Woo i managed a reasonably quick update! And its my longest chapter so far too! Can you say 'on a roll!'?

As always thank you, thank you, thank you to all my wonderful reviewers and just anyone who takes time out of their day to read my work. And never fear i won't keep you waiting long after this chapter either ;)

Chapter 6

"Chuck me another fudge one and say that again?"

Alice smirked at Sirius, refraining from making a 'Fudge nudger' joke and threw the golden foil wrapped sweet into his lap.

"Lily Evans fancies James Potter."

"Ok, lets say for a second we believe you," said Sirius, ripping off the wrapper. "Why are you telling us? You do realise we'll tell James, which will result in Lilykins turning you into a big splodge of jinxed jelly?"

"You will not be telling James anything," said Alice casually inspecting the ends of her hair for splits. "I'm sure after five years of listening to him whinge about our lovely Lily, you are all willing to hear my plan?"

"I knew it," said Remus carefully scooping the insides of his caramel out with his pinky. "Come on then. I take it you already know about James' plan?"

"Moony shut up!" squeaked Peter through a mouthful of orange cream.

"What the plan whereby James becomes Lily's friend and she realises just how wonderful he is and ends up asking him out?" shrugged Alice. "Lily's figured that out already. The fact that James is still breathing should be some indication that I am, in fact, not joking."

They all stared at her.

"Merlin you really aren't joking?" asked Sirius.

"Nope. However there was one fatal flaw in your plan, other than the fact it was pretty obvious to an outsider."

"Pray tell?"

"Lily is stubborn," said Alice, popping a double choc into her mouth. "Did you all honestly think that after five years Lily would just immediately throw herself in James' direction? Even if she does like him, she's got resistance like a concrete block!"

"But Lily's more confident than anyone bar Sirius," said Remus. "If she wants something she goes for it. I thought she'd do the same with James."

Alice shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Not with this kind of matter. Boys I mean."

"Why not?" asked Peter, hanging his head upside down off the end of his bed.

"There is a reason but it's not my place to tell," said Alice, quickly thinking of getting off this subject. "But anyway back to the matter in hand. We need to break James' resolve. Now Lil doesn't know I'm telling you any of this, she thinks I'm just weedling you for info –"

"Why sweet Alice," said Sirius, sitting back onto his elbows. "All you had to do was ask!"

She rolled her eyes in a manner Lily would've been proud of.

"Put it away for a minute would you Sirius? I'm taken," she said. "As I was saying, you can't let Lily or James know what we're discussing. Lily is already working on breaking James as we speak. But you can help. Lily would like James to ask her to Hogsmeade. That is your mission. Plant the idea in his mind. Should you all succeed, I'll bring more chocolates."

With that, Alice got up, skipping to the door.

"How is she trying to break him?" asked all three just before she closed the door.

Alice's blue eyes almost twinkled with knowledge.

"All I'm saying is, James won't be sleeping in here tonight."

***

James watched in awe as Lily's chest rose and fell with every deep, rhythmic breath. Her eyes were closed, a book open in her lap, but it was the soft surge of her breasts against the scarlet jumper she was wearing that held his attention.

His jumper.

His favourite lucky Gryffindor jumper that he'd played every single Quidditch match in. The one with the raggy hems and faded elbows and that had been stretched so many times with an enlarging charm it was starting to look a little distorted. But it remained a bright scarlet and the emblem stood out, bold as the day his Dad had given it to him. He wore it so much, the House Elves had immense trouble actually prying it from him for long enough to wash it. Sirius affectionately called it James' security blanket.

But right now his security blanket was housing the warm, petite body of Lily Evans. It surrounded her skin. No doubt that right now, her scent would be permeating into the very weaves of the fabric. Her erect nipples could be detected by James' unbroken staring, pushing against the material.

Little did James know that Lily was, in fact, awake. What's more, she'd deliberately teased her nipples to hardness moments before he'd entered the room.

Rise.

Fall.

Rise.

Fall.

He was unaware of the fact his breathing now mimicked hers. Or that a soft almost-groan was escaping on each exhale. What he was aware of was that there was no room in his jeans, just a throbbing that ached to be attended to.

His gaze slowly took in the rest of her appearance, drinking in and savouring the sight. She was wearing pyjama shorts; but not obscenely short shorts. The plain grey, jersey material reached two thirds of the way down her thigh, although the left leg had bunched up, revealing more bare skin: Soft looking, creamy, milk-white skin. Her dainty feet and ankles were wrapped in red leg warmers, just the very tips of her toes and scarlet coloured nails on show. One hand lay across her stomach, while the other resided, palm up, next to her beautiful face. Her mane of red hair was spread over the arm of the settee, shades of copper illuminated from the light in the equally fiery hearth. Her face was a picture of pure tranquillity. He felt as though the image was literally burning itself into his memory.

