'm taking the day off from work right after this call. Okay?"
"Whatever, Lily."
"I'm really sorry."
"Just get here by 11:30."
Fuck. "Okay, I'll try."
As soon as the line goes dead, she drops a quick mail to McGonagall with profuse apologies for a last-minute leave notice, and then, seeing that she can spare maybe two more minutes if she doesn't wash her hair, she gives the manager a call as well. McGonagall is gracious in her understanding, going as far as to state that Lily should take more time off when she needs to without hesitation. With a burgeoning sense of new appreciation for the woman, Lily clicks off her mobile and quickly brushes her teeth before jumping into shower.
In precisely eight minutes, she's ready to leave, dressed in worn jeans and a loose blouse, hair pulled into a messy ponytail. Her way out of the apartment is clumsy, graceless, and involves a lot of stumbling around, trying not to panic.
It's only after she's downstairs and struggling to book a cab on her phone that she notices the battery on its deathbed.
"Oh, no no nonono," she mutters frantically, eyeing how the time changes to 11:20 before the screen goes black.
Fuck.
James.
Maybe if she runs back upstairs to grab her charger—
Petunia!
Ugh.
Mobile jammed into back pocket, Lily hails a taxi off the road and slides inside, giving the driver the address of the store, which she—mercifully—still remembers, phone or no phone. Hopefully, her sister will have a charger at hand that she can use. Although, knowing Petunia, she might just be scornful enough and decide not to help Lily as vengeance for her turning up late to the dress fitting.
No matter, bearing some not-entirely-misplaced wrath is a small price to pay if it means she can at least send a message to James informing him that she won't be coming to the hotel today.
After what feels like approximately twenty years, she arrives at the destination and bursts into the store, eyes wide and frantic, probably looking unequivocally like a madwoman.
"I'm here, I'm here!"
"Oh!" That's her mother, rushing towards the doors with a concerned frown. "Lily, love, take a breath, it's alright."
Lily does as asked, cheeks heating in mortification when she notices how everyone in the store has turned to stare at her dramatic entrance from between swathes of white cloth and lace. "Sorry," she mumbles, allows her mother to steer her away, deeper inside the store where the rest of the bridesmaids and Petunia's friends sit huddled together, sipping daintily from glasses of champagne. "Where's Tuney?"
"Trying on her dress, dear. She'll be out in a minute."
"Okay." Lily blows out a breath, and then turns to her mother as soon as the thought sparks. "Say, Mum, do you happen to have a charger? My phone's dead."
"I'm afraid not. Maybe one of Petunia's friends do? Why don't you go over and ask?"
She grimaces at the suggestion, feels quite like someone's stuffed a bitter lemon inside her mouth rather rudely. But desperate times and all that. So she braves the weirdness that is sure to follow and walks up to the group of women giggling together.
"Hey," Lily calls softly, waits until they turn to look at her. It isn't hard to spot the way judgement curls over their lips as their eyes land on her. Whatever. Like she cares. "Do any of you have a charger? My phone's out of battery, and—"
"Petunia was very upset about you being late, Lily," informs Cassidy Ryalls, one of Petunia's mates from Uni. "Where were you?"
"I overslept." She grits her teeth. "And I'll apologize to her for it, but do any of you—"
"None of us is carrying a charger," sniffs another woman whose name Lily can't be arsed to recall right now since she's going to be punching her face in another second anyway.
"I'm—"
"Lily?"
She twists on her feet at the call of her name, watches as Petunia steps out of the trial area, dressed in a beautiful ivory floor-length gown with off-shoulder sleeves that make her collar bones pop, and a bodice detailed with intricate lace designs. A chorus of awed gasps and excited shrieks ring out from behind, and Lily is quite inclined to agree with them as she steps forward, smiles softly at her sister.
"You look beautiful, Tuney," she says, clasping her hand gently.
What she doesn't say: You can do so much better than Vernon Dursley.
"Thank you." Petunia grins, looking truly radiant. Her eyes momentarily fall to the phone clutched in Lily's hand. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah." She nods. "It's just, um, my phone's dead, and I was wondering if you had a charger?"
"I thought you were taking the day off from work?"
"I am!" Her brows rise. "I mean, I have! This is for something else. I just need to call someone—"
"I don't have my charger on me, Lily, but is it really that important? Can you not be present, fully, for one day here?" The smile has slipped from Petunia's mouth, lips pinched into a frown. "I mean, you were already late, and as soon as you arrive, you're more concerned about calling someone else. Is it an emergency?"
Guilt swirls, thick as sludge, in her stomach.
"No, I—" A heavy exhale, a prolonged blink. Then she slips the phone into her pocket. "You're right. I'm really sorry. I promise I'm here now. Fully. The call can wait."
Petunia still seems sceptical. "You're sure?"
"Absolutely."
And when she finally nods, small smile slipping through, and Lily steps back, their mother and the bridesmaids hurry forward to take her place, tittering and fluttering around Petunia with compliments and hugs and kisses. Lily watches the scene with a strange light-heartedness in her chest, feeling genuinely happy for her sister and how obviously she glows under all the attention.
The mobile in her pocket, however, sits like a weight heavier than a boulder.
Hopefully, she'll be able to return to her flat at an acceptable hour and talk to James.
WhatsApp Private Chat
James Potter to Lily Evans
23/10/2021 11:23 a.m.
xxxxxx
James: Hi Lil
Good Morning
Call me when you're up?
Miss you already
James Potter to Lily Evans
23/10/2021 12:07 p.m.
xxxxxx
James: Hey
The messages aren't delivering
Everything alright?
25/10/2021 02:12 p.m.
*Missed voice call from James Potter to Lily Evans*
James Potter to Lily Evans
23/10/2021 04:21 p.m.
xxxxxx
James: Lily you're worrying me
Are we okay?
Look there's no pressure
We can sort things out
Okay let's just talk when you're here
James Potter to Lily Evans
23/10/2021 06:53 p.m.
xxxxxx
James: Hey
Mary told me you're not coming in to work today
You didn't mention anything last night
I can't help but worry it's because of me
Will you please just call?
23/10/2021 09:22 p.m.
*Missed voice call from James Potter to Lily Evans*
Sirius Black to Lily Evans
23/10/2021 10:05 p.m.
xxxxxx
Sirius: Evans
What the fuck are you playing at?
It's not fucking funny
Lily Evans to James Potter
23/10/2021 10:44 p.m.
xxxxxx
Lily: Oh God
James I'm so sorry
My phone was out of battery
And I was out with my sister the whole day for her bridal dress fitting
I totally forgot about it until this morning
And then we had to go for food tasting
James?
Lily Evans to Sirius Black
24/10/2021 12:02 a.m.
xxxxxx
Lily: Shit
How bad is it?
A/N - I promise this has a purpose lol