Heyo! So just to clarify this: writing Fawkes, I was going off of what Dumbly told Harry... about how Fawkes helped Harry because he was showing Dumbledore extreme loyalty in the Chamber of Secrets O.o Awkward. (Awkbird? ... I'll see myself out...)

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

Inspo: I think we all know I'm super inspired by Blvnk's NSFW line on twitter (blissfulblvnk) yeah? Here too ^.^ If you know, you know ;)

Song: Lilith by Ellise

The Relationship

The next few days, to put it mildly, were a complete shitshow.

With Lily and Remus on the rocks, she saw no reason to continue eating at the Gryffindor table during meals, and instead sat with the only other person she really interacted with anymore — her boyfriend. This led to her and James' relationship quickly skyrocketing to the realm of 'public knowledge' amongst the general populous of Hogwarts — even though everyone had barely gotten over talking about just how boldly the Head Boy had asked the Head Girl out in the middle of class after kicking her ass in a duel. (Lily was at least grateful they were no longer chatting about that embarrassing little tidbit.)

Lily's presence at the Slytherin table definitely ruffled some feathers. Emma, and her usual posse, had made a grande show of getting up from their wonted spot next to the Death Eaters and, while huffing and glaring daggers at Lily the entire time, moved to the complete opposite end of the table. Bellatrix and Nott had also seemed quite angered that Lily dared to sit with them. But while Nott slunk off to go sit with Snape further down the row, Bellatrix had stayed and licked chocolate spread off her knife for a solid hour (causing Lily to wonder if this was a regular occurrence, or perhaps just a fun little quirk for the maniac) while everyone ignored her.

For the most part, none of that stuff bothered Lily — after all, being untouchable was nothing new to her. She was with James, and his warm, firm hand on her thigh, silently telling her that he wanted her there (thus truly, she belonged there) was all she really needed. (And of course, now that they were so clearly in a relationship, Sirius stopped giving her nearly as much shit and was welcoming her with open arms. Well, as open as the arms of a maddeningly sassy twat could reach.) Following James' lead, most of his other Death Eaters fell in line and spoke to her pleasantly enough, shooting looks at their leader every now and then as if to check that they were saying and doing the right things. His continued easy laugh and lack of cutting glowers seemed to let them know that they were on the right track to pleasing him.

What did bother Lily, however, was how much her classmates from other houses treated her differently due to her relationship with James. More than once, Lily had entered a bathroom, whether in her own dorm or out and about in the castle, and had all the chatter stop immediately as all eyes zeroed in on her. Even worse than that, some of her peers didn't even mind if she heard their disapproving commentary. It seemed like the school was split down the middle with people thinking either she wasn't good enough for a dreamboat like James, or admonishing her for giving up all her principles to date a murderer. After all, how could any Muggle-born be 'so stupid?'

Well boo-fucking-hoo for them, Lily thought, trying to let all the judgment roll right off her shoulders.

But then Malcolm happened.

Lily was just minding her own business, walking away from Potions after having given James one last lingering kiss, when Malcolm stopped her in an empty corridor, and spat in her face.

Lily gasped, her fingers instinctually flying to her cheek to touch the wetness there. She drew them back, checking if this was real, and he'd actually just done that to her.

He had.

"That's for betraying our people, dumbass," Malcolm said, already walking away from her.

Lily would be having none of that. "Hey! Hey!" She wanted him to turn around before she cursed him. As soon as he did, she had the 6th year, fellow Muggle-born in an upright full body-bind and approached him slowly, her wand hand trembling. She couldn't believe that this was the appreciation she was getting for risking her life to try to save his that day in the Forbidden Forest. Sure, his memories of the event had since been wiped clean, but that didn't mean that Lily didn't remember. That didn't mean that she couldn't still recall his bloodcurdling screams — clear as day — as he was used for Crucio practice. She still knew that this kid owed her. "You have no idea what I did for you, do you?"

Malcolm's dark brown eyes narrowed at her, but she'd purposefully extended her hex so that his mouth was immobilized too. It was her turn to speak. He might have just wanted to assault her and leave without a word of retort, but no — she'd make him listen to her.

"You lecture me from this high horse, but you don't even know that I'm the reason you get to sleep peacefully in your bed at night," she continued darkly, standing right in front of him. "If it wasn't for me, I don't know if you'd still be standing here, having the luxury of even speaking your goddamn mind." She stood right in front of him, tilting her head. "I'm not saying you have to thank me, but the very least you could do is show me some respect."

