The next morning, James woke to pain shooting up his leg. Sirius was sitting on the end of his bed, shaking him by the calf.

"Ow, Sirius — stop it, would you? My ankle…"

"Oops, sorry mate — forgot —" Sirius hopped off the bed. "It's sunrise, though. Thought you wouldn't want to miss it, considering…"

The pain in his ankle ebbed. James yawned and sat up. "Good thinking. After all that work with the Mandrake leaf, I'd hate to ruin things on the very first day…" He groped for his wand, which was lying on the nightstand beside him. "Is Peter up?"

"I am now," came a voice, and Peter's head appeared as he drew back the curtains to James' four poster bed. "Are we ready?"

James nodded and pressed the tip of his wand to his chest. "Amato Animo Animato Animagus," he intoned. A warm flush spread through his body as he said the words. Sirius went next, wand over heart, followed by Peter, who nearly stumbled over the incantation.

"Don't muck it up, Pete, or you really will turn into a mosquito," said Sirius, returning to his bed and pulling a set of school robes off the floor.

Peter made a face. "You don't actually believe that, do you?"

"Nah," said James as he changed into his uniform. "You'd become some sort of mosquito-human hybrid. Shunned by society as an abomination, you'll have to flee to the Forbidden Forest, where you'll live out the rest of your days in hiding. First years will speak in hushed tones of the blood-sucking monstrosity that lurks in the dark, watching… waiting…"

This did not seem to reassure Peter, but Sirius laughed. "Come on, mate," he said, clapping a hand on Peter's back. "You'll be fine. Worst case, we'll have two beasts hiding in the Shrieking Shack."

Sirius conjured up another pair of crutches for James to use, and they descended the many staircases of Hogwarts. On the first floor landing, James bid goodbye to his friends and plodded towards the hospital wing.

He shouldered open the doors of the infirmary in time to see Madam Pomfrey slip behind a curtain at the far end of the room. She murmured something, and a soft voice responded, but he wasn't able to make out the words. He crutched over to one of the nearby beds and sat down gingerly, extending his injured leg in front of him.

After a few minutes, Madam Pomfrey emerged from behind the curtain. Her shoes clicked loudly on the floor as she strode towards him. She was a young witch — she couldn't have been out of her mid-twenties — with large brown eyes and an open face. James was thoroughly committed to badgering Lily Evans until the end of time, but he considered Madam Pomfrey an excellent second choice when Lily wasn't available.

"Hullo, Poppy," he said, lifting a hand in greeting.

Madam Pomfrey tutted. "Five points from Gryffindor. What is it now, Potter?"

James grinned. "Only five points? I was expecting ten."

"I thought about it," she said, and though her voice was firm, her eyes sparkled fondly. "But you appear to actually be injured this time, so I will overlook your disrespect."

She knelt beside him and rolled up his trouser leg, much the same way Lily had done. "Mind telling me what happened?"

James flinched as she prodded his ankle with her wand. "Well, I didn't fall down—"

"Quite right," she said. "Judging from the angle of the break, you seem to actually have fallen up." She pressed her wand into the skin of his ankle and closed her eyes, as if listening to what his leg had to say. "Another victim of the Levicorpus, I think?"

James' eyes watered. Her wand was really digging into his leg. "Basically."

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "Imagine, taking turns flinging each other into the air and being surprised when someone gets hurt. Teenagers, I tell you…" She tapped his ankle twice with her wand. "Emendo."

Immediately the pain subsided, and the swelling decreased before James' eyes. Even the bruising faded.

"You're the greatest witch of our time," he said, relaxing.

"I should think so," replied Madam Pomfrey. She stood up and stowed her wand in the pocket of her apron. "I get quite a lot of practice from you and your friends alone. Speaking of which…" She nodded towards the occupied bed at the end of the infirmary. "He's not supposed to have visitors, but Remus might appreciate if you said hi before you left."

James Vanished his makeshift crutches with a wave of his wand and walked towards the bed hidden behind the curtain.

Remus rolled over slowly as James pulled back the curtain. "Hi," said Remus hoarsely. He sounded as if he'd been screaming, and his lips were badly chapped. The only colour in his face came from the dark purple bruises ringing his eyes.

"Moony," said James as he sat on the edge of the bed. "You look great."

Remus smiled weakly. "It's been a long night."

