Thank you so much for your reviews guys! I really do let out the happiest little squeak with each one ^.^

Guest: Yes! He! Is! That's our boy! :D jilyfan: Haaa, what do you mean by 'kinda'? ;P And thank you ^.^ Thank you for being here! misshandei: Heh heh heh…. James will too ;) Halloween here we come O:) chikotella: Don't worry, he's fiiiiiine ;) She will :D But maybe not in the nicest way possible, haaaaaa elmack: Nah, you nailed it! And fuck yea, sometimes we can appreciate her wicked ways ;) Haaaaahaha, again, you're thinking like James there. And AW THANK YOU! xoxo cscs01: No, don't die on me! Completely unacceptable! She's only gonna get more confident now that she knows she has him ;) And no, I was not planning on any threesomes. An important question, I understand ^.^ Lexiscribbles: I meaaaaaaaaan, he can resist for a little while, right? But then… BRING ON THE PAIN! guest: Thank you! And yeah, Lily is going to eat him alive :( menteshmakerin: That's good, because we got some more coming your way! Terylee: Hey! Yes! I love a good trapped-in-the-closet time :D He is the cutest, I really need him to be at his best in this story, ha. (He TOTALLY wanted it. Silly boy) And funny you should say that… ;)

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. This author knows Lily is not a good person here, she hopes you know she is not a good person here, this story is not condoning bad behavior, just exploring it, if you are uncomfortable you can always stop reading, I won't mind :) Art work by the super talented windbyfire (insta)

idfc ~ blackbear

Present Day

James put on the kettle, silencing its terrible earsplitting screeching with his wand for the sake of his slight hangover. Okay, so he and Lily — Evans — had drunken a bit too much the night before, but it wasn't anything a spot of magical Earl Grey couldn't fix.

The way the two of them had flirted and cuddled on the couch, however? Yeah. That might require something a tad stronger to solve. He had to have a seriously awkward conversation and set boundaries with Evans. He had to let her know that they had toed a very precarious line last night, and that it absolutely, without question, would not happen again.

"Morning," Lily yawned as she dragged her feet into the room. Her hair was piled on top of her head and it looked like last night's makeup was still smudged around her eyes. Truthfully, she still looked wickedly adorable.

"Here you are," James said, offering her a mug of the just-finished tea. "This should help."

"Thanks," she responded with a smile, pushing up the sleeves of the jumper that was engulfing her body whole before accepting it. A flash of silver on her wrist caught James' eye. Was that…? No, it can't be. She couldn't still have…? James looked more closely, drawing Lily's attention down to her own wrist. "What?" she asked confusedly. "Is there a bug on me or something?"

James tentatively reached for her hand, drawing her wrist closer to him, palm side up. "You kept it?" He didn't know how to feel as he studied the fragile charm bracelet adorning her. The same bracelet he had gifted her in 7th year. He delicately swiped his thumb back and forth over her pulse point, jingling one of the many tiny kitten trinkets that hung there. It was a little more gaudy than something he would have picked out for her — no, for Rebecca — nowadays, but his 17 year old self had tried his very best to pick something as classy as possible back then.

Lily waited for him to look back up at her with imploring hazel eyes before answering, both breaking and mending his heart with her simple, quiet words. "Of course I did."

James quickly dropped her hand as though he'd just been shocked, feeling a thick cloud of tension charging the room — and it wasn't the usual one he'd grown accustomed to in this flat lately. "Excuse me," he said briskly, walking to his door and yanking it open before thoughts of wards and safety could make him think better of it. He just couldn't be in that room with her right now, not when she had him feeling like this. Not when he could so viscerally recall how feeling like this had taken over his whole life in the past.

James slid down the other side of the front door, settling on his bum in the florescent bright hallway. He buried his face in his hands, fucking overwhelmed and confused. She kept it, she kept it, she kept it, he played on repeat, wondering what the hell her actions meant. Why wouldn't she have thrown it away, like she had him? It had been nine bloody years, presumably she'd moved during that time, or at the very least had a couple of spring cleanings where she'd taken out the junk in her life. How had his bracelet always made the cut? Why did she need a reminder of a boy who had pathetically given her a heart that she'd never wanted? Why does she still have it? And why was she wearing it now?