Malcolm started struggling, trying to yell at her.

Lily snorted, straightening her back. "No? Well, you're really fucking lucky you didn't do that in front of my boyfriend, or I'm pretty sure you'd be dead right now." She meant it as an exaggerated taunt, but honestly, it was probably the bloody truth. James would never allow anyone to disrespect her the way Malcolm just had. If the boy wasn't dead, he most certainly would have been used for torture practice from now until the end of his life.

Lily supposed she'd really have to keep this a secret then — for Malcolm's sake. She wanted a little revenge for his blatant lack of civility, but she didn't want him to be murdered. (Or… maybe she just didn't want James to break his never-having-killed-a-wizard streak.)

"But you already knew that, didn't you?" she continued icily. "That's why you spat on me here, in this hall that barely anyone is ever in? Did that make you feel like a big, strong man, making your point?" Lily looked over her shoulder, seeing that there still wasn't any foot traffic. It gave her an idea: turning back to Malcolm, she hit him with a concealment charm and tipped him flat to the ground, relishing in the loud thud his body made as it connected with stone. "There. You wanted privacy, right? Well, now you have it. Let's see how long it takes for someone to trip over you and find you here."

Lily thought of Malcolm when she arrived late to Arthimancy, cursing him in her head for the delay, but after that, she forced herself to promptly forget that she had left him on the floor. If he didn't want to end up cursed, he probably shouldn't have gone after her in the first place. What had he been thinking? That I'd just roll over and take it? No, that was not how Lily operated — not now, not ever.

"Lils, I'm serious, we absolutely have to fuck."

"Excuse me?" Lily asked groggily, waking up in James' bed on Saturday morning. "Potter, what time is it? Why are you waking me so goddamn early—?"

"Evans," James said dramatically. "It's the first Quidditch match of the season. What do you mean, 'why are you—'"

Oh. Right. Lily had nearly forgotten. "Gotcha, gotcha," she sighed, rolling over to him and kissing the underside of his jaw before cuddling back into his pillow. "Good luck out there." Her lids had closed back up before she'd even started the sentence. Lily yelped when an angry finger poked her in the ribs. "Babe!"

"No. Sex," James demanded nuzzling his face adorably into her neck as though it was his turn to have his way with her. "I can't be getting distracted by you sitting there in the stands looking all cute as fuck without having had you first." He was stretched out next to her naked, so really, he barely had to say anything to get Lily on board with his ardent request, but telling her something along those lines sure didn't hurt his case. Lily absolutely loved the idea that her mere presence could be so overwhelming to him that it would derail his concentration for doing anything else. It was hot and made her feel like a Siren. "Also, what the hell is this: didn't you used to get up early every morning to jog? And masturbate?" he added, tickled by the fact.

Huh. I guess I did. Lily smiled contently into his silk pillowcase. "I guess I don't need to anymore," she admitted. She figured giving him a little ego boost before his big game wouldn't be the worst thing.

"That's good," James whispered, tangling their legs together under the sheets as he leaned into her ear. "But you know what I need? My lucky match-day shag."

Lily cracked one lid open. He had to be joking. "You have sex before every game?" Oh my god. "For luck?"

James started exaggeratedly peppering her face with smooches, trying to get a more enthusiastic response out of her. It was hard to remain impassive in the face of such giddiness. "Don't hate the player, hate the—"

"Since when?" Lily asked curiously, but then realized, she really didn't even want to know when James had started being sexually active. "Never mind, don't answer that," she grumbled.

James only grinned harder. "I mean, I can always go shag somewhere else if you'd like—"

Lily's fingers blindly came up to smush his lips together, daring him to finish that statement. "Don't even joke about it, you superstitious jerk." She rolled onto her back. "Okay. Lucky charm here at your service. Do what you must."

James chuckled before climbing over her, his lips hovering above hers. "Oh, I will, trust me."

