He watches her from the portrait hole, sitting in one of the two oversized armchairs in the heads office. Her auburn hair piled on top of her head, her wand holding it all in place, rolling her head from side to side, her right hand drawn up to loosen a knot in her neck.
"Alright Evans?" Her face scrunches in a wince as she turns to face him, "Oh, I didn't know if you'd come round after practice" turning back to the pile of papers in her lap.
He comes up behind her, placing his hands on the back of her chair, leaning over to see what she's working on, barely visible in the low light, "detention slips, surprisingly your name hasn't come up" her lips twitching in amusement.
"I've been behaving very very well," he says, breath dancing over her bare neck, hovering behind her still.
She stretches her neck again, rolls her shoulders.
"Is your neck ok, you've been wriggling it around all day?" of course he's noticed, his eyes are never far from her.
"Yeah, it's fine. Just a knot. I fell asleep in here the other night, and it wasn't all that comfortable" a nervous laugh escaping her. James can just imagine her, curled up in a ball in the big armchair, windows dark, embers of the fire casting a glow upon her delicate skin.
He wishes he'd been there.
The next thing she knows his warm, strong hands are placed on either side of her neck, gently probing, smooth motions. She can't recall another time she's felt his hands like this, they've shaken hands, sure, they've held hands a couple of times over the years, but this is different.
She might have expected them to be rough, abrasive but he's soft, there are calluses from his many hours on a broom but the traction the tougher patches offer send sparks through her body.
"Is this ok?" his voice quieter, still exhaling against her skin, warming her.
"mhmmm" she sighs, when did her eyes drift closed?
They're closer friends now than in years past, a friendship built over time, with much patience, and many, many arguments. It's not that they aren't tactile with each other, they've hugged, she's stroked his hair when he lays his head in her lap… This is different.
Keeping one hand in action he slips down the shoulders of her cardigan, hands now splayed across her shoulders, thumbs pressing firmly. Lily sits forward subconsciously, then somehow, he is behind her, right behind her.
His back against the chair, she is sitting snuggly between his legs, her posture relaxes as she leans into his touch.
The fire crackling is the only sound, James doesn't talk for fear of bursting this bubble, the trance she has fallen into; she moans, and he feels it in his core.
"Shit" he breaths out, squirming a little himself now. If she's noticed she says nothing, humming softly, encouraging him to continue as he kneads out all the little nooks of tension. His warm fingers skim her neck and reawaken the sparks she had felt when they were skin to skin.
Her hands have a mind of their own, and before she realises she's doing it, she has unbuttoned her blouse.
He hasn't noticed, still content skimming over the thin cotton but she wants more, she wants the warmth, the sparks...
She shimmies a little, he groans, if she hadn't noticed his hardness before she can't have missed it just now, her shoulders shudder, he thinks she might be pushing him off. He halts, lifting one hand not ready to lose contact yet.
Then the cotton falls away and he sees more of her perfect skin exposed, inviting him to keep going. Using one hand to skim under the edge of the shirt, looking for confirmation that she wants the garment removed.
"James..." it's almost a pant, does she have any idea what she is doing to him "Lily? What..." he doesn't know what he's asking, scared to startle her "Take it off, it's in the way".
No need to tell him twice he discards the shirt, it comes off without hindrance, she'd undone the buttons, the cuffs, he realises.
She wants him closer.
"Fuck" he sucks a breath between his teeth, his hands trail her shoulder the muscles tender under his digits, he can't stop now, this is… incredible.
How can something so simple feel so erotic, his left hand trails down her side, goose flesh erupting in its wake, his fingers catch on the underside on her bra on their way back up.
"You can take it off... if you know how" shit, she isn't lost in a trance, that was cheek. That was teasing, she's challenging him. She knows exactly what this is doing to him, and she enjoys it.
His right hand is still rubbing firm circles around her shoulder blade, of course, her wand arm requires a bit more work he muses to himself.
Lily doesn't think he heard her, she did say it aloud, didn't she? His hand is still at work so maybe she misread this, maybe this isn't the opportunity she had thought it was but soon his left hand is at the clasp, and she thinks he'll never manage but of course, James is left-handed.
Her spine curves as she stretches like a cat, pushing her backside further into his crotch, it doesn't offer her friction, but it causes a reaction in James his fingers gripping her tightly "Fuck! Evans"
Both hands are enjoying the blank canvas of her back, more of Lily than he's ever seen before, tracing her spine he hears her again, a noise that matches the vibrations he feels rattle her beneath his palm.
