#bridgerton inspired jily

[yevanss]

@hprecfest Day 7: the best of your OTP

The Season by @missgryffin [Jily, E, Regency AU: enemies➡️friends➡️lovers, mutual pining, slowburn. Duke James, Debutante Lily 💎. Multi chap, 2021].

Summary: James Potter, Duke of Peverell, has returned to London just in time for the season, where Miss Lily Evans is about to make her debut. Only, he’s not looking for a wife, and she’s not particularly interested in a husband.

Bridgerton-inspired AU. Jily in their element with the pining, the slowburn, the enemies to lovers. It doesn't get any better than this. 💗

[wearingaberetinparis]

Complete - Pinkest Bluestocking of the Ton - A Jily Bridgerton AU

Ending something you have truly enjoyed creating is always bittersweet. I hope you enjoy and appreciate the final chapter of Pinkest Bridgerton of the Ton. Thank you for all the love and support, it means the world! Read Chapter 21 HERE!

Dearest Reader, the ton are abuzz with the latest gossip, and so it is my honour to impart to you the news that the Duke of Peverell has returned to London at last! A year after setting off on his tour of Europe, Lady Peverell's son has returned and rumour has it that his mother is preparing for the most joyous of occasions: a late summer wedding that sees her son wed the next Duchess of Peverell. It is my sincere hope that you have stored a bottle of wine for this most delightful of upcoming events for if ever there were a more determined mama, this writer is Icarus and this society paper has been scorched for flying too close to the sun. A Jily Regency Romance inspired by Shondaland's Bridgerton.

If you would like to start from Chapter 1 because you did not read any of this yet and you would like to now it is finished... Here is the link to the first chapter of PBOTT.

[imgondeletedis]

IT IS THE

ೃ⁀➷ ⋆·˚ ༘ *

’ SHORT N’ SWEET ‚

ERA

this pic is my editing lolz

・❥・

brina’s 6th studio album ~short n’ sweet~ is out, and honestly i love it so much so far, and it is motivating me to write one-shots (let's pray if i wrote any i would post them bec i have so many drafts including 2 chapters of “i love you it's ruining my life” that i am hesitating to post bec well looks like i am not myself’s biggest fan when it comes to writing (though i do write ALOT it is my only passion lol)

but this album gave me so much ideas to so many characters from different universes so i have decided to do something i never did and I am going to accept requests about certain characters inspired by the songs on the album (you choose the song, and choose from the characters i write for)

・❥・

✯ ⋆·˚ ༘ * ♡ my current muses ♡ :

╰┈➤ benedict bridgerton form the bridgerton universe

╰┈➤ james potter from the marauders universe

╰┈➤ sirius black from the marauders universe

・❥・

: ̗̀➛ some notes ✧.* :

those three characters i write them “ x reader” (i do love some ‘already-existing ships’ like wolfstar and jily SO MUCH, but i am afraid i can never do specifically those two ships justice)

the one-shots inspired by this album will be mostly until now ‘modern au’ but i’ll see what i can do ♡

requests are open my loves, but just know i take my time with my writings i don't like writing something fast, and unedited so if you sent me something and i didn't respond to it just know that i am taking my time so it can live up to your expectations, no i am not ignoring you (i can never ignore any of you♡)

important note: .I DO NOT WRITE SMUT. i am not comfortable with writing it,, i can however allude to it since it would be MORE than required with some of these songs ahaha

when requesting please choose the song, with which character and SPECIFY the ending you want (as in happy/fluffy ending, angsty, alluding to smut, etc) bec if you don't i will just go with whatever the song says/alludes to, and if the song doesn't specify either i will probably make the ending angsty bec that's my thing hehehe

i didn't try to write for another characters/ships from the two universes mentioned above, so also i don't know how would it feel because tbh no one inspires me like these three hehe (maybe + remus lupin/moony) , i can try and write for others though or existing ships but no promises.

i can try and write for some characters in the MCU but it depends honestly (i did write something once for ‘an-already-existing’ ship but it was a scrap) so also no promises

・❥・

So yeah that’s all babes,, happy ’ short n' sweet ‘ day to those who celebrate🙏,, and whether you don't or not, hope you have a SWEET day💓🫶. (sorry if that post is not so short, hopefully you find it sweet though🫢)

・❥・

[blackkstarrz]

marauders writers !!

i would love some more long-term marauders plots on discord (19+, i’m 23f)— au or canon, angsty with lots of platonic and romantic pairs. i would love someone to talk ooc and headcanon/get excited about this together. we can do one main pair with side pairings, or do a mumu :)

some of my favourite pairings are — jegulus, rosekiller, bartylus, wolfstar, jily, darlene, marylily, moonwater, tedromeda, pandoralily, and more!!

canon plots always have my heart but i’d love to explore some aus too — titanic, deserted island, celebrities, hunger games, bridgerton inspired, royals

like if you’re interested

[elliemarchetti]

The Queen of the Quills - Jily Edition (Part 5)

Posting on Tumblr too because this fic's sister is already there.

Reading The Queen of the Quills - Blackinnon Edition will not be mandatory to understand the developments of James and Lily's story, but some details could be shared, therefore, for anyone wishing to fully enjoy the experience, I will leave this series' masterlist here.

This was @athenasparrow's gift for @jilymicrofics ' Exchange 2024, but if you like it and are willingly to reblog, it would be super appreciated since stories like this require quite some time and effort🥰

Taglist (if anyone wants to be added, please DM me or comment and I'll gladly add you!): @thaisthedreamer

Plot: James Potter, London's most evasive bachelor, an impertinent libertine, has decided to get married. He has also already chosen his wife, the debutante Lily Evans, a self-confident young woman who has not the slightest intention of being seduced by such a man. A Bridgerton inspired Regency AU.

Words: 4093

Mrs. Potter’s musicale proved to be a decidedly musical affair (not, this author assures you, always the norm for musicales). The guest performer was none other than Maria Rosso, an Italian soprano from the all-witch choir known as Spellbound who made their debut in London two years ago and has returned after a brief stint on the Vienna stage. With thick, sable hair and flashing dark eyes, Miss Rosso proved as lovely in form as she did in voice, and more than one, or it would be better to say more than a dozen, of society’s so-called gentleman found it difficult indeed to remove their eyes from her person, even after the performance had concluded.

The Queen of the Quills, May 17, 1813

Lily felt the exact moment he walked in the room. She tried to tell herself it had nothing to do with a heightened awareness of the excruciatingly handsome wizard, she couldn’t imagine that every woman didn’t notice him immediately, and furthermore, he arrived late – not very, but still enough he had to try to be quiet as he slipped into a chair at the front next to Mrs. Evans – still she noticed him before her own mother and sister did, and it rendered her unable to even breathe. He didn’t look her way, but several candles had been snuffed, leaving the room bathed in a dim, romantic glow, so the shadows must’ve obscured her face and the way she tried to keep her eyes on Miss Rosso throughout the performance, even if the woman couldn’t take hers off of Mr. Potter, and for some reasons, it didn’t improve her disposition. She should’ve rejoiced in the fact, it was just another piece of proof he was every bit the licentious rake she’d always known him to be, but she wasn’t feeling smug, or vindicated, she was just heavily, uncomfortably disappointed, so much so she felt herself slump slightly in her chair.

When the performance was done, she couldn’t help but notice how the soprano, after graciously accepting her applause, brazenly approached her suitor and offered him one of those seductive smiles, the sort Lily would never learn to do even if she had a thousand opera singers trying to teach her. There was no mistaking what she meant with that act, and he must’ve realized too, because he threw her a mysterious look and actually tucked an errant lock of her raven hair behind her ear.

Lily shivered in disgust. For Merlin’s beard, the man didn’t even need to chase women, they practically dropped at his feet and whispered sweet nothing in his ears! Maybe she praised him, or maybe she outwardly offered herself, because he leaned down enough to kiss her neck.

“Lily?” hissed her mother, decidedly irritated. “Stop watching Mr. Potter.”

“I wasn’t… well, all right, I was, but did you see him?” she whispered urgently. “He’s shameless.”

She looked back over at him, still flirting with Maria Rosso, no care in the world about who might see.

“I’m sure his behaviour isn’t any of our business,” replied Elizabeth, lips pursed into a tight line. “He has been kind in delivering the invitations to the musicale himself, but I’m certain he wants nothing to do with you after that fiasco in Hyde Park.”

If the situation had been different, Lily would have argued that it wasn't her fault that his dog had pushed her into the water and he jumped in to save her when she was already swimming toward the shore, but she didn't have the energy to argue right now, so she sagged her shoulders and followed her family as they greeted their lovely hostess. Mrs. Potter had fair hair and light eyes, and she was rather petite to have mothered such a large son, so Lily decided her late husband must’ve been a tall man.

“Mrs. Evans,” she said warmly, “what a delight to see you again. I so enjoyed our meeting at the last ball and I must say I’m very glad you decided to accept my invitation.”

