Chapter 9
Movie

Ding-dong.

She froze for a split second before glancing at the clock—since when was James Potter five minutes bloody early?—and then she grabbed her purse and her other shoe as she rushed out of her room.

"I got it!" Lily called over the bannister as she hopped on one foot, trying to slip her sandal into place.

Footsteps clacking on the tile floor below announced Petunia's progression to the door. "Lily!" she squawked. "Don't tell me you're seeing with that awful boy again."

"Not awful!" Lily shouted back, now slinging her purse across her body while hurtling down the stairs. "The opposite of awful, actual—"

As if she hadn't heard Lily at all, Petunia opened the front door, revealing James standing on their front step with his hand in his hair and a nervous smile on his face. He was dressed in shorts and a plain t-shirt that skimmed the muscles of his chest and arms, yet he somehow still looked sinfully good, and Lily didn't miss the appraising way Petunia's eyebrows climbed as her neck tilted back to take in his full height.

"Hey," Lily greeted him breathlessly.

"Hey," he grinned back, eyes raking shamelessly over her denim shorts and tank top.

Petunia cleared her throat.

"Uh." Lily reached across her sister for the spare keys on the peg. "Petunia, James. James, my sister Petunia."

"Nice to meet you," James said politely.

Petunia sniffed. "Lily, do mum and dad know—"

"Yeah, why do you think they got a ride to their dinner party?"

Her sister only scowled and snipped, as if James wasn't there, "And your date doesn't have his own car? Vernon—"

"James has some racing brooms," Lily interjected with a faux-peppy voice. "And a motorcycle that can fly, if you'd prefer he pick me up outside my window next time?"

She only got a glimpse of Petunia's flaring nostrils before she shut the front door in her sister's face and then leaned against it with a sigh. "Sorry," she told James, who was blinking at her with a bewildered expression. "She hates magic."

His brow knit, like that information puzzled him. "Right."

"Anyway, um, this way."

Between his excitement over Sirius's motorbike and the tone of his letters, she'd expected James to have a childlike wonder as he moved through the Muggle world, but seeing it in person brought a lightness to her chest and a giddiness to her laugh that Lily couldn't remember ever feeling before. From showing him how to get in the car ("Muggles put their wireless in here? Well, that's bloody brilliant."), to explaining how basic traffic laws work ("I can't believe you're bloody driving this thing, that's fucking hot, Evans."), to purchasing their movie tickets at the counter and watching his eyes go wide as they walked through the double-doors into the atrium lined with movie posters ("Woah, nothing moves!"), James oozed excitement, following her like an obedient puppy as he looked around with awe.

Somewhere between taking their tickets and getting in line for concessions, they joined hands, and Lily was so entranced by him, so caught up in explaining the different Muggle sweets, so overwhelmed by the comforting warmth of his fingers caressing hers and the closeness of his body as he stood next to her, that she'd completely forgotten.

The group of secondary school boys in front of them moved aside, and as her eyes turned from gazing up at James to the counter, her stomach immediately plummeted.

James sounded dumbstruck as he chortled, "Snape?"

Lily's jaw felt too heavy to pick up as she looked anxiously between James and Severus, the former of whom looked gleefully shell-shocked, the latter of whom was glaring at them, beady black eyes malevolent behind the curtains of oily black hair framing his face. He was wearing one of the cheesy bellhop-style hats that all theater employees had to wear, and a deep flush rose up his neck as he mumbled through clenched teeth, "What are you doing here?"

James shrugged as he grinned. "Just seeing a movie. With my date."

A muscle ticked in Severus's jaw, and then he turned his glare back on Lily.

"We'll have a large popcorn and two drinks," she said defiantly, letting go of James's hand only to count coins and slide the exact amount across the counter.

Severus rang her up, hastily collected their order, and then pushed everything across the counter without looking at her.

As soon as they were out of earshot, James started, "What—" but Lily cut him off with a shake of her head as she whispered, "He lives nearby, I can explain later, but—can we not talk about him on our first date?"