Why do you still love her?

James' body jerked as the question floated through his brain, unable to refute its veracity. Not knowing why or how — or why, dear fucking Merlin why — didn't stop the truth from existing out there in the universe: he still loved her.

Fuuuck. He scrubbed his fingers over his cheeks, as if he could rub the feelings he had for her off of his body. Stupid, stupid, stupid. How could he be so fucking moronic as to fall for her again — after everything? Is it falling again if you feel as though you never stopped loving her? Not really?

"Meow." The soft sound jumped James out of his self-destructive thoughts. (The fact that he thought that realizing he loved a girl was self-destructive spoke volumes.)

"Cat?" he asked, his heart warming at the friendly face who was right there, sitting in front of his shins. "Cat!" James picked him up gingerly, clutching the little fur ball to his chest. "There you are," he cooed, as the cat instantly started purring. "I was worried about you…" A pang of guilt shot through James with the realization that he'd been so blindly consumed by his own life and drama that he'd completely forgotten about Cat. Huh, so maybe I'm not ready to have my own pet then. Still scratching the blissful creature behind his ears, James turned to look back at his door. Has he been waiting here, not able to get in? James had just assumed that being an animal, Cat would be able to get through his flat's wards like he always (mysteriously) had in the past. He'd seen animals in the forest around one of the headquarters coming in and out of the grounds as they pleased and assumed that it was standard practice. But perhaps the new and improved protections that Dumbledore had put up somehow blocked everyone that wasn't pre-sanctioned? James sighed, really not knowing how Dumbledore's particular brand of magic worked.

He turned back to Cat. "I'm sorry, buddy."

Cat's cartoonishly large eyes gave him a bit of attitude, even as he nudged James' hand to keep on petting.

"I know, I know, I'm a douche," he apologized, completely used to having full on conversations with his furry little mate. "Girl problems, you know?"

Cat didn't respond, obviously, he is a cat, but James knew he could relate. Cat seemed like he'd been around the block. He knew things.

"I just don't know what to do…" James realized that he might be losing his mind. Then again, who the fuck else was he going to talk to about this evolving situation with Lily? He knew he was in the wrong, he knew that, but he couldn't help how he felt. He couldn't talk to his friends about it, because they would rightfully point out that his unsanctioned feelings for another woman made him an arsehole. He had a girlfriend who he also loved. He was an adult who had a moral obligation to handle his own affairs (wrong word, pal) in a mature manner that inflicted the least amount of pain and suffering as possible to those around him. If he was actually going to start something with Lily, the right thing to do would be to end things with Rebecca — but he didn't want to start anything with Lily! He really, truly didn't! Objectively, he knew she was terrible! She was a disaster and wholly incompatible with every part of his life!

But I can't stop myself from loving her.

James sighed as he dropped his head back. It was probably an amateur move to expose his throat this completely to a cat that wasn't even his, but he trusted him. "If I could get away from her, it be easy, you know? It's what I've done for years, but I'm stuck here. I can't escape her." James sucked in a huge breath. "I don't want to be a bad person."

Cat resettled more comfortably in James' hold, putting his tiny paws on his chest and kneading the fabric. His dagger-like claws pinched James every so often, but he hardly cared. Maybe he deserved the physical pain for the emotional turmoil he suspected he was on the verge of putting Rebecca through. He was better than this. He wanted to be a better man than this.

"I think I'm going to have to lock myself up in my room again, Cat. I let my guard down. It was a mistake." James wondered if he'd already gone too far, or if this was something he could come back from. Rebecca was an understanding girlfriend. He knew if he told her that he and Lily had watched a movie on the couch and gotten a little too cozy, that she'd be willing to hear him out. She'd forgive him. Because she doesn't know what you were thinking about while you were doing it.

