'Do you see now why it was a great idea to come here?' asked James, as he pulled Lily close to him again. He felt relaxed and sated and the feeling of her warm and deliciously nude body against his was pure heaven. The warm water and thick soap bubbles added to the allure.

'Yes, but I don't think this is what the founders of the school had in mind when they came up with the idea of a prefect's bathroom,' said Lily, kissing his nose lightly. 'You have a terrible influence on me, do you know that? I never would have dreamed of such kind of debauchery before I started dating you.'

'Then your previous boyfriends were even bigger wankers than I had thought,' said James smugly. 'It is the duty of every boyfriend to corrupt his girlfriend after all.'

'I don't think that's true.'

'It is, you just have to be careful with it, so you only corrupt her for you,' said James. 'All boys want a lady on the outside and a wild cat in bed after all.'

'Oh, you are so wise, James,' said Lily rolling her eyes. 'And I need your help on that transfiguration essay. There is no way I am going to be able to finish it today without your help now. Not when I spend my time bathing with you rather than working on it.'

'You know, you should not leave your homework until the last minute,' mock-scolded James. 'A very wise Head-girl once told me how important proper organisation was to get anything done. Maybe I should teach you something about that as well. I managed to finish all my homework during the lunch break.'

'Yes, because you copied from Remus and because you had a free period in the morning,' said Lily. 'And sod off, I am very well organized. It is only because my ruffian of a boyfriend distracts me all the time that I am short on time.'

'He sounds like a terrible person,' said James, leaning it and stealing a kiss from her.

'Oh the worst,' said Lily, kissing him back. Her tongue slipped into his mouth and James fought back with his own. He felt himself stirring again. It had only been a few minutes since he had got off, but her presence was driving him wild. Probably because he still had not shagged her.

It had been two weeks since his Quidditch session and November had turned into December by now, but he had not made any progress with his ongoing quest to go all the way with Lily. Their relationship was still a secret as well which continued to chafe at James's patience as well. Just yesterday, Roger Peters, the sixth-year Hufflepuff prefect had asked Lily out during after their weekly meeting. She had turned him down, of course, but it annoyed James nevertheless. People should know that she was his and obviously she was considered free game at the moment if even Hufflepuffs dared to approach her. These dark thoughts prevented him from enjoying the feeling of her lips on his as much as was appropriate. His body reacted regardless of his feelings though and naturally Lily noticed what was happening.

'Again?' she asked with a smile on her face after she broke the kiss. One of her hands snaked down and gave him a soft squeeze. James moaned quietly. 'Do you want me to take care of you? I use my mouth. That ought to take care of this.'

'As much as I enjoy your mouth that is not what I have in mind,' said James. He lower his head and gently bit the small spot at the side of the neck that she enjoyed so much. Lily shivered with pleasure at his touch. Good, he needed her in a good mood for this to succeed. 'I want to shag you. Lily. Right here, right now. What do you think about that?'

She pulled away from his touch and looked at him with a rather closed expression on his face.

'James, we have talked about this,' she said. 'I still need some time.'

'Lily, are you a virgin?' asked James. Normally, he would not ask such a delicate question that crudely, but his patience had come to an end. He had thought long and hard about what Sirius had told him during their little Quidditch competition. His friend was right with one thing: It was about time that he had sex with Lily. James had realized that he was slipping again. If Lily were any other kind of girl, he would have ended things by now. He could just barely see Lily's reasoning for keeping their relationship a secret, but he had no idea why she refused to have sex with him. Whenever they got intimate, he seemed to enjoy herself very much, so lack of desire could not be an issue. Her being a virgin was the only explanation that made sense for James. If she wasn't, well, then she maybe got her release somewhere else. It was an ugly thought, but you had to consider it nevertheless. As Sirius liked to put it: 'You have to shag your girl or someone else will.' James did not pick Lily to be the cheating type, but it never hurt to be prepared for everything.

'Yes, I am,' said Lily, after hesitating for a while. James had expected her to tell him off for even asking the question, but she seemed to have sensed that he was not in the mood to dance around the subject. 'Are you disappointed that I am?'

