Happy September everyone! Remember: always pee after sex, guys!

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter. Art work by the super talented blvnk-art (tumblr) aka potterbyblvnk (insta)

Song: Ash Tree Lane by MS MR

The Avoidance

The next few weeks — as the hickeys on her neck faded and the aching muscles of her thighs finally stopped being so sore — were some of the most confusing of Lily's life. She was still trying to wrap her head around why she'd had sex with Potter despite everything she knew about him — and the fact that she couldn't come up with a decent answer scared the shit out of her. Sure, she'd liked him. She'd liked him a bloody lot, but those feelings couldn't possibly still be lingering after everything else. He'd tricked her, he'd tricked her so badly, but now her eyes were open and she could start trying to let go of the completely incorrect picture she had of him in her head. The man she'd fallen for didn't exist — he never had.

So, if all it had taken for him to make her forget why she shouldn't be with him was getting her alone, or more specifically into his bed, she knew what she had to do. She had to make sure she avoided him with everything she had in her, whenever academically permitting, and no longer half-assed like when she'd been on assignment (and kind of still wanted to see him). That was over now — she was turning a new, non-infested leaf, and she would try to have a normal, non-kinky Lily Evans existence.

It didn't mean she wasn't still thinking about Potter though, as much as she loathed to admit it. It didn't mean she didn't slip up sometimes and get caught watching as he played with the knot of his tie, drawing her eyes to the length of his delicious neck, or have to fight from biting her lip when his jumper would ride up when he stretched in class, giving her a hint of the lean muscles she knew covered his stomach. She was human. Humans were allowed mistakes. (But no more big ones. No more fucking Death Eaters, Lils.)

Her tummy also churned every time she did catch a glimpse of that neck, because she could still see the faint pink wound she'd left on him with Bellatrix's dagger. She knew he had a magical salve that erased all scars, so why wasn't he using it? Every time she saw it, she felt bad, because she was reminded of what she'd so very nearly done. Was that the point? Did he keep it there to haunt her very existence and remind her that she'd almost become a murderer just like him? Or perhaps it was another trophy he had collected — this one commemorating the time he'd drove 'perfect' little Miss Evans completely off the rails. Or maybe it was to remember the night that he'd finally bagged me: the girl who always swore she'd never give in. Lily had never in her life felt so far from perfect. The very word made her skin crawl.

Unable to tell Remus what had really happened that night was definitely the hardest part, however. He just didn't understand why Lily had turned absolutely cold to the idea of Potter after having such a lovely date and apparently backbreaking, mind-blowing sex. Lily tried saying that it had to do with the 'shame,' and leaving it at that. (And ignoring Remus when he responded that, 'Honey, that ship has sailed,' because, no. It hadn't.)

The best part of the whole thing, though, was Snape's new reactions to her. He was so angry and bitter that he'd comically huff and billow his robes behind him every time he wished to make a dramatic escape from her 'clearly unwanted' presence. It dawned on Lily that he — as well as everyone else in the 7th year Slytherin boys' room — had heard her and Potter's first shag. They hadn't silenced the bed, and even if they had, Lily wasn't sure if it would have mattered, because did those spells even work if the entire bed frame creaked and moaned with vicious movement? Surely, the silencing would only work for the noises coming from within the bed. The realization had Lily laughing so hard into her morning tea, that some of it came up out of her nose.

Unfortunately, Lily's lack of apparent attention was clearly grating on Potter's nerves. In what she could only deduce was him trying to 'show her what she was missing,' it seemed like not a single one of her patrols went by where Lily didn't run into him shagging a new girl in some open classroom. He had memorized her schedule, and she didn't know how he did it, but he always picked the loudest girls. Eventually, she started rushing by the classrooms where she heard him railing his conquests, either trying to squeeze her legs shut mid-gait or merely full-on sprinting away. She suppressed her desire to go get his Invisibility Cloak that she'd never returned to him and go back and watch them, unbeknownst to him, if only so she could relive the time he had given all that rough, animalistic pleasure to her. If he doesn't know, it doesn't count, does it? Lily wanted to spank herself. Yes. Yes it most certainly does, and we don't do shit like that anymore. Lily was better than that.