James groaned again. He couldn't go down this rabbit hole — he couldn't take advantage of someone else's kindness. That shit was the absolute worst. He felt like he'd done just that a couple times as a kid and still felt terrible about it. There was a reason he sent McGonagall a Christmas card every year — and it wasn't just because she was a kickass woman whom he adored. A small part of him felt like he'd always owe her for putting up with him when he was at his most terrible teenage self. She'd believed that he'd turn into a good man even back when he was giving her absolutely no substantiating evidence. So… no more messing up. No more being a fucking dick. His resolution was strong, and he could do it.

"Sorry, Cat," he apologized as he stood up. "Look at me, still being an arse to you. You probably want some milk, right?" But just as he made to open his door and head back inside, Cat yanked himself out of James' hold and sprang to the floor, sprinting out of sight around the corner of the hall.

"Great," James muttered to himself, feeling completely rejected. Even Cat was over his shit.

The worst part was he couldn't even blame him. James felt like the most foul man on the planet.

7th Year

"Damn, Potter. Where was the fire?" Lily asked as she walked through the portrait door into their common room.

James had rushed back, showered, and changed before packing his school bag on the table, trying to wash away the shame of this morning. What had felt so right in the closet looked so completely idiotic now in the clear light of day. "What did you and Sirius talk about?" he asked in return, stuffing his Defense Against the Dark Arts book in last and closing the flap.

Evans tilted her head, eying him curiously. "Chill. I didn't tell him you got me off."

James swallowed thickly, already trying to forget that part. "He wasn't suspicious or anything?"

Evans smiled. "Why don't you ask him?"

It was a great question: why wasn't he asking him? Sirius was his best mate after all. James stumbled, hating that his mind was heading in this direction. "Why did he want to speak to you?" He knew that he sounded jealous asking her, but he would look even more dodgy asking Sirius. He'd rather ask the girl who actually knew what had happened in that closet between them than his best friend who he really hoped would stay in the dark. James didn't know if he could tolerate the disappointment in Sirius' eyes if he'd ever admit to having given into his baser instincts with a girl who represented everything that they hated like this.

An angry, jealous beast inside of him also was wondering if there was something happening between the two of them that James needed to know about. He didn't think he could ever forget Sirius declaring that he found Evans the fittest girl in their grade last year…

Evans walked up to the table and perched herself upon the edge casually. "He wanted to warn me to stay away from you, was all."

James did a double-take. What? "Why?"

Evans grinned harder, still studying him. "Said you were a good person, and that I should leave you alone because I would break you, blah blah blah." She flapped her good wrist as though the prospect of his eventual destruction was a completely inconsequential one. "You know, for a Black, he's awfully sanctimonious. Bella gets a little pushy sometimes too, but at least she has the decency not to pretend like she isn't being a demanding bitch while doing it."

James was having a hard time keeping up. "He said that to you?" Fuck. If Sirius had felt the need to threaten Evans to leave him alone, then maybe he realized her presence in James' life posed more of a risk than James was willing to admit. He felt as though he needed to do damage control — and quickly. Although… he also felt a little insulted. Sure, he knew he was a rather sensitive bloke, but did Sirius really think that falling for a bad girl would be absolutely crippling for him? I mean, he wasn't that much of a sap… am I?

"Hey, where are you going?" Evans asked surprised as James made to leave for the door.

James slung his bag strap over his shoulder, looking back at her. "I gotta go fix this."

Evans scrunched her nose confused. "Fix what? There's nothing to fix. I told you: I handled it."

Evans might be confident in her lying abilities, but James had more faith in Sirius' penchant for sniffing out bullshit than most. He had to make sure that Pads really didn't suspect that anything untoward had happened overnight, only that it very nearly had. There was a huge distinction between the bursting sexual tension that he'd been trying to navigate with Evans for years now and sticking his fingers up her cunt until she came. Merlin have mercy, James thought, replaying the scene in his head. Her noises, her fucking time-stopping whimpers. Without another word, James ran off to find his best mate.

So maybe Evans had been right and she had handled the situation, because Sirius seemed perfectly content to just continue about their normal business, talking about upcoming pranks and lectures as though everything was fine and dandy.

Throughout the day, however, James did notice his best mate pointing out all the hot, single girls who had crushes on him, as though trying to persuade him to go out there and do something about it. The third time Sirius mentioned that Karen Everdeen was checking him out, this time in Potions class, he decided to approach her just to shut Sirius up.