"Listen," said James. He peered beyond the curtain to make sure Madam Pomfrey was out of hearing distance. Leaning closer to Remus, he lowered his voice. "We did it."

Remus frowned as if he didn't understand.

"Last night," said James. "We went up to the Astronomy tower and made the potion. It went perfectly. All we have to do now is wait for a storm, and that shouldn't take more than a couple of months."

Remus didn't respond. He looked for a moment as if he might cry, and he shut his eyes, breathing deeply. "I never asked —"

"'Course you didn't," said James, raising an eyebrow. "You're Remus Lupin. If you were playing Seeker at the Quidditch World Cup you wouldn't ask for a broom."

"You shouldn't have —"

"But we did," said James. "We've started the incantations, so there's no backing out now."

Remus didn't seem happy to hear this. He grimaced, as if James' words caused him physical pain.

James looked at him. "At some point, Moony, you have to get used to the idea that you have friends." He stood up and turned to leave. "Get some rest. Let Poppy pamper you. And look forward to the storm."

There was a pit in Lily's stomach as she made her way to Dungeon Two for Potions with the Slytherins. She hadn't seen Severus since they'd rowed the day before, and she wasn't much looking forward to working with him in class. Though she was determined not to back down from what she'd said, she secretly hoped he'd pretend their argument had never happened. That way they could avoid the conversation altogether.

She reached the dungeon five minutes before the lesson was to start. She'd wanted to arrive before Severus, but he was already at their table, leafing absentmindedly through his Potions text. She slid into the seat beside him and could tell immediately that he hadn't forgotten what had happened the day before.

"Hi," she said tentatively, pulling her copy of Advanced Potion-Making out of her bag.

He turned a page, not looking at her. Lily bit her lip and pretended to search for something in her bag.

There was a crash near the front of the room, and a few voices erupted in laughter. James Potter had arrived with Sirius and Peter, and by the sound of it, they'd just broken an extremely expensive set of gold scales. While Sirius and Peter laughed uproariously, James mended the scales with a flick of his wand. He caught Lily's eye and winked as he strolled to the back of the classroom. There was no trace of a limp in his stride.

So he went to Madam Pomfrey after all, she thought with a rush of vindication. Had he told his little gang about the unflattering way he'd injured his leg? Probably not; the story didn't paint him in a very good light. Then again, maybe they'd think it was funny that he'd been stupid enough to Levicorpus himself to the top of the bell. There was no telling with boys.

Inspiration struck her, and she turned to Severus, who was doing his best to emanate an air of complete indifference to James' entrance. "You'll never guess what Potter did last night," she whispered.

Severus raised his eyebrows slightly, but he continued to stare at his textbook. "Whatever it was, it's a pity he didn't break his neck in the process."

"He almost did, actually," she said, and she filled him in on what had happened in the belfry, making sure to emphasise just how close James had been to death. It didn't take much exaggeration, really.

By the time she had finished relating the whole story, Severus was making eye contact with her again, and there was a hint of a smile on his face. "Pity you felt the need to save him," he said. "I would have used Accelaro Momentum and let the chips fall where they may."

"It's the Gryffindor in me," sighed Lily, and Severus laughed. She turned to drape her bag over the back of her chair and stopped as the hair on the back of her neck prickled. James was watching her from the back of the classroom, no longer smiling.

Lily swallowed. He couldn't have overheard her, could he? Though she had made some wild hand gestures when describing how he'd dropped like a rock through the scaffolding. It probably wouldn't have been difficult for him to figure out what she'd been talking about.

She flashed him a tight-lipped smile, which he didn't return, and turned to face the front of the room. It's his own fault for being such a prat, she thought, trying to assuage her guilty conscience.

Professor Slughorn entered, his arms full of some kind of flowering plant. "Hellebore," whispered Severus, and Lily nodded excitedly. Slughorn dropped the wildflowers on his desk and removed his thick leather gloves, then Vanished the traces of dirt and leaves that clung to his robes.

"Settle down, settle down," said Professor Slughorn genially, hushing the students who were still talking. "Lots to do today, though I daresay you'll have time enough to chat later. Today's lesson," he said, with a gesture towards the plants on the table, "will be on the various properties of hellebore."

