#Could have gone with Jily even

[springs-hurts]

ahh... Why it's always a good fic that disappoint you so utterly with some of the things? Was reading a Ron and Harry fic, and honestly it's too good, not wholly bout the ship but intermingled with the plot. And then the author goes and make Sirius of all people a (little?) Homophobe. I genuinely can't believe it. One moment he's all good and funny and next he's talking bout it in such weird way? And Lupin of all people goes and talks like oh he's such a moral compass. I've never been so utterly disappointed with a fic to right about it on tumblr. But it was so good, till that part it was so good, the writing and the characters, not a single off thing. But fuck this one hurts.

EDIT- Cause damn I think I took it too far? But yeah that was my bias against oh so moral everything right Remus. It wasn't that bad. I mean remus part was but Sirius part wasn't if it makes sense? Idk when this fic was written but if it was written around the time when everyone used to think remus as moral compass than I think I can forget bout this bitty problem cause the fic is genuinely awesome.

[moonstruckme]

could i request poly!wolfstar or poly!jily where they’re pursuing reader and reader accidentally matches with them (like matching costumes) at a halloween party?

i think the teasing and flirting would be so cute!! 🥰

Thanks for requesting!

cw: mention of alcohol, smoking, Sirius makes lame and humorously objectifying jokes

poly!wolfstar x fem!reader ♡ 1.5k words

You arrive to the party late, the Gryffindor common room already bustling by the time you and your friends have finished doing your last-minute costume alterations. There are glowing pumpkins floating on the ceiling, someone has charmed the room so that a thick layer of fog drifts along the floor, and the air already smells slightly of booze and cigarette smoke. 

You lose Lily’s attention immediately, but that’s to be expected. You’re more than accustomed by now to her searching for her boyfriend whenever you enter a room. What’s unexpected, however, is her reaction when she finds him.

“Uh oh.” 

“Uh oh?” You look at her, following her gaze to the couch across the room. “Oh. Oh, no.” 

Lily laughs. “It sort of seems like fate, doesn’t it? I think it’s sweet.” 

Sitting on their usual couch are the marauders. James, predictably, is wearing a costume matching Lily’s; they’ve both come as cowboys. Unfortunately, Sirius and Remus are sitting next to him dressed as pirates. 

You’re also dressed as a pirate. 

“It’s not sweet,” you moan. “If I go back up, do you think Marlene will make me some of her fake blood? I can change and be a vampire instead.” 

Lily hums. “Think it’s too late for that, babe.” 

She’s looking back towards the couch, where the boys have already caught sight of the pair of you. Sirius is beaming something atrocious, and even Remus looks amused while his boyfriend waves you over exuberantly. 

Lily takes your hand in hers, tugging you with her as she goes to them. 

“Howdy, darlin’.” James puts on an exaggerated southern drawl as you approach, opening his arms to his girlfriend. 

“My, my,” says Sirius as you sit between him and Lily, “don’t you look nice.” 

You ignore the warmth that brings to your face. “The point wasn’t really to look nice.” 

Your costume is thrown together from things you already had, the only thing that really distinguishes you as a pirate being the bandana you’ve tied around your head. Remus appears to have gone a similar route, although the white shirt he’s tucked into his pants looks a bit more on-theme than yours and he’s clearly been forced to wear an eye patch which is currently flipped up so that it’s not covering anything. Sirius, of course, does nothing halfway. He’s wearing a billowy black top that’s been unbuttoned nearly to his navel, more belts and buckles than you knew one person could have, and a captain’s hat he surely bought just for the occasion. Altogether, you make a fairly fearsome group. 

“Not sure you can help it, gorgeous.” Sirius winks at you. “You always look nice. Did you plant a spy to find out what you needed to wear to match us, then?” 

You roll your eyes good-naturedly. “I should probably be asking you that.” 

“Must’ve just been fate,” Sirius says. It’s so close to what Lily said that your cheeks blaze, but you also don’t know if you quite believe him. Remus, too, turns to give his boyfriend a questioning look. 

Sirius catches it and scoffs, holding up his hands. “I didn’t! Honestly.” 

Remus nods, appeased. In a less booming voice than his boyfriend’s, he tells you, “You do look very nice.” 

“Thanks.” You catch yourself fingering the ends of your hair like a nervous schoolgirl and tuck your hands underneath your thighs. “So do both of you.” 

Sirius grins knowingly, and you have to fight the urge to shove your face into Lily’s shoulder for refuge. He knows as well as you do that for all of his brazen flirting, it’s Remus’ quiet sincerity that flusters you the most. You’re not sure when it started, exactly, but it’s been clear for some time now that both boys are interested in you. You’re not sure in what capacity—they could want to take you to bed for one night, integrate you into their relationship, or anything in between—but as of yet you’ve neither encouraged nor discouraged their advances. 

“Thanks, dollface.” Sirius gives a winsome crack of a smile. “You know, I’ve already acquired some booty, but I wouldn’t mind winning some more.” 

“Sirius…” Remus groans.

You feel your eyebrows pinch. “Some what?” 

“You know, like pirate’s loot? My booty.” Sirius sidles closer to Remus, giving his thigh a solid pat. 

Remus’ eyes narrow. “I will leave you here and go back upstairs right now.” It sounds as though this is not the first time this has been threatened. 

“I worked hard for it!” Sirius defends himself. 

You cover your mouth against an appalled giggle. “It?” 

“I toiled, and I fought, and I had to battle many other fearsome ships! It’s mine.” 

“Remus,” you stage whisper, “blink twice if you need help.” 

Remus’ smile blooms, but when he starts to blink Sirius objects, “Oi!” 

“No,” you correct him, “you’re supposed to say ‘arr.’”

Sirius is grinning again, too, clearly chuffed that you’re joking around with them even if it is at his expense. “If I say ‘arr,’ you’ll agree to be my second booty for the rest of the night?” 

“I won’t make any promises. But it would be persuasive.” 

He growls enthusiastically, “Arrrrgh!” and slams his fist down on the table. The sound it makes is enough to tear James and Lily’s attention away from each other. 

“Merlin,” says James. “Did’ya hurt yourself there, Pads?” 

“No,” Sirius replies, but he gives his hand a little shake. 

Remus, rolling his eyes, takes it and kisses the side. He brings it into his lap for safekeeping. Your heart gives a painful little throb. 

You must have some stupid lovestruck look on your face, because Lily peers around James to see you better, a smile playing on her lips. She knows about your crushes on the two boys, just as well as she knows that you haven’t decided what to do about them yet. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t like to help you along. 

“Come on,” she says to James, standing and taking him with her. “Let’s dance, and I’ll let you pretend to lasso me.” 

James beams. “Yes!” 

You watch them go while Sirius seizes the opportunity to move to your other side, the three of you taking up the entirety of the couch. 

“Phew,” he sighs, swinging his feet over the armrest. 

“You may want to take your legs out of the fog,” Remus suggests, also using the new space to bring his feet onto the couch. “It gets sticky after a while.” 

You frown but do as he says, pulling your feet from your shoes so that only your socks are on the couch. And sure enough, when you touch a finger to your ankle it feels like there’s an odd sort of coating over it. 

“I thought it was just fog,” you say. 

“It was supposed to be,” agrees Sirius, “but James entrusted the task of making it to Marlene, and there are some who think she might’ve laced it with some sort of drink.” 

“I’m some,” Remus owns. 

You smile. “So is the point that you should be able to…drink the fog?”

“No clue.” Sirius leans over the edge of the couch. “Let’s find out.” 

“Sirius, no,” Remus says weakly, trailing off when it’s clear the other boy won’t be deterred. You both watch as he sucks in what fog he can, closing his mouth around it. “That’s disgusting, everyone’s been walking around in it.” 

“I think it might be brandy,” Sirius muses. “It’s faint, though.” 

Remus frowns. “I’m not kissing you until you brush your teeth.” 

Sirius grins. “Yes, you are.” 

“We’ll see, won’t we?” 

“Wouldn’t you rather just get your own drink?” you ask Sirius. “Rather than sampling the faint traces of brandy that have been touched by other people’s shoes, I mean.” 

“Oh, rest assured, gorgeous, I’m all covered.” Sirius picks a cup up from the table. He seems to notice at the same moment that you don’t have a cup of your own. “Would you like one, though?” 

You glance to the table cluttered with alcohol and mixers, a throng of students clustered around it. “I’ll get one in a bit.” 

“Let me.” Sirius stands. He edges around the table, stopping to pinch your chin affectionately and give his boyfriend a kiss. “Rem, my love, keep her company, would you?” 

“You don’t have to,” you object. “I can get it.” 

“No, don’t be ridiculous. A pirate has to take care of his booty, hasn’t he?” 

“I never agreed to that!” you call after him. In a quieter voice, you add, “And I don’t think that’s how the relationship between a pirate and their booty works.” 

“Let him go,” Remus advises you. You startle a bit when his hand finds your knee, resting there in fond commiseration. “If he’s going to degrade us like this, he can at least bring us drinks.” 

You feel your lips tilt. “Are you really going to let him call you his booty all night?” 

“Probably.” Remus shrugs, his eyes finding his boyfriend across the room. “Anyway, it’s nice not to be alone in it. As far as he’s concerned, you’re already his as well.”

[florenceafternoon]

━。゜✿ jily fic recommendations ✿ ゜。━

I've also seen a lot of people asking for 6/7th year jily so I tried to include some. These fics explore how much they've grown in that period between the end of school and the rising tensions of war.

Of course, I've also included fics with marauders shenanigans. As always, these fics are set in the wizarding world but aren’t necessarily canon complaints.

For reference, anything in italics is taken from the summaries.

Death and Other Inconveniences by @asteriaem

When James Potter disappeared for ten days in the middle of the spring term of their fifth year, the whole school noticed. He buried his parents in a quiet ceremony and returned to school amid outrageous rumours.

When Lily Evans disappeared for three days before the Christmas holidays in sixth year, two people noticed. She found the house packed, a nasty note from her sister, and spent the rest of the holidays sleeping rough. Both are left grieving and angry at Hogwarts over the summer, with no where else to go and war raging around them. Really, how else could it have gone?

God where do I even start? This fic is incredibly well written; everything from how well-rounded and dynamic all the characters are to the dialogue and descriptions. For everyone tired of character deformation and would like to read a long-form that explores the turbulence of adolescence coupled with grief and the uncertainties of war this fic is for you. When I say I miss old jily, I mean this exact era of characterisation.

Notes by @scriibble-fics

On an ordinary Tuesday in October of 1975, James Potter passes Lily Evans a note. She has no way of knowing it, of course, but it’s the first note of thousands that will pass between them in the years to come.

Head of House by SwissCheesePlant

The consequences of Sirius and James pretending to be boyfriends weren't supposed to come to a head during a convoluted and unnecessarily kinetic drinking game... but such is life.

