If you guys want a super cute Jily coffee shop short story, check out theroomofreq's throwing chances on AO3! It's adorbable 3

Warning: Remember how I said this story was a bit of a slow slide into more kinky themes? We're back to some exhibitionism with a little light bondage thrown in - finally Lily gets tied up in one of my stories, yaaaay!

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

Song: Where Are You? by Elvis Drew x AVIVIAN

The Gratitude

Lily opened her eyes slowly the next morning, still exhausted and somewhat confused. Last night had been brutal. Everyone in the room had gone to sleep except for her and Sirius since they were working hard side by side to regrow James' damaged body. Okay, so Lily had worked hard, Sirius had just kept her awake by lobbing asinine questions her way, and sometimes holding up his wand to give her better lighting. James floated in and out of consciousness as Lily made his new muscles invisible so she could see just where his stomach was missing, and then proceeded to break a sweat from the sheer concentration needed to make him a new one. Then, at who knew what hour of the night, she patiently set to task laying down layer after layer of fine dermis and epidermis, until she could hardly even tell that Potter had ever been missing either — or you know, everything underneath as well. She had given herself a moment to admire her handiwork, running her hand ever so carefully over the soft, fresh new skin, until Sirius had made it weird and asked her if she needed the room. Hardy har har.

Lily realized a few things in rapid succession as her eyes adjusted to the light. One: James was also awake, and staring at her breathlessly, mouth ajar and eyes glossy. Two: he had to still be high. Three: he was stroking her hair, and it felt really frigging nice. "You should not be laying on your side right now," she said bossily.

He grinned at her, his face emanating nothing but love. "I feel fine." He pulled the scrunchie holding the remnants of her messy bun out of her hair, securing it on his wrist instead, so her locks fell free.

"Yeah," she nodded groggily, pushing at his shoulder to get him onto his back. "You would." She looked around the room, realizing she must have fallen asleep while staying to observe him. Last she recalled, she'd been sitting against his headboard, rubbing a soothing hand through his hair, lightly scratching his scalp. Even doped out of his mind, Potter had really seemed to love it — letting out little sighs and nudging himself further and further upon her lap. She'd thought she could at least give him that small pleasure considering all he'd just endured.

His bed curtains had never been drawn closed so she could see the room was empty except for Sirius, fast asleep in his bed, facing them, still in last night's clothing. "Wait a second," Lily asked, dread filling her stomach. "What time is it?"

"Uhh," Potter looked down to his wrist, "nearly 10."

"Fuck!" Lily yelped, moving to rise, but Potter held onto her wrist tightly. "Why didn't you wake me?! I've missed almost all of Potions!"

He smiled, watching her, lids still slightly hooded. "Well, you can hardly brew without your lab partner, now can you?"

Lily rolled her eyes, "Okay, Romeo, I could have brewed without you just fine."

"Stay," Potter pleaded, his left hand moving down so they were palm-to-palm, interlocking their fingers. "I need comforting."

"Oh really?" Lily deadpanned, refusing to show him her amusement at his altered state.

"Oh yeah." He nodded vigorously. "I woke up thinking I'd died. You see, there was this angel sleeping besides me, bathed in the early morning glow—"

"Circe, Potter—"

"And then I remembered that I nearly did die—"

"But you didn't—"

"Only because of you," he cut her off again, but more seriously this time. Lily looked down to his side where her handiwork moved in time with his breathing — moved with life that she had saved for him. "I can never repay you. Thank you."

Lily's eyes snapped back to his. "This potion has you feeling all sorts of gushy."

"I mean it, Evans." His right arm crossed over his body to tuck some hair behind her ear, not letting her shy away from the gravity of the situation. His eyes started to twinkle.

"Don't even think about it, Potter," she said, trying to cut him off before he went down the path she suspected he was veering towards. "You're heavily sedated."

"Mmm," he sighed. "Do what you must to me, I suppose."

She snorted. "What if I told you I already had?" she teased darkly.

He smirked, happiest clam on earth. "I'd ask if I was any good."

