"Er…I didn't-I didn't see…" I stuttered, as I looked from the mistletoe back to James. James looked back at me, a guarded look in his eye as he gave me a half-smile. His lack of confidence wasn't doing anything to bolster mine.
"Well, you know how it works, Lils, you can always free yourself if you don't want to be stuck hard enough," James replied quietly. He suddenly seemed a lot closer than he was before even though I could've sworn he hadn't actually moved. The house was also conspiring against me because the wall sconces dimmed without my doing.
I gave a weak tug on my feet but they remained firmly planted to the floor because I couldn't lie to myself. If James was the one who was going to get me out of this position then stuck I would remain.
The smile on James's face grew a little wider. His shoulders seemed to block out the whole world as he came even closer.
I gave him a weak smile. "Maybe if you were anyone else, I'd be able to," I admitted quietly. James's eyes lit up in delight and he came even closer.
"Lily Evans, don't tell me I'm special," James teased as the inches between us closed. My eyes couldn't help but drift to his lips. They looked so soft and kissable. I couldn't have been more grateful for the presence of mistletoe over my doorway.
"Don't let it get to your head," I whispered, and James softly pressed his lips against mine. His hand was on the small of my back, not pulling me close, but simply holding me in place. I felt when the spell from the mistletoe wore off, but now that I was here, nothing could make me leave.
My lips parted, and I sighed against James's lips, my hands moving without instruction from me, up his chest, over his shoulders, and into the hair at James's nape, gently pulling him towards me. James stepped closer and held me more tightly against his chest as his lips moved against mine slowly, softly. He gently bit at my lower lip as his mouth pressed against mine over and over again.
Without thinking, my tongue licked against his lower lip and James pulled me tugged me even closer until my body was flush against his, his other hand burying itself in my hair and holding me steady for him. The first pass of James's tongue was shallow, and the following ones went deeper until I was panting against him. The press of his hands, the firmness of his grip, and the solidness of James's chest were doing funny things to my head. I couldn't think about anything except pressing even closer, wrapping myself around him completely.
My breath stuttered when his hand slid from my back, lower still, to my bum and lifted me to my toes as James pressed me up against the door, one his legs smoothly sliding in between one of mine. His mouth drifted away from mine and down to my neck, pressing wet kisses to a sensitive spot right behind my ear, dragging a hum out of me, before he drifted down towards the side of my neck.
"James," I sighed as he sucked on one particular spot that sent a shiver passing through me. He brought his attention back to my lips, which I was certain were swollen. James had a glazed look in his eye as he gazed down at me, pupils blown wide so that I couldn't see the warm brown of his eyes anymore. His hands drifted over my body, clutching at the fabric of my shirt, gripping my sides, my hips, my waist.
When he brought his head down again, it was me who slid my tongue into his mouth before he could do anything, who deepened the kiss with every stroke against his. Something decidedly territorial passed through me when James groaned against my mouth, followed by my name.
I don't know how long we kissed, it could have been minutes, it could have been hours. I was definitely not thinking about the public nature of our makeout session that anyone could have walked in on. All I could see was James's tousled hair, and his lips, and the flush in his cheeks. All I could think about was how nice he felt pressed up against me and how we should do this more often, and by more often, all the time.
James pressed his forehead against me, as we both took in gasping breaths. I still had a grip on him, and James definitely didn't seem to be having any immediate thoughts about letting go of me.
"We should probably stop," James said quietly.
"I didn't realize you were now a retired rulebreaker," I teased.
"Believe me Lils, there's nothing more I would like right now, than carrying on," James punctuated that by pressing another lingering kiss to my lips. "But we could very well be caught, which I don't think would keep those warm feelings your parents have for me."
The fact that James cared about my parents' good opinion sent a thrill through me. It gave me hope that things wouldn't be awkward between us tomorrow morning. One makeout session didn't mean that James and I were together, and even though I wasn't the kind of person who could be casual about this, it didn't mean James was the same.
My common sense told me to expect more of James, especially considering the care he'd always shown with me, but the part of me running on hormones right now, didn't want to get her feelings hurt.
"I hate it when you're right," I groaned against his shoulder.
James pressed a gentle kiss against my temple. "I'll see you first thing tomorrow."
"You are incredibly clear headed for someone who's just been snogged, I'm not sure I like what this implies about my abilities," I grumbled against his shirt. James shook against me as he tried to laugh quietly.
"Next time I'll make sure we have the time for you to give it your all," he said into my ear, voice low and deep. I bit my lip and was thankful he couldn't see the wide grin that was spreading across my face.
There'd be a next time.
"When is next time?" I couldn't help but ask. James grinned in a self-satisfied manner, the arm against my back flexing.
"How about in the morning?"
"Okay," I whispered, looking up at him. I couldn't stop staring at his lips and I didn't have it in me to be embarrassed.
Neither James nor I made any attempt to step away from each other.
"You know, Lils, I have to actually go back to my room," James whispered, as his eyes moved over my face as if trying to memorize my expression.
"Because you're making such an effort to let go of me, are you," I said.
"In my defense, I've been waiting for this a lot longer than you have," James replied.
"And you would've gotten there sooner if you hadn't spent so much time being a massive pain in the arse," I shot back. I lifted on my toes and pressed a brief kiss on James's lips before gently pushing him away from me. "Go, otherwise we'll be here all night."
He dropped another kiss before I could protest and darted away. I couldn't stop the smile that kept forcing itself on my face. I closed the door gently, as James's steps faded down the hall. I was reaching for the hem of my shirt so I could switch into my pajamas, when I heard a knock on my door.
I walked over and pulled it over to see who it was. James's twinkling eyes looked down at me. Before I could ask what he wanted, he leaned over and pressed another gentle kiss to my lips.
"Sorry, I can't seem to help myself now," James whispered. I was a strong girl, but not even I could resist the temptation that was James Potter, standing in my doorway, rumpled and flushed.