As If By Magic by @annabtg

Lily Evans, Head Girl, is starting her seventh year at Hogwarts. Alongside her, Head Boy James Potter, who has always had a crush on her yet has given up all hope of winning her over. But between working together, sharing fun times with friends and getting through the darker moments that come with living in an era of war, things between them are bound to change...

Questions and Answers by lizardcookie (on ao3)

The simple question of whether or not they're dating doesn't exactly have a simple answer (seventh Year jily).

Come Together by @thequibblah

It’s difficult to say when James and Lily took the first steps to love. Perhaps they had always been walking this road, unaware of the person they were walking towards until the mist cleared. They would fall in love eventually — but we would be remiss in ignoring the hiccups along the way.

Okay so confession, I haven’t read this but it's been on my TBR for ages and everyone's been recommending me to read it. Judging by other works by the same author that I have read, I can attest that Lily and James have always been well-written so I trust that this fic is no exception.

These next few fics are all by @gigglesandfreckles-hp because Abi's characterisations are perfect and there’s just something about her writing that transports me to the scene. This woman can make me laugh and cry and worry all in under three thousand words.

roots of memory

Lily frowns slightly, mulling it over. “I’m not really sure either,” she admits. “Honestly, don’t take this personally, but I don’t remember much about you in the first couple of years. I think I was too focused on trying to figure out school and magic and everything else.”

James clutches his chest in mock offence. “I’ll act like that didn’t just irreparably damage my soul.”

crafting chemistry

“Is there something that needs to be discussed between the three of us?” Minerva prompts, her eyes narrowing sharply.

Lily’s face betrays her first. A bright flush creeps slowly along her cheeks, blooming from her neck upward, as though her skin can’t hide the emotion simmering underneath. She keeps her eyes stubbornly trained on the far corner of the office, anywhere but James. Minerva notices James’s hand, the one that had been habitually running through his hair, freeze mid-motion, his fingers tightening slightly.

but we dream in the light (a continuation of one of my favourite fics)

“Lily Evans, we have got to stop meeting like this,” he grins.

She shakes her head, laughing. “Jesus Christ.”

James spins around dramatically. “Where?”

the dance of mischief and duty

Lily Evans is an infuriating mosaic of traits—beautiful and she knows it, captain of the House Quidditch team, and the loudest voice in nearly any room. She has this way of floating through the school, her laughter ringing out as she moves between corridors and classes, one arm usually slung around Sirius Black’s shoulder and the other gesticulating wildly as she spins tales of misadventure.

But she also sort of has a point, and that’s possibly the most infuriating part about her.

prompt: flip the script

my church offers no absolutes

She stares at him, her eyes the only ones open as the priest prays, but she can’t look away.

James Potter is here.

under the influence of loss

“Like what? You fancy me! Kiss me.”

Each time she says it, it’s like a new bruise blooms around his heart, her words pressing on all of them at once.

“I can’t!” he shouts, the frustration cracking through.

“Because I’ve been drinking?” she demands, a bitter laugh escaping her. “Your chivalry is duly noted, Potter, but I’m giving you a pass here. Just—”

“It’s not about that,” he interrupts.

You know what they say, you can tell who an author's favourite character is by how much they make them suffer

From the Edge by @maraudersftw

A three-hour-long detention. A barrage of unspilled words. A kiss that has remained unacknowledged. Until now.

That Summer by the_casual_author (on ao3)

In which James and Lily spend the summer in a house by the sea. (and fall in love in the process)

pleasant, poised, polite, professional by @ohmygodshesinsane

Lily Evans' journalism career is stagnating, and when Mumblemumps sweeps through the office, she couldn't be less pleased to be asked to cover the sports beat. James Potter, the captain of the Wimborne Wasps who is campaigning to win Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile, only seems to confirm her worst fears about athletes. Until.

If you enjoyed James' characterisation in James Potter Won't Go Quietly then you'll enjoy this

Fantasise also by @ /ohmygodshesinsane

When Lily ends up taking Veritaserum as part of one of Sirius' games, James finds that he really doesn't need to know any of the nitty-gritty details. Fate has other plans.

And James Potter also by @ /ohmygodshesinsane

The most unfortunate part about being one of the best students in the year, if you ask Lily Evans, is being forced to work alongside James Potter. The most fortunate part about being one of the best students in the year, if you ask James Potter, is getting opportunities to annoy Lily Evans. The fact of the matter is, that despite their both being talented, intelligent students with bright futures and burning competitive streaks, Lily and James will never get along. No matter how much others think they ought to.

Braid also by @ /ohmygodshesinsane

Sick and tired of revision, Lily gladly takes a distraction in the name of giving James Potter a helping hand.

Revenge Tastes Sweeter by @charmsandtealeaves

This by far had to be one of the more stupid things that Lily Evans had ever agreed to, and she’d gone along with a lot of her friends' bullshit ideas. She’d wanted to maintain her dignity in breaking up with her shit of an ex-boyfriend. However, fake dating James Potter hadn’t been in her grand plan of dignity. She’d merely been venting her frustrations to her dorm mates in the common room, she hadn’t expected advice and well… plotting. Though she should have expected better, these lot were always plotting something. Was it too late to just go with Dorcas’ “Stab him!” suggestion?

Simmer Until Ready by @kay-elle-cee

James Potter is not a healer. His is a potioneer—the Order of the Phoenix's lead potioneer, in fact. So when their top field fighter—Lily Evans—comes to him for treatment after a particularly rough mission, he helps the best way he knows how: a vial of freshly-brewed Skele-Gro and a dose of laughter.

Kels always writes the best order!jily

climb higher by penniesinthepool (on ao3)

It's been three (long) years since Lily and James have seen each other. Now, he's living out his dream playing Quidditch with Puddlemere United and she hers as an Auror.

They're happy. But fate (and annoying friends) works in funny ways, sometimes, and through a series of chance meetings, they begin to wonder if maybe, just maybe, they could be happier. My take on what would maybe happen in a universe where James wasn't Head Boy, taken to the extreme.

after O.W.L.s by @juniperpyre

a short snippet of James Potter's and Lily Evans' thoughts after their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L., and before the altercation with Severus Snape changes everything.

It was so close to going a better way

Haley's characterisations are always on point

”Just” Partners by @petalsthefish

James asks Lily what they are after a series of long and hidden snogs in dark corridors.

tied to you by @jjameslily

Lily’s foot sank into the damp earth as she stepped closer to the water’s edge. The lake mirrored the starry sky above, but something else caught her eye – a shape in the reflection.

James my sweet summer child, thank you for looking after her

Love for the Summer by @missgryffin

It's the summer after sixth year, Lily Evans is realizing she fancies James Potter, and James has Sirius Black's motorbike to thank for getting Lily out of the friend zone.

of hearts and keys by the_crownless_queen (on ao3)

In a world where magic means everyone can see your soul, Lily Evans wonders what it would feel like for someone she loves to open her heart.

Seven Years and Seventy More by surlybobbies (on ao3)

When James walked into the 7th year Gryffindor boys’ dormitory a few moonstruck minutes later, he found Sirius lying in bed with his hands folded across his stomach. “Been with Evans, then?” he asked, without lifting his head. There was a distinct note of disapproval in his voice.

James froze in the act of unwinding the scarf from his neck. “Er, yeah.”

“She doing well?” Remus asked from his bed, the closest one to the door. He had a book open on his lap but had lifted his gaze when James came in. His stare was steady and pleasant, but there was a sharpness behind it that put James on the defensive.

(James has some news.)

This Town Is Fake But You're The Real Thing by @tedwardremus

Teen radio star Lily Evans works for a show on the wizarding wireless network called, The Marauders. The teen soap drama stars James Potter as an arrogant school jock and centers on the secret adventures of his friends in the forbidden forest as illegal animagus and a werewolf. The show's antagonist, played by Severus Snape, left after a scandal, and now Lily has a romantic storyline with James in the final season of the show. Basically, her life is a disaster.

Prophecy by Alohaemora (on ao3)

Faint rays of sunlight began to filter into the nursery from the pink-red sky outside, the morning song of robins and thrushes lilting as all of Sirius's worst fears manifested before him, devastating in their might.

"Fuck," he whispered. A horrible, painful lump swelled in his throat, clawing, stinging. "Fucking hell."

The corners of Lily's lips trembled. "James didn't know how to tell you."

Not quite a jily fic but I wanted to share

not as smart as you think you are (or how to fall in love in 7 months) by Squidge_06 (on ao3)

Lily Evans has spent the past 6 years excelling at school and hating James Potter. Both these facts converge suddenly at the beginning of her 7th year when she’s confronted with a less than perfect grade and a Transfiguration tutor who is the very last person she wants to see.

That same person might just turn out to be a whole lot more complicated and just a little more wonderful than she could ever have imagined.

Meeting the Potters by FloreatCastellum (on ao3)

It's always a risk, introducing your parents to your girlfriend. Most people don't have to worry about whether or not their mother is going to be in handcuffs, though.

Mistle-Wow by LiveLaughLoveToRead (on ao3)

Lily and James Potters’ love was fiery, filled with passion, tragedy, and love. It was not a fast ignition of a flame that proceeded to burn bright. No, it was a flame that was lit on the Hogwarts Express before anyone had joined the compartment. It burned brighter as their years progressed, and it was lit ablaze in their seventh year. It burned until the day they died.

Or an incident that would have had Madam Pince seething (if they were caught)

Simple Math by yallofthemwitches (on ao3)

Remus notices something is off about James and Lily at the Prefect's meeting.

[yallthemwitches]

Talk to Me

When Lily and her boyfriend have a public breakup, James suspects he is to blame.

Pre-dating Jily angst-ish fluff ft. good guy Sirius for @jilytoberfest Day 9, Prompt: " You Literally Checked your phone 3 seconds ago"

....look at me finding any way possible to NOT write an AU fic.

AO3 Link Here

“Prongs—just give it back.” Sirius leaned on the edge of James’ four poster bed, cigarette dripping ash from his mouth, hand outstretched and grasping. 

“Not yet—she might still–”

“She’d be calling for me remember—or Moony I guess, but c’mon mate. I’m going nutter just watching you.”

James stared up at the canopy of his four-poster bed, hand gripping around the handle of the two way mirror. He flipped it up to his face for what had to have been the hundredth time in an hour, seeing only his reflection glare back. 

“I’ll give it to you if you tell me what happened.” Out of the corner of his eye he watched Sirius snub out his cigarette on the bedpost, hair shrouding any emotion on his face.

“I’ve told you, she didn’t want to get you involved—”

“Bollocks. Apparently I already was involved.” He sat up, leaning on his arms. Sirius glared back at him, two equally stubborn boys at an impasse. 

“They had a row. Sparrow went mental, threw his butterbeer, and Rosmerta kicked him out.”

