Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling; you know what is mine and what is hers.
Author's Note: Uh, I think all the females reading this story will thoroughly enjoy the first scene. ;) This is my favorite chapter so far, but, personally, it was a little hard to write. I hope you guys think it's okay. And I would like to thank my betas for being patient and going through my careless mistakes. Thanks a million, really.
Lusting the Loathed
Chapter Four - A Late Bath
Chapter Song: Maroon 5 - Secret
"Guess who I just bumped into earlier," Sirius said, as soon as he entered the Gryffindor Quidditch locker room a grueling practice had just ended. Muscles sore and in a less-than-happy mood, Sirius decided to poke a little fun at his best mate about a certain redheaded witch. He carefully placed his beloved and shiny Nimbus 1001 onto the bench. He carefully placed his shiny Silver Arrow, beloved as he would his firstborn, onto the bench.
James looked up and sighed with a dreamy smile on his face. "Now, if you say Celestina Warbeck, I'm going to be so disappointed!"
"Oh, I wish, she's so foxy," Sirius replied, sighing, as he took off his Quidditch robes. "But nope, it was Lily Evans."
"Really?" James asked, his eyebrows raised. He, too, took off his robes.
Now, here would be a lovely sight for the girls of Hogwarts to enjoy: James Potter and Sirius Black... after Quidditch practice, sweaty, and de-robed already!
"Her bag broke and ickle Snivelly came along and called her 'Mudblood', that bastard. Naturally, I decided to help her. Poor thing, collecting up all those books." Sirius sat down on the bench and stuffed his robes into his locker.
James nodded and looked a little angry. "Remind me to hex Severus the next time I have the pleasure of seeing him."
"Like you need a reason to hex the git," Sirius snorted as he removed his shorts, which he religiously wore under his robes for games and practice because he thought of them as lucky, with nothing left except his black boxer-briefs.
James grinned and put his robes in his locker, safely away from his broom, also a Nimbus 1001, which was the best broomstick that galleons could buy as of now. "Why would anybody need a reason to hex him?"
"Smart girl, though, she took away 25 house points from Slytherin," Sirius said. "Accio towels!" Two white, fluffy towels flew towards Sirius, which he caught immediately. He handed one to James.
"Nice and thanks," James commented as he took the towel and took off his white boxer briefs. Naked, he held his towel and headed toward the showers.
"You're being nice, on account of her rejecting you." Sirius sniggered as he nakedly walked over, too, following James.
"She never rejected me," James muttered, removing his towel and placing it on the bench outside. He took off his wire-rim glasses and set them gently upon the towel as he scratched his head and ruffled his hair. "She wants me, Sirius. Badly. I can feel it."
"And vice versa," Sirius commented dryly, setting his towel outside his shower. He and James stepped in adjoining showers. "Don't deny it, James, because your libido says so."
"Fine, okay, she's amazingly fit, but terribly mad," James confessed, squinting. The world was now a blur since he wasn't wearing his glasses. "Plus, what kind of example would I set? I mean, I'm the Head-fucking-Boy!" Closing his eyes, he stood in front of the shower, letting the water run down his body. It felt simply amazing. This is what he loved about Quidditch practices. After working his arse off for a couple of hours, taking a long, hot shower was all worth it. Maybe he'd make a trip down to visit the house elves and get some hot cocoa. That would be the maraschino cherry on top of his perfect sundae of a day.
"Or maybe the soon-to-be-Head-Boy-Fucking?" Sirius suggested shrewdly. He lathered his hair in shampoo and ran his hands through his hair vigorously. He'd crashed to the ground a few times (overzealous bludgers, damn them!) and who knows what kind of muck had gotten stuck in his hair.
James grinned. "You never know." As water slowly dribbled down his perfectly chiseled chest, he couldn't suppress a grin. Sleeping with Lily was just one of those fantasies he stuck in the back of his head, knowing it'd be too hopeful and eager of him to actually think it'd come true. He rinsed through his hair with shampoo and grabbed the soap, perhaps a little too hard, because it jumped right out of his grasp. "Damn."
"Moving onto redheads, then?" Sirius asked, applying conditioner to his scalp.
