Sneaky Snogging

"Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves." ~Albert Einstein

I woke up on Thursday without anyone waking me up. I opened one eye and peered around my room. The sun was shining, and everything was completely silent except for a few birds chirping outside my window. I took a deep breath and savored the scent of my freshly washed sheets. I stretched my arms above my head and glanced quickly at the clock. It read 12:07 P.M.

I sighed happily. Life was good.

Leisurely, I sauntered off into the bathroom and brushed the disgusting morning taste out of my mouth with liberal amounts of mint toothpaste. Then, I combed out my hair so that it no longer resembled a small, furry rodent. It could have been either a possum or a ferret, whichever one was uglier. Finally, I washed my face. As I dried off with a towel, I looked in the mirror, and I realized I was smiling. I recognized that for the first time in a long time, I was truly and incandescently happy.

Merlin, if Hestia could see me now. Lily Evans was happy because of James Potter - and not because she had just hexed him. It really was a sign of the apocalypse. I should have sex before I die - that and get some gelato in Italy.

I skipped down the stairs and into the kitchen.

James was waiting for me at the kitchen table. I eyed him appreciatively. He had already changed into some tan shorts and, bless my soul, another button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. This boy was going to lead to my demise. He put down the muggle newspaper he was reading, ruffled his hair, and smiled at me.

I smiled back instantaneously. I felt an inexplicable attraction to him, like I was a magnet being pulled by all his positive energy. His eyes glazed over me from bottom to top, straying over a few areas for a tad too long, before his gaze reached my eyes.

"Good morning, Lily," he greeted me with a soft voice.

"Morning," I squeaked back at him. Great, he could sound all seductive and irresistible, and I sounded like a squawking hippogriff.

"Oh, Lily, you're up," I heard my mum call out.

I jumped a bit. I had been so enthralled by James that I never looked to see if anyone else was in the room. Galloping gargoyles, that was a weird sentence.

"Oh, hi, Mum," I replied back shakily.

"Hello, dear, have a seat, and I'll get you some lunch," Mum offered as she dried off her hands with a towel.

"What about breakfast?" I asked.

"You slept through breakfast," she told me.

"So?" I argued as I walked up to her at the counter. "Just because I'm a late sleeper doesn't mean I should skip meals. I like to obey all sections of the food triangle."

"And what are those sections again?" Mum taunted.

"Cupcakes, chocolate, and mint chocolate chip ice cream," I replied back cheerfully.

Mum sighed. "What do you want?" she asked in defeat.

"A peanut butter sandwich, please?" I asked sweetly.

"Fine," Mum acquiesced.

I grinned at her. "You're the best mum ever, Mum," I told her.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah," she muttered before grabbing some bread from a cabinet behind her. "Go sit down, you spoiled brat."

I grinned wider at her and then sat down next to James. He looked over his shoulder and watched my mum. I glanced too, and when she had stuffed her head into the kitchen pantry in search of peanut butter, James pulled my face to his and kissed me.

His soft lips left mine all too soon.

"Hey," he whispered to me.

"Hey," I breathed back.

My mum turned around and James swiftly pulled away from me and back into his chair. I laughed a little to myself. Oh, what a difference a day made.

James kept looking up at me the entire time I ate my sandwich. It was a little unnerving. At first, I panicked, thinking I had gotten some of my sandwich stuck to my nose. I subtly checked my reflection in a nearby spoon, and then realized he was just staring because that's what James did. However, about halfway through I decided to have a bit of fun with him and made a show of licking a bit of peanut butter off of my finger. I heard James's low, guttural groan, and I smiled wickedly.

"You are so evil," James muttered to me so that my mum wouldn't hear.

I blinked at him innocently. "What?" I asked with wide eyes.

"You know what you're doing," he said. "You know exactly what you're doing."

Sure, if I lived in bizarro world. Here, en la Casa de Evans? I was pretty much making everything up as I went along.