'No,' said James. 'I suspected that you were, but I wasn't sure as Palmer and you were a thing for a rather long time. I thought that maybe he had made a move.'

'He tried, but he was happy with the alternatives I gave him,' said Lily, looking rather uncomfortable. 'Look, I am sorry that I am making such a big deal out of it, but I just don't feel ready. I feel like I don't have any idea what to do.'

'Just spread your legs and leave the rest to me,' said James with a grin. He pressed a small kiss on her nose and she smiled.

'I had a feeling that you might say something like that,' she said. 'Just give me some more time, please. I have guarded my virginity for so long that I don't feel ready sharing it with you yet. I think you know how I feel. You are holding back as well.'

'What am I holding back?' asked James, puzzled. 'I am more than ready to give this a go. From my point of view, we can shag straight away and then spill the beans about our relationship directly afterwards.'

'You are keeping secrets from me,' said Lily. 'You were up all night two days before and you did not stay in Gryffindor Tower. That is the second full-moon night where you have done it and you refuse to tell me what you are doing.'

'I never noticed that it was a full-moon two days ago,' lied James. He did not like where this conversation was going at all. Lily obviously suspected something, but he must not reveal that Remus was a werewolf to her. Also, she must not know that they were illegal animagi. While he trusted her in general, he was not sure that she would be comfortable knowing that her boyfriend was breaking the law. 'I normally don't plan my outings in accordance to the moon phase.'

'Don't treat me like a fool, James,' snapped Lily, moving out of his arms and putting some distance between them. 'I know that Remus is a werewolf and I am not pleased that you just happen to be gone for the night when he transforms. I am not sure what you are doing, but I am quite sure that it is foolish and overly dangerous.'

James was not sure whether she actually knew that Remus was a werewolf or if she was just doing a stab in the dark and tried to get him to confirm it. Was she cunning enough for such a strategy? In each case his arousal was gone now and he felt himself go limp again.

He decided that there was little point in keeping lying to her. After all, she could easily confirm her suspicion in numerous ways. Just passing Remus a silver Sickle when he was not paying attention was enough to do the trick after all.

'For how long did you know?' asked James.

'Sev... Snape had been suspecting it for years,' said Lily. 'During fifth year, he kept telling me that something was going on with Remus and that he must be a werewolf. I did not believe a word of it. I could not picture Dumbledore letting one inside the school and Remus is about the last person one would suspect of becoming a ferocious creature once a month. Only much later, when word spread through the castle that you had saved Snape from some creature, I started doing my own research. It was easy to see that Remus always went ill during the full moons. Also, your nickname for him rather gives away the secret, don't you think?'

'Yeah, I guess,' said James. 'We try to use it only when we are on our own, but sometimes it just slips out. Have you talked to Remus about this?'

'No, should I?'

'Probably not,' said James. 'He is just going to fret over what you think of him when you do. He is very skittish about his furry little problem.'

'Do you think he will be alright with me knowing?' asked Lily. 'I mean, sooner or later he is going to find out that I have figured him out. I don't want him to be upset or for him to treat me differently than before.'

'He will probably react a bit shocked at first and maybe distance himself for a bit,' said James. 'When we told him that we knew he offered to ask Dumbledore to let him leave the dormitory and sleep somewhere else as he expected us to be disgusted by him. I took us quite a lot of effort to convince him that we did not mind that he was a werewolf. I guess things will be much easier for you, though. Back than in first year, Remus was not used to having friends who accepted his condition after all.'

'Poor Remus,' said Lily sadly. 'He is such a sweet bloke and he has to deal with his all his life.'

'Life is not fair,' agreed James.

'But you still have not told me what you are doing on each full-moon night,' said Lily, snapping back to attention. Her gaze meet his own and James could see steely determination in them. She was not going to back down on this.

'You are right, I haven't,' said James. 'And I won't.'

'Why not?' asked Lily, looking rather hurt at his answer.