I grabbed him by the hem of his shirt and tugged him into my room, closing the door behind him.
"I have a feeling you're gonna be dangerous for my health," I said.
"Lils, what about your family-"
"I thought you were a Gryffindor, Potter?" I challenged as I backed him to the edge of my bed.
"I'm brave not suicidal," James said, although he was smiling.
"Then I suggest you try and be quiet."
#
Unfortunately for Dorcas, all we did was fall asleep. There was a lot of petting that went on, but I was too sleepy and James wasn't enough of a scoundrel to get busy while my family was only a couple of rooms away.
In the morning, I woke up surrounded by James. My head rested on the soft spot between his shoulder and his chest. He had one arm thrown around my middle, his nose buried in my hair, and our legs tangled together.
He smelled disgustingly good. I was certain I was losing my mind.
"Good morning," James mumbled. His chest rumbled under my head.
"Morning," I replied with my eyes closed. I didn't want to get up. I wanted to stay here under the warm covers for the next five days.
James shifted under me as he turned to his other side, looking for a clock to tell us the time of the day. He turned to his other side, practically crushing me underneath him as he checked my side of the bed, looking for the clock.
I was definitely awake now.
"Wand, James, just use your wand," I mumbled into his cotton shirt.
"Right, right," he muttered. He lifted his arm from around my neck and started slapping at his chest and down his legs looking for his wand before he looked over on his side of the bed for where it was resting on his nightstand. I watched his distracted fumbling through crusty eyes.
I had never seen James so disoriented and flustered. He was usually so smooth and put together no matter how disheveled he tried to make himself look. But there was something about this rumpled version of James that made a warmth bloom in my chest and made my insides gooey.
"It's nine in the morning," James informed me as he straightened the glasses on his face and looked down at me.
"Can you please lay down again and stop fussing," I said sleepily. I tugged on his shirt to make my point.
"Lils, darling, if we're gone for too long while everyone is downstairs, they're going to come looking for us," James replied with a wide grin.
"I thought Gryffindor's were supposed to be reckless," I grumbled as I brought the covers up to my chin. James's eyes traveled from my eyes down to my lips and followed the curve of my cheek back to my eye. My face grew hot under his inspection even as butterflies started up in my stomach.
"We are," he said with a laugh and dropped a kiss on my forehead. If my limbs loosened up any more, I'd be a puddle of mush in my bed.
"But right now I've got more incentive to be cautious and smart. Getting caught by your family isn't going to get me more kisses with you later," James winked at me. He threw back the covers and got out of bed. I couldn't stop staring at him with his hair messier than usual and his arms flexing underneath his shirt. I could feel the heat emanating from him all the way where I lay even though he was walking towards the door.
I followed behind him so I could say goodbye. And also because I was becoming infatuated with the way I could see his body shift under his clothing.
"Be careful, I'll miss you terribly if you get caught," I told him as I leaned against the wall and watched him reach for the door handle.
"Me? Get caught? Never," James said confidently and cracked open the door to make sure there was no one standing outside it. I elected to not mention the amount of times he'd gotten caught by me while I was on patrol and given detention.
My blood turned to ice as a familiar clawed hand slammed itself centimeters from James's face and roughly pushed the door open.
"Busted."
James and I stared in silence as Petunia stood in the doorway, blocking James's exit.
"Well, well, well, look what we have here," Petunia said smugly.
"Petunia," I said, a warning clear in my voice.
"Whoever thought that our precious Lily would ever get caught sneaking a boy into her room. Whatever would our parents think if they ever found out," Petunia tsked as she shook her head.
"Nothing happened! You know you can't tell them," I hissed at her.
"Oh, I'm sure nothing did, but the truth isn't what's going to matter when the crime scene looks like this," Petunia replied. She leaned against the threshold, arms crossed over her chest.
"You wouldn't dare," I said, eyes narrowed.
"Wouldn't I?" Petunia challenged, eyes equally narrowed. I opened my mouth to say I don't even know what but James leaned down and whispered in my ear,
"Do you trust me?" I looked at him and saw the question in his eyes. I gave a slight nod.
He bent over to bring himself eye to eye with Petunia and gave her the kind of smile I'd only ever seen him direct at some of the scummier Slytherins. "I'm sure you're joking, Petunia, but just to make absolutely certain: if you snitch on what you saw here today to your parents, I am going to make life very difficult for you, hmm?"
He tilted his head to the side, all of his attention focused on my sister. Petunia looked unimpressed, but I had a gut feeling James wasn't done.
"For starters, I think Vernon would be so interested to know where you and Sirius disappeared off to together last night."
"You wouldn't dare!" Petunia gasped in outrage. "You know perfectly well that nothing happened! I can't even stand the boy!"
"I'm sure nothing did, but the truth isn't what matters in these situations. Right?" James parroted back at her.
The two of them stared daggers at each other for what felt like ages. Normally I'd place my bets on Petunia winning these kinds of matches, there was nothing more that she loved than being petty, but there was a hard glint in James's eye that I'd never seen there before. James, who was normally so laid back, absolutely nothing ruffled his feathers.
Petunia must've come to some kind of understanding from whatever she saw on his face because, unbelievably, she caved.
"Perhaps I was confused by my sleepy state and hallucinated this whole encounter," she announced and then spun on her heel and disappeared before I could even thank her.
"I've never seen you put your foot down like that," I said, pressing myself into James's warm side. "It was kind of hot if I'm being honest."
"I've been waiting for my shot with you since fourth year Lils, not even the devil himself was going to get in my way," James replied. He pushed his glasses back up his nose, and I couldn't help but reach up and pull him down to me.
I was very quickly becoming used to James Potter's kisses.
"Lils," he said, breaking away. "Lils."
I pulled him back.
"Lils," he said again, pulling back. "I promise, I'll make alone time for us later, but you've got to let me go down to breakfast before you."
