Chapter Three: Dream Pretty Dreams
---
Well guys, I decided to change the format of the story a bit. This suddenly became it's own chapter, instead of being combined with the next events. With that being said, let it be known I have uped the rating to R, where it properly belongs and will stay for the remainder of this story. I've grown up a bit since writing this, guys, and it won't be the naive piece of fiction it was two years ago.
Aimée
---
Lily lay awake that night, thinking about her uncomfortably intimate conversation with Severus. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right; while there was little she could do about his attitude, she had to at least try to stand up to James. In her eyes, he wasn't the bad man Severus believed him to be; James was one of the most caring people she had ever met. Part of the problem, she decided, was his friends, especially Sirius; the dark haired boy egged James on each time Lily even remotely tried to stand up to him which, of course, led to more bruises. He never did it in front of everyone, only in the privacy of an otherwise empty dormitory, and he swore he always felt terrible about the things he did. James always tried to make it up to her, even if he had to miss Quidditch practice or a class. He loved her; she knew that to be as true as anything else in her life. He simply didn't know how to show it.
Severus Snape had been the enemy from day one. She was never allowed to talk to him—nor had she ever felt the temptation to do such a thing before that day—as that would have been a serious blow to her reputation and status as a prefect at Hogwarts. James would have never allowed the conversation that took place between she and Severus tonight to happen—never. She was sure James would have rather died than have his girlfriend talk to whom he considered to be lower than the scum off the walls of Azkaban.
She sighed and rolled over to her other side. The duvet was comfortable and warmed by the heat her body was radiating, leaving her in a half-drowsy state. Lily was on the cusp of surrendering to the heavy lulls of sleep when the door to her dormitory opened. Thinking it was one of her roommates, Lily gave the sudden intrusion little thought, waiting for whomever it was to crawl into their own bed and sleep. She closed her eyes once more, content in the blackness of her world until the heavy scarlet curtains hanging from her bed were pulled back, revealing the last person she wanted to face at that point in time.
James.
"Merlin!" She swore, sitting up and drawing her knees to her chest as she forced her eyes to focus on the dark figure standing over her. "James? What are you doing here?"
He sat down beside her, the added weight of his athletically fit body making the bed-frame groan and her own petite body slide toward him, down the slope the mattress had formed. He brought his hand up and began gently stroking her cheek with his thumb before leaning forward to press his lips against hers in a kiss that was neither a greeting nor romantic; instead, it spoke of belonging and submission, none of the things Lily had dreamt of as a child.
After a moment of moving his heavy lips against hers, he slowly backed far enough away to be able to look her straight in the eye. His stare commanded attention and instant gratification of his wishes, and Lily wasn't immune to what those two cold orbs could make one do.
"Hello, Lily," he said in a dangerously calm voice before saying the words she would have never expected him to say, yet had somehow known he would. "I know about your little escapade with Snape."
Lily froze as her stomach lurched and her heart fluttered frantically in her chest. She pressed her lips together, aware of how frighteningly and unnaturally pale she must have become.
There had to be a way out of this.
"James, I—"
He raised his hand up to her lips, as to silence her. On his pale features he wore a playful smile, one Lily had seen far too many times before to take at face value. "Say no more," he said in a hushed tone, one that made a shiver run down her spine. "I know what you were doing."
Her heart beat so fast she feared it would leap out of her chest at any given time. Her palms were slick with sweat and she was sure the rest of her body under the duvet wasn't much drier. She didn't know what to expect; nothing in her years with James could have ever prepared her for that moment. She wanted desperately for him to be angry; anything would have been better than the uncertainty she was being forced to face.
His words finally came, slowly and deliberately soft. His breath brushed against her cheek as he spoke, reminding her of how close he was to her vulnerable body. "And I think you're brilliant for doing so."
For the briefest of moments, her green eyes widened until she regained control of her motor skills. "B-Brilliant?" Lily stuttered, not having any idea of what he was talking about. Wasn't he supposed to be angry with her? She had confessed her problems to the one person he couldn't stand; why wasn't he punishing her? Was this another one of the games he loved to play? She couldn't wrap her mind around why he found her activities amusing, how he could have ever seen them to his advantage.
"You seducing Snape? It's better than anything I could have ever come up with." His voice cut through the heavy silence that had filled the room like a knife, startling her out of her thoughts. What was even more shocking was what he was saying; he actually thought she had deliberately twisted Severus around her finger.