James paused as he bent down to retrieve his lime-colored soap that smelled of the fresh scent of pine. He didn't necessarily like Lily for her red hair or her bright green eyes, and certainly not her nasty temper. Maybe it was the fact that he felt like he knew her. He'd been in her room already and thoroughly examined it with his eyes and knew some of her embarrassing secrets. With all her anger exuding out from her, she seemed pure and genuine, not fake. Although James did find Lily to be just a little scary.
"Funny, I always thought you were partial to the blondes," Sirius replied loftily when James didn't answer. He rinsed his hair clean of conditioner, shampoo, or any other remaining muck and moved onto his body.
"No, Padfoot, dearest, that was you," James pointed out. "Remember Ariel Fisher? Or Charisma Cooper?" James was ticking off the names from his fingers, and clearly enjoying reminding Sirius of his ex-girlfriends and romantic past. "Julie Steinway? Amelia Terryfoot? Or, ooh, Kate Werbow?"
"Okay, okay," Sirius said hastily. "I don't deny it, I like blonde girls."
"Point proven." James ran the bar of soap all over his toned arms and legs. When he was finished, he noticed some hairs stuck on the soap. James was disgusted. "SIRIUS! Did you use my soap?"
"What soap?" Sirius asked "Oh, the green one?"
"The lime-colored one," James corrected. "You used it?"
"Yeah, I couldn't find mine last time so I borrowed yours," Sirius replied.
"Dammit, Sirius! There are all these hairs on it," James said, showing him.
Sirius got out of his shower and toweled himself, waist-down. He shrugged. "Sorry, man. Just wash it off. It's just a couple of hairs."
No longer wanting to wash himself with the Sirius-contaminated soap, James rinsed off all the soap on his body, and got out of the shower. He, too, toweled himself carefully and trudged back to his locker.
"Disgusting," James muttered as he put on a brand new spanking pair of underwear.
"It's just hair, James," Sirius replied airily, already slipping on his regular robes since his underwear was firmly on. "You know you've got a wand."
James stared at Sirius. "Pervert."
"To clean it off," Sirius explained hastily. "Garoffapoz." He tapped his wand against the lock of his locker. "Garoffpoz" was a strange-sounding spell that protected Sirius's dear broom, the Nimbus 1001, from the hands of other people besides himself. If somebody even tried to attempt to open the locker, Sirius would instantly know and rush down to the locker room and confront the intruder.
"Mhm." James slipped on his robes and slammed his locker shut, after carefully putting his broom in its special spot, lined with red velvet. "Garoffapoz." James was equally protective of his Nimbus 1001. Why shouldn't he be, though? It had won him (and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team) the Quidditch Cup for several years. As had Sirius's.
And it was going to stay that way, whether the houses liked it or not. James thought smugly as he left the locker room and headed up to the Great Hall for dinner.
After an hour or so, Lily had finally found a spot to settle. She'd been there for quite a while already. Her tiny feet were dipped into the waters of the lake as she rested upon a large tree that shaded her from the blistering hot sun. She exhaled, savouring the moment. In a few minutes, she would have to withdraw her feet from the waters, as she had done every few minutes before to avoid being grabbed by the giant squid.
She was in her own version of heaven, her naked feet in the water and her robes lying by the base of the tree, leaving her in only Muggle clothes. She unbuttoned a few of the buttons of her polo shirt and let her hair down, feeling free and playful. It was exactly what she needed after a long day.
She had already finished half her homework, so she was leaving the rest to finish tomorrow. All she had to do was lie down and watch the beautiful colours of the sunset. Lily realized that it was dinner. She gathered all her things, robes and socks included, into her book bag and ran barefoot back to Hogwarts. She was starving.
As soon as she reached her seat and set down her things, a familiar voice greeted her flatly, "You're wet."
Lily turned around and realized it was Marlene. Her face looked pale, as if she had been throwing up for the last few hours. Hmm...
"Well, good morning sunshine. Or should I say good afternoon." Lily put down her book bag and grabbed a chicken leg.
"Thanks... for letting us crash," Marlene muttered. "Things got out of hand."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "An understatement, but, yes, they did."
"I don't feel so hot right now," Marlene sighed. "Neither do Andromeda or Sam. I don't think they're awake yet, but when they do... ooh, it's going to be hell."
