So I'm starting this story, and it's about one in the morning. I'm feeling kind of tired, but I don't really want to go to sleep, and I'm going to keep myself up with another glass of iced tea. I just had this little idea while I was going to the bathroom (the tea seems to go right through me for some reason). I'm not really sure where it will go.

This is a Lily/James fic – they're one of my favorite HP pairings, tied for first with Harry and Ginny. Anyway, that doesn't really matter. What does matter is that Lily wanted a new bed, and James and Sirius are stuck carrying it up the stairs and into the bedroom. Oh, and I forgot to mention that for the concept of this fic to work the story has to be AU, set in a universe where magic does not exist. How sad.

But on with it, I say! This story is rated M, because it contains strong language, some suggestiveness, and a lemon for good measure. I don't own any part of the Harry Potter universe, J.K. Rowling does. Oh, and I suppose I should add that I did sort of steal the idea of the appearance of the headboard from Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer, just because I really liked it. So, no copyright infringement is intended. I'm just setting out to write a fun little story, so nobody sue me, please. Enjoy the story and review – good or bad – if you feel so inclined to do so on the way out. :)

"Shit, Prongs," Sirius grumbled, red-faced as he lifted his corner of the heavy iron bed frame. "Could your wife have picked a heavier god damn bed?"

James smiled at hearing Lily Evans – whoops, Potter – referred to as his wife. It thrilled him to no end to know that she was his, and no one else's. He looked at Sirius through the gaps in the intertwining iron vines that made up the monstrous headboard.

"Probably not," James grunted, carefully fitting the ridiculous piece of furniture through the front door. "Jesus, if the damn thing only came apart..."

Sirius snorted loudly as his grip on the heavy frame slipped, and it began to fall. Trying to avoid destroying the beautiful new hardwood floor, he caught it just in time. The sharp iron cut into his hands.

"Do you need to put it down for a minute?" James asked, cocking a thick black eyebrow at Sirius over a big gray iron rose. "I could call Lily and she could get you a towel. At least then the floor might have a fighting chance at survival."

Sirius glared at his best friend. "Shut the hell up, or I'll drop the fucking thing right here, right now, and leave you to figure out a better way to get it all the way upstairs on your own."

James grimaced. "Yeah, all right," he said. "Okay, here are the stairs. Tip it up a little bit to the left."

Sirius tipped it one way as James tried to tip it the other way, and the whole thing nearly went clattering to the floor.

"Your other left, Sirius!" James shouted. "My god, how did you ever make it out of Kindergarten?"

"How was I supposed to know you were bloody well talking about your left?" Sirius bellowed. "Shit, James, maybe if you'd be more specific with your instructions –"

"What's that supposed to mean?" James demanding, feeling his back strain to support the weight that he was attempting to carry.

"You know exactly what I mean!" Sirius shouted. "Don't even play stupid with me, Potter. You can't give directions worth a damn, and you know that! Next time you want me to go left, tell me whose god damn left you're referring to!"

"All right!" James bellowed loudly. "Fine. Can we argue about it later? Preferably after we manage to get this thing upstairs and into the bedroom?"

Sirius grumbled and continued to grunt as he pushed the bed up, as James lifted it. Together, they managed to maneuver it up the stairs.

"Okay," James said quietly. "Good. This is good. Now, all we have to do is get it around that corner and through that doorway." He gestured with his hands, as if to help Sirius understand.

Sirius let out a loud bark of humorless laughter. "I get it, Prongs. Turn the stupid thing on its side – to my right..."

The two men did, and cleared the final corner and doorway, setting the bed in its designated spot beneath the window. The thing dominated the room, drawing attention immediately. The bright afternoon sun caused the polished metal to almost sparkle. James bent over slightly, clutching his back.

"Damn," Sirius sighed. "I can't wait until I settle down and get married. I hope my wife makes me do things like this every day. I can't wait to be whipped." Sarcasm dripped from every word.

"Shut it," James growled. "C'mon. Let's finish the job. Lily's making dinner, and we can eat, kick back, and grab a cold beer as soon as we carry up the mattress."

"Alright," Sirius groaned, following James down the stairs and outside.

The mattress was not as heavy as the bed frame, and it was softer, so they didn't have to worry about scratching floors...or walls...or doorframes...or banisters...or anything else that happened to be in the way on the journey up to the master bedroom. The mattress was soon sitting comfortably on the frame.

James and Sirius made their way downstairs, into the kitchen, where Lily had dinner sitting on the table. The two men tucked in right away to the fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, and bread, devouring nearly every last morsel. While Lily was cleaning up and making up the new bed, James and Sirius sat outside on the deck with their beer, drinking and enjoying the peace and quiet.

Finally, at about nine o' clock, Sirius decided that he was tired, and that it was time for him to get home and into bed.