"That little Death Eater won't know what hit him," he continued with a shake of his head. Lily could practically see the wheels turning in his head, and the notion made her physically sick. Whatever he was trying to come up with—it couldn't have been good.
He leaned forward until his lips were next to her ear. She could feel the tickle of his breath against her neck and she suppressed a shudder. "Make him fall in love with you, Lily." His voice was thick and had his mouth not have been next to her ear, she would have never heard him. "Make him want to die for you."
She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, the implications of what he was saying shaking her to her very core. In the precious time she had spent with the boy, Lily had come to like Severus more than she was willing to admit. He was a novelty, his sarcasm and wit clashing with the nobility and arrogance she was so used to from the Gryffindor boys. She didn't want to hurt him, yet the survival instinct that was so thoroughly ingrained within every living creature's mind fought against what she knew to be right. She didn't want to hurt Severus, but if she didn't go along with James' plan, she herself might very well end up in the worse condition of her life. It wasn't wise under any circumstances to refuse James. She was determined to fight him in any way she could, however, no matter how mundane or insignificant her efforts might be.
"Why?"
Her voice was small but her question was relevant. She belonged to James, not Severus; why would the golden boy of Hogwarts ever even think about allowing his girlfriend a few romantic rendezvous with one of the most hated students in the school? There was little point to the whole matter, the only possible exception being James' own maniacal amusement.
James looked surprised at her questioning his intentions. She usually followed his commands faithfully, without so much as voicing a disagreement or differing of opinion. "You should know, of course," he answered in a low voice, his fingertips lightly brushing her bare collarbone. The nightgown she wore was flimsy and nearly transparent in the candlelight of the dormitory, and he took delight in making her know how much he controlled her.
"Make him love you more than he's ever loved anyone in the world," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Kiss him, touch him, pretend to love him—do everything in your power to make him enraptured. Then," he said slowly, as if speaking to a young child, "as the year progresses, break his heart. Tell him how much you truly despise him; tell him how much you love me, how the two of us make love and laugh at his ignorance." The glint in his eyes was more than enough to scare Lily, but it was his voice that drove the stake of fear into her heart. Mad and enthralled by the idea of causing such pain to the boy, James sounded as if he were frothing at the mouth. Finally, he brought his hands up to the base of her throat, wrapping his strong fingers around her neck as he stroked the pulsing artery in her neck with the soft pad of his thumb.
"Make him want to die."
Lily resisted the urge to shake her head, not believing the atrocities she was hearing. Never before had he become so entranced with the idea of making someone's life hell, and that he was capable of such a thing scared her more than she was willing to admit. Finally, she gathered the courage to speak, swallowing hard with James' fingers still wrapped around her neck.
"What are the conditions?" she said in the firmest voice she could muster. To show her fear would be to let him know he controlled her, and for him to know that he controlled her would lead to him loving her in the worst way possible.
James smirked and relaxed his grip, choosing instead to bring his hand down to rest over her heart. "Whatever you do," he said in a hoarse voice, "don't let him fuck you. That's my job, not his."
Lily nodded numbly, slightly taken aback by his blunt use of the word. "All right," she said softly. "Will you tell me when to dump him?"
James smiled the coy smile she was so used to seeing before leaning in to press his lips against hers once more. "Of course," he said after a moment of silence. "And if he starts to give you hell, tell me and I'll make sure he never lays a hand on you again."
Always such a gentleman, James, Lily thought as his hands slipped underneath the hemline of her nightgown. You can do anything you bloody well please to me, but you won't let anyone else touch me. Must be bloody wonderful, being you.
"What about our relationship?" Lily asked as James began to move forward, forcing her backwards onto the pillows. His strong body, still fully-clothed, hovered only inches above her own as his roaming hands pushing her nightgown up above her hips. She automatically wriggled her way out of the rest of the pastel fabric, leaving her clothed in only her undergarments.
"We'll stage a breakup," James told her, his eyes glazed over slightly with the pure pleasure of thinking up such an elaborate scheme, one that was sure to cause his greatest enemy an immeasurable amount of unbearable pain. "It'll have to be a big one, in front of everyone in the Great Hall, probably at breakfast. That'll provide the time for you and Snape to get together before everyone heads back to their dorms." He paused as he touched the base of her throat with his soft fingertips and began to trace an obscure pattern down to her navel. "You'll have to cry, of course, and I'll have to be a git."
"Else it wouldn't look real," Lily said in a soft voice, stiff as a board under his dangerously gentle touch.