“I’ve heard.”

“--And I assume they are broken up. At least Moony heard her say something along those lines while I helped Rosmerta and the other Hufflepuffs get him the fuck out.”

“Ok, fine. So then why were they rowing?”

This was the vital piece of information that everyone was withholding. Peter, Remus… even Marlene remained tight lipped, offering a simple shrug as he had cornered her earlier in the main hall. 

“They were rowing about me—weren’t they.”

Sirius snorted, but James could tell it was forced, a weak performance at best. 

“Don’t start being arrogant again.”

“I’m not, I’m just saying what seems to be the only conclusion.”

James flipped the mirror up to his face again. Every flash of his reflection felt more and more grotesque, like the anticipation and confusion was twisting his soul into a tight ball. 

“Can you quit it—I highly doubt she’s gonna call anyways. I just gave her the mirror in case Sparrow decided to do something even more stupid on her way back.”

 James could feel anger rising .“So why didn’t you walk her then.”

“Because she didn’t bloody want me to and she already had one arsehole bloke overstepping his boundaries to deal with, alright? Merlin for fucks sake.”

Sirius threw his arms up, a rare action of exasperation. He kicked some of the records laying on the ground out of his way and threw himself onto his bed face first. 

James softened, sitting up to look at his mate. “Pads, fuck mate I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be taking this out on you—I’m just—if I had just been there and not at bloody quidditch practice—”

“Then it probably would have gone a lot worse.” Sirius’ voice muffled through the fabric of his pillow. 

A sting of pain shot through him.  “What do you mean by that?”

A knock echoed through the dorm, the knob turned and a vibrant green eye peeked through the crack.

“Nobody naked in here? Remus said you’d be–”

She stopped speaking as she caught sight of James. Unintentionally swinging the door wider, he could see she was grasping Sirius’ mirror in her other hand. She had clearly been crying, streaks of salt bleached skin lined her cheeks, eyes red and puffy. 

“Nope, unfortunately fully clothed!” Sirius’ mood made an immediate rebound, hopping off his bed towards her. 

Lily eyed James for a fleeting moment before turning her attention to an approaching Sirius, mirror outstretched. 

“I wanted to give this back—and thank you. I didn’t think Sawyer was capable of–of acting like that.”

Sirius gave her a smile, all frustration completely melted, flashing one of his biggest and most genuine grins. 

“No worries Evans. Sorry your boyfriend–er, ex boyfriend was such a fucking idiot.”

Lily nodded, offering him a weak smile. 

“Right—well have a good night.”

She closed the door behind her and Sirius spoke, not turning to look at him.

“If you go right this second I bet you could catch her before anyone else does.”

It was the confirmation he needed to hear. James bounded towards the door and ripped it open. Lily was only a few steps down, clearly not too enthused to walk back into a room full of people who wanted to hear about the newest scandal. 

“Hey Evans–”

She turned to look up at him, eyes glassy. 

“You alright?”

Lily tried to give a weak smile. “Yeah, peachy.”

He took a calculated step forward. “I heard what happened with Sparrow—it was a real shit thing he did.”

Her eyes wandered around the dim lit stairwell, looking everywhere but at him. 

“Yeah well, I guess he isn’t going to make the cut.”Her eyes glanced up at him. Mouth open, poised for something. He was about to say his goodnight when it tumbled out of her mouth, clear and unwavering.

“It was about you, you know–.” Her eyes were steady on him, even with tears in her eyes, she looked defiant. 

“All I did was mention how we sit together in the library after charms—guess that hit some jealousy nerve I never knew about.”

James could feel his whole body tingling. She continued.

“I kept telling him it was nothing, that you and I were just mates but—he just went raving,” she hesitated, “--anyways, I’m sure you know the rest. Everyone is talking about it.” 

She turned to step back down the stairs, clearly spent from the emotional toll of it all. To James, she had never looked more beautiful, like the most resilient person in the world. 

“Lily wait,” he called down and she turned back to him, eyes glowing from the reflection of the candlelight. 

“You can always talk to me. I’m here for you—you know, if you want me to be.”

It was the first real smile he had seen her give since he saw her. 

“Yeah, I guess I do want that.”

[saintsenara]

what are ur thoughts on all the young dudes man i gotta know

i've never read it, and i can't really see any situation in which i will. not only am i wolfstar-ambivalent, i'm also wizards-knowing-loads-about-muggle-pop-culture-ambivalent - so i'm very much not the target audience.

[although i'm not "what's going on in the 1970s"-ambivalent by any means, so there's that.]

but i suspect anyone who reads this blog regularly knew that - and so i also suspect [even though i wouldn't dare to assume this of you and your intentions in asking this, anon] that it might be presumed that i'm going to pop off about several of the phenomena all the young dudes has set into motion...

and sure, the contemporary marauders subfandom is not a space i'm interested in spending any time in - which is why i don't - but i think it's nonetheless worth saying something in defence of it.

all the young dudes deserves more credit than i think it gets in the fandom more widely - especially in those bits of the fandom which are more interested in canon compliance and canon coherence - for being a genuine pop-culture phenomenon. all corners of the fandom have benefitted from this - i guarantee that huge numbers of people who have returned to the harry potter fandom since 2020 have done so because they've read it [or, at the very least, heard of it], and i also guarantee that many of those people have gone on to make a home for themselves in spaces which seem to have very little in common with the marauders subfandom [such as canon-compliant jily or pro-snape spaces]. many of the things it does - especially the integration of muggle pop-culture into its worldbuilding - have clearly influenced how plenty of authors approach their own work, even if that work is otherwise removed from it in vibe. and its aesthetic is all over the non-fic aspects of fandom too - every "canon-compliant" moodboard or edit or playlist i've ever seen would fit well into the atyd universe. i think it doesn't hurt to acknowledge its influence - it doesn't mean that an author can't disagree with its approach.

[or: my view on all the young dudes is very similar to my view on taylor swift. i've never listened to a single one of her albums, i'm not sure i could name more than about five of her songs - and i don't think the five i can name are any good, i sometimes see flashes of the inter-swiftie discourse and it's like reading a text in a language i can only half speak - but i would be a fool to dismiss her broader pop-culture influence, including on musicians i do follow more closely, or the fact that the fandom which surrounds her is both sincerely interesting, not least from an anthropological perspective, and something in which people i like and respect participate.]

i also don't think the divisions between the marauders subfandom and other spaces are as clear-cut as is often made out. and i think that all the young dudes often gets used as a stick with which to beat this point - particularly because people in the marauders subfandom are frequently accused of not having read the books, and elevating atyd's interpretation of characters [especially sirius and remus] and events over the seven-book series.

that the subfandom elevates fanon and headcanon over canon is a legitimate point. but i think we should all get a fucking grip and recognise that this can disinterest us - or even annoy us - and still not be something any of us should think is that deep.

after all, like anyone, i've encountered people in fandom who write unrecognisable versions of characters, are completely resistant to the idea that their interpretation isn't correct, and believe that it's evidence of deep-seated prejudice to pair their faves with different people... and every single one is someone who believes that their approach is meticulously canon-compliant.

or - as the old adage goes - "people who live in glass subfandoms shouldn't throw stones at roadman remus".

[evesaintyves]

so in the allegedly non-homophobic spirit of this cursed genre of post (which, props to this one for at least saying the quiet part loud: that these criticisms are exclusively directed toward queer pairings), and inspired by a prompt of sorts from fandom gem @saintsenara -

i wrote some platonic jily and i completely agree, they're better as friends.

never mind the prosecco, here's the potter-malfoy-potter-blacks

Rated M | Jily, Narlily, Jegulus, Drarry | AU - everyone lives and it's like 2010 | tw choking, pussy juice, eggs

Three things occurred to Lily, leaning back on the island of cool italian marble in the fuck-off big kitchen of this ridiculous house: one, that she had no idea where all this was coming from, as James had never given a single fuck in his life about womens' Quidditch; two, that even three decades after they'd split up he was still obviously desperate for her to think he was cool; and three, that he was burning Regulus's eggs.

"So what the Harpies have done," he patiently explained as if she was listening, "is create a turn-based system for rotating positions—so every player has experience with beating, seeking, and so on—that way everyone's aware of the weak points—" he seemed to catch on that she wasn't making eye-contact, and tossed his mop of silvering hair. "The Weasley girl was on the Wireless about it this morning. Really inspiring."

He turned back to the crispy eggs and stirred them vigourously. They made a sort of crackling noise.

"I guess I'm just not sure why you're telling me," Lily said, taking the moment to finally do what she'd come to the kitchen for: grabbing a fresh bottle of prosecco from the fridge.

"Well, it's incredible what these girls are coming up with. 'The future is female,' I saw that on someone's shirt the other day."

He glanced eagerly at her over his shoulder.

"Cool," she said.

"Never mind the prosecco," Narcissa drawled, sweeping into the kitchen in her marabou-feather gown. "Draco's popped a button on his robes, so he'll be calling any moment."

"Do you mend buttons?" James asked with genuine interest.

Narcissa made an appalled face and gathered the lapels of her robe together.

"Have you not finished?" Regulus said sourly, coming down the stairs. Looking directly at Lily, he added, "This kitchen has smelled like a crematorium ever since you let Boopsy go."

Lily - still on the defensive after all these years! - crossed her arms and replied, "I didn't 'let her go,' she was legally emancipated and got a job at Pret a Manger."

Regulus waved a hand in the air, making the slight haze of egg-smoke swirl prettily in the light. "It's political correctness gone mad," he muttered.

Inexplicably, James got one of his big simpy grins, beckoned Regulus over, and smacked a kiss on his pale brow.

Draco apparated into their midst with a pop and instantly recoiled at the sight of them.

"Potters," he spat, by way of greeting. "Er—" he nodded to Regulus, whose name he could never seem to remember. Narcissa glided over and took his face in her hands.

"Oh, darling, come here, I've been waiting all morning to see you."

Lily, concerned she might not be effectively controlling her facial expression, turned to slot the prosecco bottle back into the fridge. Narcissa had actually spent most of the morning sprawled on her back with her thighs squishing the sides of Lily's face.

Draco squirmed slightly under his mother's hands. "It's all the buttons under the third one," he said gruffly, thrusting an armful of jacquard robes at Narcissa.

"Sweet boy," Narcissa cooed, "I'll send it out to the tailor immediately. How ever did you manage to break them?"

With another pop, Harry apparated into the room.

"Hi Mum," he said. "Dad. Hi Cissa and Reg."

James disentangled his arms from Regulus's and clapped Harry on the back. "Wha gwan, son?" he roared happily, and even with his back turned Lily could see Harry's shoulders cringe.

"I told you—" Draco began through his teeth.

"You were taking forever," Harry shrugged.