Lily smiled. "What the hell happened?"
"Louis Posen took us out for some drinks," Marlene mumbled. She saw the look Lily shot her. "I know! But Samantha really wanted to go... but wouldn't unless Andromeda and I went with her. She thought he couldn't get all of us drunk. Can't believe Samantha was wrong. Honestly... I mean, I just had a few cups of firewhiskey... maybe a shot of vodka here or there." She rubbed her head and sat down. "I've never felt worse..."
"Mar, don't worry about it. It's only Saturday." Lily put her fork down and put a sympathetic hand affectionately on Marlene's shoulder. "It'll get better. Go back up to my room and rest. The password is 'mugwump'. There's a dreamless sleeping potion in the second drawer of my vanity. It is in a small purple jar. Make sure Andromeda and Samantha get some too. A drop or two will do it. Crash on my bed and we'll talk tomorrow, okay?"
Marlene smiled a tiny smile and nodded. "Thanks, Lily. No wonder you're Head Girl." She slowly got up and headed for the Gryffindor Common Room.
Lily grabbed some mashed potatoes and ate while thinking about Marlene's words. No wonder you're Head Girl. A Head Girl that was a slight alcoholic and was falling for her Head Boy.
She realized that Marlene, Samantha, and Andromeda had probably gotten sick throughout her room. All three of them were on her bed so there would definitely be no space. Before Lily could decide on where to sleep tonight, most likely her couch or a mysterious room fit for needs located on the seventh floor, she decided to go into the enormous bathroom she shared with James, shower, and take a long, nice, hot bath.
As Lily climbed in the steaming hot water of the bathtub, she sighed in relaxation. The temperature of the water was scorching, but her body got used it to it very soon. There were already bubbles floating in the bathtub and smelled faintly of lavender.
"I think," she murmured to herself quietly, "that I'd like to sleep here tonight." She didn't know who the hell she was talking to, but she didn't give a damn. Lily sunk down even lower in the bathtub. Her chin barely grazed the water. She was lounging lazily and for the second time today, quite comfortable.
A banging on the door... from her side of the room, not James.
"Lily! I need to get in there!" Samantha yelled desperately, smacking the door with all her might.
"I'm taking a bath, Sam!" Lily called back.
"Well, move out of the tub and get dressed! I don't want to see you naked!" Samantha complained through the door. "Please, Lily! You have no idea how much I need to use the restroom... and maybe even the shower! I smell like vomit and alcohol!"
Moving was the last thing on her mind. "Listen, use the Prefect's bathroom! It's on the fifth floor, near the Boris the Bewildered statue!" Lily hoped Samantha would be a good dear and scoot, because she really didn't feel like getting out of the tub or being disturbed by the sounds of peeing, a shower, or Samantha.
There was a pause at the door and then a loud exhale of exasperation. "Fine! Thanks, Lily! I'll see you later!"
Lily groaned. 'Later' meant she'd probably see Samantha before tomorrow. Samantha was a sweet girl, but not too much on the smart side. For instance, she didn't even know the bathroom door was unlocked. She was like a little doll, so elegant and beautiful, but so damn spoiled. Samantha was used to having things her way, which usually happened, and if she didn't, she'd whine, beg, and complain until she did. But other than that, Lily considered Samantha to be good friend of hers. Even though she seemed like the typical spoiled and selfish girl, Lily knew Samantha would always have her back.
Seconds, minutes, and even hours passed. Lily thought of everything and anything: her life, her friends, and her schoolwork. She was getting tired and her hands were getting wrinkled from staying in the water too long. She shrugged at it, though, because she had a charm that would fix it.
There was a noise at the door as Lily got out of the shower. Andromeda was always smarter than Samantha. Maybe she noticed the door was unlocked.
Unfortunately for Lily, she did not notice the door was unlocking from James' side of the bathroom, and who better to open the door to find a half-naked Lily Evans towelling herself than James Potter himself.
His mouth dropped open as he gaped at Lily. "Oh, hey, Andromeda. It's about time you woke up," Lily said casually when she heard the door open. "I think Marlene is still sleeping and Samantha went to the Prefect's bath –" Lily stopped dead when she saw who it really was. "JAMES! Y-you're not Andromeda..."