"If you must," I sighed. James winked at me before he disappeared down the corridor to his own room. I closed the door behind him and let out a squeal, hopping from foot to foot.
I dragged a comb through my hair, wincing when it got stuck in my tangles and quickly changed into a jumper and fleece lined trousers.
I hurried down the stairs, heading for the kitchen while I wrapped a hair clip around my hair and secured it to the back of my head.
James was already waiting in the kitchen, seated next to my father, deep in conversation. I couldn't stop a silly smile spreading across my face.
"Morning Lily-flower, come have some breakfast," mum said. She pointed at a plate full of biscuits and waved me over.
I took a spot across from James and casually picked up a biscuit and broke it in half. I tried to butter it nonchalantly as if I didn't have a second heartbeat starting at just the sight of James.
"So what's the plan for today?" dad asked eagerly. I stared at him blankly, I honestly hadn't planned on anything other than cornering James and pouncing on him.
"How do you feel about riding a broom, Mr. Evans?" James asked, a smile lighting up his face in his eagerness. Dad's eyes widened in excitement as his gaze shot to mine. I'd forgotten how eager dad had always been to try flying on a broom at least once in his life.
"But I thought we weren't allowed in case other muggles saw us?" dad asked. "I wouldn't want you guys to get in trouble."
"Don't worry Mr. Evans, we're in the middle of nowhere. The chances of us running into muggles are pretty close to zero. This is as good as it's going to get!" James replied.
"Besides, that's what Mr. Potter is for," Sirius interrupted as he sauntered in.
"Sirius!"
"Oh come on Lils, what's the point of having parents so high up in the ministry if not to take advantage of the perks that come along with it?" Sirius scoffed.
"He's right Lils, besides, even if we did get caught, it isn't as if we've killed someone," James added. He leaned forward, bracing his forearms on the table. "Although, Sirius did come close right around last year."
"And you're lucky you were there to stop me because it would've been a mess to handle," Sirius sniped back with a warning look.
"You what?" I demanded, glaring at Sirius. "You almost killed a student and none of you told me?"
"Oh come on Lils, what were you gonna do about it? Give me detention?" Sirius replied with a roll of his eyes. "Besides, nobody died, thank Merlin, otherwise we would've had a lot more to answer for than just a body."
I watched Sirius fill his breakfast plate and accept a mug of coffee from a passing house-elf with my mouth half open.
"Are we just going to skate past the murder attempt?" I demanded looking between James and Sirius. The two of them looked at each other, an unspoken understanding passing between them and then shrugged.
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
Sirius clapped a hand on dad's shoulder and leaned in conspiratorially.
"Don't worry Mr. Evans, near death experiences are a regular part of life at Hogwarts."
"No it bloody well is not," I disagreed.
"Lils, the whole point of Beaters on a Quidditch team is to knock players out of the sky," Sirius deadpanned. "At least once a week someone tries to curse you in the hallways."
"Anyway," James hurried to interfere. "Are you up for some flying lessons Mr. Evans?"
"Well, if you say it's okay, then count me in," Dad agreed eagerly.
"Wonderful!" James declared and leapt to his feet. He walked around to my side, ruffled my hair and bounded out of the kitchen. "Hurry up and get dressed, Lils!"
I glared at Sirius as my dad followed after James, talking about what jumper he was going to wear outdoors.
"I'm going to get the details out of you eventually, Sirius," I told him.
"I wouldn't waste my time, Lily darling," Sirius replied, looking unconcerned. I watched him for a moment before letting out a sigh and hurrying up to my room to get dressed.
I couldn't help but think about the Marauders and how I still didn't know much about them. Who knew what kind of shenanigans they got up to before I'd gotten to know them. Maybe there was a reason, maybe it was an accident. But did I have a right to demand the truth out of them when I was still basically an outsider?
But it was also a near death experience, anyone would need to be privy to that situation to attend to it appropriately.
What I should've actually been doing was not even thinking about this at all. Nothing ruins a vacation like thinking about your friends being involved in a federal crime. This was a problem for on-the-clock-Lily, not vacation-Lily.
#
In the time between James suggesting a flying lesson, and my dad and him actually getting out to a clearing in the woods, dad's excitement had amped up to an eleven. He was practically vibrating on the spot when I found the two of them.
"Alright, let's get started," James announced, rubbing his gloved hands together. I stood with my arms crossed, watching the whole thing skeptically.
"Normally, I would start you the way we would our first years, but seeing as the broom probably won't rise for you if you call it, I'm gonna do that step for you!" James held out his hand over the broom in front of him and called it up in the air the way we'd been taught when we were eleven.
The broom hovered in front of him once he let go, lowering to about waist level on James. He waved over dad so that the two of them were standing next to each other.
"Mr. Evans, you're going to grip the front of the broom with one hand, and then swing over your leg so it's between your thighs," James instructed confidently. Dad gripped the handle of the broom, less confidently, and threw his leg over the side.
"Now sit on the seat, don't worry, it's a lot sturdier than it looks," James reassured as my dad shot him a dubious look.
Dad cautiously lowered himself onto the seat, and after a few seconds in which he continued to remain upright instead of face first on the ground, some of the tension left his shoulders.
"Feel okay?" James asked, gaze focused on dad's, searching for any sign of hesitation.
After a moment, dad gave a nod, his grip tightening on the broom.
"Alright, you're doing great Mr. Evans. Now, I want you to very lightly push off the ground. Not too hard, we don't want to send you rocketing into the air, we can't catch you if you fall afterwards," James joked. Dad gave a shaky laugh but I didn't miss the bob of his throat as he gulped.
Dad rose on his toes and gave himself a light push, sending the broom a few centimeters off the ground, still close enough to land harmlessly, but high enough that his feet could no longer make contact. He let out a shaky exhale, and when he didn't immediately fall over, beamed at me with excitement.