Lily walked two fingers up his bare chest. "Oh yes, you were excellent." She got to his nipple and flicked it. "In that you didn't die on me."

Potter hissed, covering up his entire pec with his hand. "Why'd you do it?"

"What?" Lily startled. A nipple flick hardly constituted an entire debrief.

"Save me, why'd you do it?"

Lily huffed as though what he was asking was utterly ridiculous. "I wanna be a healer, Potter." She hoped it would be enough of an explanation, just like it had been for Sirius.

It was not. "Yeah, but I'm a Death Eater. If I'd have died, that would have been one less wizard for your side to kill. One less wizard that they tried to kill."

Lily swallowed, getting dizzy under his unobstructed stare. He truly has the world's most gorgeous eyes, filled with sparkling stars of gold. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she'd nearly lost him. That if she hadn't shown up when she did, there was a large chance that she would have never been able to drown in his eyes again. "James, what happened?"

He continued dragging his fingers through her hair, all the way down past her shoulder, before bringing them back up and starting the process all over again. "Aurors raided our headquarters. Killed a bunch of the older guys. Tried to kill Padfoot, so I jumped in the way."

"That wasn't a killing curse." Her voice was trembling.

Potter grimaced, as if remembering the hex that had blown off a solid chunk of his body. "I don't think the killing curse is dramatic enough for Mad-Eye, thinks it's letting people off the hook too easy. He likes his explosions. He likes to blow people up." His eyes got steely for a moment, and Lily fully stopped breathing. "He started doing it ever since he lost one of his best men. The guy tried to kill the Dark Lord, so he had to defend himself. Moody's never forgiven him for that. He felt like losing Steinberg was his fault, so he wants to punish all of us for it."

Lily blanched at the story, realizing this was a man who she saw once a week. He likes to blow people up? What? She forced a swallow. "Did he see your face?"

James' eyes dipped to her mouth. "No."

Lily licked her lips, looking down his body, not wanted to face him right now, not wanting to be tempted to kiss him. "Well, I'm glad you're all right, Potter," she said in her best businesslike voice. They were still holding hands.

"Thanks to you." Some of Potter's easy, high charm was back. "Really, I'm touched you want to keep me around this badly."

"Shut up—"

"Cute pajamas by the way, do you really sleep in these?" His fingers trailed down to her camisole, yanking on a spaghetti strap.

She pushed his hand off playfully. "Yes. Some of us don't want to make everyone else uncomfortable with our nudity."

"I wouldn't be uncomfortable," he answered right away.

"Fine. Other people in our company."

Potter comically lifted his head to look around, only finding his best mate's unconscious form. "Sirius would also definitely not be uncomfortable."

Lily couldn't help but giggle. "How are you horny right now?"

"Lily," James said, smile goofy in a way she'd never seen on him before, but she already loved so much, "I nearly died."

Lily shook her head, obviously. "Yeah. I was there."

"So, evolutionarily, I'm feeling quite disappointed in myself. Hence the horniness. It's my biological need to spread my seed kicking in before it's too late."

"Oh my god," Lily laughed. "I can't believe you just—" she froze, eyes widening in horror.

"What?" James asked concerned. "What?"

Lily slapped her own forehead. "Fuck. I just remembered I need to get another emergency potion from Pomfrey."

James' brows scrunched. "Emergency potion?"

"Emergency contraception," she whispered the last part, "potion. You know, after Hogsmeade."

"Oh." James made his dimple pop as one brow raised, positively delighted. "Right. After that." He leaned in and kissed her shoulder. "You trying to get knocked up by me, love?"

"No!" Lily yelped, pushing him away by the forehead. He was like an overeager puppy right now. "I just don't ever plan on having sex with you." She knew she was red as a tomato. "It just sort of happens."

He shuffled right back to her side, undeterred and finding her shoulder too irresistible to pass up. "You know, when I told you I wanted to be a dad…" Oh, for Merlin's sake… "I meant down the line after I've accomplished a few things first—"

"Shut up—"

"—but I really appreciate you bending over backwards to try to make my dreams come to fruition sooner than that."