Lily widened her legs, ready for the moment he'd slip himself in, but he surprised her by dropping his body lower, snuggling his face between her thighs and yanking the blankets down to his neck, as though making a fort. "What are you—?" Lily didn't get to finish her sentence before he'd attached himself to her clit, sucking away like a man on a goddamn mission. "Fuck." He persisted by giving her a few solid licks before putting his fingers to work, rubbing her as he moistened his lips and watched her reaction. "I thought this was— it was supposed to be…" she tried, her own fingers finding their way to his messy bedhead hair. She swallowed and tried again, "Thought this was supposed to be your lucky shag not a—" He brought his mouth back and she was a goner, pulling him more tightly against her body with a rough grip as she practically rode his face, bucking up her hips.

He pulled back slightly. "Easy Lils, I don't want to break my nose before the match."

She was past the point of caring. She tried pushing his head back down to where she wanted it. "Sh. Don't talk. You'll ruin it."

"But what if I want to talk?" Lily wasn't sure what made him happier: the fact that she was so desperate for his mouth, or the fact that he could deny it from her. "You're gonna have to let me talk to you, baby, because I need to know what's working." He was so full of shit, and Lily knew it. She remembered oh so vividly the time in this very bed when he'd mapped out exactly what she responded to best with his tongue. "You see, now that I haven't been reading your mind anymore—"

"Good boy."

Lily had truly meant it as a compliment: she'd asked him to stop doing something, and he'd followed her instructions and done just that. She hadn't planned her specific words, she hadn't consciously realized she was even saying them as she did, but they hit James like a sack of bricks all the same. "What?" His head had popped up, gaze a delicious mixture of wanton and starstruck as he stared at her, begging her to say it again to confirm that his ears hadn't been playing tricks on him.

Well, she had to fully commit to it now, didn't she? "I said: Good boy." It occurred to her in that moment that she'd been so busy discovering her own kinks, that she really had let uncovering his fall to the wayside. Why wouldn't he get off on praise just as much as she did? It seemed to go hand in hand with hearing her beg — both actions indicating that he was doing a damn good job of pleasuring her.

James pushed himself up onto his arms and crawled over her, wasting no time claiming her mouth and thrusting into her down below, swallowing her surprised moan. When Lily thought both of them were about to pass out from lack of oxygen, he pulled back and finagled her legs up, bending them inwards towards her chest, making the two of them a tangled mess of limbs and flesh. "Wear my jersey to the game today, Evans."

What? What about using his own favorite phrase back at him had brought him to that request? "Why?" she panted, trying to think straight despite his best efforts to scramble her brain with his hips.

"I wanna see you wear it," he replied simply, staring at her the whole time.

It was amazing how much more comfortable they had gotten with each other in such a short amount of time. The knowledge that they were destined to be together could have gone one of two ways: either it could have completely freaked them out or it could take off all the pressure. Luckily for them, it seemed to be having the latter effect, ensuring that they were left to be carefree side by side, in love, confident in their place in each other's lives.

Despite the dirtiest of dances their lower halves were performing, Lily touched his chin with all the tenderness in the world. "No."

James' left brow raised as his jaw set in challenge. "Wear it." He pulled his cock out of her fully, leaving only the tip to linger tantalizingly just out of reach. "You thought it brought out the jade in my eyes, love, Imagine what it will do for yours."

Of course he remembers my past lustful musings. Lily's eyes narrowed as she tried flexing him back into her body, only to be met by his two strong hands, keeping her legs pinned up against her and away from him. In actuality, she was rather touched that he wanted her to wear his jersey, proudly declaring that she was his girlfriend for all the school to see, — but life wasn't that straightforward. A girl like her couldn't simply parade around declaring that she was James Potter's love. There were rules in this world — like it was somehow Muggle-borns responsibility to act better than their Pureblood peers. Malcolm had just reminded her so forcefully of that.

Lily snapped her eyes shut, scolding herself for even thinking about the incident with the boy in the hall. The fact that James hadn't flown off the handle yet told Lily that he really was following through on his pledge to cut back on reading her mind, but she still didn't want to tempt fate.

James wasn't picking up on her internal struggle though, but instead believed Lily was merely having a really hard time not getting fucked. (She would gladly take the shame of that over him knowing her true thoughts.) "Come on, Lils," he cooed, angling his pelvis so the head of his cock rubbed between her folds. (Okay, so maybe now his interpretation isn't so far off.) "Just for one game…" He teased her with a shallow stroke, only to pull right back out, making Lily groan. "Wear my name."

"James…" she moaned, grabbing at his biceps, hoping to buckle their iron grip on her legs.

"Potter… it says Potter." Another quick thrust, another whimper from Lily as his cock went in and out of her, leaving her lacking.