"I'm glad you're here," James said, very serious furrows appearing in his brow. "I was just listening to that bird you used to go out with on the wireless—"

"Oh!" Narcissa exclaimed, still petting Draco's face. "Darling, will you show everyone the trick you taught me last week?" To the room: "You'll all want to see this, it's marvellous. Draco's enchanted a mirror to do something incredible."

Draco sighed defeatedly. To Harry, he said, "Let me see your phone."

Harry pulled a slim black piece of glass out of his pocket, and, with a sideways glance at Lily, tapped and swiped at it with his fingers a few times before handing it to Draco.

"This mirror," Narcissa was saying, "quite remarkable, really—all you do is push a button on it, and a horrible little muggle comes to your door and brings you a prawn fettucine. Draco, please—" she scrabbled at the glass in his hand. "—will you push the fettucine button for mummy?"

"It's called Seamless, Mother," Draco mumbled, and just as he did Narcissa pulled a face and slid her finger round the collar of her son's shirt.

"Draco," she said, with a kind of horror rising in her voice, "What's happened to your neck? Is it dirt—?"

A flush instantly came to Draco's face and Harry twisted round from his one-sided conversation with James to give Draco a rather pointed look.

"Mother, stop, it's nothing," he said, pulling away. And on Harry's face was a look Lily had seen on James a thousand times, back in their day: like he was trying, but not particularly hard, not to look smug.

James's eyes shifted between Harry and Draco and he seemed, bless him, to finally clock what was going on. He pulled Harry by the shoulder to the other side of the kitchen and began to speak to him in hushed tones.

"You want to put all the pressure on the sides, not the front," he was saying.

Regulus went and scraped his ruined eggs into the bin, obviously eavesdropping, then put the pan back on the stove without shutting off the flame. The tang of hot metal began to compete with the crematorium smell and Lily wondered if anyone would notice if she got the prosecco back out and necked it.

"Regulus," she sighed. "Anything new with you?"

Regulus looked startled to be spoken to.

"Not really," he said, eyes shifting round the room. "I don't actually have all that much going on, canonically."

"Can—what?"

"Do you know how to make eggs?" he said hopefully.

"I think I've a salve for that," Narcissa was telling Draco, leading him by the hand into the suite she shared with Lily. "Well, it's more of an eye cream, but it's done absolute wonders for me—"

"You can do real damage to the trachea that way," James was explaining to Harry, demonstrating with a cupped hand to his neck.

"I work in Magical Law Enforcement," Harry deadpanned. "I think I know how to fucking choke someone."

Regulus emitted the strangely high-pitched giggle Lily was always hearing from inside the cup-strewn, bleach-smelling lair he shared with James.

"Why does it smell like—" Draco stopped in Lily and Narcissa's doorway. With narrowed eyes, he hissed to his mother, "I thought you were all in some sort of... like, queerplatonic... situation...?"

James's brow got those furrows again.

"What's queerplatonic?" he whispered to Lily.

"It means nobody fucks," she whispered back.

James squared his shoulders and took a step forward as if he might try to fight Draco.

---

"We raised a good kid," James would tell Lily later, after they'd put out the fire on the stove, slightly misty-eyed with nostalgia and the acrid smoke. "All of us," he'd add, with a nod toward Lily and Narcissa's side of the house, which was now perfumed rather pleasantly with a melange of prosecco, wet pussy and prawn fettucine.

"Yeah," Lily would say wistfully. "Shit taste in men, though."

"Well, it runs in the family." James would ruffle his hair, the way he tended to. After a pause, he'd venture: "And I daresay you and I had a pretty good run, didn't we?"

Lily would tip the bottle up and drain the last of the prosecco at that. James would hold out his hand, and she'd pass him the empty bottle. He'd try to take a drink, then bin it with a disgruntled look.

"It was all right," she'd say.

[seriouslysam8]

Soooo it's Tuesday!! Can we... Maybe... Possibly... Most definitely get a sneak peak into the new Jily dies story 😃🤗

You would ask for this.

Sure. Why not?

Sirius crouched down to Harry’s level, tying the kid’s black tie with ease. He could remember tying Regulus’ ties more often than not when they were kids and forced to attend some posh boring party. The summer before Regulus attended Hogwarts, Sirius had to actually teach the kid how to do it for himself. Sirius had learned when he was small from his Uncle Alphard, because Orion couldn’t be bothered to actually spend any amount of bonding time with his sons.

Adjusting the tie, Sirius offered Harry a closed mouth smile. The kid looked cute in his Muggle black suit with his shiny new shoes. The reason for the outfit made Sirius want to die inside though. Reaching into his pocket, Sirius pulled out a tie clip for Harry. His godson stood patiently, too still for a fifteen-month-old. 

“Look at us, we match,” Sirius said, running his fingers through Harry’s hair to try to smooth it down even though he knew it was fruitless.

Harry reached out to grab Sirius’ black tie. They even had matching tie clips, courtesy of Andromeda and Ted. They had gone out with their measurements to buy Sirius and Harry suits for the funeral. Sirius had been grateful, because he didn’t want to leave Harry nor did he want to take Harry out in public. 

“Can we talk?” Sirius asked, settling down onto his bum. “About today?”

Harry peered at him, his fingers still playing with the tie. Clearing his throat, Sirius gently tugged Harry onto his lap. Harry gazed up at him, looking so innocent and inquisitive. 

“I know things have been… well, they’ve been different lately,” Sirius started, his eyes locking with Harry’s. “I know it’s been very confusing for you. I know you’ve been asking for your mum and dad.”

At the names, Harry perked up. He started to look around the room. Sirius didn’t think his heart could shatter any more than it already had.

“We’re going to see your mum and dad today, Harry,” Sirius continued in a strained voice.

“Mama? Dada?” Harry asked, his gaze snapping to Sirius.

Sirius attempted to swallow down his sorrow. “They’re going to look like they’re sleeping, okay? They won’t be able to talk to you or, or hug you or anything. You’ll come home with Marly and me afterwards, okay? Because you’re going to live with Marly and me from now on.”

Harry only blinked at Sirius, his face blank and clearly not understanding. “Mama. Dada.”

Sirius sniffed, wiping his fingers underneath his eyes. “I miss them too, kid. I know I’m a poor replacement for your dad, but I will always be here for you. No matter what.”

Harry burst out crying, sobbing for his parents as he pressed his face into Sirius’ dress shirt. Sirius could only hold him, whispering comforting words in hope it was enough to calm him. But they felt empty and insincere. Nothing was all right. Nothing would be better anytime soon. There was just a pit of darkness that had engulfed them, threatening to drown them. Somehow, he was supposed to put on a happy face and pretend like a part of him hadn’t died on Halloween as well.

[jamesunderwater]

Just found your page and I’m in looveee can I request number 15 with Jily and lily distracting james? tyy xx

Hello anon! I'm glad you're enjoying it here at my chaotic little blog, lol. I also found it very entertaining to still be receiving smut requests xD I wasn't in the mood to write anything too smutty, but I loved the prompt, so I hope you'll still enjoy this little microfic...which in a meta way is also something of a tease (;

Distractions

“Stop distracting me,” he grumbled, tongue returning to its spot sticking out of his mouth. He’d been trying to get the wrapping paper to stay put long enough for him to tape it down for several minutes now, constantly losing one of the sides and inevitably having to work on the fold all over again. Meanwhile his fiance seemed absolutely set on causing his failure. 

Her tongue flicked out over his earlobe again, and James felt the whole right side of his body burst with goosebumps. “This is how you best learn, though,” she teased, taking the soft skin between her teeth, “under pressure.”

He huffed, because she wasn’t wrong, but his determination to succeed was slipping the longer she toyed with him. “You said Petunia’s presents were always so meticulously wrapped it was practically an insult,” he was grumbling again, but it was nearly a pout, “and so here I am, trying to make sure ours are even more insultingly meticulous, and you’re sabotaging the endeavor!”

The bit of tape he’d been trying to use wrapped around his finger as she answered, “Mmhmm…” her lips now moving down to his neck.

“Lily…” James sighed, grip on the wrapping loosening. Suddenly, he winced. “Bugger all!” Pulling away from her, he brought his middle finger to his lips. “Now you’ve gone and gotten me a paper cut. Are you happy?”

It certainly seemed that she was, given that she was now laughing at him. “Oh, poor man. How ever will you survive it?”

“You’re infuriating. Are you aware of that?”

She grinned wickedly, because of course she was aware, and of course she delighted in it. Her expression turned serious, then, and he was sure it was a ruse, but when she reached out and took his finger, he still gave it to her. “Let me see…” She said tenderly. “Oh, this little nick here?” She pulled his finger toward her, kissing the spot softly, and he groaned in anticipation for where this was headed. “Oh, well we can fix that…” 

Lily pressed her lips against his finger, once, twice, then licked across the pad of it slowly, her green eyes staring into his. James shuddered, biting his lip, dropping his gaze to where she was now taking the tip of his finger into her mouth. He groaned as her tongue swirled around it, felt his cock twitch as she let out the softest moan. “Fucking hell…” James breathed, and then she was pulling her head back, smiling at him.

“There. All better.”

“I fucking hate you.”

She laughed, throwing her head back, and the sound of it was more captivating than anything she’d done before. 

“Well, then, you might hate this…” Lily smirked, and James didn’t know what to expect next, but his stomach flipped at the way she was looking at him. 

She pounced, sending him crashing to the floor, her body flush against his in a moment. As he fell, James accidentally kicked the present across the room, sending it crashing into the wall. He imaged the lovely glass ornament shattering in its box, but his hands were on her hips and Lily was biting his bottom lip, slipping her tongue inside his mouth, moaning as she rocked her body into his, and James forgot all about presents and wrapping and paper cuts, even the time of year or the room he was in or what day it was. 

She could, without fail, distract him from everything. 

[nodirectionhome-ao3]

The Upcoming Mayoral Election (from the Vault)

Dug this microfic from August 2023 out of the vault for.....well, I'm sure you can guess the reason! 💙🗳️ (+ Sign-up links for actual Harris-Walz phonebanks at the end!!!)

“I’ll tell you what, Barbara,” James spoke somberly into the telephone, winding his hand through the cord as he leaned back to prop his feet up on the table. “This Martin bloke sounds like a right bloody git to me. How long’s he been doing this?”

“Three months, he says,” Barbara Tracey’s voice crackled in his ear. “He met her at work — his secretary, you know.”

James rolled his eyes. “How original of him.”

Barbara laughed heartily at that. “Oh, Martin’s never been concerned about being a cliché, that’s for sure. You should’ve heard him, whining like a little schoolboy about how he's in love with her…”

“Wanker.”

“Don’t I know it,” Barbara sighed. “But we’ve been married for thirty years, what can you do…”

“You can divorce his sorry arse,” James said emphatically. “That’s what you can do. If he doesn’t appreciate you, he doesn’t deserve you, Barbara. In fact—”

“Potter!” 