"You know it wouldn't be for real though, right?" he asked, maneuvering his way down to kiss the soft flesh of her stomach. "You know I love you and that anything I say would be a lie, right?"
"Of course," she said in a choked voice. He lifted himself back up so he could look directly in her eyes, and Lily found no hint of the previous glint of insanity within his gaze, one that was now filled with hunger and lust. She deftly brought her slender fingers up to start undoing the buttons of his shirt, wanting to make the night pass as fast as possible. The quicker he was undressed, the less he would be able to restrain himself from her, and the fast it would be over. Sometimes, he tried to make the experience as wondrous for her as he found it, but she could tell that tonight wouldn't be one of those nights.
Soon, he was undressed, the sun-kissed skin of his taunt body in great contrast to her own pale nakedness. She could feel his erection pressing up against her hip, and she was surprised to find him in such a state after so little foreplay. With a sudden flash of insight, she realized that talking of the fate Severus Snape was to receive had turned him on; words, thoughts, and mental images had been enough to make him want her—or at the very least, want what she could give him.
As he had been so many nights before, he paid little attention to her own wants. He moved his mouth to her breasts, running the tip of his tongue teasingly across the top of each mound before the biting and sucking began. His antics were painful and often left bruises, but that wasn't for him to know. The only reason he even bothered was to make sure she was suitably aroused for his entry to be met with little resistance.
There was no emotion in her responses; simply physical reactions to which she had long since grown accustomed. She arched her body up against him and let out a little gasp as she normally did, trying to slide her body down the sheets so it was once again in line with his.
There was little she could do, however; James was much more powerful than she, and he wasn't afraid to let it be known. Before she could squirm her way down the mattress, he was there, touching her in a place he had owned for years.
"Do you love me?" he asked in a demanding tone, his thick finger sliding into her wetness—but only enough to make her gasp in surprise. She hadn't expected that tonight.
"Yes," she said in a ragged voice, one she knew he loved to hear. She moved against him, trying to get him to go deeper, but instead he removed his finger, the tip of which was slick with her. To her utmost shock, he moved it upwards onto the nub that was the central of all her pleasure without so much as a warning.
She gasped, arching up instinctively into his hand. He began making tiny circles with his finger, sending jolts through her, and from the fire that danced brightly in his eyes, she could tell he was enjoying himself.
"Tell me who you love," he asked, increasing the friction.
Her eyes widened and she felt a spasm rip through her body. She wasn't supposed to be enjoying this.
"You," she gasped. "I love you, James."
His lips curled into a smile as he continued to control her with a single touch. "What do you want me to do, Lily? Do you want me to stop?"
His voice was wicked and she knew she shouldn't give in, but the pleasure that was washing over her was the only think she could concentrate on. She hadn't the energy to resist, nor did she want to.
"I want you to fuck me," she said in a pleading tone. "Don't stop—I want you inside of me, James. Please, I'll do anything—just—now."
She was so close to the edge, she could taste it. He sensed this, however, and drew his hand away from her. The moment he did so, she became to calm down, his touch the only thing keeping her in such a state.
Without a word, he positioned himself atop her and slide quickly inside, filling her until there was nothing less to fill. Lily closed her eyes, a spark of what she had felt only moments early shooting through her once more.
She shouldn't be enjoying this.
"Remember who I am," he whispered fiercely in her ear before continuing. "You're mine, Lily, and you always will be."
With those words, Lily couldn't help but picturing the dark-haired Slytherin James was plotting to destroy. As the image of his pale features came into her mind, his face replaced the one looming above her. Instead of James, it was Severus who was inside of her, Severus who she had chosen to share her bed with. He hadn't forced himself upon her; instead, she imagined he had asked her to marry him and she had accepted. Such a scenario would never be possible with him, she knew, and when the time came when James would propose, it wouldn't be the romantic event she had wished for ever since meeting him.
It was Severus, she told herself, not James. Severus was the one who told her he loved her; he was the one she loved, not James. He was the one she'd spend the rest of her life with.
The tension inside of her was building as she pictured this, and suddenly, as James let out a groan and emptied his seed within her, her own body exploded into a thousand different sensations, each more pleasurable than the last.
It was Severus, not James.
She smiled to herself as James collapsed next to her, most likely exhausted and wanting to sleep. What pleasant dreams she could dream, but she knew who she was. She knew her place in life, next to one of the most highly sought-after heirs in the wizarding world. He had chosen her to be with him, and such a privilege wasn't one to be taken lightly.
She dreamed pretty dreams, but she knew exactly who she was.