Sirius had been right, because Karen was definitely interested.

Karen was also a nice and sweet girl, with plain brown braided pigtails that framed her heart shaped face. She didn't look like the type of girl who'd get finger banged in a cupboard. (But James supposed that assessment was far from fair — he'd been the one who'd done the fingering after all.)

James scratched the back of his neck as he spoke with Karen, complimenting her perfect penmanship. His skin prickled as if he was being watched.

"What are you doing?" Evans snapped, closing a book that she clearly hadn't been reading as soon as the portrait door shut behind Karen that Sunday night. James had been steadily flirting with the girl, asking her over for a study date just so he could get some quality alone time with her in order for them to get to know one another. Of course, he hadn't anticipated that Evans would be brazen enough to stay in their common room the whole time they were there, sitting on the couch and snorting at all of Karen's wholesome attempts at flirting back. When it had become obvious that Evans wasn't going anywhere, Karen had fled — and James couldn't blame her. The girl was downright scary when she wanted to be.

"What am I doing? What the fuck was that?" James shouted, getting up from the table and motioning towards the exit.

"Yeah… that's what I was talking about," Lily replied, slowly nodding at him as though he was a moron. She stood up too, possibly to make the playing field more even in her daftly tall boots.

No. Nope, no no no, James wasn't doing this with her. Not tonight. Not when he found himself thinking how insanely sexy she looked even the tiniest bit possessive. Not when he'd spent the past hour trying not to notice how she'd worn the tightest corseted top in the history of Hogwarts just to drive him completely bonkers while he was on a date with another girl. Not when her deep red hair fell in perfect waves over her bare shoulders and her eyes were the most enchanting shade of jade he'd ever seen… and the firelight danced across her skin, casting beautiful shadows on her body like it was a canvas worthy of only the most powerful elements. Did it make sense that James wanted to be that flame? He wanted to be that shadow that got to kiss across her body, if even for a second, flickering, caressing, touching her? Being one with her? It didn't make sense, none of it made sense, and yet all he knew was he was yelling when he wanted to be painting her. "You just sat there the whole time, like some sort of jealous ex—!"

Evans' jaw dropped open, but it looked like she was smiling, somehow tickled with his declaration even whilst shocked that he dared to speak it. "Jealous? Really? Me?"

"Yeah, you," James said, finding himself mimicking her silly slow head nod. It was easier to copy her movements than to come up with his own — considering all he wanted to do was kiss her. How had they not done that yet? How had he been inside of her, made her come, but not yet kissed her lips? It seemed like a tragedy, a great injustice in the universe that he needed to set right. Just a kiss, a small, teensy kiss to get her out of his system, or maybe just right a wrong or something. Whatever, just fucking kiss me.

James reconsidered their conversation: she had been acting jealous, hadn't she? It hadn't just been wish fulfillment on his part? James really thought so, but then again, he could barely think back to his failed study date and compute anything other than how completely unpleasant it had been to have Evans lounging there, practically spilling out of her top, while he was trying to move on from his slip up… with her.

"And what, pray tell, would I possibly have to be jealous of?" She crossed her arms in that way that James was starting to gather made her feel powerful. "Karen's pretty little smile, or her pretty little pigtails?" She took one slow step at a time towards him as she slipped into a higher pitch. "Think if ask really nicely, she'll braid my hair too?"

Why was she always such a bitch? "You're so fucked up," he whispered, trying to project revulsion across his features. She was, she was, so why couldn't he declare it convincingly? It was the Merlindamn truth for fuck's sake.

"You think I don't know that, Potter? You think you're the only genius who has ever put that together? God, the arrogance on you."

Why did she always have to throw a wrench in his plans? Why did she have to go and agree with him, rendering his argument completely useless? It was impossible to shame a girl who was utterly shameless.

The air in the room shifted as he licked his lips, realizing that if he couldn't point out her flaws — because she genuinely didn't seem to care about them — then he could at least exalt the other girl's strengths. It was a desperate, last ditch effort, but that was okay. James was realizing, standing there staring at this girl, that he really didn't want her to leave.