Lily Evans; to him, the epitome of eroticism.

The desperate, hormonal, sexually driven seventeen year olds brain was swirling. Oh merlin the idea of waking her by taking her gorgeous, slightly parted pink lips with his own had him clutching the back of the sofa. Or better yet, lifting his very own jumper off her and suckling the little buds of flesh already ripe for the tasting...

But before his mind went into a total meltdown, his eyes settled on one flaw in this otherwise perfect picture. So amazed had he been by the amount of her creamy legs exposed, James had failed to notice the large, now purple with a yellowish tinge, bruise marring the skin on her knee. A bruise, he mused, which was almost worthy of the claim a Bludger had caused it.

Then his stomach suddenly turned a little as he realised it was his fault that her beautiful skin was so badly blemished. The sound of the thunk when her knee smacked the table echoed through his head, making him cringe. Instead of offering to heal it for her, what had he done? Took the opportunity to kiss the boo boo. Stupid wank stain.

He moved around the sofa, pulling out his wand with the intention of healing her knee. But the closer he drew to her, the more his body hummed with excitement and temptation, every sinew of his being registering the close proximity of the form. Even in the depths of sleep, without moving a muscle or being aware of his presence, Lily was like an on switch for his male instincts to march directly to the front lines.

Complete with canon. Fully armed. Ready for action.

Crouching down beside her, James took several deep, calming breaths; which only succeeded in pumping more blood in the wrong direction when his lungs filled with the sweet scent that was Lily. He swallowed hard, thinking of the cold shower/frantic wank he might try to sneak away for, and tapped his wand gently against her bruised leg, non-verbally healing her so she didn't wake.

No such luck though. Because stupidly, despite his effort to stay quiet, his fingertip betrayed the restraint he was attempting to force upon himself. As soon as the coloured blemish disappeared from her flesh, James reached out, barely brushing the tip of his digit across the tiny expanse of her skin.

The softest skin he'd ever felt. And as soon as he touched her, the sleeping beauty stirred and he pulled his hand back as if she'd burned him. Which, lets face it, she probably would've with the aid of her wand if she'd woken to find James' hand on her.

Knowing he should move, but with his limbs found to be on an abject strike, the black haired male watched as, with the grace of the most beautiful feline, the woman before him yawned, stretching her arms well above her head, her breasts pushing even more prominently against his jumper...

Had his brain been functioning, James probably would've had the feeling this was going to be a long, interesting night.

***

Stretch. Just a little longer. Perfect.

From the moment she'd heard James approach the back of the sofa, Lily's body had been tingling.

She'd known he was staring at her. Hell she'd waited almost five minutes for him to move at all. She'd heard the way his breathing had shifted; she almost suspected he was touching himself at one point, judging from the almost-moans that had been leaving his mouth.

And the thought had excited her to the point of her own arousal. It was only through strength of conviction and the hope he was watching her ample breasts while she 'slept' that had kept her own breathing steady.

This magnificent gem of an idea had come from Alice. Apparently the best sex Lily's blonde haired friend had ever had was after Frank had found her walking around his bedroom, wearing nothing but his t shirt and her knickers.

He'd later disclosed in the sweaty, tangled sheets that there was nothing sexier than a man's dream girl scantily clad in the clothes of her mate. It was in the vein of the alpha man pride he'd said. When the woman wore their clothes, it was almost a statement to everyone else, even if there was no one to see it, that the girl in question was theirs. For she wore their 'mark'.

Funny how it didn't work the other way round. The picture of Frank in one of Alice's

strappy vest tops somehow didn't create the same effect.

Nevertheless it was an idea she could work to her advantage. With a little tweaking, Alice had helped her turn scantily clad into cosy, with a side dish of alluringly sexy. Nabbing Potter's jumper had been relatively easy, slipping up to the Marauders dormitory whilst all four were comfortably seated in the Great Hall and no doubt stuffing their faces.

And all seemed to be going rather well at this point. Lily was definitely aware that she had Potter's full attention. She'd almost lost her calm demeanour when he'd came next to her, his masculine scent amplified by both his jumper and his presence. It was like her whole body heated the closer he came. She could definitely relate with the whole moth-to-flame thing now. But she had lost it when he'd touched her, the resulting jolt of heat inside only just covered by the way she pretended to stir from her sleep.

Maybe a job as a Muggle actress could suit her. Probably a safer option than the Ministry too these days.

