Jily Oneshots (pt2)

Of Intimacy

by novemberthird

prologue.

Intimacy doesn't mean sex. According to the dictionary it means a close familiarity or friendship; closeness. It means a private cozy atmosphere. It means an intimate act, but it doesn't have to mean sex. They're actions that show your affections for those close to your heart.

It's in these actions that Lily fell in love, she fell in love with friendships, some of them that weren't worth it, that would cause a piece of her heart to break despite everything that they had done (but she would always heal like broken hearts always do).

Some of them she would value until her death because they taught her what it meant to be loved without being placed on a pedestal, being loved without fear. That was the love she held in April and Sirius and Remus (and even Peter before his betrayal). They taught her what it meant to not have to seem perfect in order to be loved and respected. She didn't have to give reasons for her feelings, and she would forever be grateful for them.

Some of these friendships would blossom into more, a love so great that the universe felt inclined to draw them back to each other, over and over again (because at times it seemed like it was never meant to be) until the inevitable could no longer be avoided and that's what he was. James Potter was her great love and would be so for all eternity, and she his. He taught her what it meant to not settle for any one, to be given every single emotion that she gave out. She would never regret that, never regret him or Harry and the bond she formed with both her boys.

She'd never regret these acts of intimacy that she committed throughout her life. Forged in love and endurance.

i. of napping, a realisation.

'What are you doing,' Lily mumbled in confusion, turning in bed to face him with half-opened eyes before dropping her head to rest against his chest, his lips brushing the crown of her head softly.

'I was playing with your hair,' he murmured into it, the smile evident in the movement of his lips. 'It's a mess, Cariad.'

'You're one to talk,' she laughed, the sound softened by the feeling of her mouth against his skin; the vibration of it causing a shiver to go down his back. Gazing at her adoringly, he repositioned the fingers of his left hand into her hair in an attempt to untangle the unruly curls. She let out a content sigh before whispering, 'James?'

'Yeah?' His voice came out both sleepily and in awe, the tone that had only ever been reserved for Lily; his other hand pressing her even closer against him, settling on tracing up and down her spine leisurely.

Slightly lifting her head up off his chest, her eyes blinked slowly before rapidly closing as a small yawn escaped her. The action causing the ever-present butterflies in his stomach to flutter against every fibre of his being. 'I love you,' she uttered mid-yawn before snuggling into him.

He shifted the hand on her back to her right hip, giving it a gentle squeeze before breathlessly uttering,'Yeah?'

She sent him a smile that had he been standing would have had him falling face first but, because he wasn't, simply left him falling deeper in love with her. It was the kind of smile you would do anything to be on the receiving end of and left him even more convinced of the absolute control she had over him, the control he trusted her to never abuse.

Lily replied softly with a 'Yeah,' before drifting off to sleep shortly after; the fragment of the earth-shattering smile remaining on her face. It hadn't been the first time the couple had said, 'I love you,' but the effect those words had on him never ceased to amaze him. He decided then that he would go to the jewellers in the morning. His lovely girlfriend deserved everything he could give her and more, but he supposed he could start with a ring. Fondly placing another kiss on her head, he joined her in her nap, excited for a time when he will be able to wake up next to her for the rest of his life–even if she did hog the blankets.