“We wouldn’t dream of spending the evening elsewhere,” her mother rejoined. “And may I present you my daughters? The older one is Petunia, and the younger one is Lily.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both, and I would like to introduce you to Mr and Mrs. McKinnon’s daughter, Marlene,” she said, motioning to a young lady at her side. For some reason, Lily was convinced she had already met her, but maybe she was just a classmate she had passed a couple of times in the corridors at Hogwarts. After all, Londoners were used to minding their own business there too, and she had no doubt that someone so beautiful and seemingly delicate was constantly surrounded by flocks of other adoring young women. Anyway, Lily smiled warmly at the girl, who looked to be about the same age as her, even though the similarities between them ended here: her blonde hair were a perfectly styled field of lovely golden wheat and her face was angular, a rather sharp contrast with Lily’s roundness.

 “Is this your first season?” she asked, already friendly.

Both Lily and Petunia nodded.

“How lucky!” she exclaimed. “I attended a few parties last year and may I say they were a bit… boring? Everything was so new the first time, but by the end of spring I already remembered everyone’s name. This way, I thought I could get an excellent match, but as you may see by yourself, I’m still unmarried.”

As Marlene spoke, Mrs. Evans glanced at her son, who kept flirting madly with the Italian opera singer, and frowned.

Lily felt something very uneasy in her stomach: according to recent issues of The Queen of the Quills, Mrs. Evans was on a mission to get her son married off, and while he didn’t seem the sort of man to bend to his mother’s will, or anyone’s, for the matter, she had a feeling the woman would be able to exert quite a bit of pressure is she so chose. Maybe that was why he was so intent on courting her.

After a few more moments of polite chatter, the Evans left Mrs. Potter to greet the rest of her guests and were soon accosted by Mrs. Bones, who, as the mother of three daughters, two still unmarried, always had a lot to say to Elizabeth – she had long declared herself on a first-name basis with the Evans – although that day her gaze was firmly focused on Lily, who immediately began to assess possible escape routes.

“What a surprise to see you there!” boomed the stout woman, leaving her interlocutor puzzled. “Gossip said you were ill.”

“Don’t worry, it was nothing that serious,” Lily retorted, with a weak smile. How Amelia had managed to become a pleasant person to have around with a family like hers Lily just couldn't explain.

“From what I heard, you contracted it in a rather serious way,” Mrs. Bones added, brows rising a good half inch. It was evident she knew, maybe she was even at the scene, but there was really no need to talk about it at the Potter’s.

“A way of little consequence, as you can see,” Lily countered firmly, although she was finding it difficult not to growl at the meddlesome woman.

Mrs. Bones opened her mouth, a sharp intake of breath telling she was preparing to launch into a lengthy monologue on the topic of the importance of good deportment, or good manners, or good breeding, but her youngest promptly interrupted her, offering to fetch lemonade for everyone.

“Lily, would you be so kind as to help me?” she asked, turning to the one she set out to save. “Unfortunately, I still don’t have enough hands to carry all those glasses.”

Lily tried not to appear too eager to accept, but everyone must’ve noticed their urgency to flee from how quickly they walked away, dodging those present with skill.

“Thank you,” she murmured to her saviour once they reached the lemonade stand and grabbed four glasses, for everyone except Petunia, who said she wasn’t thirsty.

“I know how my mother can be, I’m usually her favourite victim, so since I could avoid you what would’ve sounded like a lecture from an almost stranger, I took advantage of it. I’m sure somehow she would’ve found the opportunity to insert me into the conversation just to define me an impertinent social failure,” replied the other, and although a part of Lily wanted to pity her for that cruel fate – no mother should behave like that with her daughter – another part told her not to do so, because the girl needed an ally, not yet another young lady looking at her like a hopeless cause.

“Can we go back for a glass for ourselves?” asked Amelia as soon as they reunited with their families, and her mother nodded in a matter that told Lily everyone must know her youngest wasn’t her favourite.

“Why don’t we go out for a bit of fresh air? Since we’re together, we don’t need a chaperone,” suggested the redhead, who wanted a little more space to investigate on what the wizarding society really thought of Mr. Potter. Was he a hypocrite? A scoundrel? Or even a liar? Had he by chance deluded women and then abandoned them without any prospect? Did he have bastards? She didn't know why she cared so much, after all he probably believed her a menace to society, or he wouldn’t have acted as he was doing with Miss Rosso, still she needed to know if it was the norm or just a game to get back at her. So she asked, rather forward, as she and her friend sank into a cushioned bench about ten yards from the music room. They remained there for several minutes, more than pleased with the comfortable intimacy of their gossip, until they heard one particular voice rise slightly above the low rumble of the crowd, followed by decidedly musical laughter. After a shared look of realization, they hitched up their skirts by a few inches to save themselves from tripping and ducked into the doorway next to the bench, hoping Mr. Potter and his paramour would walk on by, and they could scoot back into the music room and laugh about their little adventure. As their eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room, they realized they were in some sort of office, with walls lined with books, although not enough to be a library, the place dominated by a massive oak desk with papers laid on top of it in neat piles. Clearly the place was lived, not just for show, and as curiosity got the better of them, they wandered toward the desk, Lily running her fingers along the wooden rim. The air still smelled faintly of ink, and maybe the slightest hint of pipe smoke. All in all, she decided, it was a lovely room, comfortable and practical, a place a person could spend hours in lost in lazy contemplation, but just as she was about to lean back against the desk, savouring the quiet solitude exuding from the place, she heard and awful sound. The doorknob clicked, and with a frantic gasp, Amelia disappeared, leaving her with no other option than dive under the desk, squeezing herself into the empty cube of space and thanking the heavens that it was completely solid rather than the short that rested on four spindly legs. Barely breathing, she listened, cursing herself for not taking Apparition class seriously.

“I had heard this would be the year we would finally see the notorious Mr. Potter fall into the parson’s mousetrap,” came a lilting feminine voice. Lily bit her lip, recognizing the Italian accent.

“And where did you hear that?” came James’ unmistakable voice, followed by another awful click of the doorknob that made Lily shut her eyes in agony. She was trapped in the office with a pair of lovers. Life simply couldn’t get any worse than this, unless she was discovered, though it didn’t make her feel much better about her present predicament.

“It’s all over town,” Maria replied. “Everyone is saying you have decided to settle down and choose a bride.”

There was a silence, but Lily could swear she could hear him shrug: “It’s probably past time.”

“You are breaking my heart, did you know?” she asked, making Lily nearly gag.

“Now, my sweet signorina, we both know that your heart is impervious to any of my machinations,” Mr. Potter murmured, and Lily pictured him as close as they were before, his lips nearly on her skin, because next came a rustling sound, which she took to be Maria pulling coyly away to state she wasn’t inclined for a dalliance.

“I don’t look for marriage, of course, that would be most foolish, but when I next choose a protector, it shall be for, shall we say, the long term,” she added, low and husky.

“I fail to see the problem.”

“Your future wife may not.”

“The only reason to give up one’s mistress is if one happens to love one’s wife,” Mr. Potter chuckled. “And as I don’t intend to choose a wife with whom I might fall in love, I see no reason to deny myself the pleasure of a lovely woman like you.”

Lily tried to imagine the reaction of the couple if she jumped out of her hiding place, screaming like a madwoman, asking what made him think she was the right match if that was his plan from the start. It nearly made her laugh, and at the same time she wanted to cry, because there was no way she could make the entrance she wished to make when she was squatting like a frog with her hands wrapped around her ankles. A few unintelligible sounds distracted her from her fantasies, and she dearly prayed they weren’t a prelude to something considerably more intimate. After a moment, though, Mr. Potter’s voice emerged clearly, asking to the singer if she cared for something to drink. Maria murmured her assent, and James’ forceful stride echoed along the floor, growing closer and closer, until he came into view, his athletic frame displayed to surprising benefit from her vantage point on the floor. If he just kept his face to the window as he poured, she might escape detection, but if he turned so much as halfway she would be as good as dead, for she had no doubt he would kill her. Frankly, she was surprised he hadn’t tried last week at the Serpentine.

“Is everything all right?” Maria called out, when Mr. Potter clinked the tumblers slightly together as he set them down before pouring two fingers of amber liquid into each glass.

“Perfect,” he answered, although he sounded vaguely distracted, like a dog sniffing the air around in search of his prey. Maybe that was why Lily froze and stopped breathing completely, eyes wide and unblinking, as he started to hum slightly to himself and his body slowly began to turn.

Keep walking, she screamed in her head, keep walking to your lover and don’t look back.

But it didn't go that way, and she watched with complete and utter horror as his eyes scanned her starting from her shoes and pinned her where she was.

__________________

James knew quite well why he’d brought Maria Rosso back to his study. Surely no warm-blooded man could be immune to the charm of her lush body and her intoxicating voice, and he knew from experience that her touch was equally potent, but even as he took in that silky sable hair and those full, pouting lips, even as his muscles tightened at the memory of other full, pouting parts of her body, he knew he was using her. He felt no guilt in that regard – she was using him as well, and she would at least be compensated for it, whereas he would be out several jewels, a quarterly allowance, and the rent on a fashionable townhouse in a fashionable part of town – no, if he felt uneasy and frustrated, if he felt like he wanted to put his damned fist though a brick wall, it was because he was using Maria to banish the nightmare that Lily Evans was from his mind. He never wanted to wake up hard and tortured again, knowing she was the cause, he just wanted to drown himself in another woman until the very memory of his recurring dream dissolved and faded into nothingness, because Merlin knew he was never going to act on that particular erotic fantasy because he shouldn’t like her like that. The though of making love to her, and not just bedding her, made him break out in a cold sweat, even as it swirled a ripple of desire right through his gut. Bloody hell, the woman must’ve bewitched him, there could be no other explanation for the dream, and besides, even now he could swear he could smell her. It was that maddening combination of lilies and soap, that beguiling scent that had washed over him while they were in Hyde Park.

