The Price of Passion

Prologue: Peer Pressure

Looking back on it, James Potter came to the conclusion that it had probably all started with that classic dormitory discussion of girls and shagging. Not that he was stupid enough to blame their predicament on one of many coarse and ribald talks with his mates. But, it was certainly what put the idea into his head that no matter what, he wanted to go there with Mia, and quite soon. He had fantasized and thought deeply on what it be like to take that big step, mostly in the midst of a heated snogging session. But, it was definitely after that conversation that he became determined to go there.

If not because he was insanely attracted to the Hufflepuff beauty, then because he never again wanted to feel that blended sensation of embarrassment and frustration while his mates revealed how far they had gone and with who. How bloody embarrassed he was, when he had grudgingly confessed that the most that Mia had let him do was unbutton her blouse and feel her up a bit.

Compared to the others, that was positively juvenile. It was most of his mates had accomplished by their fourth year.

Owain proudly declared that while Gracie Kestrel was a bit of a prude, he had recently been able to coax her into letting his zealous kisses travel down past her down collar, down the length of her torso, and right down into knickers. James had figured that the burly Scottish boy had been exaggerated a bit when he described how loudly and how often Gracie had screamed his name, he also figured that Owain probably wasn't too far off the mark. He'd heard whispers about how, if you were doing what you were supposed to, a girl would practically go wild as you did that certain deed.

And, as always, Vincent hadn't missed the opportunity to once again regal the ongoing love affair with River Lovegood-Thomas. A part of James hadn't wanted to hear this, for as Auntie Luna and Uncle Dean's eldest daughter, River was something of an older sister to him. But, the greater part of James had been eager for more details, for he could appreciate how alluring the former Ravenclaw witch was and couldn't quite believe that someone so serene and so...sweet, could do the thing Vincent said she'd did.

Cepheus had confessed that he and Aurelia Watson, a snobbish seventh-year Slytherin, had been tumbling around under the sheets since they'd first became a couple back during the Christmas holidays in their fifth-year. This was promptly followed by a declaration that he was rather bored with her by now, the closer they got to the year-mark. Cepheus attributed this to the fact that Aurelia was as prudish as she was snobbish, and this translated into a total lack of imagination in bed. He'd tried several times to convince her that it would be most pleasurable to try out some of the things he'd read about in Playwizard, but she wasn't hearing any of it, and Cepheus was quickly tiring of it.

The group of sixth-year boys had even allowed Aniston to share his tales of how he had most willingly been seduced by a Muggle artist, while vacationing in Greece over the summer holiday just passed. This tale had humiliated James the most, if only for the fact that even Aniston, the bloody shirt-lifter he was, had gotten a bit of play. None of the boys had wanted Aniston to go into detail, but James's curiosity had gotten the better of him, and after over chorus of rather disgusted protest, Aniston had described what it had been like to be shagged by another male. He wished he hadn't asked afterwards, but couldn't help but being pissed that Mia hadn't even allowed him to take off her bra, let alone explore the secret areas below her waist.

The only one, besides James himself, that didn't have anything sordid or sexual to share was Amit Nott. However, this hadn't surprised any of them. Amit was rarely seen in the company of anyone, least of all girls, and completely seemed to prefer his presence and his presence alone. More than once, the reedy wizard had turned down their offers of playing Quidditch or sneaking out to Hogsmeade, in favor of closing himself off in his bed, doing Merlin knew what. James would have been comforted by the fact that he was not alone in his lack of sexual experience, if not for the fact that Amit simply didn't seem to count when it came to things like this.

Intrigued and feeling a slight bit randy after all his mates' sordid confessions, James had hardly noticed that the sharing circle had apparently come around to him. But, he quickly became aware, when Owain had prompted him with a less than polite "Any chance you've fucked Mia yet, Jamie?" Heat had flared in his face and neck, as his mind sped through memories of all the kisses and touches in deserted corners. When he set his lusty kneading of Mia's ample chest and the almost-involuntary grinding of his hips against hers against all that he had just heard, he could barely open his mouth against the rush of embarrassment that had bubbled up from the pits of his stomach. He blinked stupidly at the group, rapidly trying to come up with a response.

For a long moment, James seriously considered lying his arse off, and creating completely fabricated tales of his romantic and irresistible seduction of the witch he'd been dating most of the year. He would make a point of making it sound as though he was a regular Lothario, a charmer so irresistible that Mia hadn't a chance of overcoming his seductive wiles.

But, Vincent - his cousin and best mate all rolled into one, the one wizard who knew him better than any other soul in the universe - would probably see through that in a hot second, and the game would be over before it got started good. Not to mention, he cared too much for the Hufflepuff to put ideas of her being a regular sex kitten in the heads of his mates. He wouldn't do that Mia, no matter how desperately he wanted his mates to think him experienced and manly.

So, he had grudgingly admitted how far he'd gone with Mia, and braced himself for the inevitable hoots of disbelief and derision.

