Chapter 44: What Do You Call This Lovemaking?

Severus watched the sun sinking low and fast towards the horizon from his sentinel perch at the window in St. Mungo's. He would have to return to the castle soon; the nurses on call would be by for rounds within the hour. Next to him, he could sense her presence like it was an extension of his very being. Lily was propped, sitting contentedly up in her hospital bed, happily admiring a recent picture he had brought of Harry while humming a little ditty just under her breath. Well, it was more like some halfway land between humming and light singing, in which Severus could barely make out the words just on the edge of her melodious voice – something about a 'wood.'

He shifted his head to take her in fully, the glow of the setting sun alighting her thick, auburn strands of hair so that they seemed like tongues of flame. Every moment, her beauty seemed to somehow be enhanced, and all the more so in this lighting.

Years upon years of sitting patiently, indeed faithfully, by her side had resulted in some marked progress, though this was a progress achieved so glacially, by degrees so incremental that they nearly passed unnoticed. Or had been bypassed long before Severus noticed, and when he did, it was like a revelation.

Far beyond now needing to introduce himself to her all over again, each day, Lily had regained enough of a short-term memory that they had developed a rapport that was something closely akin to being friends. At least, the pair of them could hold a friendly conversation. Severus could recall what he would ironically now term happier times when they had only just managed to speak more than a few civil words to each other, at the rise in their estrangement post-fifth year before she had broken off their friendship completely.

In any case, she hadn't appeared to regain enough memory that she was aware of how he had hurt her in their time as students. He couldn't quite tell what she saw him as, if anything: a friend. A companion. A bereaved but loyal spouse from her past life before it became nothing but sterile, white walls and a never-ending blur of drudgery, one day bleeding into the next. In those days, some handful of years ago now, when she had needed to ask him who he was upon his arriving each evening, he had kept it brief and would tell her simply that he was a friend. The Healers had encouraged as much of him, warning that the divulging of too much detailed information might bring memories of trauma back to the surface. Severus had bristled at this order at first – if even a casual key word or… or phrase could jog a person's memory, well then wasn't that a first step in the right direction of getting Lily well again?

He sighed. He wasn't sure where he found the hope, even all these years later. The Healers hadn't declared equivocally one way or the other if the effects of the Cruciatus Curse would eventually wear off enough that Lily could regain much of her old self. Even now, it was an open question as to whether she ever would be the same again. Still, Severus had taken the Healer's hedging to mean that there was still a chance she could be retrieved, that she would "awaken" (as the Healers sometimes used to say euphemistically). Although…. There was as of yet no documentable case of a victim of the Cruciatus Curse making a full recovery of their memory, their sanity, their identity. All the same, here Severus sat. Perhaps someday, if he wished it hard enough, his Lily would return to him. Dumbledore liked to say that hope was just as powerful as love, even that one was built upon the other. Severus hadn't yet found the proof to determine whether or not he was right.

He cracked a sad smile as he imagined what his Lily might say to that: Love doesn't need proof, Severus, any more than hope does! That's why some people call it faith.

Lily was still quietly singing to herself, content to gaze at the picture of her son. Severus was fairly certain she was now retaining enough of her more immediate memory that she could identify the boy in the picture as her baby whenever he brought a new one by. He'd let her keep this one, hide it under her pillow, safe in the knowledge that, though the Healers might label it a safety hazard, the most risk she might get from it was little more than a paper cut.

Sighing, as much as it pained him, he laid his hand on the metal bar guardrail of her cot. "I have to go now, Lillian. But I'll be back tomorrow," he murmured.

Studying her out of the periphery of his bowed head, he vaguely wondered whether she had even heard him. That silly tune was still floating from her, now enough beyond the bottom of her voice that he could make out some of what she was trilling:

"Anything can happen in the woods…. May I kiss you goodnight, then?"

The lyrical lilt didn't even leave her voice as she almost seamlessly shifted from song to casual question. Severus snapped his head up rather sharply, certain he had misheard her. "What?" he spluttered.