After all of the careful inspection I had been doing lately, I had concluded that James Potter was not pretty. He was not the picture-perfect male model with the perfect tan skin and bright blue eyes. His hair stuck up in every single direction, especially in the back. There was a slight spattering of tiny, almost invisible freckles on the right lower side of his jaw where he had some dark faded spots. His nose was not perfectly straight, and his bottom lip was thinner than his top one. He had a weird scar by his chin, and a beauty mark by his left ear, right where there was a small patch of stubble where he had forgotten to shave. His eyes, which were an undeterminable array of colors, were always filled with emotion and never seemed to dim underneath his rimmed glasses. I could see all the tiny hairs along his eyebrows that I knew Petunia probably wanted to pluck until she had drawn blood, just as she had done with mine when I was twelve.

He smirked as he noticed my stare, and I was taken aback, only for a second, by his lopsided smile. No, James Potter was not pretty. He was just....James.

"Well..." he prompted me.

I opened my slack jawed mouth, but I was saved the embarrassment of trying to scramble for words by an interruption from my mother.

"So what are you two kids up to today?"

I sat back in my chair. "I dunno. I haven't really thought about it," I told her truthfully. "Where's Tuney?"

My mum shook her head. "Who knows? That girl just grabs the keys and leaves the house at the start of every day. I know she's not a little girl anymore, but it would be nice to know where she's going and when she plans to be home. I wish she'd just have Vernon come over here instead of her driving there all the time."

I wrinkled my nose in distaste. "Really, Mum, more vermin in the house? How do you even fumigate that out?" I deadpanned.

Mum clicked her tongue disapprovingly at me, but I knew she was trying to hide a smile. "Well, at least we'd know where Petunia is."

"I do know where she is, Mum. She's not where I am, and that's where I like Tuney the most," I said with a bright smile.

James let out a laugh, but for my mother's benefit, he was skillfully able to turn it into a cough.

"Are you okay, James?" Mum asked him considerately.

James pounded on his chest with his fist and nodded vigorously. "I'm fine. Just a little bitterness went down the wrong pipe," he added with a gesture to his coffee mug and then with a wink at me.

I rolled my eyes. Thank Merlin my mum was far too trustworthy to look for puns.

Once assured that James was okay, my mum rounded on me again. "Really, Lily, I think you should make an effort to be nicer to your sister."

"She starts it," I complained.

Mum laughed. "And you usually finish it with that mouth of yours."

"Yeah, Lily," James taunted. "That mouth, seriously," he added dramatically.

Bloody wanker. I crossed my arms across my chest defensively. "It's not my fault that I think of better comebacks than she does."

"And it's not Petunia's fault that she was not gifted with magic," Mum reminded me wisely. "You two are going to get married and move out of the house some day," she said with a quick glance at James that made me flush with embarrassment. "And things will never be the same between you."

"Thank Merlin," I muttered under my breath.

"Blood is thicker than water," Mum quoted.

I rolled my eyes. And bubotuber pus was the thickest of all, but you didn't see me getting all cozy with it - unless you counted James, of course. He was definitely essence of bubotuber.

"If anything ever happens to your father or me, it would just be nice to know that you and Petunia would take care of each other," Mum continued sadly.

"Mum, nothing's going to happen to you or Daddy," I told her.

"You never know, Lily. Just because we're you parents that doesn't mean we're invincible."

I watched James's shoulders tighten, and I frantically changed the subject. "I'll entrust Tuney with my first born child, okay, Mum?" I asked to get her to drop it.

She grinned. "Good."

I rolled my eyes. "I bet you never tell Petunia to be nicer to me."

Mum laughed. "Normally, we just make fun of the silly robes you have to wear all the time."

Against my better judgment, a chuckle escaped my lips.

"What's wrong with robes?" asked James indignantly.

"Nothing, James," I said calmly before muttering "quirky pureblood" under my breath.

"It's just that they are a bit girly, James, especially those dress robes you have to wear."

James looked like someone had just snapped his broomstick in half. "Lily, do my dress robes make me look like a girl?" he asked with a frantic edge to his voice.

"No, James, you are the pinnacle of manliness. All other forms of testosterone should bow before you and your 'friend' Sirius," I said dryly.

"Sirius and I are not gay together," James argued.

I grinned. Finally someone who understood my side comments! Ahh, I loved having James around. "Sure, you're not."

"Worried that I'll break up with you for a bloke, love?" taunted James.

"Not in the slightest," I told James truthfully.

"Oh, James, I don't think you could ever look at anyone the way you look at Lily," Mum interrupted.