“Is everything all right?” Maria called out.

“Perfect,” James said, voice sounding tight to his own ears. He began to hum, something he’d always done to relax, and he turned, even started to take a step forward, because after all Miss Rosso was waiting for him, but the damned scent followed him and his foot hesitated in midair, his step forward proved to be a small one instead of his usual long stride, and he kept turning, his nose instinctively twisting his eyes toward where he knew there couldn’t be lilies until he saw her under his desk, crouching like a frog. It was a wonder he didn’t drop the whiskey as their eyes met, and he saw hers widen with panic and fright.

Good, he thought savagely. What the hell was she doing here? Wasn’t making a scene after he doused himself in the filthy water of the Serpentine to rescue her enough for her bloodthirsty spirit? Did she need to spy on him as well?

“Maria,” he said smoothly, moving forward toward the desk until he was nearly stepping on Lily’s hand. “I have suddenly remembered an urgent matter of business that must be dealt with immediately.”

“This very night?” she asked, quite dubious.

“I’m afraid so. Allow me to walk you to the door,” he said, and although the singer’s eyes were curious, she still took his arm and forgave him for his rudeness for not taking her back to the music room.

“I am a grown woman, I believe I can manage the short distance,” she laughed, a low, sultry sound that should’ve seduced him. “And furthermore, I suspect there isn’t a woman alive who could deny you forgiveness with that smile.”

“You are of a rare kind, Maria Rosso,” he replied, hoping she couldn’t feel how far his head was from this conversation. Not too much physically, since Lily was just a few steps away, but metaphorically…

“But not, apparently, rare enough,” she murmured before floating out, finally giving James the possibility to shut the door with a decisive click, turn the key and pocked it. At the sound, Lily crawled out of her hiding place, leaning on the edge of the desk for support, apparently unable to start the much-needed explanation she had to give about her presence.

“Well?” he asked, breaking the bubble of silence.

“It was an accident!” she exclaimed. “I was sitting in the hall and I heard you coming. I was just trying to avoid you and your lover, to spare the embarrassment to everyone...”

“So you decided to invade my private office?” he asked, suspicious.

“I didn’t know it was your office. I…” she started, but was unable to finish her sentence, probably intimidated by his deliberate proximity. He could swear he was hearing the frantic beating of her heart coming from beneath the bodice.

“I think perhaps you did know this was my office,” he murmured, letting his forefinger trail down the side of her cheek. “Perhaps you didn’t seek to avoid me at all, on the contrary, you desired something else, something more… insane?”

Lily swallowed convulsively, long past the point of trying to maintain her composure.

“What do you say to that?” he asked, his finger sliding along her jawline.

Her lips parted, but she couldn’t have uttered a word if her life had depended on it. He wore no gloves, he removed them during his interrupted tryst with Maria, and the touch of his skin against her was so powerful it seemed to control her body, for she breathed when he paused, stopped when he moved. He had no doubt their hearts were beating in time as his breath kissed her lips, and he smiled, victorious, when she deleted the little distance still separating them. It was evident she was an innocent who wouldn’t know what it was like to have a man so near the heat of his body seeped through her clothes, who wouldn’t recognize the first prickles of desire, nor would she understand that slow, swirling heat in the core of her being, but it was there, he could see it in her face with only one look of his experienced eyes.

James told himself that if she hadn’t kissed him, he would’ve stopped right there, left her bothered and breathless, but he knew he was lying, he knew the moment there had been barely an inch between their faces back in her house and he resisted the pull to give in to her beguiling scent only because the footman might’ve saw them. But right now, there was no chaperone, they were in the privacy of his study, her mother was probably immersed in conversation and the prickles of desire he’d meant to spark within her suddenly ignited him, sending a warm claw of need to the very tips of his toes. Although her kiss had been chaste, and rather desperate, the fingers he’d been trailing along her cheek to torture her suddenly became a hand that cupped the back of her head, and his lips took hers in an explosion of desire, making her gasp against his mouth, something he took advantage of to slide his tongue between them. She was pliant in his arms, so James pressed his suit further by allowing one of his hands to slide down her back and cup the gentle curve of her derriere.

It was madness, he knew he should stop and he damned well shouldn’t have started, but his body was racing with need and he felt so good he had no intention of letting her go. It was like when he was younger, with no care in the world, and his father was still alive, ready to rule the family and gift him with the chance to mess up without consequences a little more, and at the same time he found she possessed something that suited him like no woman ever had before. Something about her was just right, maybe her smell, or maybe the way she felt in his arms, and he knew that if he stripped off all of her clothes and took her there on the carpet on the floor of his study, she would fit underneath him, around him, just right. A low, triumphant growl emerged from James’ mouth as he moved it to her slender neck and further down, in the expanse of skin usually hidden by the bodice he moved slightly, enough to not expose her right away but still more than decency allowed. With ragged and fast breath, he pinned her to his desk, crazed, frantic, leaving small red marks wherever he sucked, regardless of the consequences.

“Do you still hate me?” he asked, and when she slightly shook her head, he cupped one of her breasts, covering it entirely with his hand. Just as he was plotting the best course back to her lips, he heard the perfectly awful sound of Sirius’ voice outside the door.

“James!” he shouted. “I know you’re here and your mother does too. She needs your assistance and asked me to tell you to stop fucking Miss Rosso.”

Miss Evans, blissfully unaware of how close she’d come to having been pleasured utterly senseless, threw a horrified look to the door.

“One of these days,” James muttered, “I’m going to have to kill him.”

[annabtg]

I mean, I do think it’s genuine progress that kids these days read ‘go out with me and I’ll never hurt your friend again’ and recognise a red flag for *potential* toxicity and are therefore a bit sceptical of canon Jily, but I don’t believe for a minute that it was JKR’s intentions writing James and Lily in 2003 as a couple of teens from the mid 70s to convey that impression (though this is somewhat complicated by the fact James is clearly inspired in looks by her abusive ex-husband, much to unpack there). Harry Potter is not timeless, there is a LOT that is ultra specific to late 20th century British culture - which includes teen communication styles, Hogwarts teaching standards, complex class structures, and the fact that the Death Eaters are not the KKK, they’re the IRA.

Exactly!! I don't know if I should be blaming Tumblr, TikTok, Hollywood, modern US culture or whatever, but those takes are so woefully uneducated in the broad sense of the word - it seems like this generation can't grasp the concept of things being different in the past. You see it in the way they handle queerness in fandom. You see it in the way they can't handle darkfic, not because it's triggering, but because it's bad and you're a bad person for writing that. You see it in media like Bridgerton.

I don't know if the society has changed so massively during the last couple of decades so as to make the past unrecognizable to the point of inconceivable. I was a kid in the 90s and a teen in the early 00s, during which time I read tons of books taking place from the antiquity to what was then contemporary; I saw them as an opportunity to learn about a different era, draw comparisons with today, try to understand how people thought and acted and extract my own lessons. Perhaps kids/teens these days just don't read that much anymore, and as such they haven't learned to extract information from text, or at least, text that's not just speech written down - so they're only left with what they see, and what they see is their own, new and improved reality.

I don't know about James being inspired by her ex-husband - I recently heard Sirius was? I think that's the least problematic part, anyway. Harry Potter is a transparent text; its influences are very obvious, more obvious the more you know about where the author comes from (I don't really know about the differences between KKK and the IRA, I'd have to do more reading on that, thanks!) and that's not a bad thing. It makes it easier to understand and connect with.

If you can't do that, you end up taking out the names mentioned once and put them in a universe like the one you live in - which, good for you for having fun, but you're not engaging with the text at all.

[m00neroni]

hello

my name is Lu, and I am a nerd and sometimes I write fics. my current focus is marauders era and harry potter (fuck jkr). you can find my fics in my ao3 page or directly in this post, as well as my fandom opinions and other interests.

fandom opinions:

my main ships are wolfstar and jily (+ wolfstarbucks and wolfstarjily) I'm not big fan of multishipping but if that's your thing I have no problem with it.

remus, sirius, harry, hermione and lily are my favourite characters. I will avoid any kind of bashing towards them and I prefer to keep it away from my spaces.

I also enjoy dorlene, tedromeda and fralice, as well as romione and hinny.

I don't like remadora a lot, but I don't and won't hate it. I love tonks and teddy and I believe that there are several ways to work around their dynamic without disrespecting the female character in favour of an mlm ship, even if it's my favourite ship.