Lily craned her neck, lifting her head off the pillow to get closer to his face. "Just leave it in for fuck's sake!" she growled.

James flattened himself on top of her with another teasing pump. "Promise me you'll wear it, and I will." Lily broke one of her arms free from under his weight and tried trapping his bum against her, keeping him deep inside so she could writhe against him, trying to massage herself with his cock — but he was able to pull back only a few seconds later, much to Lily's chagrin.

At this point, she wasn't sure if her response was out stubbornness, or societal preservation. Just because she was now his girlfriend, didn't mean that James got to control her. Lily was sure that her recent dealings with the Order weren't at all swaying her current declaration of independence. (They most certainly were.) "I won't."

James huffed. "Fine," he pushed off and away from her, ripping open his curtains and getting ready to storm out, "then you don't get to come."

Fucking bastard! Lily supposed they weren't exactly out of the testing stage of their relationship quite yet. She saw Sirius peeking out of his bed at them curiously. "What about your lucky shag?" she hissed at James before he got to the bathroom.

James snorted. "I'll just go wank in the shower. It's what I normally do before every game anyway." He threw her a wink over his shoulder before strutting off. "Far more reliable." The door snapped shut behind his perfectly perky tush.

Lily dropped her head back into her pillow with a peeved grunt. Of course that's what he normally does. James absolutely would want her to think she was competing with the girls of his past — when in reality, they didn't even exist, or at least not in this context. When she'd been so eager to participate in his little pregame ritual, she'd secretly been competing with his hand all along.

While Lily was cursing her boyfriend's will of steel, she completely missed Sirius' sneaky approach until he'd jumped into James' bed beside her. "Okay—"

"Ah!" Lily yelped, yanking the sheet over her chest.

"Relax, we've all already seen each other naked."

"Not the point—"

"Right, the point is: why the hell aren't you going to wear Prongs' stupid jersey?" Sirius settled himself down comfortably beside her, interlocking his fingers behind his mane. "Do you know just how dumbly over the moon it would send the bloke?"

"Sirius," she began, "I can't just wear Slytherin green and then go sit in the Gryffindor stands during our match. That would be—"

"Then don't," he cut her off simply. "Sit with me."

Lily raised a skeptical brow. "With you?"

"Cupcake. You already sit with us at meals, the stands really aren't that different. You're James' girl now, the guys will still know they have to check themselves around you. You're good." Her face must have remained impassive, because he only double-downed harder. "I swear, you've been stubborn and denied him for so long, it's almost like it's become a habit now, when it really doesn't need to be." Damnit, he may have a point. Why does this guy secretly raise a lot of good points? She supposed even a dumb dog could find a bone every once in a while. "Come on, I know you want to Evans. What's holding you back?" he asked cheekily, knowing he was making leeway on persuading her. "It would make him so happy; don't you want your boyfriend to be happy? Just think of how grateful he'll be in the locker room afterwards. You're worried about seeming whipped, but I bet my left ass cheek that you'll be able to do whatever your dirty little heart desires to him after the game if you're wearing his shirt."

Lily swallowed an awful lot of saliva that — for some reason — had just gathered in her mouth.

Sirius smiled wickedly as he patted her head before getting out of the bed. "Just something to think about."

Lily slapped his hand away and rolled over, wanting to get at least another half hour of sleep in before they left for the pitch.

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this," Lily said an hour later, sitting in the stands next to Sirius, waiting for the teams to walk out onto the field.

"I mean, you're wearing a cloak over it, so you can only really see the green from the front anyway," Sirius reasoned, leaning back on his bench, propping his elbows on the row behind them. A young girl grumbled before scouting out of his way. Lily shrugged her shoulders a tad nervously, hoping some of the stares she felt on the back of her head would die down eventually. Sirius definitely noticed. "Do you really care that much what other people think?"

Yes. Lily knew it was a problem, but she also knew that it was one she was working on. She'd made a lot of progress in the 'care less' department recently, but it wasn't like she could forget nearly two decades of mental programming overnight. It was a process to let go of other people's expectations when they had dictated her life for so long.

"Really?" Sirius asked as though he'd never given a single rat's ass about anyone else's opinions. (Then again, maybe he hasn't.) "That's a shame." He shifted his hair out of his eyes with a sharp jerk. "Look. I'll deny ever telling you this, but you're hot, you're talented, and you're dating the most powerful wizard in school. You better learn how to get over what people think real quick, because they're all jealous of you now and they're not going to be nice about it."