To James's surprise, Lily almost dropped the towel in shock. Lily stared at him, clutching the towel tightly; hoping no indecent part of her body was exposed.
Their eyes met. His hazel eyes looked warm and friendly, but mostly amused. He stared at Lily, letting his eyes linger at certain parts of her body as she blushed scarlet.
James was wearing little better than a towel himself. He was in his white boxer-briefs, ready to go take a leak, and his body looked perfect to Lily's eyes. James wasn't too buff – guys who were disgusted Lily – but had nice abs with just the right amount of lean.
James jerked his thumb to the direction of the john. "Um, I was going to take a piss..."
Lily, still blushing, tried to act nonchalant and gestured with a long, sweeping gesture with her right arm. "Well, then piss away, Potter!"
He shrugged and walked toward the bathroom.
This was her chance. Lily quickly toweled herself dry and pulled her clothes--her clothes! Where the hell were her clothes? Lily frantically searched... no, not under the rug. Not in the tub, thank goodness! She wrapped her towel around herself as she got on her knees in desperate search of something... anything to wear.
"Looking for this?" James asked, holding up a very silky negligée. He walked to Lily and they were literally inches away.
Lily swallowed nervously. "Yes, I was... it was my negligée, you see, and I was looking for it, and I hoped it didn't fall in the tub, because of it did, I don't have my wand with my right now so I couldn't correctly do a charm to get it dry and then I would have to go back into my room and get some more clothes but I really, really just don't want to go back there..." Lily trailed off. Babbling was a nervous habit of hers. An embarrassing one, also.
Not to be humiliated or put-on-the-spot again, James took another step forward, flung the nightgown to the side, cradled Lily's face in his hands, and kissed her softly on her forehead... and trailed kisses down directly to her adorable pink lips.
The amount of passion in the kiss was unexpected but the kiss itself was everything that Lily had expected. She was caught off-guard, so she couldn't jerk away, but once their lips touched, it was... indescribable. No matter how hard Lily tried, no amount of force could've gotten her unglued from James's lips. It was one of the greatest things that have happened to her and awakened a part of her that has never been alive before. She felt free, like she was flying, and didn't have a single damn care in the world.
Lily, who had been oh-so-tightly clutching her white towel, let go and put her hands around James's neck, embracing him more and kissed him back deeply. He was slightly taller than she was, so she had to stand on her tippy-toes for her to fully kiss him.
James, who was quite pleased, dropped his hands lower to Lily's lower back and pulled her closer. Now, they were fully on each other... and no matter how much Lily denied or lied about it, she knew she enjoyed it immensely.
He knew he developed a passion for Lily. He'd never felt this way for anybody. To him, it sounded a little too cliché for him, but he knew he couldn't deny it. Instead of trying to impress him, Lily tried to turn him off... which just turned him on even more. He loved it when she got angry but loved it even more when she was nice to him. But he definitely loved kissing her the most. It was a little surreal. . It seemed like yesterday she wanted to rip his throat out, but now she was trying to shove her tongue down his throat.
Lily ran her hands through James' messy hair, which she hated, and messed it up even more. She loved the rough texture of his hair and how he smelled like fresh pine. She hooked her arms around James's neck and jumped up, crossing her legs over his body. She had forgotten about her current lack of clothes, and so had James.
Lily hooked her arms around James's neck and jumped up, crossing her legs over his body. She had obviously forgotten about her current lack of clothes, but so had James. He sat down on the edge of the tub, with Lily still in his lap.
Suddenly, he broke the kiss. He knew, with one look down, he would be able to see Lily's everything.
They gazed at each other for awhile. James had never noticed how brilliantly green her eyes were and Lily never knew that James had flecks of gray shining from his beautiful hazel eyes. Lily loved his nose and his thin lips that kissed so brilliantly. James ran his finger along her jaw line, loving the bone structure of Lily's face. They stayed like that for a little while. Lily turned around and looked a little shocked. James wonder why, so he also turned around and saw that Lily's silky negligée, which was under no circumstance to touch water, had been ruined since James flung it into the tub of water.