Lily swung onto her back, unable to deal with him like this. She stared resolutely at the top of his canopy. "Fucking hell. I feel like the drugs should have worn off by now."

James chuckled into her collarbone, rolling over her and kissing his way up her neck. "Don't worry, Evans. I don't ever forget on my end. I'm shooting blanks, I gotchu."

Hadn't she literally just told herself that whatever he said wouldn't matter when it came to the health of her own body? She tried sitting up. "I'm going to the hospital wing right now."

"Wait!" Potter said desperately, pushing her back down to his mattress. She knew he meant trouble from his naughty smirk alone. "Let's make it extra worth it."

She caught his drift, even before his hand started sweeping down her body. She seized his wrist before it snuck too low. "Firstly, that's not how I should be using that kind of potion, secondly—"

"Fine, you have a wand now! Do a spell!"

She rolled her eyes then looked over his body to emphasize her point, but was afraid the action had only intensified her desire to give in to his. "Secondly, I'm not sleeping with you when you're high." She smirked as the perfect quip came to her. "You know I don't like high chicks." Her eyebrow raised challengingly.

He snorted, knowing she was giving him shit for the time he had turned up his nose at her in this very room after the dance. "Babe, I'm barely still high," he pouted. She shot him a look that screamed, 'Bullshit.' He relented, letting out a very whiny, and most un-Potter-like: "Why not?"

"It's wrong."

"Psh," Potter blew some wayward hair off his forehead. "So wrong it's right?" he tried chiming charmingly.

"No."

"Come onnnn, Lily," he groused. "I really want to!"

"James," she giggled as his mouth descended on her, his hand pawing at her top, freeing one of her breasts, and making the most giddy sound before he latched down on it. She tried not laughing or moaning. "You're hurt… you shouldn't be doing any physical exercise for at least another two days…"

James' arms encircled her back, pressing her chest higher into his awaiting mouth. "I'm not that hurt." Her disapproving grunt turned into a whimper as his teeth grazed her nipple before sucking on it, making it pebble for him before he lazily ran his tongue around it. "Let me thank you, Lils. Let me make you feel good. It's the least I can do."

It was so hard to deny him anything when he already had her tit in his mouth. He grinned like he knew it, pulling on her other strap slowly to free her second breast for him, ready to lavish it with just as much attention as it deserved. She loved seeing him there, worshipping away at her heaving chest, close, but not too close to make watching him awkward and out of focus. She was torn between tracking his skilled tongue, flicking away, and his eyes, watching her in turn — wanting to see what worked and what didn't painted so clearly in her irises.

A snore reminded her that they weren't alone. "James," she hissed, pushing gently at his shoulders, "Sirius is still here!"

She felt his mouth curl into a smile against her skin. "Does that bother you… or excite you?"

Stupid fucking boy being stupid fucking right. One look up at her must have shown him the way her pupils were blown out with the mere thought of getting caught together. She was lying there, half naked in his bed, and all it would take was Sirius opening his eyes to see it all. Did she want him to? Did she want him to watch? Lily squirmed in James' arms. She thought she kind of might.

James' husky voice brought her back to the moment. "Do you trust me?"

There was a loaded question if she'd ever heard one. She reasoned part of her had to, because she was lounging on his mattress, again, knowing just what that had led to last time, but she wasn't sure if that was trust as much as her own masochistic desire to ruin her life. To have him ruin her life for her… or just have him ruin her, period.

His eyes shimmered in amusement as he saw her thoughts flash across her face. "Relax, Evans. You'll enjoy this, I promise."

"You don't know that," Lily scoffed as he pushed her shirt up, his hands trailing up her arms, raising them above her head.

He grinned down to her as he moved to straddle her. "I do, though."

Suddenly, Lily felt rope enclosing around her wrists. She looked up startled, realizing he'd gotten out his wand — probably from under his pillow again — to tie her to the bed. "Potter, what—"

"Sh sh shhh," he murmured, now taking his sweet, sweet time to kiss his way from her inner wrist down to her shoulder.

