thirty-nine - nightmare
Lily stands in the doorway for a moment, watching James as he flicks through the Quidditch pages at the back of the Prophet, before deciding that she really wants him to be looking at her, not a newpaper. She pulls it from his grasp and plops into his lap with a grin. He raises an eyebrow at her, and she plants kisses along his jawline in response; moving down his neck; sucking at his pulse point for a moment. Her fingers scrape his chest and toy with the hair at the back of his head, while his grip her hips firmly and rub up and down the small of her back, before he shakes his head to clear it. James pushes Lily's hands off him, pointing at the newspaper on the table for some reason unknown to him, but the object manages to help him calm down.
"Merlin, Evans, I know I'm irresistible, but in the kitchen? You're a nightmare."
With a self-satisfied smirk, Lily rests her forehead on James'. "Don't act like you don't enjoy it, Potter. And what's wrong with the kitchen?" She slips into the seat opposite him, making sure to put her bare legs up on the other chair in James' full view. "It's never stopped you before."
He chuckles and shakes his head again. "My fiancée is morally depraved and utterly incorrigible," he declares. "And put your legs away, you bloody minx."
Lily grins and leans over to grab the discarded Prophet. Thumbing through, she comments absently, "Newt Scamander's got his Order of Merlin."
"Mm?" James pours them both orange juice and passes her a glass.
"Second class, in recognition of his services to Magizoology. Sounds like a load of -"
She puts her glass to the side and sits forward, reading the paper intently. James glances at her, her sudden silence surprising him.
"What the - have you seen this?"
Lily throws the Prophet down on the table furiously.
"Eligibility Test!" she exclaims. "It's not enough, apparently, for you to have to record your blood-status when you submit a job application, and then apply again when you mysteriously get turned down - no! Now you have to pass a Wizarding Eligibility Test to determine if you're deemed fit to hold a wand!" She snorts. "The Ministry can fuck right off if they think I'm taking that. I'll be the Robin Hood of my day, James. I don't care."
"The who?" James picks up the paper with a frown and scans the article. "Everyone has to take it, Lil. It's not just Muggle-borns."
Lily raises her eyebrows incredulously. "You actually believe that they'll turn around and tell a Pureblood he can't practice magic? That they'll go strolling into Malfoy Mannor and revoke a couple of wands, or take 'em off the Lestranges 'cause they dropped a couple of marks? Face it, James. They have exactly the same agenda as Voldemort, but they're just cowering behind bureaucracy."
"I didn't say that. I just said that they are at least making everyone take it."
"Hm, I wonder who'll be up for scrutiny first. Muggle-borns or Purebloods, what do you think? Don't look at me like that! You don't understand."
"I understand, Lily, and I'm as angry as you are -"
"Yeah, you seem it."
"- but shouting at the newspaper won't change anything."
Lily regards him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"
James grins at her. "Don't you think it would be better to shout at some people?"
Lily bites her lip, holding back a smile.
"Come on," he says, leaning over and kissing her. "Let's go and make some mischief."
a/n: omg omg omg 100 reviews! You lot are the best. Thank you so very, very much!