---
Well guys, I decided to change the format of the story a bit. This suddenly became it's own chapter, instead of being combined with the next events. With that being said, let it be known I have uped the rating to R, where it properly belongs and will stay for the remainder of this story. I've grown up a bit since writing this, guys, and it won't be the naive piece of fiction it was two years ago.
Aimée
---
Lily lay awake that night, thinking about her uncomfortably intimate conversation with Severus. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right; while there was little she could do about his attitude, she had to at least try to stand up to James. In her eyes, he wasn't the bad man Severus believed him to be; James was one of the most caring people she had ever met. Part of the problem, she decided, was his friends, especially Sirius; the dark haired boy egged James on each time Lily even remotely tried to stand up to him which, of course, led to more bruises. He never did it in front of everyone, only in the privacy of an otherwise empty dormitory, and he swore he always felt terrible about the things he did. James always tried to make it up to her, even if he had to miss Quidditch practice or a class. He loved her; she knew that to be as true as anything else in her life. He simply didn't know how to show it.
Severus Snape had been the enemy from day one. She was never allowed to talk to him—nor had she ever felt the temptation to do such a thing before that day—as that would have been a serious blow to her reputation and status as a prefect at Hogwarts. James would have never allowed the conversation that took place between she and Severus tonight to happen—never. She was sure James would have rather died than have his girlfriend talk to whom he considered to be lower than the scum off the walls of Azkaban.
She sighed and rolled over to her other side. The duvet was comfortable and warmed by the heat her body was radiating, leaving her in a half-drowsy state. Lily was on the cusp of surrendering to the heavy lulls of sleep when the door to her dormitory opened. Thinking it was one of her roommates, Lily gave the sudden intrusion little thought, waiting for whomever it was to crawl into their own bed and sleep. She closed her eyes once more, content in the blackness of her world until the heavy scarlet curtains hanging from her bed were pulled back, revealing the last person she wanted to face at that point in time.
James.
"Merlin!" She swore, sitting up and drawing her knees to her chest as she forced her eyes to focus on the dark figure standing over her. "James? What are you doing here?"
He sat down beside her, the added weight of his athletically fit body making the bed-frame groan and her own petite body slide toward him, down the slope the mattress had formed. He brought his hand up and began gently stroking her cheek with his thumb before leaning forward to press his lips against hers in a kiss that was neither a greeting nor romantic; instead, it spoke of belonging and submission, none of the things Lily had dreamt of as a child.
After a moment of moving his heavy lips against hers, he slowly backed far enough away to be able to look her straight in the eye. His stare commanded attention and instant gratification of his wishes, and Lily wasn't immune to what those two cold orbs could make one do.
"Hello, Lily," he said in a dangerously calm voice before saying the words she would have never expected him to say, yet had somehow known he would. "I know about your little escapade with Snape."
Lily froze as her stomach lurched and her heart fluttered frantically in her chest. She pressed her lips together, aware of how frighteningly and unnaturally pale she must have become.
There had to be a way out of this.
"James, I—"
He raised his hand up to her lips, as to silence her. On his pale features he wore a playful smile, one Lily had seen far too many times before to take at face value. "Say no more," he said in a hushed tone, one that made a shiver run down her spine. "I know what you were doing."
Her heart beat so fast she feared it would leap out of her chest at any given time. Her palms were slick with sweat and she was sure the rest of her body under the duvet wasn't much drier. She didn't know what to expect; nothing in her years with James could have ever prepared her for that moment. She wanted desperately for him to be angry; anything would have been better than the uncertainty she was being forced to face.
His words finally came, slowly and deliberately soft. His breath brushed against her cheek as he spoke, reminding her of how close he was to her vulnerable body. "And I think you're brilliant for doing so."
For the briefest of moments, her green eyes widened until she regained control of her motor skills. "B-Brilliant?" Lily stuttered, not having any idea of what he was talking about. Wasn't he supposed to be angry with her? She had confessed her problems to the one person he couldn't stand; why wasn't he punishing her? Was this another one of the games he loved to play? She couldn't wrap her mind around why he found her activities amusing, how he could have ever seen them to his advantage.
"You seducing Snape? It's better than anything I could have ever come up with." His voice cut through the heavy silence that had filled the room like a knife, startling her out of her thoughts. What was even more shocking was what he was saying; he actually thought she had deliberately twisted Severus around her finger.