"Really, your injury is still fresh—" her rebuke melted into a moan as he found that sweet spot on her neck, right below her ear, and nipped it gently.

"Trust me."

There it was, that filthy little word again — trust. Lily wasn't sure if she'd ever really trusted anyone since her parents had died. Remus, of course, but that was basically it. Everyone else had always let her down. Maybe not McGonagall… but how pathetic would that be to admit out loud?

Before she could answer, Potter pushed her bottoms down off of her legs and spread them apart, tying her ankles to his lower posts.

She was tied up. To a Death Eaters' bed. Naked.

Lily, what the fuck are you doing?!

"Do you have any idea how stunning you are?" Potter asked as he gingerly repositioned himself beside her, one hand propping his head up as he unabashedly took her in, spread-eagled and bare before him. His fingers skimmed where his lips had been earlier, down her arm, but then further still, purposefully avoiding her breasts, instead setting the skin on her ribcage on fire. "So fucking beautiful." His fingertips danced over her abs, her hip, then pressed in a little more possessively over her thigh, making her shiver against him. "And so fucking mine."

Well, he's at least starting to sound like his old self again. Lily wriggled, testing her constraints, but she really should have known better than to doubt Potter's magical prowess for even a second. She glared at him. "Well. Get on with it, then."

He stared at her for a moment before bursting out in laughter. Lily grumbled, thoroughly not sharing in his mirth as she stole a quick glance at Sirius, making sure he was still asleep on the next bed over. She couldn't help it that she got insanely horny in the mornings, but she normally could help by doing something about it, by herself. Except now, Potter — who wasn't helping matters by looking criminally fit, and being incredibly shirtless — had taken that ability away. The very least he could therefore do was do it for her.

"Get on with it? Merlin, Evans. No wonder you used to have such a hard time coming."

"Fuck off."

Potter leaned into her ear, and the sudden movement made Lily's breath catch in her throat. "I won't, and I don't think you actually want me to, love," he whispered as his fingers moved up her inner thigh.

Lily let out an embarrassing whimper, trying to wiggle her body enough to move his touch to where she truly wanted— no, needed it. He was onto her and stopped just short.

"Patience, Lils, patience."

Her eyes snapped to his at hearing her nickname roll off his tongue. She felt like he was conditioning her by only using it in the heat of the moment. She had no doubt that soon it would be the only thing he'd have to say to get her going because her body could so very easily now imagine the pleasure that the simple word promised.

He hovered his lips over hers. Lily tried straining her neck, at the very least wanting a good snog out of this whole frustrating deal, but he moved back with her motion, his eyes watching her lips mesmerized as he licked his own. Lily growled.

"I like you like this, too," Potter whispered.

"Fucking ticked off and sexually frustrated as hell?" Lily bit back.

"Desperate. Needy." He smiled and leaned in to kiss at her neck, muttering the next words into her skin. "So bloody ready for me that you might just snap." His hand was continuing its exploration of all her more innocent areas. "I'm going to tease you until you can't take it any more, Evans. And then, and only then, will I give it to you."

Oh, he was good. So sinfully, deliciously bad that it was good. Potter was true to his word and kept tickling and kissing her body, or sometimes merely blowing hot air across her skin in order to elicit an army of goosebumps, until Lily thought she was going to lose it, thrilled with being one loud yelp away from getting discovered by a third party, until finally, finally, she felt his touch, light as a feather, against her inner lips.

"Thank you," she mewled, squeezing her eyes shut and tossing her head back in her pillow. If she'd thought about her words, she would have been embarrassed beyond belief, but she was too far gone to register such things as shame. She'd wanted this, well, anything really, for at least half an hour, and she'd take whatever he was willing to give her at this point. His fingers trailed up and down over her ever so tenderly. "Thank you, Potter—"

"James."

Lily's eyes fluttered open to see him watching her, his own eyes hungry and nearly black with lust. "What?" she asked confused.

"I like it when you call me James."