James's face instantly softened, and if curiosity ate at him, he hid it well as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and said, "Sure thing, Evans. So, er, what are doing…next?"

Lily snorted, chuckling as she realized she had yet to explain to James what a movie actually was, and steered him toward their door, then up the stairs on the side to the middle seats of the very back row.

"We sit," she instructed, "and we share popcorn, and we watch."

James smiled at her. "Okay."

It only took him five minutes into the movie to reach for her hand, then another ten minutes for Lily to pull his arm over her shoulders so she could cuddle into his side, but it wasn't until Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia were swinging to freedom from advancing stormtroopers that he bent his head toward hers, nudging her chin up with his fingers, and kissed her gently on the lips.

"I've wanted to kiss you since I first saw you tonight," he whispered.

Lily cupped his cheek and teased, "I wondered if you'd make it through the whole movie."

He chuckled softly—"Not a chance"—and Lily pulled him in for another kiss.


Though her hormones had put up a valiant effort, their interest in the ending had kept them from making out the entire rest of the movie, and as they walked back to her car in animated conversation about galaxies and droids, Lily couldn't help but feel the electricity sizzling between them, a persistent undercurrent of want. They'd only been apart a week, and they'd just spent an entire movie cuddling, and yet her body positively ached for him. She needed to kiss him, touch him, be alone with him. Those photos he'd sent her had driven her mad, the nearness of him that whole evening even madder, and by the way he was looking at her just then, eyes hungry in the darkness of her car, she thought she could safely assume he felt the same way.

So she made the split second decision not to drive home, but to a quiet spot on the edge of a nearby forest instead, where she put the car in park, cut the engine, and cast a couple of protective enchantments she knew over the car before looking sideways at James, who was watching her curiously.

"Do you, um"—she cleared her throat—"want to go…in the backseat?"

James's eyebrows climbed up his forehead. "Is that a Muggle euphemism, or…?"

Lily chuckled, shaking her head, and braced herself against the wheel, wriggling out of her seat and over the center console to twist and pull herself through to the back. She'd barely gotten herself situated when she saw James was following her, though it took significantly more maneuvering with his longer limbs.

As he settled into the seat next to her, she shifted up onto her knees, then rested her hands lightly on his shoulders and swung one leg over his lap.

"Is this okay?" she whispered.

His mouth spread in a lazy grin as he tilted his head back against the top of the seat to look at her, his hands sliding up her thighs. "More than okay," he murmured.

Relief mixed with anticipation in her chest; aside from their few stolen moments the weekend prior, this was the most alone they'd ever been. No oblivious friends about to interrupt at any moment, no parents in their midst, no movie-watchers surrounding them. It was just the two of them, in a magically protected car, at a quiet area by the entrance to a nearby forest, where no one knew where they were and the hours until midnight stretched ahead of them with all the promise of eternity.

Lily ducked her head down toward his, letting her weight rest on his lap and her hands drift to his neck, and then she kissed him. His mouth was familiar by now, his warmth comforting even as it sent goosebumps rippling up her arms. From her thighs, his hands migrated up to her waist, slipping under her blouse to caress her bare skin, and she reciprocated by sliding her own hand down the back of his t-shirt.

James shuddered at her touch, his breaths coming heavily through his nose as their mouths moved in slippery tandem, and Lily melted into him, feeling somehow relaxed and wound at the same time.

Time moved slowly, deliciously sluggish as she made out with him, her hands alternating between tangling in his hair and pressing against his back as her knees dug into soft fabric and her chest rubbed against his. James seemed no more hurried than her, his hands making a slow pattern over her back and waist and ribs while his tongue gently explored her mouth. It reminded her of the night they'd made out quietly on the sofa, content just to kiss and kiss and kiss, only now they were being chased not by impending sleep but by distant curfew.

And this time, that ache she'd felt somewhere in the pit of her stomach when she'd been with him in the broom shed, and again in his laundry room, was back.