"Karen is nice—"

"Yeah, you jumped from one nice girl to another nice girl because you're too scared to admit that you're into a not so nice girl." Evans was standing in front of James now, looking up at him with eyes that dared him to reject her claims. That dared him to reject her.

He knew he couldn't. Had she also gathered as much?

"So Potter, what's it gonna be?" Her green irises sparkled as her gaze dropped down his body, as if appraising every last bit of him. James had never felt so wanted — so seen and desired — in his life. "You going to man up and admit that you want to fuck me? Or do I have to keep on watching you lie to yourself for another couple months?" James felt frozen in place as she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, a coy smile toying on her lips. He was so helplessly out of his league here. "You know girls have feelings too. No one likes being strung along…" she whispered, her face drawing nearer to his.

James' eyelids fluttered open and closed, his brain short-circuiting as he tried to process whether she was referring to herself or the Susans and Karens of the world who he'd been trying so desperately to make it work with. Maybe she was right. Maybe the reason nothing had ever panned out for him in the past was because he had been pursuing the wrong type of girl when the right one was presently standing there in front of him, trying to seduce him.

No, he thought defiantly, I want more. He didn't just want to fuck her. He wanted somebody to really fall for. Somebody to love — mind, body, and soul — and that just made so much more sense to do with somebody who'd actually want to give him those sorts of things in return.

Too bad life so rarely ever made sense.

Evans interlocked her fingers behind his neck before pulling his lips into hers, perching on her toes to reach him. James was used to tentative lips and gentle caresses. He was used to innocent smiles and even more innocent tongues that followed his lead, gladly allowing kisses to go in any which way he deemed.

Evans kissed nothing like that. James felt her nails clawing into his neck as she pulled him down for easier access to deepen the kiss now that she had him exactly where she wanted him. He felt her teeth as they nipped at his lower lip and her tongue as it aggressively swirled around his, leaving him breathless and clutching at her hips, dragging her body in more tightly against his own. He'd never experienced a kiss where he felt completely out of control and was trying so desperately to play catch-up. Evans knew exactly what she wanted, and it was hot as hell. If this is what feeling desired feels like — sign me the fuck up.

"Just don't tell anyone," Evans breathed between kisses.

Sure, it wasn't the most romantic thing that James had ever heard during a first kiss, but it was still the easiest request of his life. Why would he tell anyone? Hooking up with a Slytherin was shameful, it was disgusting, and he wanted to do it for the rest of the night. Plus, he didn't think that anyone would truly understand — and yet somehow he did. He could be her dirty little secret any day if she kept snogging him like that. "Worried I'll ruin your reputation, Evans?" he taunted, not sure if his insult landed between all the panting he was doing.

He tried to reclaim her lips, but she pulled back slightly, hooded eyes boring into his. "I mean it. No one can know. Swear to it."

Fuck, he just needed her mouth, why couldn't she see that? Why was she so intent on playing him like this? "I swear," he growled, pulling her hair back slightly and holding her in place to try to gain some dominance in their kiss. He wasn't sure how he'd gone from never having tasted her lips to becoming an addict in such a short amount of time, but he supposed stranger things had happened. Feeling anything towards her at all might just be at the top of that list.

He felt her lips smiling as he parted them, clearly amused by his pettishness — or maybe she just liked getting her hair yanked. James supposed he didn't know her well enough yet to infer anything, but damn did he feel like he was about to. Damn did he really, really hope he was about to.

Over craning her neck, Evans pushed James' shoulders down, making it clear she wanted him on the floor. James happily obliged her, his hand on the small of her back ensuring that she wouldn't break the kiss in the process. "Smooth, Potter," she teased as she settled herself over his hips, pushing his chest even further down so he was on his elbows. She wanted to be on top of him and in complete control.

James felt his cock twitching as she rubbed herself over him, kissing her way down his chin. He didn't know where this was headed, but he knew that everything so far felt amazing.

Did it feel amazing for her as well? He had to know.