'For various reasons,' said James. 'First of all, it is not only my secret to tell. Secondly, you are better off not knowing and thirdly, I cannot risk telling you without taking certain precautions. Do me a favour and drop the issue, Lily. There is nothing to gain for you here. What we do is perfectly safe, I promise. You should not worry about it too much. Just consider it my monthly boy's night out.'

'A night out that just happens to be the one night in a month where the most sensible of you turns into a wild beast?' asked Lily sharply. 'James, I can't just let this slide! You are putting yourself in danger and breaking a least a dozen school rules! You have to stop it.'

'Never,' said James. 'We do what we do to make things easier for Remus and it is working just fine. I am not going to turn my back on one of my closest friends, just because you don't like it. Remus is the one who needs our support the most. Don't make me choose between him and you, Lily!'

'It's not like that,' protested Lily. 'I am glad that you try to help Remus, but I don't see how on earth you can do it without placing yourself in mortal danger! As much as I admire your loyalty, risking your own life like that is just foolish.'

'I am not in any danger on the full moon,' said James. 'We are not stupid enough to go any near Remus when he is a werewolf without the necessary protection. You don't have to worry about anything, Lily. And that is all I am going to say on the subject. You just have to accept that this a secret I cannot share with you. At least, not yet.'

'But you are going to tell me at some point in the future?' she asked.

'We will see,' said James mysteriously. Lily scowled at him and James just grinned in response.

'Very well then,' said Lily. 'I am going to leave you off the hook for now. But don't think I am going to keep out of this forever.'

'I never expected you to do that,' said James. The tension between them was a little more bearable now. James grabbed one of her hands under the water surface and dragged her close again. He bent down and nibbled on her ear, causing her to giggle.

'James back off, I am still angry at you,' she protested weakly, but she did not resist as James squeezed her bum with his other hand.

'And I am already hard again,' he murmured in her ear. 'You are going to let me shag you at some point, right?'

'We will see,' she answered mischievously. James groaned in response.

'Fine, I guess that is only fair,' he said, before kissing her hard on the lips. 'But you are not leaving this bath until I have gotten off. I hate getting teased like this.'

'Poor baby,' said Lily. One of her hands slid down and caressed James cock. He groaned in response.

'I want you to suck me off,' he rasped. 'Put your talented mouth to some use.'

'You are a real charmer, you know that?' asked Lily, but her eyes were dark with desire. 'And how do you suggest I do that while we are immersed in water? Am I supposed to do a bubble head charm before getting to work?'

'No, the charm will break as soon as you start,' said James seriously.

'And how do you know that?' she asked, startled.

'Sirius can get very talkative when he is in the mood,' said James. 'And he likes to talk about his sexual conquests. Apparently, he once talked a girl into trying this trick and it failed spectacularly.'

'I guess all these poor girls must be thrilled knowing that Sirius has shared everything he has ever done with them with you,' said Lily sarcastically. 'I just hope that he is keeping his mouth shut about Marlene.'

'Well, he has not said anything about her to me, but he knows that I will hex him if he does, so that does not really say much,' said James. 'But we are getting side-tracked again. We are going to do this the old fashioned way. I am just going to sit on the edge of the tub and you stay were you are. This way it should work nicely.'

'Somebody is impatient,' asked Lily and kissed him again. 'And what is in it for me?'

'The pleasure of making me happy,' said James with a grin on his face. 'What? That's not enough? Well, alright then, let's just say that I will return the favour afterwards. I know you are into that.'

'Alright, then,' said Lily. 'I guess that is an offer I can't refuse.'

James pecked her on the mouth, before hoisting himself out of the tub and sitting down on the edge of it. He spread his legs, giving Lily perfect access to his hard cock. Her mouth was on him in an instant. James groaned his pleasure and lost himself in the sensation. His frustration at her keeping her distance during the relationship and the lingering resentment about her meddling in his business vanished like smoke. The only thing that counted was the wet heat around him which wiped his mind blank.

After he had had his release and had taken care of Lily as well, the two of them were lying on a fluffy towel just outside the tub. James was lying on his back with a lit cigarette in his left hand, while Lily had rolled her body into his and had placed her head on his right shoulder. James inhaled deeply, feeling a little bit sleepy but rather pleased with himself.