She swallowed thickly, contemplating his request. It felt… too intimate. She was vaguely aware that she'd started slipping up recently, ever since their date, but… he wasn't a James to her; at least, he shouldn't be. First names implied familiarity, a friendly relationship that they sure as hell didn't have. It made him more human, it declared that he wasn't a monster, it meant—

He slowly started removing his fingers from between her legs, and Lily realized she was screwed. "Fuck, no, fine— James. I'll call you James."

He cracked a smile as his fingers parted her. "Yes, Lily?"

Oh, this bloody git. Hadn't she just given him what he wanted? She pushed down her pride. "Please, James."

His grin went lopsided. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?" He slipped one finger inside of her as he leaned down to kiss her, swallowing her gasp. He was right, the teasing, the purposeful denial of her satisfaction for minutes (hours?) had made even the small act of being fingered feel like heaven. She'd been getting to third base since she was 15, in awkward alcoves, in rushed moments, but it had never felt like this, the way it did with him. Before, it had always felt like boys figuring out how the female body worked and reacted, not about how to make it sing. Previous fingers had never had her bucking her hips, trying to fuck the shit out of the guy's hand.

James pulled back chuckling. "Easy, love. You'll hurt your ankles."

"Please, James, please—" she didn't know what she was even begging for anymore (more fingers, more pressure, his cock?) but she knew he could give it to her.

"Fuck, I love hearing you beg." It was the first time his voice had ventured into the realm of urgency. Lily felt at least a little bit better knowing that her own desperation must have been transferring over to him. It wouldn't be fair to be this horny alone.

James added another finger, making Lily moan. "Yes." He pumped in and out of her while his thumb found her clit, rubbing tight circles.

"What do you want, Lils?" he asked softly, his voice more gravely than she'd ever heard it, as she rocked herself as much as she could in time with his ministrations, the filthy sounds of him plundering her wetness music to her own ears.

Lily bit her lip, not wanting to give in to him yet again. She was currently getting exactly what she wanted and saw no further reason to debase herself for his sick pleasure. She was a goddess and being adored and—

Fuck! Lily gasped as James' free hand pinched one of her nipples hard. After his sweet touches and kisses all over her body, the action seemed even more brutal. "I thought this was supposed to be you thanking me—" she hissed.

James smiled at her innocently, before removing his hand from inside of her and leaning in to kiss her sore nipple better, mercifully licking his tongue over it. "I expect an answer when I ask you a question."

Oh this motherfucker. Okay, so the drugs had definitely worn off and his cocky, power-hungry self was back in full force. Lily pressed her lips together into a thin line stubbornly, refusing to give in. Two could play this game. Then again… she was still tied to his bed. A thrill shot through her, making her body quiver for a second. Being tied to high-James' bedposts seemed to have very different connotations than being tied to the bed of normal Potter — when he was alert and firing away at all his usual dark synapses. She wondered what the hell he was about to do to her, considering he could practically do anything he wanted.

James' still moist fingers glided to her other breast, the feeling sublime while still promising trouble. Lily curled her toes, thinking she was starting to glean what was about to happen next, what her reprimand would be for continuing to evade his query.

James chuckled, enjoying watching her anticipation. "You can stop me, you know. Just answer the question, Lils." His fingers kept circling, closing in on her areole. "Just tell me what you want."

Lily bit her tongue, looking him dead in the eye while her mind screamed, You, you, you, on repeat.

He brought his lower lip into his mouth, the picture of self restraint as his thumb and pointer finger closed around her hardened bud. "Final chance, love."

Lily raised her chin defiantly, all but giving him permission to manhandle her. And perhaps she was; perhaps if she really thought about it, she'd realize she wanted to feel a little pain in this sea of pleasure. She wanted a jolt to keep her tethered to this earth and remind her of who she was and what she was doing with this man. She wanted a little bit of the punishment that only he seemed to be able to give her.

James' eyes glowed and he clamped down, making Lily's jaw drop to let out her moan as her nipple smarted something fierce. She refused to break eye contact with him, wanting him to see that she wasn't afraid of him.

