'My God! James; have you seen the paper?'

James looked over her shoulder.

'Author found dead at his home in Lincolnshire,

Sinister symbol in sky over house.'

There was a black and white picture of huge, smoky skull; mouth open with a snake curling from between grinning teeth, floating in the sky over a small country cottage.

'Brutus Scrimgeour was found dead at his home and Law Enforcement Officers called Aurors to the scene as Dark magic is suspected to have been involved. Currently a spokesperson from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement has said, 'We suspect murder, but nothing has been confirmed yet, there are signs that a struggle took place.'

Members of the Auror Department were unavailable for comment.'

'Merlin, that looks a bit crazy, what do you think it means?'

'Something to do with those Death Eater radicals?' Lily asked, shaking her head in sorrow, but she turned the page, 'So what were we going to do today?' she asked and took a bite of her toast.

It was Lily's last night at Potter Manor and also New Year's Eve.

James looked up and grinned wickedly, 'Well,' he began, 'first of all we are going to go for a walk-'

'I need to have a shower first.' Lily interrupted.

'Not today,' James replied quickly, 'Then we'll have a leisurely lunch, then there will be massages-'

'Massages?' Lily looked surprised, and slightly confused.

'That's what I said, and then maybe an afternoon snooze, then you'll probably want to get ready for tonight.'

'Tonight?'

'Yes, tonight, Lils. We've got some people coming; it is New Year's Eve.'

'Oh God, James! You could have told me! I haven… Oh, yes I have.'

'You can wear that beautiful dress you showed me, the one you said you got for Christmas.' James replied, grinning like a cat, 'C'mon, finish up; we've got a busy day.'

Lily looked at him over the rim of her cup of tea, 'James, we've got all day…'

'Oh, alright then…' he rolled his eyes at her, 'forgive me for being just a little bit excited…'

'Who's coming this evening?' she asked.

'Just a few a people,' He replied, waving a hand vaguely as he helped himself to more toast, apparently he wasn't that bothered about their "busy day".

'Like who?' Lily was intrigued.

'Ministry people and the like, Sirius is coming back and a couple of others might be about.'

'Like who?' Lily persisted.

'Shh,' he said, leaning across for a kiss and stealing the paper from in front of Lily, 'the secret's in the telling.'

'You promised me a massage this morning,' Lily reminded James as he shook the snow off their coats and hung them up.

'That I did,' James gave her a lecherous wink, 'So get upstairs and take your clothes off.'

Lily kicked her boots off, stuck her tongue out at him and ran up the stairs. He caught her at the top and pulled her into a deep kiss, she broke away though, disappointment clear in her voice, 'I thought you were being serious about the massage.'

She could feel him grin as he kissed her chastely once more, 'I was. Now, go and put something comfortable on, I'll be along in a minute.'

Lily frowned at him, but she had learnt not to question his odd little moments in the last few days. Was he going to give her a massage? What did James Potter know about massages? She turned to go, but he turned her back towards him; his face serious for once. He looked as though he was about to say something.

A warm glow spread through her, an uninhibited smile rose across her lips and she knew what he was going to say before he said it. She knew because she was thinking the same thing.

'Lily, I-'

James' voice failed; he knew it, but he wasn't sure he could say it, he wasn't sure if she did. If he did say it, it felt almost as though he would be betraying…

Lily's smile broadened and she let the unsaid words hang in the air for a moment before she said, 'I know, I know,' and kissed him one last time.

Five minutes later Lily lay on her tummy on her bed in her pyjamas and her Genesis t-shirt, reflecting on how little the t-shirt had been used for sleeping in recently. The door opened quietly and she looked up; James had a bottle in one hand and was clad only in a pair of cotton pyjama bottoms.

'You'll need to take your t-shirt off,' he said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Lily raised a questioning eyebrow but slipped off her t-shirt.

'That bra will have to go too,' he said with a grin.

Lily rolled her eyes, 'Is this just a plan to get me naked? Let me guess, the bottoms as well?'

'Only if you want me to do your legs,' James replied seriously, reaching forward and unhooking her bra for her, 'you can leave them on for now if you want.'

Lily didn't know how to reply to that, unsure whether he was joking or not, but she slipped her bra straps off her shoulders and modestly covering herself, dropped it on the floor with her t-shirt. She lay back down and James shuffled onto the bed, by her waist. She reflected that they had not actually seen each other naked yet, despite their playful fumbling before they went to sleep.

There was the snap of a bottle opening and the scent of lavender reached Lily, then oil, presumably, dripped on to her back. Slight slithering noises told her James was rubbing his hands together and then he began to massage her back, in broad, sweeping strokes; starting at the bottom of her spine and moving outwards. His hands felt warm as they glided across her skin, not too hard, not too soft.

She reached behind her and pulled her hair to one side as he moved higher, towards her shoulder blades, sighing comfortably.

James couldn't believe she was letting him do this, but for him it was dream come true. His hands smoothed across her pale skin, fingers working at an odd, tense knot. Firm, but gentle kneading smoothed out any tenseness he found, and he moved to her shoulders, stopping to drip just a little more lavender oil into his palm.