James sat up a little straighter in his seat and reverted back into fake boyfriend mode. "She's Lily," he answered her simply.

"Oh, James, if only you were a tad older. Better yet, if I was a few years younger," said Mum wistfully.

I was pretty sure my peanut butter sandwich was about to appear back on my plate.

James chortled lightly.

"Well, I should get going," Mum said. "Will you two be all right?"

Sure, right after I rip out my brain and wash it until it stops picturing my mum and my boyfriend going at it on the kitchen table. Merlin, why did this keep happening to me?

"We'll be fine," James assured her brightly. "Off to school again?"

"No, I'm actually going to surprise Henry at work. I figured I'd bring over some sandwiches, and we'd eat lunch together in his office. Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off somewhere?" Mum asked.

"We'll have plenty to do," said James. "You go on."

Mum smiled and grabbed her purse. "Don't talk to strangers, don't burn my curtains, and, Lily, make your bed for once. I don't buy the whole 'I'm only going to sleep in it again later' logic. Bye!"

I frowned. My logic made perfect sense. What was the point of making your bed when a few hours later, you were just going to get back into it? Plus, unmade beds always had warm sheets so it was like I never left.

I heard the front door close and then James turned to me. "I bet your mum and dad are going to have kinky office sex on his desk."

My mouth opened in horror. "Eww!" I screeched loudly. "Gross!" I added as I smacked him in the arm. "Why would you say that? Why in Merlin's name would you say that?"

James ducked as I attempted to hit him again. "Merlin, Lily, it was a joke!" he surrendered.

I hit him again. "Never ever make jokes like that again!" I yelped shrilly through whacks at his chest.

James's loud guffawing filled the kitchen. "Files would go everywhere!" he choked out.

My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "James Potter! You bloody prat! I'm never going to be able to close my eyes again!" I shrieked. I kept thumping him as he backed up into the hallway. We reached the stairs, and I was still shouting my head off.

Infuriatingly, this only made him laugh harder. "James, this is not funny!"

"Lily, it's ruddy hilarious," James told me. "I don't think I've ever seen you this freaked out before."

"Where you dropped on the head as a child? They're my parents!"

James chuckled. "And now they're gone," he said as the humor slowly left his tone to turn more serious. "And we've got the house all to ourselves to have our own adventures."

He walked closer to me, and I backed up against the bottom stair. "Exactly where I want you," he whispered as his breath tickled my ear when he reached back to finger my hair.

"You don't know how long I've waited to get you here," he murmured in a low, throaty voice.

I gulped. Merlin, he knew exactly what to say.

"And what's the next move, Potter?" I challenged him. I wanted my voice to sound enticing and alluring, but it really only seemed to squeak. I fidgeted with the hem of my t-shirt.

"How do you expect me to just stand still and watch you play with my shirt all week?" James asked, sounding pained.

I raised an eyebrow at him as I continued to finger the fabric. "Does this bother you?" I teased.

He groaned.

I opened my mouth to say something witty, but his hands grabbed at my thighs right where his shirt ended. I gasped, and he took the opportunity to smash his lips into mine. My fingers started at his chest and then roamed up to his hair as his traveled up and down my sides before landing on my hips. His lips were passionate and eager but not too aggressive. More than anything, however, I sensed a difference in the way he kissed me.

He was not holding anything back. This wasn't about my family or lies, and it had nothing to do with trying to win my favor. The lust was obvious, but there were also emotions behind it. James was kissing me because he wanted to. And I kissed him right back.

His lips left mine to settle on my throat. I staggered backwards, and he took the opportunity to move us up a few more stairs. "I forgot what I was going to say," I said in a breathless voice.

He paused to blow on my neck. "Then it wasn't important," he murmured back.

"Mmm," I replied as my eyes closed involuntarily. I gripped his hair tighter and brought his lips back to mine. His body moved closer to me, and we stumbled against a step. I felt James guide me backwards up the stairs.

"What are you-" I said, but I was cut off again by his lips.

Blindly bumping into walls, he half-carried me up the stairs and into the hallway before his hands became less focused on keeping me balanced and more focused on groping me senseless - not that I minded. Our lips never stopped moving, and I raked my fingernails across his scalp. A low, husky moan escaped his mouth, and he pressed me up against the bathroom door.