"Thanks for dinner, Lily," Sirius said, patting her shoulder. "It was delicious, as always."

Lily smiled and nodded and James walked his best friend out to his car. "Thanks for all your help today," James said, leaning on the open window of the driver's side door as Sirius started his Jeep Cherokee.

"No problem," Sirius said. "Enjoy the bed," he added, grinning widely.

"Oh, after today I'm going to," James said, nodding. "I'm going to go upstairs, take off my shoes, and fall down onto that monstrosity. And I'm going to pass out cold." He smiled.

"Yeah, maybe after a good fuck," Sirius murmured cheekily.

"Yeah," James agreed, grinning in return. "Maybe."

Sirius laughed. "See you later."

"Yeah, bye," James said, waving at him as he drove away. When James got back in the house, he locked the front door and closed all of the windows. Then he made his way upstairs and flopped down on the new bed, dead tired, his faced buried in the plush pillows.

He only looked up when he heard the door to the bathroom open and close. Lily walked toward him, wearing a scanty, nearly transparent emerald robe. The vibrancy of the color contrasted pleasantly with the fairness of her skin, and James – despite the soreness of his back and the heaviness of his eyelids – felt his nether regions stir excitedly. He could see her lacy black bra and panties underneath the robe, and he sat up, pushing his hair back, as Lily crawled onto the bed.

She kissed him deeply once before pulling back and looking him in the eyes. "Hi," she breathed.

James looked at her from underneath heavily lidded eyes. He'd taken off his glasses, so he had to squint in order to see her properly. Not that he needed to, really – he'd memorized every inch of her gorgeous body.

"Hey," he murmured, reaching out tentatively to touch her milky thigh, running the pad of his thumb over the lacy edge of her panties. Really, when you looked at them...they were nothing more than thin pieces of ribbon and lace. He wondered what it would be like to just rip them off of her, and if he wasn't hard as a rock before...well, he certainly was now.

Lily kissed him again, pushing him back into the pillows and straddling his hips. She tangled her fingers into his mess of unruly black hair. And then James felt her moving back and forth over his still-covered erection, stroking him with her warm, hot, wet center...

"What are you doing?" he murmured dazedly, his hands lingering on her knees, her thighs, and her hips... He was sore and exhausted to the point where he feared that he might slip into a coma, but he'd have been damned if he didn't still want Lily with every fiber of his being.

"I thought we might christen the new bed tonight," she breathed, her lips lingering only mere inches from his. "You did quite beautifully today, you know...there isn't a scratch anywhere. And I love the bed. Thank you, James."

James frowned at her. "You don't have to thank me for anything, Lily. I've already told you: what's mine is yours. End of story."

She smiled against his lips, and James felt shivers make their way up his spine as she fingered his earlobes in a way that was strangely sexual and always had been...always would be. "I know," she whispered. "It's just a little hard to get used to. I'm new to this whole being married thing, you know..."

James chuckled a little bit. "Yeah, I know. I love you, baby."

"I love you, too," Lily murmured. "But we can wait for another night if you're too tired. I don't mind, I promise. We have eternity together..."

"I'll never be too tired to make love with you," James assured her quietly, sincerity ringing in his every syllable.

"Good," Lily said, giggling. "Because I really didn't want to wait."

"Neither do I," James mumbled, but his words were muffled in Lily's mouth as he kissed her, parting her lips and plunging his tongue deep inside, in and out, in and out, an imitation of what was to follow.

Lily's robe landed on the floor seconds later, and James only broke the kiss for a moment as she pulled his sweaty t-shirt off over his head, causing his hair to stand on end even more. She worked his belt loose, and unfastened his pants, before pulling them down. James kicked them impatiently off the bottom of the bed, running his hands along her breasts.

He reached around her back and unhooked her bra expertly, throwing that unceremoniously to the floor as well. Somehow, James' boxers were off, and Lily was slithering out of her panties, and James was positioning himself between her legs.

Lily gasped as James entered her. He clutched the sheets on either side of them, supporting his weight on his elbows. Lily's heels dug hard into his calves and her hands were fisted into the back of his hair.

"God," James groaned desperately, moving desperately inside her already, forcing himself not to thrust into her so hard that he bruised her hips in the attempt to relieve himself of the fire that had begun to burn in his lower stomach. "You're still so tight," he choked.

Lily was whimpering beneath him, speaking incoherently. He tried to listen, he really did, but it was impossible to understand a word she said, and it sounded like two jet engines were next to his ears. The roaring was inescapable, but entirely unpleasant. It was just another part of the blissful oblivion, and James allowed himself to be consumed by it.

"James," Lily breathed. It was the only word he'd understood all night. His name. He knew he should be used to it by now – he was her husband. But still...he would never get over the unadulterated pleasure it gave him to hear his name falling off her lips like a prayer...or a plea. It didn't really matter in the end. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Prayer or plea, his name had fallen from her perfect, angelic lips.

