#james v: brighter than the sun [hogwarts]

[thewrongsorts]

@lupiinee gets shepherds pie

James hates the Hogwarts kitchens, just a bit— They’re dark and huge and it’s nearly impossible to have any space to yourself. It’s not remotely fun or meditative like cooking at home can be. ( And, frankly, why would you want to cook for yourself? Not when they eat so well in the great hall. )

But cooking for someone else... 

It’s Remus’ birthday, after all. Home cooking is important for special occasions, he’s decided. He certainly can’t imagine his own birthday without a pile of treats and comfort food from his mum and dad. And there’s something deeply rewarding about turning simple potatoes and lamb into such a comfortable, happy dish; one of his favorites, as well as Remus’.

“Hope you like it,” he beams, setting the dish down with a beam. “I know it’s not exactly a cake, but... Seemed homier, y’know?”

[thewrongsorts--archive]

@corfortiium from here

“‘m not  saying you have to like him – just stop egging him on.” Granted, she knew that James wasn’t the entire problem (she’d known Severus for ages, after all. He could be just as big of a prat as the Gryffindor chaser), but right now, James was easier to talk to about it. Severus was angry with her for trying to fight Mulciber. Again.

“You don’t have to hex him for walking passed you.”

“I know I don’t have to.” The crack came out almost automatically, before he’d really thought it through— granted, he wouldn’t have held his tongue anyhow.

James gave her a grin that might’ve been charming if it wasn’t so puckish. “Reckon it’s not s’much an obligation as a....happy public service. Surely you know something about charity work, Evans?”

[thewrongsorts]

li’l starter for @askabound​​

“Can we talk?”

For the first time... well, ever, it was a real question.

Usually, James would already have launched into an animated ramble about whatever had caught his attention, arm slung around his best friend’s shoulders. Usually they’d be cackling and midway into some dipshit plan by now.

Usually, they never went a full week without speaking to each other.

But they’d been avoiding each other for nine days now — or, well, at first it had just been James ignoring Sirius, but before that, the last time they’d actually talked to each other, James had both decked him and spat out probably the cruelest things he’d ever said in his life. He couldn’t blame Sirius if he didn’t want to deal with him now.

James shifted on his feet, hands still shoved awkwardly in his pockets but the set of his shoulders and his jaw all stubborn determination. “I...”  miss you. Am worried about you. Hate not hanging out together.

[thewrongsorts]

@lcvedriven​ from “you’re not alone. you’re stuck with me forever. sorry.”

"forever is a long damn time, james.”

forever is: well, forever. it is incomprehensible except in large, thoughtless ways. we're going to be mates forever or we're going to live forever. those teenage ways he sees people like mcgonagall roll their eyes at.

"the lot of you might get bored of me," he says, rubbing his hand over freshly shorn hair, "or decide you don't want another mouth to feed. i'm nearly seventeen, you know. i'll get a job and a place and you can come visit me."

it's better than trying to rely on someone again. the mere thought is terrifying: even if that person is james and his family; especially if that person is james and his family.

“I know.” There’s no uncertainty in his voice about it; he said forever and he meant forever, and as far as James’ concerned, that’s that.

He scoots closer, just enough to bump his knee against his friend’s, frowning as sincerely as he can at him. “Don’t be daft, Sirius. We’re not going to just leave you to fend for yourself. You’re—” He trips himself up here, just for a moment. James means to say family, but he’s more aware than ever that that doesn’t mean the same to Sirius as it does to him. “...important. To me, and to Mum and Dad too.”

A little of the fear in his chest creeps up into his voice as he asks again, “Just stay for the summer, at least.”

[thewrongsorts]

@moonshunned from "i plan to cling to my youth and lack of responsibility"

When Remus had asked about James’ plans for the future, he had expected an answer like that. He leaned to the side to push James’ shoulder with his own, playfully. “Hilarious. That’s not going to pay your bills though.” The Potters were wealthy but Remus was sure that James’ pride wouldn’t allow him to just rely on his parent’s money. Despite what James said, he must have started to ask himself what he wanted to do. It was a very difficult question, for all of them.

“I am hilarious, aren’t I?” James laughed brightly, as delighted by his own awful jokes as the physical affection.

He must’ve caught a little grimness somewhere in Remus’ expression, though, because a moment later his smile softened up a bit. “Ahh, I don’t know. ’Ll figure it out eventually, I suppose.” He’d toyed with the idea of trying out to play quidditch professionally, but the idea of traveling too much didn’t sit well with the brewing War and his parents’ health. Maybe he’d give spell inventing a shot; he enjoyed it enough, and his father would be so proud.