He waved his wand, and a large diagram of the plant appeared on the blackboard behind him. "As some of you may already know, hellebore is quite a versatile plant, containing an array of uses. The leaves, though toxic in large quantities, can treat paralysis and alleviate insanity. The flowers, on the other hand…"

As he continued to lecture, Lily's hand began to cramp from the sheer amount of notes she took. Professor Slughorn wasn't wrong; hellebore had an astonishing number of effects in potion-making, depending on the ingredients used alongside it. Beside her, Severus listened attentively, jotting the occasional note in his Potions book.

After his lecture, Professor Slughorn tasked them with inventing a potion whose properties could be attributed to hellebore, and the room began to hum with activity.

"Well, we could make a poison, but that wouldn't be very subtle," said Lily, flipping through her textbook.

Severus rolled his eyes. "Everyone's going to make a poison. It's the most obvious option. We can do better than that."

"I wonder if we could do something related to Disillusionment," said Lily as she reviewed her notes. "Considering it can be used to cure insanity, which is a sort of mental illusion, right? If we could make that take a physical effect…"

"Interesting." Severus began to scribble a list on one of the blank pages at the back of his Potions book. "We'll have to account for the toxic side effects, of course, but that should be straightforward, if tedious."

"We might need to add lacewing flies, too, since they can enhance potions-based Transfigurations. What do you think?"

"Absolutely." Severus' quill flew across the page. "We also ought to use Devil's Snare as the anti-poison."

"You love using Devil's Snare," said Lily. "Think of something else we could use as the anti-poison."

"Why should I? If Devil's Snare is versatile, with minimal side effects…"

Lily gave him an exasperated look, but she couldn't hide her smile. "Because Devil's Snare is native to South America, and hellebore is as common as my parentage, so we should use ingredients that match, alright?"

Severus winced, which surprised Lily; she had expected him to laugh.

"I wasn't aware we were trying to make a potion we could brew in Cokeworth," he said mildly, but he scratched the word 'Devil's Snare' off his list.

Lily narrowed her eyes and turned back to the parchment she had been scribbling on. He was acting as if he didn't understand that she'd just made a Muggle-born joke. She couldn't fathom the reason why; she'd poked similar fun before and he'd found it amusing. Maybe her delivery had fallen flat. Maybe the political correctness of the Ministry was rubbing off on him.

Or maybe, she realised with a sinking feeling, it's not so funny when you're in league with people who actually believe that rubbish.

They continued working together, but something in the air between them had changed. Severus resisted her efforts to chat about anything other than their potion and continually steered the conversation back to the properties of hellebore.

At the end of the lesson, Slughorn prompted each table to stand and demonstrate their potion on a rat. Severus had been right; the majority of students had made poisons, finding no other use for hellebore. James Potter and Sirius Black, in particular, had invented a poison so lethal that their rat collapsed, paws twitching, after merely sniffing the fumes.

When it was Lily and Severus' turn to demonstrate, she was delighted to see that their rat went entirely translucent except for its tail, but Severus barely reacted. The bell signalling the end of the period rang, and Severus brushed past her with barely a muttered 'goodbye'.

A few of the other Slytherins were watching her as she packed her bag. Mulciber was among them, and in his expression was nothing friendly.

"So we can all agree that Snivellus is definitely a Death Eater now, right?" James asked his friends later that afternoon. They had just stopped by the hospital wing to pick up Remus, who looked slightly less peaky after having slept the entire day. "Judging by the way he kept making eyes at Mulciber during Potions?"

Sirius nodded. "If he isn't at least considering joining, I'll eat Sluggy's entire stock of hellebore."

"You should have seen him in class today, Moony," said Peter as Remus swallowed the last of the Invigoration Draught that Madam Pomfrey had pressed upon him. "He was working with Lily, and when they had to present together, he got all fidgety and acted like he didn't know her."

"I can't imagine that was very convincing," said Remus. "Considering they've been inseparable for years."

"Greasy, hook-nosed git," muttered James. "It was so disrespectful. I don't know why she keeps overlooking the fact that he's a slimeball."

"Some birds are like that, though," said Sirius, lifting a shoulder. "They give too many chances. It's a low self-esteem thing."

"Come off it," said James. "Evans isn't —"

"I think it has more to do with Snape being her childhood friend," said Remus. The potion appeared to be taking effect; there was a spring in his step as they rounded a corner. "It must be difficult to grow apart from someone you know so well."