It was the sort of tough love advice that Remus would normally give her. Lily tried not to miss him.

"So chin up," Sirius continued, "tits out, and show them you don't give a fuck." He grinned. "And make Prongs so hard he can't fly straight because his massive boner veers his broom in one direction."

Never mind. This advice was nothing like Remus'.

Lily looked out over the pitch as the cheers around the stadium became deafening and instantly locked eyes with hazel ones she knew she could recognize anywhere, already staring her way. It was like he'd spotted her first thing, and the massive smile lighting up his face told her he'd noticed she was wearing his old jersey. She decided to push her hair back over her shoulders to give him an even more unobstructed view of what he had begged her so thoroughly for that morning.

He winked at her, needing the referee to yell out his name three times before he remembered he had to shake hands with the Gryffindor captain and not just ogle his girlfriend for the whole match.

"Fucking hell, princess. If we lose today, it's your fault," Sirius groaned as the game began with a flourish. "Maybe you're still a spy, but your focus has just shifted to fucking up our Quidditch stats."

She knew he was only teasing. (She hoped.) "Ah yes," she responded dryly, "what a good use of my time. Having boys throw games."

"You say it like Prongs wouldn't do it if you asked."

"Actually, he told me he's going to kick Gryffindor's arses to secure another date."

Sirius snorted. "Course he did." Lily watched as James and his fellow Chasers flew across the field, dodging and weaving as they made goal after goal, after goal. They were making it look like they were playing against toddlers with how badly Gryffindor was already losing. "You really like him back though, yeah?" Sirius asked. Lily could tell that he was trying to be nonchalant about it, but he couldn't quite manage.

"Yeah," she answered honestly.

"Good, good." Sirius nodded, before adding, "Because he's practically family, Evans, so I won't let you hurt him." In this moment, he reminded Lily a bit of an overprotective Rottweiler growling in front of their master in the face of an unknown threat.

Huh. Lily had — perhaps a little optimistically — thought they'd moved past this whole 'prove you actually like him' bullshit. "Are you really questioning my character, Black?" she sassed.

Sirius looked at her from the corner of his eye. "You act like you weren't at the last Hogsmeade weekend with another bloke." Oh. Whoops. She'd already forgotten about that, truth be told."Don't worry though. Prongs told me all about what you naughty kids got up to in the bathroom. Tad unhygienic for my taste, but hey. When you gotta have it, you gotta have it."

Oh great, and now he's teasing me again. Lily rolled her eyes. "Is it a Death Eater thing to switch moods so fast?"

"Oh no, Evans. We're known to be such a very even-tempered bunch."

She glowered at him, missing another one of James' exquisite goals. She had to get back at this git sitting next to her somehow — she couldn't just let him get away with this much sarcasm at her expense. "You know, it's funny you say that James is like family, because you have sex… at the same time as him." Oh fuck, that sounded so much better in my head. There was just something about Sirius that completely threw Lily's game off every damn time. Lily willed her cheeks not to flame up — she willed them not to. (She knew bodily reactions didn't work that way and it was only enhancing her embarrassment.)

Sirius looked positively gleeful at her blossoming mortification. "My Merlin. That has got to be the most awkward thing anyone has ever said to me."

"Shut up—"

"No really, I thought you wanted us to fuck you together, why are you trying—"

"Forget I even—"

"What are you, the shag police, now? We aren't blood, we can have sex, 'at the same time'," he threw up air quotes, "without it being weird or anything—"

"Sorry, fuck!" Lily shouted frustratedly.

Sirius suddenly froze, icy eyes flashing with understanding. "Oh, I know what you're doing. You just wanted to throw a joke out there so we could start talking about having that threesome again, is that it, sweetheart?"

It had to be the hottest November on record. It just had to be. There was no other explanation for why her face so positively burned. "Will you stop calling me—"

"Pumpkin. Come on, next time, just ask. No bizarre, shame-y quips." Sirius threw his arm around her and pulled her to his side. "But don't worry, I have not forgotten how badly you want us to…" he leant into her ear and whispered some things that made Lily pretty sure that her entire body had just flushed beet red before she pushed him away. He chuckled. "What? It's your fantasy, not mine."