Carefully, he picked Lily up and set her down beside him, trying not to look at her. He had never fought his urges so hard in his life. But he knew it would be taking it to the next level, a dangerous one, if he didn't.
"Follow me," he muttered.
Lily was searching for her towel, but to her dismay, half of it was in the tub. Oh well, she thought. Better a wet towel than no towel.
She wrung it as hard as she could and covered her naked frontside as she followed James into his room.
She was, once again, enveloped in all the gold-and-maroonness of the room. James had thrown her a button-down white shirt for her to wear.
"Sorry I flung your nightgown in the bath, just put that on," James instructed her, still careful not to turn around. "I won't turn around... I promise." He used this time to 'cool down'.
Lily caught the shirt, still not knowing what to do. She let the towel drop to the floor, staring at James, wondering if he'd turn around. Surprisingly, he kept his ground. She slipped on the shirt and buttoned it up. It fell a few inches above her knees, so nothing terribly indecent was exposed.
"Um... I'm done," Lily said quietly. She smiled when James turned around. "Thanks for the shirt, James."
To James, Lily had never looked more beautiful. She looked a little shy after their first kiss, but so was James. She looked incredibly sexy in his crisp, white-linen shirt and it was even sexier since James knew she was wearing nothing underneath.
"Well, um, I have t-to go..." Lily broke the awkward silence. James's eyes were still fixed upon her. "Marlene, Samantha, and Andromeda are crashing in my room, so I'm going to look for this room I heard about in the seventh floor... come-and-go room or something like that. So, uhh... b-bye." Lily turned around and was just about to leave when...
"Look, Lily. Just stay here tonight." James looked flushed. "The Room of Requirement only shows up if you have a great need of it... and you aren't really going to be searching for it in that, are you?"
Lily turned around slowly. She knew she could trust James... but she felt like she couldn't trust herself with him sometimes.
"I'll sleep on the floor," he added hastily.
"Why?" Lily asked, looking curious. "Why are you so nice to me, James?"
He loved it when she said her name. "Because... well, we're going to be working a lot this year, aren't we, Lily? I wouldn't want us to be angry with each other all the time. You know, I contemplated slipping you a little euphoria potion, but then I thought, 'What if I messed up? Lily would not only hate me but Avada Kedavra my arse!', so I didn't."
"Smart boy," Lily answered quietly, walking toward the bed and settling herself down. She looked down at the floor. Sure, it was a dull shade of maroon, but it didn't exactly feel as good as a bed. "Sleep up here with me." She patted an empty spot next to her.
Surely this isn't an invitation to...? James thought quietly to himself. If it was, he'd accept. If it wasn't, he'd be alright, but a little disappointed.
"Just as friends tonight," Lily declared warningly. "Just as friends."
"Just as friends," James repeated firmly.
Lily yawned. "I'm going to go to sleep, it's been a long day." She settled in.
"Goodnight, Lily," James responded, turning off his lights.
"Goodnight, James," Lily murmured. She could feel him climb in. The bed, despite it's decorations in maroon-and-gold, was quite comfortable and not at all detestable. Like his shirt, the bed smelled strongly of cologne. It was a deep musk and a scent that Lily had grown to deeply love within the few seconds of smelling it. She had taken numerous long breaths, just to smell it all in. James, himself, smelled different, but just as good. This turned Lily even more on because when a guy smells good... it was incredibly sexy her.
She could hear him breathing. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale... they were inches apart. Lily had to restrain herself from jumping on him. If Lily had more energy, she would've, but she felt so tired from being so lazy and relaxed all day, it took it out of her. Funny. Doing nothing makes Lily a tired little girl.
James, on the other side, was focusing on breathing normally, and trying to push out the fact that he had a beautiful girl sleeping next to him who he currently had felt a burning desire for. It was so deep, his heart ached right now... he missed her, yet she was right next to him. Was that even possible?
He deemed himself as crazy.
"Lily?" he whispered softly. He wanted to talk.
When he got no reply, he assumed she had drifted off to sleep. He didn't want to wake her and, soon, he drifted off to sleep too.
But what he didn't know was that Lily was on the other side of the bed... wide-awake the whole time, who felt tired, but oddly enough, couldn't fall asleep... not when James Potter, who she started to feel for, was sleeping soundly next to her.