"Setting Lily Evans aside for half a second," said Sirius impatiently, "are we all in agreement that our favourite Slytherin needs a little reminder about how to behave himself?"

"Absolutely," said James at once, and Peter nodded vigorously beside him. Remus raised his eyebrows, but he didn't object.

At the bottom of the marble staircase, James and Sirius were debating the merits of turning Severus into a footstool when the door to the Great Hall slammed open. Lily was leaving the Great Hall in such a rush that she struggled to sling her bag over her shoulder. She stopped short when she saw the four boys on the stairs.

"Lily," said Remus, surprised. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Just getting back to the common room," she said evasively. "If you'll excuse me…"

She tried to squeeze past them, but James put an arm out, blocking her path. "If you want to have dinner, you're going the wrong way," he said.

"I just ate," she said, but she wouldn't meet his eye. "And I have some work to do."

"It's awfully early to be finished eating already," commented Peter.

Lily flushed. "If you must know, there're some people in the Great Hall I'd rather not see, so I figured I'd just…"

"Sit in your dormitory and starve?" asked James.

"Something along those lines, yeah," she snapped. "Now would you let me through?"

"Why don't you come to dinner with us instead?" asked James. Behind him, Sirius let out a small groan.

Lily gave him a scathing look. "I just said I'm not interested in eating in the Great Hall, not that I'm surprised that you weren't listening, so…"

"Oh, we're not eating there either," said James, undeterred. "We're headed to the kitchens. It's something of a tradition on — on days like these."

"The kitchens?" asked Lily, seemingly in spite of herself. "There are kitchens at Hogwarts?"

"Obviously," said Sirius. "Where do you think the house-elves do the cooking?"

Lily's eyes grew even wider. "There are house-elves at Hogwarts?"

"Oh, Lily," said Remus, stepping forward. He took her by the arm, and she reluctantly allowed him to guide her down the wide stone steps. "Hogwarts has many secrets that us prefects aren't privy to. Troublemakers like James and Sirius, on the other hand…"

Sirius yawned and stretched as they walked towards a door partially concealed by the marble staircase. "If you're from a family that keeps house-elves, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that Hogwarts has them, too. Who did you think made your bed every morning?"

Lily's brow furrowed. "I've never really thought about it. I assumed magic kept our dormitory looking nice."

"That's sweet," said James. "I love Muggle-borns, they're so innocent." Lily shot him a glare so sharp he was surprised it didn't cut him, and Sirius elbowed him in the ribs. James pulled the door open to reveal a flight of stone steps descending into darkness. "Ladies first," he said, gesturing Lily forward.

At the bottom of the steps was a dimly lit corridor with large paintings of food hanging on the walls. "You'll want the second painting from the end," Sirius told Lily. "The one with the bowl of fruit."

"Is there a password?" she asked, walking up to the painting in question.

"None that we've found," said James. "You just tickle the pear." He touched the canvas gently, wiggling his fingers. The pear laughed and began to spin, turning into a large brass doorknob. James pulled at the doorknob and the canvas swung aside, revealing the entrance to the kitchens.

The room was huge, with a large brick fireplace roaring at one end and four long wooden tables in the middle, mirroring the Great Hall. House-elves scurried around the room like mice, brandishing all manner of cookware and utensils and leaping over each other in their haste to prepare food on each of the long tables.

Lily's mouth was slightly open. "How on earth did you find this place?"

Sirius winked at her. "Trade secret, Evans. Oi, Mimsy!"

A tiny house-elf ran up to them and bowed deeply. There was a tartan cloth wrapped around its head, pinning its ears away from its face. "Master Black and his friends are right on time!" it squeaked. It noticed Lily, and its eyes grew large as saucers. "And Master Black has brought a guest!"

"Master Potter has brought a guest," corrected James.

Lily frowned. "Actually, I'm here at Master Lupin's invitation." She beamed at Remus, who smiled cheerily back at her.

James glowered. "You git," he said, elbowing Remus. "You better thank your lucky tea leaves you're a recovering invalid…"

Mimsy guided them to a small table by the fire, which was laid out with roasted chicken, glazed pork loin, a variety of potatoes and vegetables, and an enormous tankard of butterbeer. There were already five places set.