Things got personal one morning two weeks into operation-avoid-Potter, though, when on her morning run, she discovered something that made her want to scream and pull her hair out. Someone had severed her tree's sturdy, perfect branch. It was a clean cut, clearly magicked off, the branch still laying there uselessly on the forest floor. Lily knew that she could find another branch or bar or something to do her morning exercises on, but this felt deliberate and cruel. On further inspection she found a carving had been etched into the tree where her branch had once connected: it was a snitch containing the initials JP and LE. He must have been spying on her and had figured out just how she liked to get off every morning. Not even the majestic stag she saw on her angry stomp back to the castle could brighten her mood.

He was fucking with her. Lily did not feel like being trifled with this early in the morning.

"Are you fucking kidding me," Lily snarled as she dropped into her stool in Potions, almost having missed the bell with just how thoroughly she'd scoured the library, looking for the spell that would make her wand vibrate for her like Potter's had. If she couldn't have her tree branch, she should at least be able to masturbate with her wand.

She had found nothing.

"Good morning, Evans," Potter said cheerfully, not bothering to look up from his parchment. "Have a good Halloween?"

"I will fucking end you."

"End me?" He finally cocked a brow her way, corner of his mouth lifting in amusement. "Wow, Evans. You seem a little tense. You should probably do something about that."

"You little—"

"I can help. I mean, I'm no tree, but I think I'm up for the challenge of getting you there." His lips pursed for a second in faux-contemplation. "I already have, haven't I?" he taunted. "That is if you'd be willing to stoop back down to my level, of course."

Ha. So that's what this is all about. He just wanted her to be desperate enough to come crawling back to him. He is grossly overestimating just how good he is, Lily told herself, fervidly (dishonestly). She knew her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, but she reminded herself that she shouldn't be ashamed of getting caught masturbating since he clearly wasn't worried about all the times he wanted her to catch him having sex. "I'd rather die never having come again than coming a single other time with you."

He looked her deep in her eyes, as his mouth curled into a slow, teasing smile. "I like that you know those are basically your only two options."

Why weren't there any good chopping tools on her desk when she needed to impale someone? "Actually, I'm going on a date this weekend. So. Who knows," she replied saccharinely, making it up on the spot. She hadn't secured a date to Hogsmeade yet, but she'd meant to. She was serious about trying to return to a life of boring simplicity, and what was simpler than taking a guy to Hogsmeade and waiting for him to kiss you to see if you had even a lick of chemistry? Lily could make this work.

"Really?" His gaze narrowed. "Who?"

Lily snorted. "Why? So you can kill him before my date? I don't think so."

"I've never killed another wizard before."

Lily didn't think that statement was quite as exonerating as Potter thought it to be.

"Benjy, wait up!" Lily called as she caught up with the Ravenclaw after class. He was a nice bloke, a good-looking one too. Lily couldn't believe she'd never really taken the time to appreciate his chocolate-brown hair or friendly bronze eyes. He was polite, but not without humor, and Lily had spent many a nights hearing her roommates gossiping about how dreamy he was. If rumors were correct, he and his longtime girlfriend had just split up at the beginning of the year.

"Lily, hi," he said surprised, breaking free from his group of friends.

She had nothing to lose. "Would you want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?"

Benjy's eyebrows shot up his forehead. "Wow, um," he blinked rapidly a few times, "did, uh, you and Remus break up?"

Lily was used to this. "We're actually just friends."

"Oh, sick. Cool, I wish I'd known that sooner." He was looking at her oddly full of hope. It was nice. It was sweet. I like sweet, Lily told herself determinedly.

"So, what do you say?" she pressed.

"Oh yeah!" He chuckled, looking a bit embarrassed, only enhancing his schoolboy appeal. "I'd love to take you out. We can talk details in Charms?"

"Perfect. It's a date." Lily gave him a smile as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned to walk away, giggling at the way he'd looked at her — way too happy with how their conversation had unfolded — in return.

This is nice. I like this. I like normal. I'm not using him at all.

Lily's eye twitched.

"With who?"

"Benjy."

"Benjy Fenwick?"

"Do we have more than one Benjy?"

"He's hot."

"I know."

"Wait, why aren't you more excited over this?"

"What," Lily asked, finally looking up from her tome in the library. She'd told Remus she was researching something obscure for Herbology, but really, she was still trying to find that damn wand vibration trick. Why were things that helped women climax not prioritized — and plastered all over the school on posters — Merlin-damnit!? "I'm excited," she defended herself monotonously.