Thinking she'd left her chest out long enough, Lily relaxed, going over her back story one more time before she opened her eyes, exposing herself to the hazel she knew she'd see.

"Mmm, James?" she said, rubbing her eyes for added effect.

"You were asleep." he said, sounding very husky. The sound gave her the shivers like someone had ran their nails down her spine.

She cocked her head to the side, still playing dopey. "Why are you down there?"

His blush made her swell with pride.

"Your knee," he said quickly, shuffling back a little. She sat up, looking at where the bruise had been.

And she nearly melted.

"That's so sweet of you!" said Lily, completely sincerely. "I'm sorry I fell asleep. I got comfy reading and then I just got cold –"

She abruptly stopped herself when she saw, with satisfaction, that James was staring at her shoulder, which his large jumper had slipped off, revealing her freckled skin. She passed her hot flush off as embarrassment.

"Sorry about wearing your jumper," she added quickly. "I got cold and it was just here – do you want it back?"

"No!" practically burst from him and he cleared his throat. "I mean no, keep it if your cold. It's fine."

A silence descended and Lily was starting to get worried, maybe she'd pushed too far too soon and James was freaked out...

"So are you planning on hogging all the sofa or can I get up?" he asked teasingly. "I'm losing the feeling in my legs."

Lily felt herself smile and she shifted her legs round as James got up.

"I am sorry about falling asleep," she said again when he sat down next to her. His jeans grazed her bare leg and she had to stop herself rubbing against the rough material.

"Don't worry about it. Have you still not been sleeping well?" asked James, searching her face.

"Better recently," she said truthfully. Now instead of the dreams waking her, she slept right through, and she certainly wasn't complaining anymore. "Sleeping in here tonight though. Hence –" She gestured up and down her body with a sweeping arm "– getting comfortable."

Lily was pleased to see his eyes briefly scan her form before returning to her eyes, his neck rather red.

"You're sleeping here?" he asked.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Frank and Alice want alone time. The 'fly-round-to-the-damsels-window-then-keep-her-in-distress-all-night' kind. All my dorm girls found other bedroom arrangements. I believe tonight you will share company of marvellous Mel in your bedroom with Sirius."

James let his head bang onto the back of the sofa and he groaned, but not in a good way.

"Thanks for the heads up," he said, moving to ruffle his hair but stopping short. Lily beamed. "That'll mean a silencing charm. I swear Mel's part Banshee."

"I know only too well," said Lily, shuddering. "Sirius has paid her a few bedtime visits. Not fun."

James started to laugh. "Have-Have you noticed the way S-Sirius sounds like a car that won't start?"

Those frightfully disturbing moans bounced around Lily's skull.

And she laughed until tears poured down her face and a stitch stabbed between her ribs.

"It's so true!" she squeaked eventually, wiping her eyes.

"Its a lovely thought, knowing that's what I'll find going back to my dormitory tonight," said James grimly. "Maybe I should record it and blackmail him into learning a proper silencing charm."

"Sounds like a plan," said Lily, steeling herself at the thought of what she was about to say. "But I think I can go one better."

James gave her a sideways glance. "Which is?"

"Wellll," drawled Lily, trying to pass this off casually. "If you help me study until say half nine and then you decide to go back to the common room that's both of us alone and bored for the rest of the night. Plus you'll have the disturbing car sex soundtrack once bedtime rolls around. Why don't we both just stay here?"

***

James blinked.

Once.

Twice.

And he still hadn't understood.

"What?"

He watched those gorgeous green eyes roll.

"Come on I know you'll end up bored once you leave and so will I," Lily said matter-of-factly. "Keep me company? Besides I really want to try human Transfiguration tonight and I think it'll take longer than the hour we'd planned."

Oh I'll last longer than an hour Evans... yeah right.

"All right then," he said, half absolutely ecstatic, the other terrified about what he was getting himself into. A whole night with Evans. Could he really handle this without ruining everything?

Guess he'd soon find out, wouldn't he?

"Thanks James," she beamed, and he felt a huge amount of pride from the smile he'd put on her face. "So what do you want to do first? Get the work out of the way?"

He debated for a moment an idea setting itself up in his head... and stomach as it growled.

"I think first," he said, standing and holding out his hand to her. "We should get some nibbles. And perhaps a hot chocolate with cream for the lady?"

Pride swelled again when he saw the green of her eyes sparkle with delight.

"I am completely and utterly in support of that plan!" she said, jumping up.

When her hand slipped into James' and he led her to the portrait hole, he could at least revel in the fact that the night had started well.

See the web that women will weave? I hope i did this chapter justice, it was quite a challenge this one. Please let me know if i fell down anywhere or anything you praticularly liked :D much much love!!!! XXXXX