I do like canon and mainly, my characterisations are directly extracted from it, with my own interpretations. I don't enjoy the majority of current fanon remus and sirius portrayals and I'm a bit picky, but I still ship them within their canon situation and also outside from it.

you'll probably find me talking about mpreg, omegaverse and pregnant remus lupin, as well as about how sirius loves crosswords in canon (god, that man would have loved wordle.)

my fics

Coparenting With Benefits (omegaverse + mpreg/multichaper/wolfstar with background jily and bartylus/ongoing) - friends to lovers, pregnant remus lupin, romcom

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Love (multichaper/wolfstar/ongoing) - christmas fic, fake dating, friends to lovers, not actually unrequited love, romcom

It's Kind Of Obvious (one-shot/wolfstar/6k) - get together fic, non-voldemort au, fifth year

Defying Blood: The Untold Story of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black (multichapter/wolfstar and jily/ongoing) - canon divergence, lord black remus and consort lord sirius, werewolf (soul)mate bond, first wizaring war - written for the marauders with palestine project (slow updates)

Love At First Sight (A Statistical Probability) (multichapter/wolfstar/ongoing) - muggle au, meet cute, Christmas vibes (semi-hiatus coming back soon)

March 10th (one-shot/wolfstar/12k) - remus through his birthdays, canon divergence, autistic remus

The Voice That Urged Remus (multichapter/wolfstar/ongoing) - orpheus & eurydice inspired, mcd and hurt/comfort, EWE and eventual happy ending (slow updates)

welcome home, baby (we wish your parents had told us you were coming) (one-shot/wolfstar/4k - Wolfstar Bingo 2024) - muggle au, trans remus, adoption fic, implied mpreg

Work Call (pwp one-shot/wolfstar/4k - kinktober 2024) - dom/sub, bondage, edging

among my other interests you can find:

cosy videogames

hozier and noah kahan

marvel (wanda-dr strange-loki part of the current storyline and some ant-man here and there)

2000s romcoms + musicals

the hunger games and lord of the rings

highland cows (and cows in general)

heartstopper, outlander, game of thrones/house of the dragon, bridgerton, criminal minds

my favourite disney princess is Merida

art history, history, latin culture, greek myths, tudor era, mary I queen of scots

true crime and conspiracy theories

I was a theatre kid, so proceed with caution

that's it❤️

other links

twitter || tiktok || spotify

[orchideous-nox]

1, 9, 10, 11, 15, 18, 23, 26, 36, 52, 91 and 99 for the ask thingie < 3

yay good, this will keep me busy for a while

1 - do you carry around a bag when you're out and about? if so, what's usually in it?

I am a backpack bitch but in that backpack I keep a tote bag in case I need to be more gay. I also always have chewing gum, lip balm, an umbrella and every receipt from the last month just in case I need it.

9 - who is your biggest inspiration?

I don't think I really have someone who I could categorise as an inspiration for me. I get short bursts of inspiration from everyone around me I guess, from my friends, my family, people on the internet. That feels like such a non-answer 🙃 Alex inspires me a lot though < 3 (sorry to be gross but he's my best friend so it's allowed)

10 - any unusual fears?

Fun bit of Katie lore, I don't personally think this is unusual but I have megalophobia which is a fear of large objects. I get an physical reaction just thinking about those pictures where they use people as perspective for how big something is like the Statue of Liberty or the anchor chain on big ships, it makes me feel sick.

11 - favourite myth?

I am so glad you asked. I have Greek Mythology autism so this is difficult and I am deciding to do a top 3 because this is my blog and I can do what I want.

First is The Odyssey, I love Odysseus and his journey and the way he changes as a man on his way home. I am classing this as one myth but if I had to be even more specific I would go with Odysseus and Polyphemus. I studied the Odyssey at school when I was 14/15 and I would mark it as the start of my special interest in Greek Mythology. I would love to visit some of the places along his journey (not the Underworld though).

Second, Ariadne, Theseus and the Minotaur. I have always loved Ariadne and especially her links to Daedalus and Icarus who haven't made the list but were so close. It was an early introduction to mythology for me and I'll always love the stories surrounding these events.

Third is difficult but I think it is the Labours of Heracles (again, I am counting this as one but you're being picky the Cretan Bull). I could talk about him forever, about the people who came and went during this time, about the lasting effects of these labours. Heracles is such a fascinating character and Disney did not do him justice even if I love that film.

Special mentions to Apollo and Hyacinthus, Daedalus and Icarus, Medusa and Atalanta.

15 - favorite font?

I normally write in Calibri, however I am fond of a Garamond.

18 - what's your most controversial opinion?

I don't like the Prisoner of Azkaban film. I won't be elaborating.

23 - what's popular with the people around you that you can't seem to get behind?

Bridgerton. I've never watched it, I have no intention of watching it. I have a few bones to pick with the books from what I have heard about them and while the show might have got rid of them or has changed things, I'm just not vibing honestly.

26 - would you enjoy being famous?

Would I enjoy having more money? Yes. Being famous, however, absolutely the fuck not. There's so much pressure behind fame and public influence and the idea of people watching every move Imake and critiquing everything I do fills me with anxiety. I'm quiet happy being of little importance to the world.

36 - what's the most expensive thing you've ever spent money on?

I'm going to exclude holidays which would take the top two spots, and my rent doesn't count either. I guess my laptop but that's not any fun.....my film degree that I've done nothing with.

52 - what the best anon hate you've ever received?

I can't remember any of the specific wordings and it would take too long to scroll back and find them because tumblr is homophobic and isn't showing me any of them if I search jegulus on my blog but there's always anti-jegulus anons that are like "but jily is canon". The last time I got one, I just sent them a link of one of my jegulus fics and said it was a petition to have jegulus banned form the internet.

91 - what's a common misconception people have about you?

That I'm intimidating or that I am grumpy/pissed off/hate everyone. I just have that thousand-yard autism stare which on me kinda looks like rbf. Humble brag but I actually think I'm lovely.

99 - is there anything you would consider yourself an expert at?

Expert? No. But I would love to actually be an expert on Greek Mythology and there are probably people who do consider me an expert but I'm just an enthusiast.

Thank you for the endless list of asks my darling loser husband < 3

[paletidalwavelover]

Jily Fanfic Recommendations

Hello and welcome to the wonderful world of fanfics!

Listed below are the jily fanfics that I absolutely adore so if you haven't read these yet just know that you are missing out on all the fun.

I've revisited these fics more times than I can count over the past year . And no matter how many times I read they never fail to bring a tear to my eye during the sad parts and make me laugh uncontrollably during the funny. I hope you like these fanfics as much as I do.

Enjoy!

• The Season by missgryffin

Rating : 4.5/5

Bridgerton inspired AU: James Potter, Duke of Peverell, has returned to London just in time for the season, where Miss Lily Evans is about to make her debut. Only, he’s not looking for a wife, and she’s not particularly interested in a husband.

One of the members of my holy trinity. i cannot praise this one enough. If you're a Bridgerton fan, this one is definitely for you. Amazing chemistry, well written characters and an intriguing plot. This fanfic has it all.

• Ruin by baguette2016

Rating : 4/5

AU: After losing her best friend in combat, Auror Lily Everett returns to Hogwarts for a break from the battlefield. She soon discovers that she's signed up for a year alongside her ex-fiancé who is rather determined to make sure the past does not rest easy.

If you like evil James trust me, this is the one. Never have I ever wanted to punch a character in the face so badly. He took evil to a whole new level. But regardless of that this fanfic was a great read and had me hooked. I stayed up past one in the morning just to finish it and I wasn't disappointed.

• And the Wolves All Cry by monroeslittle

Rating : 4/5

AU. if a certain person doesn't hear a prophecy, does it still come true?

An awesome dark AU. It made me cry

• Jump (For My Love) by Ritaskeeterd

Rating: 5/5

When you are the Prince of England, the last thing one might expect is to be jumped from behind by the most beautiful woman one has ever seen, who - in turn - seems to have no clue at all and mistakes one for someone else. Surely, Prince James has the right to be disproportionately upset about this. The question is; does he need to?

aaah!! This one is definitely my ✨favorite✨ one. It's so sweet and cute and fluffy! I have no other words for you, just go read it already!

• Love in a hopeless place by starrylaa

Rating: 4.5/5

Having been hiding out in the middle of nowhere to escape Voldemort's tyranny, Lily is captured by patrollers and then offered as a prize to Voldemort's followers. James claims her as his own, in the process altering the course of both their lives AU.

• Bought by scriibblehere

Rating: 5/5

"I've given this this a lot of thought," he says, "And I want to buy you."

If you haven't read this yet, what are you doing !? Unfortunately it's incomplete but don't let that stop you from reading this. Bought is the sort of fanfic that keeps you up all day and night.

• All the young dudes by MsKingBean89

Rating:3.5/5

LONG fic charting the marauders' time at Hogwarts (and beyond) from Remus' PoV - diversion from canon in that Remus's father died and he was raised in a children's home, and is a bit rough around the edges. Otherwise canon-compliant.1971 - 1995This IS a wolfstar fic, but incredibly slow burn. Literally years. Long build up but worth it I promise!

Its a great story but you need to have an enormous amount of patience for this

• properly improper by lizardcookie

Rating: 4/5

“Marry me,” Mr. Potter repeats, closing the distance between them by striding back up towards the sofa, only to stop and crouch to one knee right there at her feet, looking up at her. Burning. “Pick me,” he elaborates. “Pick me, choose me, love me instead.”(arranged marriage, regency au)

• Good Enough by lizardcookie

Rating:4/5

Lily Evans and James Potter go toe-to-toe, solving their issues the old fashioned way- through a duel. Lily Evans doesn't know what she wants but James Potter just wants to be good enough. One-shot

• Deception and Disguise by ClaudiaWrites

Rating: 4.5/5

In order to escape from her uncle, King Riddle, Princess Lily Catherine Evans flees from the royal palace. What happens when she makes acquaintances with the Marauders, the famous gang of bandits known throughout the kingdom? Will she be able to overcome her qualms and trust them with her true identity, or will it be too late?