He leaned in and kissed her, sinking his hand into her hair, cradling her close. "You're such a good girl for me, aren't you?"

What? Hadn't she just defied him?

He kissed down her jaw, her neck, her chest, making his way to between her legs where he settled himself down. "Taking that pain for me, baby."

Why did she like this man so much?

James' tongue gave her a hearty lick from her taint to her clit, and, oh yeah, she remembered just why she was attracted to him. Because he could make her feel like that. Lily whimpered and struggled against her bounds again, wanting nothing more than to pull her hands free so she could sink her fingers into his lustrous strands and hold him there against her throbbing sex until he did something about it.

"James—"

"Yes, Lils," he answered right away as though he'd expected nothing less than her complete unraveling just now.

"Fuck me, please," she begged. The fact that this was all he'd asked her to admit only moments before was completely lost on her.

"Is that what you want, baby?" he murmured against her clit, his tongue flicking it from side to side.

"Yes, yes, James, that's what I want. It's all I want—" She choked on her words as his lips surrounded her nub and he sucked her hard. "Fuck—"

"But you told me I couldn't." Oh no. Oh no no no. This bastard was not going to do this to her. Of all the possible instances he could have chosen to listen to her, this was the time?! Lily wanted to scream. "You told me I had to recover." Lily's hands balled into fists next to his posts. Maybe Potter tying her up had nothing to do with intensifying her pleasure, but everything to do with stopping her from killing him when he pulled a stunt like this. "You don't want me to injure myself, do you?" he taunted, his lips pouty and already glistening with her juices.

"Honestly, I don't even give a shit about that right now," she snarled.

He chuckled, looking oddly proud. "Don't worry, Lils. I'll just have to get you there with my mouth today. How's that sound?"

It wasn't like she had a choice in the matter. James got comfortable between her thighs, snaking his arms underneath them, and it felt like he was trying out every different shape and flick in the universe, seeing what had her moaning the loudest. Lily watched, head straining to see, as his tongue dashed left and right, up and down, his lips sometimes slurping and pulling her own lips back gently, tugging and swiping and — the sight was so fucking erotic. She'd never tire of seeing him there, between her legs, licking her like she was the first frigging ice cream cone he'd ever tasted in his life and the experience alone was enough to drive him to ecstasy. He wanted to map her out and know her inside and out — it was obvious from his face. He took her pleasure more seriously than anyone ever had before, studying it, memorizing it, doing everything in his power to learn her body better than she even knew it herself. His tongue never stopped moving, tentatively, wildly, every now and then dropping it lower to wet it again with her. For fuck's sake. She desperately wanted something in her already. She could feel the ropes cutting into her wrists as she tried pulling on them, trying to yank herself free—

Fuck. Her brows scrunched and a pathetic whimper broke from her throat. She really liked deliberate licks with a flat tongue. He kissed her cunt with a smile. "Good girl. Left to right and slowly up. Got it. Let's see how you feel about circles."

Lily cried out a little too loudly, apparently also really fucking loving circles, squeezing her eyes shut as she felt her hips shudder into his mouth, forcing him to untangle a forearm to lay over her, keeping her hips down — and she knew. She just knew that she'd woken up Sirius and that he was now watching them. She bit her lip, trying to suppress a fresh immodest sound.

"Shit, Lils, you just got extra wet." He didn't have to tell her, she already knew that too. She'd felt it. The only thing was, she wasn't ready to look at their audience yet. Of course, that didn't stop her from wondering if Sirius was now touching himself, getting off to watching James pleasing his— well, whatever Lily was to him.

"Inside, please…" she pleaded, hoping he'd give her just this much again, even if it wasn't with his cock. He seemed to take pity on her and obliged, sinking two fingers into her warm, velvety core. She arched her back, thrusting her chest skyward. She had the overwhelming desire to put on a show, to project her pleasure, rather than stifle it, because James was pleasing her. He had her edging within a centimeter of her life, and she thought the world — or just anyone who was currently there to watch them — should know about it.