"No, you're not. Hogsmeade is tomorrow, and this is the first I'm hearing about this," Remus insisted. "For your date with Potter—"

"Fake date—"

"We went through your entire wardrobe and you pointblank asked me which dress made your tits look better—"

"And now I know!"

"You're wearing the same dress on this date?!" Remus asked scandalized, leaning forward.

"No!" Lily replied, before muttering under her breath, "That one got ripped." Remus gave her a pleased little smile, so Lily hurried on. "I'm plenty excited, I just don't want to get too excited, you know? Look where that left me last time."

The grin fell off of Remus' face. "Oh, Lil. Benjy isn't like that. He's a good guy. Look, his last relationship lasted, what? Two years and only ended because she graduated? That's practically forever, and it shows that a girl was willing to put up with him for that long, so he can't be an absolute dud."

Remus was right; Lily hadn't even realized this. You probably should have realized this. Lily wanted to throttle her own inner dialogue. Shut up.

"Well, crap. What do I do tomorrow now?" Remus said dejectedly.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Remy. You can always join us?"

"Third-wheel on your first date?" His raised eyebrow was thoroughly judging her. "Hard pass."

Yeah. That was a dumb idea.

"I'll just see if Betty is down to hang out," Remus reasoned. Lily's gaze narrowed despite her best efforts not to appear critical. Betty was Remus' friend from Divination, and in Lily's opinion, very fucking annoying. She couldn't even put her finger on why she despised her so much, but there was just something about the girl that grated on Lily's nerves. Remus picked up on Lily's shift in mood. "Don't worry, you don't have to stop by and say hi or anything," he grumbled good-naturedly.

"Good," Lily sassed, looking back down to her book.

Lily smoothed out the invisible ruffles of her plaid skirt nervously as she waited in the Entrance Hall for Benjy to arrive for their Hogsmeade date. She'd proven to herself that she did in fact care whether she looked good for it by pairing the skirt with a cute, tight, beige long-sleeved shirt that also made her tits look great, and finishing the outfit with some weather-appropriate stockings. She looked fit, and the glances she was getting while waiting there, hopefully not too much longer, confirmed that.

She really needed to work on always being too early to things.

"Hey! There you are." Lily smiled as she turned to find Benjy strolling over to her, clad in a nice pair of jeans and an aquamarine jumper. He looked handsome. Lily had been an idiot — she would have fun on this date, and not think about Potter like she had when pulling up her stockings, or every time she saw someone walk up from the dungeon staircase. Or now.

"Hi," she answered happily. At least, she had been happy, until she saw the friends he'd just left gawking at him, giving him little, not at all subtle, thumbs up. Lily jerked her head towards them. "Uhh… what's that all about?"

Benjy flushed, scuffing his foot against the ground. Lily had to admit, it was a very ingratiating move. "Ah, sorry about that. My mates are idiots." He ran a hand through his hair and — goddamnit, Lils, stop it. "They didn't believe me when I told them you asked me out, so they've been taking the mickey out of me all week."

Cute. Sweet. Normal.

"Sorry my interest in you is so unbelievable, I guess," she teased.

He shot her a shy smile. "Yeah. Maybe if you stopped being so perfect, it would help." Lily didn't feel her face crumble as much as she saw the panic set into Benjy's eyes. "Shit. Did I already put my foot in my mouth? I meant that as a compliment, but… I mean, I'm a Ravenclaw, so obviously I know about the pressure to be the best and didn't mean it like that, but more of the fact that you're gorgeous and smart, but keep to yourself and are kind of mysterious and—" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Lily couldn't stop the corner of her mouth from twitching. As far as 'fuck-ups' went, this was sort of the most adorable one she'd ever seen. "Fuck. Sorry." He opened his eyes back up and threw her a winning grin. "Wanna try this again?" He stuck his hand out. "Hi. I'm Benjy."

Nerdy too. This is awesome. I can work with this.

"Hi. I'm Lily."

"Huh. What an imperfect name."

"Thanks. Want to go on an imperfect date?"

"Please." Benjy offered his arm, and Lily gladly took it as they started strolling out of the castle.