My breathing was labored, and I felt like a cat out in the heat as I panted loudly. My heart was beating about a hundred times a minute, and he, too, seemed to be struggling to gain control.

With wild eyes, completely tangled hair, and red lips, I had never seen James look more attractive.

"Lily," he whispered.

"Yeah, James?"

"Good morning," he told me.

I smiled. "Good afternoon," I quipped.

He rested his forehead against mine, and I felt his fingertips trace the contours of my face.

I laughed. "Didn't we just cover this in the kitchen?"

"Well, it's not like I can snog you in front of your mum," he pointed out.

I gave him an uneasy smile. Now that James and I were - whatever it was that we were - we actually had to sneak around behind my parents' back. It was almost as if I had brought a real boyfriend home for the summer.

"Merlin, I've wanted to do that for forever."

"James, we've kissed before, for about a week, in fact," I reminded him.

He kissed my temple and let his lips hover across my cheek. "Not the same."

I sighed. I knew it wasn't.

He reached out again to kiss me, but I scooted out of the way. His pout was almost enough to make me rush back to him, but I had a plan.

I leaned up and felt his shirt raise a few inches. "Well, time for a shower, I reckon."

I think James whimpered. I grinned triumphantly. "That is just not fair," he groaned.

Licking my swollen lips, I laughed and gave him a quick kiss. "And while I'm in there, you can think about your parents all alone, no annoying James, having dangerous Auror sex," I told him before I quickly sneaked into the bathroom and closed the door in his face.

I heard his manly shriek of "Gah!", and I laughed as I turned on the water.

For all intents and purposes, the only way for a teen to enjoy the thought of sex was to believe in the stork.

I both rushed and took my time with my shower. On one side of the spectrum, I wanted to get out of there quickly so James and I could snog again. And yes, I realized I had just said that. Still, I didn't want to seem too eager. I had already implied I liked him; I didn't want to give him too much too fast. His ego would overinflate. Besides, it took about a good twenty minutes, or so, with repeated thoughts about turtle migration patterns to get the image of your parents fornicating out of your head.

I hopped out of the bathroom and got dressed. I decided to wear a rather short denim skirt and a red halter top. I put my hair up so that it was off my back and swiftly did the old makeup routine. Then, I skipped over to the guest room and knocked twice.

James was at the door quickly. I would have bet ten galleons he had been waiting for me.

"Want to help me clean my room?" I offered sweetly.

"Sure," he replied with a grin and a ruffle of his hair, which looked tidier than before. I made a mental note to fix that.

We walked into my room, and I started to make my bed. James stayed behind and looked around.

I laughed. "You know, helping actually involves doing something," I teased.

"Sorry," he murmured. "Just taking it all in."

"My room or me?" I asked coquettishly as I leaned over to grab the edge of my quilt.

James folded his arms across his chest and propped himself up against my door. "The room, of course," he said obviously. "I really love the paint job. Did your dad put up the wallpaper?"

"James!"

He laughed and then walked over to my bookshelf. His fingers traced the spines of the books, and I felt a twinge of jealousy. Merlin, I was a goner.

He turned around, and I started making my bed again, not realizing that I had ever stopped.

"You have so many books," he commented.

I looked over at my bookshelf, where far too many volumes had been forced into too small of a space.

"Yeah, I guess I have a fair few."

"Few?" repeated James incredulously. "You have half the Hogwarts library in here."

I snickered. "Well, I enjoy reading, something that you might want to try every once in awhile."

"I can read," James insisted. "I just prefer doing things that are less passive."

I turned back to my bed and pulled my quilt over the other side of the mattress. Of course James did not need fiction. His own life was like a bloody fantasy story. He could do magic and fly broomsticks and he was even best friends with a werewolf. James had never needed to escape because his own life was already fantastic. Fluffing my pillow, I wondered if by being a part of his life I, too, would never need fiction.

"Not that I don't admire your intelligence, Lily," James backtracked. "I always thought you had the brains - and the beauty, of course," he added with a lopsided grin.

I rolled my eyes. Bloody charmer. "And what are you, the jester?"

He placed his hand on his heart dramatically. "Lily!" he cried.

"Oh, don't even," I told him.

He dropped his hand and then winked roguishly at me. "So do you have your own private Restricted Section?"