Or maybe he’d just throw all of his energy into whatever War efforts he could find, and a real job could wait until later.

“What d’you have mind?”

[thewrongsorts]

@moonshunned from "fine. feel free to be my taster. i’ll be sure not to drink any if you fall over dead from it."

“I don’t think we got it that wrong to make it deadly.” Remus leaned close to their couldron and sniffed. “It smells exactly the way it shou-ACHOO!” He managed to bury his nose in the crook of his arm, politely. The smell itself wasn’t unpleasant but his nose had taken offence to the intensity of it. “It smells like it’s supposed to, it says here that it smells like ink and lavender if brewed correctly, and that’s definitely what tormented my nose just now. I’m pretty sure it’s safe.”

James laughed entirely un-politely, leaning away as Remus suffered the consequences of smelling too closely, then shuffling back over to pat his back. “I’m glad it is, mate,” he snickered. “Brave of you to fall on that sword for us.”

He hummed tunelessly as he bent down to check the cauldron himself. “Sure hope you wouldn’t’ve if you actually thought it was dangerous, though.”

[thewrongsorts]

@allegasus gets a starter for james’ birthday 🎉

“I cannot believe we’ve both fallen ill on my birthday,” James moaned, digging the heels of his hands further into his eyes and rolling over onto his other side — not, technically, an entirely accurate assessment. Remus was caught in the lingering aftereffects of the full moon only a few days ago, and James had finally been felled by a particularly nasty headache he’d had brewing since last night. But it captured the utter despair of the situation for the normally-so-gregarious birthday boy.

James rolled over again, ignoring the crunch of his glasses lost somewhere in the mess of pillows and blankets under them, to stuffed his face against Remus’ side. “After I die here, you have to tell only the best stories about me, alright? Because it’s my birthday. Make up a more dignified death for me and tell your children’s children about all of my greatest qualities.”

[thewrongsorts]

happy diwali @lcvedriven​

It’s a quiet, lazy day in the dorm— or, it is until James pops into Sirius’ sphere of vision with a smear of bright red across one cheek and a bright smile. “D’you wanna make Rangoli with me?” 

He gestures to the winding colorful pattern he’s already set up in vivid powders dotted with flowers on his windowsill, then nods toward the door of their dormitory. “Figure we can send some photos home to Mum and she’ll love that. Plus I want to see Remus and Pete’s faces when they inevitably walk into it in the doorway,” he adds with a more puckish grin.

It underplays what Sirius will already know, that James is legitimately invested in decorating their space, and in the good energy rangoli will bring in. He’ll be praying to Lakshmi and Ganesh in a few days, and the more bright colors and lanterns they put up in the meantime, the more he’ll feel that the gods will be there to answer.

“I was thinking we could make a kickass griffin— y’know, for House pride and all that. Plus maybe a little extra good luck for quidditch next month.”

[thewrongsorts]

happy diwali @adveanture  ( sirius )

James is, habitually, untidy. His part of the dorm is a shambles more often than not, piled up with discarded clothes and quidditch paraphernalia and half-finished projects of all kinds. The heaps of notes and sketches burying his desk aren’t so much clutter as they are an avalanche waiting to happen.

A couple days ago, the mess vanished overnight— or, well, very very early in the morning. Always the early riser of the group, James had finished making the entire dorm spotless before the others even woke up.

Now he’s using the freshly-cleared expanse of his desk to line up rows and rows of little lanterns, muttering enchantments over each to light them in increasingly vivid colors. There’s a towering assortment of sweets sitting on his end table, and when he spots Sirius coming into the dorm, he gestures towards them with a wide, beaming smile. “Help yourself, yeah? It’s mostly laddu and pumpkin halwa, but there’s some treacle tarts in there, too.”

[thewrongsorts]

@lcvedriven​ from “Mum and dad are gonna kill us if they find the house like this.”

there's a little flip to his chest before he puts on an easy smile. euphemia and fleamont are not the types to get angry. angry, sure, but not angry. even if something in the back of his head says they're going to kick you out, he knows logically it's not true.

"maybe," he says, with a little shrug, "but it would be an honor to be killed by them. i think if i'm going to be killed by a mom and dad, i want it to be ours, you know?"

nevermind that they've turned the spare bedroom into what arguably could be a beachfront resort. it was an accident.

James knows immediately he’s misspoken— the second between his careless comment and Sirius answering seems too long, hanging over his head while he tries to gauge just how badly he’s fucked up here.