Lily wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to deal with Sirius Black. "You don't want it too?"

He shot her a wink. "Nah, I'm kidding, I'm down, I'm down. It's Prongs that's the holdup. Believe it or not, he's a tad territorial of you, but he'll come around. Like I said, the fool will do anything for you." He looked at her seriously for a moment. "So don't ask too much."

Lily blinked and looked back to the game. It seemed as though James finally had to show that he could fly defensively as well, and somehow that was even hotter. He was using his body to physically intimidate his opponents, blocking every opportunity they had with his speed and size, and Lily couldn't believe that she was jealous of the fucking broomstick that got to be in between his legs.

But Sirius was right, she needed to stop being so selfish. Just like James had pointed out on his yacht, it was basically always all about her: her needs, her desires, her timeline… her everything.

James scored another goal and did a lap past the stands, his fist raised in the air in victory. Even if Gryffindor caught the Snitch now, they still couldn't win — they were so behind and hopelessly screwed. Lily noticed a powder blue flash dart by on James' wrist. Her scrunchie: he was wearing it. He was wearing something of hers while she was wearing something of his.

An overwhelming surge of affection flowed through Lily at alarming speed. What had she been doing? This guy had been trying to give her the world and what had she done? Scoffed at it? Continued to give him a hard time? Fought him on a request as simple as 'wear my jersey to my game to support me, please'? Lily knew how much he loved seeing her in his clothes — his reaction to her in his hoodie and joggers after the night he'd tied her to his bed had shown her that — but her initial reaction had still been to deny him. Why?

Weren't real relationships reciprocal? Shouldn't she be putting just as much effort into this as he was? She wanted to match him. She wanted to be his equal.

James had been trying to figure out what made her tick this whole time. Sure, he'd had the cheating help of being able to just see it in her eyes, but still, there had been some effort put in on his part. What did Lily know about what turned him on the most? Think Lily, think…

Well, he always wants to know what I'm thinking. Quite obsessively. That was a given. Whether it was peeking into her brain, or straight up asking her, he always needed to know. She'd lost track of how many times he'd asked her to just 'tell me' something already — what she needed to come, what he supposedly 'wasn't allowed' to do to her, how badly she wanted him, how it had felt after the act… The list went on. He said she wasn't really forthcoming, so no longer using Legilimency on her must have been killing him.

What if he just loves hearing me be honest? He'd always said he was so glad that she was starting to become herself and frequently brought up her skills as a liar. Could her talking to him, truthfully, really be a turn on? Lily felt like that would be ridiculous, but didn't his voice also get her going? She loved hearing approval and the occasional command, perhaps he just wanted her to stop lying to him. She put on an act for so many people, but James knew that only he got to see the real her — and it probably made him feel special.

She knew he made her horny practically every second of every day, so why not just vocalize that? She had absolutely nothing to lose. She could give him that stroke to his ego that he craved and all it would cost her was finally, finally, just admitting all the dirty places her mind went, aloud. Admitting all the dirty places it went with him.

It made sense: him making her kiss him first, him wanting her to ask him out on the date, him wanting to be chased and courted as much as he was doing those things for her. James Potter wanted to be wanted.

I can do that, Lily thought to herself, gathering all her courage. Why did being so honest with him sound like one of the scariest things she could do on the planet? He's worth it though, she reasoned. He's so fucking worth it.

Lily couldn't believe that a boisterous, packed bleacher was where she'd finally gotten some of her best thinking done.

Lily walked into the locker rooms a good fifteen minutes after all the fanfare of Slytherin's victory had died down. It had been an ass-whooping so vigorous that the announcer hadn't even mentioned the score by the end — everyone sort of just knew that James and his team had taken Gryffindor down by a lot. For me. He did it for me.

As Lily pushed open the swinging door, she realized she'd come to terms with a whole lot while lusting over James' athleticism. One: relationships didn't have to be competitions with a winner or a loser. Both partners could very much win; in fact, it was kind of the entire point. That she wanted James to completely dominate and destroy her sometimes didn't make her any less of a woman, or any weaker of a person. And that he was eager and willing to do that for her, and it actually gave him pleasure in return? It was a cherry on top of a scrumptious ice cream sundae. Two: relationships were all about finding a balance. While she liked it when he was mad and aggressive, whilst still showing he was obsessed with her, he was all about the seduction, knowing how to tease through withholding sex, giving her just enough of a taste to drive her mad. He also seemed to love taking his time with her body, making love to her entire being while she fought to fuck him rough and hurried. Sometimes they really did seem to be two sides of the same coin, opposite in their extremes, but she knew they could make it work. To truly drive James mad, she'd have to fight her instincts and positively smother him in her feral need for him, pleading, begging, and boosting his self-esteem until he couldn't take it anymore and exploded.