'You know, you ought to try smoking sometime,' he said after blowing out the smoke. 'A cigarette feels amazing after a shag.'

'I have tried it, don't you remember?' asked Lily. 'Back in sixth year after your birthday party? We were sitting at a window sill and I stole one of your fags.'

'Right,' said James, remembering now. 'You were not too fond of it back then. But on the other hand, we did not shag before smoking back then, so maybe you want to give it another try.'

'I will pass,' said Lily with a smile. 'You have corrupted me too much already, smoking is one thing I should remain stern about.'

'As you say,' said James lazily. 'But I think that I still have a lot of room for more corrupting.'

Lily was quiet for a moment after that statement. James did not say anything either, but simply enjoyed the silence. While he usually liked being in the centre of the action, he also had the need to just be alone at least once a week. Otherwise, he would be too jittery to get anything done. Flying always helped him relax. Maybe he should get dressed and head down to the pitch for some drills. It was tempting, even though he was supposed to help Lily with her transfiguration eassay. Before he could come to a decision, though, Lily raised her voice again.

'James,' she said quietly. 'There is something I have to ask you.'

'Go ahead,' said James, still looking at the ceiling.

'Are you... disappointed that I am still a virgin?'

'What?' asked James, twisting his head so he could look her in the face properly. She looked nervous, biting her lower lip and avoiding his gaze.

'Are you disappointed that I am virgin?' she repeated.

'Why should I be disappointed about that?' asked James, puzzled.

'Well, I have heard that boys like more experienced girls,' she said. 'Girls that are more... open to having sex. And you have just said that you are getting impatient, so I thought that maybe you are not satisfied with me anymore.'

'Oh, Lily,' said James gently.

'You can just tell me if you feel that way,' said Lily quickly, her voice rather choked. 'There is no need to sugar-coat the truth. I can take it.'

'Lily, I don't mind that you are a virgin,' said James. 'In fact, I rather like it. I like the fact that no one has ever had you like that before. It makes me feel rather special, to be honest. I guess I am traditional in that way.'

'What does that mean?' asked Lily.

'In the past, pure-blood witches normally waited until marriage to have sex,' said James. 'It was expected of them as there was no proper magical method to determine the father of a child. Therefore, the only way to be sure was to marry a virgin bride. Most desirable bachelors only wanted an untouched girl. Combine this with the prevalence for arranged marriages and it becomes quite understandable that most pure-blood witches remained chaste. If they wanted a good husband, they simply had to. And most parents were very watchful about this issue. It was highly uncommon to let a pure-blood witch go anywhere on her own.'

'It was similar for Muggles,' said Lily. 'People having sex without being married were shamed publically. But this has reduced a lot during the past years. After all, we have the seventies now. And as far as I know, there a quite a few pure-blood witches at Hogwarts who don't mind having sex even though they are not married.'

'And how would you know about that?' asked James, with a raised eyebrow. 'Do you have the habit of keeping taps on who shags whom? Never pictured you for a gossip monger, Lily.'

'Oh shut up,' she said lightly. 'You boys are not the only ones who talk, alright? And I saw you with Amber in the shower, remember? She did not seem to mind the fact that you were not going to marry her.'

'She didn't, but her circumstances were rather special,' said James. He was not particularly pleased by that subject. The wound of Amber's departure had healed steadily during the last few months, but it was still a sore spot for him. Having Lily helped a lot, but he still thought about his ex-girlfriend at least once a week. He hoped that Fawley was treating her alright. She did not deserve to be unhappy. 'You are right that things have become more relaxed in the past years. However, most pure-blood girls are still more uptight than the half-blood and Muggleborn ones. Mugglesborns especially are supposed to be easy.'

Lily snorted at that.

'Sounds like I am a terrible Muggleborn then,' she said. 'Sounds like a lot of rubbish to me. Being a slag has nothing to do with blood-status after all.'