James jumped, twisting in his chair. Evans was standing right behind him, an exasperated look on her face as she stared at him.

“Just a minute, Barbara,” he said into the phone. “My field director wants a word with me.” He lowered the phone, smiling as he moved to cover the receiver. “Problem, Evans?”

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

James shrugged, gesturing to the phone in his hand. “Well, her husband’s cheating on her, you see. With his bloody secretary, no less. I was just—”

Evans shook her head. “How do you even—” she trailed off, looking incredulous. “Just stick to the script, will you? We’ve only gone through a quarter of the list. This is a phone-bank, not your own private relationship helpline.”

James grinned. He loved it when Evans got angry with him. He couldn't get enough of the little crease that appeared on her forehead when she was flustered — which seemed to be all the time now, in the heat of get-out-the-vote season. Her eyes had a burning look about them, piercing into him like she could see straight through to his soul. And as he stared up at her, her cheeks began to flush just a little bit. She tilted her head up proudly, authoritatively, red hair tumbling down her shoulders and spilling in dazzling waves over the soft blue of her wrinkled Vance for Mayor t-shirt.

"Are you even listening to me, Potter?"

James blinked, the fog clearing in his mind. "Right, yeah," he said, "Stick to the script...you’ve got it, boss."

He turned away, raising the phone to his ear again. “Now, Barbara—” He paused, dragging his abandoned clipboard closer to him. He trailed his finger down the script, ignoring all the introductory rubbish at the beginning. “While your husband was sleeping with his secretary, did you make a plan to vote in this upcoming mayoral election?”

Evans made a strangled sound, something that sounded almost like a laugh, but before James could get a good look at her face — she was turning and walking quickly away.

____

Want to be like Jily and help save democracy?

You can phonebank virtually for Harris-Walz! Some sign up links I rounded up for swing states:

Pennsylvania:

North Carolina:

Michigan:

Georgia:

Arizona:

Nevada:

Wisconsin

Texas

___

Having a problem with these links or not sure which to choose? You can also select a state and get calling through the campaign's phonebank site:

If you made it all the way down here, you are very cool. Thank you and good night!

[allthemarrowoflife]

listen listen listen i know that most people who are not endgame jily are endgame jegulus because my boy james potter became obsessed with the same two people at 12 years old and never changed his mind

but what if he. didn't. like sure, if lily or reg told him to bark he'd go "woof" cause he's gone for people who are mean to him.

but he's james fucking potter. i refuse to believe he never dated anyone else.

SO HERE'S MY PROPOSITION

lily starts hanging out with this slytherin girl, pandora lovegood, they're girlfriends, and along comes pandora's queerplatonic partner, xeno, a ravenclaw.

and james looks at this person, all long white blond hair and big blue eyes who's always saying some weird shit about creatures no one's ever heard about before, who wears flowy skirts even when people make fun of them and too many necklaces and big earrings and whose patronus is apparently a fucking moth and goes "i've only had xeno for a day but if anything happened to them i would kill everyone in this room and then myself"

no one even knows their surname, only pandora, because mcgonnagal never calls them anything other than "xenophilius" just like she only ever calls sirius "sirius", so james figures there must be something going on there and that only makes him more invested cause my man never met a fucked up person he didn't want to fix.

he starts hanging out with xeno even when pandora is not around and waves at them across the halls and listens dutifully while they rent about nargles or something, mind wandering about how the sunlight hits their hair just right and makes it shine in gold or how the blue of their eyes matches the early spring skies (he's sappy like that, leave him alone)

the other marauders are slowly freaking out about this cause james is bringing this person over to the common room and helping then look for their shoes and SINCE WHEN IS JAMES POTTER EVER INTERESTED IN ANYONE OUTSIDE OF THEIR INNER CIRCLE.

meanwhile, james is freaking out himself. he really likes xeno and would like to ask them out but he's in a queerplatonic relationship with pandora? so maybe that means he's not interest in romantic relationships? and does james even care if it's romantic or not at this point if that means xeno will hold his hand and blush when he smiles at them from the qudditch pitch?

but because he is james fucking potter, he does what he always does. jumps in with no plan whatsoever and hopes for the best.

"hey, xeno, listen. i would really like to take you to hogsmead this weekend. it doesn't have to be a date, i don't even know if you're comfortable with doing The Dating so i won't imply this is us doing The Dating, but maybe we could just talk and maybe..."

and then xeno asks to kiss him (jamespotter.exe has stopped working) and promptly says that just because they don't do The Dating with pandora, it doesn't mean they can't do The Dating with someone else.

lily and pandora are watching from behind a pillar and giggling triumphantly. this was their plan all along.

[sincerelydorky]

Jily x reader Angst flashback/pt.2

Here is a flashback scene and sort of a part 2 of the Jily x reader angst from earlier.

word count- 2,977

James potter x Lily Evans x reader

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It wasn’t often that you got the apartment to yourself. Gone were the days where you kept a separate home from the two loves of your life, and gone were the days when you all felt the need to spend every minute together. It took time and the rebuilding of trust to get back to where you were after everything that happened before and after Lily and James’s wedding, but with your own commitment ceremony a couple of months in the rear-view, everything was better than ever. Still, it was nice to be able to sit with your thoughts, without James’s need for noise or Lily’s near constant fidgeting distracting you. Now that you lived with them and were committed to them in all the ways you could be, it wasn’t as often that you would reminisce on the start of your relationship, or well, the start of what would become your relationship. The holidays are quickly approaching however and with it, so are your sentimental thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You met James and Lily a couple of years out of college. You had just moved to the city and just taken a job at a university as an associate professor while you worked towards your doctorate. Lily came to one of your public lectures on the social justice system and the new proposed laws impacting the foster care system. You learned that she was a human rights lawyer and she was working on a case that heavily involved a few major players in the policy writing circuit. Lily approached you after the lecture with a few questions. It would be a lie to say that you weren’t intimidated when she strode up to you, her red hair pulled up into an elegant updo and her face severe until she smiled and it lit up. She was easily one of the most beautiful women that you had ever seen and you couldn’t help but be struck a little dumb for the first half of the introduction proportion of the conversation. You talked to her for probably an hour before she had to  get back to the office, she left you with her business card and your number in her phone- strictly because you could be a potential expert witness, but god did you want her to use it for personal reasons. The next few weeks were quiet until you received a text message. Lily was asking to meet again, she had more questions. Naturally you agreed. When you met with her again, the professional air of the meeting slowly began to thaw and before you knew it you were joking and talking like you had known each other for ages. At some points, you could have even sworn that Lily was flirting with you. Nothing overt, just a brush of a hand while you were both laughing, you would have sworn that at one point you caught her looking at your lips while you were talking, and your chairs that started off at a respectable distance for a professional conversation, were almost on top of each other when you were finally drug away from the encounter. So, yes, you felt it was safe to say that Lily was flirting with you. Until you met James. 

The evening had started off normal enough, you had known Lily for a few months at this point, and after the initial coffee conversation, you began to see more and more of her. You wouldn’t call her your best friend, you were still getting to know each other and also the word put a sour taste in your mouth when you tried to form it, even in your own head. You were supposed to be meeting Lily at a new bar, apparently her friend was the owner, and this was opening weekend. Lily was already there when you arrived, and her face lit up when she noticed your arrival. She was opening her mouth to speak- presumably to tell you that someone else would be meeting you- when suddenly he appeared. 

James potter- as you would later learn- was loud in everything that he did, and that translated to the first time that you met as well. One minute it was just you and Lily and the next it was like all of the air in the room got sucked up and redistributed, and all attention was on him. James came bounding over and it took you a few seconds for your brain to catch up, in that time he had already planted a smacking kiss on Lily’s cheek and was currently standing behind her and bouncing up and down like a little kid. Lily, to her credit, looked equal parts exasperated and fond as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to a slow halt, before turning to look at you for introductions. Honestly, you don’t  remember much of the introduction, you were rather preoccupied trying to take James in. 

He was tall, and the round glasses on his face suited him well and lent a slight bug like quality to his brown eyes underneath. His hair was sticking up in every direction and it reminded you vaguely of a cartoon you watched when you were a child, where the character got electrocuted and all their hair stood on end. Really, it was the smile that managed to draw you in though- while you met Lily with a borderline scowl on her face, you met James when he had the most exuberant smile on his. It was so wide and so brilliant that it was a wonder it didn’t just split his face in half. There was nothing in his eyes but amusement and mischief and a whole lot of fondness for the girl holding his hands. It was a look full of so much love that you understood almost immediately that they were destined to be together, and you felt your stomach swoop towards the ground. Disappointment swallowed you whole for a mere moment and then you packed up the delusions that you had harbored in secret, stuffed them in a box labeled “do not open” and put them on the farthest shelf in your mind that you could find. You were used to this, and it felt almost like a routine at this point. Getting your hopes and watching them fall, was second nature to you- wether you wanted to admit it or not. And that was that really.

The three of you eventually went into the bar and Remus was introduced. He was a lanky man, with scars over his face and a grandpa sweater hanging loose over his frame. He seemed to have a dry sense of humor similar to Lily’s but he was able to keep up with James just fine. It was clear that they all knew each other very well and cared about each other deeply. It was humbling to see really. You had few friends in the area and couldn't remember a time after college that you felt like you would have the chance to make more, but maybe this was it. Maybe this was your chance. Remus, ever polite, introduced himself to you properly after James and Lily became distracted -bickering or flirting- you weren’t sure. He asked you a few questions about your drink preferences, and then the rest of the night was spent joking and talking and drinking. It was a good night, and you hoped that there would be many more like it in the future. 

After getting drinks that night, hanging out with Lily and James and occasionally Remus and his boyfriend Sirius - who you also met later while at a party that James threw at his and Lily’s flat- became a part of your routine. In fact, it became so much a part of your routine that you were together almost every day, and it was common place to stay at each others flats multiple times a week. Lily and James always in their bed together, or in the guest room at your flat, and you on the couch or in your own bed, depending on the location. It didn’t bother you as much when you saw them together anymore- the first few hangouts were a testament to your tear ducts- but it was hard to miss the way they felt about each other and rather than the jealousy that you were feeling consume you, it had recently settled into a state of admiration and deep longing to experience a love like that for yourself. 

It was with that yearning in mind, and the soul crushing idea of turning back to dating apps, that you ended up in the predicament leading to your eventual relationship, in the first place.  You were looking through your closet for the third time in one night, trying to find a suitable first date outfit. You weren’t even really looking forward to the date, but it was the brother of one of your co-workers, arguably not a co-worker that you were close with, which is adding to the nerves about the night, but- well. You really didn’t want to turn back to the dating apps. It seemed that the longer you were on them the worse the prospects became. If it wasn’t an “alpha male” type it was a promising looking woman who turns out not to be that promising when the bio states “looking for a unicorn for me and my husband for the night”. You didn’t have it in you to keep searching through all of the city to find a semi-decent date, so, your co-workers brother it was.