They didn't disappoint him, either. Owain - the smarmy prat he was - was leading the pack and posturing that by their fifth-year, he had definitely moved past tit-grabbing and onto diddling. He made a big production of how, at seventeen and almost towards the end of his sixth-year, James was an undeniable virgin. To his later embarrassment, for he had given in completely to Owain's taunting, James had furiously stormed out of the dormitory, unwilling to endure the taunting and malicious snickers. But, it hadn't stopped there. For several weeks following, his fellow sixth-year boys had carried smirks so knowing whenever they'd seen him with Mia that it wasn't too long before James wanted to use them all for Bludger practice.

Finally, by the time the Christmas holidays had arrived, James could no longer take it.

Between the lot of them, James was almost certain that he was going to spontaneous combust. Owain never missed an opportunity to make crude remarks about his continued virgin status. Vincent had tried to come to his defense, but this only annoyed James more, because he knew that Vincent was more amused than anything. Aniston was simply begging to be hexed, with his hushed assurances that he wasn't out on anything big, that sex with a girl wasn't everything that it was cracked up to be. Cepheus always seemed to be hovering around whenever Aniston made these comments, and would immediately jump in and contradict that, with a firm and zealous assurance that sex with a girl was indeed everything it was cracked up to be, and then some. And even Amit, who hadn't seemed to be interest in them at all, let alone their conversation was beginning to look at him with something close to a smirk on his face.

For the first time in his life, James found that there was a strong possibility that his father was right, and having the piss taken out of you wasn't something you enjoyed.

And, James found that the more he had to endure the jeering and snickering of his mates, the more aggressive and insistent he became with Mia.

He didn't mean to make her uncomfortable or rush her into anything. But the building frustration - both sexual and otherwise - was driving him crazy. When he finally explained this to Mia, after positively roaring in dissatisfaction that once again, she had rebuffed his attempts to get off through dry-humping, she was surprisingly understanding. Similar to what he was going with his mates, her own friends had told of her their rendezvous with their own male suitors. And while they weren't harping on her for being a virgin, they were assuring her that if she give it up and give up soon, James would certainly go find release elsewhere. Though the idea hadn't ever occurred to him that he could find another witch who was more than willing - despite Owain's offers that he knew several witches who fit the description - that didn't stop him subtly not denying the possibility.

It was manipulative and rather underhanded of him, but at this point, he was a little desperate, not only for a release, but to prove to his mates that he was no longer a bumbling virgin.

Mia had left him that night, as she usually did: with a raging hard-on and an intense amount of disappointment and frustration, which dissipated only slightly when he was back in the dormitory, wanking off to sensual images of what she could do with him if only she was willing. But, he couldn't deny that there had been a deeply thoughtful look on her face, as though she was contemplating the possibility of going there with him. James didn't get his hopes up, though.

There was a greater chance that a snowball would survive in the hands of Hades himself, than there was of Mia finally relenting, and allowing him to go there.

Yet, it appeared that Hades had taken a chance and layered his hands in Cooling Charms before holding that snowball. The whispered request on the way to the greenhouses for Herbology that he meet her at midnight in the Room of Requirement sent a thrill through him. And, it wasn't just because of the sensation of her warm breath tickling his ear as she'd whispered it to him. Almost instinctively, James could feel that tonight would be the night. The night that he would finally "join the club", as it was. He had tried not to get his hopes up, if it turned out that she just wanted to spend time with him before they went their separate ways for two whole weeks, but it wasn't any use.

By the time midnight arrive, pure restlessness was coursing through each and every vein in his body, and he quite nearly got caught by the elderly and slightly demented caretaker, old Filch, he was so eager and anxious to meet up with his girlfriend.

When he arrived, he was hardly surprised what Mia had Required of the room: a wide balcony, with French doors that had been opened up the reveal an illusion of a breezy, moonlit night; a room that looked as though it belonged in a chalet in an exotic, foreign country; and, most tantalizing of all, a king-sized bed dressed in sheets woven from Egyptian cotton and pillows stuffed with the softest of hippogriff feathers. That thrill that had come from simply being told that she wanted to meet up with him intensified, until it was a frenzied beating of his heart, a thundering of blood in his ears, and an acute awareness of the slender witch that awaited him on the bed.

James had been randy beyond belief at the sight of Mia lounging nervously on the bed, looking ten times more desirable than his most vivid fits of imagination had come up with. Everything about her - her enchantingly curvy figure, glowing amber-green eyes searching his face anxiously, her full bottom lip pulled between her teeth, her tips of her copper brown hair brushing shoulders - made his heart hammer an uneven rhythm against his chest and his breathing to deepen. There was nothing more James wanted in that moment than to jump her bones with unbridled lust.

But, he quickly and firmly reminded himself that he was not his mates, and this was not a random shag to later be bragged about in the locker room. This was Amelia Zabini, a witch who he wasn't in love with, by any stretch of the imagination, but who he cared about a great deal. No matter how badly he wanted to this, how badly he wanted experience the sensations that had been described in detail to him by his mates, he would not rush into it like a Bludger being let out the trunk.

He would go slowly and take his time, and make this a night that both of them would remember for a long time to come.

And, Godric, had it been night to remember. If not for the fact that he had experience such an intense amount of pleasure that an Euphoria Elixir would probably never work on him again, then for the words that had Mia had just whispered.

"I think I'm pregnant, Jamie."