Just Like Jesse James

Chapters with lemon scenes will have asterisks next to them for convenience, in case you're just reading the story for those parts. I know I promised something steamy, but I decided to hold off on that a little and let their relationship progress a bit slower. I'm new to this whole "writing for the plot, not the smut" thing, but I'm growing attached to alcoholic Harry.

Jay: As I'm only really aware of the book, it wasn't intentional, but I worked within what the challenge had, so I had a feeling there would be some common ground simply by way of setting.
**********************(scene break)**********************
There I lay, Luna Lovegood beneath her, her soft body glowing angelically in the light that filtered into the room, as I gave in completely to her sugary lips. Her intoxicating aroma rose up around me as beneath me her body moved. I closed my eyes as I could smell her, and even that was maddening. She was a delight to all my senses; her scent was more potent than any alcohol I'd ever drank; her lips tasted like some divine nectar the gods had given as a gift only to me; her gorgeous face and the airy look in her eyes made me weak as I beheld a beauty I was unworthy of; her elated moans as our lips met in sweet harmony were more powerful than any music I'd ever heard before; and no words could fully describe the myriad of sensations every point of contact between us granted my sense of touch.

Our tongues danced their third dance, now no longer awkward newcomers trying to learn the steps. We were ready, prepared and practised, executing with grace and perfection well beyond our experience the steps we needed no more practice to make. We were unified, our bodies pressed tightly together, exchanging the heat of the fires that burned in both of us, somehow the exchange of the same temperature was still exhilarating, piling onto the incredible experience I found just in her lips.

Somehow, this was where I wanted to be. I was by far no stranger to sex, and yet with Luna I felt no need to work her clothes off and have some hot, steamy lovin'. Instead, I found heaven in her lips. It was so strange, finding what I wanted in a girl with all her clothes on when usually I would have torn a girl's clothes off if they weren't getting off her body fast enough.

At some point, we rolled over, Luna lying atop me as our kiss continued unbroken. Everything around us faded, almost as if I was no longer lying on a bed, but merely floating in space, living in a universe just for us, where we need do nothing but kiss for all of eternity. I could feel her heartbeat just as surely as she could feel mine. The hairs on my arms rose to attention as my pulse grew ever faster, beating harder within me as our bodies pressed so tightly together.

Her kiss was intoxicating, an elixir more potent than any brew I'd ever drank. I could feel dizzy as our kiss went on, drunk on her lips alone. Her soft, thin hair fell along, dangling idly around our faces. I brushed some aside so that I could gaze upon the true beauty of the girl, my hand resting on her fair cheek as my other held her tightly in my grasp, resting in the small of her back.

It was a moment I wished would never end. I'd finally given in, and I was forever hooked. Every moment without her sweet lips would be a moment of torment, a moment of emptiness and cold. If we could have stayed, we would have, but the roaring common room fell silent, and we know that, unfortunately, it wasn't that we had finally found our own existence away from everyone else, but that the entire Ravenclaw house had gone down for lunch.

Without a word we went down, Luna a moment before I did for the sake of appearances.

I sat on my bed, staring out the window. I still felt shame, knowing that she was still only a teenager and that even our kiss was taboo, but it no longer bothered me. It was a taboo I would gladly break for her.
**********************(scene break)**********************
I entered the great hall that afternoon with a radical shift in attitude. I had a smile firmly in place when I sat down with Ron and Hermione.

"Well, aren't you bloody chipper today?" Ron asked between bites. "What did you do, shag one of your seventh years?"

"Ron!" Hermione chided at his out-of-place joke. "What he means is that we're happy to see you in such a good mood. What happened?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking, and I worked through some of the baggage I had recently. I feel better now."

"Well, that's good, but why weren't you at breakfast?"

"Well, there's this girl in my house named Luna. She doesn't have many friends, and she stays up in the common room during breakfast to read. I asked Dobby to bring her some breakfast in the mornings in the common room so she wouldn't go without food, and I stay with her to keep her some company. She reads a lot of muggle books, so we talk about that a lot."

It was all true, even if I left out some details, but Ron and Hermione bought it. They knew I was a lonely child myself before coming to Hogwarts and that all I ready had was books, so it seemed reasonable for me to want to keep her some company.

With the load off of my mind, the three of us began to slip back into the old days, talking as though nothing had happened. We had changed, sure, and no longer longer did we talk about Voldemort or who was snogging who, but it felt just as natural as it did ten years before. It was refreshing, being here with them again. It was wonderful; I felt whole again, human. I had friends again, I wasn't a lonely alcoholic.

As none of us had a class to teach directly after lunch, we got a chance to talk afterwards as well. We got to catch up on everything; the various marriages in births in the Weasley family, Ron and Hermione's own plans to have children, and a message from Molly pretty much demanding I write to her sometimes.

"Mum still thinks you and Ginny would be perfect together," Ron said. "Gin got a boyfriend a few months back, one of the other quidditch correspondents at the Daily Prophet, and mum rung up everyone from the order to ask if they knew where you were. It took Lupin a few days to calm her down. When the two broke up, she actually considered threatening Kreacher to find you."

I forgot all about Kreacher. When I left the wizarding world, that included all my baggage. My inheritances from Sirius and my parents lay completely dormant, I got a muggle desk job, and my own apartment. Maybe going back would be good; if I lasted through the year it would be great to not have to find a new apartment for a few months.

"How about you, Harry? Have you had any girls?" Hermione asked, completely oblivious to my previous lifestyle.

What could I do here? Lie and say I've had a few relationships? That I've pretty much kept to myself? Or maybe even tell her the truth; I've just been having meaningless sex with random women from clubs all this time.

"No, I didn't bother much. My work didn't allow inter-office dating, and I thought it would be too much to explain to a woman when I told her I'm a wizard."

"Well, now that you're back maybe you can find someone who has magic."

"Yeah. Maybe you can shag Edgecombe, she'll probably love the sight of a man after a few months locked up in her classroom."

Hermione shot Ron a fierce look and I let out a chuckle. It really was like the old days again.
**********************(scene break)**********************
"So where are we?" Luna asked as we sat off in the corner of the common room that night. People rarely payed Loony any mind, and they figured I was just keeping her company out of pity, so they didn't come to me, save for a few people who slept through class and "misplaced" their notes.

"What do you mean?"

"We kissed, Harry. It wasn't a peck on the lips, either. It was full-on snogging, touching and all. It's good because now I know you aren't a vampire, but we need to think through this."

I wasn't a vampire? That was good to know myself. She was always in that mode of though, wasn't she?

"Where should we be?"

"Harry, I like you. Not in a schoolgirl crush way."

I had to tear myself away periodically as I found myself entranced by her wispy aura. She seemed even as we discussed such a serious matter to drift in and out of her two worlds so seamlessly. Even in a banal conversation, when we're getting serious about things, she still had her mind elsewhere.

"I like you, too," I said. "But it's hard. I hope you understand what I mean."

"I do. You're my teacher, I'm your teenage student. Still, I like where we are. Can we please stay here, Harry? I don't want it to be the end because we're afraid. After this morning, I want you more than ever."

"Nothing would make me happier."