I couldn't help my own grin that spread across my face. Dad had never seen me fly, and I wasn't much of a flying instructor, but James was perfect. It was as if he had prepared the whole time to give my dad his very first flying lesson.
I watched the two of them go through some beginner paces. James jogged right alongside my dad as he did a few laps around the clearing, slowly at first and then gaining a little speed with every round. Eventually, James got on his own broom and joined my dad in the air, walking him through how to make turns, how to move higher or lower, how to go faster and slow down.
With every passing minute, my dad gained more and more altitude until he was at least three meters in the air. Not great height by any means, but high enough that it would hurt if he fell off.
"You're doing great dad!" I yelled at him as he went whizzing by me at his fastest pace yet. James winked at me from his stationary spot in the air. He slowly flew over to me and hovered by my head, putting his very distracting thighs right in my field of sight.
He lay down on his broom and turned his face towards me, a winning smile on his face. I narrowed my eyes, I'd seen that look all too often throughout our years together.
"You know, there's a third broom out here with us, Lils," James nodded towards the remaining broom on the ground. "You should show your dad what you can do."
I snorted. "No thanks, I prefer my feet on solid ground and besides, I'm no better than he is."
Dad stopped abruptly in front of us, his rear lifting off the seat temporarily. "I doubt that's true my Lily-kins."
"It is, I swear!"
"What bollocks and you know it," James barked out. "You're good enough to be on the Gryffindor team and everyone knows it, Merlin knows why you never tried out."
I flushed at the praise, and it was high praise indeed coming from James Potter, Captain extraordinaire.
"You're only saying that because you would've used every opportunity to flirt with me if I had been," I teased. Dad pretended he'd gone temporarily deaf.
"Two things can be true at once," James admitted with a shrug. "Just get on the broom, this is a lot more fun when we're all participating."
"I should set Petunia on you for harassing me like this," I muttered as I walked over to the remaining broom. I would never admit it, but hopping on a broom and zooming into the air felt as easy as breathing to me.
"What now?" I asked James once I was hovering in the air with them.
"Told you she's a natural Mr. Evans."
"What a sight you are!" dad exclaimed as he beamed at me. Sometimes I forgot that what I considered mundane and everyday, would entertain dad for at least a month. Riding a broom was such a normal part of attending Hogwarts, that I hadn't even considered how much it might excite my own dad to see me practice it in front of him. Although, now that I was an adult by wizarding law, he'd be able to see me perform magic a lot more commonly around our house.
"Come on Evans, show your old man some tricks, I know you know some," James added before I could deny any knowledge. And damn him for being right.
I steered myself away from them and took a lap around the clearing to help build up some speed, and once I felt I had enough to keep me going, I leaned back, pulling the handle of my broom up as I went, and smoothly slid into backwards roll after backwards roll.
I eventually came to a stop, too dizzy to keep going as the world around spun a little bit, and carefully directed myself back to the men.
"That one you'll see fairly commonly at Quidditch games," I told dad as everything around me slowly stopped moving.
"Isn't it dangerous?" dad asked. The air around us picked up a little, ruffling dad's hair and upsetting the scarf tied around his neck.
"Of course it is, but so is playing a sport hundreds of feet in the air," I shrugged.
"If we get lucky Mr. Evans, I'll get you tickets for the Quidditch World Cup and you can witness the real pros in action," James said, running a hand through his hair.
"Or you could attend a match James is playing and witness something close to it for free," I added with a snort. My gaze latched onto James as a blush rose to his cheeks and he looked down at the ground.
"Lily's exaggerating-"
"Am not!" I insisted. "You should see him dad, he'd have offers from the pros lining up if he wasn't determined to be a hero."
"Yes, well, Voldemort can't wait, but Quidditch will always be around," James said and cleared his throat. It was a common sense statement, the bare minimum in all honesty, and yet, something about it made me want to launch myself at him and press kisses all over his face.
Because James loved Quidditch, we all knew it, and for him to give it up? It was a lot.
"Well, you two certainly seem to have very high opinions of each other," dad said with a knowing look towards me. I couldn't help but blush, not that he knew anything that had happened between James and I, and admittedly, not a lot had happened, but it still felt like he had probably guessed.
We spent the day together in the small field. At one point Sirius joined us with his own broom and couldn't keep himself from showing off how skilled he was. I would've made fun of him but I couldn't bear to rain on dad's parade. He looked ready to worship Sirius by the end of the day.
Even Petunia came out at one point to watch us, but when Sirius offered to take her for a ride, she stuck her nose in the air, gave a loud sniff, and trudged off back to the house.
"You know it wouldn't hurt you to avoid antagonizing her," I told Sirius out of the corner of my mouth. We watched my dad chase after James in an attempt to catch him.
"But she makes it so easy," Sirius replied. I shot him a reproachful look. "Listen Evans, if she's too busy trying to drown me in my bath, that means she's not trying to burn a hole through your head and you two get along better. Believe me, I know what it is to butt heads with your sibling."
I looked at Sirius, at the faraway look in his eyes as if he were thinking of someone else. My chest couldn't help but tighten in sympathy. Petunia and I didn't get along but we weren't…whatever had become of Sirius and Regulus.
I didn't know much about Regulus beyond him being Sirius's brother, and Sirius never bothered to offer more information.
"Sirius…you've never told me about Regulus," I said quietly.
"That is because he would probably try and murder me in my sleep if he knew I was talking about him," he said, his tone humorous but not quite. "And I suspect those snake friends of his do a good enough job of convincing him I'm scum as it is."
"Sirius-"
"Enough about my family Lils, family problems can't be helped now can they," Sirius interrupted. And with a grin in my direction, he shot off towards James and dad. Somewhere between leaving me and reaching them, he'd procured a ball of snow that he lobbed at James's head.
I was the first one to call it quits for the day. I was wet, the wind was picking up and turning the water in my clothes to ice, and the heating spell was beginning to wear off. I legged it back to the mansion, motivated by the cold to haul arse.