"Lily…" James breathed, instantly losing his train of thought as her lips skated along the sensitive swath of his neck, eliciting goosebumps that he could feel traveling all the way down his arms. He was only human, and yet she…? She was not. Lily was ethereal, Lily was a goddess, Lily's touch could melt steel, blossom orchids in the desert… and make James think that he was capable of waxing poetic all of a sudden. He had no idea how in this realm or the next he was supposed to fight this feeling, fight off this woman that he didn't want to ever stop touching him like this. How was he supposed to prevent his wildest fantasies from coming true just because they were wrong? Are you still really thinking about that? No, he decided. No, he most certainly was not.

"Yeah…?" she spoke right back, whispering in his ear as she grazed her chest up against his. Her tits combined with her hips was the most lethal combination that he'd never known he needed until now. She had to know what she was doing. There was no way she wasn't fully aware of the spell she currently had him under.

James swallowed a lump down his parched throat, trying to stifle the groan that erupted deep in his chest when he felt Lily's tongue trace the edge of his ear. "Lily…" James tried again, only this time even he could hear that it had morphed from the start of a question to a half-baked plea.

"Shh, I know. It's all right." While James felt like a jumbled mess, a cup of jello overturned and flubbering uselessly on the floor, Lily remained steadfast and calm, her thighs settling more sturdily around James' hips as she flung all her hair over one shoulder before her fingers easily plucked open his shirt buttons one by one. James felt his breath hitching as he watched her work. "You're gonna love this."

James never doubted that for a second.

Lily pushed James' shirt over his shoulders, wasting no time racking her hungry gaze down the planes of his chest. "Damn, Potter." Pride flared through him with her admiration. He loved seeing how much she — Lily fucking Evans, bad bitch extraordinaire — appreciated his body. She never seemed impressed by anything, but here she was, looking down at him like he was the verifiable snack. He could get used to this.

"Lily…" James repeated dumbly, instantly kicking himself. Say something else, genius, for fuck's sake. He was smoother than this — he had to be smoother than this. Please.

Lily saw his frustration with himself flit across his face and smiled wickedly. "Yes, that's my name." Her smile widened as she took his hand and placed it lightly between her breasts, slotted perfectly within her fitted, black corset top. It was as if she'd taken pity on him and knew that he was too completely overwhelmed with the turn of events to still be thinking properly. The higher she pushed his palm, the more she seemed to know that he'd be incapacitated past the point of coherent speech (as if he weren't already), too lost in watching his hand's progress. "Do you like touching me?" she breathed.

James' hazel eyes jumped up to hers as if he'd been caught breaking some sort of illicit, sacred rule by ogling her curves. He licked his lips as he nodded.

"Do you like watching me?"

The question could have been an innocent one. It should have been one, and yet James felt like nothing had ever exposed him more. She'd always known, the girl had known that he just couldn't help himself and that despite all his best efforts, he always seemed to find that his attention drifted towards her. She was the forbidden fruit, his Achilles' heel, the most sexy and gorgeous woman he'd ever seen. Of fucking course I love watching you.

James nodded again and Lily dropped his hand down, placing it on her knee instead. For a terrifying second James wondered if he'd done something wrong, ruined this imperfectly perfect moment that he knew would haunt him until the day he died but that he was powerless to put an end to. But then, just as quickly as his fear had come, it was mollified as Lily reached for her back. "Do you want to see more of me?"

James wasn't sure what his face did, but he peripherally registered that whatever it was pleased Lily so much that her smile turned genuine, making her look younger and sweeter. Just as fast as that crack in her usual minx persona had appeared, it was gone.

"Good."

James felt, jaw lax, the sound of a zipper opening as if it was the very opening to his soul. If he got out of this night alive it might just be a miracle. But if tonight is how I die, holy fuck, what a way to go. In one smooth, languid movement, Lily pulled off her corset top, tossing it to the floor beside them.

…

James didn't experience speechlessness a lot in his life. In fact his mother often pointed out that he always had a witty quip, or Sirius would say dumbass joke, for everything. But now? Seeing this? All James could do was stare, utterly transfixed at the most awesome sight he'd ever seen in his — apparently lacking, previously abysmal — 17 years of existence.