Lily's mouth pursed into a light smile and she shifted onto her knees, scooting forward with all the earnestness of a child to the edge of the cot. From here, she studied Severus, lightly cradling his face in her hands, pondering him the way a child might peruse a canvas. She blinked dolefully. "Well, that's what husbands and wives, do, yes? Especially when they say goodnight to each other."

Severus gawped at her, flabbergasted. He racked his brain for any sign of some slip, any indication – almost surely unintentional – that might have given her the idea that…

"Lily…." She halted him by pressing a finger to his lips.

"Ssssssh….." Her broadening smile was somewhat antecedent to being nearly mad. "Don't feel rushed." And then, tilting his head back rather firmly, she suddenly replaced her finger on his lips with her mouth.

Severus only locked up his body for the briefest instant, stunned. Then he melted, eyes drooping shut as he dared to lift his hands so that his fingers could weave into her silky, fiery locks. Lily's kiss was everything he had imagined it might be, ever since he was a boy. He shuddered as he felt her tongue probe experimentally along the seam of his mouth, seeking entrance, and when he gasped enough that he let her in, when her tongue twined about his and greedily sucked on it…. well, all the blood rushed immediately to his groin and it was a wonder how he found the self-control to not tackle her to bed and hold her down so he could have his way with her. It was only the respect he had for the woman, born of deep caring, that made him refrain.

There was a light POPPING noise as he and Lily finally broke apart. The beautiful witch sat back on her calves, darting her tongue out over kiss-swollen lips, before breaking into a beaming smile and flopping back into the pillows, almost giddy and still somewhat child-like. Severus got out an awkward little laugh; he was trying not to grin like a loon himself. Lily cocked her head like some sort of puppy, and she seemed to be weighing how she felt about the kiss, whether she had liked it or resented it, even seeing as she had taken the initiative. Her radiant smile only grew, and she seemed to decide something.

"Anything can happen in the woods…. Once again, please."

Severus eyed her leerily. He shouldn't indulge her, he really shouldn't, but he decided to compromise and bent forward with the intent to merely peck her forehead. Giggling, grinning impishly, Lily was too quick, gripping his skull and shoving his lips down onto hers in another deep kiss.

"Ermm….. Mmmmmm…" Severus gurgled as he squirmed, finally wrenching enough away from her to come up for air. "Lillian, please: we…. we mustn't…. Lil – Lillian!" His voice rose into a small cry of shock as he felt her one silky hand snap out to grasp, cup the clear evidence of his growing desire for her. Laughing a little, like this was all just some sort of game, Lily eagerly tugged Severus down on top of her. He nearly choked as she happily, invitingly spread her legs for him, nestling him between them. Almost as if she really did know what she was doing…. or perhaps she was just leaning into muscle memory floating up to the surface of her tortured mind. He struggled a little, though weakly, for fear of crushing her. "Lily, darling – we really mustn't…"

His voice stuttered to a halt as he felt her lift her knees, the better to grip him, as she now did, her creamy thighs winding about his torso. Her one palm was still holding his manhood cheap, softly stroking him, pumping him. Readying him for her. The smile on her face was bright, indeed nearly wicked, and just for a moment, there it was, the sharp, jousting glint he remembered, sparkling in her hazel eyes. Leaning her face in close so she was only a hair's-breadth away from him, Lily Potter hissed lustily, with relish:

"I don't care."

She kissed him again, more insistently this time. And hang it all, Severus gave in. He was damn near possessed, as he boldly shoved the skirts of her medical gown up past her slim hips. Undid the ties at her back and wrenched the top of the gown loose to reveal pert, firm breasts, the purple nipples budded and peaked and hardened with arousal. He choked when Lily assertively guided his one hand to cup the swell of her, weigh her boob like fruit in his calloused palm. He could feel her other hand shaking a little – whether out of nervousness or excitement at the prospect of having a man in her bed, he knew not, nor did he care – and once she freed him, she grasped him tightly in her fist, drumming her fingers over the head.

She guided him into her, remarkably independent and confident in showing him what she liked. Severus learned quickly and when he heard the tiny whimper at the back of her throat cease, he began to pump into her warm and wet heat most ardently.