She needed to start giving him some of what he wanted and stop always making the sex go her way. They could take turns — hell, they could practice working out their kinks until they could give each other both at the same time. I don't know, I can be disobediently appreciative of him — Lily was up for the challenge.

Her eyes landed on James' shower-kissed skin as he stood at the back of the locker room, laughing with his teammates in nothing but an emerald green towel knotted low across his hips. That's my man, Lily thought possessively.

James' face hardened when he saw her standing by the threshold, looking more like the fiercely determined player she'd just seen out on the field destroying the hopes and dreams of seven of her dorm mates by the second. "Leave us," he announced to the room at large. His teammates looked confused until they also noticed Lily standing there and hurriedly got dressed before taking their leave.

Lily fully stepped inside as the door swung shut behind her, slowly sauntering closer to him. "Nice game, Potter"

James remained where he was, watching her approach with confident lips but curious eyes. "Nice shirt."

"Thanks." She rounded the last of the benches as she shrugged off her cloak and let it fall to the floor, standing just out of his reach. She had to make this last — for him. He definitely noticed the space between them, and it only served to peak his interest. "I wanted everyone to know I'm yours."

James' breathing hitched and Lily could tell that he had not expected her words, so casually and willingly given straight off the bat without any provocation on his part. She bit her lip, hiding her smile. She could totally work with this, what had she been thinking? Seeing him get excited was such a fucking turn on.

"Is that so?"

She took a little step closer but purposefully clasped her hands behind her back, resisting the urge to touch him, reminding herself of her goal today: his pleasure. Now was not the time to get herself off to the visual of how starkly his abs stood out in the room's harsh overhead lighting, or to how his exertion out on the field still had his skin glowing in the same way it normally did post sex. Focus, Lily, focus. "Yeah," she licked her lips and smiled, remembering he loved seeing her confident too, "I wanted everyone to know that the best player in the game was already spoken for. You're mine, Potter."

James exhaled gruffly before he reached out and grabbed Lily's elbow, pulling her directly before him. "You don't know what seeing my name across your chest does to me, love," he whispered huskily before moving his touch to the silver stitching in reverence. "What changed your mind?"

"I wanted to make you happy," she admitted, looking him dead in the eye.

His fingers trailed down lower, each hitting her nipple like a little speed bump on their journey. "You're not wearing a bra," he announced throatily.

Had her soft, slow, seductive tone really reduced him to this? Was it really this easy to unravel James Potter? "I'm not," Lily teased as she stood on her tiptoes and leaned into his ear. He radiated heat out of his very pores. "I'm not wearing knickers either."

"Lils…" he breathed.

"I was just sitting in the stands, getting absolutely drenched watching you play. You're so fucking good, and I want you so bad," she murmured.

James' gaze went completely unfocused before he blinked a few times, trying to clear out some of his overpowering lust. He grasped at her hip, his thumb pushing into her flesh painfully. "How do you want it?"

She had him. She had him wrapped around her finger and it had been fun. "However you want, baby," she practically whimpered. "I wanna do whatever you want today."

She was pretty sure she saw his cock twitch underneath the towel, jumping at attention.

"Come here," James commanded, pulling her the short distance to his mouth as he kissed her and began undoing the button of her jeans. He broke away with puffy lips and an eager glint in his eye. "You know this means I get another date, yeah?"

Lily giggled as she finally tugged on his towel, leaving him fully naked. What? Patience is fucking hard. "Yeah, it does."

James sat on the nearest bench and guided Lily over, balancing her as she stepped out of her jeans. He smiled as his hand cupped between her legs under the low hem of his jersey and he discovered she'd been telling the truth. "Is this my reward for a job well done?"