Benjy was great. He had two older respectable sisters who had taught him everything he knew ('Their words, not mine'), and his parents had respectable jobs, and he had interned at the Ministry the previous summer so he was primed to graduate and have a respectable career. Sure, he wasn't exciting, but their personalities matched nicely, they had the same values, he made her laugh, he was holding her hand, and everything was going swimmingly. She could actually see this working. This could go somewhere.

So why the fuck had Potter and his mates sat down in a booth directly in her line-of-vision, and why was he not even trying to hide that he was watching the two of them as though they were a Quidditch match on the telly? Lily tried to refocus on Benjy's words — some question of how could she possibly still be single — but Potter brought his stein to his lips, staring straight at her, and shook his head infinitesimally left and right. He was trying to silently tell her no. Presumably wordlessly yelling: 'Don't date him.' How fucking dare he?!

Lily hoped it was an appropriate time to laugh, a little maniacally, along with Benjy. "What about you? Why are you still single?" She forced her eyes to return from over his right shoulder back to his face.

He looked slightly uncomfortable. "I uh. Just got out of a relationship actually," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

Fuck, I knew that. Focus, Lils! Focus! "Sorry about that."

"No, don't be," Benjy mollified her genuinely. "It was amicable, you know. A mutual decision." He chanced a look her way. "Probably the same as what happened between you and Amos back in the day?"

Damn. This boy had been paying attention for a while. It was time she started paying it back. She pointedly ignored Potter (and Sirius rolling his eyes after he looked over his shoulder to check what his best mate had been staring at this whole time), and for the rest of the afternoon, enjoyed her Butterbeers and Benjy's warm presence. She supposed it would be rather nice if this date ended with a kiss. She even got her hopes up for it.

But there was no way that was going to happen under Potter's watchful, ever-present gaze.

"Hey, do you maybe want to walk around the shops for a bit? It's getting a little stuffy in here," she suggested, finishing her mug.

"Yeah, yeah, that sounds great," Benjy agreed easily.

"Awesome, I'm just going to go to the bathroom to freshen up. Be right back." Lily didn't overthink it and leaned over to kiss his cheek on her way to the loo, smiling the whole stroll over because he had practically melted in the palm of her hand with her small token of affection.

This is nice.

Lily was just reapplying her lipstick, all the rest of her makeup still being up to snuff, when she saw Potter's face in the mirror, reflected before her. He looked much like she imagined Remus would on full moons if he were ever to escape the Shrieking Shack.

"Get out," he told the two 3rd year girls washing their hands next to her, his eyes never leaving her reflection. The girls seemed like they were ready to argue with him, but then shared a scared little look when they saw who it was, and scampered past instead, giving him a wide berth.

She should have seen this coming, really; she should definitely have expected this. "I didn't think I'd have to explain how loos work to you, Potter." Lily resumed painting her lips a deep crimson that she fully intended to have smeared all over Benjy's collar by the end of the night.

Potter took a step inside the bathroom, locking the door behind him. "What are you doing?" he asked quietly, dangerously.

"Reapplying my lipstick—"

"Don't play coy."

"Well, then don't be dumb." She snapped her tube shut with a satisfying click as she straightened back up behind the sink.

Potter took another predatory step forward, moving to stand behind her. She pretended like it didn't completely unnerve her as she ran her hands through her hair, fluffing it out. "You look nice." His deep voice was seeped with desire, and Lily fought to keep her eyes from him.

"It's not for you."

His hand (finally) reached out for one of her hips. "You sure? Because it seemed like you couldn't stop looking at me while on your date with him."

Ha! The sheer nerve of this man… "Well, it's hard not to notice when someone won't stop glaring at you."

Potter took another step forward, his second hand grasping for her other hip as he stood behind her, pulling her ever so slightly into his body. "You're out with another man," he drawled, so close to her that she had to assume her hair was seconds away from sticking to his lips. "What did you expect me to do?"

"Jealous?" she asked, far too breathlessly.

"Of course I am. I thought asking a bloke to The Three Broomsticks was our thing."

Huh. She had sort of repeated their date to the T, hadn't she? It was actually such a callously cruel move that she would have felt bad about doing it to someone intentionally — anyone other than him. Lily reached for her purse on the sink and stuffed her lipstick inside. "Well, don't worry, Potter. This date won't end with me watching him torture anyone, so, I'm sure it'll be a lot better than ours was."

