*Lilah POV*

It had been two weeks now since that night in the Gryffindor common room with the Marauders. I had turned to Nicholas for comfort that night; his denial is all I needed as reassurance.

I laid next to Nicholas on his bed in his dorm, my legs entwined with his as he rested his head on his arm, the other propping up A Tale of Two Cities on his chest.

My eyes flickered over his figure, lingering on the bulging muscles of his arms. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he thumbed the next page, his eyes scanning over the words yet not processing them, as I knew that I was distracting him.

He pushed on the corner of his page, the slightly turned down paper acting as an indicator to which page he was on.

My curious eyes watched in confusion as he threw the book to his bedside table, watching as his shirt slid up his lower stomach as he did so. The novel fell with a loud thud, the sound providing as a distraction as he flipped over me, his weight pushing onto me pleasantly.

He leant his forearms beside my head, his breath fanning my mouth as he brushed wild strands of hair from my face. "You're a real nuisance, you know that?" He whispered, his lips brushing against my ear.

I shivered at the touch, my body aching for more.

He chuckled lowly, nipping on my ear playfully, "I couldn't even read my book and I was at the best part too, all I could feel was your eyes," his fingers lightly brushed my arm, goose bumps racing through me as adrenaline began to surge. "All I could smell was your perfume," his nose running across my collarbone, eliciting a sharp breath. "All I could hear was your intake of breath," his fingers played with the bottom of my shirt. "All I could see was you," his fingers slipped underneath my shirt, lightly tracing my skin. His lips pressed softly along the curve of my neck, my hands gripping onto the light fabric of his shirt. "All I want to taste is you," He mumbled quietly before pressing his lips against mine. I slipped my hands underneath the back of his shirt, my nails drawing patterns into the toned skin. He groaned into my mouth as I wrapped my legs around his waist, tugging impatiently at his shirt.

"You first," He grinned down at me cheekily, sliding his hand down my stomach to pull at the shirt.

He stripped the shirt off quickly, throwing it across the empty dorm.

I raised an eyebrow at him expectantly, a genuine smile gracing my face. "Your turn."

His smile dimmed, a hesitant look crossing his face.

"Hey," I whispered, "we don't have to do anything – you know that right? I'm quite happy to just lay here and watch you read,"

"I just don't want to loose you," He mumbled quietly, a sad frown pulling at his face.

"You won't alright? You could never do something to lose me," I reassured, my hand caressing his cheek reassuringly.

"Promise?" He whispered.

"Promise," I smiled gently.

We both sat up slowly, my hands sliding down his chest comfortingly, reminding him that he doesn't have to do anything he isn't ready for.

"It's not like I don't want this, I do, it's just I'm a little scared," he admitted, glancing down softly at me, his eyes speaking a thousand words.

"I am too but I love you, alright Nic? I'm not going anywhere," I boldly stated, running a hand through his golden locks.

A bright grin split across his face, dimples beginning to form. "I love you too, even though you are quite a nuisance," He muttered fondly tracing the line of my jaw with his thumb.

He pulled his shirt off with a grace that I could never manage, the long sleeved shirt getting tossed to the floor. I stared at his face the whole time, not willing to look at his body until he was certain.

We laid back down, warm tanned skin pressing against my own. "I'm all good now," he smiled, directing my hand to his stomach. My eyes look down, widening slightly at the sight as I traced the outline of his muscles. "P.S. I like the bra," He smirked, leaning even closer.

I blushed a bright red, having forgotten about my partial nudity.

"Right," I coughed out, hitting his shoulder playfully.

He reached up; rubbing at the place I had hit him. "Ouch, woman!" he pouted, mock glaring at me.

A splat of black caught my eye as I glanced at his forearm, wondering what I had seen. I already knew, though, they had been right.

I had been a fool.

"Nic?" I swallowed.

"Yeah?" His grin dimmed as he saw my horrified expression, knowing exactly what had just occurred. "It's not a big deal, alright? Sweetheart please, just hear me out!" He rushed out, trying to grip onto my arm as I pushed him off of me.

"You-You-" I cried out, quickly locating my shirt before bolting from the room. I tripped down the stairs in my haste, quickly finding my footing before racing out of the Ravenclaw common room.

"Baby please," He yelled, sprinting through the room after me, ignoring the curious eyes of his housemates.

I turned around, tears glistening in my eyes as I looked upon the man I loved. "You-You" I tried again, unable to form the words through my sobs.

He tugged on his shirt, suddenly reminding me of my bra-clad figure but I could hardly care at the moment.

"You lied to me!" I struggled to breathe, my mascara beginning to smudge under my eyes as I clutched tighter onto my t-shirt.

"Yes but-" He tried to explain himself before I cut him off.

"This isn't some little white lie, Nic! You can't just make excuses for shit like this! I can't believe you!" I screamed out, attracting the attention of our peers.

He quickly noticed the attention I was drawing, immediately trying to calm the situation. "Sweetheart please, let's just talk about this, alright? We'll go back to my dorm and talk it out."

"No! I'm not going anywhere with you! They killed my entire family, Nic! My mother, my father, my friends," I ended quietly, reminiscing all those I had lost during the Great Battle and the events leading up to it. "I only had you, Nic, and now I don't even have that."

"You do! You do!" He shook me, attempting to persuade me to accept this- to accept him.

But I couldn't – I wouldn't, not now or ever.

"No, I don't," I whispered lowly.

A cold look settled on his face before it changed to fury, his eyes simmering in untamed rage.

"You promised me," He muttered, angry tears staining his cheeks.

"You promised me," I reminded him, a false façade masking the true pain and devastation at his betrayal.

I turned my back on the man I loved, ignoring the catcalls and the stares of the large crowd and headed back towards my common room but not before making eye contact with one furious, glasses wearing Marauder.