Author's Note: Thank you again to those that read, reviewed and followed this story-you are the best! As a reminder, see note at the end of the chapter for trigger warnings.
Chapter 3
"I want our business handled. I want our problems fixed. I want to be ready before the world is watching because once it is, once we're in that spotlight being picked at and scrubbed and stretched in every direction we will never get the chance to make things right." Olivia Pope, Scandal
Now: James
"You're feeling very accommodating today, aren't you?" James murmured as he watched Lily sink to her knees in front of him.
"Well, you've been very helpful lately," she answered back coyly, giving him just a brief moment of eye contact before unzipping his pants and taking his length in one hand. "Hello, I've missed you," she said, addressing his erection. "Ready for me?"
"Please," he gasped, as he felt her use her tongue to tease his length, swirling her tongue on his head.
She let out a throaty little giggle, and then slowly started to slide him into her mouth, pulling out a bit then sucking him back in a little further each time, those red lips looking so fuckable around his cock.
"Yes, baby, like that," he murmured, moaning again as she brought a hand to his balls, and just as he was about to take more of an active role, control the pace a bit more—
His fucking alarm clock went off.
Groaning, opening his eyes, and feeling utterly defeated, James could do nothing but contemplate this new low.
He was 26 and still having wet dreams over Lily Evans.
"Fuck me," he said, rubbing his eyes and reaching for his glasses, erection still raging. There would be no way around it. He'd have to wank. And while he certainly did not want to wank to the memory of his ex sucking his dick because it made him feel every bit the loser he was, it was the only course of action currently available to him.
He did not have a good feeling about the day.
An hour later found him at the Auror office, large cup of coffee in hard, he sat at his desk full of files that he needed to look over and 'do something with today, for Merlin's sake' as Moody had growled at him on his way to his desk.
He was finally getting into a solid groove, making notes on files, determining which to reassign to junior Aurors, which ones he'd personally take care of, which he wanted to consult with on Moody before moving forward, when suddenly, that ominous feeling he had earlier that morning came back in full swing.
Hearing a throat clear, he looked up to see someone who had quickly become one of his least favorite people: Carter Myles.
"Potter," the American said, sounding bored. "Got a bone to pick with you."
James heaved a sigh. "What could you possibly want with me? As your boss has pointed out several times in the last week since you took on Moody, I am not the client. He is. Go try your luck with him."
"Do you think I haven't already done that?" Myles said, rolling his eyes. "Do you think I enjoy these little chats I have with you? That I woke up and said, 'Hey, I know what I would love to do today! I'll go hang out with James Potter!'"
Closing the file in front of him, James turned so he was facing the other man. "Be quick. I'm busy," he ground out through his teeth.
"Moody is being very, well, moody, for lack of a better word about follow up to the Wilkins interview. We got a lot of positive feedback and requests for additional press, but he won't budge. Would you please reason with him?"
"Not my job, Myles," James said, doing his best to sound bored.
"Maybe not, but I can't help but think that if Flower were asking, you'd clear your schedule to make sure it happened," Carter challenged, shooting him a smile and showing off those stupid dimples that all of the females in the Auror office swooned over whenever the man came in to meet with Moody.
James forced himself to let out a chuckle. "If Lily were here, she wouldn't need to ask because she, unlike you, is clearly capable of doing her job herself."
Myles glared. James returned it, and raised one lifted eye brow. Yeah, motherfucker, he thought to himself. Point Potter.
"Just see what you can do," Myles said, turning to leave, "Please. I'm trying to run point on this one to reduce her stress. Being around here, and you," he leveled James with a stern look, "it's making her very…tense…lately. Needs unwound often. Not that I'm complaining," and with that, he left with a wink.
Damn it, James thought to himself. Point Myles.
"Ohh, you hate him, don't you?" Emma Vance said, sitting on the next desk over, which happened to be Sirius', both of whom had watched the exchange with extreme interest. The two had gotten together about six months ago and while James was very happy for his best friend, he also often wanted to put his head through a wall in their presence.