She was stunning. James didn't want to be a stereotype, but holy shit, her tits. Susan had been self-conscious about her body, never showing James what she looked like under her cute but demure bras, and sure, he'd seen other girls' breasts before, but Lily? The way she was carrying herself, the way she was arching her chest into him as she ran her fingers through her hair, practically presenting herself to him? It was sexy — her confidence was everything and James wanted her to drown him in it.

Lily let out a little titter, making James realize he hadn't taken a single breath since she'd taken her top off. She leaned forward, making James' eyes jump up to her lips, right in his line of sight. "You can touch, you know."

James tried to make good on his permission, his left hand going up to unceremoniously grab, but Lily unexpectedly fisted his hair, pulling his head back. I probably deserved that for nearly acting like a caveman.

"Not like that, love." Before James could react, Lily had presented her chest to his lips, licking her own. "Like this."

Who the fuck was he to say no to such a tempting offer? Locking eyes with her, James slipped Lily's nipple into his mouth, his tongue instinctually tracing around her peaked tip.

Lily's head dipped back slightly as she moaned, softening her grip on his hair and running her fingertips up through it instead. James' heart swelled with pride: he may be a virgin, but at least he felt like he'd passed another monumental hurdle. Making her come in the cupboard, making her body sing as he lavished her tits… How hard could the rest be?

Lily's hips grinding against his reminded him: hard, very, very hard.

"Lily—"

She laughed almost cruelly as she repeated the action, relishing in the way James squirmed. "Come on, James. Where's your usual banter? Who's gonna put me in my place if you don't?"

She's doing it on purpose, she wants you to make an absolute fool of yourself right now, you know it, James thought as he squeezed his eyes shut, his hands jumping to her hips to try to still most of her rhythmic movements, his nails digging into her soft flesh. He had tried to move on from her, and this was how she was retaliating, punishing him — he just knew it. Another swivel of her heat against his straining bulge had all his rational thoughts flying out the window, however. Who really cared how he came, as long as he could do it as soon as possible, please and thank you.

Lily's nails scratched along the back of his scalp as she pulled James up into a seated position, capturing his mouth with hers while she kept up her steady grind on top of him. Her knickers were wet, James could tell as their crotches' fabrics rubbed, creating the world's most scrumptious friction. He could tell he was going to come, and a lick of propriety came back to him. He couldn't come in his frigging pants, sure this girl was the devil and her opinion shouldn't matter to him, but it was still an embarrassment that he didn't think he'd be able to come back from. Not like this, please not like this.

"Lily, please—" James whispered, pulling back barely a hint from her mouth, his words still kissing her even when he'd stopped.

Lily's eyes flickered from his swollen lips to his eyes as she panted. It was the first time James realized she was just as out of breath as he was. Tantalizingly slow, she ran her thumb down the middle of his lips, dragging his bottom one southwards. "Want me to stop?"

James wasn't sure if it was the sultry tone of her voice, or the sudden awareness of his effect on her body in return, but with heartbreaking clarity, he realized it was already too late for him. "Fuck—" he swore as he screwed his eyes shut and his hips started stuttering, his cock wanting nothing more than to join in on all of Lily's fun.

"Look at me."

James obeyed her command instantly, his chin being pinched between Lily's thumb and forefinger. He came in his pants and Lily drank in his crumbling expression ravenously before crashing their lips together once more.

Dazed and confused, James sat still, body only barely being supported off the ground by a single wrist, as Lily casually dismounted him and left for her room, throwing an apathetic, "Don't pretend to have any more dates in front of me, Potter," over her shoulder as she left. She hadn't even bothered to pick up her top before she bounced out of sight. A few seconds later, he could have sworn that he heard a strange buzzing sound coming from under her door.

James allowed his body to collapse fully onto the cold, stone floor beneath him as he caught his breath, bones liquid and pants wet. What the fuck…? Staring up at the high, vaulted ceiling, he realized that they'd hooked up on her side of the room. It was oddly poetic considering it seemed as though they were going to be doing everything her way from now on.

James wasn't sure if he minded that at all.

Next Chapter: I Feel Like I'm Drowning