James concentrated on the feeling of his body against hers, sliding in and out of her in a way that was both easy and comfortable. Nothing had ever been forced between the two of them.

At first, James had worried that he would feel trapped in a marriage, forced into monogamy by his love for Lily. It had given him cold feet on their wedding day, and he had almost run from the alter. He remembered the paralyzing fear that had coursed through his veins, laced with adrenaline. But then she had come through the big white doors, wearing a snow white dress that made her look like the princess that she really was, and he had realized that he could never feel trapped by having one sexual partner for the rest of his life. The only person he would ever want to make love to was Lily. There would never be another woman that held any interest for him.

Lily was clutching his shoulders, panting in his ear, whimpering desperately. James tried to relax, to breathe through his nose. He was lightheaded, and he tried to keep a cool head. He didn't want to finish yet, when Lily was so incredibly close that he could almost taste it in the air surrounding them.

James quickened his pace, forcing himself to hold on for just a little while longer. Lily continued to gasp in his ear, her hot breath hitting his neck, near his shoulder. He braced himself with his knees, leaning on his forehead in the pillows as he used his hands to pull her thighs higher up on his hips, so that her heels pressed into the backs of his thighs, changing the angle at which he thrust into her.

She gasped again, more loudly this time, and he heard a strangled little cry in the back of her throat as she wrapped her arms around his neck again, clutching his hair.

James rubbed his pubic bone against the sensitive bundle of nerves just above her opening. He heard himself grunt with the effort of holding back. The noise sounded so pitiful to him, so weak. Wildly, distractedly, he wondered if every man secretly made sounds like that in bed. Why had he never noticed that sound before? Surely that wasn't the first time he had made it.

And then, suddenly, Lily's muscles were clenching around his throbbing erection as she came violently, pushing her hips upward and forward into his, desperately. She clung to him – his hair, his neck, his upper arms. She cried out, more loudly than James had ever heard her. It was more of a strangled scream than anything else, and it was his name again. Except this time it was like she was alerting him that she was climaxing. As if he could not notice...

James let himself go as she tightened around him. He felt a familiar tightening in the base of his spine as he exploded inside of her, feeling his fluids pour rapidly out of him. The continued to thrust into her as long as he could, letting her body milk his as sticky wetness continued to spurt out of him. And then James realized that he'd been so tired and out of it that he'd forgotten to wear a condom, and it gave him a strange sort of satisfaction that for the first time his fluids were flowing freely from his body to hers, filling her more completely than ever. He considered pulling out, but groggily realized that it would be useless – any damage that would be done was done. They were married. And there was no going back now, anyway.

James allowed himself to finish completely, and then pulled out of Lily, spent as he rolled off of her to lie beside her on the king-sized, extremely comfortable mattress. His chest was still heaving with the force of his climax, and Lily was still lying beside him, legs spread wide. In the dull light of a street lamp seeping in through the open curtains, James could see wetness leaking slowly onto the sheets between Lily's thighs. He smiled to himself, completely and totally, blissfully, endlessly happy as he watched Lily's heaving chest turn into even breathing as she drifted off to sleep.

As James stared at the ceiling above, his eyes drifted to the headboard, and he traced the iron vines that led to the gleaming metal roses that adorned the piece of furniture. He decided that it was really quite beautiful in a classy, old-fashioned sort of way that was just...so Lily.

At least this bed is good for something, James thought sleepily as he too drifted off into a dreamless sleep. Totally worth the trouble...

Okay! So, I started this at about one, and at this point it's almost three. WOW. I can't believe this little bit took a whole two hours. I know it's short, but I really wanted to get it right. I like the second half of it better, I think. I'm not sure what it is with me, but I just get really into the whole flashback thing. I did that with this story (where he thinks back to his wedding day) and in another story, and I didn't even realize it until I read it over again. Weird. I don't know, though...I think it adds a certain sweetness when you're writing a love scene, so it's not just like...straight smut. Who knows? Oh, and I was sort of trying to imply that this could possibly be Harry's conception...but I didn't want to just stick that in there, because it wouldn't really fit, and how would James know at that point anyway? So, if that works for you, James and Lily just conceived their son. If you think that's stupid, then just take the story as it is, as a grain of salt, and as some simple lemony goodness.

Anyway, I know it got a little graphic, but I couldn't help myself. That's just the way the story seemed inclined to go. Sorry if I offended anyone, but I did warn you that there would be a lemon, and I have read worse. So, whether you loved it or hated it, please leave a review and let me know what you thought of the story, even if it's just one word. I, personally, am bushed, hot, and bothered. Oh dear, oh dear, how will I ever get to sleep with the lovely James Potter running through my creative little mind? ;)