"Of course he hates him," Sirius chimed in. "He's fucking his ex while Jamie here is in the middle of a dry spell"
"I'm not having a dry spell. I went home with Val, that Unspeakable, two weeks ago. And we don't know that they're fucking," James said, dark mood rising.
"She's definitely fucking him," Emma said confidently. "I would be, if I were her," she said with a shrug as her boyfriend leveled a glare.
"Just shove off," James said, grabbing a quill and parchment, beginning to jot a quick line to the ex in question.
"It's alright, Prongs," Sirius said with mock sympathy. "I'm sure he's not very good. I mean, look at him. He's too pretty to be a considerate lover. Guys that good looking are always selfish in bed, and I can say that, because I am the exception. You are way less good looking than him, so there's a good chance you're better."
James pulled out his wand and promptly hit Sirius with a hex he hadn't used since his third year at Hogwarts.
Moody saw and berated him for fifteen minutes.
And so, while he knew summoning Lily anywhere was often a terrible mistake, he did it anyway, under the guise that Moody needed to speak to her, assuming, correctly, that when Lily herself showed up, Moody would be so pleased he'd insist on joining them anyway.
He loved it when he was right.
"Myles isn't working," James began as Lily settled herself in the chair next to him, across from Moody. Today, she wore a form fitting camel colored t-shirt, tucked at the waist into ankle length pale beige pants, her hair in loose waves, and feet sporting her typical high heels, these ones a neutral color. Having given up on pretending he wasn't constantly checking her out, he took a moment to shamelessly admire her.
"We're in agreement about that," Moody barked out. "I don't like him."
"Is there something specific he can work on?" Lily said, pulling out her notebook and uncapping her pen, ready to take note.
"Yes," Moody said gruffly. "He can figure out a way to turn himself into a 5'2" redhead that fought beside me in the war and is currently making my deputy a useless pile of hormones. If he can do that, he can stay on. Otherwise, I need to see more of you."
Both James and Lily blushed, her only slightly, and he, he had no doubt, was nearly scarlet, but nevertheless, Lily cleared her throat and continued, all business.
"I apologize that I haven't been available as much as you'd like—"
"Don't apologize, just fix it," Moody barked, sounding very much like the Moody James knew and loved.
He'd give Lily this much credit: since the interview had gone well, he had noticed a definite uptick in Moody's general swagger. Given he was now sporting a new, neater haircut and clothes that looked like they had been ironed, he was back in fine form. Although his boss would never admit it, the bad press, speculation of his resignation or firing, and threat of Mulciber taking over had been stifling Moody's morale. This Moody was in fighting form, and it was a welcome sight.
Lily let out a little sigh. "Of course. But in return, you will do a sit down with Johnson, Megs, and Farland."
"Farland is out, I don't like him. He has beady eyes and quoted one of Skeeter's stories about me in a piece he did last month. But Johnson and Megs are fine."
"Good," Lily said, moving to stand. "Because those were the only two I wanted you to do. I saw that piece, and Farland can get fucked. But I figured you'd use your veto on him so I'd get what I want," she finished with a cheeky wink. "Anything else you boys need from me?"
James could think of several things he needed from her, but used his restraint. "Nothing else at this time," he said smoothly, also moving to stand. "I'll walk you out."
As the two left the Auror office, waving to Sirius and Emma, as well as a few other faces Lily knew from either her time in the war or after, when she had been at the ministry and thus, a staple in this office to visit James, the two exchanged pleasantries, being far more civil than James could remember being in quite some time. It reminded him that even before he had lusted after her, loved her, and then utterly broken by her, he had always liked her. There was just always something about her that worked for him, on every level.
"So I'll be seeing a lot more of you from now on, then," Lily said as they made their way to the elevator.
"Looks like it. After all, Moody is the client…" he trailed off, holding the elevator door and ensuring she made it on.
Lily let out a little twinkle of a laugh. "Using my own words against me to see more of me, Potter?"
"Would I take advantage of you like that, Evans?" He said, unable to help the smile that overtook his face. "But seriously, I know you are ridiculously busy. No one expects you to be here constantly. It's actually pretty amazing to see first-hand, everything you've built from the ground up."