  You hadn’t mentioned a date to James and Lily and instead just mentioned having plans when you cancelled your unofficial weekly movie night. You didn’t want to have to recount the details to them if the date went badly, it would be too embarrassing and honestly, you were still attempting to get over your feelings for Lily and James. It wasn't much of a surprise for you when you discovered that you were falling for James as well, after only a few times hanging out. Space would have been more helpful then one blind date, but well, you were working your way up to making the proper steps to move on. You had wanted to live in your delusion a little longer, and since it isn’t hurting anyone except for you, and you never planed on acting on those feelings, you didn’t see an issue with it. Your date, had failed to confirm with you that night, and was also late when you eventually made it to Remus and Sirius's bar, after changing for the fourth time.  

“Trouble! What are you doing here?” Sirius asked almost as soon as you entered the room, already turning to prepare three drinks- you assumed, the same drinks that Lily, James and you normally get. He turned around and put them back when you shook your head.

“Just the one drink Siri, James and Lily aren’t with me tonight, I’m on a date.” Almost as soon as the words left your mouth you saw the light in Sirius’s eyes dim and a scowl overtake his face. You didn’t have much time to ponder on it though before a voice broke the unintentional stare down. 

“You must be y/n- I’m Drew, Sam’s brother.” Drew spoke with a deep Scottish accent. His smile was wide and he had straight white teeth, dark curly hair and deep brown eyes. In all truth he looked a bit like James without glasses, and you knew almost immediately, no matter how nice he was or how well this date went, that you wouldn’t be seeing him again. He was too close a reminder of what you desperately wanted and would never get to have. You smiled anyway. 

“Hey it’s nice to meet you, should we go find a table?” You asked motioning towards the back of the bar, away from the table you usually occupied with Lily and James and most importantly away from Sirius’s glower. Drew followed you and immediately launched into a funny story about the trip to the bar. 

The actual date however, didn’t get to progress very far before Sirius was suddenly standing at the end of the table. You expected him to introduce himself or ask about refills but instead he completely ignored you and turned to your date instead. You watched in real time as Drew’s face paled at whatever Sirius was leaned over to whisper to him. Drew abruptly stood up, placed some money on the table and left without so much as a word or a backwards glance in your direction. Sirius also didn’t look at you and instead went back behind the bar like nothing had transpired. When you had made your way up to the bar, Sirius was staring coldly at you. You had hung out with Sirius multiple times by this point, and there was never any tension to speak of, it was mostly funny tales about his uni days, and trading bitchy comments about people that had upset you both, so you were at a loss on how to navigate this situation.  You were about to ask what was going on when Remus appeared next to Sirius behind the bar, also glaring at you. 

“Get out,” he spoke plainly, no emotion present in his voice as he stared into your eyes, “now.” After he was finished with his sentence he looked away and began polishing a glass that was just washed. Sirius’s eyes remained on you. When it was clear that you weren’t going to talk to you again, you turned and walked towards the door. At the same time that James and Lily walked through it. They were almost too engrossed in each other, arms linked and Lily’s head thrown back in laughter at something James had just whispered to her, as they made their way to the normal table. It wasn’t until your hand had grazed the handle that James and Lily looked in your direction, both of their faces lighting up. 

“Angel! I thought you had plans tonight? Come sit with us!” James spoke as he walked closer to you and attempted to reach for your hand. 

“I’m just heading out actually, I’ll catch up with you both later” you managed a small smile as you hooked your thumb over your shoulder motioning at the door. Your hand now safely out of James’s reach. Your mind was still reeling with the weird turn that your date took and the hurtful way in which Sirius and Remus had treated you mere minutes ago. 

When James turned around Lily was surrounded by Sirius and Remus, both of whom had grim looks on their face. Lily however seemed fine, and he decided that she was in good enough hands that he didn’t need to head over there right away. In the time he managed to look away though, you had escaped out the door into the chilly night air, and James followed you out. He couldn’t understand why you were avoiding him or what might have been wrong, but he was determined to get to the bottom of it. 

“you look too pretty to go home Angel, come sit with us for a bit, yeah? You can tell me all about your night.” James spoke with a smile on his face when he caught up to you a few feet away from the building. You knew that he was stubborn and there was almost no way that you were going to be able to get him to leave you alone. 

“Jamie, I really don’t feel like it right now, I’m tired and I think I somehow made Remus and Sirius mad at me.” Your voice was steady as you talked to him, but you could feel the tears welling in your eyes, weather they were from the upset or from confusion you weren’t sure yet. 

“I’m sure Remus and Sirius are just in a row with each other, they get proper weird when they fight and no one is safe until they make up. Me and Lil’s will keep you company and it’ll be fine!” James had moved closer as he talked to you, and was now grabbing your hand to lead you back to the door of the pub. She was practically inside before James had even finished his sentence. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What followed next, was the only important part of the evening in the grand scheme of things. The part of the night where your feelings for James and Lily, and in turn, their feelings for you were revealed. This was the part that you choose to reminisce on the most when thinking back to the beginning. There was a long conversation in the bar after everything was revealed, where Sirius and Remus in turn apologized for their behavior. Obviously, it was clear they were also under the impression that James and Lily were already dating you, and you were cheating on them. It was also obvious to them that they were incorrect after you all walked back into the bar together.

Things quickly got better after that and stayed that way until James proposed to Lily, and the miscommunication started a new, but that wasn’t a part of the relationship that you wanted to ruminate on right now. With all of the thinking that you were doing about the loves of your life right now, you were genuinely starting to miss them. It was with that last thought that you put aside the book you were idly holding and went to search the house for them. It brought you peace to know that they were somewhere in the house, probably missing you just and much, and if you were lucky, they were also reminiscing about your beautiful relationship as well. 

[isahorcrux]

JILY WEEK DAY 5: MEET CUTE

As you can see, I'm really trying to post something once a day for @thegobletofweasleys' Jily Week. I whipped this one up whilst on a plane today. And yes, there's some thematic similarities to london is lonely...

Here I present... Presumptuous.

"This time around, it made me unexpectedly sad and then…"

Lily flipped the page of her recently checked out library book only to discover a in-flight drink napkin.

Weird, how’d that gotten in there?

Lily pulled the napkin from between the seams and set it down on her tray table, where it ought to have remained.  Except, it wasn’t an in-flight drink napkin for American Airlines (the airline she was currently flying), but rather an in-flight drink napkin for United Airlines (an airline Lily actively avoided flying).  And on said in-flight drink napkin, in much nicer writing than Lily could ever hope to produce herself, was a brief note.

Emma,

This might be incredibly presumptuous, but I thought we had some great conversation earlier and would love to continue it when we’re both back in LA.  Here’s my number 310-555-7845.

-James

Lily quietly gasped.  She didn’t think this sort of thing happened anymore.  Obviously, the note wasn’t for her, but all the same it was rather exciting.  She wondered what had happened.  Had Emma ever contacted James?  Or had James misinterpreted the whole thing and Emma simply shoved it into her library book never to be seen again (well, until Lily checked out the same book)?  The possibilities were endless and Lily so desperately wanted to know.  Maybe she knew this James.  Or maybe she knew Emma.  Or had a friend of a friend.  Was it worth buying the in-flight wifi just to check social media?  James had left his phone number, there were probably ways to track him down, right?

As it turns out, it is actually very difficult to find someone online with just their phone number.  Googling was absolutely no help, nor was Instagram.  Lily didn’t even bother with Facebook.  She did, however, send a few texts to her LA born-and-raised friends to see if they recognized the number (perhaps they had gone to elementary school with this James fellow).

No one had.

Any normal person at this point would have appreciated the surreal connection that library books can bring to strangers and move on.

Not Lily.

As the plane bumped along the runway, Lily began to compose a text.

Lily Evans: This text is incredibly presumptuous, seeing as I am not Emma, but I just found this in my library book and just wanted to say how incredibly romantic I thought it was.  Wishing you and Emma all the best ! xx Lily

Lily Evans: *Photo of James’ in-flight napkin note*

James Potter: hello library book comrade lily!  how are you enjoying romantic comedy by curtis sittenfeld, by the way?  were you as annoyed as I was that she thought danny was gen-z, when he is clearly a millenial??? just me??? I am however sorry to report that not only are emma and I not living happily ever after, but I actually never plucked up the courage to pass the note.

Lily Evans: Oh noooooo !  I guess romance is really and truly dead then.  No, that thing about Danny annoyed me too, I’m still only half-way through, so no spoilers yet!

James Potter: wow, if i’d known the stakes I would have passed the napkin.  as for spoilers, my lips are sealed. but please let me know when you’ve finished, would love to hear your thoughts :)

[moonstruckme]

hello mae! you said that you’re tentatively thinking about doing poly! jily? how about them x shy!reader who is used to spending holidays alone but now that she’s in a relationship, James and Lily wanna give her experiences of like carving pumpkins, baking cookies, or something like that.

just cute and domestic fall activities!! I hope that’s enough.

Thank you for requesting lovely!

poly!Jily x shy!reader ♡ 845 words

You smile, and James plants his lips on your cheek just before the flash. 

“Perfect,” Lily says while the camera whirs. She takes the photo it spits out, going to stow it in a shady corner of the porch. 

“Now one with you,” James urges. 

“No.” Lily waves him off as you second James’ request. “How would we get all of us and our pumpkins in it?” 

“James has long arms,” you say.

"Yeah, Evans." James grabs you roughly around the shoulders, making your face heat even as you smile. "I have long arms. Give it here."

After some debate Lily hands over the camera. James holds it out as far as he can, waiting until you’re all holding up your jack-o-lanterns before pressing the button. 

It goes beside the other photo, waiting for the film to develop. You know as soon as it does, both photos will be clustered in with the others on James and Lily’s fridge, held up by magnets beginning to lose their strength under the weight of so many. Lily has always liked to take pictures, and ever since you got together she’s been cramming ones of you into every empty space. This relationship is relatively new for you, and most days you’re still trying to figure out where you fit, but Lily and James do everything to make you feel welcome. In a million tiny ways, they show you all the time that they care just as much for you as they do for each other. 

James looks between your pumpkins pridefully. “Whose do we think turned out the best?” 

“Lily’s,” you say at the same time as Lily says, “Mine.” 

James’ mouth falls open. “Mine was good too!”

“Sorry, Jamie.” You give his shoulder a consoling pat. “Hers is just better.” 

The fact of the matter is, your girlfriend was simply patient where you and James were not. She outlined her jack-o-lantern’s face beforehand in marker, used a small knife to achieve the curvatures of one heart-shaped eye and one winking one, and took the time to make the edges of her cuts look nice and clean. James and you, however, tried to freehand things with much larger knives; it had not gone quite so well. 