My brain automatically jumped to the bed in front of me. But, bloody no! He was talking about books. What in Merlin's name was wrong with me? My face heated up. "No," I answered.

Gah, I squeaked again! I should just swallow a rubber ducky and be done with it.

James came over and stood behind me. His fingertips danced across my bare shoulders.

"So this isn't forbidden? Madame Pince isn't going to come in at any moment and chase me out of here?"

I took a deep breath. "Not if you plan to check something out."

"Does it have to be a book?" he asked suggestively.

I rolled my eyes and turned around. "I gave you that one," I said.

James shrugged. "Who doesn't love the occasional library pick-up line?"

I chuckled and reached over to fix his collar, which was slightly crooked.

"Lily, I don't want to push you. I know I screwed it up before, and I don't want to make the same mistake again."

"Do you hear me protesting?"

"No, but—"

I pulled his face to mine. "James, just buy the damn book already." And then I kissed him.

He adhered to my request eagerly. "But, Miss Evans, I don't have any money on me," he teased while I caught my breath.

"James, shut up."

He grinned and then reached out to kiss me again. My hands wound into his hair as his played with the straps of my halter at the back of my neck.

"I really like your top," he whispered.

"James," I warned.

"Shutting up now," he promised.

His lips returned, and he allowed me to stick my tongue into his mouth. Okay, that sounded a tad gross. But it wasn't. It was definitely not gross.

He guided me backwards so that I was lying on my bed. I discovered that James's body was very warm and that he was also very heavy. He propped himself up on his elbows so that I could still feel his weight, but not as much.

With one hand at my hip, he used his other to release my wet hair from its bun. His objective achieved, James tore his lips away and attacked my neck with kisses as his nose assaulted my hair. Distracted, James did not notice that I was beginning to unbutton his shirt until my fingernail grazed his chest. He hissed in pleasure and then brought his lips back to mine.

I moaned into his mouth when his own fingers began to trace the skin at my hips underneath my halter. The sound inspired him to deepen our kiss even more, and it took me a few seconds to remember that I had to continue my goal. Finally, I unbuttoned his last button and tugged on his shirt. Understanding my desire, James pulled back, much to my protesting mouth, and then shrugged out of his shirt.

I smiled appreciatively, and he smirked at me.

My fingers, shaking with anticipation, reached out to trail down his chest. I could remember the first time I had wanted to do that two years ago when he had stripped off his shirt after Gryffindor beat Slytherin for the Cup. I had never told anyone about that, but if I was really bored in class one day, I'd remember what his chest, covered in a light sheen of sweat, had looked like. The one before me had grown more muscular with maturity. "I love Quidditch," I told him with a sigh.

James kissed me, and I could feel him chuckle beneath my lips. Then, suddenly, he flipped us over so that I was on top of him.

"Nice," I commented breathlessly.

James grinned. "I try."

We continued snogging each other's faces off until I heard a knock on my door. I untangled myself from James and then sat up. My halter nearly fell down. I reached up and lifted the straps behind my neck.

"When did you untie these?" I asked him as I quickly secured them behind my neck.

Obviously pleased with himself, James smirked. "A little while ago. You were too busy trying to breathe to notice."

"Lily!" I heard my mum call from behind the door.

"Just a second!" I yelled back frantically. I found James's abandoned shirt on the floor. "Put that back on," I hissed at him.

James scrambled to get up off the bed and put his shirt back on. His fingers fumbled with the buttons, and I rushed over to help him.

"Faster, James," I whispered to him.

He stopped to smirk at me.

My eyes widened as comprehension dawned. "Not now, Potter! My mum is right there!"

"Then, later maybe?"

"Lily!" Mum called.

"James," I warned.

"Lily," he said back with a smile.

I struggled with an obstinate button.

"Lily!" Mum yelled again as she opened the door.

I froze. "Oh, Lily, there you are. I thought something had happened." She eyed James, and I suddenly became very conscious of the fact that I was still only halfway done with buttoning his shirt. I put my hands down, took a large step away from him, and felt my face redden.

"Lily?" she asked.

"Hey, Mum," I answered in what I hoped sounded like a breezy tone.

"What are you two doing?"

I bit my lip nervously. "We, ahh, well-" I stuttered.