His fingers dug possessively into her hipbones, making Lily freeze, her eyes snapping up to his in the mirror. He did not look amused by her taunting. "Careful, Evans."

She snorted, looking at him in disbelief. "Fuck off with your judgy bullshit. I've heard you. You've been having sex with a new girl twice a week."

He smirked behind her, glad to have gotten under her skin. He's evil, he's evil, he's evil. "I can't fuck the only girl I really want to fuck." Lily forced down a dry swallow, not wanting to react to his words. Telling someone you wanted to shag only them was hardly a romantic declaration. "So tell me: what should I do?"

"I don't waste my time thinking about what you should or should not be doing, Potter," she lied.

He chuckled. "You're always welcome to join."

"Ha!" Lily was definitely going insane, because the thought of what Potter had just suggested had actually shot a thrill down her spine. "No thanks. I'm good."

"Right, right. With Benjy."

"Leave him alone, he's sweet—" Lily tried defending.

"But you're not." He said it so resolutely that Lily wished once more, for him to get out of her damn head already. They just stared at each other for a beat.

Her voice almost trembled with wistful hope when she answered, "I could be."

When she closed her eyes, she could still so clearly hear him yelling 'Crucio'. He hadn't directed it at her at the time, but he might as well have with how her body had reacted so viscerally to the word, tattooing it onto her fragile heart. Even worse, the command of his voice as he said it — even in her memories — still made her body tremble, and not in a bad way. She secretly loved how confidently he spewed his magic. She always had.

Potter moved all her hair off of her left shoulder, brushing it to the other side, revealing the pale expanse of her neck to him — the same stretch he had marked up so thoroughly during their last tryst. He planted a single, lingering kiss against her. "Stop fighting who you are." His hands were (finally) on the prowl, one dragging down her chin and lingering lightly against her throat while the other took its time to raise her skirt up, bunching it at her waist. Lily was sure she wasn't breathing again, instead standing there watching his progress in the mirror with loose lips. "Stop holding yourself back."

Fuuuuck, fuckfuckfuck fuck fuck, Lily sighed, knowing just what was now (she hoped) about to happen. "Why are you doing this to me?" she whimpered, one last valiant attempt to thwart her own demise.

"I told you." James pushed her shoulders forward slightly, bending her over the sink, arse pressing into his clear erection. "I told you I wanted you. The all of you, and all to myself, was implied." She heard his zipper open, and she just wished he'd hurry up already so she wouldn't have any more time to overthink this, to start to realize what a colossally bad idea it was to be thinking solely with the pulsing she could feel like a steady heartbeat between her legs.

"I don't see you with him, Lils." Potter whispered as he leant in her left ear, biting on the lobe as she felt his nimble fingers scraping into her lower back, toying with the edge of her tights.

"Why's that?" she breathed, craning her neck and opening herself up for him, her hips lewdly pushing back into his, begging for his friction. She reached behind herself and felt him, firm and hard and so fucking ready for her. She gave him a tentative tug.

"Because you belong with me."

Lily gasped as he ripped her stockings right down the middle, wasting no time pushing her knickers to the side, her hand out of the way, and thrusting into her with one powerful stroke. Her hand instinctually came up to brace herself against the mirror, watching as his face morphed into one of intense satisfaction — because of the feel of her, or the fact that he had her once more, she couldn't tell, probably both. All she knew was now that she'd started watching him fuck her, she couldn't stop. Their first time, she'd been adamant about keeping her eyes closed to him, and their second he'd been behind her for most of it, but now? There was a sort of hypnotizing grace in the way he moved, his face open and vulnerable, proudly showcasing just how good her cunt felt wrapped around him and just how badly he wanted to keep taking her. He was powerful, he was possessive, he was goddamn beautiful.

James pulled her hair back, drawing Lily into his chest and keeping her there with a slow hand creeping over her breast, settling on her collarbone. He had to scoop his hips more, bending at his knees, to keep their action going, but it seemed to be a worthwhile tradeoff to have her back in his arms. He removed his wand from his pocket, activated it, and placed it on her awaiting clit. "Less staring, more moaning, Evans."

He's one to talk. Why not both? she said in her head, refusing to give up her new pastime. Those eyes were always on her anyway, so why not see them as he fucked her, so she could replay this image, over and over, when he'd inevitably ogle her again next week. It would sure make her classes go by quicker in the future. She whimpered as he started picking up speed now that his wand had her extra turned on and ready for him.