"Hmmm….. Mmmmm…." Purring incessantly, Lily lifted her hips to push them against his, yearning to meet him thrust for thrust. Lips ravaging and nearly swallowing hers, their meeting kiss-for-kiss nearly frantic, Severus finally willed himself to switch targets, dipping his mouth into the soft, creamy curve of her neck. He felt Lily sigh against him and he grunted into her shoulder, jerking deeper into her, rutting against her. They learned together, moving in tandem, bucking like two Hungarian Horntails in heat.

"Ugggh… Huhhhh…. Uhhhhhhhhh! Sev…. Severus…." At least, he thought he heard her whisper his name like a prayer and he dared to rub against her faster. He was close, so close….

"I….. I love you…." he growled, grinding damn near pathetically against her.

Lily suddenly let out a tiny, happy scream. Terrified an orderly would hear them, Severus slammed his lips down onto hers in a sloppy kiss, which she accepted happily, in order to silence her.

"Mmmmmmmm… MMMMMM-HMMMMMMM!" He felt the walls of her lower lips flutter against him, trapping his length, milking it at the same moment he spilt all he had into her. He had made her cum, and she him. Their bodies, squelching as they continued to slap together, though now at a more controlled rhythm, were slick with sweat from their making love. Severus felt Lily's arms lovingly encircle his neck, her fingers sinking into the skin of his shoulder blades hard enough to pinch, as she dazedly drew him close:

"Ahhhhh, sweet mystery of life, at last I've found thee!" He grunted at her singing almost operatic and humped her once more, causing her to gasp. "Ahhhhh, at last I know the secret of it all…!"

He had needed to sneak out, all but running out of there, completely disheveled and with what he was certain were signs on his body that she had been with him.

Severus wasn't sure what he would find when he arrived the next evening, the Healer on duty leaving him at her sickbed with a smile before bustling into her office down the hall and closing the door.

Lily was sitting up in bed, leafing listlessly through an old copy of Witch Weekly magazine, dated….. he had to nearly invert his head to make out the type in the top right-hand corner: September 1985. If the lady was aware how she was reading incredibly out-of-date tabloid tripe, she didn't let on.

At last, she lifted her head to smile happily at him. If he wasn't by now such an expert on her case, if he hadn't so studiously marked her progress, nothing in her bright hazel eyes would indicate that she recalled the passion with which they had fucked each other not twenty-four hours ago.

"Good evening, Severus." Her voice was bright, even gay.

He gentlemanly cleared his throat. "Good evening, Lillian. Are you well?" It was always the same, his asking this of her, even though only one of them knew it was something of a lie – 'well' or not was fairly relative here.

"Quite, thank you," she bubbled.

There was a long pause, in which Severus, for lack of anything else to say, glanced down at his saddle shoes. When next he lifted his head, he was surprised to find her studying him quite judiciously, as though she was trying to figure something out. Did… did she remember what…. what had happened last night?

"That game we played yesterday," she blurted out suddenly. "The one where you got on top of me and rubbed yourself against me…. I quite liked it."

Severus gaped at her, speechless that she would adjudicate his…. performance with such praise.

"What…. what do you call it?" There was a slight tremor of curiosity in her voice.

He blushed as brightly as the hair color of those infernal Weasleys. "Well…" he diplomatically cleared his throat, partly coughing. "It…. goes by many terms, of course, ranging from the rather crude to the delicate, but the most polite term would be…. 'making love.'"

He watched as she mouthed the phrase, almost savoring it. When she glanced back to him, her smile was bright with enthusiasm and excitement. "Well, I liked it very much," she chirped at last. "And I would very much like it if you would 'make your love' to me again."

Severus felt his length come to life in his pants. Against his better judgment, he clambered on top of her, letting her open her knees wide for him. Beaming, Lily stretched towards him and for the second time in as many days, their lips met.

They were soon more or less bouncing on each other, Lily's moans softly rising in pitch, if not quite in volume. He had to constantly shush her, imploring her to be quiet as they shagged, lest a Healer come upon them coupling and cast him out on the perceived grounds that he was taking advantage of her.

From then on, Severus and Lily's greeting of each other with a bout of frantic sex was as common as their saying 'Good evening to you.'

All in all, Severus had to declare it a fine how-do-you-do.