• Crossroads by Emmyjean

Rating: 5/5

In her seventh and final year at Hogwarts, Lily Evans finds herself facing a tragedy that leaves her life in pieces. She ultimately finds great strength both within herself and those she never would have expected

I just started reading this and it is AWESOME. This is the first fic I read in which I actually enjoy their arguments. Usually in all the fics I read their argument consist of how he is an arrogant toerag and whatnot which is why I found this one refreshing. Would 100% recommend. Edit- just completed this fic and I was literally sobbing for five minutes straight. The last chap is so heartbreaking yet so beautiful. I've never ever felt this before.

And finally at long last I have completed my list. I will of course be updating it as I read and discover new fics. I hope you all enjoy these fanfics as much as I do!

[tiffanytoms]

Tiffany you gotta write this!!

https://petalstofish.tumblr.com/post/716683889695965184/i-cant-stop-thinking-about-jily-x-bridgerton-s2

Like the tension🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻

Oh my gawwwwwwd 🤤

If only so I could reuse this gif EVERY CHAPTER 🤭

Legit, I zoned out and now it’s tomorrow. 😍 *Haaaaa*

Okay, but actually, I’m afraid I’m not your girl for this, because I don’t get what exactly people want with this sort of thing. Like, when the peeps say they want a Jily-inspired *insert media* do they really just want a retelling of said media but you change up small things and names?? Bc season TWO was mentioned, so that seems really specific! I would never be able to determine how small or big the changes would have to be. I feel like I can write similar *vibes* as that season, but then I’d tell you it’s written in a modern era and then you’d be all disappointed, and then I’d be disappointed, and then we’d all cry ourselves to sleep. ☹️ Sooooo disappointing.

Now if you’re asking for just old-timey talk and social structure, I have been thinking about that, but I would immediately put a dragon in it, so that I could say it’s not real, and that way ppl could preemptively get off my dick about writing the dialogue/history/corsets/whatever wrong 🤣

I don’t know.

I’ve been thinking 🤔

[jilyarchive]

hiii i'm scrolling through your blog and this post really caught my attention (/post/697911151449849856/hi-i-was-wondering-if-there-were-any-figs-where), do you have any historical arranged marriage aus? James with eitherwith petunia (where he has his eyes only on lily of course) or with lily? I'm on bridgerton high now so any fics with similar vibe would be appreciated!!

These are the only ones I know that have an arranged marriage trope or something close to it in a historical context:

Title: Until Spring Comes Again Author: Startanewdream Rating: T Genre(s): Romance, Drama, Humour Chapters: 24 Word Count: 173245 Summary: All Prince James Potter wanted was to live happily in Gryffindor Kingdom with his best friend Lily. But when evil forces conspire to take the throne, he needs to choose between a life of mischief or to become the king he should be. A Jily Royalty AU inspired by The Lion King.

Title: rising royals Author: jilyss Rating: T Genre(s): Royalty AU Chapters: 3 [WIP] Word Count: 15,965 Summary: Lily Evans, a fierce revolutionary leader, meets James Potter, the naive new King, determined to fix her country for the better.  Arranged Marriage AU and Revolution AU.

Title: The Girl in the Looking Glass Author: GhostOfBambi Rating: T Genre(s): Romance, Drama Chapters: 10 [WIP/Abandoned] Word Count: 46,931 Summary: Lily Evans is a spirited young woman whose arranged marriage and domineering family has left her despairing. James Potter has never met her, but he’s about to change her life. Edwardian AU.

Welcoming any other recommendations!

[jilyawards]

FEBRUARY

Everyone but You (completed, 15.4k) by @theesteemedladydebourgh. Rated M.

“If I have to spend one more minute with your stupid face I’m going to—” “Fall in love with me?” Part-time bartender, full-time oncoming trainwreck Lily Evans sleeps with famous actor James Potter. Love (?) and shenanigans ensue. (Starstruck AU)

Spitting Image (WIP, 19.4k as of 31 Mar 2024) by @charmsandtealeaves. Rated M.

James Potter always knew he wanted to build a family, he just hadn’t found the right person to build it with - yet. Freezing his sperm at Gringotts Sperm Bank was a no-brainer really. He’d have children when he found the right person, and now he had an insurance policy. Then Lily Evans walked into his place of work with her son - the spitting image of him.

Pinkest Bluestocking of the Ton (WIP, 61.5k as of 31 Mar 2024) by @wearingaberetinparis. Rated M.

Dearest Reader, the ton are abuzz with the latest gossip, and so it is my honour to impart to you the news that the Duke of Peverell has returned to London at last! A year after setting off on his tour of Europe, Lady Peverell's son has returned and rumour has it that his mother is preparing for the most joyous of occasions: a late summer wedding that sees her son wed the next Duchess of Peverell. It is my sincere hope that you have stored a bottle of wine for this most delightful of upcoming events for if ever there were a more determined mama, this writer is Icarus and this society paper has been scorched for flying too close to the sun. A Jily Regency Romance inspired by Shondaland's "Bridgerton".

Hell Is Empty (And All The Devils Are Here) (completed, 11.4k) by @nodirectionhome-ao3. Rated M.

When an Order mission takes an unexpected turn, James and Lily find themselves stranded together. In the aftermath of the chaos, sheltering together through the storm, a fire catches between them.

Pinky Promise (Tummy Hurts) (completed, 3.1k) by @petalsinwoodvale. Rated T.

He was just too smart for his own good. It’s what got him into trouble the most. It got Lily in trouble too. Turns out, she had a type, and arrogant jocks with good grades were it.

Quest for Camelot (WIP, 64k as of 31 Mar 2024) by @petalsinwoodvale. Rated T.

All Lily has ever wanted is to be a knight, like her father, Sir Lionel. After Camelot is attacked and the magical sword Excalibur is stolen, she finds herself teaming up with James, a young blind hermit, as they embark on a quest to find the lost sword. Together, they face the threat of the evil Ruber, navigate challenges with a two-headed dragon and an ogre, and discover that they're more alike than they initially thought. Will they manage to return the sword to Arthur in time, or will they lose not only each other but also their dreams and the precious Excalibur? Based on the 1998 movie Quest for Camelot, but more plot and less singing.

Happy reading!

The Jily Fandom Rec List 2024 is a compilation of Jily stories our readers want to keep an eye on for this year's awards.

This post will be reblogged at the end of each month with the month's new additions, so don't forget to send in your own recs via asks or DM!

JANUARY

Miss Evans And The Impossible Task Of Finding A Husband (completed, 22.2k) by @annasghosts. Rated T.

Miss Lily Evans, the youngest daughter of a widow with a modest fortune, at one and twenty years of age knows what is required of her: to find a husband willing to support her and her mother. The problem? Men of the London society aren’t swayed by her lack of a dowry and brazen attitude. Luckily for her Mr James Potter has just come home from Cambridge and she can enlist his help to find out what men really want.

The Falcon And The Squid (completed, 8.2k) by @jfleamont (pennyrigby on AO3). Rated T.

There's a Lego Millennium Falcon that needs to be built. There's also a bet, a ring and a bike. Put it all together and what do you get?

And The Roar Will Rise (completed, 21k) by @kay-elle-cee. Rated T.

It's James Potter's last summer running the circulation beat for The Daily Prophet, and he's determined to make it through the high season and leave the country—and the ghosts of his past—behind. But when the paper is sold to a new owner who begins printing vicious headlines that vilify the Wizarding community, he finds himself leading the charge of Magic and Muggle newsies (and one brilliant reporter) to take action. A Newsies AU.

The Last Enemy: Dark Marks (WIP, 376.7k as of 29 Feb 2024) by @chdarling-tle. Rated M.

The entrance to Hell is hidden at the base of a large willow tree, a human-sized hollow tangled in its roots, ready to swallow you whole... It’s 1976 and the events of the past term at Hogwarts have left their mark on all involved. But it’s a new school year now, with new teachers, new rules, and new regrets. Yet as the war clamoring outside the castle walls grows ever louder, the students inside will learn that some marks are impossible to wash away. Dark Marks is the second book of The Last Enemy series, which follows the lives of the heroes and villains of the First Wizarding War from 1975-1981.

Do You Want To Build A Snowman? (completed, 2.9k) by @practicecourts. Rated G.

A young James Potter feels a little lonely and it has snowed so really he should be outside having fun, instead of talking to a portrait.

Happy reading!

[wearingaberetinparis]

Chapter 13 - Pinkest Bluestocking of the Ton - A Jily Bridgerton AU

It has most certainly been a while, but if you are still interested in reading The Pinkest Bluestocking of the Ton... read Chapter 13 HERE!