He had expected her to banter, to say something about him underestimating her, but instead she surprised him, as she always did. "Thank you, James. That actually means a lot, coming from you, especially after the whole fiasco..."
If Lily were going to continue that thought, she was cut off as the elevator door opened, and suddenly in walked in James' actual least favorite people: Lucius Malfoy, Damien Mulciber, and Adrian Avery.
He instantly tensed and took a half step toward Lily; not quite enough to block her from view, but enough to act as a partial barrier between the men and her.
"Well, well, well," Avery started, "Look who it is. Potter and Evans, together. How sweet." Avery gave the pair a sweeping glance, but James noticed how his eyes rested on Lily, lingering just a bit on her chest. Mentally, he kicked himself. If this was how he came across when he checked her out, he needed to apologize immensely.
"Potter," Malfoy said, giving him a nod. He did not acknowledge Lily, and the message was clear: he did not see her as worthy of speaking to, as was his custom with all muggleborns. James had personally sat in on meetings with Malfoy in the presence of muggleborns, and had watched Malfoy turn his back when they spoke. It was vile.
"Malfoy," James said. "You remember Lily, of course?"
"He should," Lily said, turning to James. "I did a little favor for Andi Tonks last year that forced us to become quite acquainted. You and Cissa aren't still grumpy about that, are you?" Her tone was totally friendly and mild, but the blaze of fire in her eyes spoke volumes, as did the loss of color on Lucius' already pale face. James vaguely remembered Sirius mentioning something about Lily assisting the Tonks family after Malfoy moved to have Ted fired from his job at Gringotts. Clearly, whatever Lily had done had enraged Lucius.
"No need to respond to her, Lucius," Mulciber chimed in, and James felt his heart sink just a little. He should have known better than to think they'd get out of this exchange without Mulciber speaking to Lily. "Never did learn her place. Although I did certainly try to train her. Just didn't have quite enough time, if you know what I—"
"You motherfucker—" James lunged, but Lily grabbed his arm, wrenching him back with strength he didn't know she possessed. His blood pounded in his ears and he couldn't think for the rage consuming him. He made to grab for his wand, but Lily slapped his hand.
"Let it go, James," she bit out, using one hand to hold on to him and the other to jab at the elevator, clearly intending to get out at whatever floor was next, regardless of where it led. As the door opened and she all but shoved him out, Mulciber put his hand on the door to keep it open, and then turned to address James.
"Yes, wouldn't want to upset the man that will be your boss soon, Potter," Mulciber said with another sneer, but his cold eyes quickly flickered back to Lily. "She looks real good, Potter. Even better than all those years ago. Too bad she hasn't seemed to learn her lesson about getting involved where she shouldn't. I'd keep a real close eye on her, if it were me."
With that, he let the elevator close, leaving Lily and James alone on the second floor.
"C'mon," she said, spinning on her heel. "Let's take the stairs."
"Let's take the stairs?" James said, incredulous. "That's it?"
"What?" Lily asked, but her face was hard, a mask in place.
"Lily, have you even seen Mulciber since—"
"No, there's a restraining order," she said quickly as she continued to move to the stairwell and make her way down. "He technically broke it by being in the elevator with me, but that's why he couldn't address me directly. I'll let Adella know, we may need you to give a statement to support, but should be enough to automatically re-up it, and then—"
"Lily," James said, moving down the stairs two at a time to get in front of her and place both arms on her shoulders. "Breathe. What happened in there, it was not okay. Nothing about it was okay. So it would be more than acceptable if you were to have, you know, a human reaction."
Lily looked off to the side, and for a moment, just a moment, James saw a crack in her armor, a slight softening into his Lily, the one he had held and protected and loved so fiercely, with every fiber of his being. But then she swallowed, blinked, and it disappeared.
"It's handled. I need to get back to work now," she said, and while he knew she was far from alright, he also knew it wasn't his place, not anymore.
Knowing a losing argument when he saw one, he continued to walk her down the stairs, but before he could overthink it, pulled her into a tight hug before she left, and then took a step back, waiting until she met his eyes.