A hand on either side he rubs circles over her lower back with his thumbs, his long fingers spread out on her ribs, the tips dance along the underline of her breast as though he plays her like a harp, featherlight.
"James… I… it… feels good" the sparks have set ablaze, a building inferno that is heating her as she squirms for more.
He shifts, pushing her gently so she's bent in the middle her chest against her thighs, has she been too bold, pushed him too far? Then she feels it and it's the most incredible sensation as he trails his tongue along her spine, from base to neck, pulling her against his hard chest as they rise together his mouth leaving wet, open mouth kisses along her shoulder.
She tilts her head to the side, offering him more access, and there he finds a spot that causes a whimper, his lips pull, tension, sucking at this spot yet to be discovered her hand finds its way to his hair, holding him there, her fingers diving deeply into his hair.
Her other hand has made its way between them, blindly unbuttoning his shirt she wants to feel his skin, she wants her turn to trail his skin with her tongue, she wants more.
It takes her less than five seconds to do a one hundred and eighty degree turn, facing him for the first time.
It's audacious, thrilling, her bra joining her blouse on the rug below.
She expects his eyes to fall to her chest, his first encounter with her bare breasts but his eyes are focussed only on hers. hazel locked on emerald, searching for something he finds in an instant.
Desire, lust, love.
Seeing him so thoroughly gone for her, pupils blown, lips swollen, heart beating against her palm Lily can't resist a moment longer and descends upon his mouth.
His mouth so warm, soft, and tender, she sucks his bottom lip her teeth grazing it gently, tasting him. Their tongues work together, in tangent, she rolls her hips over his "holy fucking merlin" stuttering out of him as her tongue explores his neck, an action she has long craved.
His hands fixed to her waist she brushes her hardened nipples over his own perfect pecs, skin on skin, heart on heart entirely synced with each other.
Lily sucks on his earlobe, moves to his jaw.
"Finally. James, I've wanted this for the longest time.." he draws her back, his hands on her hips, her fingers trailing his sculpted abdominal muscles.
"Really? This isn't just… you... want… me?" His doubt, his disbelief so clear on his face she drops kisses on his chin, his, cheek, his nose, his left eyebrow her words punctuated by single kisses until she has covered the landscape of his face with her lips.
"You. Have. No. idea. Weeks. Months. Years, I think... Ja-" He kisses her again, pouring all his own feeling into it.
His hands find her breasts, soft and supple, he drops his mouth to kiss perfection, twirling his tongue around her nipple, causing her hips to rut into his lap.
His name falls out of her mouth in repetitious whimpers as she continues rocking in his lap, "Lil" a whine escapes him, her fingertips are skimming his trousers, then pants and he feels her scratch beneath the elastic.
It's almost animalistic, clawing at him, "I want you" she is becoming undone in his lap, and he's barely able to restrain himself, but he does.
His hands fall on top of hers, abandoning their cupped position "Lil, look at me" her eyes closed head lolled against his shoulder it takes everything in her to fight the inferno and look into his darkened eyes.
"We need to slow down, I'm not. I won't sleep with you tonight. It's too important." She laughs, there's nothing else for it, she wants to be annoyed, but he's right. She has gotten carried away in what feels like years of pent-up frustration, she feels like a tightly wound coil.
"You're right, of course. And we won't, tonight. But Potter, I'm on a verge and I need a release, so if you don't want to be part of it now's your chance to leave, otherwise, I'm about forty seconds away from coming in your lap."
He has never, never, heard anything so hot in all his life and from Lily Evans no less; he thinks he could die happy now, or at least in one minute after he's watched the girl of his dreams fall apart in his lap.
He doesn't have the words to respond, instead, he brings her right breast to his mouth and flicks his tongue over the tip of her nipple, never breaking eye contact, her center rubbing up against him, she's found the friction she needs.
One hand on her hip, anchoring her the other on her lower back, his mouth returning to her collarbone, her pulse point.
She stutters, crying out his name as his eyes drink her in, watching her trip through ecstasy is almost enough for him to lose himself too. Her head falls into the nook of his neck, where she slowly drops kisses broken again with words between each kiss, whispered against his heated skin.
"I've slept in this room so many nights hoping you'd find me, waiting for the right moment. I thought. You. Didn't. Anymore. I worried. I'd missed my chance. I'm not afraid anymore. I'm not afraid to let you in, to open my heart to you. I. want. Everything. With you".
"With me?"
"Only you."