#and then forgot about it

[shutupdevvie]

jake

[mycupofrum]

Written for @prongsfoot-microfic for 5 Jan 2024 (darkness). Rating: T. Angst, first wizarding war. James battles with his dark side. Read here or on AO3.

**

Darkness 

He was shaking violently, unable to process what had happened. 

"James!" someone cried out. "Prongs." 

James blinked, looking up. When had he sat down on the floor? His hands were curled into tight fists, and his wand was somewhere out of sight. 

"James, you're in shock. Come on, we need to go." 

When nothing made sense, his voice was the only thing that made him move. 

James stood up, barely noticing hands supporting him, pulling him up. 

"You're alive?" 

"Of course I'm alive, you great berk," Sirius huffed in exasperation. "Come on, we need to leave now." 

** 

James Potter despised the Dark Arts, he had for his whole life. The practice of something so vile was nothing but a mad attempt to taint what should be kept pure, light, good. Energy existed in everyone and everything, but only some possessed it in such quantities that it manifested as magic. 

The war was ruthless, affecting everyone's lives. Who could tell what was good anymore? What was the point, when it could be taken away? 

The thoughts raced through his mind as he pointed his wand at the woman.  

"I'll kill you for what you did to him." 

She lay defenceless on the floor, thanks to a well-aimed Jelly-Legs Curse, leering at him, her dark eyes blazing. "You don't have it in you, itty-bitty Potter." 

James's wand shook, but having witnessed his best friend lying behind him, broken and lifeless, made him tighten his grip on his wand. 

Darkness welled up inside him, engulfing him, and where he would normally push it aside, he did the unthinkable.  

He welcomed it. 

"Crucio." 

** 

James was nestled up on the sofa against the warm, alive body. 

He felt wrong. Stained. Ruined. 

"Fuck, Pads, I…" His words trailed off. 

All he knew were those hands gripping him tightly, hands that had held on to him during a side-along Apparition, guided him to one of the Order's safehouses. Hands that had healed his cuts, wiped away the excess blood. 

"You're here. You're not dead. You're really –" James rasped. 

"I'm here, Prongs. You think it's that easy to get rid of me?" Sirius's voice vibrated in his chest beneath James's fingertips. 

James looked up from the warmth of Sirius's neck. The grey eyes met his, understanding, a storm raging beneath the calm exterior. 

"It was a trick. I was never hurt." 

"I…" James heaved a breath, disgusted with himself. "I used the Crucio on her. Bellatrix." 

"She deserved it." Sirius's voice was devoid of regret. 

"D'you think I –" 

"Killed her? I don't know, didn't exactly stick around to find out. More likely you hurt her so thoroughly she'll think twice about messing with anyone's mind again. " 

James tried not to think about the revolting image of Bellatrix lying on the floor with her eyes open, bleeding from her nose and ears. She'd looked on the brink of death, and James hadn't halted the curse until his hand shook so badly that he dropped his wand. 

He'd thought Sirius was dead, that the centre of his universe, the only thing that made sense to him in the world, was gone. She'd made it happen, using Legilimency, persuading James to come out of hiding to save Sirius in a shack where he was supposed to be held for torture. 

James had gotten there, seen a body he thought was Sirius, dead on the floor. Before he'd had time to process what he saw, he'd been greeted by her. The cousin. 

Their duel had almost destroyed the building, but she'd underestimated him, arrogant enough to believe James was easy to beat after thinking he'd suffered a great loss. 

She hadn't realised that James refused to accept living in a world where Sirius didn't exist. 

"I know a lot of ways to hurt the enemy, and I don't mind doing it to Death Eaters. But I performed an Unforgivable. That only works when…" James closed his eyes. "When you mean it." 

Sirius's hand moved to his hair, stroking it gently. "I'm sorry you were put in that position, James."  

They hadn't been able to communicate as much as usual. Lily was pregnant, and it hadn't been without its complications, so James needed to take care of her. Neither of them had envisioned having a baby in the middle of the war, but it had forced them to try to make the shambles of their relationship work. 

James drew a long breath, his trembling body eventually settling against Sirius's warmth. 

"This war fucks with all of us," Sirius added. "We all resolve to do things we wouldn't normally do." 

"The thing is," James said, shame weighing heavy on him, "I don't really find it in myself to regret it." 

He locked his eyes with Sirius, whose gaze betrayed no hint of judgement. 

"I'd do it again. For you." 

Sirius's eyes flashed with something unspoken as he wrapped his arms around James even tighter.  

After a few minutes, James fell asleep with a feeling of warm lips pressing a light kiss on his temple and barely a whisper saying something he would forget when he woke up in a few hours. 

"I'd do far worse for you, Prongs."

**

[alphabetacomics]

A lil low quality Hades animation meme

[mileymint]

Best mom ever

[mikudoodles]

mona!

except she’s just a floating head

[gallusneve]

I'm finally playing horizon zero dawn forbidden west

[coldgoldlazarus]

So I used to watch Ninjago when I was much younger and I saw that post you reblogged about Nya a few days back, and I didn't remember any love interest for her so I decided to google ninjago and holy shit when did this show get 15 seasons??? The last time I watched it, there were 2. Isn't crazy when you look back on old interests and see stuff like that?

Oh, huh, that's pretty funny XD

But yeah, I have been in kind of a weird spot of like, not actively following Ninjago a lot of the time, but still having a passive interest due to it being adjacent to Bionicle. Plus, like, having seen bits and pieces of it, (saw the miniseries and Serpentine season, then a later one with a tournament arc, and then one of the more recent ones, but have been meaning to go back and watch it all properly and in order) and getting a few of the sets on impulse here and there; so the current season count isn't as much of a surprise to me. (Also, part of it is a recent shift to shorter seasons coming out faster, so it jumped from like, nine to fifteen in just the past three or four years?)

But without that sort of consistent secondhand awareness, I can definitely see how that would be a shock, yeah XD

And yeah, I know there's been stuff out there that I ran into as a kid, then later found out had continued on without my knowing, and it's just kinda wild to realize, so I feel you there.

[explainslowly]

I have had like two days of sniffles and being kind of sickly and now I'm fine but my good friend chronic cough is back......

[vixletserenity]

✏️ fandomless OCs

💙 crack ships

🧂 my least favorite part of the canon

Get Moon's opinion on stuff -accepting

Already answered the canon question here

I’m all for fandomless OCs interacting! Sometimes that’s just part of the fun; got a few fandomless OCs myself.

Uh…you do you as long as it’s not adultxchild and humanxpokemon

[sappholotl]

I’ve been trying to draw in different styles, so I went and drew the canal by where I live

So this is The Creature looking at me while I draw (I’m very happy with the lighting, I think The Creature is also proud but they also have no thoughts ever so it’s hard to tell sometimes)

[waningwithoutwaxing]

In honor of national book day, here are some of my favorite books

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Oscar Wilde's Fairy Tales

The Long Walk by Stephen King

Songmaster by Orson Scott Card (okay, there's no gif for that, so have this)

[bimbodefender]

[melancholyofinvisibleshores]

the fucking phineas & ferb episode.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Expertise can't help you here.

[beeqisch]

izutsumi but its this thing my cat does (licking my food)

[hedgehog-moss]

I was making chitchat with the woman who works at the plant nursery and I mentioned that two baby trees I bought the other day aren't doing too well, their leaves are yellowing, maybe I'm watering them too much? what could be behind this phenomenon? and she looked like she was trying to find a gentle way to phrase it but then gave up and just said plainly, "Autumn."

another social interaction that will come back to haunt me at 3am five years from now