I ran into no one on my way through the house, I handed the broom off to a passing house-elf and hurried to my room to get out of my clothes. My jumper, trousers, and runners were all discarded on the floor so I could hand them over for washing later on. I snuggled into a wool jumper, sweatpants, and legwarmers for maximum layers.
James was still out flying with my dad, and we'd gotten basically no time alone together for the day. And I was still itching to pounce on him and snog his brains out. I knew he would be too much of a gentleman to try anything like he'd tried last night, and if we were ambushed before I had my way, I wouldn't get a chance to jump the man until tomorrow at the very least.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I left my room and quickly made my way to James's. I closed the door quietly behind me and took it all in.
It was still a guest room, and yet James had managed to add his own personal touch to everything. The Gryffindor crewnecks sitting in neat, folded piles at the foot of his bed. His teetering stack of books on his nightstand, messy sweats hanging out of his open trunk at the other end of the room that formed a snake leading to the foot of his bed.
And there were a lot of bags of cat food. Like, a lot. But I hadn't seen a cat in the Potter's house yet.
I wandered over to his pile of books and looked through what he had stacked so I could judge him. Unsurprisingly, there was more than one text relating to Quidditch, but a surprising number of them were advanced topics in dark arts training, and the last few looked to be muggle fantasy novels.
James found me laying in his bed, a book on Quidditch history open in front of me when he finally wandered in with snow stuck to his front and his hat in clumps.
When I looked up from my page, I found him frozen in his doorway, his eyes darting over every inch of me as if trying to commit the image to memory.
He cleared his throat. "What are you doing in my room?"
"Ambushing you."
"Ambushing me?"
"You promised me we'd have more time together. Alone." I pushed myself up to my knees, letting the book full shut in front of me. "And I plan on cashing in on that promise, James."
His gaze was focused on my face, but I was distracted by the bobbing of his throat. His mouth opened and closed three or four times before he managed to force another sentence out.
"I have to, er, get changed," he stuttered, gesturing vaguely at his clothes.
I raised an eyebrow in challenge. "So then change."
"In here. With you."
I nodded in agreement and slid off the bed. I took slow step after slow step towards James. His eyes followed every movement I made, but he made no move to put distance between us.
"I could help," I said innocently. I reached out and grasped the hem of his jumper.
"Am I dreaming right now? Is this a dream?" James choked out as he looked down at me. I fiddled with the hem of his shirt, pushing it up slowly as I moved my hands from his torso up to his chest.
"Are you saying you dream of me undressing you James Potter?" I teased. I didn't know where to focus first, his eyes or his lips or the light sprinkling of freckles across his nose.
"You have no idea how much I do Evans," he said, voice low.
I didn't have time to come up with a witty remark because James had the back of my jumper fisted in one hand and the other was burying itself in my hair at the nape of my neck. He pulled my face up towards his as he bent down to meet me halfway. At the touch of his lips I couldn't help but open my mouth in a sigh. His tongue passed against mine and the motion made my knees wobble.
My head grew fuzzy with the slide of his tongue until all I could think about was the feel of his stomach against my hand, the callouses on the hand he'd slid underneath my shirt, how hard his body was pressed against mine.
I pushed his clothing up and up until he had to break away to pull the items over his head. I barely had time to marvel at the sight of him before he was pulling me against him again. My hands couldn't stop roving, they spread across his chest and moved up to his shoulders, down his biceps and then back up around his neck and into his soft, messy hair. The way his muscles bunched and flexed under my hands made me want to moan in approval.
I tightened my grip on James's hair, pulling him down lower at the same that his solid grip on my waist lifted me off the ground. My legs went around his waist instinctively and he groaned against my mouth as I pressed against him. I couldn't help sucking on his lower lip, pressing my mouth closer and closer.
I hadn't noticed he was moving until my back was being pressed into his bed. I couldn't help but arch into James's warmth as he bore down on me with his weight. I wanted his hands everywhere and it was becoming a source of annoyance that he was doing his best to be so gentlemanly.
"James, you're a gentleman, and I admire that about you, I do," I panted, looking up into his eyes. "But I have tits, and they're meant for touching, so get to it."
"You're killing me here," he replied with a pained look on his face even as he slid his thigh in between my legs.
"You think this is bad, I'll moan your name and then we'll both be in-"
I never got to finish that thought.
His hands lightly skimmed my sides before moving underneath my shirt and moved upwards. His hands were warm and sure, moving over my ribs and lightly skimming the underside of my breast. Even though I was expecting the sensation, it still took me by surprise and I gasped against his mouth.
Much to my frustration, James was moving away from my lips, instead pressing kisses against my neck. I was about to file a complaint with him when he found the sensitive spot behind my ear and sucked on it, right as his hand went right where I needed to.
I was moving my hips against his thigh without even realizing even as I let out a moan. As James continued kissing and biting his way down my neck, and his hand kept working its magic on me, I couldn't have stopped chasing the friction I was craving even if I wanted to.
"You feel better than any dream I've had, Lils," James's voice rumbled in my ear. The sound sent a wave of warmth spreading through me as James gazed down at me, flushed and rumpled underneath him. "But I think we'd better stop before someone walks in on us."
"Not this again," I groaned, burying my face in the crook of his neck.
"Believe me, nothing would disappoint me more than removing my hands from up your shirt, but I'd rather act out my fantasies somewhere where your parents aren't likely to walk in on me," James said with a grin.
"You promise?" I grumbled as he pressed gentle kisses all over my face, down my neck, and across my collarbone.
"I'll be the first thing you see when you walk in the girls' dorm. I'll even put a little bow on myself so you can unwrap me," James teased.
"You better have my curtains bloody closed when you do, I'm not in the habit of sharing."
James tsked in disappointment. "Getting territorial on me already, Evans."