Lily mounted him, hovering her entrance over his cock. With a soft touch, she trailed one finger from his neck up to his chin, delighting in the rough stumble she felt there. "No. This is because I'm fucking crazy about you, win or lose." Even when getting head, James had made their sex all about feelings. She knew he had a vulnerable side he was just aching to show her — she just had to give him the space. If he was brave enough to go there, even though he'd been afraid he'd come too fast as he did, she could be brave too. "This is because I love you." Her gaze drank in how his expression absolutely melted for her. "I want to make love to you, baby."

Lily was also very well aware that James had always rewarded her romantic declarations — whether with kisses or his cock. Today it was both. James groaned as he pulled her hips down onto him, sheathing himself inside of her before he grabbed her jaw and stole her breath with a heated kiss, crushing her lips against his. "Ride me slow, just like that," he whispered as Lily began setting a rhythm.

"You feel so good, James," she moaned, recalling how he'd told her the very same thing their first time. He wanted shit like this. "You're so big, fuck." Was she laying it on too thick? (Pun most definitely intended.) It felt like it, but the way his grip jumped back down to her hips and tightened with a guttural groan seemed to indicate no. She focused on keeping the roll of her body steady, letting all the sensations hit and zing throughout her whole core. He was perfect and he was hers and she was going to appreciate the hell out of him. "I love how deep I can feel you inside of me."

James already seemed past the point of words, dropping his forehead heavily against her collarbone as he made an almost inhumane whine. "Lils—"

But she wasn't done yet. He was always waxing poetic when they fucked too, insisting on affectionate words, and telling her how beautiful she was, and how happy she made him. He'd even started proclaiming his love for her in the midst of fucking quite regularly now. It was becoming clearer and clearer that he craved that sort of intimacy, and she was about to let it all out. "I love everything about you, James. I love your devotion to things you care about. I love how smart you are. I love how powerful you are." She knew she was no poet, but his face was still contorting in satisfaction so rich it almost looked painful as he dropped his head back, looking at her. She could have sworn that she could actually feel his cock thicken inside of her. "I love how you take control, baby. I love when you have your way with me, I don't ever want you to stop—"

"Lils, please, I'm gonna—"

Now that she had his gaze, she refused to let go. He had told her that he needed her pleasure to reach his own, so she was going to telegraph it. Another rock of her hips had her crying out loudly as his cock hit a wonderful spot inside of her. Interlocking her hands at the base of his neck, she continued panting, "I just want to make you happy, baby, I just want you to feel like—"

"Shit," James cursed, hips spasming as he grimaced, sealing his eyes shut.

Lily froze on top of him, looking at him curiously. No… he couldn't have. He has great stamina, and it's been, what? Three minutes? "Did you just…?"

"Yep, yep I did." James squeezed his eyes closed harder, lips stretched into a nearly invisible line.

"Oh," Lily said. She couldn't believe she'd actually made him come so fast.

There was a long moment of silence.

"What are you smirking at?" James asked as he finally cracked open an eyelid. She could see the vulnerability etched all over his face, wishing so desperately for her not to make a big deal out of this.

"Nothing." She smirked harder. "I just can't believe you were that easy to break."

James groaned, leaning into the fingers she was now using to massage the back of his scalp. "That was embarrassing."

"Nah," Lily teased, pushing some of his sweaty hair off of his forehead, "I'm just really glad I didn't say I like your big fat cock. Imagine how fast you would have come then."

James snorted, hands rubbing up and down her thighs as he finally regained his smile. "Instant combustion."

"It really is the nicest one I've ever seen."

"Hey," James brushed his lips against hers, bringing Lily down from her levity rather quickly — just like he knew it would. He wanted her to know the sincerity of his next words. "Thanks for this."

"For?" she breathed, trying to recapture his mouth but only being met with air as he pulled back.

"For letting me in a bit. I fucking loved it."

She let out a cocky little chuckle as she squeezed her cunt around his cock, still nestled inside of her. "Yeah, I'd say you really did."

"All right, let's go," James announced, standing them up and carrying them towards the shower stalls, making Lily yelp. "It's your turn to get fucked."

Lily giggled all the way there until he set her down on her feet and dropped to his knees in front of her to eat her out. As luck would have it, James' teammate Nott had the unfortunate timing of trying to take a shower just as James was pounding Lily into the rickety metal wall of a stall. His loud huff of, "For fuck's sake, Potter, learn how to lock a door!" was only met with more laughter and then melting moans as they carried on with their business.

Next Chapter: The Trigger

Aka The Three is Company. The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. (The Threesome.) Whatever you want to call it :)