"Fuck." That voice was scratchy like one of a smoker. That voice was not as deep. That voice belonged to Sirius.

Lily carried on, refusing to acknowledge his presence, while secretly reveling in it. "That's my girl," James whispered to her, pumping his fingers rhythmically, throwing in a curl every now and then that had her toes doing the same. "Come for us, love."

Us. Lily gasped at the word, opening her eyes so she could see Potter's thrilled face, wanting to let him watch her obey him, wanting to earn his praise. He brought his mouth to her clit one more time, sucking her over the edge of her precipice, absorbing her spasms with the arm still pinning her hips.

Lily felt as though she took an eternity to come back down from her high. When she did, James had readjusted himself by her side, and she heard the door to the bathroom click closed. She looked around the room, still pretty out of it. "Where'd he go?"

James' grin doubled in size as he resumed tracing his fingertips delicately up and down the middle of her chest. "Off to take a cold shower, probably."

Lily nodded, relaxing into the mattress like it was her own personal cloud nine. "Right, right."

"So, did you enjoy your thank you?" he pushed arrogantly.

"Yes." She saw no point in lying.

He chuckled as he reached for his wand once more and untied her, bringing one of her wrists to his lips at a time to kiss at the indents her thrashing had left her with. "You need to be more careful, Lily," he murmured.

She snorted, lolling her head to him. "Or maybe you just gotta be less good at what you do."

He looked so, so happy right now, playing with her fingers. "You liked him watching us, didn't you?"

Crap. So they were actually going to talk about this some more? Lily figured if he insisted on it, she might as well use the time to get some more information out of him — but this time, information solely to feed her own curiosity, and no one else's. "Have you two ever…?"

He tilted his head cutely as their fingers intertwined. "Ever what?"

Come on… work with me. "Have you two ever—" she swallowed, "experimented together?"

"Me? With Padfoot? Nah," Potter answered with an easy shrug. "I've always known I was straight."

Right, of course. That makes sense. Lily wasn't disappointed per se, but she did feel a little bit like she'd been robbed of something.

He brought the back of her hand up to his lips with a sneaky smile. "We have smashed chicks together though, if that's what you meant." And we're back in the game! James studied her reaction closely, trying to decipher it, his eyes glowing. "Why?"

"No reason," Lily squeaked a little too rapidly.

His grin twitched, but he seemed all right with letting her off the hook, this time. "Do you want to go get lunch with me?"

Lily gasped, swiveling their wrists in order to turn his watch to her. "Fuck! What the hell, Potter?"

He chuckled. "What? I already told you what time it was earlier. Am I supposed to give you hourly updates?"

Lily groaned, collecting her clothes and pulling them on haphazardly. "I need to borrow your Cloak."

James pushed himself up to his headboard, enjoying the little show she was putting on by bouncing around in front of him, jumping into her pants. "Nah ah, Evans. You took forever to return it last time, no can do." She let out a frustrated growl, not wanting to trapeze through the halls in her pajamas in the slightest. "I can, however, lend you my robes? They'll dwarf you, but I bet you'll look adorable."

Lily stuck her tongue out but figured it was the best solution she had. "Fine. But you're not going to lunch." He was about to protest, so she continued, "I'm serious, your injuries were massive. Bedrest." She swiped her tongue along her teeth under her upper lip, fighting a little internal debate with herself. No matter which way she landed, she knew she was losing. "And no more sex for a couple days."

He raised a delighted brow. "Are those my healer's orders… or yours?"

"Both." She didn't care what she was insinuating, and that she was basically asking him to stop having sex with random classmates, because at least for the moment, both really were true.

"Well, will you at least bring me back some food?"

"No," she huffed, picking out one of his robes from his wardrobe and slinging it around her frame — he was right, it made her look like a small child. "Get your boyfriend to do it. I'll come back after classes to check on my work though. Stay in bed." She pointed a finger at him.

"Yes ma'am."

Lily thought about the smirk he threw at her as she was leaving all damn day.

Next Chapter: The Claim