"Lily was checking me for nargles," James interrupted.

I fought the urge to slap myself in the face.

"What's a nargle?" Mum asked suspiciously.

"Magic flies, basically," James answered. "Incredibly itchy if they bite you."

Yeah, you had to buy the special invisible lotion for the bugs that didn't exist. Ruddy idiot. But wait! Mum didn't know that. Genius!

"Right," replied Mum, sounding skeptical. "Lily, you remember that talk we had the other day, right? Anything you want to tell me about?"

Obviously not. Mum apparently had a Lily Sexdar. James and I were never going to be alone now. Not that I wanted to have sex with James....much. I glanced at him, and James winked at me.

"Lily?" Mum pressed.

"No!" I squeaked.

She sighed in relief. "Good." She looked behind me. "I thought I told you to make your bed."

"I did!" I protested before I turned to look. The sheets were all rumpled and scattered, and my quilt was only covering one side. Both pillows were dangerously close to falling on the floor. "Err, I guess I need more practice," I offered lamely.

"Why don't the two of you come downstairs with me," Mum said firmly.

"Did you and Mr. Evans have fun?" James asked excitedly with a side glance at me.

Oh, Merlin, I was going to kill him - if I didn't throw up all over him first.

Mum watched us like a hawk in the kitchen and throughout dinner. Apparently, that didn't stop James from letting his hand drift further and further up my thigh throughout the meal. It wasn't altogether unpleasant - quite the opposite, really - but I didn't exactly want to make weird sounds in front of my parents. My mum's lasagna was good, but it wasn't that good.

"Petunia, what did you do today?" my dad asked after swallowing a big bit of lasagna, his favorite.

Petunia pushed her food around her plate. "Vernon's family had a golf event at their country club."

My father forced a smile. "And did you have fun, hun?"

"It was fine," she answered back.

"Sounds riveting," I muttered into my glass of grape juice.

"I didn't know Vernon golfed," my mum said.

Petunia smiled. "He's very good. He usually has the lowest score out of everyone," she gushed.

I rolled my eyes. I was sure Vermin was subpar in many areas.

"Maybe he'd like to explain some of it to me later," Dad offered. "I've never really had an interest for it, but I guess I could like it if I learned the game."

My father was too nice. He despised golf. He once told me he thought it was just a contest for who had the nicest, biggest, greenest lawn. There was no way he'd get enjoyment out of being driven around in a golf cart all day as some poor bloke carried his bag of irons. Vernon, however...

"Now, James, speaking of sports, I still want to know more about Quidditch," Dad said with more excitement. He put down his fork and twiddled his fingers anxiously in front of him.

James's hand tensed on my skin at the sound of his name. I took a deep breath.

"Sure, Mr. Evans. We can play a bit tomorrow. I'll send my owl home tonight for a few more brooms."

My dad's face broke out into a huge smile. He'd always been fascinated with flying. When I was little, we used to drive out to a clearing, and he'd fly remote control planes. "I'll make sure to come home from work early," he replied happily.

I grinned at James thankfully, and he smiled back at me crookedly. His hand reached the hem of my skirt and slowly began to inch underneath it.

I kicked him in the shin.

"Ow!" he yelped.

"James!" Mum exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

James took a long sip of his water and pulled his hand firmly on top of the table. "Fine," he choked out weakly.

"Was it the nargles, again?" she asked worriedly.

"What's a nargle?" Dad asked her.

James glanced over at me accusingly, and I smirked at him. He leaned over and kissed my shoulder while my parents were busy talking.

Petunia rolled her eyes. I grinned at her, and she huffed in her chair.

It was good to know that some things never changed.

"Dinner was really excellent, Mrs. Evans," James complimented.

My mum blushed prettily. "Thank you, James," she cooed.

My dad caught my eye and rolled his eyes. I smiled at him.

"Lily, would you mind doing the dishes tonight?" my mum asked.

I groaned, but my dad shot me a pleading look. "Fine," I grumbled.

Damn dishes. Of course I would get stuck with the cheese-coated lasagna pan.

"I'll help her," volunteered James.

"Oh, thanks, James," gushed my mum.

Bloody hell. Where was my gratitude? Merlin, it wasn't like I was her own daughter, or anything.