"I want you to be very careful from now on," he said, and wasn't surprised by the ferocity of his own tone. "I want someone with you when you are out, especially at night or in the morning. Do you still run early?"
Lily nodded, and he could see her swallow hard.
"Start doing it here. I'll owl you my personal code to get in the Auror department gym and meet you here myself. What time?"
"James—"
"What time, Lil?"
"You don't have to—"
"What. Time," he bit out, leaving no room for argument.
She huffed. "Five," but he felt a little victorious when he saw the ghost of a smirk on her face, knowing he would dread that early hour.
"Great, see you bright and early. Anything else at all comes up, you owl me immediately. Those guys, they don't play. I know you know that, but I need to say it anyway. They may be acting the role of politicians, but don't forget for a second they are soldiers."
Lily nodded, rolled her shoulders, and seemed to steel herself. "It's a good thing that I'm still a soldier, too, then."
That's my girl, he couldn't help but think. Point, Evans, indeed.
Later than evening, James sat in the living room of his cottage, firewhiskey in hand, dinner cooking on the stove, unwinding from the day. He was just contemplating flooing Remus or Peter (Sirius had a "date night" he had heard about all afternoon) to see if they wanted to meet at the pub later when a tap at the window brought him to his feet.
Seeing an owl from the Daily Prophet, he quickly paid and then opened the paper. An evening edition was not uncommon, but usually did not go out unless something major had broken.
"Fuck," he breathed out as he unrolled it, seeing a headline he absolutely did not want to see.
Moody to Blame for Attack on Aurors
Roman Valesquez
Despite efforts to paint Head Auror, Alastor Moody as an upstanding guardian of our society, it has recently been uncovered that a failure to act on his part led to the grisly torture of beloved aurors, Frank and Alice Longbottom at the end of the Great War.
Readers will recall that Bellatrix, Rodolphus, and Rabastian Lestrange were arrested for use of the imperio curse on both aurors in the days following the fall of You-Know-Who. However, what has always been brought into question is why these known Death Eaters were still at large. Surely they should have been the first targets of the Aurors for capture and incarceration?
"Moody told us to wait on the arrest, to follow them and see who else they could lead us to," said a source speaking anonymously. "It was a tactical decision that many of us disagreed with."
Apparently, it was Moody's direct orders to only conduct surveillance on all three Lestranges, and ultimately, it was bungled, allowing for them to slip the notice of the Auror office long enough to carry out the horrific attack.
"I just cannot allow him to be painted as some sort of hero," the source continued, "when his failure to lead is the reason Frank and Alice will spend the rest of their lives in St. Mungos."
James cursed again and threw the paper down, but not before the story at the bottom of the fold appeared before his eyes, sending another wave of shock through him.
Wizengamot Member Victim of Affair
Rita Skeeter
Sarah Kent, a first term judge serving on the Wizengamot, will soon be heading to divorce court herself.
After weeks of speculation, The Daily Prophet can confirm that her husband, Anthony Carter Myles, an American Public Relations specialist at LE & Associates, has been having a long running affair with none other than his boss, Lily Evans herself.
The two have been spotted together on numerous occasions, both at their office and at Ms. Evan's apartment, as seen in the pictures below.
Ms. Page and Mr. Myles both declined to comment, and the Prophet was unable to reach Ms. Evans at the time of publication, although it was speculated she was seen at the ministry today with an ex of her own…
James stopped reading, merely skimming the rest, which seemed to be mostly wild speculation regarding Lily and Carter's dating history, as well as incriminating photos of the two looking very loved up. There were also wedding photos of Myles and his wife, as well as a caption stating the two had been married four months ago.
Shaking his head, he drained the rest of his whiskey.
Point Mulciber, he thought bitterly.
Then: Lily
"Try this one," Lily said with a giggle, putting the fork in James' mouth.
"You said you didn't want chocolate for the wedding cake," James said before chewing the bite and swallowing.