"This is amazing," said Lily. She heaped some chicken onto her plate and watched the house-elves scamper from table to table. "I had no idea… and they're so cute! I'm surprised you lot ever eat in the Great Hall, if this is the service you get in the kitchens…"

"Er, yeah, we don't want to take them away from their duties," said James as nobly as he could manage through a mouthful of pork. Beside him, Sirius rolled his eyes.

"How often do you come down here?" asked Lily.

James' eyes flickered to Remus, who had already finished his first plate and was helping himself to seconds.

"Just whenever we need a little pick-me-up," said Remus evasively, tearing into a chicken thigh. "I imagine you feel the same today. Who were you trying to avoid, by the way?"

Lily sighed. "Who do you think?"

"Aw, Lily," said Peter, "you shouldn't avoid Marlene just because she got better marks than you on the Defence essay. There's plenty of room in Gryffindor for two talented witches…"

Sirius barked a laugh, and even Lily smiled a little. "You know it was Sev," she said.

James scowled. Of course. He should have guessed.

Lily used her fork to push at the last of the potatoes on her plate. "I got to the Great Hall early, and I sat at the Hufflepuff table, 'cause I figured—"

"No man's land," said Sirius, and Lily nodded.

"But then Sev came in with Avery and that creep Mulciber, and he pretended not to see me, but I know he did. And then —" she hesitated. "There's this spell he invented, that we use when making potions. Basically, it Vanishes bones, so if you have to add a newt or something, it dissolves easier? But after they sat down, Mulciber took out his wand and pointed it at the roast chicken and… he de-boned the entire thing." She looked like she was about to cry. "I don't know why Sev would have told someone like Mulciber about that spell. It's not like — I mean, it's harmless when we use it during class, but Mulciber…"

"He doesn't strike me as the type to want to improve his Potions marks," said Sirius darkly, and Remus nodded in agreement. James said nothing, but his frown grew deeper. What was Severus playing at, sucking up to Mulciber?

Lily continued. "You've all heard what Mulciber says about — about people like me. If that's who Severus wants to be around... I just don't know how to reconcile that," she said, staring down into her lap. "He says he's just trying to keep the peace — be friends with me and those Slytherins — "

"That's a load of steaming dragon dung," interrupted James furiously. "There are plenty of Slytherins who are — maybe not completely good people, but basically harmless. But he's not making friends with them — he's cosying up to Mulciber. You heard what that piece of filth said to you in Pippin's the other day. Mulciber's swallowed all that pure-blood garbage, and I don't know where Snivellus gets off —"

"Don't call him that," said Lily sharply, looking up. "I know he's not perfect, but —"

"What should I call him instead? Spineless Snape? Sir Severus, noble Knight of Walpurgis?"

"James..." cautioned Remus with a look at Lily, whose face was as red as her hair.

"Or maybe," said James, speaking over him, "We should call him what he is, a future Death Eater who doesn't deserve one ounce of affection from you or from anyone — "

Pain seared through his hand, and he broke off, swearing loudly. The mug of butterbeer he'd been holding had shattered. He glanced at Lily, whose hair was standing on end as if crackling with electricity.

Lily stood, shaking with fury. "Sorry. Accident."

So she couldn't even control her magic when she was angry. What was she, twelve? James sucked at the cut on his thumb. "No worries," he said flatly.

The foaming butterbeer spilt over the edge of the table, and a group of house-elves, rags in hand, rushed to clean up the mess.

"I'm sorry," Lily said stiffly to Mimsy, who had climbed onto her chair to wipe off the table. "Didn't mean to do that. I should get going, anyway. Thank you for the food, Mimsy. And Remus," she said, completely ignoring James, who had opened his mouth to speak, "thank you for the invite."

She slung her bag roughly over her shoulder and stormed out of the kitchen. Several house-elf heads turned to watch her leave.

"Master Potter has upset the young miss!" squeaked Mimsy, waggling a thin finger at James.

"Yeah, was that really necessary?" asked Sirius. He leaned back in his chair as he watched the house-elves clean up the butterbeer.

James ran both hands roughly through his hair, making it look messier than ever. "Sorry," he said, directing the apology at Sirius, who merely shrugged.