Their lips broke, breaths ragged, and Lily rested her forehead against his.

"Fuck, Lily," James breathed, "I'm so into you."

"Same," she whispered back before kissing him again, something long and deep. His hands slid up to cup her breasts over her bra, fingers gently squeezing as his tongue ran over her bottom lip, and she couldn't help the little moan that escaped her mouth, nor the cant of her hips over his lap. James groaned back, fingers more confident now where he cupped and squeezed, and Lily arched into him, feeling that familiar hardness beneath her that made her positively crazy for him.

Memories of the first time she'd been in his lap like this swirled in her mind, and the power of knowing she'd made him climax just from wriggling over him shot a burst of confidence through her. She'd meant what she'd offered in that broom shed; between the trip she experienced from knowing he was aroused for her and the sheer overwhelming attraction she felt for him, all she wanted was to make him unravel and hear more of those delicious noises he made while he did.

Spurred by her past boldness, she dropped a hand from his hair to slip it down between them and cup the bulge outlining his shorts. James broke away from her mouth instantly, gasping a muffled, "Fuck."

"Can I?" she asked softly.

He swallowed, throat bobbing, and though it was dark, she could make out the dart of his eyes, the new flush to his cheeks. "Yeah," he answered hoarsely.

Lily climbed off his lap, settling in at his side, before popping his button and pulling down his zipper. Wordlessly, James lifted his hips enough to shimmy his shorts around his thighs, then brought his hands to her neck and drew her back in for a kiss.

She touched him over his boxers first, then nudged him through the opening, gasping at her first contact of that ultra smooth skin. James sucked in a breath at the same time, pulling away from her mouth to look down between them.

"Fuck," he whispered. "I can't believe this is happening."

Lily giggled, skimming light fingertips along his length, over the head, mapping the shape of him.

"Shit," he groaned softly, dropping his head back onto the top of the seat.

"I haven't done anything yet," she teased.

"Doesn't matter," he mumbled. "It's you."

That stirred a flurry of butterflies in her chest, and she brought her hand to her mouth, gathered saliva for her palm, and then chuckled at James's low, "Merlin fuck," as she returned her hand to him, spreading the moisture around and gripping him in earnest. The moment she started long, even strokes, he groaned, something guttural that did inexplicable things to her insides, and let go of her to rake his hands over his face and into his hair.

"Evans—fuck."

Lily hummed. "How's this?"

"So good, so—oh my god."

She picked up her pace, pride swelling in her chest by the low, "Oh yeah, like that," he muttered when she did.

Pleasure worked across his face, and Lily quickly got lost in thought over how bloody gorgeous he was, what with his debauched hair, ruddy cheeks, and pouting lips. As she watched him, she realized it reminded her of how he looked when he dismounted from his broomstick: windswept, flushed, blissed out.

"You know it's really not fair how pretty you are," she teased.

Though his eyes were starting to scrunch, he managed to quirk a brow at her.

"That right, Evans?"

Even through the dark, the intensity of his eyes on her was almost too much, and she ducked her face down to his neck, latching her lips to his jaw. "Mhmm."

He whimpered and swore, the sounds hot and fast, like the combined touch of her pumping hand and mouth on his neck escalated everything to another level.

She cuddled closer to him while she sucked on his neck, and he wrapped an arm around her back, holding securely onto her waist.

"Fuck," he moaned, hips squirming, "oh, you're gonna make me come, Lil."

Lil. Affection flooded her, warm and sweet as she smiled against his skin.

"Yeah, come for me, James," she murmured to him.

He repeated her name between panting breaths, and she felt the tension of his body spread up his torso, through his shoulder, and down to the fingers now digging into her ribs.

"Right there"—his voice was suddenly urgent—"do that again"—she swirled her thumb, twisted her wrist—"fuck, fuck"—his hand pulled up the front of his shirt, revealing those abs that made her mouth water—"oh, I'm gonna come"—that ache she kept feeling throbbed deep in her core as she felt him tense even more, listened to his breath hitch, and then watched release bloom and run over flexed muscles as his moans rang through the car.