He smiles again when Sirius answers, leaning over to bump his side against his friend’s. “I really don’t, honestly.”

There’s a lot about Sirius’ feelings over his parents that James can’t really understand. He just... doesn’t know what it’d be like, coming to Euphemia and Fleamont and the warmth here, in from the abyss that was Sirius’ old house.

“They won’t really do anything about it,” he adds a little more seriously. “Not more than make us clean up.” And maybe not even that, honestly.

[thewrongsorts]

@circeschild from well, i already did the ‘kicking their ass for being a jerk’ part. now i’m doing the whole, showing up for you and making sure you’re okay now part.

“You’re a prat.”

Marlene said it with a smile on her face. Granted, it was a weak smile that didn’t stretch too far past her red cheeks. No, the Slytherin Quidditch team were jerks and Marlene knew that. It upset her greatly when she thought about, how if things had been different, she would have been part of that ill mannered and hate filled crowd. They just upset her in general.

Their words had been about her mother and she had punched one of them in the face, a good Muggle punch. James had saved her from the ensuring fight. Marlene let out a sigh as she brought up her knee to her chest, holding her right hand to her chest. It was sore, red, bruised from colliding with that idiot Rosier’s face.

“I’m okay, thank you though. Can’t imagine what they would have done if you hadn’t shown up. I couldn’t punch all of them…how many house points do you imagine that will cost us?”

“I know,” James grinned back down at her, raising a wry eyebrow. Not the first time she’d accused him of that ( or worse ) and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last, either. He wasn’t about to be hurt about it now. Anyhow, sometimes a bit of a prat wasn’t such a terrible thing to be.

“Figure if you really put your mind to it, you could’ve.” He nudged her shoulder, the smile an increasingly transparent effort to cheer her up. “I’d’ve liked to see that, too.”

He waved off house points with a laugh and a shrug. “Fewer than Sirius and I could lose in a given day, let’s say. And Gryffindor wins the House Cup often enough even with the two of us dicking around every year.”

[thewrongsorts--archive]

@brightestxstar from here

“I mean it–I can’t make hogsmeade this time mate, ’ve got homework.” Sirius rolled his eyes.

“I have done it before, ya know.”

"Not that I’ve ever seen, you haven’t.”

[thewrongsorts]

@lcvedriven gets included in family dinner

James isn’t used to having anyone in the kitchen but himself and his parents, but this was the first, most important promise he made to Sirius, when he’d begged him into staying with them for the summer instead of trying to find a place of his own— You’re family here.

So he just reaches over Sirius’ shoulder into another cabinet, batting at his friend’s hair as he goes. “I’ll be done in a minute— Or, it’ll just need to cook for a while, anyhow.” The korma is simmering healthily away on the stovetop behind them, and after these last few spices, it’ll be fine to leave alone for a bit. “And Dad said he’ll finish cooking when he and Mum get home, so we should be set.”

Grinning and raising his eyebrows, he adds, “Hope you’re hungry. I may’ve made enough to feed a small army.”

[thewrongsorts]

“ wait ! please— i’m sorry, just— wait. ” for lily & james ? - @venuspoke

soft starters // accepting!

He stops, but it’s almost begrudging, shoulders taut and the same indignant scowl still pulling at his mouth as when he stormed off a moment ago. James sucks in a long breath, and only because he —usually— likes her so much, turns to sigh, “What, Evans?”

[thewrongsorts]

❝ don’t say that. this is gonna work. ❞ / sirius at james

vamps vs bronx starters // accepting!

“If by ‘work’ you mean ‘get us both killed,’ yeah. Probably.”

He makes a face at their notes —messy even before the long series of edits and crossed-out failed ideas— before shrugging at Sirius. “I just think nux myristica is too unstable,” he insists. “We can get the roughly same effect with eel eye and wiggentree, and it won’t explode before we can even test it out.”

[thewrongsorts]

“ i am angry because of my father. “ / sirius at james

misc. quotes starters // accepting!

“Just saying, our door is always open.” He doesn’t mean to beat a dead horse here, but— Or, well, he does mean to, actually, but only because James know his parents would be nearly as happy as he would to take Sirius in, and lately it feels more important all the time that Sirius know that.

After another moment, though, he sighs, “I’m sorry, mate,” and throws an arm around Sirius’ shoulders with more care than it might look like.

“Do you...” ( He’d never felt unsure of himself like this before the reality of his friends’ home lives had really hit, but James is getting better at asking even when it feels feeble. ) “...want to talk about it?”