He was such a goddamn liar, he couldn't wipe the satisfied look off his face no matter how hard he tried.
"I'd believe you were disappointed in me if you didn't look so smug about it."
James helped me off the bed and smoothed out my hair for me while I tugged the rest of my clothes back into place. He walked me to his door, all the while keeping his hands on me, and made sure the coast was clear before letting me into the hall.
"Just so you know, next time I expect a better reward for showing up in your bed without a bra," I huffed even though I wasn't really annoyed.
"Do one better and show up without a shirt either, and I'll make it worth your while," James said. He pressed a kiss against my forehead and I was weak and a sucker, especially when it came to James and all his warm skin, because I smiled.
"I'll see ya later."
#
The first problem when I awoke the next morning was the extremely noticeable hickey that I had on my neck.
I stared in horror at the mirror in front of me and hoped I would perish in the next few minutes. I didn't know any spells for covering up a hickey and I didn't have any potions that might've been able to make it go away.
And I definitely didn't own any makeup.
I was going to murder James in his sleep.
And then I had the horrifying realization that I was going to have to ask Petunia to help me with this.
I was going to make it a very painful murder.
I left my hair down while I hurried to Petunia's room and hoped it hid most of the evidence in case I happened to run into anyone.
I knocked on her door aggressively and without pause until she yanked it open, an unimpressed look on her face. It was one of those rare moments where Petunia hadn't manicured every inch of her appearance down to the stray hairs on her head. Her blonde hair was a frizzy cloud around her head, and her sleeping mask was sitting lopsided on her hairline.
"What do you want?" she snapped at me. I didn't even get a chance to explain myself before her gaze immediately landed on the purple bruise on my neck. She was instantly awake.
"Say no more," she said, a smug smile spreading across her face. It took every ounce of self control not to roll my eyes at her.
"Can you help me cover this up with makeup or not?"
"What's wrong, isn't there a spell you can use to take care of that, I thought you guys had an easy fix for everything," Petunia said mockingly.
"Tuney!" I snapped, looking up and down the hallway. She wasn't even trying to be quiet.
"Don't get your knickers in a twist, I've got some foundation that should work," she replied with a dramatic sigh.
I waited while she rummaged through her things, growing antsier with every passing minute until she let out a muffled, "Aha!"
She handed me her bottle of foundation and said, "It's pretty sheer so you're going to have to layer it on. And if it won't cover all of it, it should at least cover enough that you can get away with claiming you've got some sort of rash."
I was about to throw my arms around her in thanks when a ringing at the door distracted me. I left Petunia to her beauty sleep and quickly jogged down the stairs, foundation gripped in my hand.
When I opened the door, confused about who could possibly be visiting us, I found Dorcas standing on the steps, bags around her feet.
"Dorcas!" I exclaimed in surprise.
Her face lit up in happiness at the sight of me, and then I saw her latch onto the hickey on my neck. She went from ecstatic to a deer in headlights, to smug and knowing. I knew what she was going to say before she said it and clenched my jaw instinctively.
"Is that a hickey?"
I clapped a hand over her mouth and yanked her inside, bags and all.
"Keep your bloody voice down, will you?" I hissed at her, looking behind me to see if my parents had managed to perfect the art of appearing out of thin air.
"Oh my God, it is a hickey!" she tried to squeal quietly. She hopped from foot to foot as her eyes traveled from the bruise to my face and back.
"It's just a hickey for Merlin's sake, it won't be the first one you've seen," I snapped at her. We abandoned her belongings by the door and I dragged her upstairs to the room I was staying in as quickly as possible.
I shoved her inside and closed the door behind us, blocking Petunia's nosy eyes from getting a good look.
I hurried into the bathroom with Petunia's foundation, Dorcas hot on my heels.
"Do I even have to ask who gave it to you?" she asked, smug as hell as she leaned against the doorway and watched me angling my chin in the mirror.
"I knew you'd be insufferable about this," I muttered as I tugged the plastic lid off the bottle and shook it.
"It was James, wasn't it. I already know it's James you can just admit it," she babbled on, ignoring my scowling.
"Actually, it was Sirius. We've been making out just non-stop since he got here," I said dryly. I pressed down on the head of the bottle and watched it release pale foundation onto the back of my hand.
"Yeah right, you and Sirius Black," Dorcas scoffed. "I'd believe giants fly before I believed that."
I tilted my chin in the mirror again and began to dab it onto my bruise. Petunia was right, this thing was extremely sheer. The first layer barely managed to cover any of the hickey, it just looked a little blurred now. I tapped at my neck aggressively, trying to blend the stupid thing out with my fingers with no success.
"Of course it was James, you twit," I told her.
"I told you this was going to happen," she crowed triumphantly. "I told you and you didn't believe me!"
"Hold your horses, you said James and I would end up together," I said turning to her.
"And what exactly do you think is happening here?" she asked me slowly as if I was stupid.
"James and I aren't together," I reminded her even as admitting it made my whole body want to clench at the idea. "So far, we're just two people who have a physical relationship with each other."
"Lils, you're not that modern," Dorcas snorted and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "You try telling James Potter you're not a thing right now and see where that gets you."
I couldn't help but flush at her words both out of pleasure and out of embarrassment to have my feelings and situations out in the open in this way. I wouldn't admit it to anyone, but I had worried that this was just a physical thing for James when it wasn't for me. But if Dorcas thought it was more than that as well, that meant I had to be right.
Right?
"Give me that," she said with a sigh and took the foundation out of my hand. I tilted my head for her and let her finish dabbing more of the product on me until she was satisfied.
She squinted at my neck after a few minutes, maneuvered me in and out of the late before she was satisfied.
"That should do it for now," she said finally.
"Thanks," I told her. She followed me as I made my way back to Petunia's room to return her makeup. Petunia answered the door on the first knock, because I knew she was just waiting for an opportunity to see who the new visitor was.