Dearest Reader, the ton are abuzz with the latest gossip, and so it is my honour to impart to you the news that the Duke of Peverell has returned to London at last! A year after setting off on his tour of Europe, Lady Peverell's son has returned and rumour has it that his mother is preparing for the most joyous of occasions: a late summer wedding that sees her son wed the next Duchess of Peverell. It is my sincere hope that you have stored a bottle of wine for this most delightful of upcoming events for if ever there were a more determined mama, this writer is Icarus and this society paper has been scorched for flying too close to the sun. A Jily Regency Romance inspired by Shondaland's Bridgerton.

[sereinegemini]

request rules ₊⋆ ☾

Requests Currently Closed!

Just because you send in a request does not mean I’m obligated to write it! I’d appreciate any request, but if I’m not inspired by or have an issue with it I won’t write it.

Rules:

I will write: fluff, angst, smut

I will not write: incest, sexual violence/assault, minor x minor (smut), adult x minor, graphic depictions of self harm/eating disorders, or anything else I’m not comfortable with 

I prefer to write female x male fics since I am most knowledgeable about that type of relationship (male x female x male is fine). I will not be writing female x female or male x male (smut) because I am not a part of those relationships and would feel uncomfortable writing about/sexualizing them. I will write fluff/angst for them though!

That being said, I am also most comfortable with sub!reader since that is what I am most knowledgeable about—maybe in the future I will explore more

Characters:

Harry Potter: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Regulus Black, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Cedric Diggory

Teen Wolf: Isaac Lahey, Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Void Stiles, Scott McCall, Liam Dunbar, Theo Raeken

Bridgerton: Anthony Bridgerton, Benedict Bridgerton, Colin Bridgerton

Ships (fluff/angst): Wolfstar, Jily

Characters I absolutely won’t write for: Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Dumbledore, Voldemort, Peter Hale, Chris Argent

[elliemarchetti]

The Queen of the Quills - Jily Edition (part 3)

Posting on Tumblr too because this fic's sister is already there.

Reading The Queen of the Quills - Blackinnon Edition will not be mandatory to understand the developments of James and Lily's story, but some details could be shared, therefore, for anyone wishing to fully enjoy the experience, I will leave a small index.

Blackinnon Edition - Chapter 1

Blackinnon Edition - Chapter 2

Jily Edition - Chapter 1

Blackinnon Edition - Chapter 3

Jily Edition - Chapter 2

This was @athenasparrow's gift for @jilymicrofics ' Exchange 2024, but if you like it and are willingly to reblog, it would be super appreciated since stories like this require quite some time and effort🥰

Plot: James Potter, London's most evasive bachelor, an impertinent libertine, has decided to get married. He has also already chosen his wife, the debutante Lily Evans, a self-confident young woman who has not the slightest intention of being seduced by such a man.A Bridgerton inspired Regency AU.

Words: 5316

At Tuesday night's ball, Mr. Potter was seen dancing with more than one marriageable young lady. Such behaviour can only be described as disconcerting, as Potter typically avoids witches on the marriage mart with impressive perseverance, frustrating all mothers with marital aspirations for their daughters.

The Queen of the Quills, May 5, 1813

By eleven o’clock, all of Lily’s fears became true. James Potter had asked her to dance, and worse, her mother had practically forced her to accept by digging her nails into the strip of skin that the short sleeve of the dress and her right glove left exposed.

“Can you stop, please?” she hissed.

“To do what?” her chaperone asked, feigning innocence.

“To look at me as if you were planning the wedding breakfast!” Lily blurted out, trying to keep the panic in her voice at bay.

The older woman blushed faintly, guilt colouring her cheeks.

“It would be a superb match, and maybe he could even help Petunia.”

Lily had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming that nothing would manage to get her Muggle sister a wizard husband. Nobody, or almost nobody, in the Wizarding World was willing to abandon the comforts that always carrying a wand entailed only for a woman they barely knew. Exceptions existed, of course, but Petunia wasn’t interested in a specific suitor beside Mr. Potter himself, and only because he was unattainable, rather in the aura of mystery revolving around what nature had forbidden her but granted to her sister.

“Did you listen to me yesterday morning, in the living room?” she asked, even though the answer was obviously a no, as she wasn’t doing it now, her eyes glued to the man she wanted as a son-in-law. Lily had to admit that Mr Potter was irritatingly handsome in black rather than the bright colours that were in fashion. He seemed, at least on the surface, to be everything one could want in a husband, with burnished velvet eyes that matches his hair perfectly and classically magnificent lips, but he gave the impression of being incapable of smiling, and if Lily had been shorter, like the girl he was swaying with on the dancefloor, she would’ve considered him too tall.

“His mother is absolutely lovely,” Elizabeth mused, but Lily, who struggled to understand where this was going, didn’t dignify her with an answer.

“I can hardly believe such a gracious and intelligent lady could have raised a son that turned out to be less than the best of gentleman, regardless of his reputation,” she explained, as if it was obvious and not twisted at all. “Now, why don’t you come with me to say hello to Mr. Black? His cousin introduced us over tea and I’m sure you’ll find him absolutely charming.”

Before Lily could protest, her mother was dragging her towards a young man with long black hair, angular features, and hazy grey eyes. When he took her hand, he brushed his lips on her knuckles so lightly that Lily suspected he hadn’t kissed them at all, but that unpleasantness aside, she found his sarcasm rather refreshing.

They went to the lemonade stand, obviously with her mother’s approval, and talked mostly about their respective families, namely what it was like to have a sister who hadn’t attended Hogwarts and couldn’t know most of the things that filled her adolescence, and how he had to endure the endless stories of his cousin’s wedding, which he was unable to be present at because he was in Africa.

“Did you return because you had other ceremonies to turn up to?” Lily asked, immediately hiding behind her glass. Her conversational skills were getting worse every day, but Londoners didn’t seem to notice, or at least had the decency to not treat her like a simpleton.

“I didn’t, although I fear it will soon become part of my duties,” he replied vaguely, but before Lily could investigate further, the previous song ended abruptly and out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Mr. Potter as he handed his partner over to what must’ve been her mother. He approached them at a brisk pace, as if he couldn’t wait to reach her, and even if she already suspected it, Lily realized with dismay that she couldn’t escape her promise. After all, Mr. Potter was the only heir to an ancient family, while she was a nobody from Somerset, and they were in the middle of a crowded ballroom, hardly the place where she wanted to be caught making a scene. It didn’t matter that she thought he was hateful, or that his manners were too direct, cold, and contemptuous, she had to dance with him and refrain from stepping on his feet on purpose, though just the sound of his voice annoyed her.

“We don’t have to converse,” she replied, to whatever question she’d just been asked, but instead of the grudge she hoped to elicit, she got a completely unexpected reaction. Without missing a step, James Potter leaned his head back and laughed loudly, attracting the attention of the nearest couples.

“You hurt me, Miss Evans,” he murmured finally, but his intense gaze still remained delighted.

“I made you thicker skinned,” Lily commented, before she could connect her brain to her tongue. Her sentence implied that she had thought about him before, but above all that she thought of him as tough, which wasn’t true.

“I'm more sensitive than you think,” he replied, and despite her efforts, Lily felt the corners of her mouth rise in a shy smile that froze in place when he insisted on an answer to his question. He wanted to know why she hated him, and Lily choose her words with great care.

“I don’t,” she retorted. “I don’t even know you.”

“Knowledge is rarely a requirement for hatred,” he told her softly, his eyes trained on her steadily. “Come on, you don’t seem like a coward. Humour me.”

“I don’t hate you,” she finally admitted. “I just don’t like you.”

Something in his gaze told her he appreciated the sincerity, but he still wanted a reason.

“If you want me to be frank, then I’ll be, but don’t be offended afterwards, and don’t try to undermine my chances to have decent suitors only because you can’t take a no for an answer,” was her terse premise, and she didn't even wait for him to nod or tell her that in that case he'd rather not hear her thoughts before continuing. “I don’t think you’re the kind of man who would seriously commit to marriage, and I don’t have time to waste, so I’m not interested.”

“Are you calling yourself an expert on men, and on husbands in particular?” Mr. Potter asked, and if Lily wasn’t already mortified enough by his words, and didn’t care about ruining any chance Petunia had of making her selfish dream come true, she would’ve slapped him.

“You know well that I’m not,” she croaked, but immediately regretted it, because her manner seemed to amuse her interlocutor exceedingly.

“I think,” he went on, “that you found it easy to keep most of the men who came to your door at bay, but I fear you made a grave mistake in thinking you could do the same with me.”

Lily’s lips were set in a grim, straight line, but she succeeded in saying she didn’t seek to manage him, only to keep him at a safe distance. She knew of women with uptight morals who hadn’t been able to resist to seduction, and she certainly didn’t intend to ruin herself for a bespectacled rake.

“Which just goes to show, Miss Evans, how very little you know of men. At least of the rakish, roguish variety,” he whispered, leaning in so close she could feel his hot breath against her cheek.

The sensation made her shiver, and he smiled wickedly.

“There is little we relish more than a challenge, and you, Miss Evans, issued me the sweetest one I’ve ever encountered,” he murmured in her ear when the music drew to a close.

It was too much, standing in the middle of a ballroom, being insulted and belittled… Even if she promised herself she wouldn’t do it, she stepped on his foot, hard enough to make him let out a small, decidedly unrakish, unroguish squeak.

When he glared at her, she shrugged: “I’m afraid, Mr Potter, that you need thicker boots.”