'Maybe, maybe not,' said James. 'But nevertheless, I like the thought of being your first. Maybe it is my upbringing, maybe it is just a kink, but it is definitely there.'

He bent down and kissed her on the lips. His tongue slipped inside and he plundered her mouth hungrily. She was his. He would be the one to deflower her. He felt himself grin at the thought. It was too bad that Snape did not know that they were dating. James longed to see the Slytherin's face when he learned that piece of news. He hoped that Lily would drop her reservations of going public soon. He was getting tired of sneaking around. People should know that he had finally won the girl he had fought so hard to win over the years. James knew that he had embarrassed himself countless times during his conquest and he longed to erase that shame by showing his triumph to the whole castle. It would be glorious.

Lily sighed into his mouth and kissed him back softly. It only lasted a minute before she pushed him away.

'Well, I guess that is one of the more harmless kinks to have,' she said quietly. 'I am bit relieved to be honest. Black tends to be grossly open about his sex life and what he likes to do and Marlene is hardly discreet either. I thought that you would be more like him, but I guess that I was wrong.'

'Sirius just likes to push boundaries,' said James. 'He probably boasts about his prowess in bed, because he knows that it makes you uncomfortable. He can be a bit of a git sometimes.'

'No kidding,' said Lily. 'I just hope that he gets used to us dating soon. He has been a pain in my side even since. What is his problem anyway?'

'He gets to spend less time with me and he fears that you will corrupt me,' said James. 'Sirius is not good at sharing things, so the first one is not overly surprising.'

'How on earth should I corrupt you?' asked Lily, flabbergasted. 'It is the other way around!'

'From his point of view, corrupting means making me too responsible,' said James. 'He has grumbled about me being Head-Boy all year. You might have noticed that our pranks are fewer and much more harmless than before this year and that we try not to get caught. Sirius is not too fond of these changes. As he sees you as a rule-loving stick in the mud, he fears that your influence will finally turning me into a boring git.'

'Ridiculous,' said Lily. 'As if I had that kind of power of you. I have never met a more stubborn person in my life.'

Personally, James was quite sure that Lily had a lot of power over him. Too much power, to be honest. He had spent most of his fifth year chasing after her and only after much pining had decided to give a relationship with a different girl a go. If that was not power, nothing was. Nevertheless, he was not foolish enough to tell her that. He did not feel comfortable sharing that with her and the thought of her knowing the depth of her influence on him made him feel vulnerable.

'Well, if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black,' he said instead. 'You would have gone out with me ages ago if you were any less stubborn. Just imagine how much fun we could have had if you had said yes back in fifth year. And for the record: I am not stubborn at all, merely persistent.'

Lily snorted at that.

'Of course, how could I forget that?' she said. 'Anyway, both of us know that you were not serious about wanting me back in fifth year. You were merely trying to annoy me. If I hadn't keep telling you off, you would have dropped the act in a day or two.'

Her words sent an icy pain through James's chest. She was wrong, so very wrong. Yes, it had been a dare suggested by Sirius which had made him jump into action in the first place, but his crush on her had started even earlier. It had been on Halloween in their fifth year. They had just finished with dessert during the feast and she had taken of her hat, complaining about the heat in the hall. Her hairstyle had come undone in the process and for the first time in a long time, James had seen her red hair untethered. When the light of the candles had caressed the dark red strands, it had hit him like a fist in the gut. He clearly remembered having gaped at her, before a comment by Remus had brought him back to his senses. His infatuation had stewed for a while, before he had first asked her out and it had only gotten worse when she had rejected him. While he had tried to put on a brave face with regards to these set-backs, they had always hurt him, especially because she had never taken him seriously. His feelings might have been a bit immature and overly drastic, but they had been real.

He swallowed down the sharp answer he was about to give. Opening up these old wounds would do him no good.

'I guess we will never know,' he said instead. 'It does not really matter anyway. After all, you finally did realize what I catch I am.'

'Yes, and modesty is your biggest virtue,' said Lily with a smile on her face. She kissed him and James felt the burn of her careless comment sooth.

Things were not perfect, but he was glad he had her nevertheless.