"That's it, baby," he muttered into her neck, his teeth teasing her skin.

"Don't you dare mark me up," she groaned, running both her hands through his hair behind her head. She relished in watching his eyes dip down to her tits, bouncing in her tight shirt in time with his thrusts.

When their eyes met in the mirror once more, he looked even more ravenous than ever before. Something about telling him what he could or couldn't do to her had set him off. "I want you to think about this when sweet Benjy is talking to you." He pumped into her extra hard, making Lily's thighs shake and her nails dig into his scalp. "I want you to remember how my cock felt inside of you while he was sitting outside this door, patiently waiting for you." Lily bit her lip, her moan escaping anyway. Hearing that sort of stuff should not have been so hot. His jaw was dropping open, and Lily's insides pulsated at seeing his arousal so clearly signaled all over his face. James' hand travelled higher, around her throat anew, as his left joined hers at her apex, pushing his wand more firmly against her, smiling at her resulting needy whine. "I want you to come for me again, baby, and I don't want you to be quiet about it."

Shit. She didn't think there was really any other options here anyway.

"Hello?" A banging on the door made Potter jump back, making Lily instantly mourn the loss of him inside of her. "You can't lock this door." It was Madam Rosmerta.

Lily spun to Potter panicked. "What the hell do we do?" she whispered frantically. It wasn't like this room had any windows they could escape through.

His cocky grin came back easily. "I'm not done with you yet," he growled as he picked her up, taking her with him into one of the stalls and locking them inside. Lily had never been more grateful for the full floor-to-ceiling privacy that European bathrooms provided.

Lily was a little too shocked at his prowess to react, but a second later, she heard the bar owner opening the loo door, and walking inside. "Hello?"

Potter grinned at her mischievously, having her propped up against a wall, her legs around his hips and her neck right in front of his mouth. It took him all of two seconds to start taking advantage of this new position by nuzzling into her. Lily scrambled to keep her wits about her. "Hi, I'm sorry!" she squeaked, trying not to giggle. It seemed as though Potter's aim was now less about seduction and more about just getting them caught. She slapped at his shoulder, but he kept trying to tickle her throat with kisses.

"Are you all right in there?" Rosmerta sounded suspicious.

"Yes, yes," Lily answered breathlessly, pointing an angry finger in Potter's face. "Just don't feel that well is all."

"Oh. It's Lily, right?" She sounded oddly comforting. "Is your date going okay?" Potter and Lily both froze looking at each other, Lily wondering if the woman knew Potter was in the stall with her right now. "Would you like me to send him away?"

Oh right. My date. The one I'm supposed to be on. "No, no," Lily answered quickly, "it's going fine, I actually just don't feel good." The mirth slipped off of Potter's face, looking completely offended.

"All right, honey. Would you like me to tell him that? He looks a little worried about you."

"What are you doing?" Lily whispered to Potter irritatedly as he readjusted her in his arms so he was supporting her by the arse, and repositioned himself at her entrance. He wouldn't. He did. Lily gasped as he resumed shagging her, somehow still expecting her to be able to continue a conversation, even as he put his wand between them.

"Lily?" Rosmerta asked concerned.

"Yeah?" Lily responded, eyes screwed shut, being fucked into the wall and very much forgetting what they were talking about. She heard Potter's soft chuckles as he muffled them into her neck, his hips snapping away.

"Would you like me to tell your date you'll be right out?"

"Yes—" Potter's nails dug into her arse, and her eyes opened to drown in his, watching as he pulled back to see her, "yes, please."

"Okay, feel better, sweetie." And with that she left.

"Do you feel better?" Potter growled, his cock slamming into her at a punishingly fast speed.

Lily wrapped her arms around his shoulders, adjusting herself so that it was hard to tell where he ended and she began, ready to take over the work. "Potter, shut the fuck up."

It was his turn to groan and drop his head back as she began rocking her hips in circles, tantalizingly riding him as he held her firmly against his body. This angle was everything, and she could tell it would probably get her there, even if his wand hadn't gotten wedged between them. As she felt her climax building inside of her, as though every twist of her body had his cock winding her up tighter and tighter, she wondered if perhaps her lack of experimentation had played a part in her previous lackluster sex life. In their three times together, Lily felt as though she and Potter had performed more positions than she had ever done before. She liked experimenting, and she liked doing it with him. (Well, I like just doing him, period.)