His grasp tightened on her arm, and Lily held her breath.

“Before I return you to the sanctuary of the chaperones and spinsters, there is one thing we need to make clear: I’m going to court you, and should I decide that you will make a suitable Mrs. Potter, I will make you my wife.”

Lily whipped her head up to face him, fire flashing in her eyes: “Is it a threat?”

He looked down at her with the confidence of a male who is never crossed.

“A promise, Miss Evans, just a promise.”

-----------------------------------------------

The next afternoon was like any following a major ball. The Evans’ drawing room was filled to bursting with bouquets, each one accompanied by a crisp white card bearing the name Lily Evans. A simple Miss Evans would’ve sufficed, but James supposed one couldn’t really fault a wizard for wanting to make certain the flowers went to the correct sister. Not that anyone was likely to make a mistake on that measure. Floral arrangements from members of the Wizarding society generally went to Lily. In fact, there was nothing general about it; every bouquet that had arrived at the Evans residence in the last month had gone to her, according to the insight their butler gave to James when he asked. One thing that many of his peers underestimated was the amount of information that can be gained in the Muggle world through money. Changing a couple of sikles for a few shillings was the first step to reaching secrets the households in which Muggleborns lived hid behind a veil of stubborn ignorance from the outsiders.

It didn’t take James long to understand why Lily hadn’t attended all the social events of the season: they conflicted with the schedule of Muggle parties her sister deemed of interest, usually held on Mondays or Wednesdays. Petunia had little suitors even in that marriage mart, but the eldest Evans certainly had a better chance of marrying a Muggle than a wizard, hence the Muggle maids and butler. To those accustomed to the sight of them, house elves were beings like any other, but to those who didn’t even know the existence of magic, they would’ve appeared like freak shows covered in rags, certainly not what a gentleman visiting a possible wife would expect from her respectable family.

It must’ve been complex for Mrs. Evans, who was a widower, to lead that double life. With Lily out of the game, she could’ve left all the weirdness of the Wizarding World behind, but for now, she had to adapt, behave around witches as if she understood all their references and show pride in her daughter’s powers. Maybe she actually was happy about her peculiarity he was used to see as the norm, and the strained expression he had caught the previous night was just the manifestation of a certain tiredness. If her daughter behaved as the Incomparable of the season should, James could’ve relieved everyone of that burden, and Mrs. Evans would’ve finally been able to focus more on the daughter who most required her attention and needed her help.

Why Lily didn’t see how pragmatically convenient their union would be for her too left him astonished. James was good-looking, intelligent, had a large house in a safe neighbourhood, perfect for raising a family, and would’ve never stopped his wife from working if she had wanted to. From what Remus had told him, Miss Evans had all the potential to become the next Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts, once Mrs. McGonagall retired, or she could take Slughorn’s place, even if the rumours cited Severus Snape as his possible successor. James barely remembered the guy, only how he saved his life from a bad decision Sirius made when he was at his lowest. He should have let him die, since he had turned out to be a first-class racist, and was now associating with people like Bellatrix Black and Lucius Malfoy, people who called Muggleborn scum, Mudblood, and every other insult they heard in their childhood from their hateful parents.

“I like to think I have the last laugh,” said a female voice, starling him. “Most of the flowers make Lily sneeze, so they tend to end up in my chamber anyway.”

Petunia Evans wasn’t a bad girl. Unremarkable, sure, but not ugly. Her bearing was excellent, and both her body and her face were well proportioned. She moved gracefully, and from what James knew she was well-versed in topics and pastimes of Muggle interest, but something about her expression, the way she approached the flowers intended for her sister, made him uneasy. She exuded envy, and seemed capable of unspeakable malice.

“Don’t worry,” she added, when it became clear that James had no intention of answering her. “Roses don’t bother her, although I’m sure she’ll consider the choice trivial. Nice colour, though, a symbol of admiration.”

“I don’t think your presence here without a chaperone is wise,” James commented, studying how the grimace she made as she read one of the notes intended for Lily crumpled her features.

“No one would bat an eye if something happened with one of you,” she replied, nonchalantly tossing the white card to the ground. “You could make me forget, and who knows, maybe you could do something to make it appear like it never happened.”

James shuddered at the idea. She wasn’t wrong, he knew of witches who had pretended to be chaste in order to get a worthy match despite indulging in carnal pleasures over and over again, but they were a minority, and it wasn’t difficult to discern who was capable of doing so with a quick judgment of character. Of course, if Petunia hadn’t been Muggle, she would’ve been part of the lot, and maybe dealt with love potions and similar concoctions as well. James made a mental note never to accept anything to drink or eat offered by the eldest Miss Evans, as a precaution.

“What are you doing here?” asked another female voice, younger and way angrier. In his entire life, James had never been so grateful for an abrupt interruption, or to know that the woman he wanted to take as his wife didn’t consider him a suitable suitor. Obviously, after the ball, he had contemplated the possibility of turning his attentions elsewhere, towards the second, or the third, since Marlene was undoubtedly the second and he had no intention of marrying his dearest friend and depriving her of the love she inexplicably wanted to find, most beautiful lady of the season, but the poor girl lacked brains, and the further he got from the imaginary podium, the worse the situation got. If James Potter intended to marry within the year, and that was exactly his aim, it could only be with the Miss Evans who was currently glaring at him.

“I believe it’s customary for suitors to call upon young women, or did I misplaced my etiquette book?” he asked, a brow raised above the frame of his glasses and the bouquet still safely tucked under his arm.

“I meant,” Lily growled, “how did you get in?”

“The usual manner,” he answered, cocking his head toward the hall. “I knocked on your front door and, amazingly enough, the same butler who alerted you of my presence, opened. Then I gave him my card, he took a look at it, and showed me to the drawing room. Much as I’d like to claim some sort of devious, underhanded subterfuge, it was actually quite aboveboard and straight forward.”

“Infernal butler,” she muttered, and James had to stifle a laugh with a cough. “He’s supposed to see if we’re at home before showing you in.”

“Maybe he had previous instructions that you would be for me,” he suggested.

“I gave him no such instructions,” she bristled.

“I wouldn’t have thought so,” James said with a chuckle.

“I did,” Petunia admitted, but before Lily could lunge at her, probably to pelt her with one of the lovely flower arrangements awaiting her attention on the table, the eldest darted away like lightning, leaving them alone, except for the valet waiting in the antechamber. For James it was like seeing an excerpt of his childhood again, of those stolen moments with the younger members of other families that made him ardently desire to have a brother of his own.

“I'm sorry,” Lily sighed in the end, surrendering to the inevitable obviousness that she should converse with him, if only to keep up appearances and not offend an important member of the Wizarding ton. “We usually act like civilized people, but the mere mention of your name goes to her head.”

“Do you mention me often?” James asked, amazed.

Lily simply rolled her eyes and indicated with a wave of her gloveless hand one of the two sofas furthest from the flowers. As soon as they were out of sight of their chaperone, the stout figure of the footman peered out of the open door, maintaining a polite distance, which would give them the opportunity to speak more freely than they would have done in the presence of Mrs. Evans.

“Is that a musical instrument?” he queried, picking up a long black case off the sofa.

“A flute,” Lily confirmed. “Petunia is taking lessons and why shouldn’t I join in?”

Something told James that she wasn't too happy about having to waste time blowing into something she could make sound perfect with a simple spell, but he didn't want to push it, so he decided to change topic, asking her if she had a chance to befriend the other debutantes.

“I've known some of them since Hogwarts, but even there Londoners tended to keep to their own business, and the few country witches I was close to have already found suitors at home,” she replied, with that honesty that distinguished her and James appreciated immensely.

“One of my dearest friends should be your age,” he added, when silence fell. “I think you could get along.”

“And why do you think so, Mr. Potter?” she asked inquisitively, leading James to wonder if whatever he said would inevitably lead to an argument.

“Because she’s clever, and funny, and I’m sure she wouldn’t mind seeing a friendly face that doesn’t have sideburns,” he replied, finally making his interlocutor smile. “Besides, I’m afraid you have a common enemy.”

“You, Mr. Potter?” she inquired.

“Mr. Pettigrew,” he corrected, glancing sideways at the table with the flowers. He had recognized his schoolmate’s bad taste as soon as he walked through the door, his suspicions reconfirmed by the unmistakable childish handwriting on the decidedly exaggerated note. The fact he even got the recipient wrong, Miss Lily Evan instead of Evans, annoyed him beyond comprehension.

“The man has more hair than wit, a great lot more,” she hissed between her teeth, making James choke on his own saliva. The lad was going bald, but he supposed it was Miss Evans’ way to prove her point.

“Isn’t it considered bad form to insult a suitor?” he questioned. “Not that I blame you, Marlene discouraged him in every way and he keeps trying to call on her. He’s a nice enough fellow, I’ll grant you that, but not someone you’d want to build a boat were you stranded on a desert island.”

Something in James’ words seemed to prompt a strange reaction in Lily, who leaned towards one of the tables to grab a fan she began to wave insistently in front of her face.

“Are you feeling alright? Should I open a window?” he demanded, but she barked she was fine and tried to resume their conversation when a small commotion broke out in the garden – a few decidedly canine woofs followed by a high-pitched shriek. Lily rested her forehead against her fan, as if she was about to have a terrible headache, while James rushed over to see what was happening, only to catch Mrs. Evans trying to ward off a dog that looked too familiar to be confused with a common animal.