"You too, Lils," said Dad quickly. He must have sensed an eruption about to explode from the head of Mt. Lily.

He grabbed his plate and got out of his seat before helping my mother out of her chair. As he walked by me he clapped his hand onto my shoulder supportively. "Thanks, baby girl," he whispered quietly so Mum wouldn't overhear.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

He laughed and then walked out of the kitchen with my mum. Petunia left, as well, but not before silently projecting her disapproval around the way a skunk would spray an entire room. Vaguely, I wondered what would happen if I doused Tuney in tomato juice.

Chuckling to myself, I grabbed my plate and brought it to the dishwasher.

James came up from behind me. "Dirty," he whispered.

I raised an eyebrow at him dubiously.

"The plates, I mean," he amended with a grin.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course," I replied.

I walked over to the table and grabbed another dish. "You are incorrigible," I told him.

"And you like it," he pushed with a smile.

I turned on the faucet and squeezed some soap out onto the lasagna pan. "Sure," I replied flippantly.

"Oh, come on, Evans, admit it," James pleaded teasingly.

I shook my head as I used a rough sponge to try to get the grease out of the corner of the pan. "Snogging you's the worst," I told him dramatically.

James walked over to me with a bowl of grated cheese in his hand. "Liar," he quipped.

I shook my head. "Nope," I argued with an emphasis on the "P."

"I guess I need more practice then," he said roughly before quickly turning off the water and pulling my lips to his.

I dropped my sponge, and it hit the floor with a loud thwop, but I barely even noticed. My hands clutched his collar as I dragged him closer to me. I was getting his neck all soapy, but I didn't care. His mouth still tasted like sauce.

I had kicked off my shoes before dinner, and now we were suffering from a rather large height difference. He craned his back down, but it was still a tad awkward. I pushed up on my toes as I attempted to reach his face, but it only resulted in me falling back into the counter. Sensing the problem, James grabbed my hips and pulled me onto the kitchen counter. As my lips moved to his jaw, I hesitantly let my legs graze his torso. James's breathing was coming out in rapid bursts, and I was reveling in the fact that I was affecting him as much as he was affecting me. I tightened my legs around his back, and James's breathing stopped altogether. I stopped to look at him.

I laughed a little at his awed expression. "Aren't you supposed to be proving your prowess to me, Potter?" I teased.

In one fluid motion, James slipped his hands underneath my shirt's hem to rest on my hip and started kissing me again. My hands automatically reached for his hair as he started sucking on my bottom lip.

"Merlin, James," I breathed.

I could feel him smirking into the kiss before he slipped his tongue into my mouth. I gasped as he roamed my mouth in a series of rhythms that made my head spin with the-

"Lily, what do you-Gah!" a voiced called.

I froze as James instantly removed his hands, which had been dangerously close to my strapless bra, and backed away from me like I had the plague.

I looked up. "Daddy?" I called.

"Oh, um, I, I didn't, um—" stammered my poor, poor father.

"Mr. Evans, sir, we were just, uh - " said James, who, for once, looked at a loss for words as he guiltily tugged at his disarrayed hair.

"Waiting for the lasagna pan to soak," I finished meekly.

My dad pinched the bridge of his nose, and I could see his lips counting backwards from ten.

I looked down and saw that my shirt had ridden halfway up my stomach. I yanked it down hastily as my face flooded with embarrassment.

Dad sighed and then opened his eyes. "Lily, why don't you go run up to your room? I'm going to have a talk with James." It wasn't a question. I could tell from the forced strain in his voice and the throbbing vein in his forehead that he wasn't exactly inviting James for a cup of tea. Merlin, if he killed James just when things were getting good...

I grimaced before nodding and, to my immense mortification, hopping off of the kitchen counter that James and I had defiled with our snogging. My poor father. We made our food on that counter!

I tried to give James a reassuring smile as I exited the kitchen, but he looked too dumbfounded with fear to see it. I ran up to my room and turned up my muggle radio to keep out any dulcet death threats coming from the kitchen.

Oh, bloody hell! My father had just caught me snogging my boyfriend senseless. I meant my fake boyfriend. Only, nothing about that had been faked. Merlin, this was all so confusing. If snogging James wasn't so ruddy electrifying and if he didn't kiss so bloody well, it would never be worth it.

