Author's Note:

Reviews and Comments: To Bellmel: Thanks, I read that in Blake's voice LOL. Thank you for saying it was such an aw chapter, that's what I was going for. It's snippets and seeing how it's come to this moment and how they are finally ready and James is just so sweet with her and patient. Lily wants him. It's so significant to James, this moment, even though it's not his first time like it is Lily's. Thank you for saying I did the scene justice. Thank you! To threereasonswhy: Ha, sorry, I will not be writing that story, but thanks for thinking about me. Thanks for saying their first time was perfect. To Sets: Nope, not a slow-burn, but this is snippets too. Thank you! To ellyann13: Thank you. To scrappy8: Thank you! Yes, they are finally together. To EnigmaticEmperor: Thank you! Yes, I did use pieces of the scene from Crazy Little Thing Called Love, thanks for noticing! I loved that line too much so I wanted to bring it into play here. Thank you! To ascfan: Thank you! To Nuno Neves: Yes, it was their first time. Thank you very much for saying it was amazingly beautiful and romantic! To alix33: It's written in snippets so you don't get everything, but yes, they used contraception. Thank you. To saucyswimmer: Thank you for saying their first time was everything you could have hoped for! James was determined to be as gentle and loving as possible!

My posting schedule: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Thanks to Dusk for her amazing editing skills.

As always, thank you very much for reading and please, please review!

Your reviews give me life! They give me inspiration! And they make me want to keep writing for more than just myself! Thank you for all of your continued support!

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX:

The One Where They Talk About Europe

November 1977 - January 1978…

Lily couldn't explain how happy spending time with James Potter made her. She couldn't stop smiling, and more than once, her friends had made note of it. There was something about him that just made a smile appear on her face. He was kind and thoughtful. He was sweet and a bit of a romantic. And when he kissed her, she was convinced that she was going to melt into the floor.

Since they had finally become intimate, neither of them had any desire to sleep alone. James more or less moved into her bedroom in the Head dormitory and she spent every night curled up in his arms.

Not to mention what they did before they turned in for the night.

She couldn't keep her hands off of him.

Lily had no idea that sex could be like this. James was her first and the only man she ever wanted to be with. It was why when he made faces at her or touched her knee or tilted his head in just the right way that desire pooled between her thighs.

James Potter was damn good at making her want him and even better at showing her how much. It had only taken two weeks of making love every night in bed before he'd locked her in a broom cupboard and had his way with her against the wall. Considering she'd been riding not only him, but his fingers while he'd suckled her breasts like a starving man, she'd certainly enjoyed herself. The sounds she'd made had been downright filthy and when Sirius had caught them coming out of the cupboard a little while later, she'd known they'd also been loud.

Sirius let his eyes travel over her body, the badly buttoned top, the messy hair and he smirked. "Well, looks like Prongs' has been using his big cock to keep someone satisfied. I had no idea you even knew such dirty words, Evans."

"Padfoot!" James blustered, his cheeks heating.

Lily blushed to the roots of her hair as well. "What do you want, Sirius?"

"I came to remind Prongs it's the full moon tonight, but I didn't want to interrupt when you were so loudly informing him that you were so close to coming."

Lily made a rude hand gesture and he grinned.

"Ready, Prongs?"

James nipped at Lily's lips before kissing her cheek. "I'll see you in the morning."

Lily told them to be safe and Sirius made a cross over his heart before he slipped his arm around James' shoulders, steering him off. When James returned to the Head dorm in the morning, Lily had jumped him. They'd had fast and hard sex right on the sofa before he'd carried her to bed and they did it all over again.

Neither of them could keep their hands off of each other. It was this constant need to be touching, to be kissing. The more comfortable they became with each other, the bolder they grew.

James made love to her on the counter of the bathroom of the Gryffindor Quidditch change rooms. Lily snuck him into one of Slughorn's storage rooms and used her hands. James made a midnight picnic by the Black Lake and they made love on the shore. Lily begged him to take her on the balcony of the Astronomy Tower.

It was never enough.

It was why tonight they dismissed the prefects in the meeting and Lily's wand had locked the door to the Head office immediately. James' eyebrow rose before he leaned back against the desk and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Locking us in, Evans?"

"Clothes off. Now."

James' smirk almost made her want to smack him, but she ignored that urge and focused instead on the more pressing one. Her eyes narrowed when James merely played with his tie, loosening it slowly as he took his time, unbuttoning his shirt in slow motion.

Lily bit her bottom lip and moved to stand in front of him. "Get naked, Potter."

James pulled her up against him, his hand sliding down her thigh to cup her arse. "You first, Evans."

They kissed and teased each other and when James finally shimmied her knickers down, releasing the last bit of clothing between them, he lifted her up onto the desk and spread her legs to stand between them.

"Gods, you're so gorgeous," he murmured, moving his lips over her shoulder. "Sometimes I look at you and I still think this is all a fevered dream."

Lily framed his face with her hands. "It's not a dream, James. Kiss me."

He did, his fingers sliding down her stomach to touch her and Lily groaned against his mouth.

"Is this what you want, Lily?" he growled. "You want to sit here on the desk we share in this office and ride my fingers like a good Head Girl."

"Yes," she moaned, gasping when he slid a second finger into her. "More, James."

His thumb circled her and the pleasure that had been mounting while she'd watched him instruct the prefects seemed to boil over. Her nails scratched his back as his lips moved lower to suck on her breast.

"More what, Lily? I need to hear the words."