“Padfoot?” he yelled from the window, halting the butler who was rushing forward, ready to hit his best friend with a parasol, and attracting the black deerhound’s attention.

“Mr Potter!” Lily’s mother exclaimed, a hint of relief in her voice tense with fear. “Is this your dog?”

It took James less than a second to decide that this would be the perfect opportunity to embarrass, in a totally innocent but undoubtedly funny way, Sirius, so he confirmed, stating he must’ve followed him from home.

“If I’m not overstepping your kindness, could you lend me a leash?” he asked, flashing one of his dazzling smiles. “He’s very fond of me, and he’s a really good boy, but as you may have noticed, not too obedient, and I’m afraid his size might upset passers-by if we go back to my residence with him free to roam wherever he wants.”

“That’s not a dog,” Lily commented, her voice so unexpectedly close she startled him. She must’ve been used to be sneaky to eavesdrop on other people’s conversation, for he hadn’t even noticed she had gotten up from the sofa, much less that their faces were little more than a foot apart.

“And what would that be, then?” he asked, feigning an offense he didn’t really feel. It would’ve been suspicious if he hadn’t been hurt by her words, if that had really been his beloved dog, but in reality he knew well that Sirius’ animal form was quite disturbing for anyone who hadn’t grown up with him.

“It looks like the representation of the Grim in the Divination book,” she replied, her expression innocent and alit with a twinkle James had never seen in her.

“Would you like to meet him, Miss Evans?” James asked, but without offering his arm, as they were in her residence and she wasn’t even wearing gloves. He would’ve liked to rest his hands on hers though, feel if they were as soft as they seemed. They had to be, without a doubt.

“If it’s not too much trouble…” she began, but James didn’t give her too much time to reign her curiosity and led the way outside, where Padfoot was seated happily in the middle of the garden, shedding on the blue-and-white flowers as he grinned up at Lily.

“I think he likes you,” James said, trying to hide the accusation in his tone. Whatever Sirius was doing, it pointed straight to a disaster.

“And he likes you too, Mrs. Evans,” he added, always the gentleman, but Lily’s mother didn’t seem happy at the thought.

“I’m afraid my mother is too polite to say she’s scared of dogs,” Lily intervened, removing the older lady from an embarrassing predicament and at the same time earning herself a dirty look that smacked of a lecture.

“I understand… But I have a little secret to share with you, Mrs. Evans, to keep them out of your way: animals sense fear, and if they’re as affable as this good boy here,” he explained, patting Padfoot between his pointed ears, “they regard your diffidence as something of a challenge. So, when they see you, they simply want to prove they’re friendly and maybe snatch a snack.”

“You are very wise, Mr. Potter. Unfortunately, my daughter Petunia shares this foolish fear with me, but Lily loves animals!” she exclaimed, approaching her youngest and being careful not to attract too much attention from what she couldn’t have known was an Animagus.

“Quite a coincidence, then, that Padfoot followed me here. If it pleases you, Miss Evans, we could continue out conversation while we walk through the park, if your mother agrees,” he proposed, making Mrs. Evans eyes light up with joy. Fortunately, she had the good sense to refrain from showing it too much, although she agreed and ordered her daughter to put on her gloves before she could utter a word.

“Wear proper walking shoes too!” she shouted after her, and James saw the thin shoulders of the retreating figure stiffen, as if her intent had been precisely to quickly end their promenade with the excuse of sore feet.

In the meantime, a well-made leash arrived, and Jamed had to invent a poignant story to justify to Mrs. Evans why his dog had followed him there, so far from home.

“We found him when he was just a puppy. I was still in school, so I was away for considerable periods of time, but he bonded with me, and for a while, I insisted in bringing him wherever I went,” he explained, while trying to enjoy the displeased expression on his friend’s canine muzzle.

“You must’ve had a wonderful time at Hogwarts,” the woman commented, but there was a hint of something that James couldn’t recognize in her voice, as if she feared that just mentioning the wizarding school might elicit some adverse reaction. It had to do with her Muggle daughter, he was nearly sure, but maybe she felt like she lacked with the other one; after all, from what he had heard, it wasn’t customary among the Muggles to let young girls travel so far from home, and although the dormitories were divided, everyone took the same courses at Hogwarts, and there was an equal number of male and female teachers too.

“Unforgettable,” he agreed. “The friendships established at such a young age by staying together for so long are almost indestructible, and growing up so close with one’s peers makes even the less fortunate feel not so much alone.”

“If only there had been a similar place for my Petunia…” the woman began, but the conversation never came to an end, as Lily had returned, a sun hat firmly anchored in her hairstyle and short, day gloves to cover her delicate hands.

“Well!” exclaimed Mrs. Evans, changing her tone so suddenly James wondered how often she hid from one or the other of her daughters the burden that dividing between them brought upon her.

“I guess you want one of your footmen to chaperone us,” James said, as if it were a matter of fact, but the woman waved a hand the same way he’d seen Lily do, and the topic was closed. In fact, although the most bigoted among the wizards still disliked to see young men waking without a chaperone in the company of unmarried women, society was making a rapid progress in eliminating those obsolete preconceptions, and as long as they didn’t enter any infamous lane, there shouldn’t have been any problem.

However, James was keen to point out, as they turned down Milner Street, how much Mrs Evans seemed to value his honour and gentlemanly ways.

“Because she doesn’t know you,” her daughter, who for a few minutes now seemed to have bitterly regretted her choice of wanting to see the dog who had followed him to her front door, quickly replied. On his part, the Animagus in question was strangely well behaved and walked in front of them in a perfect straight line, the leather of the leash tight enough to prevent them from lingering too long, as if it had a goal, or was afraid that if James had too much air in his lungs he might say something he might regret.

“Should we cross over to Rotten Row?” he asked to his companion, but she was rather distracted, her face tipped up to the sun, basking in its warmth, and for one extremely disconcerting moment, James felt a sharp stab of something, a feeling rather different from the lust he was used to.

“Did you say something?” she murmured afterwards, and he cleared his throat soundly, taking sharp breaths in hope they would dispel the sentimental fog from his mind. A big error, he would soon discover, since the only thing he got was an intoxicating whiff of her scent, an odd combination of exotic lilies and sensible soap.

“You seem to be enjoying the sun,” he said, making her smile and turn to him with a clear-eyed gaze.

“I know that’s not what you said in the first place, but yes, I am. It’s been so dreadfully rainy of late.”

“I though young ladies weren’t supposed to let sun on their faces, especially those as fair skinned as you,” he teased, but she shrugged, looking only the slightest bit sheepish as she replied he was right, but it still felt heavenly.

“I do wish I could remove my bonnet,” she added, wistfully.

James nodded his agreement, feeling much the same way about his hat.

“You could probably push it back just a bit without anyone noticing,” he suggested.

“Do you think?” she queried, her entire face lit up at the prospect, and that strange stab pierced his gut again.

“Of course,” he murmured, reaching up to adjust the rim of the bizarre confection, all ribbons and lace, tied in such a way no reasonable man could ever make sense of, least of all fix it without brushing the temple of the lady who was wearing it. Lily held still, but when they accidentally touched, the breath got caught in her throat and she leaned slightly closer, making him feel the heat of her body. He probably was about to do something very stupid when Padfoot let out a loud stream of barks and yanked hard on the lead, jerking James away.

Lily watched with amusement as the dog barrelled forward, moving with even more speed than she probably would’ve ever guessed his long legs could manage. James made a valiant attempt to keep his grip on the leash, but his friend was now barking like mad and running with equal vigour, making it fly out of his grasp and prompting a shriek from Lily, who dashed forward to follow him, despite he clearly wasn’t intent on being caught.

With a weary sigh, and cursing Sirius under his breath, he began to run after her trying to keep a shred of decorum, which she wasn’t interested in, since she kept the hem of her dress way above her ankles, her socks – and calves – in full display.

“Where did he go?” he asked, once he reached her at a crossroad, hands on her hips as she scanned her surroundings.

“I don’t know, it’s your dog!” she exclaimed. “Though he’s maybe after a rabbit, which will make everything easier, since it’s known they always stick to well-trod paths.”

James scowled at her sarcasm, but before he could reproach her, or say they should stop their chasing since Padfoot knew the way home rather well, a shriek very similar to the one he elicited in Mrs. Evans came from their right, and Lily resumed her run, cutting right across the grass toward Rotten Row, the ton’s favourite spot for a stroll. Everyone was going to see them act rather undignified, and he told himself he must really want to marry this girl is he was up to be seen dashing through the park after a hoydenish Miss racing as if someone had set fire to her shoes.

When he reached the grass again, he stumbled for a second, and had to pause to take a few deep breaths before horror dawned on him. They were near the Serpentine, and there was little this specific dog liked better than to jump in a lake, taking as many people with him as he could.

[bcdaily]

I don't know about you, but Bridgerton really inspired me to write period jily lol and now I have 5000 words I'll never do anything with

5000 words! Bless!

Honestly, I’ve never had any compulsion to write a Regency AU. Fic and historical romance are two totally separate categories in my head. But you keep on writing, because I guarantee I am the minority in that.