“I think there should be points for creativity,” says James, frowning at his botched pumpkin. He’d tried to give it round eyes, and in the process accidentally cut more than he meant to. The result is jagged and vaguely upsetting, so eventually he decided it was an ill pumpkin and trailed its entrails out of its mouth so it looks like it’s vomiting pumpkin guts. 

“It was a very creative solution,” Lily tells James. And to you, “You did really well for your first time, too, sweetheart.” 

You snort. Yours is nearly as bad as James’. Both of your partners had to show you how to saw through the pumpkin flesh more than once to keep you from yanking the knife out and stabbing yourself. After many tutorials, you’d managed two triangle-shaped eyes, but the teeth you’d tried to put in your jack-o-lantern’s mouth had fallen out, so now it just looks like a rather simplistic, very upbeat face. 

“You did,” Lily insists, but she’s repressing a laugh too as she looks down at your pumpkin. “It’s cute.” 

“It looks like something a five-year-old could have done,” you acknowledge. 

“You and a five-year-old have about the same amount of experience carving pumpkins, so that’s not really so bad,” says James. He reaches for the polaroids Lily took. “Let’s see how these turned out.” 

“James Potter,” Lily’s voice goes sharp, “don’t you dare touch those with your slimy hands.” 

“Okay, alright.” James holds his hands up in the air. He stands instead, backing away slowly like Lily has him at gunpoint. “C’mon, lovie, let’s go fish the seeds out in the sink.” 

“What for?” you ask, following him as he carries your large bowl of pumpkin entrails inside. 

“If you separate the seeds and roast them, you can eat them.” James raises his eyebrows at you. “Don’t tell me you’ve never had pumpkin seeds before.” 

“Nope.” 

“Ugh. You poor, deprived girl.” James takes your face in his hands, and you smile despite the slick feeling of his pumpkin-y fingers on your cheeks. His eyebrows scrunch pityingly as he kisses above your nose. “We’ll right that wrong today, sweetheart, don’t you worry.” 

“You haven’t been missing out on much,” Lily says, slipping past the two of you with your photos. She wedges them underneath a magnet on the fridge. “It’s a lot of effort for a snack.” 

“She only says that because she can’t stand the guts,” James tells you conspiratorially. 

“Really?” You mash your hands into the stringy pumpkin bits. “I kind of like them.” 

Lily makes a face. “They’re all slimy and weird. And sticky.” 

“Wimp,” James teases. 

“You’ve just called them guts, James. In what world does that sound appealing?” 

“Angel,” James says in a quiet voice, “you’ll protect me, won’t you?” 

You frown at him. “Why?” 

He picks up a small mass of pumpkin guts and lobs it at your girlfriend. 

“James!”

[cattiemk]

choices, is like, the best fic ever, because it knows how to tell a story without justifying the things people do because of what happens to them. for regulus, for example, because he’s psychically abused and mentally abused(+ the yk sexual abuse and stuff), but it doesn’t excuse the fact that he did horrible things for himself. like when barty sexually assaulted mary and regulus found out and stopped it, but also hid the real culprit of the assault and blamed it on someone else, while also changing mary’s memories so the person regulus blamed it on was what she remembered. that was for himself, maybe a little bit for barty but mainly for himself. what made that so disgusting was that mary went through what regulus did, and yet he still helped cover it up.

regulus is not a good person. and james even said: “maybe he wasn’t a good person, but he tried to be” and he did try, but he also didn’t want to be a good person. he knew he was bad and he didn’t do anything to stop it.

you could argue that he did it all for sirius or james, but there was no reason for him to meddle in what happened to mary. he should’ve stopped it, yes, but he also should’ve turned barty in when they found out. he never should have invaded her mind like that, and he knows what it feels like to have someone in your mind too. yet he still did it. and i love regulus with all my heart, but we can’t pretend he didn’t do what he did in this fic.

he also became a death eater, which i know was forced by his mother or did it for sirius or whatever, but he was a wizard nazi. even if he didn’t believe in what they stood for, he still became one. people in the marauders fandom like to justify barty and evan(and don’t even get me started on how they treat bellatrix) and regulus for being wizard nazis because they were “going through a lot and evan and regulus were forced” but they still were. we can’t just forget that. and i love barty and evan too, but they were death eaters. and i know it’s fiction, but just because it’s fiction doesn’t mean we can ignore the bad things people do. and so in choices it doesn’t justify what he did or make him a good person, but it tells a story. regulus is human. he’s gone through hell and back, but instead of playing the hero he played the villain, or maybe the anti hero. people have to remember that.

i also love that choices ends with the line “from us so much will grow” because without them we wouldn’t have a harry potter. we could also talk about drarry and the whole slytherin x gryffindor pararrel, godric x salazar, monty x alphard, james x regulus, and finally harry x draco. we could talk about that, but i think the main intention of that line was that without james’s sacrifice harry and lily and also him would all be dead. we wouldn’t have a harry potter x draco malfoy ship. i just think that’s so beautiful.

we could also talk about the wolfstar, or the girls(because stan lily for not putting up with james’s cheating), or jily, or lucius malfoy(who is so evil and yet so interesting), or the badass that is cerci greengrass, or even how FUCKING sad it is, but this is getting to long, lol

[yallthemwitches]

Responsible Parties

McGonagall had seen a lot of things in her 103 years of Hogwarts, but her Head student’s making use of her desk was not one of them.

A silly, fluffy, flirty fic for @jilytoberfest day 4, Prompt: Starring McGonagall—Happy Bday to the OG jily stan.

AO3 link here! Rated T for sexual situations

Minerva had seen many things come and go through the halls of Hogwarts, but she had never imagined this. 

There were many times she would have expected it. In 1953 the Head Boy, Cornell Ferguson, Hufflepuff, had been a right idiot. Then there was Katie Komisaro in 1961. She was a bright Head Girl, but always seemed to find trouble with the lads. Hell, even last year’s Alice and Frank would have been prime contenders if they both weren’t so bloody chaste about everything.

No, of course it was when two Gryffindor’s were Heads—-and of course it would be Potter. 

When the rumors were spreading about their coupling, she had tried to ignore them. There was only so much melodrama an old witch could take when working with teenagers. But having it be about the Heads, and thus her responsibility, made it a lot harder to dismiss. 

Obviously, she had seen the signs. Everybody knew the two had started going steady, they practically flaunted it. Even the professors would remark that there wasn’t a class period that passed where Lily Evans and James Potter weren’t attached to each other by the mouth the minute it was possible. Most of the time they at least made it outside to the corridor, but there were reports from professors that their antics were now encroaching into the class hours. 

“Potter claimed he was just trying to find his lost quill—-I told him Evans’ skirt was probably not where he’d find it.”

“Well a week ago she was too busy whispering in his ear and playing with his hair to notice her cauldron catch fire—”

“—And they definitely have been using some of the unused charms classrooms—-I keep finding them smiling too much in my corridor. ”

She knew they were expecting her to say something—-but if it wasn’t affecting their work, did she really have to?

She would later bemoan wanting to ever go back for her copy of Transfiguration Travails, so close from skirting disaster. They had just finished a Prefect meeting, one that went perfectly normal without incident. If anything, the Head students were being better behaved—Potter hadn’t made any dopey comments about Evans’ wit and she in turn didn’t lose herself to absently stroking his forearm when they sat together. It seemed like progress, really. Character growth— perhaps they had made it to the end of the honeymoon period.

Ironically, that was what she had thought to herself as she turned all the way back around towards her office. The meeting couldn’t have let out longer than twenty minutes before and she half expected the room to be cleared, head students long gone to their respective classes.

Now, she sat with her two Head students, Transfiguration Travails completely forgotten and everyone’s schedules cleared for the near future. Her mind swam, trying and failing to erase the knowledge that the desk she was sitting at was the site of some very intense shagging just moments before. 

It seemed like a good time to retire. Looking between a very disheveled Evans and a slightly flushed but smug Potter, she wondered what kind of severance pay she could wheedle out of Albus.

“It’s my fault professor.”

 McGonnagall didn’t even look at her. “Miss Evans, you don’t need to lie—”

“No, I’m telling the truth.”

McGonagall watched as Potter’s face grew more smug. She always hated how he and Black were capable of smiling even when being given the harshest of punishments. She hated even more that, despite it all, she had a soft spot for him ever since first year—-at least Evans looked mortified. 

“I would like to go on record and attest that she is not lying—she did start it.” Potter was too chuffed for his own good. 

McGonagall sighed. They were her brightest students and yet didn’t think of using a simple locking charm?

She looked between the couple. Even embarrassed and waiting for judgment, their bodies angled towards the other, knees touching. Noticing the shade of Evans’ face and the slight quiver of her lip, Potter reached out to leave a comforting hand on her lower thigh, stroking slightly with his thumb. 

Damn it.

“I won’t give you any real form of punishment,” she heard herself say before digesting what it meant, “—but this will not happen again. ”

“Of course, professor.” Evans squeaked out. Potter just nodded, knowing better to make promises he couldn’t keep.

At her ruling, Evans’ shoulder relaxed and her quivering stilled. She reached for James’ hand, but rather pushing it away like McGonagall expected, she threaded their fingers together in her lap. 

McGonagall had seen many things at Hogwarts in her 103 years and love, albeit stupid, rule-breaking love, was still a special thing to witness. 

In hindsight, she should have seen it coming, but then again Potter was not the most predictable of lads. Not even a few hours after she had dismissed them, she stepped back into her office and found a brand new desk, already filled with her parchments and books, still shining from the laquer on the mahogany wood. A note waited:

Don’t worry—-we didn’t christen it.

Her Head students were certainly something, but idiots didn’t begin to cover it. 

[itsaash]

Pumpkin Spice

@noots-fic-fests thank you for including this prompt so I can take something that happened in my life and turn it into something decidedly better, ha. Enjoy some fluffy, domestic Jily! And I believe sweater weather Harry was born in March? So he'd be 8 months old the next October

Lily had just wanted to make something nice. Sure, sure, the days are long but the years are short. But when you’re in the thick of having a 8 month old people could just fuck right off with that advice. Because the never ending loop of naptime, nursing, introducing solid food, play time, diaper change, and repeat made some days interminably long. And James was an amazing partner and an even better dad, but the season had started up again, and Lily was not in the groove of solo parenting. She was skidding on one wheel on the edge of the groove threatening to fall over at any moment. 

When she was nursing Harry, cuddling his warm body close, she’d sometimes scroll on her phone and cooking videos were some of her favourites. She’d be lulled by the perfectly aesthetic backdrops and clean kitchens. The process of turning a group of ingredients into something new and amazing. Her feed knew her well and alternated between plans and ideas for baby food, and delicious looking snacks and drinks. Being October, pumpkin everything saturated the videos. Bread, muffins, cookies, stew, coffees, all featuring pumpkin. She didn’t have much time or energy for more time in the kitchen after the essentials of baby food and basic meals. But maybe a pumpkin spice syrup was achievable? 