"I'm not the one who fancies her, mate. Anyway —" Sirius checked his watch, which was strapped to his wrist with a leather band and had hands pointing to Roman numerals instead of runes. It was so obviously Muggle-made that it stood out even more than if it had twelve faces and a phoenix replica that chimed the hour. "It's nearly sunset, so we should say the incantation. Wands out, yeah?"

Later that week, Severus was eating breakfast alone in the Great Hall when an intimidatingly large eagle owl landed on the table in front of him. It shook its massive wings and cocked its head at Severus, staring at him with piercing yellow eyes. An unlabelled envelope was tied to its leg.

Severus looked around, certain the owl meant to deliver the letter to one of the other students at the Slytherin table, but nobody else was paying it any attention.

The eagle owl tapped one of its long black talons impatiently, like a bored bank teller. It held out its leg haughtily, as if it had better things to be doing, and Severus untied the envelope. It was sealed with a dollop of black wax and felt heavy in his hands. Without another sound, the owl flapped its enormous wings and took off as quickly as it had arrived.

Severus opened the envelope. Inside was a single square of thick parchment with only a few lines written in vivid green ink.

Congratulations, read the letter in tall, slanting handwriting. You have been selected as one of our newest Intents. Please join us in Dungeon Thirteen on the second Saturday of March to learn more about your role as an Intent. Midnight. Tell no one. It was signed with a large, looping L.

Severus glanced down the table. Mulciber was holding a similar square of parchment, looking smug, and Avery had just finished tucking something into his bag. At the far end of the table, Bella was watching him. Upon catching his eye, she gave Severus a broad smile and a wave, nodding approvingly at the letter he was holding.

Despite his best efforts to slip away from the Great Hall and go to Charms unnoticed, Bella caught up with him as he ascended the stairs to the third floor.

"Did you like it?" she asked excitedly, grabbing him by the arm. Severus resisted the urge to shake her off. "I actually wrote most of the invitations myself, Lucius has terrible handwriting. I gave you the eagle owl on purpose," she added with a wink. "Mulciber got a pygmy owl, the troll. He did end up using your de-boning spell, by the way. On a cat." She rolled her eyes. "No imagination whatsoever. I wish we didn't have to include him at all, but he'd be a legacy, so…"

Severus shrugged and skipped over a trick step in the staircase they were climbing. "Are you an Intent too?"

"Me? Oh, no." Bella shook her head. A ringlet of hair fell haphazardly into her face, and she brushed it back with a hand. "I'm already a Secondary. The Dark Lord considers me practically a Primary, though. I think he's waiting until I graduate to Mark me."

Severus considered this as they reached the landing on the third floor. Bella turned to face him. "You don't seem very excited," she said, placing her hands on her hips. "You're not smirking or gloating or anything."

"I'm just thinking," Severus said. He glanced at the students around them. Bella followed his gaze, frowning. She grabbed his arm again — he really hated this much physical contact — and dragged him down the corridor, into an alcove hidden by an old tapestry depicting a unicorn hunt.

"So?" she demanded. The alcove was so small that their foreheads were practically touching.

Severus met her gaze without blinking as he composed his response. "You told me we were alike," he said finally. "Surely you know the reason I'm less than thrilled."

Comprehension dawned on Bella's face. "Is it that Mudblood girl you hang around with? You think she won't approve?" She laughed, seeming relieved. "I have a simple solution for you, Sev. Don't tell her what you're doing."

"I can't lie to her," said Severus. "She's not stupid. And I don't want to lose her as a friend."

"Oh, that'll happen regardless," said Bella dismissively. "Honestly, you will have to choose between her and us at some point. But when the time comes, the choice will be easy. It will be!" she insisted when he looked sceptical. "There's so much opportunity here for you. To learn magic, real magic, without the limitations Dumbledore puts on us, that silly old has-been. To form connections, and make friends —"

"I have friends," snapped Severus.

"You have one friend, which is pathetic," said Bella casually. Severus winced. She leaned in closer — she really was quite a bit taller than him — and put her hand on the back of his neck. "You need to stop self-sabotaging and trust that becoming a Follower will be good for you. I see your potential, and I am on your side. Don't make me regret taking an interest in you."

With that, she released him and strode out of the alcove.

Even though he was surely late to Charms by now, Severus couldn't bring himself to move from where he was planted. As he stared at the tapestry fluttering behind her, he rubbed the back of his neck, which still tingled from her touch.