The sound of voices entering the bathroom, and chatting by the sink startled Lily, but James remained fiercely zeroed in on her, drawing her in with his intensity. His eye contact was hard to deny, impossible to resist.

They probably should have stopped now that they had even more company in the room, but they didn't. James merely pinned her back into the wall so he could free one of his hands to cover her mouth. His insinuation was quite clear: you're not off the hook, and you're still going to come. Lily shuddered. She watched his eyes twinkle and oscillate between hers, never losing focus on their target. The moment felt intimate, despite their present location.

"I knew they were lying. As if Potter would be in here," a girl said.

"That's why you don't believe 13 year olds. They probably don't even know who Potter is."

"Everyone knows who Potter is."

Potter winked at her, and Lily rolled her eyes. Of course they were gossiping about him. Even when she was fucking him, she couldn't get away from hearing about him. (Wait…)

"He's so fucking hot though."

"Ugh, I know. The things I'd let him do to me."

Oh, how I can relate. Lily felt herself getting desperate for release now, trying to match his thrusts with little ones of her own. "Come, baby," he whispered huskily, and for some reason, her eagerness to obey and please him did her in.

She moaned into his hand, arching off of the wall into him, trying to get his body as far into hers as she possibly could. He was in so deep, all the way to the hilt, but it was never enough. She wanted him in her blood, in her veins, in every pore on her body. She opened her eyes as he removed his hand from her lips and readjusted her in order to make a few more deep thrusts for his own undoing. Lily grabbed his face greedily and forced him to look right at her, hovering above him, so she could watch every second. The rippling of his forehead, the flexing of his jaw, the way his eyes melted into a look so pure and untainted. So, so beautiful.

They caught their breaths, staring at one another for a few seconds, before Potter dropped her to her feet, zipped up his trousers, and opened the bathroom stall, slipping out before closing it back up behind him.

There was dead silence. "Ladies," he said in his low, pleasant voice, before she heard the loo door creak open, and lightly click shut behind him.

Giggles and general mayhem ensued.

"What the fuck was that?"

"I don't know!"

"Do you think he's drunk and walked into the wrong bathroom?"

"No! Did that look drunk to you?!"

"I mean he was pretty flushed— FUCK! Do you think he heard us?!"

Silence. More giggles. Lily sat her bum down on the toilet, knowing she couldn't leave until these girls did.

Maybe five minutes later, Lily finally was able to go back to the mirror, very grateful none of the girls had been kleptomaniacs when she found her purse untouched. Shit, she told her reflection, seeing she needed to reapply her lipstick once more — the small task that had started this whole mess. Her heart skipped a beat in horror as she realized that Potter had left without cleaning his own face up, but then she realized… they hadn't snogged. How had she just had sex with someone and left his lips untouched — and yet still come? It almost made the whole thing even more torrid, if not slightly tawdry.

Lily smacked her lips together — ignoring the outline of her hand, smudged on the mirror — making sure her clothes were all back in place, and prayed to Circe that Benjy wouldn't notice that she had gone to the bathroom wearing stockings, and had come out with bare legs.

"Lily! Are you all right?" Benjy asked, obviously concerned. It made Lily feel like a total bitch. "Rosmerta said you were feeling under the weather?"

Ugh. Lily really didn't want this cute boy thinking she'd just gotten sick in the bathroom. Honestly, anything was better than that (besides the actual truth, of course). "Sorry, just that time of month." Was it low? Absolutely. Would he have any questions or doubts? Nope. None at all.

"Oh, that sucks, let's go to the apothecary and get you something for that," Benjy readily suggested, wrapping her cloak over her shoulders. Lily nearly forgot: he had sisters. Screw her, this guy was perfect.

You're a bitch, you're a bitch, you're a bitch.

Lily's eyes did a sweep of the bar on their own accord as they left, and faltered when she saw Potter, standing with his friends. Because not only was he smirking at her, watching her leave, but he also had his hand up in a polite little wave. The only problem was, she could see her crimson lipstick, smeared in the shape of her lips, contrasting starkly against his palm from when he'd muffled her orgasmic cries.

Lily flinched and let Benjy lead her away.

Next Chapter: The Mending