A/N: So raised the rating on this fic just for this chapter…

April 30, 1978

There was only a single mirror in the seventh-year, Gryffindor boys' dormitory, and it had fogged to the point of uselessness as gasping breaths heated the room. Everything was hot, like her internal temperature had turned up to one hundred, and if Lily were to bleed, she was certain her blood would boil.

She didn't want to think about how she was hot. She had better places for her mind to focus. Frustrated by the distraction, Lily pushed the sheet that covered her to the side, batting it away with clumsy hands until it fell to the floor. James bucked his hips encouragingly, and Lily complied with his silent request, sitting up straight in the exposed room. Instantly, James' eyes zeroed in on the flesh that had been hidden from him, taking a long, appreciative look at the expanse of her stomach, her nipples, the flesh of her neck burned red with exertion.

They'd been doing this – shagging, making love, fucking and every other word for the act – for a little over a month, since James' birthday in March. There was an insatiability to the both of them, a giggling and urgent need to escape into dark corners whenever the moment presented itself and rediscover one another anew. Every time, Lily expected to find that she'd become inoculated to the intimacy. She didn't think sex could always be so intense. Eventually, the shine would fade away like an oft-used galleon.

But this was not the time, and Lily shuddered with the power of it. The shiver started in the pit of her stomach and expanded outwards luxuriously, making her aware of the ache in her breasts and the tingling nerves of her arms. Nowhere was there more pressure than in the sensitive space between her legs, and for a second, Lily thought she was going to burst, but the desperate build didn't crest, not fully.

Her mind narrowed. Chasing her pleasure, she began to slide her hips in a fluid motion back-and-forth. With each push forward, James' cock pressed against her front wall, and her clit slammed into the hard plane of his stomach. James' hands wrapped around her waist to help her move, and Lily looked down at him fondly. Equally caught up in the moment, James face was screwed up into an expression of intense concentration. He was determined and generous to her, and the way he would gnaw on his lower lip was always sure to make her heart flutter.

Keeping that kind of weight on her clit was sure to yield results, and sure enough an orgasm galloped out of her. Every piece of her body drew tight like she might snap. All she wanted was to grab hold of that intensity – the rush that was so strong, the line between pleasure and agony blurred – and prolong it, like she was sure that given just a few extra seconds she might unlock the secrets of the universe. Heaven on earth.

Her body spasmed and her nails scraped at James' shoulders as she sought purchase. When it was over, Lily felt adrift. She slumped down so that her chin tucked into his shoulder and breathed in the smell of his skin. He was still inside her, gentle if insistent, and she waited patiently for him to finish as well. A gargle of pleasure sounded near her ear to let her know he was nearing. Helping him along, Lily whispered in his ear about how she loved him and wanted him and he made her feel so good, to the point that she felt a reluctant trembling of pleasure herself despite her body's fatigue.

James hips bucked, stilled. He moaned, he groaned.

Then he started to babble. It was hard for her to make out the rush of words that were streaming out of him as he came, but she caught the gist. He loved her, he'd die for her, he never wanted to leave her.

Clear and very distinct at the end though, Lily heard him murmur out, "Mary."

She rolled off of him, and James closed his eyes. He looked perfectly sated, but Lily's eyes were narrowed with assessment.

"Why did you say Mary's name when you were finishing inside me?" Lily asked. Her voice was misleadingly gentle, and James eyes shot open at the dangerous undertone.

"What?"

"You said my dormmate's name. Why?" Lily repeated sweetly.

"I didn't…that's – I…fuck."

"If you didn't say Mary's name, what did you say?" Lily insisted.

James turned red. "I can't tell you."

Five months ago, a faux pas like this would have ended in calamity. Lily's pride would have overpowered her heart, and she would have called off the whole experiment of them dating with nary a backwards glance. But despite his offensive mistake, she didn't doubt that he meant it when he told her he loved her, that sincerity shone through him every time.

At her silence, James ventured, "Are you very angry?"

"No," Lily said after some consideration, "but you should be petrified. I can't imagine what Marlene's going to do to you when she finds out."

James crossed his arms behind his bed, and his face took on a goofy expression, goofier than he normally looked after coming. He didn't look half as apologetic as he ought.

"I'm not joking. Marlene's gotten frighteningly tough these past few months. It's all those practices with Alice," Lily warned.

"Just for you, love, there will be no more talk of you, marry, and me," James agreed.

"That's right."

James just smiled.

A/N: In a bid to gain some time for the pieces I haven't finished, I'll be posting the next installment on Friday. Let me know what you thought of Lily's cluelessness!