"I don't want chocolate," Lily replied, leaning over him to the tray they had placed to the right of the bed to grab the next one. "But you love chocolate cake. So if you wanted it—"
"No way," James said, pulling her by her hips to lay her down next to him. "I will not be responsible for this wedding being anything other than the wedding of your dreams. Besides, I can think of other ways we can use this icing…" he said suggestively, raising his eyebrows at her, looking devilish.
"Jamie, we have to make a decision," Lily said, but feeling her excitement rising nonetheless. The two were supposed to be tasting wedding cakes, and while that typically meant going to the bakery, James had somehow charmed the sweet baker into sending them home with boxes and boxes of samples so that they could both relax and unwind while stuffing their faces with cake.
"And we will. We both know we're going to pick the champagne infused cake with strawberry filling," he said as he moved to the hem of her shirt, causing her to huff, but still lift her arms so he could help to undress her. "So pressure is off."
"I do think that's a strong contender," she replied.
"There we go," James said, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. "Now, lie back. I want to try this chocolate icing while lavishing your perfect tits."
Lily let out another laugh, but complied, allowing him to put a generous swipe of frosting on her nipples before his mouth latched on to her right, grazing her with his teeth exactly right.
"Oh god, that feels so good," she panted, fulling relaxing into him.
"Just wait til I move to you pussy," James said, moving from her right breast to her left, and moving his hand between her legs. She had only been wearing one of his oversized t-shirts and panties, giving him very easy access.
"And what about you? Don't I get to taste today?" she teased, but let out a moan all the same as he dipped a finger into her, swirling around her entrance.
"You'll get to taste plenty, don't worry," he said, and slowly, torturously, after swiping more frosting down her stomach, began making his way south, where he spent several long moments devouring her sans frosting, but with the same enthusiasm nonetheless. As his tongue worked her clit and his fingers found her g-spot, Lily came loudly, forming what she was sure were barely cohesive sentences.
When he finished and slowly kissed his back up her torso to her neck and then mouth, allowing her to taste herself on his tongue, he pulled away for a moment, then came back with a bite of cake and fed her.
"This one is really good!" she said, although to be fair, she probably would have agreed to anything in her post-orgasm haze. "Which is it?"
"Champagne infused with strawberry filling," James smirked. "Just like I said."
Lily laughed, swatted him, and then moved to kiss him and continue their previous activity. After all, it was her turn to taste.
But James surprised her by pulling back.
"Real quick, before we start up again, I need to ask you something," and Lily could feel him tense up slightly next to her. "Did you follow my advice and pull dirt on Crouch? For research sake?"
Lily sat up, alarmed. "You want to discuss Barty Crouch while I'm naked and waiting to go down on you?"
"Not particularly, but a thought just popped in my head. You know how it goes," James said with a shrug. "You did do research on your own client, right?"
"Tom did," Lily said. "I looked it over, it was pretty benign. Marriage is bad, some allegations of favoritism within his department, standard stuff. Why?" she asked, shooting him a calculated look.
"Listen, you know I can't officially say. Auror oath and clearance levels and everything. But look again. And soon."
"Jamie? What aren't you saying?" Lily asked, concern mounting.
James shrugged. "Listen. There are rumors. I don't want you to be blindsided. I don't think you're in actual trouble, but I want to make sure it stays that way. Please, just dig into it yourself, okay?"
Lily nodded, and James pulled her into his side.
"Did I kill the mood?" he asked, sending her a smirk.
"A bit, yeah," Lily returned, but couldn't help but smile back at the sight of him, hair all disheveled, eyes mischievous, shirt off to show his well-toned arms and torso.
"Let's get back on track then," he said playfully nipping at her ear, before pulling her on top of him, and pushing himself inside so that she could ride him.
Needless to say, Lily didn't think about Barty Crouch anymore that day, and ran out of time the following day to look into James' warning, and by the day after, it no longer felt as urgent. Tomorrow, she had told herself at the time. Surely it could wait until tomorrow.
When she looked back at this moment, days, weeks, months, even years down the line, she would pinpoint this as the exact moment when everything could have turned out so differently.
Trigger Warnings: Sexual content, language, and implied dark themes in the Now section; sexual content in the Then section.