Flopping face first onto my bed, I continued to relive the sensation of James kissing me for some time as I waited for my dad to bury the body. I already missed the calluses in his hands, the warmth of his breath, and the blazing feeling of his skin on mine. Every time he touched me, I felt like some sort of fire was burning inside me. Was this normal? Had I just never been snogged before? Was it always like this? Or was James some kind of master of the art? Or was it just James?

I walked over to Callie's cage and brushed her wing with my finger. She hooted at me, and I unlocked her cage and opened my window for her. She deserved to have some fun.

At around midnight, I sneaked out of my room, half expecting my father to have dead bolted it from the outside. Of course, I could have just used magic to find my way out, but it would have been something sweet my father would do in a vain attempt to protect my virtue. Foolishly, he gave me too much credit, and there were no traps hindering me from meeting James outside by the swings.

James was sitting on a swing with his head in his hands. I approached him cautiously. "I apologize for anything my father might have said to you," I announced.

James looked up. He didn't have any bruises, thank Merlin—not that my father was a vicious man, but I was his baby girl, and James was the bloke sticking his tongue down my throat.

James let out a sarcastic breath.

"Was it really that bad?" I asked him.

"It was what could have been expected. I'm sure he had gotten quite a visual, and we weren't exactly being quiet."

I frowned. "We're loud?" I asked.

James chuckled faintly. "You're loud," he corrected me.

My face turned a little pink. "But everything's okay, right?"

James nodded. "As long as I 'keep my hands to myself and never hurt one hair on his baby girl's head, he won't need to pummel me into oblivion,'" he quoted.

I rolled my eyes. "That sounds like Dad." I sat down next to James and peered over at him. He looked worried. "James, this wasn't your fault. I seem to remember snogging you back - quite enthusiastically, in fact."

The corners of his mouth twitched upwards. He leaned over to play with my hair and push a stray piece over to one side.

"James," I said again, but his focus was on my hair. I sighed. I couldn't believe he was going to make me say it. "James, when I kiss you now, it's not because I'm trying to prove something to my family. I do it because I want to because you're sort of a decent bloke - when you're not being a git, of course," I added jokingly.

James laughed and finally lifted his gaze to meet mine. "Lily, I really don't want to break my promise to your father. I love your family."

"Even Tuney?" I asked.

James grinned impishly. "Especially Tuney. And Vernon? I think we're like brothers now," he added melodramatically.

"It's so good to know you boys bonded," I deadpanned.

He ruffled his hair. "I don't want to breakup with you," James whispered.

"You mean before we leave for Hogwarts?" I asked.

He nodded with sad eyes. "I just don't want them to think badly of me. They've been so nice, and I feel like whatever would need to happen would ruin their opinion of me forever."

I sighed. "Knowing my mother, she'd probably blame me for the breakup, regardless," I growled.

"Yeah, but your dad wouldn't," sighed James. "I just don't want to let him down. He's a really great guy, and I respect him as a father. He loves you so much, Lily."

I fidgeted with my hands in my lap and then took a deep breath. "We don't have to....you know," I told him shakily.

"What?"

"Break up," I squeaked. Merlin, could my voice just stay steady for once?

"Really?" James asked me hopefully.

I looked at his excited eyes and optimistic smile. How could I deny him now? "Sure," I squeaked again. I coughed to sort out my annoying voice. "I mean, then we'd never have to hurt their feelings. They are very emotional people. Plus, my mum loves you far too much."

James grinned. "I'm taken."

I rolled my eyes. Cheesy, romantic, adorable prick. "That is, if you don't mind staying for the whole two weeks."

James pulled my hair back again. "I think I could manage it," he said softly.

I bit my lip nervously.

"Besides, I want to see how this whole Vernon thing pans out," he joked to ease the tension.

It worked. I laughed.

James cupped my face with his hand. "Your lips are all swollen from snogging," he told me.

"Yours are too," I replied as I glanced at his red lips that were moving closer to mine.

"Do you reckon your dad will notice if I kiss you? He doesn't have one of those muggle guns or anything, right?"

"Would that stop you?" I asked.

James smiled crookedly. "No," he whispered before kissing me.

I sighed into his mouth. Everything was okay with the world when I was kissing James Potter.

Story credits to Molly Raesly