"Who's this?" she asked, nodding to Dorcas who was standing behind me.
"This is my best mate, Dorcas," I said to Petunia. "Dorcas, this is my sister Petunia."
"Every time I blink there's more of you lot," Petunia sniffed, staring down her large nose at Dorcas. "You're like roaches."
"Somehow you're even more unpleasant than Lily's descriptions," Dorcas said bluntly.
Excellent. More tension in the house.
I hurried Dorcas away before they could say anything else to each other and start a fight before breakfast had even been served.
"I won't be held responsible for what I say to that woman," Dorcas announced as she threw herself onto my ridiculously large bed.
"Noted," I replied with a sigh and lay down beside her. We stared up at the ceiling together in silence for a few moments.
"So tell me everything," Dorcas finally burst out. I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face. It was nice to have her here even though she was going to be a massive pain in my ass, it wasn't as if I could very well gush to Petunia about this.
"What do you wanna know?" I asked her. I turned my head to the side to look at her and she at me.
"When did it happen? Where did it happen? Why did it happen? How long did you kiss? How many times have you kissed? Is he good at it? Where was his hands? What did you do? How far did you go?" Dorcas fired off rapidly. I couldn't help but let out a laugh at the amount of questions.
"It happened a couple of days ago, there was mistletoe over my door and I got stuck underneath it," I told her. I couldn't stop the grin that spread across my face or the blood from rushing to my cheeks.
"Ugh, mistletoe, how romantic," she groaned in disgust and put her hands over her face. I giggled in response.
"I don't know how long we kissed, it felt like days passed with us just standing there. It was a long time. It was really good," I added quietly.
"Of course it would be good!" Dorcas burst out. "Merlin forbid James Potter was bad at anything. I am so jealous of you, you cow."
My cheeks hurt from how hard I was smiling. It was a very rare time that Dorcas Meadowes of all people would admit to being jealous of me. I sighed dreamily like an idiot but I couldn't help it. Everything felt surreal, as if I was living in some sort of romance novel.
"How many times have you kissed?" Dorcas demanded. She leaned up on her arm and loomed over me.
"Twice, but I was planning to corner him for more until you darkened our doorstep this morning," I said teasingly.
"Might I remind you that this is my house that you're using," Dorcas said as she pinched me.
"And I will give you a gift basket as thanks. Now do you want to hear the rest or not?" Dorcas nodded eagerly and scooted closer.
"Erm, so his hands are really nice. They're, like, really big and solid and like… manly," I went on lamely. Dorcas snorted and pursed her lips to keep the laugh inside. I couldn't have sounded dumber if I tried.
"Everywhere he touches me makes me want to jump out of my skin but like….in a good way. Last time we kissed, I wasn't wearing a bra," I admitted to Dorcas with wide eyes. She gasped in the dramatic way she was meant to.
"You skank!" I couldn't help but laugh because she sounded both impressed and proud of me.
"Wait until the whole castle hears about it, you're gonna be the gossip for the rest of the year!" Dorcas squealed excitedly.
She didn't get to say more because at that moment, James burst into my room, a grin on his face and froze in surprise when he saw Dorcas lounging in my bed.
"Dorcas! What are you doing here?" he asked with furrowed brows.
"Better question, what are you doing here?" Dorcas asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Plumbing problem at the manor. There was shit everywhere. Literally."
Dorcas gagged. "Courtesy of Sirius, I take it?"
"The one and only," he agreed.
"I'm starting to get the picture," Dorcas went on meaningfully as she looked between the two of us.
"You wanna join us for some impromptu Quidditch?" James asked her. "Lils and Sirius against you and me?"
"Now you're talking." Dorcas slid off the bed and hurried out of the room. "I'll just give you two some alone time."
She scurried off before I could say anything else.
"You against me, huh?" I asked James. I approached him slowly and slid my arms around his waist as he looked down at me.
"Well, I figured if we were on the same team I'd be too distracted. At least if we're on opposite teams, I've got a good reason to always be watching you," James said. He wrapped his arms around and kissed my forehead. He was so sweet it made my teeth rot.
"You're quite the charmer."
"Now get ready, Sirius is getting antsy waiting," James said and dropped a final kiss on my lips before leaving me alone. I couldn't help but grumble as I shoved myself into some thick trousers and a jumper. I was going to have to up my game if I wanted to distract him out of being in the cold in the future.
"And where are you off to then?" Petunia asked when she spotted me in the hall.
"Quidditch, you wanna watch?" I asked her as I secured my hat on my head.
"No, sounds awful."
"That's how you know it'll be fun," Dorcas said with a wink as she brushed past Petunia, making sure to knock into her as she passed. Petunia scowled at her retreating back.
"Come on Tuney, live a little," I couldn't help but beg her. "You can go back to hating me after I go back to school, but come enjoy yourself."
I could see her thinking it over in her head, hesitating to say no.
"There's no Vernon here to see you," I wheedled.
She gave a beleaguered sigh. "Fine, but only because you won't be able to enjoy yourself without me there."
I threw my arms around her and squealed in her ear in excitement. "I'll even take you up on the broom later if you'd like. Make sure you dress warm!"
I hurried down the stairs to find Dorcas and the boys catching up. Sirius had the brooms slung over his shoulder.
"I wanted to stop by the place and see how everyone was doing before we all went back to Hogwarts," I heard Dorcas telling them. James lit up when he saw me and lifted his arm to throw around my shoulder when I was close enough.
"The two of them are going to become insufferable," Sirius muttered to her.
"Shut up and be happy for them you twig," Dorcas responded with a punch to his shoulder. Sirius rubbed his arm and glared at her.
"Let's go get the hoops set up, mum and dad will guide your parents over there," James said as he led us outside and we stamped through the snow to the clearing where dad had been learning to fly.
"Petunia said she'd come watch us play!" I told him excitedly. The Quaffle was tucked under his arm as we all tramped through the trees.