"That little Death Eater won't know what hit him," he continued with a shake of his head. Lily could practically see the wheels turning in his head, and the notion made her physically sick. Whatever he was trying to come up with—it couldn't have been good.
He leaned forward until his lips were next to her ear. She could feel the tickle of his breath against her neck and she suppressed a shudder. "Make him fall in love with you, Lily." His voice was thick and had his mouth not have been next to her ear, she would have never heard him. "Make him want to die for you."
She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, the implications of what he was saying shaking her to her very core. In the precious time she had spent with the boy, Lily had come to like Severus more than she was willing to admit. He was a novelty, his sarcasm and wit clashing with the nobility and arrogance she was so used to from the Gryffindor boys. She didn't want to hurt him, yet the survival instinct that was so thoroughly ingrained within every living creature's mind fought against what she knew to be right. She didn't want to hurt Severus, but if she didn't go along with James' plan, she herself might very well end up in the worse condition of her life. It wasn't wise under any circumstances to refuse James. She was determined to fight him in any way she could, however, no matter how mundane or insignificant her efforts might be.
"Why?"
Her voice was small but her question was relevant. She belonged to James, not Severus; why would the golden boy of Hogwarts ever even think about allowing his girlfriend a few romantic rendezvous with one of the most hated students in the school? There was little point to the whole matter, the only possible exception being James' own maniacal amusement.
James looked surprised at her questioning his intentions. She usually followed his commands faithfully, without so much as voicing a disagreement or differing of opinion. "You should know, of course," he answered in a low voice, his fingertips lightly brushing her bare collarbone. The nightgown she wore was flimsy and nearly transparent in the candlelight of the dormitory, and he took delight in making her know how much he controlled her.
"Make him love you more than he's ever loved anyone in the world," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Kiss him, touch him, pretend to love him—do everything in your power to make him enraptured. Then," he said slowly, as if speaking to a young child, "as the year progresses, break his heart. Tell him how much you truly despise him; tell him how much you love me, how the two of us make love and laugh at his ignorance." The glint in his eyes was more than enough to scare Lily, but it was his voice that drove the stake of fear into her heart. Mad and enthralled by the idea of causing such pain to the boy, James sounded as if he were frothing at the mouth. Finally, he brought his hands up to the base of her throat, wrapping his strong fingers around her neck as he stroked the pulsing artery in her neck with the soft pad of his thumb.
"Make him want to die."
Lily resisted the urge to shake her head, not believing the atrocities she was hearing. Never before had he become so entranced with the idea of making someone's life hell, and that he was capable of such a thing scared her more than she was willing to admit. Finally, she gathered the courage to speak, swallowing hard with James' fingers still wrapped around her neck.
"What are the conditions?" she said in the firmest voice she could muster. To show her fear would be to let him know he controlled her, and for him to know that he controlled her would lead to him loving her in the worst way possible.
James smirked and relaxed his grip, choosing instead to bring his hand down to rest over her heart. "Whatever you do," he said in a hoarse voice, "don't let him fuck you. That's my job, not his."
Lily nodded numbly, slightly taken aback by his blunt use of the word. "All right," she said softly. "Will you tell me when to dump him?"
James smiled the coy smile she was so used to seeing before leaning in to press his lips against hers once more. "Of course," he said after a moment of silence. "And if he starts to give you hell, tell me and I'll make sure he never lays a hand on you again."
Always such a gentleman, James, Lily thought as his hands slipped underneath the hemline of her nightgown. You can do anything you bloody well please to me, but you won't let anyone else touch me. Must be bloody wonderful, being you.
"What about our relationship?" Lily asked as James began to move forward, forcing her backwards onto the pillows. His strong body, still fully-clothed, hovered only inches above her own as his roaming hands pushing her nightgown up above her hips. She automatically wriggled her way out of the rest of the pastel fabric, leaving her clothed in only her undergarments.
"We'll stage a breakup," James told her, his eyes glazed over slightly with the pure pleasure of thinking up such an elaborate scheme, one that was sure to cause his greatest enemy an immeasurable amount of unbearable pain. "It'll have to be a big one, in front of everyone in the Great Hall, probably at breakfast. That'll provide the time for you and Snape to get together before everyone heads back to their dorms." He paused as he touched the base of her throat with his soft fingertips and began to trace an obscure pattern down to her navel. "You'll have to cry, of course, and I'll have to be a git."
"Else it wouldn't look real," Lily said in a soft voice, stiff as a board under his dangerously gentle touch.