She had never been more aroused in her life.

"Lily," he panted, eyes still shut, "what—fuck—"

She kissed him, overwhelmed with affection for him and suddenly more desperate for him—for more of him—than she'd ever felt. His hands tangled in her hair as he groaned into her mouth, and only when he hissed, reaching to still the hand she hadn't realized was still holding him, did she let go with a hurried, "Sorry."

James shook his head, eyes dazed. "It's okay. That felt…fucking incredible."

A shy smile worked its way up her lips. "I like making you come," she confessed.

He rested his forehead on hers, eyes closing as a crooked grin spread over his face. "Fuck, Evans. You're my dream, you know that?"

Pride purred in her chest. "Yeah," she teased, "I gathered that."

He chuckled softly, then asked, "Can you grab my wand? Front seat."

She nodded, then turned to reach for it, aware and exploiting the fact that that gave him a full view of her arse—which, from the way his eyes lazily traveled back up to her eyes, she was sure he had taken full advantage of.

"Here."

He took his wand from her with a smirk, silently vanished the mess on his stomach, dropped his wand to the side, and then swiftly tucked himself away and fixed up his shorts before turning to her with an expression that looked equal parts eager and nervous.

"Can I…" The brush of his fingers past her cheek as he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear made her shiver. "…make you come?"

Lily's heart sped up, eyes darting wildly between his. She wanted him to touch her, hell, she was positively burning for it, but—

"It's okay if you don't want to," he added hurriedly, cheeks darkening, "obviously, we don't have to do—"

"No," she spoke over him, "it's not that, I want you to, I just…I don't know if I can…"

A small furrow worked into his brow. "Don't know if you can what?"

Heat flushed up her neck, and she dropped her eyes to his chin as she mumbled, "I just don't think that I've, um…"

He prompted her chin up with his finger, his voice soft, unlike any of the usual teasing tone she was used to hearing, as he asked, "Have you been touched before?"

She nodded, biting her lip. "Once," she admitted. "After a date."

A muscle ticked briefly in his jaw, and then he prompted, "But you didn't…come?"

Lily gave a small shake of her head. "I don't…think so?"

His composure finally cracked at that, a soft chuckle escaping warmly on her face. "Then you didn't."

She didn't know what to say to that and the nerves swirling around in her body were only increasing their heat to her face, burning her throat—

"Hey." James kissed her gently on the mouth. "It's not a big deal." Another little kiss, this one accompanied with a cocky smile. "Just means that bloke was a shitty date." Lily snorted as James pecked her again, but then another little kiss turned into another and then another, and soon they were back where they'd started, hands roaming, tongues sliding, until James's fingers crept along her thigh and dipped just under the hem of her shorts. "Is this okay?"

"Yeah," she whispered.

"Here," he prodded her, "sit this way."

She turned as he directed so she was sitting perpendicular to him, her legs bent in front of her across the seat while he held her against his chest. As they kissed, his hands slid up her shirt more confidently this time, thumb brushing over rib, fingers squeezing soft skin. Lily sighed against his mouth, reaching up her own hands to slide into that inky black hair as she held his mouth against hers.

Slowly, his fingers skimmed over her stomach and dipped under the waistband of her denim shorts. Lily sucked in a breath.

James whispered, "Alright?"

"Yeah," she assured him.

He undid her button and zipper, and she lifted her hips to help him tug her shorts down a short ways. His eyes searched hers as his fingers brushed over the outside of her knickers, and Lily held his gaze as best she could as she gasped at the heat that touch sparked in her body. It was like the ache she'd felt around him, the same one that had felt like it was building this whole time with him in the car, had sprung to life in a way it hadn't before.

James groaned softly as he swirled his fingers over the outside of her knickers once more, then slipped them down the front of the fabric. Though his touch was feather-light over her skin, electricity zipped through her veins.