"Don't stop, James, oh gods, don't stop."

"Don't stop what?" he teased, pushing his fingers in as deep as they could go. "This?"

"Mmm," she moaned. "Yes… touch me."

And when he bent down to kneel in front of the desk and used his tongue, she dug her fingers into his scalp and rode his face until she came. James kissed her thighs as he stood back up, his glasses fogged from the heat of her.

"Good girl," he said, his thumb brushing her nipple. "Now, show me how good you are and come a second time for me."

"James… I want you," Lily begged, her voice trembling. Her hand wrapped around him and he bit his lip.

"Not yet, Evans. You have to come again first."

She did and when he finally slipped into her, she lost herself in his kisses and in him.

And the want never weaned.

They spent the holiday together, each spending time with each other's families as James was subjected to meeting Petunia's fiancée, a rather unpleasant man named Vernon. Lily spent more time with Euphemia and Fleamont and was instantly charmed by Fleamont's kind manner and his amazing potion skills while Euphemia was all warm smiles and kind words.

When they returned to school, they spent more time holding hands and making love. This was how they came to be lying together in the middle of the living room of the Head dorm, both naked on the comforter that James had spread out on the floor. Lily's head was resting on his chest as he ran his fingers up and down her back.

"Will it always be like this?"

"What?"

"Us," she whispered. "Do you think we'll always be this happy?"

James' smile made her heart race as she tilted her head back to look at him. "I'm certainly going to do my best to keep you this way."

"With the war and Lord Voldemort… I'm almost afraid to leave Hogwarts in a few months," she admitted.

He pressed his lips to the top of her head. "We'll be together. All of us. We're not going to let anything happen to you, Lily."

"It's not me I'm worried about," Lily admitted. "James, there's so much bad out there and Voldemort's getting bolder. Being a Potioneer is all I've ever wanted, but I can't help but think I should be doing more to help."

"It will be helping," James insisted. "You're a bloody genius, Evans. You impressed my Dad and frankly, when it comes to Potions, he's pretty hard to please. You should see how he and Borage get along — it's oil and water. But not you. He adored you. You're going to do great things to help, I know it. But we don't have to jump straight into it all. I thought you wanted to travel?"

"I do," she admitted.

Lily had always fantasized about taking a gap year after Hogwarts. She wanted to explore the world and spend some time in different countries eating cuisine and exploring the history. She'd dreamt about it since she was a little girl and now with the magical world only seeming to grow darker day by day, she couldn't help but wonder what trying to start a life in these turbulent times was going to be like.

"Let's go," James said, pressing his lips to her shoulder as he covered her body with his.

"Go where?"

"Everywhere," James said, his lips brushing over her cheeks. "You and me. Sirius, Remus, Peter, Marlene, Hestia, Mary, Alice, and Frank… everyone. Let's travel this summer."

"We can't just decide to go," Lily began. "It takes planning and money and… there's a war going on."

"So what?" James argued. "It will still be here when we get back."

Lily started to argue that it wasn't a reasonable excuse to travel, but she didn't know what to say.

"Rome. Paris. Florence. Nice. Barcelona. Madrid. Cádiz. Porto. Lagos. Munich. Dresden. Vienna. Anywhere you want to go, let's do it."

"Jamie… we can't just say we're going on a trip across Europe…"

"Why not?" he asked. "When school ends, Lily, let's go. Let's see the world together When we come back, we'll settle into our lives with our jobs and all of that grownup stuff, but we deserve this first."

"I…"

He kissed her temple. "I have the money."

"It's… no, I have money to use. I won't let you pay for everything."

James' hazel eyes sparkled. "So, we're going then?"

Lily hesitated. Merlin, it was so out of the blue. They couldn't just make a decision like this and keep to it, right? But when she looked into his excited eyes, all she saw was happiness and delight.

"Yes. Let's do it."

James pecked her on the lips. "Excellent! I can't wait to show you the world."

Lily slid her hands up his chest and brushed her thumb over his lips. "You are my world, James Potter. I love you."

His eyes widened in surprise. "You — what?"

"I love you," she whispered. "I was waiting for you to say it first, but I… I love you, James."

James' mouth met hers for a long kiss that seemed to go on forever. When he finally let go, his eyes said everything. "You know I've loved you forever."

"I know," she whispered. "I'm sorry I pushed you away and made you wait for me."

"I'm not," he said, kissing her again. "I needed you to do that. I needed to wake up and see what a prat I was. I needed to prove I loved you."

"No," Lily said, cupping his cheek. "You didn't need to prove anything to me. I needed to admit to myself that you've held my heart for years."

His slow smile made desire pool between her legs. "Years, huh?"

"Yes. I just didn't want to admit it aloud."

"Well, you did call me an arrogant toe rag once."

"It was warranted."

He grinned. "I bloody love you, Lily Evans. I'm going to marry you one day."

Lily danced her fingers over the nape of his neck. "I just might let you. If you ask, of course."

James pecked her lips. "I will and you'll say yes because you love me."

"I do love you."

"Say it again, Evans."

"I love you."

"Good girl," he growled, kissing his way down her chest. "Now, you're going to keep being a good girl and come for me. Then we'll go find the guys and tell them that we're in love and going to Europe."

His lips brushed against her core and she trembled.

"No," she murmured as he licked her. "You're going to make me come twice, James, and then we'll tell them in the morning at breakfast."

His grin widened. "Good girl."

And when his mouth returned to her clit, she lost herself in his touch and a vision of a future with the man she loved.