"You know it wouldn't be for real though, right?" he asked, maneuvering his way down to kiss the soft flesh of her stomach. "You know I love you and that anything I say would be a lie, right?"
"Of course," she said in a choked voice. He lifted himself back up so he could look directly in her eyes, and Lily found no hint of the previous glint of insanity within his gaze, one that was now filled with hunger and lust. She deftly brought her slender fingers up to start undoing the buttons of his shirt, wanting to make the night pass as fast as possible. The quicker he was undressed, the less he would be able to restrain himself from her, and the fast it would be over. Sometimes, he tried to make the experience as wondrous for her as he found it, but she could tell that tonight wouldn't be one of those nights.
Soon, he was undressed, the sun-kissed skin of his taunt body in great contrast to her own pale nakedness. She could feel his erection pressing up against her hip, and she was surprised to find him in such a state after so little foreplay. With a sudden flash of insight, she realized that talking of the fate Severus Snape was to receive had turned him on; words, thoughts, and mental images had been enough to make him want her—or at the very least, want what she could give him.
As he had been so many nights before, he paid little attention to her own wants. He moved his mouth to her breasts, running the tip of his tongue teasingly across the top of each mound before the biting and sucking began. His antics were painful and often left bruises, but that wasn't for him to know. The only reason he even bothered was to make sure she was suitably aroused for his entry to be met with little resistance.
There was no emotion in her responses; simply physical reactions to which she had long since grown accustomed. She arched her body up against him and let out a little gasp as she normally did, trying to slide her body down the sheets so it was once again in line with his.
There was little she could do, however; James was much more powerful than she, and he wasn't afraid to let it be known. Before she could squirm her way down the mattress, he was there, touching her in a place he had owned for years.
"Do you love me?" he asked in a demanding tone, his thick finger sliding into her wetness—but only enough to make her gasp in surprise. She hadn't expected that tonight.
"Yes," she said in a ragged voice, one she knew he loved to hear. She moved against him, trying to get him to go deeper, but instead he removed his finger, the tip of which was slick with her. To her utmost shock, he moved it upwards onto the nub that was the central of all her pleasure without so much as a warning.
She gasped, arching up instinctively into his hand. He began making tiny circles with his finger, sending jolts through her, and from the fire that danced brightly in his eyes, she could tell he was enjoying himself.
"Tell me who you love," he asked, increasing the friction.
Her eyes widened and she felt a spasm rip through her body. She wasn't supposed to be enjoying this.
"You," she gasped. "I love you, James."
His lips curled into a smile as he continued to control her with a single touch. "What do you want me to do, Lily? Do you want me to stop?"
His voice was wicked and she knew she shouldn't give in, but the pleasure that was washing over her was the only think she could concentrate on. She hadn't the energy to resist, nor did she want to.
"I want you to fuck me," she said in a pleading tone. "Don't stop—I want you inside of me, James. Please, I'll do anything—just—now."
She was so close to the edge, she could taste it. He sensed this, however, and drew his hand away from her. The moment he did so, she became to calm down, his touch the only thing keeping her in such a state.
Without a word, he positioned himself atop her and slide quickly inside, filling her until there was nothing less to fill. Lily closed her eyes, a spark of what she had felt only moments early shooting through her once more.
She shouldn't be enjoying this.
"Remember who I am," he whispered fiercely in her ear before continuing. "You're mine, Lily, and you always will be."
With those words, Lily couldn't help but picturing the dark-haired Slytherin James was plotting to destroy. As the image of his pale features came into her mind, his face replaced the one looming above her. Instead of James, it was Severus who was inside of her, Severus who she had chosen to share her bed with. He hadn't forced himself upon her; instead, she imagined he had asked her to marry him and she had accepted. Such a scenario would never be possible with him, she knew, and when the time came when James would propose, it wouldn't be the romantic event she had wished for ever since meeting him.
It was Severus, she told herself, not James. Severus was the one who told her he loved her; he was the one she loved, not James. He was the one she'd spend the rest of her life with.
The tension inside of her was building as she pictured this, and suddenly, as James let out a groan and emptied his seed within her, her own body exploded into a thousand different sensations, each more pleasurable than the last.
It was Severus, not James.
She smiled to herself as James collapsed next to her, most likely exhausted and wanting to sleep. What pleasant dreams she could dream, but she knew who she was. She knew her place in life, next to one of the most highly sought-after heirs in the wizarding world. He had chosen her to be with him, and such a privilege wasn't one to be taken lightly.
She dreamed pretty dreams, but she knew exactly who she was.