"Great, that means Sirius will be too busy trying to aim at her and I'll win," James said smugly.
"Not on my bloody watch."
James and Sirius immediately got to work setting up the goal posts. Dorcas and I tossed the Quaffle back and forth to warm up while we watched them work. We took to the air eventually, tossing the Quaffle around the four of us until we'd gotten used to the feel of it.
Eventually our families found us in the clearing, chairs under arms and blankets in their hands. Petunia carried a thermos of hot chocolate with her and had even endeavored not to look like she'd eaten something sour.
Once they'd all gotten themselves seated in their seats, blankets spread across their laps and hot chocolate in their hands. Mr and Mrs Potter took out their wands and sent them all skyrocketing into the air as the legs of the chairs lengthened right under them.
Petunia let out a shriek of surprise and held on tight as the ground rushed away from her. Her eyes wide in her face and white as a sheet as she looked around her.
"Is this safe?" she hissed at the Potters.
"Perfectly," Mr Potter said with a benevolent smile. "You won't fall, but if you do, there's a cushioning charm to break your fall, my dear."
This did not reassure Petunia but she couldn't do anything else besides nod in agreement and give him a weak smile.
Sirius and I waited on one side of the makeshift field with James and Dorcas opposite us, sitting low on their brooms. Mr Potter was refereeing the game for us and tossed the ball in the air on his count of three.
James immediately rushed up and caught the ball but dropped it almost immediately when Sirius rammed into him with his whole body. Ball tucked under his arm while James rolled safely out of the way, Sirius dodged around Dorcas, with me hot on his heels as he sped for the end of the pitch.
His arm came back, ready to score when Dorcas dodged in front of him to block. But at the last second, Sirius tossed the ball to me as I shot past him. It took only seconds to bring my arm back and send the ball soaring through the hoops.
Faster than I could blink, James came around from behind the posts, snatched the ball as it soared through and was racing off to the other end of the pitch, the wind pushing back his hair. Just as I was about to ram my shoulder into James to try and get him to drop the ball, he let it slip out of his hands and pulled sharply on his broom. I looked down only to see Dorcas, low on her broom speed off and for the hoops.
Seconds before the ball passed through the middle hoop, Sirius intercepted it and tossed it to me. I barely had time to register the ball was flying towards my face, but my body seemed to understand what was going on even if the rest of my head was still catching up and my arm was moving to catch it before I'd thought about it.
I set off for the posts, dodging around Dorcas who came at me from the right. I whipped the ball towards Sirius, who caught it with a grin and then was scoring from halfway across the pitch. I watched with my mouth open as the ball aimed true and soared through the far left hoop.
The game continued on in this way, the four of us dodging around each other, sleight of hands, Dorcas trying to throw Sirius off his broom.
I got a little carried away and used James's head to bounce the Quaffle off of it and scored.
He looked indignant as I flew past him and blew him a kiss. Sirius was laughing so hard he accidentally flipped himself upside down.
The game went on and on until one team reached two hundred and forty points first. I had apparently severely underestimated how good I was at Quidditch because I was managing to hold my own with the three of them. Or they were all going easy on me, but judging by the way Sirius and James were going at each other.
The day slipped away from us as the game went on and on without break. I was sweating through my layers, my hat making my hair a greasy mess and my jumper sticking to the sweat on my back.
Sirius and I ultimately won but only by a small margin and Dorcas was a sore loser about it, grumbling the whole way to the ground. James only looked proud that I'd been able to beat him.
"That was amazing!" Dad yelled as he rushed towards me when I eventually touched down. He wrapped me in a bear hug and swung me around.
"I didn't know you could play like that!" he exclaimed as he whipped off my hat and tousled my sweaty hair. I couldn't help but laugh as the adrenaline coursed through my veins, I couldn't even be bothered to worry about how gross I must've looked to James.
"I told you she was good enough to be on the team Mr Evans," James said with pride. I rolled my eyes goodnaturedly even though his praise made me want to puff up like a peacock.
"Just because I can hold up against two whole people, doesn't mean I would've been any good on the pitch, don't get carried away," I insisted.
"You won't be able to change my mind," James sang. He tossed me the Quaffled and then hurried off after Sirius and Dorcas to take down the goal posts.
"What did you think mum?" I asked her.
"As a mother, my heart dropped seeing you move in the air on a piece of stick like that," she said. "But as a player, I thought you were magnificent Lily. We should've found an open field for you to enjoy flying a lot sooner if I'd known."
"That was very… scintillating," Petunia said as though she didn't want to admit it. "I must say, you had me on the edge of my seat. But that was also because I feared falling to my death."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes because of course Petunia would never be able to give a compliment without having to sour it in some way. But I would take whatever she could give me. It wasn't as if she was dishing out her praise. Who knew when would be the next time I would ever hear that approval.
"There was a cushioning charm," Mr Potter reminded her.
"Respectfully Mr Potter, that doesn't inspire the confidence in me you think it does," Petunia said in a tone that was bordering on rude. I didn't know whether to cringe or be mortified or start apologizing. Mr Potter took it in stride though and simply smiled at her indulgently.
"She's allergic to magic," I heard Dorcas mutter to him out of the corner of her mouth. Mr Potter grinned at her and reached up to ruffle her hair in response.
We set off for the house, the sinking in the sky and the air getting colder with every passing second. When we walked through the door and began shedding our coats and boots, everyone loudly talking over one another, the elves rushed out to put away all of our things and offer us hot drinks.
Dorcas pulled me over to the side in all the hubbub.
"Listen, we all know you're James's girlfriend, but for my future peace of mind, please just ask him where the two of you stand," Dorcas said. Before I could say anything she was already off, launching herself onto Sirius's unsuspecting back, sending him staggering as he tried to support her weight.
The two of them disappeared after everyone else, Sirius swearing the whole way as Dorcas wrapped her arm around his throat.