He raised one leg and moved over her, so he was straddling her, kneeling just above her bum so there was no pressure on her. It was almost hypnotic; his hands moved over her shoulders and he closed his eyes, searching out knots and slowly working them away by touch alone.

Twenty minutes later he could tell she was nearly asleep and he felt a little nervous as he said, 'Legs, Lily?'

It was a second or so before she answered, whether out of indecision or simple relaxation, he couldn't tell, 'Mhmm, please…'

He rubbed some of the oil off his hands on his own chest and reached for the waistband of her pyjamas, heart beating a vicious tattoo against his ribs. She didn't seem to notice the tension though, as he shifted down the bed slightly and his heart was almost in his mouth as she raised her hips upwards. He hadn't felt this nervous since… he couldn't really think about it; there was only him and Lily and right now, in this moment, that was all.

He gently slid the waistband downwards, revealing heart-stoppingly pale blue underwear with little pink bows on either side of her hips. He drew the pyjamas further down; peeling them away to reveal a cute little rear swathed in silk and further down, pale legs, tiny feet, and then Lily was clad in next to nothing.

James was sort of glad she couldn't see his arousal.

He started at her feet and they twitched slightly as he ran oily palms over her soles and up to her ankles. He went slowly over her calves, working meticulously over every centimetre of skin, almost fearful of going higher, terrified of what Lily might be thinking.

He reached the back of her knees and she groaned comfortably as he worked his way up the back of her thighs. On one side her underwear had ridden up slightly, revealing the beginnings of yet more smooth skin; with infinite slowness he worked his way up and with sudden, reckless courage he slipped the very tips of his fingers under the silk around her hips.

A pleasurable, 'Mmm,' came from her throat.

James swallowed, slowly shook his head to try and clear it, before rolled away to the side, 'I… Lily?'

She raised her head and looked at him; there something glowing in her eyes he never seen before. She replied in a husky voice he had never heard before and it sent shivers running through every nerve in his body, 'I guess it's my turn now.'

James lay on his front, only in his boxers as Lily was only in her underwear and feelings she had never felt flooded through her as she ran her hands over the muscles of his shoulders. She was sitting on his bum, knowing she was probably nowhere near as good as he had been, but she was enjoying every moment almost as much as she had enjoyed being massaged.

She moved her hands lower; a sense of devil-may-care recklessness growing in her chest, making her breath slightly quicker and her heart race. She reached the waistband of his boxers and something strange happened.

Everyone has a ticklish spot, no matter what they say; it's simply a case of finding the right place and Lily had spent ages trying to find James'. She didn't believe for a moment his protestations of not being ticklish as he tickled her mercilessly, and as her fingertips reached his waistband his buttocks suddenly clenched, pushing her upwards and he let out a gasp. She had found it.

She grinned hopelessly and abandoned any inhibitions she might have had.

James gasped and gulped suddenly, almost choking as he felt his boxers being drawn down. He felt Lily lift herself off his bum and he turned over underneath her, not rolling her off him, but stopping her from pulling them down any further.

He saw her swallow as he looked up, he was barely covered and her chest was glistening with a film of oil where she had wiped her own hands on herself. Her breasts rose and fell rhythmically as he stared into her emerald eyes; it was like watching a flame flicker and grow into a consuming blaze. Breathing heavily, she shifted off to one side of him so she was no longer straddling him; kneeling on the duvet, her legs together. Then, with her eyes fixed on his, her hands moved slowly to her own waist, resting for precious moments on her hips beside the little pink bows, and then she slid the silk down to her knees.

A long time later the sun was beginning to set early across the winter sky, and they lay entwined, naked as children, covered in light film of perfumed oil and sweat. It had been slow, beautiful and quite honestly the most incredible experience of James' life.

It seemed for Lily that there had been little pain, and after a while she began to rock her hips back against his. They had only stopped once, very briefly, for James to cast a quick spell and then they had continued.

Now they lay together, barely awake, breathing together and James felt the happiest he had ever felt in his life. He wanted to live in this moment forever.

But suddenly Lily's eyes fluttered open and she whispered in that husky voice he had never heard before today, 'Do you know what some people do?'

James frowned and replied hoarsely, 'No, what do some people do?'

Lily bit her lip and stifled a giggle, 'I can't say it out loud… it's rude.'

James caught on and grinned, 'Whisper it then.'

She whispered it in his ear.

James' jaw fell open in shock; Sirius probably knew about that sort of thing, but he had quite honestly never thought of it. There was silence for a long time and James began to wonder why Lily had told him, he also began to wonder what it would be like. Then Lily accused softly, 'You want to try it, don't you.'

James turned to her, eyes twinkling with lascivious stars, 'Only if you do.'

It was completely dark outside when they both lay back again, utterly spent.

'Merlin,' James breathed.

'That was…' Lily whispered.

'Amazing,' James closed his eyes and sighed, 'We need to get ready; shower and stuff.'

'Which bathroom do you want to use?' Lily asked, eyes still glowing.

They both ended up using the same bathroom, and the same shower.