So after forgetting to get canned pumpkin at the next two grocery store runs, Lily finally remembered and was excited to make something for herself. Harry went down for his afternoon nap, and after stepping carefully to sneak out of his room she went into the kitchen to make the syrup.  The can opener, pumpkin, vanilla, and spices were lined up on the counter, and she measured  the sugar into the water for a double batch. She stirred the sugar in with her little purple whisk and watched it dissolve. She checked the recipe again, ok, it needed to reduce for a while. She turned down the heat and went to the bathroom. 

Then went to move the laundry into the dryer. Shit, that was a pile of clean laundry. The clothes got put away, and she tracked down the new box of trash bags for the garbage in the laundry room that she had emptied the lint trap into. May as well take out the other bathroom garbages while she was at it. Weird, this bathroom smelled bad. She looked around, had a diaper fallen behind the trash can or something? There wasn’t an obvious culprit so Lily finished emptying the bins and brought them all downstairs to the main garbage in the kitchen. 

The kitchen was a haze of smoke. 

“What in the ever loving pumpkin fuck of goddamn stupid pumpkin fucking shit…”

A string of incomprehensible curses continued as Lily dropped the trash bags and raced to the stove to turn off the burner. The water had long since evaporated and the sugar was beyond burned with her cute little whisk melted sadly to the side of the smoking pot. The smell hit her senses like a freight train as she put on an oven mitt and carried the pot outside and left it on the porch, slamming the door just a bit on the way back in. She turned the hood fan all the way up and went around opening every window she could get her hands on. Thank god it wasn’t too cold outside yet. 

Lily hardly knew if she should laugh or cry. It smelled truly awful. How had she not realized that smell was a burning smell? How could she have forgotten this one thing she had wanted to do for herself so quickly? And how had the stupid fucking smoke detector not gone off?? Although now in hindsight, with no major harm done, and the smoke already dissipating, she supposed she was glad to not have a baby awoken from a nap by screeching added to this situation. She walked away from the blaring sound of the hood fan and sunk to the floor under an open window on the other side of the house. Which is where she was when James got home. 

“Hey Lils love! I’m home — oh shit wow you’re right there! You scared me,” James said. He came in the door and was startled when he turned to take his shoes off and saw Lily sitting there. He set down his bag and walked over to her and slid his back down the wall. “Why are we sitting on the floor?” he asked softly, nudging her with his shoulder. 

Lily waved her hand vaguely at the house, cheek resting on her bent up knees. “I ruined our house with this awful fucking smell. Can’t you smell it?”

“Well, yeah, but you don’t seem to be panicking, so I figured it’s not an emergency.” He scooched even closer and wrapped his arm around her shoulders and Lily turned to tuck her face into the warmth of his shoulder. “Want to tell me what happened? You ok?”

Lily wasn’t crying, but her voice was thick and she was just so tired. 

“I just wanted to make pumpkin spice syrup. But then I got distracted and immediately forgot about it and it’s such a stupid thing to have done and now it smells so bad.” Her breath hitched at the end and she heaved a breath in. “And my little whisk and the pot are totally ruined.”

James just tightened his grip on her shoulders and hugged her close, let her breathe and be still and cry. 

“It doesn’t smell that bad,” he said, finally. 

“Fuck off, yes it does.”

“Ok, yeah it does.” He took in a theatrical sniff and winced. “That’s what burned sugar smells like? It’s nuclear level.”

“It was even worse 20 minutes ago,” Lily muttered. 

“Want to go cuddle on the furthest couch from the kitchen until Harry wakes up?” 

Lily laughed but nodded, and then moved to the couch in the theater room, which was quite separate from the rest of the house and had a baby monitor in it. James laid on the couch and Lily cuddled into his side, making herself small. James ran his fingers through her hair over and over. 

“You know it’s ok, right Lils? You’re fine, Harry’s fine, the house is fine. It’s ok.”

Lily hummed noncommittally. 

“Ok, but can you tell Loops about it? So that I can tell Sirius how bad sugar can smell? Because, honestly, who would’ve thought.”

James smiled to himself when Lily let out a real laugh and reached for her phone. She texted him, a smile quirking on her face. 

my house smells like sugar. And not the good kind like in cookies. Like the awful burned kind and it’s truly terrible. 

I also need to test my smoke alarms. 

These two things may be related.

Not one minute later her phone was ringing. James laughed and kept running his fingers through her hair as she talked to Remus. She told him the story, after reassuring him they were all fine, and her voice lost some of its tightness as they joked over the lengths they’d go to for a PSL and Remus threatening to come smell it for himself while the smell was “fresh”. She, laughing, said fuck off and good bye, hung up and turned to cuddle into James chest even closer. He smelled like the soap from the rink and like himself and when she breathed in deeply she didn’t smell the sugar at all. 

“I’m sorry I made our house smell terrible.”

“I literally don’t care, Lils. I’m just sorry it didn’t work out how you wanted it to.”

She let his breathing soothe her as his chest rose up and down under her cheek. 

“You can close your eyes if you want, flower. I’ll get Harry when he wakes up and I’ll go out with him and get a grocery store special for dinner.” Lily knew that meant a rotisserie chicken, a truly bizarre combination of the pre-made side dishes, and probably something sweet from the freezer aisle. But it was always perfect. She hugged him tighter and nodded. And she drifted off.

Lily woke later to the sounds of James and Harry coming into the house. James was keeping up a running conversation with Harry, talking to his son like he was much older than his 8 months. Lily stretched under the blanket that James must have laid over her, and the smell hit her nose. She cringed, but tried not to dwell and went to see her boys. 

“Mommy’s awake, Harry, look!” Harry babbled happily and Lily took him from James, kissing all over his face. 

“Did you two go on an adventure?” she said to Harry in an animated voice.

“We sure did,” James replied, picking up bags and heading to the kitchen. “To the wilds of Target. And we totally scored.”

Lily watched as he pulled groceries from the reusable bags like a magician pulling a never ending scarf from a sleeve. First came the expected rotisserie chicken, a container of spinach and artichoke dip, two options of chips, a pre-made spinach salad, and a few other grocery essentials.

“Wow, good choices, Harry!” Lily cooed. “I’ll be breaking into that dip immediately. Hopefully the terrible smell doesn’t ruin all this good food Daddy got us.”

“The power of spinach and artichoke dip can overcome anything,” James reassured her, and moved to take Harry from her. “Can you open up that bag, Lils?” he asked, pointing to one. Lily raised an eyebrow, but went to the bag and looked in. She paused for a long moment before reaching in and pulling out a wicker basket filled with all sorts of treasures. 

“James! What is this?!” she exclaimed as she freed the basket from the bag. 

“It’s a boo box!” James said happily. “You’ve been doing such a good job taking care of Harry when I’ve been on roadies, babe. And I love you so much, you do so much for us, so Harry and I wanted to do a little something for you.” He came over and leaned in to press a soft kiss below her ear and Harry pulled her hair happily.

“Thank you so much,” Lily said thickly. 

“You're welcome,” James said easily. He turned and settled Harry in his high chair, and got some blueberries and a mini cucumber from one of the bags and washed them to pass to Harry for him to gum. 

Lily looked through the basket. There was pumpkin spice syrup, of course there was. She huffed a laugh but was thankful for the easy version of the fall treat. Next she touched the new whisk, red this time, and sent James a small smile still tinged with sadness. There were also smaller bottles of brown sugar cinnamon, apple, and chai syrups. She set those aside and found three of the tubes that have all the ingredients you need for different soups, a foot mask, a lip mask, and finally underneath all of that she pulled out a crew neck sweater. It felt creamy and soft in her hands, with cute fall themed charms all over it. She hugged it to her chest and looked up at James. “James, baby. This is so nice.” James stepped close and took her into his arms, wrapping her in a hug from behind, his chin hooked on top of her head. He reached around her to point at some of the treasures. 

“Lots of syrups to try is fun, right? I’m so going to try that apple one in something. And look how funny that lip mask is. Harry laughed so cutely when I held it over my mouth and pretended to talk with it. Let’s see the sweater on, isn’t it so soft?” he rambled. 

Lily smiled with her eyes prickling as she pulled the sweater over her head. It was a bit oversized, the sleeves hung perfectly so she could scoop the cuff into her hands and feel the softness. James hugged her again, trailing his hands under the sweater to rub her back and feel the softness of the inside of the sweater. 

“I love it James, thank you.” 

“Love you, Lilyflower,” James said and leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. Lily turned and pressed a kiss to Harry’s head, thanking him too. He burbled happily back at her with purple fingers and mouth. James pulled out his phone to take a picture when the doorbell rang. He set his phone down on the counter.

“I’ll get it! But I’m so getting a picture of you in that sweater with Harry when I’m back.” He pointed finger guns at her as he walked a few steps backwards towards the front door.

Lily laughed and watched James’ back as he turned around and walked down the hall to open the front door. Her thoughtful, giving husband. The smell of burnt sugar still undeniably hung in the air, but it was fading. Her guilt was fading too, replaced with love for her family. 

“Hey! Oh wow no way,” she heard James say from the door. 

“Who is it?” she called as she started to put away the soups and syrups into the pantry. 

James didn’t answer and she walked back to the side of the kitchen from where she could see the door. 

“James? Oh!” 

He surprised her, he was right there when she turned the corner, a big box in his hands.  

“No one was at the door when I opened it. They must’ve just delivered the box and left.”

“What is it?” Lily asked.

James placed the soft cardboard box on the counter and opened the lid, revealing 6 of the most beautiful cookies Lily had ever seen. They were huge, fluffy and delicious looking. A chocolate chunk on, one that must be red velvet, one that looked like it might be peanut butter, and more that she could only guess at the flavours, but couldn’t wait to taste them and find out. 

“Oh my god. They’re beautiful. Who are they from? Did you order these too?”

“Nope, not me, oh here’s the card,” James replied. “Awww, they’re from Loops, see.” He passed the card to Lily.

To Lily

I hope these drown out the burned smell!! Congrats getting through the day without a kitchen fire!

Re

Lily laughed. “That little shit.”

“I’m surprised he went with cookies and not some sort of fire extinguishing blanket,” James laughed. 

“Don’t suggest it, or at least 2 will be at our door as fast as he can get them shipped here.”

“Actually, I think that’s kind of genius? I’m going to order one. I’ll send them one too.” He broke off a piece of the chocolate chip cookie and popped it into his mouth as he opened up his phone. “No harm in being prepared.”

Lily could only nod along with that logic, and she reached out and broke an orange cookie apart, and yes, as the taste of pumpkin spice cookie filled her senses, the burned smell finally faded away.