"Shit," James whispered, skimming a finger over her that dipped just inside. "You're so wet."

Lily hummed, too distracted by the way his fingers were lighting her up, and tightened her hold on his neck. "James," she whispered.

He brushed a kiss over her lips as his finger settled into a gentle rub that made more of that electricity bloom in her body, more of that ache build. "How's this feel?"

"Good." She swallowed hard. "Fuck."

James only smiled and changed the motion of his finger to a soft circling. "And this?"

The sound that came out of her throat just then might've embarrassed her if she hadn't been so absorbed in the newness of all this pleasure he was making her feel. "God, James—"

He groaned in her ear and pressed a kiss to her jaw. "That's it, Lil. I got you."

Something about the way he said it—plainly, confidently—and the way he made her feel—happy, giddy—made her believe him instantly. She could trust him; she could relax with him. Lily suspected that was a big reason why she hadn't climaxed before; not only had she been uptight with nerves after that date, but when she'd tried to experiment herself, she hadn't been able to settle her mind then either—or maybe, she realized, she simply hadn't been aroused enough—hadn't been thinking about the right person.

But now that she knew exactly who to conjure in her mind to make her body go wild, she didn't even have to bother with imagining, because he was right there: cradling her against him with those strong arms, kissing her skin with those swollen lips, touching her most sensitive place with gentle fingertips. She absorbed his sturdiness, inhaled his piney scent, relished the hardness of his chest against hers, the softness of his hair in her fingers, the tension in his shoulders.

Lily felt like she'd fallen into a trance of arousal, James consuming all of her senses as he kissed and moaned and touched and spoke. Little things, murmured into her ear or against her lips. You're so beautiful. Say my name like that again. You're so wet. Yeah, you like when I rub your clit like this? You feel perfect, Lily. Fuck, I want to feel you come. Time was inconsequential to the all-consuming rush that was the building pressure between her legs, and James stoked the fire with sure little strokes. Gone was the nervous boy stuck sitting on his motorbike, afraid to take her hand, tongue-tied when she initiated a hug goodbye, shy when her grinding on his lap took him over the edge—and in his place was a new James she was encountering for the first time, one with all of the confidence and swagger she was used to seeing at school but combined with this new side of him that was unabashedly, unexpectedly, sexual.

She couldn't get enough.

"Oh, that feels so good," she mumbled, hands holding onto him around his neck.

Her hips canted up toward his hand, and his grip on her waist tightened. "Yeah, get it," he crooned softly. "Ride my hand."

She was starting to tremble, she realized vaguely, legs and arms shaking as the ache inside her intensified, and her next, "James," came out in a whine she didn't recognize.

"Come, Lily," he urged gently.

She had no way to gauge what she was feeling, no clue how close she was. He had told her, he had known, and she wanted to give him the same but—

"I—I don't—"

"Shh, that's it. You're almost there, just let go."

Her fingers clawed at the back of his neck as she squirmed in his lap, face burying in his chest, whimpers she couldn't contain escaping into his shirt.

"Ohmygod, ohmygod—"

He pressed a little harder, a little faster, and Lily felt absurdly like she was about to break, just cleave from the middle and implode into fragments, and it was good, so incredibly good, unlike anything she'd ever felt before, like her core was on fire and some heretofore unknown magic was whipping her body into a frenzy of dizzying, aching pleasure.

And then it burst, only the release that followed wasn't really release at all but more, more of that throb, like a megadose of pleasure surging through her veins, so intense she felt inside-out, would have sworn James was stroking open nerves instead of the outside of her skin.

His lips dotted her cheek as his fingers stilled, and Lily finally untucked her face from his neck to look at him.

"That," he whispered, pecking her lips, "was an orgasm, Evans."

Her eyes fluttered closed as she smiled. "I've been missing out."

James chuckled as he kissed her lips again. "Not with me, you aren't."

A groan rose in her throat, and she leaned backwards, pulling him down on top of her as she mumbled, "You're damn right about that, Potter."